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Why Savannah Bananas tickets cost more than a Dodgers

In a region where baseball is king, the long-awaited rematch of last year’s World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees is unfolding. Ohtani. Judge. Two of the game’s best, facing off once more. But just down the 5 Freeway in Anaheim, the home of Disney, the hottest ticket in baseball this weekend belongs to a […]

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Why Savannah Bananas tickets cost more than a Dodgers

In a region where baseball is king, the long-awaited rematch of last year’s World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees is unfolding. Ohtani. Judge. Two of the game’s best, facing off once more.

But just down the 5 Freeway in Anaheim, the home of Disney, the hottest ticket in baseball this weekend belongs to a stilted pitcher, juggling infielders and a yellow-suited, top hat-wearing carnival barker.

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For back-to-back nights, more than 45,000 fans packed the Big A to see the Savannah Bananas — a team born from a small-time collegiate summer team that became a tour de force that has forever changed baseball. It was one stop during the Bananas’ most audacious barnstorming effort since their baseball traveling show hit the road just a few years ago.

The Savannah Bananas celebrate amid confetti after beating the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday.

The Savannah Bananas celebrate amid confetti after beating the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

These tickets were only available through a lottery — reserved months in advance. And when they went on sale, all were gone in an instant. The only way in was through the resale market, where just hours before first pitch on Friday, the lowest price (fees and taxes included) for a pair of tickets on StubHub was $209.52.

Meanwhile, two lowest price StuHub tickets for the Dodgers versus Yankees game were available for $171.72.

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All for the sake of “Banana Ball.”

This baseball game is a ballyhoo. One rooted in the thrills, energy and pageantry of early 20th-century carnivals, but with a 21st-century twist — the atmosphere of a TikTok reel brought to life. It’s the showmanship of Ringling Brothers Circus combined with the athletic flair of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Read more: Meet the Savannah Bananas, who’ve captivated fans and MLB. ‘We exist to make baseball fun’

But above all, it’s a brand built on Walt Disney’s blueprint— not just to entertain, but to make the audience feel.

“When you look at all the touch points — the joy, the fun, the dancing, the celebrating — and think about all the different stages, just like Walt, we think about all the stages: from the parking lot to the plaza, to the upper deck, to the dugouts,” said Bananas owner Jesse Cole, the man in the top hat. “How do we make someone feel something?”

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Instead of lounging in a cushy, air-conditioned owner’s suite, Cole is in the dugout hours before showtime — a Disney-like archetype, his energy as vibrant as his layered, all-yellow suit, braving the afternoon heat.

The Savannah Bananas' founder and owner Jesse Cole lead the crowd in a cheer.

Savannah Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole leads the crowd in a cheer as his team takes on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

“Nonstop,” Cole said, describing Banana Ball in a nutshell. Refusing to sit, not wanting to lose an ounce of edge, he added, “It’s all about energy. We want to give people energy, delivering it every second, from the moment we open the gates at two o’clock until the last fan leaves at 11.”

While gates opened at 2 p.m., fans began arriving as early as 11 a.m. — clamoring for a shot at Banana-themed merchandise, many leaving the team tents with bags in both hands. In the parking lot, two young boys passed the time playing catch, gloves in hand.

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As the afternoon wore on and the temperature climbed to 91 degrees, crowds trudged through the heat, some seeking refuge beneath the oversized Angels helmets at the stadium entrance, all for a chance to meet their favorite Banana Ballers. At the pregame plaza party, fans collected autographs, posed for photos and presented handmade gifts to players.

Savannah Bananas mascot Split marches through the crowd before the team's game against the Firefighters at Angel Stadium

Savannah Bananas mascot Split marches through the crowd before the team’s game against the Firefighters at Angel Stadium Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

When the gates opened, the LaCaze family pointed out their 9-year-old daughter’s favorite player, David “DR” Meadows. Decked out in her signed Meadows jersey, Carrigan LaCaze ran into his arms, with glove and oversized baseball clutched tightly and began speaking with him as if they were old friends.

