Sports
Witzleben Officially Rounds Out 2025-26 Track and Field Staff
RIVERDALE, NY– Manhattan Men’s and Women’s Cross and Country and Track and Field Head Coach Todd Witzleben officially rounded out his 2025-26 Track and Field Coaching Staff with the additions of Justin Kleppel, Waddell Rembert-Jett, and Amanda Chambers on Tuesday morning. Assistant Coach Paddy McGrath remains as the Throws Coach for the Green and White.
Kleppel joins the Jasper family and returns home to Downstate New York after a four-year stint as a student-athlete for the Buffalo Bulls in the MAC.
Led by then Associate Head Coach Todd Witzleben of Buffalo’s Men’s Cross Country, Middle Distance and Distance Coach, Kleppel recorded career bests in numerous events, including the Indoor 60-Meter Dash with a time of 6.92. Outdoor 60-Meter Dash with a time of 7.13. Outdoor 100-Meter Dash of 10.86. Indoor Long Jump with a distance of 6.90m. Finally, the Outdoor Long Jump with a distance of 6.86m.
“I’ve watched as Justin developed from a walk-on at the University at Buffalo into the leader of the jumps squad,” described Witzleben. “I’m excited to bring him home to New York and have him mentor our strong jumps program at Manhattan.”
In his graduate campaign in 2024-25, Kleppel was named to the All-MAC Second Team for helping his team place second in the Men’s 4×100 Meter Relay at the MAC Outdoor Championships with a season-best time of 41.62. Individually, he finished ninth in the long jump finals with a personal best mark of 6.81 meters. Kleppel graduated from Buffalo with a degree in Public Health.
Kleppel hails from Queens and attended Francis Lewis High School, where he claimed PSAL Borough Champion in the Long Jump with a high school best 22’5″ in the respective event, with a mark of 11.84 in the 100m event.
Rembert-Jett hails from Columbia, SC, after attending South Carolina State as a four-year member of the Bulldogs Track and Field program.
“After a long search process, we found exactly what we were looking for in our new sprints and hurdles coach when we found Waddell,” described Witzleben. “He has the knowledge and enthusiasm to build a program that will soon get noticed around the NCAA.”
The Columbia native made his mark just two months into his collegiate career with a second-place finish at the Buccaneers Invitational with a 4x100m time of 41.04. Later that year at the Gamecock Invitational Outdoor, Rembert-Jett, once again, shone in the 4x100m event with a time of 39.63 and a top-five finish.
In the following indoor campaign, Rembert-Jett took the UAB Vulcan Invitational by storm in the 60m event with a time of 6.88 to finish atop the leaderboard in the respective event.
In his junior year, Rembert-Jett again claimed victory in a pair of 4x400m events. First, at the Samford Bulldog Open with a time of 3:16.34, while beating the previous time by nearly three whole seconds at the MEAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 3:13.64, to sit atop the leaderboard again. Rembert-Jett graduated with an undergraduate degree in 2022 and with a graduate degree in May 2025.
Chambers, a former student-athlete at the University at Albany, was a member of the Cross Country and Track and Field programs for five seasons, highlighted by three America East All-Conference accolades.
“Amanda was highly recommended as an up-and-coming distance coach,” said Witzleben. “As an athlete, she battled adversity to become one of the top runners in the Northeast. She knows what it takes to be great. Our Jasper athletes are going to benefit greatly from her experience and leadership.”
While a member of the Great Danes, Chambers captured her first victory as a student-athlete at the Central Connecticut State University Invitational in the 4x400m event with a time of 4:13.28. At the RPI Capital District Classic, the Schenectady native again took the 4x400m event by storm and posted another victory with a time of 4:05.82.
In the final event of her collegiate career, Chambers took home first place in the 10,000m at the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 34:18.13.
After her stint as a student-athlete, Chambers joined the team as an Assistant Coach for Middle Distance and Distance runners under the tutelage of Matt Jones and Roberto J. Vives. Chambers, under the historical duo, helped the women’s program capture its 14th straight and 16th overall America East outdoor title, extending its longest active conference winning streak among Division I institutions. As a member of the Jaspers Track and Field coaching staff, Chambers will also join the Cross Country coaching roster.
