Mother McAuley (Ill.) volleyball is a decorated program that has claimed 15 state titles, as well as a national championship in 2016. But the Mighty Macs achieved a first this past weekend when they won the prestigious Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament, defeating national powerhouse Assumption (Ky.) in the championship.

The Chicago school won all six matches in the 24-team field, which had a combined 122 state championships, and they capped the run with a sweep of Assumption, which was previously unbeaten on the season and is a 22-time state champion.

No caption needed. #MACS pic.twitter.com/eJJ98EIVgt

— McAuley Volleyball (@McAuley_VB) September 11, 2022

The tournament title prolonged an undefeated start to the season for the Mighty Macs and showcased the skill of Michigan commit Ellie White, who finished with 26 kills and already has more than 200 on the year.

Not to be outdone, Northwestern commit Gigi Navarrete was virtually everywhere on defense with 22 digs against Assumption, pushing her past 150 for the season.

Behind that outstanding play and on the back of a stellar tournament run, Mother McAuley has risen 12 spots to No. 10 in this week’s Just Women’s Sports volleyball team rankings.

Check out the complete rankings below, and click here to see last week’s rankings.

1. Cathedral Catholic (Calif.), 17-0

The Dons cruised to another tournament title, beating reigning state champion Marymount in the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament championship. They have yet to drop a single set this season.

2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (Mich.), 22-0

Kentucky commit Ava Sarafa is averaging nearly 10 assists per set, setting up a trio of attackers that all have more than 100 kills.

3. Byron Nelson (Texas), 28-1

The Bobcats have reeled off 18 consecutive wins and avenged their only defeat with a win over Southlake Carroll on Friday.

4. Westminster Christian (Fla.), 11-0

The Warriors have two wins over out-of-state competition, including No. 5 Cornerstone Christian.

5. Cornerstone Christian (Texas), 43-2

After falling to Westminster Christian, the Warriors have reeled off seven sweeps in a row.

6. Dike-New Hartford (Iowa), 17-1

The Wolverines look to win their second title this season when they host the Dike-New Hartford tournament this weekend.

7. Prestonwood Christian (Texas), 25-1

The Lions won their district opener Tuesday. Their sole blemish remains a loss to Cornerstone Christian.

The Lady Lions fought hard and WON tonight against Bishop Lynch in their district opener!

Congratulations Ladies!!!!! #AllIn #FaithFilledLions pic.twitter.com/jJ88v7SLTU

— PCAAthletics (@PCAAthletics) September 14, 2022

8. McCutcheon (Ind.), 12-1

Aside from a tournament loss, the Mavericks have dropped just two sets all season.

9. Mira Costa (Calif.), 12-2

The Mustangs have not dropped a set since a loss to No. 19 Mater Dei last month.

10. Mother McAuley (Ill.), 15-0

The Mighty Macs defeated teams from Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio en route to the LIVT championship.

11. Cleveland (Tenn.), 24-1

Kinslee McGowan powers the Blue Raiders’ offense with over 8 assists per set. She has a total of 538 assists on the year.

12. Highland Park (Texas), 27-2

Regional semifinalists a year ago, the Scots seem primed for a deep postseason run.

13. St. James Academy (Kan.), 11-0

The Thunder knocked off reigning Class 6A state champions Blue Valley North on Saturday, one of five wins they picked up on the day.

St. James Academy stays undefeated through loaded schedule to start season | East/Southeast Kansas volleyball standouts#KSHSAACovered x @capfed https://t.co/wAVeL1ENTl

— KSHSAA (@KSHSAA) September 13, 2022

14. Tompkins (Texas), 24-3

The Falcons are leaning on their senior experience, including their top two attackers and their assists leader.

15. Fayetteville (Ark.), 13-0

The Bulldogs have dominated the opposition, winning 36 of their 37 sets played this season.

16. Santa Fe (Fla.), 10-1

Jalyn Stout, Florida’s Miss Volleyball last season, is averaging over six kills per state for the reigning Class 4A state champions.

17. Sierra Canyon (Calif.) 16-2

With junior Sade Ilawole averaging over 9 assists per set, the Trailblazers have defeated some high-quality competition in California.

18. Redondo Union (Calif.) 12-4

The Sea Hawks’ schedule is a gauntlet, with wins over Mater Dei and Marymount and a loss to Sierra Canyon, among others.

19. Mater Dei (Calif.), 10-3

The Monarchs lost two of their first four matches, but since then, they’ve won eight of their last nine, including a win over Assumption on Wednesday.

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20. Assumption (Ky.), 15-2

After winning its first 15 matches, Assumption has lost two in a row, both against ranked opponents.

21. Conroe (Texas), 35-1

The Tigers have already won more matches this season than they did the last two years combined.

22. Wayzata (Minn.), 9-1

The Trojans’ winning streak ended at 61 matches, but they bounced back with consecutive wins.

23. Cypress Ranch (Texas), 29-2

Seniors Bianna Muoneke and Kirby Kliafas lead the Mustangs’ offense with 474 kills and 542 assists, respectively.

24. North Allegheny (Pa.) 12-1

The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season in pool play of the Upper St. Clair Tournament but recovered to win the tournament.

25. Alpharetta (Ga.), 21-3

The Raiders enter the home stretch of the regular season with eyes on returning to the state championship after falling just short of a title last year.

Phillip Suitts is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. He has worked at a variety of outlets, including The Palm Beach Post and Southeast Missourian, and done a little bit of everything from reporting to editing to running social media accounts. He was born in Atlanta but currently lives in wintry Philadelphia. Follow Phillip on Twitter @PhillipSuitts.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.