‘We have to be locked in’: North Broward Prep’s girls volleyball team poised to vie for state title

COCONUT CREEK, FLA. (WSVN) – A South Florida high school volleyball team is on track toward a state title, and their head coach says laserlike focus, drive, and a young star player are key to their success.

The North Broward Preparatory School’s girls volleyball team has been on a mission since day one of the season. The Eagles, boasting a 24-2 record, are ranked number one in Class 4 and 11th overall in the state.

“When I first got hired back in January, we had a quick little roundtable to set our goals for the year,” said head coach Brian Coughenour. “The number one word they came up with was ‘competitive.’ We want to be competitive and go out the gate strong, and they bought in right away.”

While the team was loaded with seniors when Coughenour arrived, it’s the youngest player who has emerged as one of the Eagles’ standout stars. Emma Luehrs, who plays the center position, is crucial in feeding the ball to her teammates for powerful slams at the net.

At just 14 years old and an eighth grader, Luehrs is playing beyond her years. “Confidence is the biggest thing for me,” she said. “If you go in not feeling ready or like you don’t belong, it holds you back. But I know I’m here for a reason.”

Luehrs started playing volleyball on travel teams at the age of 8 and has already surpassed 1,000 career assists. “It felt very overwhelming at first,” she admitted, “but then I told myself, ‘I just have to be myself and work really hard toward this opportunity.’”

Coach Coughenour praised the seniors for rallying around Luehrs. “She’s really what helps us go,” he said.

North Broward Prep recently earned the regional championship after beating Mather Lakes Academy. Senior defensive captain Destiny Wiggins helped lead the Eagles to victory. Notably, Wiggins is the cousin of former Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem.

“It’s business,” said Wiggins. “We have to be locked in at all times because every team wants to beat us. We are the team to beat, so yeah, it’s pretty straightforward business.”

Looking ahead, North Broward Prep will face Southwest Florida’s Lemon Bay High School in the state semifinals on Friday. The winner of that match advances to the final round on Saturday.
https://wsvn.com/sports/we-have-to-be-locked-in-north-broward-preps-girls-volleyball-team-poised-to-vie-for-state-title/

Brings the house down? Crossword Clue

That should be all the information you need to solve the **“Brings the house down?”** crossword clue!

If you’re looking for more help or additional crossword answers, be sure to check out our other clues and solutions on Try Hard Guides.

The post **Brings the house down? Crossword Clue** appeared first on Try Hard Guides.
https://tryhardguides.com/brings-the-house-down-crossword-clue/

Georgian Court Releases Pregnant British Teenager In Drug Trafficking Case

Bella Culley, a 19-year-old British citizen who is eight months pregnant and accused by Georgian officials of drug smuggling, was released from the Tbilisi City Court on November 3 after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors.

“Several reasons were taken into account: her health condition, her confession, her age, and her cooperation with the investigation,” Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili told RFE/RL. He noted that the prosecutor’s office had initiated the release of the British woman, who fully admitted her guilt, from custody.

The court found Culley guilty and sentenced her to five months and 24 days in prison, along with a fine of 500,000 laris (approximately $181,800). However, because of the time she had already served in custody at Women’s Prison No. 5 in Rustavi, she was allowed to leave immediately. As part of the penalty, her family agreed to pay the fine.

Georgian authorities discovered 12 kilograms of marijuana and 2 kilograms of hashish in Culley’s luggage. The British teenager claimed she was forced to commit the crime “under pressure and torture.”

Culley’s parents reported her missing to Thai police after failing to contact her for several days. Thai authorities joined the search, and Bella’s father, Niel Culley, traveled to Thailand to look for his daughter. Her mother later told RFE/RL that after Bella went missing in Thailand, she was allegedly tortured and then forced to fly with the drugs to Georgia.

While Culley faced up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment, legal experts initially expected the court to keep her in custody for another two years. The decision to release her came as a surprise to Culley and her family. Her mother said she learned of the release just minutes before the hearing, which was closely monitored by British and international media.

As part of her cooperation with authorities, Culley named several people involved in the drug case, according to the prosecutor.

