TUESDAY SPORTS, OCTOBER 14, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels volleyball host SF Jefferson tonight at 6:30 pm. The Kernels improved to 11-4 on the season with a five-set victory on Saturday afternoon vs. No. 5 Rapid City Stevens. Mitchell has won five matches in a row, their longest winning streak since September of 2021.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s golf is tied for third place after the first round of The Statesmen’s Tournament at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities region of Western Illinois. The Tigers are +57, tied with Clarke, and just three shots behind second place William Penn. Allison Meyerink and Ashton Austreim are tied for fourth overall with an opening round +8 (80). Meyerink had two birdies on the day, while Austreim finished at par on 12 of her 18 holes. Amalia Ortega of Clarke has a three shot lead after a +2 (74).
— Dakota Wesleyan volleyball, 12-8 on the season and 6-4 in the GPAC, host Morningside on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s soccer will be at last place Waldorf on Wednesday at 5 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s soccer will be at Waldorf on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan football is on a bye this week before hosting Waldorf for homecoming on Saturday, October 25th at 2 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State football will be at Murray State on Saturday at 6 pm. The Jackrabbit pregame starts at 4 pm on KORN. SDSU improved to 6-0 on the season with a 31-3 win this past Saturday vs. Northern Iowa on Hobo Day.
— South Dakota State volleyball, 11-3 on the season and 5-0 in the Summit Leagu, host North Dakota State on Thursday at 7 pm.
— South Dakota State women’s soccer, 9-2-4 on the season, will be at USD on Saturday at 3 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD football moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 19-14 win on Saturday at Indiana State. The Coyotes, 4-3 on the season, had another big day for RB L.J. Phillips Jr., who ran 34 times for 187 yards and a touchdown. USD will be at Northern Iowa next Saturday at 1 pm.
— USD volleyball won in five sets on Saturday at Omaha (21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9). Lauren Medeck had a match-high 23 kills, one short of her career-high, while Avery Van Hook matched her career-high with 58 assists. The Coyotes will be at Kansas City on Wednesday at 7 pm.
— USD women’s soccer lost at Oral Roberts on Sunday 2-1. The Coyotes fall to 6-4-5 on the season and 2-2-1 in the Summit League. USD hosts SDSU on Saturday at 3 pm.
MLB PLAYOFFS – TUESDAY
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 pm on TBS – L.A. leads the series 1-0
MLB
— Blake Snell allowed one baserunner in eight shutout innings before Los Angeles’ bullpen barely held on as the Dodgers opened the National League Championship Series with a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Blake Treinen struck out Brice Turang with the bases loaded to end the game. Freddie Freeman homered for the Dodgers in the sixth to break a scoreless tie.
— Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez and Jorge Polanco hit three-run homers, while Josh Naylor added a two-run shot as the Mariners took a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series by routing the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3. Seattle, the only big league team never to host a World Series game, headed home for Wednesday’s Game 3, needing two more wins to end that drought. Toronto had six hits and only one after the second inning.
NFL
— Chicago defeated Washington 25-24 on Jake Moody’s 38-yard field goal Monday night. The Bears extended their winning streak to three games under first-year coach Ben Johnson. D’Andre Swift had 108 rushing yards on 14 carries for the Bears, along with two catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.
— Bijan Robinson matched a career high with 170 rushing yards as the Atlanta Falcons denied Josh Allen’s comeback attempt to beat the Buffalo Bills 24-14. Robinson’s huge day included an 81-yard touchdown that was the longest run in the NFL this season. He also had six catches for 68 yards to finish with a career-best 238 yards from scrimmage. Allen threw two touchdown passes but was also intercepted twice as the Bills lost their second straight. Drake London, who had 10 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons.
— The Tennessee Titans have fired head coach Brian Callahan after a 1-5 start to his second season. Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker says the rebuilding team hasn’t shown enough growth. Callahan becomes the first NFL coach fired this season. He went 4-19 overall with Tennessee. Mike McCoy will serve as interim coach. The Titans had said they wanted to see improvement this season with Callahan going into his second year, this time with a rookie quarterback in Cam Ward.
— The NFL has suspended Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch for one game without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct following a loss at Kansas City. Branch punched Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Sunday night, setting off a brief fight among players from both teams. Detroit will host Tampa Bay this week without Branch. Branch will be eligible to return to the active roster on Tuesday, Oct. 21, during the team’s bye week ahead of its game against the Vikings on Nov. 2 at home.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— The Dakota Marker Game between North Dakota State and South Dakota State kicks off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, at Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings. The game will air nationally on either ESPN2 or ESPNU, with the final network decision announced after October 18. Both teams are undefeated at 6-0 and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation. This marks the second straight year the game is on national TV. Last year’s broadcast on ESPN2 drew 174,000 viewers.
— Bill Belichick has denied reports that he’s been seeking an exit strategy from his North Carolina coaching role. Belichick says “some of the reports out last week about my looking for a buyout and trying to leave is categorically false.” Belichick was making his first public comments since a blowout loss to Clemson two weeks ago. During the second of two off weeks in a three-week span, the subject of Belichick’s future with the Tar Heels was a hot topic, so much so that last Wednesday the university released brief statements from the coach and athletics director reaffirming commitments between Belichick and the school.
— Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer was fired as UAB’s head football coach on Sunday, a day after the Blazers fell to 2-4 with a 53-33 loss at Florida Atlantic. UAB has lost three straight, going 9-21 in 2 ½ seasons under Dilfer. The Blazers were 4-8 in 2023 and 3-9 last year.
— Oregon State has fired coach Trent Bray after the team fell to 0-7, its worst start to a season since 1991. The Beavers lost at home to Wake Forest on Saturday 39-14.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— Purdue is No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s AP Top 25 poll to begin the 2025-26 season. Runner-up Houston was No. 2 while reigning champion Florida was No. 3. UConn was fourth, followed by St. John’s. Duke, Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech rounded out the top 10. The Sec, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams.
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL – MONDAY
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket 3, Howard 0 – Liz Boschee with 21 kills for SCW.
Avon 3, Menno 0
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL – TUESDAY
Parkston (20-5, 10th) vs. Wagner (17-4, 10th)
Kimball/White Lake vs. Mt. Vernon/Plankinton
Bridgewater-Emery (18-0, 7th) vs. Colman-Egan (14-3, 8th)
Howard vs. Ethan
Menno vs. Hanson
Flandreau Indian vs. Mitchell Christian
Garretson vs. McCook Central/Montrose
Iroquois/Lake Preston vs. Sanborn Central/Woonsocket
Wessington Springs vs. Sunshine Bible
Andes Central/Dakota Christian vs. Burke
Platte-Geddes vs. Miller
Viborg-Hurley vs. Avon
Marty vs. Tripp-Delmont/Armour
Oldham-Ramona-Rutland vs. Freeman
Scotland vs. Bon Homme
Pierre vs. No. 1 Harrisburg
No. 2 Brandon Valley vs. No. 3 O’Gorman
SF Lincoln vs. No. 4 Watertown
Huron vs. SF Roosevelt
SF Washington vs. Brookings
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL POLL
CLASS AA
1. Harrisburg (13) 20-2 65 1
2. Brandon Valley 14-2 52 2
3. O’Gorman 16-3 39 3
4. Watertown 12-6 23 4
5. S.F. Lincoln 13-4 9 RV
RECEIVING VOTES: R.C. Stevens (21-4) 5; S.F. Washington (8-5) 1; Mitchell (11-4) 1
CLASS A
1. Dakota Valley (12) 23-3 64 2
2. Dell Rapids (1) 20-5 50 1
3. S.F. Christian 17-7 39 3
4. Clark-Willow Lake 19-0 28 4
5. Lennox 19-2 8 5
RECEIVING VOTES: Winner (18-4) 6
CLASS B
1. Chester Area (13) 22-1 65 1
2. Northwestern 28-2 51 2
3. Warner 19-5 39 3
4. Burke 22-2 19 4
5. Bridgewater-Emery 18-0 10 5
RECEIVING VOTES: Hitchcock-Tulare (21-4) 4; Colman-Egan (14-3) 3; Gayville-Volin (23-4) 3; Wolsey-Wessington (19-4) 1
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL POLL
Class 11AAA
1. Brandon Valley (24) 7-0 124 1
2. Lincoln (1) 6-1 101 2
3. Jefferson 5-2 75 5
4. Harrisburg 5-2 45 3
5. O’Gorman 4-3 21 4
Class 11AA
1. Huron (23) 6-1 122 1
2. Yankton (2) 5-2 95 4
3. Pierre 4-3 77 5
4. Spearfish 5-2 29 RV
5. Tea Area 5-2 26 2
Receiving votes: Sturgis 19, Watertown 6, Brookings 1.
Class 11A
1. SF Christian (25) 7-0 125 1
2. Dell Rapids 6-1 98 2
3. West Central 5-2 69 4
4. Lennox 5-2 55 5
5. Madison 5-2 21 3
Receiving votes: Tri-Valley 7.
Class 11B
1. Elk Point-Jefferson (20) 7-0 120 1
2. St. Thomas More (5) 7-0 100 2
3. Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central 7-0 78 3
4. Clark/Willow Lake 6-1 48 5
5. Wagner 5-2 15 RV
Receiving votes: Mobridge-Pollock 9, Deuel 5.
Class 9AA
1. Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy (22) 7-0 122 1
2. Hamlin (3) 7-0 100 2
3. Elkton-Lake Benton 6-1 77 3
4. Parkston 6-1 47 4
5. Hill City 7-1 19 5
Receiving votes: Viborg-Hurley 5, Bon Homme 4, Britton-Hecla 1.
Class 9A
1. Wall (24) 7-0 124 1
2. Warner (1) 7-0 99 2
3. Howard 6-1 69 4
4. Alcester-Hudson 5-2 41 3
5. Ipswich 6-1 27 RV
Receiving votes: Philip 12, Platte-Geddes 3.
Class 9B
1. Avon (17) 7-0 116 2
2. St. Mary’s (8) 7-0 108 3
3. Herreid/Selby Area 6-2 64 5
4. Sully Buttes 6-1 53 1
5. Faulkton Area 4-3 29 4