Last year taught Washburn Rural volleyball not to take anything for granted. The Blues entered the state tournament with a 38-0 record only to see their championship hopes dashed with a loss in the semifinals.

The good news: Washburn Rural returned plenty of talent from that team, which finished 40-2, including Kansas Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye.

The team is not a one-woman show, either. DeLeye, the No. 6 recruit in the country, is complemented by other experienced players: seniors Taylor Russell and Katie Borough plus juniors Zoe Canfield and Jada Ingram, among others.

With that array of talent and know-how, Washburn Rural has won 15 of its first 16 matches this season. But the players understand that a strong finish is more important than a fast start. For inspiration, they only have to look up in the rafters or turn to coach Kevin Bordewick, who guided the Blues to seven state titles from 2004-2012.

Washburn Rural appears to be rounding into form, winning seven matches in the last seven days, including the second defeat this season of No. 21 St. Thomas Aquinas. Thanks to that perfect week, the Blues have risen 10 spots to No. 9 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.

After a VERY LONG day, your Lady Blues went 6-0 at their invitational beating Manhattan, Gardner Edgarton, Kapaun, Blue Valley, and Free State! They went the whole day without losing a set!! Way to go blues!!🤩🤩

— WRHS Volleyball (@LadyBluesVB) September 24, 2022

1. Cathedral Catholic (Calif.), 27-0

A senior-heavy roster is leading the Dons to a perfect start to the season, with 58 sets played and 58 sets won.

2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (Mich.), 27-0

On Wednesday, the Mustangs beat Mercy for the third time this season. The Marlins have lost just two other matches.

3. Cornerstone Christian (Texas), 46-2

The Warriors haven’t dropped a set since falling to No. 6 Westminster Christian on Sept. 3.

4. McCutcheon (Ind.), 22-1

Similarly, the Mavericks have lost just one set since an early-season defeat.

5. Prestonwood Christian (Texas), 30-1

The Lions’ success this year bodes well for the future. They have just one senior on the roster.

6. Westminster Christian (Fla.), 12-0

The Warriors have a week off before resuming play with a matchup Friday, the precursor to a weekend tournament.

7. Fayetteville (Ark.), 22-1

Senior Brooke Rockwell, a Stanford Beach Volleyball commit, has surpassed 1,000 career kills, including 308 this season alone.

Welcome to the 1000K club @brookerock20 pic.twitter.com/ZjTw9Eqrxd

— Fayetteville Volleyball (@FHSVolleydogs) September 27, 2022

8. Mira Costa (Calif.), 17-2

Senior Drew Wright notched 27 kills in a five-set win over Redondo Union on Tuesday, extending her team-high total to 174.

9. Washburn Rural (Kan.), 15-1

The Blues first knocked off St. Thomas Aquinas before reeling off six more wins this past weekend.

10. Sierra Canyon (Calif.), 25-3

As the Trailblazers prepare for the stretch run of the season, Olivia Babcock, a Pitt commit, has more than 340 kills.

11. Highland Park (Texas), 31-2

The Scots have reeled off nine consecutive victories, all sweeps.

12. Tompkins (Texas), 28-3

Rice commit Cindy Tchouangwa has reached the 350-kill mark with a month of the regular season remaining.

13. Marymount (Calif.), 20-5

The Sailors appear to be getting hot at the right time, having won 10 of their last 11 matches. Their sole loss in that period came against Cathedral Catholic in the Durango Fall Classic championship.

14. Hamilton Southeastern (Ind.), 21-1

Senior Avery Hobson has 241 kills and a .359 hitting percentage, as the Royals continue to rack up wins following a season-opening loss to McCutcheon.

The Brebeuf Invitational Champions. pic.twitter.com/7BExnrACCL

— HSERoyalsVB (@hseroyalsvball) September 24, 2022

15. Mother McAuley (Ill.), 17-1

The Mighty Macs’ bid for an undefeated season ended, but they have a chance Thursday to defeat Kentucky powerhouse Assumption for the second time this season.

16. St. James Academy (Kan.), 17-1

The Thunder avoided another loss with a three-set win over Blue Valley Southwest on Wednesday and then closed out the invitational with a sweep of Blue Valley.

