Before each home match, the Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) volleyball team circles up to pray in the locker room, and on their way out, each girl jumps to hit the door frame. For Jenna Hanes, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, it’s more of a skip than a jump.

But regardless, it’s working.

Cathedral Catholic is 26-0 and ranked No. 1 in the latest Just Women’s Sports volleyball team rankings. This past weekend, the San Diego team won the Durango Fall Classic, one of the most competitive national tournaments in the country, and in seven matches, the Dons didn’t drop a set, ultimately besting reigning state champion Marymount.

Coach Juliana Conn has three middle blockers, and in previous tournaments she rotated them. But when they got to the DFC, Conn had a feeling that Hanes belonged on the court.

And she was right.

Hanes was crowned tournament MVP, and along the way she earned JWS Player of the Week honors. Since winning the DFC, Hanes and the rest of the Cathedral Catholic team have continued to roll, with a road sweep against La Jolla on Tuesday and another against Point Loma on Thursday.

“The competition brought the best out of her,” Conn said. “She was really on a mission to stop them blocking-wise. I think everything came together for her. We’re playing a big, high-profile tournament for high school, and it was her time to shine. I don’t think she had a mistake.”

The Dons knew going into the finals of the DFC that Marymount would be a tough match, but they made it a clean sweep, winning 25-20, 25-17.

“The last point, everyone running in and celebrating, that was one of my favorite moments,” Hanes said. “It was super cool being named MVP in one of the best tournaments in the nation. So many people played great. It could’ve gone to any of them.”

.@CCHSAthletics breezed to the championship of the 64-team Durango Fall Classic last weekend to remain unbeaten on the season, led by tournament MVP middle blocker Jenna Hanes 💪🏐

Full top 20 rankings ➡️ https://t.co/m12uJ63fjw pic.twitter.com/cfgnoRNKxY

— SBLive California (@SBLiveCA) September 22, 2022

This season, the majority of the girls on the Cathedral Catholic team are seniors, including the third-ranked recruit nationally, Julia Blyashov. Hanes, a junior, is new to the program but has played with most of the girls in club volleyball.

“When I came in as a transfer, they were all super encouraging and nice and welcoming,” Hanes said. “They keep practice at such a high level. I get to learn from them firsthand and improve my game from that.”

Hanes started playing volleyball when she was in the third grade. Her mom, Kara Hanes, is a former member of the U.S. women’s national team and was an All-American at UCLA. Naturally, Kara introduced her daughter to the sport, and it was love at first sight.

In fifth grade, Jenna began playing club volleyball, and in eighth grade, she set her sights on playing college volleyball.

In 2024, she’ll do just that — Jenna made a verbal commitment in July to play volleyball at the University of Michigan.

From the moment she stepped onto the Ann Arbor campus, she immediately felt at home.

“It just seemed like my type of place,” Hanes said.

Jenna hopes to one day follow in her mom’s footsteps and play for Team USA, but in the meantime, she’ll enjoy the rest of her high school career at Cathedral Catholic, forming unbreakable bonds along the way.

Nika Anschuetz is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @nlanschuetz.

The WNBA is taking a weekend road trip, as the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 8 Seattle Storm head across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the league's first-ever in-season Canada Game on Friday night.

The game features a rematch of Atlanta's 85-75 win over the Storm on Wednesday, with the win propelling the Dream up the WNBA standings — and threatening to drop Seattle out of postseason contention entirely.

"Time is running out, and the team knows it," Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said earlier this week. "I didn't want to put so much pressure on them, but they know the situation, and they understand the urgency."

While Friday marks the first regular-season WNBA matchup played outside the US, the league has previously staged two preseason games in Canada, tipping off in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024 — both in front of sold-out crowds.

Toronto's 2023 exhibition appeared to serve as a trial run for expansion, with the league awarding the Canadian city its first franchise — the 2026-incoming Toronto Tempo — earlier this year.

While plans for a formal move to Vancouver hasn't yet surfaced, the WNBA's explosive popularity and rapid growth outlook provide plenty of room for new markets to enter the conversation.