When leaving the courthouse, Culley expressed relief over the decision. “I’m happy, I didn’t expect it,” she said before turning to her mother and asking, “Can we go now?”
https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-british-teenager-court-release-drugs-thailand-culley/33580139.html

Otis Worldwide: Visible Path To Earnings Acceleration Ahead

**Analyst’s Disclosure:**
I/we have no stock, option, or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

**Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure:**
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole.

Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker, US investment adviser, or investment bank. Our analysts are third-party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4836881-otis-worldwide-visible-path-to-earnings-acceleration-ahead?source=feed_all_articles

Evergy Selects Kigen To Strengthen Grid Resilience Across Private and Public Networks

**Evergy Selects Kigen’s Secure eSIM OS and eIM to Maximize Grid Reliability with Automated Failover Across Private and Public Networks**

Evergy, one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the Midwest United States serving 1.7 million customers across Kansas and Missouri, has selected Kigen, the global leader in eSIM and iSIM technology, to strengthen grid resiliency.

By adopting Kigen’s secure eSIM OS and eIM solution, Evergy is unifying private LTE and public networks into an automated connectivity layer. This creates a foundation for more reliable operations in the face of severe weather, growing energy demand, and the complexity of distributed energy resources (DERs).

Reliability is central to Evergy’s strategy, alongside affordability and sustainability. As utilities integrate distributed energy resources, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and dynamic billing, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity becomes critical.

Severe thunderstorms, storm-related outages, and routine network upgrades can all disrupt real-time telemetry that forms the “heartbeat” of a modern grid. Without automation, managing tens of thousands of IoT devices at scale would create unacceptable risks to both service continuity and cost efficiency.

Evergy’s LTE network already spans 100 sites, supporting thousands of IoT sensors, AMI, and operational technology devices. With an expansion expected to reach tens of thousands of devices, failover between private and public networks must be seamless. Manual approaches cannot keep pace at this scale.

“As we modernize our grids, uninterrupted device data means visibility and preparation against outages from both the fast-changing energy transition and unpredictable severe weather. Taking control of our infrastructure requires network availability, and automation is the foundation on which dynamic billing and AI can build. Kigen eSIMs and the eIM, configured to Evergy’s needs, enable us to set a new benchmark in grid resiliency—what has long been the holy grail of resilient, intelligent grids,” said Bill Franzen, Evergy lead radio engineer.

Kigen’s secure eSIM OS and SGP.32-compliant eIM solution give Evergy the flexibility to manage connectivity dynamically through eSIMs provisioned with multiple operator profiles. Kigen eSIM OS for IoT and consumer devices includes configurable features such as its network rescue and recovery applet, which enables dynamic, automated failover between private LTE and preferred public networks based on business rules.

These operations are centrally managed through Kigen Pulse, allowing control at fleet scale—by geography, asset type, or site—ensuring continuity of operations, reducing lifecycle costs, and supporting broader goals of capital efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

Cybersecurity is paramount in critical infrastructure. Evergy’s deployment relies on the Kigen eIM hosted at its Dublin site, which is fully certified under the GSMA Security Accreditation Scheme for Subscription Management (SAS-SM). This site operates the Kigen eIM solution to the latest GSMA SGP.32 IoT eSIM specification, providing both assurance of compliance and the trusted foundation required for secure, grid-ready operations.

“Building in dynamic automation for scaled failover and recovery, we enable Evergy’s vision to design for improved reliability, resilience, and operational intelligence. As utilities navigate the energy transition, uninterrupted connectivity is the foundation for AI, dynamic billing, and DER integration. With Kigen’s configurable eSIM OS and SGP.32-compliant eIM, utilities can take control of their connectivity and create the intelligent grids the future demands,” said Vincent Korstanje, CEO at Kigen.
https://iotbusinessnews.com/2025/11/03/evergy-selects-kigen-to-strengthen-grid-resilience-across-private-and-public-networks/

5 Non-Conference Men’s College Basketball Games To Watch This Season

On Monday, the men’s college basketball season begins with 20 of the teams in the Associated Press’s preseason top 25 in action. The schedule is highlighted by the Hall of Fame Series doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. No. 3 Florida, the reigning national champion, plays No. 13 Arizona in the opener at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by No. 8 BYU against Villanova in the nightcap. Both games are on TNT and TruTV.