17. Oconomowoc (Wis.), 31-1

Behind Cordelia Kearns’ 314 kills and Lilly Wagner’s 759 assists, the Raccoons are eyeing a second straight state title.

18. Santa Fe (Fla.), 13-1

The Raiders’ match Tuesday against Forest was canceled due to Hurricane Ian.

19. Cypress Ranch (Texas), 33-2

Texas A&M commit Bianna Muoneke racked up 19 kills in a sweep Friday, bringing her season total to 560.

See you in January @TAMU 🤍🤍🤍 pic.twitter.com/kzOex5Fp50

— Bianna Muoneke (@biannamuoneke) September 28, 2022

20. Assumption (Ky.), 21-4

With star outsider hitter and Texas commit Sydney Helmers not playing this season, junior Charlotte Moriarty leads the Rockets with 236 kills, and senior Whitney Woodrow has racked up 860 assists.

21. St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.), 18-2

The Saints’ two losses have come at the hands of Washburn Rural, and they bounced back with two wins Tuesday.

22. ‘Iolani (Hawaii), 17-5

The Raiders have tested themselves against top-tier competition, beating Sierra Canyon and other teams from the mainland. More than half their losses have come against Top 25 competition.

23. Mater Dei (Calif.), 19-5

Following an upset loss to Santa Margarita, the Monarchs have reeled off back-to-back league victories. Now, they turn their attention to the prestigious Tournament of Champions this weekend.

24. Benet Academy (Ill.), 19-1

The Redwings’ 12-match winning streak will be put to the test Thursday against Skutt Catholic out of Nebraska.

25. Dike-New Hartford (Iowa), 26-2

The Wolverines suffered a second loss this weekend but bounced back with three consecutive wins.

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.

The new-look New York Sirens continue to impress in the early stages of the 2024/25 PWHL season, most recently notching a big 4-2 win over Toronto in the the team home opener on Wednesday.

All four of New York's goals came in the second period — the most in a single period all season — and all were the first goals of the season by each scorer.

Finland international Noora Tulus opened the game's scoring with her first PWHL goal, with teammates Emmy Fecteau, Micah Zandee-Hart, and Jaime Bourbonnais following suit. Both Fecteau's goal and team captain Zandee-Hart's were the first of their PWHL careers.

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Sirens rookie Sarah Fillier and teammate Alex Carpenter both assisted on Tulus's game-opening goal, with each booking a point in their fourth straight contest. Fillier remains in the PWHL's lead with two goals and five assists for a total of seven points, while Carpenter is just behind with six points — though her three goals make her the league's scoring leader.

As for the Sceptres, forwards Hannah Miller and former Siren Emma Woods each made a dent in the scoresheet with goals of their own in the third period, but it wasn't quite enough as Toronto failed to complete the comeback.

Last-place Toronto has now allowed their opponents to breach the scoresheet first in each of their 2024/25 matchups, ultimately losing their last three games in regulation.

New York Sirens to face Minnesota Frost in top matchup

New York's shifting fortune highlights the second-season league's rapidly growing parity. With only one loss through their first four games, the Sirens sit in second place to stake an early season claim on "most improved" after finishing last in the PWHL's inaugural season.

Just above New York on the league's table are the Minnesota Frost. The reigning Walter Cup champions are holding strong as the team to beat, but New York has already proved that it's possible after handing Minnesota an overtime 4-3 season-opening loss on December 1st.

The Sirens' will officially take aim at the top of the PWHL table on Sunday, when New York will try to gift Minnesota a second season loss in the league's pre-Christmas closer. This time, the Sirens will have the crowd on their side as the Frost visit New York's home ice.

How to watch New York Sirens vs. Minnesota Frost in PWHL action

The puck is set to drop on New York vs. Minnesota at 12 PM ET on Sunday, with live streaming coverage on YouTube.

Despite being populated by all four No. 1 seeds, Thursday's 2024 NCAA volleyball semifinals served up the bracket's biggest upsets, as heavily favored Nebraska and overall top seed Pitt were sent packing by their conference foes.

In front of 21,726 fans — a new record for college volleyball's postseason — Louisville shocked Pitt with a 3-1 victory before Penn State ousted Nebraska in a five-set instant classic.

Louisville books second national championship ticket

After dropping their first set to Pitt on Thursday night, it seemed the deck was stacked against the Cards, who had already lost twice to the Panthers in the regular season.

