Despite the numerous awards to her name, sophomore Hailie Mace was never a surefire successor for a spot on the celebrated UCLA defense. The current Bruin starting center back managed to bookend her tenure at Buena High by reaping honors such as the 2015 Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame Player of the Year and […]
Category Archives: Features
Coach Cori Close studies basketball at every court she steps on
Cori Close can’t spell for her life. From 2004-2011, scouting reports, memos and emails from the then-associate head coach all arrived to Florida State coach Sue Semrau sprinkled with errors. “Thank God for spell check now,” Semrau said. Close might never have mastered spelling, but even heading into her sixth year at the helm of […]
Family, dedication at the heart of freshman guard Lonzo Ball’s game
Lonzo Ball was born to ball. No really, just ask his father. “When I realized he would be good at basketball?” LaVar Ball asked. “You probably don’t want to hear this – as soon as he came out the womb. I told him he was born to go pro.” It was all written in Lonzo […]
Former UCLA volleyball stars now play key roles as assistant coaches
Long before they were assistant coaches for UCLA women’s volleyball, Tony Ker and Kaitlin Nielsen were best friends – they spent time together almost every day as student-athletes at UCLA. When both were hired to work together at their alma mater, they realized just how much their friendship had come full circle. “Oh my gosh! […]
Women’s volleyball rides the wave of united longtime companionship
Two weeks are all a freshman volleyball player gets before she’s thrown into fast-paced Division I play. That’s 14 days to adjust to college life, get to know teammates and learn the team’s system. The transition isn’t easy. But for Savvy Simo, it was a little easier.
Matt Farmer brings in water polo expertise from the Midwest
The American water polo recruiting “radar” is most attuned to California – players from the state go on to play for schools all over the country. Very rarely does it pass over the Midwest. Redshirt junior center Matt Farmer, the lone Midwesterner on the UCLA men’s water polo team, is one of five players not from […]
Freshman Claire Markey crosses over from team sports to the track
Most Division I athletes around the country have been competing in their respective sports for years. On the UCLA women’s cross-country team, for example, every single competitor has had extensive track experience, and many have a comparable amount in cross-country. Then there’s freshman Claire Markey. On Sept. 24, Markey was in Falcon Heights, Minnesota at […]