RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team is opening Southland Conference (SLC) play Wednesday at 12 p.m. against the Lamar Cardinals at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on School Day, presented by Whataburger. 
 
Head-to-Head History
• UTRGV is 9-28 all-time against the Cardinals but has won the last four matches in the series – all via sweeps. The Vaqueros come into this match after winning back-to-back matches via sweep and have claimed four of their five victories in 3-0 fashion.   
• The last match between these teams was on Nov. 2, 2024 in Beaumont, won 3-0 by the Vaqueros. UTRGV hasn’t lost to the Cardinals – or given up a set to the squad – since Sept. 18, 2015. 
 
Last Time Out 
• UTRGV went 2-1 at the Erie Insurance Invitational hosted by James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. Junior middle blocker Aaliyah Snead and senior right side Valentina Sarti Cipriani were named to the All-Tournament Team. The Vaqueros dropped a 3-1 match to JMU on Friday, then swept William & Mary and Delaware State on Saturday and Sunday. The Vaqueros had their two best hitting performances of the season in the wins, hitting .308 against William & Mary and .341 against Delaware State. For her efforts running the offense over the weekend at the final non-conference tournament, junior Isabella Costantini was named the SLC Setter of the Week.  
• The Cardinals went 3-0 at their own Lamar Invitational. They earned a 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton and a 3-2 victory over Texas Southern. They capped the weekend with a 3-0 win over Abilene Christian. Freshman libero Gabby Baker was named the Lamar Invitational MVP and the SLC Defensive Player of the Week. 

Complete match notes can be found here: 

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SEARCY – The Great American Conference has named Harding’s Olivia Wiedower the conference Setter of the Week. This marks the second consecutive week Wiedower has earned the award.

A junior from Conway, Arkansas, Wiedower was a key player in the Lady Bisons’ perfect week, where they won all three of their matches. She averaged an impressive 11.45 assists per set.

Wiedower started the week with 30 assists and five digs in a sweeping victory over Southwest Baptist. She followed that up with 38 assists and eight digs in a three-set win against Trevecca Nazarene. To cap off her stellar performance, she posted a season-high 58 assists and a career-high 22 digs in a victory over Crowley’s Ridge.

WASHINGTON – American University Volleyball outside hitter Sophie Dufour continues her torrid pace in her freshman campaign, earning Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors for the third week in a row. 

Dufour totaled 30 kills, 29 digs and eight aces in a dynamic performance across AU’s 1-1 weekend in Patriot League play. She posted her third double-double on Friday night against Colgate with 18 kills and a season-high 20 digs, adding six service aces to contribute 25 points for her team. The freshman just missed a second straight double-double in American’s 3-1 win over Army on Saturday, going for 12 kills and nine digs. 

The Frankfort, Ky. native has taken the conference by storm, ranking second  in kills (167), kills per set (3.80), points (188) and points per set (4.27).

Sophomore libero was given an honorable mention in the Players of the Week voting, taking on 45 digs in the two-game stretch. She held a .930 reception percentage, committing just four errors on 57 total attempts. 

The Eagles are back in Patriot League action this Friday, Sept. 26 when they host Navy at Bender Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

Keep up With Us

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for golf and cross country on Tuesday. Student-athletes from Augsburg and Carleton claimed the Conference’s weekly honors.

The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference’s sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Throughout the fall season, team sports (football, soccer, and volleyball) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (cross country and golf) announced on Tuesday afternoons. The winners of the latest Athlete of the Week awards are listed below, along with details on their outstanding performances.

The MIAC Athlete of the Week archive has complete details on each week’s selections and winners.

MIAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week

Mohammed Bati

Augsburg University

Sr.

Dodola, Ethiopia / GAP School

Mohammed Bati earned a 5.2-second victory at the St. Olaf Invitational on 9/20, finishing the 8K race in 24:42.5. It was the 15th victory of his 22-race cross country career and his 16th time breaking 25 minutes at the 8K distance. Bati was also named the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Men’s Cross Country National Athlete of the Week, becoming the first Auggie cross country runner in history to receive the national honor.

MIAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week

Hannah Preisser

Carleton College

Sr.

Chapel Hill, N.C. / Carrboro

Hannah Preisser crossed the finish line at 22:03.2 to win the 6K women’s race at the St. Olaf Invitational on 9/20. This was Preisser’s second straight individual victory and the seventh of her collegiate cross country career. Preisser topped the 220-runner field and paced the nationally-ranked Knights to the team title.

MIAC Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week

Sam Higaki

Carleton College

Jr.

San Mateo, Calif. / Aragon

Sam Higaki earned medalist honors at the Saint John’s Fall Invitational on 9/20-21 with a two-round score of 136 (-8). Higaki tied his career low with a 7-under par 65 in the first round before shooting a 1-under par 71 in round two. Over the two-day tournament, Higaki played the par 4s at 6-under-par and had eleven birdies on the weekend.

MIAC Women’s Golf Athlete of the Week

Kate Yi

Carleton College

Fy.

Valencia, Calif. / West Ranch

Kate Yi won the St. Kate’s Invitational on 9/20-21 with a two-round score of 142 (-2). Yi posted a 2-under par 70 at Eagle Valley Golf Club to open the tournament before carding an even-par 72 at Braemar Golf Course in round two. Yi recorded seven birdies on her way to the first medalist honor of her collegiate career.

Brittany Abercrombie

Abercrombie is no stranger to the captain’s role after spending four consecutive weeks with that team-leading responsibility in 2024. 

She made history in 2024 by becoming the ninth newcomer in any Athletes Unlimited sport to win a title, and the fourth champion in AU Pro Volleyball history. She put together one of the most dominant seasons ever, tallying 4,521 leaderboard points–the third-highest single-season total all-time–and setting records for win points (2,020) and stat points (2,001). She became the first AU athlete to record 2,000 win points in a single season and led the league in MVP points (500). Abercrombie also strung together seven straight Match MVPs to open her AU career, won 13 of 15 matches overall, and never fell below second on the leaderboard en route to the crown.

Her resume already sits among the league’s greats. She ranks fifth all-time with nine 300-point matches, tied for seventh with 11 Match MVPs, and is one of just six athletes to reach 200 kills in a season. Beyond AU, Abercrombie has played professionally in Poland, Germany, Turkey, and South Korea, represented Puerto Rico’s national team, and was a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree at USC. 

She most recently left her mark in the Major League Volleyball (MLV) record books by tallying the most points in a single season, most kills and points in a three-set match, and most kills in a single season while leading the Orlando Valkyries to the league title and capturing Opposite of the Year honors for the 2025 season. AU newcomer libero Pornpun Guedpard and AU veteran middle Kaz Brown were also a part of that championship run, and will both be solid options for her in the Week One draft. Either way, she’s poised to take all of the momentum from the last year into Omaha action. 

Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía

De La Cruz-Mejía is a staple of AU history and owns career records for overall leaderboard points (15,614), win points (6,540), stat points (7,374), MVP points (1,700), kills (791), and service aces (65). She has captained more weeks than any athlete across AU sports (15), and remains the only player to captain in every season of AU Pro Volleyball.

De La Cruz-Mejía has consistently ranked at the top of the leaderboard. She became the 2022 Champion, a three-time medalist, and 2024 runner-up with 4,142 points. She’s the all-time Match MVP leader (36) and has authored six of the top eight single-match point totals in league history. She’s also the only athlete with five matches of at least 20 kills. Internationally, she is a decorated member of the Dominican Republic national team, an eight-time gold medalist, and competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2024, she also played with the Omaha Supernovas of MLV, helping secure the league’s inaugural title.