How to watch the 2025 WNBA Canada Game

The No. 8 Seattle Storm and No. 2 Atlanta Dream will square off inside Vancouver's Rogers Arena at 10 PM ET on Friday night.

Live coverage of the WNBA Canada Game clash will air on ION.

Coming off a series of strategic transactions, the No. 10 Washington Mystics will forge ahead on Friday night, taking on the short-staffed No. 6 Indiana Fever with a chance to play spoiler as they reshape their 2025 expectations from below the postseason cutoff line.

"There's just so many different success stories with this group," Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson said following Washington's 88-83 loss to the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday.

The Mystics have lost five of their last six games, and will take the court on Friday without injured new addition Jacy Sheldon and starting center Shakira Austin.

While Washington exceeded this year's early-season projections — skyrocketing above the playoff line behind leading scorer Brittney Sykes and the dynamic rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron — the now-fading Mystics chose to shift gears at the trade deadline, sending Sykes to the No. 8 Seattle Storm and shipping second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards off to the No. 13 Connecticut Sun.

With their natural 2026 draft pick secured, Washington has a shot at adding a top first-round prospect should they play out the rest of the regular season at the bottom of the WNBA standings — in other words, by strategically tanking the final weeks of 2025 play.

On the other hand, the injury-laden Indiana enters Friday's action eyeing a win after falling to the No. 11 Dallas Wings by just one point on Tuesday.

How to watch the Washington Mystics vs. Indiana Fever on Friday

The No. 10 Mystics will take on the No. 6 Fever in Indianapolis at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on ION.

A top-table battle headlines the NWSL this weekend, as the No. 1 Kansas City Current hosts the No. 2 Orlando Pride for a possible postseason rehearsal on Saturday.

Led by Golden Boot frontrunner Temwa Chawinga, the Current enter the weekend with a full 12-point lead over the rest of the league, as reigning NWSL Shield and Championship winners Orlando push to make a statement.

"We are resilient. That is part of our identity. We never give up and we are always playing to win, and we always believe in ourselves," Pride defender Kylie Nadaner said following last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Racing Louisville.

More than just a clash between the top two teams in the NWSL standings, history shows very little love lost between these perennial heavy-hitters.

Last season, Orlando snapped KC's NWSL-record 17-game unbeaten streak on the Current's home turf, then took Kansas City down again in the pair's 2024 semifinal playoff match.

"We will remember the way they acted after the cameras were off," Current forward Michelle Cooper posted to social media after their July 2024 loss.

Kansas City has already issued some regular-season revenge on their way up the table this year, defeating the Pride 1-0 back in May.

How to watch Kansas City vs. Orlando this NWSL weekend

The No. 1 Current will kick off against the No. 2 Pride at 4 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on CBS.

NBA 2K is going all in on the WNBA, with the popular video game expanding its MyTEAM mode this week to allow athletes from both leagues to star on the same team when the 2K26 edition drops next month.

"MyTEAM is where competition meets a basketball fan's wildest imagination," explained Visual Concepts VP of NBA development Erick Boenisch. "By integrating the WNBA into one of our most popular modes, we're not only giving players the opportunity to customize their all-time dream rosters but shining a spotlight on some of the game's most iconic hoopers. We're looking forward to giving our players a new and deeper way to engage with the WNBA."

"Players can now mix and match current superstars and legends from both leagues, and compete with more dream lineup combinations than ever before," NBA 2K said in Thursday's release.

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"Pair Paige Bueckers with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, throw a lob from Sheryl Swoopes to Shaquille O'Neal, or run a pick-and-roll with Angel Reese and Carmelo Anthony," the franchise continued.

NBA 2K has ramped up its WNBA integration significantly since the league's debut in the 2K20 edition, expanding from Play Now and Season modes to the upcoming 2K26 version's virtual press conferences, pre-draft interviews, social media refreshes, and Top-10 player ratings.

How to buy the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26

With Chicago Sky sophomore Angel Reese playing cover star, the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26 will be sold exclusively in physical form at GameStop, dropping along with the other versions of the popular video game on September 5th.

Fans can purchase the WNBA version through the gaming retailer's presale now.