PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women’s volleyball is kicking off the summer with a foreign tour of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy from May 25-June 5.

In addition to sightseeing and cultural experiences, the Scarlet Knights will play six total matches against professional and local organizations with a pair of matchups each during their stops in Belgrade, Serbia, Maribor, Slovenia and Milan, Italy.  

The trip begins in Belgrade, Serbia, where the Scarlet Knights will get to visit the riverside Savamala quarter, the city’s creative headquarters, Belgrade Fortress, Mt. Avala and the Belgrade Design District, along with matches against Lajkovac and Stara Pazova.

The trip continues with a visit to Zagreb, Croatia, that includes the sights of St. Mark’s historic 13th-century church and the colorful Dolac Market before heading to Maribor, Slovenia.

In addition to meeting up with OTP Banka and OTP Banka Branik on the court in Slovenia, RU will spend time at the Maribor city center, Dras Center and  Pohorje Mountain.

The Scarlet Knights will then head off to Italy, which will include stops in Venice, Milan, Verona and Lake Como.

While in Venice, Rutgers will experience the city’s water taxis and visit Piazza San Marco and Doge’s Palace.

RU will also take on CABIATE 2 in Milan while also getting to visit the Castle, Duomo Scala and the sites of central Milan.

The trip will wrap up with a day trip to Lake Como before returning to Milan for the final match of the trip versus Nazionale Ita Juniores.

 

Stay tuned to @RUVBall on social media and ScarletKnights.com for a live blog covering the culture, competition, and experiences during the trip. 

 

Follow Rutgers women’s volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.

 

– RU – 

GENEVA, OHIO – The #6 Rowan Men’s Track & Field is tied for sixth with eight team points after day one of the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio turning in an All-American and a new school mark.

UPDATED RESULTS

Damitrius Hester was runner-up in the javelin as the sophomore hit a new personal best with a top throw of 66.55 meters to repeat as All-American

The 4×100 relay of Shamar Love, Robert McKinney, Elijah Hendricks, and Evan Corcoran broke its own school record in the preliminaries, clocking in with the fourth-fastest Division III time of 39.97.

In the 200 meter prelims, Hendricks (21.22) and Rajahn Dixon (21.13-PR) will move on the finals.

Nana Agyemang just missed an All-American nod as the senior was 17th in the long jump (6.89 meters)

Jason Agyemang was in action in the 400 meter hurdles (56.92) as was the 4×400 relay (3;16.03), but neither did not qualify for the finals.

Action continues on Friday with Profs in action in the 110 meter hurdles (J. Agyemang, Kwaku Nkrumah, Jamir Brown, and Anaias Hughes), the high jump (Jamile Gantt, Arrington Rhym, Noah Wampole), and 100 meters (Love).
 

During the first two frames of Thursday night’s District 6 Class 3A Championship at Tyrone Middle School, the Altoona boys’ squad either held the lead at times or kept things just close enough to have a chance.

State College, however, just had a couple extra plays, and in the third matchup found a big enough run as they remained a thorn in the side of the Mountain Lions. State High held strong for a 25-23, 25-22 win in the first two sets, respectively, before finishing off Altoona in set three 25-16 for the title.

“I have never been more proud of a group of guys,” Altoona coach John Saboe said. “We’ve struggled all season to maintain our confidence. I thought in games one and two, we kept our confidence, we kept fighting. We put ourselves into a little bit of two-point hole. We’d catch up, and we fall back, we’d catch up, and we’d fall back.

“We just couldn’t get over that two-point deficit that we kept creating for ourselves. We made it a little tough in the first game with some missed serves, but we still battled. The guys were still believing, and that was the biggest thing we really wanted to get through with these guys.”

Altoona’s Saturnino Yohn sets the ball for one of his teammates against State College.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Following an Altoona kill from Luke Mitchell, which helped cut the deficit late in set one to two, State High’s Deondre Sheffy stymied the rally with three of his 10 kills, including the deciding finish to end the first set.

During the second in what felt like a sequence one step forward, one step back, Lukas Weathersbee stuffed one into open space for one his 10 kills to tie the second set at 18.

“I’m so proud of Lukas Weathersbee,” Saboe said. “The guy had an outstanding game. We challenged him (Wednesday), and he rose to the occasion. All season we said we need you to do the things that our team needs.