Finally, making his return is former Jasper and current Throws Coach, Paddy McGrath ’95. McGrath, a 2008 Manhattan University Hall of Famer, rejoined the coaching staff in 2019 and has overseen the throwing contingency ever since.
“Paddy [McGrath] will continue coaching our throws group. We have put together an outstanding staff that will lead us to MAAC Championships through strong coaching and recruiting,” said Witzleben. “We’re building a positive team culture that will provide our student athletes an incredible experience.”
The Jaspers return to action on Friday, January 9, when the Green and White’s Indoor season continues with a trip to The Armory to compete in the Lions Indoor Invitational hosted by TCNJ.
Jan. 12, 2026, 4:09 a.m. CT
Here is the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s volleyball Super Team for the 2025 season. Players are listed in alphabetical order in their respective tiers.
Read about our player of the year, Lubbock-Cooper Liberty senior Campbell Beeler.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Emma Clawson, Sr., OH, Shallowater
Clawson, a New Mexico State signee, notched 511 kills (.303 hitting percentage), 157 digs, 36 aces, 13 blocks and eight assists. She was District 2-3A MVP and Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state.
ETBU beach volleyball team serves Honduras communities on mission trip
Published 5:45 am Monday, January 12, 2026
East Texas Baptist University’s beach volleyball team recently returned from a trip to Roatan , an island part of Honduras, as part of ETBU’s Tiger Athletic Mission Experience. Students partnered with International Sports Federation and Roatan Mission Fellowship for ministry and service for a week.
It was the 24th trip for the ETBU Athletic Department TAME initiative and the first for the ETBU beach volleyball team.
When players arrived at the home of their host family, they were greeted with friendly faces, dinner, smores, and fresh coconuts, according to a statement from ETBU.
“Through all the chaos of traveling, it was exciting to watch the Lord force us to slow down and be patient and wait on His timing,” sophomore Sierra Wendt said. “When things could have caused us to lose joy or excitement, we spent the time having team Bible studies and fellowship. Never once did the team lose fire for the Lord or eagerness to share His word.”
The first full day in Roatan began with a traditional Honduran breakfast before players started a beach volleyball camp for local children. The 50 children ranging in age from 6 to 17 who attended the camp enjoyed games, learning about beach volleyball, and listening to devotionals about trusting in Jesus, ETBU said.
After a break for lunch, the team started its afternoon volleyball camp session with another group of children.
“Despite the language barrier, it was evident that God’s love knows no barrier,” freshman Emmaley Matz said. “For our group devotional we discussed the story of Jesus calming the storm. After sharing trials where we felt God in our own lives, the kids shared their own stories. It was amazing to hear how God has worked in their lives and how important it is to have trust and faith in God’s plan.”
The team’s third day in Roatan included a Christmas celebration with the local children who live and work near the landfill, according to ETBU. The children and their families earn money by picking through acres of garbage to find plastic, cans, and metal to sell for a few dollars.
In 2025, Roatan Mission Fellowship was able to send 180 children living near the landfill to school with everything they need, including school uniforms and supplies.
“The team handed out Christmas presents to these children and spread Christ’s love through many hugs and gifts,” ETBU said
On their final day in Roatan, team members had another session of playing volleyball with local children and young adults. After lunch, the team served at one of Roatan Mission Fellowship’s partner ministries called Little Sprouts, which offers spiritual, medical, and food support to the neediest families in and around Roatan’s largest city. The team donated soccer balls and volleyballs to the ministry.
“As soon as our bus pulled onto the gravel road in front of their building, the kids swarmed our bus with smiles and waves,” sophomore Paige Dickson said. “As each one of us stepped off the bus, we couldn’t even get down the stairs before we were greeted with massive hugs. The kids had massive smiles, and there were so many giggles and voices flooding the yard. Everyone was happy and relaxed, and all the kids felt seen and safe. They jumped into our arms, and we held them and talked with them as long as we could.”
Head ETBU Beach Volleyball Coach Allison Kuster reflected on the experience and expressed her pride in her team during their week in Roatan.
“Before we left, they all came up with individual goals that they wanted to meet while we were there,” Kuster said. “Some of the goals included getting outside their comfort zone, praying for a stranger, and asking someone if they know who Jesus is. Every single one of my girls met their goals and more. I have never seen a team more on fire for the Lord and wanting to share their faith with everyone they meet, and as a coach, that is one of the most incredible things you could ever ask for.”