“I ran to DR, and we started hugging and just started talking for a while because I missed him,” Carrigan LaCaze said. “Tomorrow is actually one year on the dot since I met him.”

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A Christmas road trip planned around the holidays, the family of four traveled across three states from their home in Alexandria, La., to Anaheim for two reasons: to visit Disneyland and see the Bananas. It was their second game — the family first saw the Bananas in the club’s hometown of Savannah, Ga., when Carrigan, who is battling cystic fibrosis, was granted a Make-A-Wish experience so meaningful it was a no-brainer to relive it.

“It’s great,” her father, Pierre LaCaze, said of the player interactions. “We’ve gotten to keep track with some of them during the course of the year. We come back, we see them again. You know they’re truly about the fans.”

Rainer Easton tries to catch a yellow "Banana Ball" from the stands.

Rainer Easton, 11, tries to catch a yellow “Banana Ball” from the stands before the Savannah Bananas take on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

The Bananas don’t sell tickets. They sell connections, moments and memories.

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For Cole, meetings are a constant brainstorming session on how to keep fans engaged and interacting. That’s how he measures success. He says when the focus shifts to transactions, the game begins to lose its meaning.

“Our success is not judged by revenue,” Cole said. “It’s not judged by sales. It’s judged by the moments we create.”

But the numbers don’t lie.

The last time the Bananas came to Southern California, they played in front of 5,000 fans at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga in 2023 — a far cry from now selling out 18 major league ballparks and three football stadiums with capacities over 70,000.

Fans fill the stands as the Savannah Bananas take on the Firefighters in front of a sold out crowd at Angel Stadium.

Fans fill the stands as the Savannah Bananas take on the Firefighters in front of a sold out crowd Friday at Angel Stadium. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Attendance has soared year after year. Last season, the Bananas drew one million fans. This year, that number is expected to double, with more than three million people on the waitlist for their ticket lottery. Every game since February has sold out and every date in June and July is as well.

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Michael and Melinda Schulteis, a husband and wife from Mission Viejo, were there the last time the Bananas came to town. When they heard the team was returning, they knew they couldn’t miss it.

“The intimate atmosphere at the last event was great,” Melinda Schulteis said. “But I’m curious, because they do such a good job putting on events, what touches are they going to add to still keep it close and intimate and give us another great experience?”

Read more: What is Banana Ball? Here are the Savannah Banana rules of the game

As the Bananas’ success and reach have grown, spilling out from cozy minor league parks into stadiums not built for intimacy, the games still feel like family gatherings. Whether serenading players with stadium anthems like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” or the waving of phone lights to Coldplay’s “Yellow,” the crowd moves in sync, no matter the tune.

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While they’re a privately owned team and don’t disclose revenue figures, they’ve confirmed generating millions. Much like their box office appeal, their social media reach extends into the millions as well.

The Savannah Bananas perform a kick line.

The Savannah Bananas perform a kick line before taking on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Their antics — choreographed dances, lip-synced walk-ups, backflip outfield catches — have attracted nearly 10 million followers on TikTok, almost double the combined total of the Dodgers and Angels. That viral mastery, and the parasocial bonds it fosters, is part of what makes every game feel tight-knit.

With his glove by his side, hoping to catch a foul ball for an out — one of the many offbeat rules of Banana Ball — Michael Schulties was disappointed he missed his favorite player, RobertAnthony Cruz, whom he first discovered on social media through his baseball coaching channel, better known as “Coach RAC.”

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Cruz, who drew the longest meet-and-greet line, is a former minor leaguer in the Nationals’ farm system and a local — born just an hour away in Fontana. The game was a homecoming for Cruz, who joined the Bananas in 2023.

With more than 70 family members and friends in attendance — and even more social media direct messages asking for tickets — playing in big league stadiums has become a dream come true, especially for a former minor leaguer whose baseball ambitions nearly died when he never got the call to the show.

The Savannah Bananas pitcher Correlle Prime throws a pitch.