However, buoyed by their raucous home crowd, Louisville surged back, sweeping the next three sets to book their first trip to the national championship match since 2022, when they became the first and only ACC team to ever compete in the collegiate final.

As for Pitt, Thursday's loss was just their second all season, and not even 2024 AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock's astounding 33 kills could extend their title chase. Notably, their national semifinal curse continues, with the Panthers now falling in the NCAA tournament's penultimate round for four straight years.

On the other hand, Louisville's victory was a true team effort, with three senior outside hitters — Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz — leading the offensive charge with 14 kills each.

The Cardinals' roster was also required to step up in unexpected ways. Just two points into the fourth set, Louisville star DeBeer crumbled to the court with an ankle injury and did not return to the match. The visibly shocked Cards looked to freshman Payton Petersen, who made a massive statement by recording two kills and four clutch digs to help seal the win.

"I wanted to do this for her," Petersen said of DeBeer. "She's meant so much to me."

Penn State roars back to top Nebraska

In Thursday's battle between two Big Ten titans, the message was clear: Never count out the Nittany Lions.

After falling behind the Cornhuskers 2-0 in what increasingly looked like an inevitable Nebraska victory, Penn State emerged from the brink of defeat to pull off the first reverse sweep of the Huskers in the NCAA tournament since 1982.

Following a 5-0 run that helped the Nittany Lions stay alive with a third set win, they flipped a 22-16 deficit into a match-point battle that ended the fourth set 28-26 in Penn State's favor. With the match now equalized, Penn State took control in the fifth, holding off Nebraska 15-13 to clinch their first championship trip since winning their seventh title in 2014.

Star Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions' charge with a 26-kill, 12-dig double-double, putting together what Nebraska head coach John Cook called "one of the best performances [he's] ever seen by an outside hitter." 

Like Louisville's Petersen, freshmen also stepped up for Penn State, with Izzy Starck recording six key blocks and redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius hammering 20 kills against her former team, having transferred from Nebraska in December 2023.

As for the Huskers, their stacked roster showed out, with outside hitter Harper Murray leading the charge with a 20-kill, 15-dig double-double, plus three aces — the most by any player in either match on Thursday. Middle blocker Andi Jackson also had a standout night, putting together a near-errorless performance to finish with 19 kills.

Four-time All-American libero Lexi Rodriguez added program history to Thursday's mix, closing out her NCAA career as the Huskers' all-time digs leader with 1,896.

Sunday's court will make NCAA history

Louisville and Penn State's semifinal victories have guaranteed that Sunday's 44th NCAA volleyball championship match will go down in the history books.

With Dani Busboom Kelly leading the Cardinals and Katie Schumacher-Cawley coaching the Nittany Lions, a woman head coach will lift the national championship trophy for the first time.

Only two women have ever coached their teams into the college volleyball final, with Florida's Mary Wise doing so in 2003 and 2017 before Busboom Kelly followed in 2022.

For context, the last seven Division I basketball trophies came under women head coaches.

The fact that this glass ceiling still exists is partially due to volleyball having less women in head coaching positions than other NCAA sports. Less than half of Division I's 334 teams are led by a woman, while basketball boasts nearly 68% female leadership and softball claims almost 74%.

Busboom Kelly's ACC exceeds that 50% stat, but the Schumacher-Cawley remains one of only six women leading the Big Ten's 18 teams.

Both of Sunday's sideline leaders know what it takes to win the national championship, with Schumacher-Cawley taking the 1999 title while playing for Penn State and Busboom Kelly doing the same with Nebraska in 2006.

Even so, in some ways, this year's title will mean even more, as the coaches pave the way for future generations of volleyball leaders.

"[There’s] just honestly no better feeling than being led by a female because that could be me someday, that could be one of my teammates someday," Mruzik noted. 

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How to watch the 2024 NCAA volleyball championship match

Sunday's final won't just make women's coaching history, it could see Louisville earn the ACC's first-ever NCAA volleyball title. But to do so, the Cardinals, who fell to Penn State 3-0 in early September, will have to deny the Nittany Lions an eighth national championship.

NCAA volleyball will crown its Division I champion in Sunday's 3 PM ET match, with live coverage on ABC.