While most casual sports fans do not start paying close attention to college basketball until February or March, the early season games are important to programs that are looking to pad their resumes for the NCAA tournament and earn a high seed. As such, many top coaches in the past couple of years have begun scheduling more difficult non-conference games as a way to test their teams and help themselves come March. Event organizers have also put together matchups that catch the attention of fans and television executives.

Below, we look at five marquee non-conference games in November and December:

### No. 1 Purdue at No. 15 Alabama – Nov. 13

Purdue is first in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time in program history, and for good reason. The Boilermakers return first-team All-American point guard Braden Smith and three other starters from last season’s team that advanced to the Sweet 16, where they lost by two points to Houston, the eventual national runner-up.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, who averaged a team-high 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, is also back, as is guard Fletcher Loyer, who averaged 13.8 points per game and has started 110 games in his first three seasons. Purdue added a top transfer in 6-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff, who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds last season at South Dakota State, and an NBA prospect in Omer Mayer, a 6-foot-4 guard from Israel who turned 19 earlier this month but played the past two seasons for the Maccabi Tel Aviv professional team.

Alabama, meanwhile, has excelled under coach Nate Oats, winning at least 25 games in each of the past three seasons. The Crimson Tide return two top guards—sophomore Labaron Philon and junior Aden Holloway—from last season’s team that lost to Duke in the Elite Eight. Philon, who averaged 10.6 points per game as a freshman, could have been a first-round pick in June’s NBA draft but decided to return for another year in college. Holloway averaged 11.4 points per game last season and made 41.2% of his 3’s.

The Crimson Tide added a few transfers as well, including Taylor Bol Bowen (Florida State) and Jalil Bethea (Miami), although Bethea isn’t expected to play against Purdue as he recovers from a foot injury.

Alabama and Purdue each have other difficult non-conference games on their schedule. The Crimson Tide play at No. 5 St. John’s on Nov. 8, face No. 17 Illinois in Chicago, and meet No. 13 Arizona in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 13. Alabama is also competing in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas later this month, where they will open with No. 21 Gonzaga and could face ranked teams depending on how the event unfolds.

Meanwhile, Purdue plays No. 16 Iowa State on Dec. 6 at home and No. 20 Auburn on Dec. 20 in Indianapolis. The Boilermakers are participating in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas later this month, where they could face No. 10 Texas Tech in the final.

### No. 4 UConn vs. No. 8 BYU – Nov. 15

This game, which takes place at TD Garden in Boston, features one of the nation’s most accomplished programs in UConn and one of the most hyped prospects in recent years in BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who grew up outside of Boston.

The Huskies won the 2023 and 2024 NCAA tournaments, becoming the first program since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win consecutive national titles. However, they are coming off an inconsistent season when they finished third in the Big East and lost in the second round of the NCAAs to Florida, the eventual national champion.

UConn has reloaded and assembled a roster capable of winning another title. Key returning players include Solo Ball, who averaged 14.4 points per game and made 41.4% of his 3’s last season; forward Alex Karaban, who posted 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game; and center Tarris Reed Jr., who averaged 9.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in just 19.3 minutes per game. All three were preseason first-team All-Big East selections.

The Huskies also added transfers guarding Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia) and Malachi Smith (Dayton), plus a top freshman guard Braylon Mullins, who was named the preseason freshman of the year by Big East coaches. Mullins will not play against BYU due to an ankle injury sustained in late October, expected to sideline him for about six weeks.

BYU boasts its highest preseason ranking in program history, fueled largely by Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward projected as the top pick in next year’s NBA draft. Dybantsa was named to the AP preseason All-American team and was the MVP of the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup this past summer, leading Team USA to the title.

However, the Cougars are not a one-man team. They also feature top shooter forward Richie Saunders, who averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game and shot 43.2% on 3-pointers last season, and one of the nation’s best point guards in Robert Wright III, a transfer who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists as a freshman at Baylor.