“Tonight, he did everything that our team needed. I’m so proud of him for what he brought to the table for our guys tonight. He found holes, he found seams, he found the block.”

But Derrick Campbell answered with a pair of finishes on his own as he registered 10 of them with 12 digs and 13 assists before Sheffey finished off the second set to put State up 2-0.

Luckas Keiter had 13 digs while Amir Cyrus added 16 assists.

“They played well, they passed the ball well,” State College coach Larry Campbell said. “I felt like we were in control the whole way. I think our problem was we played tight most of the night. Our serving wasn’t bad –four aces to 11 errors — 37 kills, we hit under .200 as a team. Defensively we were a little better and that made a difference.”

In the third set, with the Little Lions leading by three, a pair of Altoona attack errors, along with four crucial kills from Campbell, helped spark the decisive 11-5 run.

“We’re starting multiple freshmen and first-year players,” Campbell said. “They’ve gotten better. Coming into this, I was kind of wondering where we’re going to be beyond this. We’re minus a kid who is going to Ohio State. You don’t take away power 5 commits and then you’re rocking and rolling. We’ve had to change a lot.”

Altoona will graduate five seniors from this year’s team and Saboe is grateful for the progress they helped the Mountain Lion program make.

“Five guys who have really grown, who have brought great contributions to our team all season,” Saboe said. “They’re a fantastic group of individuals who just worked so hard and have provided so much stability for our underclassmen.”

Saboe is also optimistic about the Mountain Lions future as the team closes 2025 with a record of 4-11 as part of a demanding Mid Penn Conference.

“I thought our program took some good steps this year,” he said. I thought our guys did a good job; I thought we really improved and I’m anxious for what the future holds for us.”

State College will travel to McDowell for the District 6-8-10 Class 3A Subregional Championship next week at a site and time to be announced. Both teams will advance to the PIAA Playoffs.

SERVICE POINTS

ALTOONA: Terza 5, Coldwell 2, Mitchell 4, Huey-Kish 7, Weathersbee 2, Yohn 2

Records: Altoona (4-11), State College (8-5).

Principal Steve Clark shared plenty of stories and tidbits at the 29th annual commencement ceremony Thursday celebrating Sierra High’s Class of 2025.

This was the class that had the highest ELA (English Language Arts) scores at the school for the past two years.

“You’ve excelled in the classroom, community, and the athletic arena,” said Clark, who gave a shoutout to the flag football program and its 11-1 record in the Valley Oak League.

He also acknowledged Colins Schluer and his record goals in water polo – he’s the son of Manteca Unified board President Stephen Schluer, and will be attending the University of Alabama.

The Timberwolves, in all sports this year, had a collective 3.45 grade point average. “You were true student athletes,” Clark said.

Graduation displayed the musical talents at the school.

For starters, Oliver Naven performed the National Anthem to the crowd at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium – on electric guitar.

Mapuana Toutai, who also plays guitar, did her song “Bloom” currently streaming on Spotify.

Music teacher Rick Hammarstrom – he along with science teacher Chris Courtney, Social Science instructor Dan Cunial (one of the originals of the school), English teacher Janet Sanders, and campus monitor Diane Silva are all retiring at the end of the school year – jammed once again with the band consisting of seniors Santiago Pachalian, Brock Felt, and Faka’osi Latu, and sophomores Gonzalo Pachalian and Cooper Mahoney, to the tune, “Pocket Change.”

Among the student speakers were valedictorian Nicole Allison, salutatorian Siddharthan Gopendran, and senior class President Alexa Jimenez Moya.

Clark noted that Allison’s “senioritis” was taking four AP classes this year. “She got all A’s,” he said.

She responded, by saying: “I didn’t set out to be valedictorian – my goal was just to apply myself.”

Allison was introspective on her high school journey in “finding brings you joy and passion.” For her, it’s art.

Clark indicated that she has 22 full sketchbooks.

Gopendran went to nine different schools prior to Sierra High. None could properly pronounce his first name, Siddharthan, he recalled.

Along the way, he learned a lot about himself, in particular, finding ways to adapt along the way,

“Adaptability is the greatest skill,” Gopendran said, for which he credits this for allowing him to be the best version of himself.

Moya praised the support she received from family and friends during her time at Sierra, basking in the moment of graduation.

“It’s a great day to be T-Wolves,” she proclaimed.