For the first time, USWNT and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman is opening up in unprecedented detail about her famous father, NBA legend Dennis Rodman, discussing him on Wednesday’s episode of the popular podcast "Call Your Daddy."

While having previously discussed their estranged relationship in brief, the 22-year-old enters "new territory" in sharing this amount of detail. 

Speaking to host Alex Cooper, Rodman described a financially controlling, partying alcoholic who was mostly absent after her parents’ divorce, and at one time left his children and their mother to briefly live in their car.

"I think he's an extremely selfish human being," Rodman told Cooper. "I think everything has always been about him."

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An NWSL breaking point

In 2021, Dennis unexpectedly showed up to Rodman’s NWSL quarterfinal match — the first and only he ever attended — causing the then-19-year-old to become emotional.

"I was so mad. I was like 'You took this happy moment from me. You f***ed with my head again,'" Rodman said. "I’m walking over [to him] so mad... he grabs my head and I just start bawling into his arms as if it’s a daddy-daughter [moment]."

That embrace was captured in a viral photo that was misconstrued as familial joy, rather than anger and overwhelm.

After Dennis expressed that he wanted to see her more in what Rodman calls a "wholesome" post-match catchup, she once again grew optimistic about building a relationship, but instead received total "radio silence" that lasted until late 2023.

"I think after that was when I lost hope in ever getting him back," she said. "Even at that game, I don’t think that was for me. I think he wanted to have a good conscience and then be like, headline, Dennis Rodman showed up to his daughter's game."

Today, Rodman has almost no relationship with her father, though she does answer when he calls.

"If something does happen, God forbid, I want to know that I did that. Or if he needed to hear my voice," she said. "That’s why I answer the phone, not for me."

"He's not a dad. Maybe by blood but nothing else. Hearing his voice is painful."

Gotham FC and USWNT forward Lynn Williams is being traded to the Seattle Reign, according to multiple reports late Wednesday.

Sports Illustrated reports that Williams and goalkeeper Cassie Miller will join the Reign in exchange for midfielder Jaelin Howell and an undisclosed transfer fee. 

Though still unconfirmed, the move reportedly comes at Williams’s request, with the 31-year-old Olympic gold medalist hoping to close out her club career on the West Coast, closer to her California home.

In her two seasons at Gotham, Williams scored 11 goals and tallied four assists en route to back-to-back NWSL Playoff runs.

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Williams is a major score for Seattle

The addition of Williams — the NWSL’s all-time leading scorer and third on the career assists list — would be a massive win for the Reign, who are in desperate need of firepower after posting the league’s fourth-worst goal count and finishing in 13th place last season.

Plus, Williams knows how to win, arguably more than nearly any other player in the league.

Since entering the NWSL in 2015, Williams has lifted trophies with all three of her clubs, earning championships with the Western New York Flash (2016), the NC Courage (2018, 2019), and Gotham FC (2023). Those four titles surpass every other NWSL athlete except McCall Zerboni, who coincidentally was Williams's teammate for all of those championships.

That title-winning aptitude would be clutch for Seattle, who are still hunting a franchise-first NWSL championship despite competing in three league finals.

Howell, Miller on the move again

Both Howell and Miller will exit their respective clubs after short tenures.

Miller joined Gotham from Kansas City in January as a replacement for starting goalkeeper Abby Smith, who suffered a season-ending injury in August 2023. In April, however, the NJ/NY club snagged German international Ann-Katrin Berger — one of the best keepers in the world and the NWSL's 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year — leaving Miller in a backup role.

Logging an even shorter time at Seattle than Miller's 11-month Gotham stretch is Howell, who will join her third club in five months with this trade. The midfielder began her NWSL career with Racing Louisville in 2022, but was sent to Seattle in August in exchange for striker Bethany Balcer and $50,000.

The 25-year-old, who captained her Louisville team, has struggled to stay in form. That said, if Gotham can help Howell unlock consistency in her top-level play, her on-pitch potential and off-pitch leadership could be a boon for the NJ/NY side.

Ultimately, trading Williams for a player with more potential than top form reads as a possible rebuild for a club who entered a so-called superteam era just one year ago — particularly in light of Gotham's flood of defectors this offseason, which includes star midfielder Delanie Sheehan.