UConn’s non-conference slate is loaded, including home games against No. 13 Arizona on Nov. 19, No. 17 Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28, No. 19 Kansas on Dec. 2 on the road, and No. 3 Florida in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 9 at MSG.

BYU’s non-conference schedule is less challenging but includes the opener against Villanova and a home game against No. 24 Wisconsin on Nov. 21. The Cougars also compete in the Jimmy V Classic against Clemson, offering a big stage for Dybantsa and his teammates.

### No. 3 Florida at No. 6 Duke – Dec. 2

Two of last season’s Final Four participants meet in this ACC-SEC Challenge game. Florida, the reigning national champion, looks poised to contend again. The Gators return forwards Alex Condon, a preseason All-American who averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, and Thomas Haugh, who added 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. They also have transfer guards Boogie Fland, who averaged 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists as a junior at Princeton.

Duke was dominant last season, winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles and stringing together 15 consecutive wins before losing to Houston in the Final Four. All five starters from that squad were selected in June’s NBA draft, including three freshmen taken in the top 10.

The Blue Devils return forward Maliq Brown and guards Caleb Foster and Isaiah Evans. Their fresh recruiting class is highlighted by twins Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, sons of Carlos Boozer, a former Duke player and NBA veteran. Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-8 forward, could be Duke’s best player and is projected as a top-five pick in next year’s NBA draft. Other talented freshmen include wings Nikolas Khamenia and Dame Sarr.

Florida’s non-conference schedule also includes games against No. 13 Arizona and No. 3 UConn in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9. Duke faces No. 19 Kansas on Nov. 18 in the Champions Classic at MSG, No. 14 Arkansas on Nov. 27 in Chicago, No. 22 Michigan State on Dec. 6 on the road, and No. 10 Texas Tech on Dec. 20 at MSG.

### No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 9 Kentucky – Dec. 20

For St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, this game is a homecoming of sorts, as he coached Kentucky for eight seasons before leaving in 1997 to coach the Boston Celtics. Pitino led Kentucky to the 1996 national title but was unpopular with fans for years, partly due to later coaching Louisville for 16 seasons. However, feelings have softened, and Mark Pope, a captain on Pitino’s 1996 Kentucky team, is now UK’s coach.

The game takes place in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic, also featuring No. 25 North Carolina against Ohio State. St. John’s and Kentucky last met in December 2011 when the Wildcats won 81-59 on their way to the NCAA championship.

Both programs now have legitimate national title aspirations, making this a significant test.

St. John’s returns only one starter, forward Zuby Ejiofor, the preseason Big East player of the year, who averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds last season. The Red Storm have bolstered their roster with one of the nation’s top transfer classes, adding guards Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Joson Sanon (Arizona State), Dylan Darling (Idaho State), and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford), plus forwards Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati).

Kentucky also was active in the transfer portal, adding point guard Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), power forward Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), center Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), guard Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), and guard Kam Williams (Tulane). Their best player is expected to be guard Otega Oweh, the SEC preseason player of the year who led the team last season with 16.2 points per game.

St. John’s non-conference schedule includes a home game against No. 15 Alabama on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden. They are also participating in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, facing No. 16 Iowa State on Nov. 24 and possibly other ranked teams if they advance.

Kentucky’s schedule features a road game against No. 11 Louisville on Nov. 11, the Champions Classic against No. 22 Michigan State on Nov. 18 at MSG, hosting No. 25 North Carolina on Dec. 2 in the ACC-SEC Challenge, and a Dec. 5 game against No. 21 Gonzaga in Nashville, Tennessee.

### No. 2 Houston vs. No. 14 Arkansas – Dec. 20

While Houston is No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, analytics experts Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torvik, and Evan Miyakawa rank the Cougars first in their projections, signaling strong national title contender status.

Houston went 35-5 last season, winning the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles before losing a 12-point second-half lead in the NCAA championship game to Florida.

The Cougars boast arguably the nation’s best backcourt, returning guards Emanuel Sharp, who averaged 12.6 points per game last season, and Milos Uzan, who posted 11.4 points per game. Houston also has elite defender Joseph Tugler, a versatile 6-foot-8 forward, plus two highly ranked freshmen: center Chris Cenac Jr. and guard Isiah Hartwell, rated No. 6 and No. 13 in the high school class of 2025 (247Sports Composite).

