Barry Punzal

3 days ago | noozhawk.com | Barry Punzal

It’s been a long run for Ryann Neushul in her collegiate water polo career, and it ended the same way it started at Stanford — with a national championship. No. 1 Stanford won its 10th NCAA Women’s Water Polo national championship on Sunday, beating No. 3 USC, 11-7, at Indiana University. The title was a momentous one for Ryann as she became Stanford’s only four-time national champion. Her older sisters Kiley and Jamie won three titles during their time playing for the Cardinal.

3 days ago | noozhawk.com | Mark Patton |Barry Punzal

I don’t need Sunday’s Hallmark holiday to remember the Mother of all Coaches. She knew how to get the best out of me, which I admit was no easy feat. A penchant for daydreaming often turned my dreams of athletic greatness into a nightmare. The teachers at my high school mostly just shook their heads when I stared out the window instead of at the classroom blackboard. The old-school coaches of the early 1970s, however, gave no such pass. They were more likely to slap the side of my head.

1 week ago | noozhawk.com | Barry Punzal

Laguna Blanca setter Baylor Wilson can’t go wrong in any rotation alignment the Owls are in on the volleyball court. Wilson has two powerhouse outside hitters in Liam Knezevic and Tyson Deveze, and they play opposite each other, which means he always has a go-to attacker to feed at the net.

1 week ago | noozhawk.com | Barry Punzal

A pair of Division 1 soccer players are now getting their kicks playing pickleball. Scott Buie and Hayden Carlson, who starred in soccer at Dos Pueblos High and continued their careers at UC Davis, joined forces to win the men’s 3.0 age 5-35 division title on the final day of the Pickleball in the Danger Zone/American Riviera Classic on Sunday at the Santa Barbara Municipal Courts. Buie/Carlson defeated the Goleta twin brothers Hudson and Asher Frei for the gold medal, 11-2, 11-8.

1 week ago | noozhawk.com | Mark Patton |Barry Punzal

Overview: The legacy of the Strand Family has continued through the sands of time with both AVP and Olympic volleyball stars East Beach may be a playground, but twin sisters Kelly and Lisa Strand had to work their way there a half-century ago. They’d follow their older siblings by riding their bikes for six miles, packing nothing but a sack lunch and the hunger to play some beach volleyball.