Harvard

Despite being denied a three-peat in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, the Mater Dei High girls volleyball team still ended the season a champion — and ranked No. 1 in California.

The Monarchs (35-5) captured their second Open Division state title in three years and their third overall with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-18 sweep of Rocklin on Saturday night at Santiago Canyon College.

Getting 31 kills from USC signee Layli Ostavar and 43 assists from Cal State Bakersfield-bound setter Sam Capinpin, Mater Dei closed out the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 winners with a 13-6 run in the third set.

Dan O’Dell’s squad won 20 of its last 21 matches — its only blemish being a four-set defeat to Sierra Canyon in the CIF-SS final.

Earlier Saturday, Cypress made the most of its first state finals appearance by sweeping Clovis West, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22, to win the Division II title under head coach Alex Griffiths.

Isabella Faro had 14 kills and fellow senior Hannah Schoffstall dished out 30 for the Centurions (25-10), who swept Santa Ana Foothill on November 6 in the CIF-SS Division 3 final.

It was redemption for Cypress, which had lost to Bishop Diego in the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals and to Long Beach Poly in the first round of the Division II regionals last season.

On Friday, Harvard-Westlake earned its sixth title and first since 2021 with a 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 victory over Roseville Woodcreek in the Division I championship match.

Kylie Parker pounded 14 kills and dug 15 balls, Sophia Cotter had 11 kills and senior middle blockers Lauryn Lewis (committed to Penn) and Maya Stillwell (committed to Northwestern) controlled the net for the Wolverines (28-8), who finished third in the Mission League behind Sierra Canyon and Marymount and lost to Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals, a remarkable turnaround for a team that had a losing record and missed the playoffs last year.

Coach Morgan Wijay returned to the program in January after a decade-long stint at Bishop Alemany, where she guided the Warriors to back-to-back CIF titles in 2021 and 2022. Wijay was on Adam Black’s staff back in 2007 when Harvard-Westlake won the Division III state title.

Nov. 4 (UPI) — Two male suspects were arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly setting off an explosive device inside a Harvard Medical School building early Saturday morning.

The two suspects are Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, Mass., and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 20, of Bourne, Mass., each of whom is accused of conspiring to damage, by means of an explosive, the Harvard Medical School Goldenson Building at 220 Longwood Ave. in Boston, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

FBI special agent Erin O’Brien submitted a criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in which she says there is probable cause that Patterson and Cardoza conspired to damage by fire or explosive device a building owned by an institution that receives federal financial assistance and is used in interstate commerce or in any activity affecting interstate commerce.

O’Brien said surveillance cameras at the intersection of Huntington and Longwood avenues at 2:23 a.m. EDT Saturday recorded two people walking toward the HMS campus.

One was wearing a blue/gray balaclava, a “distinctive” brown sweatshirt, tan sweatpants and white Crocs, while the other wore a blue mask, dark hooded jacket, dark plaid pajama pants and black sneakers.

Surveillance video also shows them lighting what appears to be a Roman candle firework at 2:24 a.m. before video from another camera shows them climbing over a chain-link fence and entering a construction area surrounding the Goldenson Building.

They climbed scaffolding next to the Goldenson Building to access its roof at 2:36 a.m., and Harvard University Police responded to a fire alarm on the building’s fourth floor at about 2:45 a.m.

The suspects exited the building via its first-floor emergency exit that leads to a courtyard, where each fled on foot in opposite directions, O’Brien said.

Harvard police found evidence of an explosive device detonating inside a wooden locker in the building’s fourth-floor research lab, which an FBI bomb technician said likely was a large commercial firework after inspecting its remains.

Soon after the alarm alerted police, a surveillance camera recorded one of the suspects removing clothing while sitting on a bench and depositing them in a garbage bin near Longwood Avenue and Autumn Street.

Footage recorded by a security camera at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, which is near the Goldenson Building, shows the other suspect on the campus at 3:09 a.m., entering a residential campus building and charging his phone and then using it to talk to someone at 3:23 a.m.

That suspect had removed his brown sweatshirt and tan pants and left the building soon after, met the other suspect and another individual, and the three walked to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design campus at 3:49 a.m., according to O’Brien.

Several Wentworth students identified Patterson and Cardoza as the suspects and said Patterson told them of his participation in the incident.

The witnesses said the pair told them that they allegedly placed an explosive cherry bomb firework in a locker and shut it before it exploded.

O’Brien said images of the two suspects match those that are posted on social media and that are maintained by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Each faces up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine if convicted of conspiring to damage the university building.

An arraignment hearing for each suspect had not been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — The FBI, local and university police are investigating an “intentional” explosion that occurred early Saturday morning on the fourth floor of the Harvard Medical School building in Boston.

The explosion occurred at 2:48 a.m. EDT in the medical school’s Goldenson Building and triggered a fire alarm that alerted university police, The New York Times reported.

A Harvard University Police officer responded to the building at 220 Longwood Ave. and saw two individuals running from it.

The officer tried to stop the individuals but could not and then found evidence of an explosion on the fourth floor, according to The Boston Globe.

The Boston Fire Department and its arson unit also responded to the alarm and determined the explosion likely was intentional.

Boston police searched the building for explosive devices but found none.

No one was injured during the incident, and the FBI is assisting with the investigation.

University police released video stills of the two suspects, who appear to be young, white males wearing light-colored masks while fleeing the building.

One wore a brown sweatshirt with a hood and what looked like “NYC” printed on the front, khaki pants and gray Crocs.

The other wore a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark plaid pajama pants, according to university police.

The university police released images of each suspect that were captured by surveillance cameras.

Anyone who has information regarding the incident or suspects can contact the Harvard University Police Department’s detective bureau by calling 617-495-1796.