Last year, her rosters underwent natural changes throughout the weeks, but she seemed partial to Manami Kojima in the libero spot, and veteran Tori Dixon as an option in the middle. No matter who she chooses, her experience in the captain’s chair alone gives her a leg up on the rest of the Week One leaders, and it’ll be interesting to see her strategy and expertise at work come draft time. 

Madi Kingdon Rishel

Kingdon Rishel may have the least experience as an AU captain, but she made an immediate impact in her AU debut last season, climbing the leaderboard and taking charge for Week Five. She finished third with 3,400 leaderboard points and earned an All-Position Team nod. She led the league with 242 kills (just one shy of the single-season record) and posted three 20+ kill outings, becoming the only athlete to do so in a single campaign. Her 10 Match MVP nods placed her among the top five in league history for a season, and she eclipsed the 400-point mark in matches twice.

Her AU rookie season followed an extensive international career with stops in Italy, Turkey, South Korea, China, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia. She was also a member of Team USA from 2016 to 2022, winning multiple gold medals in the Volleyball Nations League and Pan American Cup. At Arizona, she graduated as one of the most decorated Wildcats in program history, ranking second in career kills (1,943) and earning multiple AVCA All-America honors.

She rolled into League One Volleyball’s inaugural season, where she was a constant contributor to the Houston squad, and played alongside Team USA superstars and 2025 AU newcomers Micha Hancock and Jordan Thompson. That pre-established on-court chemistry could guide her draft choices.

Morgan Hentz

Hentz enters her fourth AU season as one of the league’s most accomplished defenders. She was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and earned her first career medalist finish last season by placing fourth overall. In 2024, she reset her own single-season record with 242 digs and became the first player in AU history to record double-digit digs in all 15 matches.

Her defensive excellence extends across three AU seasons: she ranks fourth all-time in leaderboard points (9,515), second in MVP points (700), and fifth in stat points (3,935). She also holds the single-match digs record (25) and has logged 43 double-digit dig matches—the most in league history. Professionally, Hentz played for Dresden SC in Germany and the Atlanta Vibe in the PVF, while also serving as an Olympic alternate for Team USA in 2024. At Stanford, she was a three-time national champion and the program’s all-time digs leader (2,310).

Hentz spent all summer with the U.S. National Team, playing in the Volleyball Nations League and the FIVB World Championship following a stellar season with MLV’s Atlanta Vibe, which earned her a second straight Libero of the Year award.

In Atlanta, she spent two consecutive seasons with setter Marlie Monserez and trusted her to guide the offense in AU as well. She chose Monserez as her setter in both weeks that she served as a captain last AU season, and could stick with that trend to kick off the year in Omaha.  

ST. PAUL, Minn. – For the second week in a row, the Macalester College women’s cross country team is ranked sixth in the North Region in this week’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association North Region rankings, which were released today. The Scots took seventh at the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational against mostly Division II and NAIA schools last Friday.

Last Friday at Griak, junior Ingrid Norquist (Minneapolis, Minn./Anoka) was the first Macalester runner across the line, finishing 16th with a time of 23:41.7 over the 6000-meter course. Next for the Scots was sophomore Kate Fox (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt), placed 28th in 24:17.4. Junior Samantha Ellis (Intervale, N.H./Gould Academy) finished in 57th place, junior Ivy Coldren (Frederick, Md./Urbana) took 76th, and first year Aubrey Jensen (Floresville, Texas) finished in 84th to close out Macalester’s top five.

Carleton jumped over UW-La Crosse to take over the top spot in the North Region rankings. St. Olaf follows UW-La Crosse in third, with UW-Eau Claire, UW-Whitewater and Macalester rounding out the top six. UW-Stevens Point and Ripon enter the rankings this week at seventh and eighth, with UW-Oshkosh and Concordia Wisconsin at ninth and 10th.

Macalester will compete at the Blugold Invitational, hosted by UW-Eau Claire, on Friday, Oct. 3 in Colfax, Wis.

Click here to view the USTFCCCA rankings for this week.