Sports briefs 9/1
Girls volleyball
Mapletown opened its season with a four-set victory in a nonsection match at Turkeyfoot Valley Monday night. The Maples won the first set 26-24, dropped the second set 25-22 before winning the third 25-7 and fourth 25-18.
Mapletown had an excellent night at the service line, recording 29 aces.
Brynlee McKnight led the team with eight aces. Sophia Vanata added six aces and four kills, Willow Rudman and Leah Williamson added five aces apiece. Williamson had five kills, which led the team.
Girls soccer
Waynesburg (0-0-1, 0-0-1) played to a 1-1 tie with Keystone Oaks (0-0-1, 0-0-1) in the Class 2A Section 1 opener Monday night. Ava DiAlesandro had the goal for Waynesburg.
Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles claimed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the New York Mets on Monday.
The Orioles, who were starting a three-game series at Colorado on Monday night, said the 29-year-old Robert had not yet reported. He hit .223 with 10 home runs and 23 RBIs in 58 games for the Mets this season. He played his first six big league seasons for the Chicago White Sox, who picked up a $20 million option for him for 2026 before trading him.
Robert’s contract also has a $20 million club option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout.
Robert was an All-Star in 2023, when he hit 38 home runs and stole 20 bases.
Soccer
Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international soccer after 21 years representing Argentina.
“It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts deeply, but I understand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old Messi says on his Instagram account Monday.
Messi played in a record-tying six World Cups, won it in 2022 in Qatar and led Argentina to this year’s final, losing to Spain in extra time in New Jersey. He concluded his international career as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer with 125 goals, 21 of which were in World Cups.
College football
The Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, coach Josh Heupel announced Monday.
Parton, a Tennessee native, died on Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80.
The iconic singer grew up in Sevierville, roughly 30 miles east of Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee is located.
College sports
UCLA fired athletic director Martin Jarmond on Monday and replaced him with Tim Harris, the former longtime president of business operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The shake-up was announced in a letter from Chancellor Julio Frenk to the university community. Frenk described it as a “new path forward for UCLA Athletics.”
Jarmond, who had the job for six years, leaves immediately. The Bruins won three NCAA championships last season, including the first by the women’s basketball team.
Jarmond, 46, replaced Dan Guerrero as AD in 2020. He signed a five-year contract extension in May 2024. During his tenure, the athletic department has run yearly deficits for seven consecutive years, totaling $241 million in shortfalls.
UCLA joined the Big Ten Conference two years ago, raking in millions of dollars in media rights fees while also facing increased travel expenses. Its deficit was reduced to $21.6 million for the 2025 fiscal year. The university has repeatedly bailed out the athletic department to keep it afloat.
Frenk cited the financial situation as a reason for the change.