Savannah Bananas pitcher Correlle Prime delivers at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Behind all the gimmicks, wackiness and absurdity, the roster is still filled with ballplayers — many of them with unrealized MLB dreams — now finding a second life through Banana Ball. And for Cruz, it’s the happiest he’s ever been in the sport.

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“I never would have imagined playing in this capacity,” Cruz said. “Banana Ball didn’t even exist when I was pursuing my dream of professional baseball. To be here, to see a sold-out crowd at a stadium that I went to growing up all the time, it’s very special.”

As the team travels the nation, sold-out crowds and newfound stardom have become the norm for Cruz.

“I’m not surprised by anything anymore,” Cruz said. “If you told me that we’re playing on the moon next year, I’d be like, ‘All right, cool. Let me know when and where, and I’ll be there’ … I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing continues to grow at an unprecedented rate.”

Read more: It’s time for Banana Ball! The story of the Savannah Bananas

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Despite their growing success, the Bananas’ brand of baseball remains polarizing — an easy target for detractors of zaniness, gatekeepers of fun and opponents of pizzazz who either don’t understand it or refuse to see its appeal.

“Anybody that criticizes this, we’re not for them,” Cole said. “There’s tradition in baseball, perfect. They’ve got Major League Baseball. … For people that want to come out and have fun, not take themselves too seriously and see something they’ve never seen before — and hopefully see the greatest show in sports — we built something for you.”

The formula works. And again, the numbers don’t lie.

The Savannah Bananas' Jackson Olson and teammates raise their arms celebrates a Troy Glaus base hit.

The Savannah Bananas’ Jackson Olson celebrates a Troy Glaus base hit while the Bananas take on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. Comedian Bert Kreischer celebrated behind the Bananas in the dugout. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Yes, the Savannah Bananas’ brand of baseball is far too outlandish ever to be compared to the major leagues — from flaming baseballs, rump-shaking umps and dress rehearsals. That’s the point. It all feels like something conjured from the wildest dreams of the late Bill Veeck’s imagination found a home, in a good way.

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With many of the Banana Ball’s 11 rules — like an automatic strike when hitters step out of the box or ejecting bunting hitters because bunting “sucks” — are grounded in some sports-based logic, the innovations remain sacrilegious to baseball purists.

But for a fleeting moment in December, Major League Baseball and Banana Ball were almost linked.

In Banana Ball, the Golden Batter rule allows teams, once per game, to send their best hitter to the plate regardless of where they fall in the batting order.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred caused a stir when he floated a potential seismic rule by floating, making an offhand comment about the golden batter rule. Manfred later clarified it was merely “a very preliminary conversation” among members of the league’s competition committee and had not been formally discussed by the full ownership group.

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A far-fetched idea, but Manfred has ushered in sweeping changes, from the widely praised pitch clock to the more contentious extra-inning “ghost runner.”

“Anything that’s best for the fans, I’m all in,” Cole said of its potential. “I know Major League Baseball won’t do it because of traditions, but … we’ve had a lot of fun doing it.”

The Firefighters run on the field before taking on the Savannah Bananas.

The Firefighters run on the field before taking on the Savannah Bananas at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

But MLB would be behind the Bananas, who already introduced their version of the rule last season with a typical flair and showmanship. Their spin on it is a batter summoned from the dugout wearing a James Brown-esque cape and a gleaming golden helmet — an honor that went to Joe Lytle, who came to bat in the top of the ninth for the Bananas’ Anaheim opponent, the Firefighters.

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Ultimately, in a game where the score isn’t the end-all, be-all — but the fun is — the Bananas beat the Firefighters 5–2.

Like any other Bananas game, the festivities took center stage. It began with the “First Peel,” a signature ceremony in which a young fan bites into a banana to declare whether it’s good or bad — setting the tone for the night.

Read more: How do the Savannah Bananas draw sold-out crowds? Five fun facts about the team

Heisman Trophy winner and USC legend Matt Leinart threw out the ceremonial first spiral (because, of course, he did). And in true fashion, Angels World Series MVP Troy Glaus made a surprise cameo as a pinch hitter.

