CHS volleyball sweeps Tullahoma

CHS volleyball player Kiya Ferrel defends the net.

The CHS volleyball team played in county rival Tullahoma on Sept. 23 for the second time this season. This time, however, the Cats would travel to Coffee County Central. The Red Raiders swept Tullahoma in the first meeting of the two teams and had won quite a few tough matches since then. The first set was punctuated by a dominate performance by Laura Brandt who blasted Tullahoma with six aces. Kiya Ferrel made her presence known in the first set with thunderous spikes that Tullahoma couldn’t return. The duo combined for 11 points for the Red Raiders as the team cruised to a 25 to 16 victory in the first set.

Ferrel kept her dominate performance in the second set as she was a menace around the net. Ferrel was always in a position to score during the match, but she hit her stride in the second set as she scored six points for her team. Keri Munn also found her stride in the second set as she scored ace after ace on Tullahoma. The team took the second set off of Tullahoma 25-15.

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The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to terms with former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, multiple media outlets reported. Bleacher Report said the Chiefs have designs on having Rees-Zammit, a native of Wales, compete as both a running back and wide receiver. He also will be expected to participate on special teams, particularly on returns under the NFL's new kickoff format. Rees-Zammit, 23, announced his desire to play in the NFL during a social media post in January. He ran a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash during his International Pathway Program pro day last week. This season, NFL teams are allowed to promote an international practice squad player to the active roster a maximum of three times. --Field Level Media

Free-agent running back J.K. Dobbins is scheduled to visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, his agency confirmed to ESPN. Dobbins has been cleared for football activities after working his way back from a torn Achilles in Week 1 of last season. Injuries have defined Dobbins' NFL career since he was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. After rushing for 805 yards and nine touchdowns in his rookie season, Dobbins missed the entire 2021 campaign with a torn ACL. He played four games in 2022 before requiring arthroscopic knee surgery and was unavailable until Week 14. All told, Dobbins has played just nine out of a possible 51 regular-season games over the past three seasons. He has rushed for 1,347 yards with 12 touchdowns in 24 career games. Dobbins, 25, will see a few familiar faces during his visit with the Chargers, however. Fellow running back Gus Edwards signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with Los Angeles earlier this month, and former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman is now holding the same post with the Chargers. Running back Austin Ekeler left the Chargers for the Washington Commanders in free agency. Ekeler tied for the NFL lead in combined rushing and receiving touchdowns in both 2021 (20) and 2022 (18) as the Chargers' featured back. His production tailed off in 2023, when he rushed 179 times for 628 yards and five touchdowns and caught 51 passes for 436 yards and one touchdown. --Field Level Media