After the 2025 season ended for Cougar volleyball, a question mark arose about who would be signed to replace outside hitters Taryn Vrieling and Melina Christodoulou. They will not be returning due to graduation.
That question has been, at least partially, answered as of Wednesday, when Cougar volleyball officially announced they signed transfers Madyn Cervellera and Emerson Matthews.
This gets the Cougs back up to five outside hitters going into the 2026 season, as Eliana Ti’a, Haumea Marumoto and Mary Healy are all set to return.
Nonetheless, with two new pins coming to the Palouse, let us take a look at who they are.
Madyn Cervellera:
Cervellera is an incoming transfer from Seattle University, which is one of the Cougars’ West Coast Conference rivals. Before that, Cervellera played at Cal Poly-Humboldt in 2024. She will be a true junior in her first season at WSU this fall.
In the two matches Cervellera played against the Cougs this past season, she tallied 20 total kills, 12 digs and five blocks. She was one of Seattle U’s most productive players in those matches.
Overall, in her one season with the Redhawks, she led the team with 378 kills, which was 98 more kills than Lucie Blažková, 165 more than her next-closest teammate and the fourth-most in the WCC. She also had 116 kills at Poly-Humboldt in the 17 matches she played.
She is also a strong defensive player. She logged 41 total blocks last season, which was more than both Vrieling and Christodoulou. She also tallied 261 digs (15th-most in the WCC), which was 133 more than Ti’a, the outside hitter on WSU with the most digs. At Poly-Humboldt, she had 186 digs and 32 total blocks.
However, historically, she has not been the most accurate. She hit .148 in 2025 and .093 in 2024. Her .148 would have been the second-lowest for an outside hitter on the Cougars if she played for WSU in 2025.
Nonetheless, she was still one of the most productive outside hitters in the WCC last season, earning her an All-WCC honorable mention.
Head coach Korey Schroeder has been high on Cervellera since playing her twice this past season.
“Between playing against her twice and scouting for other WCC matches, we watched Madyn compete a lot last season. She is a great athlete [who] impacts matches both offensively and defensively, and that showed with the numbers she put up at Seattle,” Schroeder said in a statement posted on the WSU Athletics website.
Emerson Matthews:
Matthews will be a true sophomore when she takes the court for the Cougars next fall. This past season, as a freshman, she played in all 27 matches for the University of Buffalo and started in 26.
At Buffalo, offensively, she led the Bulls with 366 kills (fourth-most in the Mid-American Conference) and also had 25 aces. Her 366 kills were 86 more than Blažková had this past season, and the 25 aces would have been fourth-most on the Cougars. She was also accurate and efficient, hitting .177 for the Bulls. For reference, outside hitter Mary Healy hit .178 for the Cougars this past season.
Defensively, Matthews had 41 total blocks and 190 digs. In total, she logged 419 points, which was third-most in the MAC.
Her efforts this season got her named to the All-MAC second team and the MAC All-Freshman team.
Before playing at the University of Buffalo, Matthews was selected to Canada’s National Excellence Program to play volleyball. She also played in the BioSteel All-Canadian Games for Team Canada in 16U and 17U, and was named the Sask Volleyball 17U Female Athlete of the Year in 2024. Additionally, she represented the 19U Team Canada at the Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation Pan American Cup.
Schroeder was impressed with what Matthews accomplished as a freshman.“What Emerson accomplished last fall in her first collegiate season is impressive. Being a freshman is hard, but she not only contributed but led her team offensively while playing a six-rotation role,” he said about her in a statement released on the WSU Athletics website.
LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 10 UC San Diego men’s volleyball picked up its first sweep of the season on Sunday, defeating visiting Rockhurst 25-17, 25-20, 25-12 at LionTree Arena. The Tritons are now 3-0 on the season.
UC San Diego hit .457 while holding the Hawks to .100. The Tritons managed 40 kills and just eight errors across the match. Josh Ewert had a match-high 10 kills, while Sebastiano Sani had nine on .500 hitting and Jim Garrison had seven with a .778 clip. Setter Cameron Wurl led the offense, racking up 28 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons hit a blistering .524 in set one, with Rockhurst only managing .040. The hosts took an early 8-3 lead after three-straight Rockhurst errors and never looked back. A Ewert kill and Rockhurst’s eighth error of the set closed out the first frame with the Tritons on top 25-17.