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But what was more important was the trip to Anaheim, a fitting one for Cole and Co.

The team that opened its season lip-syncing “Be Our Guest” from the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast” — and its owner, cut from the same theatrical cloth as Disney — were celebrated a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth — Disneyland.

Savannah Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole provides color commentary before a between innings baby race.

Savannah Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole provides color commentary during the baby race between innings at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Greeted by fans in yellow gear, Cole’s creation — the Bananas — marched in step down Main Street U.S.A., alongside Walt’s own — Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck.

“When I walked underneath the castle and over the bridge and in front of thousands of people, they were all there for us,” Cole said. “Then I look and see Walt’s statue, holding the hand of Mickey, and I see that and I’m like, ‘This is special.’”

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It was a full-circle moment for Cole, who became “immersed in the magic” after his first trip to Disney World as a kid — and who now says, “In a perfect world, I’d play catch with Walt on Main Street.” Serendipity.

“For me, that was an emotional moment — to know that we have worked so hard to create something that means something to people, that they come from all over the country just for a chance to see us,” Cole added.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Snapchat’s Kahlen Macaulay discusses the platform’s relevance for sport

At last month’s Digital Sports Summit, Kahlen Macaulay, head of international sports partnerships at Snapchat, shared how sports broadcasters, federations and other rights holders/owners and brands can successfully make use of the platform, particularly to reach younger viewers. From super-serving their interests and helping them connect with friends and family during sporting events, to capturing […]

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At last month’s Digital Sports Summit, Kahlen Macaulay, head of international sports partnerships at Snapchat, shared how sports broadcasters, federations and other rights holders/owners and brands can successfully make use of the platform, particularly to reach younger viewers.

From super-serving their interests and helping them connect with friends and family during sporting events, to capturing authentic images thanks to camera technology that Macualay describes as “the superpower of communication”, Snapchat offers a unique way to engage and grow audiences.

He also spoke about how Snap has moved beyond a platform for video content teams to something that can “drive marketing and affinity”.

“Adidas, Nike and a host of luxury brands understand that it’s not about selling product straightaway, it’s about brand building. Sky Sports, for example, know they aren’t going to get a 15-year-old to take out a subscription, but it’s about building that relationship.”

Watch the video now.





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USC’s Tilly Kearns Earns CSC Academic All-America At-Large Second Team Accolades

An Olympic medalist and highly decorated Trojan, USC women’s water polo’s Tilly Kearns has collected a significant academic honor to add to her lengthy list of accolades with her selection to the 2024-25 CSC Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Second Team, as announced today by College Sports Communicators (CSC). Kearns wrapped her USC career as the […]

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An Olympic medalist and highly decorated Trojan, USC women’s water polo’s Tilly Kearns has collected a significant academic honor to add to her lengthy list of accolades with her selection to the 2024-25 CSC Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Second Team, as announced today by College Sports Communicators (CSC).

Kearns wrapped her USC career as the Trojans’ No. 3 scorer in program history and as a three-time First Team All-American. She joins fellow Olympian Flora Bolonyai as the only other USC women’s water polo player to be named to an Academic All-America Team, with Bolonyai earning First Team honors in 2013.

A three-time First Team All-American, Kearns was selected for USC’s Trojaneer Diamond Award, given to a graduating student-athlete who has brought the most fame and distinction to the university. Dedicated to numerous community outreach projects and extracurricular activities, the Australia native also helped her USC teams reach the NCAA final in all four seasons in which she competed. Since arriving as a freshman at USC in 2018-19, Kearns took some time away from USC in order to train with her Australian National Team in preparation for and in competition at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. In 2024, Kearns was instrumental in the Aussies’ Olympic silver medal before returning to her final season at USC, where she served as a team captain. 