Arkansas had an up-and-down first year under coach John Calipari, starting with five straight SEC losses but rallying to make the NCAA tournament and upset St. John’s in the second round. The Razorbacks return three starters—D.J. Wagner, Trevon Brazile, and Karter Knox—and add transfers Malique Ewin (Florida State) and Nick Pringle (Alabama). They also welcomed freshmen guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas.

In the SEC preseason poll, Arkansas was picked to finish fifth behind Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama—all ranked in the AP top 15.

Arkansas’s non-conference schedule includes a Nov. 8 road game against No. 22 Michigan State, a Nov. 27 game against No. 6 Duke in Chicago, a Dec. 3 home game versus No. 11 Louisville in the ACC-SEC Challenge, and a Dec. 13 matchup with No. 10 Texas Tech in Dallas.

Houston faces No. 20 Auburn on Nov. 16 in Birmingham, Alabama, and competes in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, where they will face No. 18 Tennessee and could meet additional ranked teams depending on the event’s outcomes.

These early-season marquee games offer exciting matchups that will provide insights into the strengths of top programs as the race for the NCAA tournament approaches. Fans and analysts alike will be watching closely as teams test themselves against elite competition ahead of March Madness.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/finance/5-non-conference-mens-college-basketball-games-to-watch-this-season/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-non-conference-mens-college-basketball-games-to-watch-this-season

Shah Rukh Khan to resume shooting for King on November 5 in Mumbai: Report

After a weekend packed with birthday celebrations marking his 60th milestone, Shah Rukh Khan is set to return to work with renewed vigour. The superstar, who celebrated his birthday with an intimate gathering at his Alibaug property and a special fan meet in Mumbai, will be back on set for his much-awaited action film *King* starting November 5 at Yash Raj Studios, Andheri.

Directed by Siddharth Anand, *King* marks Shah Rukh Khan’s first on-screen collaboration with his daughter Suhana Khan, alongside Abhishek Bachchan. The project, which began principal photography in June 2025, is generating buzz not only for its casting but also for its ambitious action sequences.

A report by Mid-Day stated that the stunt unit has spent nearly three weeks rehearsing for a high-octane leg of filming — a hybrid chase-combat set piece that is set to push boundaries for Bollywood action. The upcoming 15-20 day schedule will centre around complex stunt choreography, combining hand-to-hand combat with tactical gunplay, wire-assisted jumps, and close-quarter grappling.

Shah Rukh Khan, known for his commitment to roles, will reportedly perform several of these intricate action beats himself. The team is employing a custom-designed rig to ensure both safety and spectacular results.

Director Siddharth Anand, who last teamed up with Shah Rukh for the record-smashing *Pathaan* in 2023, recently unveiled the film’s first look on November 2. The initial visuals introduced the audience to a transformed King Khan and gave a glimpse into the stylish, action-packed world that *King* promises.

The film aims to wrap up its dramatic portions by the end of the year, with the remaining key action sequences and musical numbers scheduled for completion soon after.

**Also Read:** Shah Rukh Khan opens up about his bond with Siddharth Anand: “He is a very aesthetic director”

**More Pages:**
– King Box Office Collection
– Bollywood News Live Updates
https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/shah-rukh-khan-resume-shooting-king-november-5-mumbai-report/

Gives oneself something to achieve Crossword Clue

That should be all the information you need to solve the “Gives oneself something to achieve” crossword clue!

Be sure to check out more clues on our Crossword Answers for additional help and guidance.

The post *Gives oneself something to achieve Crossword Clue* appeared first on Try Hard Guides.
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Hotel Savings: Why I Booked Many Independent, Local Hotels During My Last Trip

I just got back from a three-week trip. Due to the extraordinarily high pricing of chain hotels participating in the loyalty programs where I hold elite status, I decided to go independent on half of the nights.

When booking these independent hotels, I usually search […]
https://loyaltylobby.com/2025/11/03/hotel-savings-why-i-booked-many-independent-local-hotels-during-my-last-trip/?omhide=true