Set two was the closest of the match, but UC San Diego still connected at a .464 clip. The visitors led 10-8 before the Tritons went on an 8-1 run to lead 16-11. The Tritons had six kills during that stretch from five different players. The closest Rockhurst got down the stretch was a 20-18 Triton lead before UC San Diego closed set two on a 5-2 advantage to win 25-20.
The third set saw the Tritons register five of the nine blocks they recorded during the match. That defense saw Rockhurst hit a match-low -.036 in the set. The Hawks actually had an early 7-5 lead before the Tritons took 10 of the next 12 points to open up a six-point lead. The Tritons ultimately outscored Rockhurst 20-5 to finish the match with a commanding 25-12 set three victory.
TRITON TIDBITS
- The Tritons had a season-low three service errors per set.
- UC San Diego is 3-0 to start the season for the second-straight year.
UP NEXT
The Tritons have their first road trip of the season, visiting No. 8 BYU for a top-10 clash. The two teams will face off this Friday and Saturday, with both matches beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
No. 9 Stanford men’s volleyball (0-1, 0-0 MPSF) fell to No. 12 Lewis University (2-0, 0-0 MIVA) in its season opener at Burnham Pavilion Saturday evening. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Cardinal ultimately lost the match in straight sets of 30-28, 25-21 and 25-22.
“Our team came out a little flat in the beginning, and there were some plays that didn’t go our way, but overall, I liked the fight,” said senior opposite hitter Moses Wagner, who led the team with 12 kills, six digs, an ace and a block. “It’s the first game of the season, and there’s definitely a lot to improve. I think it’s just about fighting a little bit harder going into this week, serving better, passing better, and focusing on all the small stuff.”
Stanford started slow in the first set, with the Flyers quickly taking a 5-2 lead. The Cardinal returned points, however, in the following rallies, with kills from Wagner and sophomore middle blocker Kaumana Carreira and an ace from senior outsider hitter Theo Snoey bringing the score to a tight 8-8. Stanford was able to temporarily widen the gap to 15-11, but the Flyers responded with powerful blocks and well-placed kills that led to a lead change at 17-16.
The Cardinal reclaimed the lead at 20-19 with a kill by junior outside hitter Nate Clinton and even brought the crowd to its feet for the match point at 24-21. Lewis clawed its way back, though, to 24-24 and matched each Cardinal point until 28-28. Unfortunately, this was followed by a kill from Lewis senior outside hitter Daniel Haber and the ball tipping over the net in an unlucky play, closing out the first set in a 30-28 win for the Flyers.
The second set was equally tight, with neither team leading by more than one point until an ace by Lewis junior setter Diego Estrada gave the Flyers a 15-13 lead. Several Lewis service errors and a kill by Cardinal middle blocker Gray Mandelbaum kept the score within four points for subsequent rallies, but Lewis increased its lead to 23-18 with a kill by redshirt sophomore setter Cameron Hoying that left the crowd groaning. Although the Cardinal managed to secure the next three points and Carreira made a significant block, the Flyers won the second set 25-21 off of a Stanford service error.
Stanford took the court for the third set with renewed energy and some new additions. Freshman Erik Ask started at outside hitter and contributed three kills and a dig, sophomore libero Evan Porter totaled six digs and sophomore setter Ryan Grant had 12 assists and two digs. Still, Lewis carried the momentum, scoring the first point of the set. A kill by Cardinal redshirt junior middle blocker Luke McFall tied the score early on, but the Flyers regained their lead, earning six points in a row and maintaining a gap of at least three points for the remainder of the set. Toward the end, Stanford made a valiant push, scoring four consecutive points to narrow the deficit from 18-24 to 22-24. Regrettably, they came up short. Lewis scored the final point to close out the set 25-22 and win the match.
In spite of the disappointing result, the team remains optimistic heading into the regular season, according to Wagner.
The Cardinal will face off against No. 7 Loyola Chicago (1-1, 0-0 MIVA) at the First Point Collegiate Challenge tournament in Phoenix, Arizona on Jan. 17 at 3 p.m.
Here is the 2025 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal volleyball Super Team
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