A three-time finalist for the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award, Kearns also is a four-time ACWPC All-Academic honoree and a three-time MPSF Scholar-Athlete to go along with this season’s All-Big Ten Academic honor. Kearns was joined on the 2025 CSC Academic All-District Team by teammate Isabel Zimmerman before being voted to the CSC Academic All-America Second Team

For this year’s CSC Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Team selections, a total of 46 student-athletes were recognized at the Division I level across many sports: beach volleyball, bowling fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, rifle, rowing, skiing and water polo. Sixteen student-athletes were named to the First Team, with 20 on the Second Team and 10 on the Third Team.

 



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Shelton Named to 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team

NORMAN – Oklahoma volleyball outside hitter Alexis Shelton was named to the 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team, the league office announced Tuesday. A rising senior, Shelton was named to the preseason team after a stellar first year in the conference where she earned first team All-SEC honors. Shelton had a breakout junior season as she led […]

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NORMAN – Oklahoma volleyball outside hitter Alexis Shelton was named to the 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team, the league office announced Tuesday.

A rising senior, Shelton was named to the preseason team after a stellar first year in the conference where she earned first team All-SEC honors.

Shelton had a breakout junior season as she led the team with 455 kills and 4.38 kills/set. She ranked second on the team in digs with 204 and in blocks with 93.

The junior tallied double-digit kills in every meet of the season, including a season-best 27 against Texas. She recorded 20-plus kills on nine occasions and notched eight double-doubles on the year. In the season finale against Pitt, she recorded a career-high 7.0 blocks.

Shelton reached the 1,000-kill mark in 2024, the 15th Sooner to achieve the feat. Her 1,118 career kills are good for 14th all-time. Her 455 kills in 2024, place her second all-time for kills in a single season.

The preseason coaches poll was also announced Tuesday, with the Sooners picked to finish seventh in the league after a sixth-place finish in 2024. Kentucky was predicted to win the 2025 SEC crown, while three schools received first place votes.

For updates, follow @OU_Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram, or like Oklahoma Volleyball on Facebook.

2025 SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Kentucky (9) – 218

2. Texas (6) – 216

3. Texas A&M (1) – 195

4. Missouri – 182

5. Florida – 169

6. Tennessee – 149

7. Oklahoma – 143

8. LSU – 115

9. Georgia  – 98

10. Ole Miss – 97

11. Arkansas – 80

12. Vanderbilt – 77

13. Auburn – 76

14. South Carolina – 42

15. Mississippi State – 38

16. Alabama – 25

 





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Volleyball Welcomes 11 Newcomers to Campus

The Syracuse volleyball team is complete, and the 2025 squad has arrived on campus for summer classes and workouts. The Orange welcome 11 newcomers to the 2025 squad which returns seven from last year’s team than went 15-17 overall and 3-17 in the ACC. “We are very excited about this new group that is coming […]

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The Syracuse volleyball team is complete, and the 2025 squad has arrived on campus for summer classes and workouts. The Orange welcome 11 newcomers to the 2025 squad which returns seven from last year’s team than went 15-17 overall and 3-17 in the ACC.

“We are very excited about this new group that is coming in because we feel like it’s a good mix of really young and talented players and some athletes coming in with experience previously competing at a high level around the country,” Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “We truly invested a lot of time and effort into this class, not just evaluating them based on how good they are as athletes but even more how good they are as people. We really paid attention to making sure we recruited the right characters.”

Syracuse welcomes five middle blockers in Marisse Turner, Kaliya Ndiaye, Oreva Evivie, Soana Lea’ea and Mari Lawton. Outside hitters Marie Laurio, Elizabeth Turner and Gabriella McLaughlin will help strengthen the Orange attack while SU also adds defensive specialist Reese Teves and Rana Yamada. Additionally, Syracuse added setter Tehya Maeva this offseason, a junior transfer from Nevada by way of San Diego, California.

Marisse Turner is a 6-foot graduate transfer from Long Beach, CA. Turner attended Marymount High School and joins the Orange from California State University – Fullerton where she appeared in 49 sets across 14 matches. Ndiaye is a 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Aliso Viejo, CA. She played at Santa Margarita Catholic where she helped SMHS to a 25-15 record a s a senior.