ALBANY, N.Y. --- Before Mackenzie Holmes stepped foot on the campus of Indiana University, the school's women's basketball program had never been past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now, the fourth-seeded Hoosiers are in the Sweet 16 for the third time with the fifth-year All-America forward leading the way. "It means everything. This is the vision that coach (Teri) Moren had for this program, and I knew when I got on campus I wanted to be a part of it," Holmes said after Indiana's 75-68 victory over No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Monday in the second round. "Just to be able to be a small piece that have history is amazing." The path to advancing in the Albany Region 1 is far from easy for Indiana, however. On Friday, the Hoosiers will face No. 1 overall seed South Carolina for the right to advance to the Elite Eight. To avoid becoming the next victim of the undefeated Gamecocks (34-0), Indiana (26-5) will have to play near-perfect basketball. And the Hoosiers will need everyone to step up, not just Holmes. "I just think it's that it can be anybody's night, night-in and night-out," Holmes said. "We have so many threats, we're so well-balanced, and I think it's just our maturity level and our composure and the competitiveness that we have that we are never going to quit, no matter what the score is." The Hoosiers did receive 29 points from Holmes against Oklahoma, but they also got 17 points from Sydney Parrish and 12 from Sara Scalia. Parrish, Scalia and Yarden Garzon combined for 15 assists, too. That sort of varied offensive firepower will be needed against a South Carolina team that ranks first nationally in opponent field-goal percentage (31.7). And against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second round, the Gamecocks showed they can stand out on offense too, scoring 88 points. Freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley powered the Gamecocks in that dominant 88-41 victory over the Tar Heels, scoring 20 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting to go with nine rebounds. Fellow rookie Tessa Johnson played well too, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in a crucial stretch that helped the Gamecocks pull away early. Both Fulwiley and Johnson have been key for South Carolina this season as coach Dawn Staley replaced her entire starting five from last season's squad, which was undefeated until a Final Four loss to Iowa. Fulwiley is second on the team in scoring with an average of 12.2 points per game, while Johnson has the second-best free-throw percentage (85.0) and is shooting 43.3 percent from 3-point range. "They see themselves as being integral parts of our success," Staley said of Fulwiley and Johnson. "And they didn't back down from it." Much of the focus in Friday's game will be in the paint as two of the best post players in the country -- Indiana's Holmes and South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso -- will battle. Both earned spots on the Associated Press All-America team this season, with Cardoso landing on the second team and Holmes on the third. The 6-foot-4 Holmes is one of the most efficient scorers in the country, ranking fourth nationally in field-goal percentage (65.7) while averaging 20 points per game. Cardoso - at 6-foot-7 - mostly is regarded for her defense as she averages 2.6 blocks and 9.5 rebounds per game, but she also leads the Gamecocks in scoring with 13.9 points per game. The Albany 1 Region went mostly chalk in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, as No. 2 seed Notre Dame (28-6) and No. 3 seed Oregon State (26-7) also advanced. Despite being depleted by injuries, the Fighting Irish rolled to two victories in South Bend, Ind., in the first and second rounds, beating No. 15 seed Kent State by 14 points and No. 7 seed Ole Miss by 15. Notre Dame has played all season without All-American guard Olivia Miles, and it lost leading shot-blocker Kylee Watson to a knee injury in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Aside from a minute or two here and there for players way down the bench, Notre Dame has mostly used a six-player rotation. Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron each topped 38 minutes played in both wins. Hidalgo had a double-double against Kent State, and Citron had one against Ole Miss. As long as those two and Maddy Westbeld - who had 20 points against the Rebels - are playing well, Notre Dame looks difficult to beat. And a zone scheme on defense has helped, too. "I think the important thing is for one of the three of us is to set the tone early," Westbeld said. "I think that's kind of where we are at this point. The three of us are kind of the leaders, whether it's on the defensive end or on the offensive end. It's up to one of us to set the tone." If Notre Dame can get by an Oregon State team led by Raegan Beers and Talia von Oelhoffen, it could see South Carolina in the Elite Eight. That matchup would be a rematch of the season opener for both teams - a 100-71 win for the Gamecocks in Paris. ---Mitchell Northam, Field Level Media

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After working a dozen years for two of the most successful programs in the nation, John Jakus is getting a shot to lead his own program. Florida Atlantic announced Wednesday that it hired Jakus as its head basketball coach. Terms of the deal weren't revealed, but Jakus received a five-year contract, according to multiple media reports. Jakus, 48, takes over the Owls after spending the last 12 years at Baylor and Gonzaga. After joining the Bears as a graduate assistant for two seasons, he moved to Gonzaga to serve as the director of basketball operations under head coach Mark Few. In 2017, he rejoined Baylor as an assistant coach under Scott Drew. The Bulldogs reached the national championship game in Jakus' tenure in 2017 and the Bears won the national championship in 2021. In his 12 seasons as a Division I coach, Jakus has seen his teams appear in five Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and two Final Fours with the one national championship. "When we began this search, we spoke to coaches, athletic directors, administrators, scouts, and agents, and the name that kept coming up with glowing reviews was John Jakus," FAU athletic director Brian White said in a press release. "He checks so many boxes in what we're looking for to enhance and build on the momentum in our program. His pedigree, learning from two of the greatest coaches in the game today, is unmatched." The Owls made a surprising run to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed last season under head coach Dusty May, losing on a buzzer-beater to San Diego State in a national semifinal. FAU began this season ranked No. 10 and got as high as No. 7. Finishing the 2023-24 regular season with a 25-8 record, the Owls were seeded eighth in the East Region but fell 77-65 in overtime to No. 9 seed Northwestern in the first round on Friday. Prior to the back-to-back appearances, FAU had made only one NCAA Tournament in its history. Earlier this week, May was hired as Michigan's new head coach. A Chicago native, Jakus coached high school ball in Cincinnati before stints as head coach with Athletes in Action and pro teams in Macedonia and Bulgaria prior to joining Baylor for the first time in 2012. FAU will introduce Jakus at a news conference on Thursday. --Field Level Media

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