Evivie is a 6-foot middle blocker from Charlotte, NC, who began her collegiate career at Virginia Tech before spending her final two seasons of undergrad at FGCU where she helped the Eagles to a 27-5 overall record and a 15-1 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference appearing in all 32 matches as a senior in 2024.

Lea’ea joins the Orange from UC Irvine where she appeared in 114 sets across 41 matches after redshirting the 2022 season. The 6-foot-1 Las Vegas, Nevada native was an All-WCAL Second Team honoree out high school at Saint Francis (CA). Lawton, a 6-foot junior transfer from San Jose State joins the Orange from Mililani, Hawaii, where she won an ILH and state championship as a senior en route to earning All-State recognition. At San Jose State she appeared in 32 matches over her first two seasons totaling 78 kills and 64 blocks.

Laurio is a 5-foot-10 middle blocker from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who earned All-Region and All-State recognition each year from 2022-24. She was named Saline High School’s Most Valuable Player a junior and senior. She’s joined by freshman Elizabeth Turner who hails from Pine Bluff, Arkansas and has spent time in Japan playing for Kizankino Sho Club the last four years. While attending Seiwa Joshi Gakuin High School in Japan, she helped her varsity team finish No. 1 in the Sasebo region in each of her final two seasons and was named the Best Hitter and MVP for the DODEA Pac-East in 2022.

The final middle blocker added for the 2025 season is Nevada transfer Gabriella McLaughlin. The 5-foot-8 senior played three seasons for the Wolfpack where she was named All-Mountain West in 2024. She is a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree in 2023 and led the team in kills (443), kills per set (3.82) and was second in digs with 265 in 2024.

McLaughlin and Maeva will reconnect in Syracuse after having shared the court at Nevada the past two seasons.

Teves is a 5-foot-7 sophomore transfer from Waipahu, Hawaii. She appeared in 25 matches playing in 79 sets at Long Island University in 2024 and tallied 59 digs (0.75 per set) and secured 21 aces with five assists. Joining Teves as a defensive specialist and libero is Yamada, a 5-foot-6 junior from Kanagawa, Japan, who played most recently at Western Arizona.

“We want to build a team that the Syracuse community can see themselves in,” Ganesharatnam added. “We want to be a team that’s truly blue collar, has grit and works hard. We want the relentless pursuit of excellence not just on the court but also in the classroom and in our community. We want to be engaged, and I feel like this group will do that. We want to strengthen our core values and really pursue that.”

The first official practice of the 2025 season is slated for later this month on July 31.

For more on Syracuse volleyball, follow the Orange on social media @CuseVB.

 



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SDSU water polo earns 18 GCC academic honors | News

The San Diego State water polo team matched the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) high with 18 student-athletes garnering GCC All-Academic Team honors for the 2024-25 school year, the league announced on Tuesday from its offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Since SDSU’s inaugural season of water polo, in 1995, it had never earned double digit conference […]

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The San Diego State water polo team matched the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) high with 18 student-athletes garnering GCC All-Academic Team honors for the 2024-25 school year, the league announced on Tuesday from its offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

Since SDSU’s inaugural season of water polo, in 1995, it had never earned double digit conference academic honors in five successive campaigns prior to this year. Last season, SDSU set a program-high with 19 honorees. In 2021 and 2023, the Aztecs set and then equaled the previous program-record with 16 conference academic distinctions.

With its haul of 15 honors in 2022 combined with the 11 that were bestowed on the team in 2019, SDSU has for the sixth time in the last seven years taken home double-digit GCC awards for classroom excellence. The 18 honors earned this year equal the most of any team in the GCC.

This marks the fifth consecutive year the Aztecs have taken home double-digit honors, and the 18 Aztecs were among 111 women who were recognized by the GCC for their success in the classroom.

For inclusion, players must be full-time students with at least one year completed at their current institution, have played in more than 50 percent of their team’s games for the season, and hold a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA.

The 18 Aztecs who met the requirements are: seniors Amanda Chambers, Rose Kanemy, Brooke Lee, Sofia Righetti and Luna Sarmiento, juniors Tiaare Ahovelo, Hannah Bell, Sydney Gish, Megan Holcomb, Aiyana Mendoza, Gabrielle Muehring, Shannon Murphy, and Claudia Valdes, sophomores Lucy Bullock, Sammi Byers and Mimi Stoupas, and freshmen Sierra Johnson and Julianne Stark.

These are the fourth GCC academic honors for Chambers, Kanemy, and Lee, while Righetti, Gish, Murphy and Valdes earned the distinction for the third time. Ahovelo, Bullock, Byers and Stoupas are receiving the designation for the second time in their careers and the remaining seven: Bell, Holcomb, Johnson, Mendoza, Muehring, Sarmiento and Stark are first-time honorees.

Since joining the GCC in 2014, San Diego State players have been honored by the conference 136 times for their academic success.

Under the guidance of head coach Dana Ochsner, San Diego State finished the 2025 season ranked No. 22 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll. It compiled a 15-15 record, 4-3 in conference play, and finished in fourth place in the GCC Championship tournament.

2025 Golden Coast Conference All-Academic Honors
San Diego State Honorees
Tiaare Ahovelo (JR, GK)
Hannah Bell (JR, CTR)
Lucy Bullock (SO, DEF)
Sammi Byers (SO, ATT)
Amanda Chambers (SR, ATT)
Sydney Gish (JR, ATT)
Megan Holcomb (JR, UTL)
Sierra Johnson (FR, ATT)
Rose Kanemy (SR, ATT)
Brooke Lee (SR, ATT)
Aiyana Mendoza (JR, UTL)
Gabrielle Muehring (JR, UTL)
Shannon Murphy (JR, ATT)
Sofia Righetti (SR, DEF)
Luna Sarmiento (SR, DEF)
Julianne Stark (FR, ATT)
Mimi Stoupas (SO, CTR)
Claudia Valdes (JR, ATT)





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Florida Atlantic University Athletics

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic beach volleyball’s Marketa Svozilova was named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American Second Team, announced by the CSC on Tuesday. With the honor, Svozilova becomes the first CSC Academic All-American in program history. She is also one of just five beach volleyball players from the 46 total student-athletes nominated […]

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BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic beach volleyball’s Marketa Svozilova was named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American Second Team, announced by the CSC on Tuesday.

With the honor, Svozilova becomes the first CSC Academic All-American in program history. She is also one of just five beach volleyball players from the 46 total student-athletes nominated to the three NCAA Division I Academic All-America teams.

Svozilova excelled on the sand and in the classroom, boasting a 3.97 GPA and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

A native of Brno, Czech Republic, Svozilova produced one of the best seasons in program history, finishing the 2025 campaign with a 26-5 record, which ranked second on the team. She earned AVCA Second Team All-American, AVCA Top Flight, CUSA Pair of the Year, and CUSA All-Conference First Team honors. Alongside Ashleigh Adams, Svozilova had a record-breaking season, tying the program record for single-season pair victories with an incredible 25-5 record, earning all of her wins on court one. Adams and Svozilova opened the season with a program-record-breaking 13-1 record, including a perfect 9-0 season-opening winning streak. The pair was named CUSA Pair of the Week a league-record four consecutive times (Feb. 25, March 4, March 11, March 18).

At the CUSA Championship, the duo was perfect, going 4-0 with three-straight set wins at the No. 1 position against No. 9 seed Jacksonville State, twice against No. 2 seed Tulane, and defeating No. 4 UAB’s top pair in three sets to earn CUSA All-Tournament Team honors.

Individually, Svozilova earned ranked wins in 2025 against No. 3 & No. 4 TCU, including a victory over 2025 national champion TCU’s 2024 Paris Olympian and top pair of Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno, in addition to defeating No. 7 Florida State, No. 10 LSU, No. 13 Texas, No. 13 & No. 20 Georgia State, No. 14 Washington, and No. 17 FIU twice.

The CSC Academic All-America Women’s At-Large teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must hold a 3.50 cumulative GPA or better, in addition to being a key contributor on the sand.

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