After a disappointing Round of 16 exit at the 2023 World Cup, the U.S. women’s national team will regroup and turn its attention to coming back with a vengeance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It’s unclear if head coach Vlatko Andonovski will be the one leading that charge. His contract expires at the end of 2023, and his performance will be the subject of an internal review following the team’s failure to make the semifinals of a World Cup for the first time in program history.

From there, roster decisions will be of utmost importance with less than a year to right the USWNT ship. Those decisions are also not as linear as they might seem, with the U.S. likely to continue some of the roster changes they started going into 2023. The talent pool is as deep as ever, with a new generation of young players with professional experience eager for a chance to play at the international level.

The group will also have a number of key contributors hopefully returning from injury, longtime veterans making decisions about their careers and players’ form naturally fluctuating over the next year.

The two-time winners considering their futures

We already know that two of the two-time World Champions who made their return for the 2023 World Cup will not be back for the Olympics. Megan Rapinoe announced prior to the tournament that she would retire at the end of 2023, and Julie Ertz revealed her own intention to retire from the national team after the USWNT’s Round of 16 exit.

Rapinoe served as a substitute in 2023, but Ertz quickly proved herself indispensable in a center-back partnership with young stalwart Naomi Girma. Her absence will usher in further change, and her contributions will be greatly missed.

Other two-time champions have decisions of their own to make. Kelley O’Hara’s desire to galvanize a young team and lead them through high-pressure situations has never waned, but her fitness this summer also never allowed her to make those contributions on the field. Becky Sauerbrunn, whose lingering injury left her off the World Cup roster, is even one degree further removed from a return to the U.S.

Alex Morgan and Alyssa Naeher both played significant minutes for the USWNT in 2023, stepping up in different moments to lead the squad. Both go back to their NWSL teams with questions of form lingering. With Naeher 35 years old and Morgan 34, where they fit in the USWNT’s future likely depends on who is coaching the team going forward.

The 2019 connectors

Lindsey Horan becoming USWNT co-captain in 2023 felt like the U.S. coaching staff’s way of forging a clear connection between the 2015 veterans and 2023 rookies. Horan headlines a somewhat small group of players who won the World Cup for the first time in 2019 and returned to the tournament in 2023.

Horan, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett are the only players now tasked with carrying that legacy forward, indicating a down period in U.S. talent identification during those players’ formative years. Good news, the USWNT has a number of very talented young players under the age of 25 who will continue the high standards the team has become known for. But if there is one specific failure of the U.S. development system, it’s how many players were relied upon to carry the team from 2015 to 2023, and how few of the players who got caps in that period stuck with the team in major tournaments.

Two other players who should rejoin their 2019 World Cup teammates are Mallory Swanson and Tierna Davidson. The NWSL teammates missed the 2023 tournament due to varying injury return timelines, and though they are in a tumultuous club situation in Chicago, having more time to regain their form could make all the difference.

The young 2023ers

While they didn’t get as much time to develop through the World Cup as they would have liked, the young players making their major tournament debuts in 2023 will be better in the future for their experience. Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Naomi Girma and Emily Fox all learned what it takes to start in a World Cup game, how to process the highs and lows of the tournament, and how to manage their fitness while carrying heavy minutes.

Ashley Sanchez and Alana Cook were surprisingly held off the field for the four games the U.S. played in Australia and New Zealand, while Savannah DeMelo — a surprising roster inclusion — got an incredible amount of experience in the group stage. Those coaching decisions will have ramifications in the future, though they shouldn’t affect any players’ standing going into the next international cycle.

Alyssa Thompson gained World Cup experience likely a cycle early due to the injury to Swanson, making appearances as a substitute as she continues to add elements to her game. And the one player who deserves to hold space in this group despite her absence is Catarina Macario, who would have been right alongside her teammates if not for setbacks in her ACL recovery. Back in training with new club Chelsea, Macario has to be in any future USWNT plans that include the other players in this group.

League veterans competing for another shot

If the U.S. has few players who can carry the memories of 2019 into 2024, they do have a number of players who worked their way onto the squad later in their careers. Kristie Mewis and Lynn Williams both made the last Olympic roster (though Williams was an alternate), and Williams has been effective in her minutes in both major tournaments.

The assets Sofia Huerta brings to the U.S. as a crossing specialist are clear despite few minutes played at the 2023 World Cup. Naeher’s heirs at the goalkeeping position also likely come from this group: Casey Murphy and Aubrey Kingsbury will have the advantage of their camp experiences, while other keepers push for consideration based on league play.

And then there is Andi Sullivan, a player who seemed to have just missed a number of major international tournaments before making her World Cup debut in 2023. Despite being let down by Andonovski’s system, Sullivan was steady while carrying heavy minutes in the U.S. midfield and catering well to Horan and Lavelle’s tendencies. She’ll be battling for position against the next generation, but will have experience on her side.

The next generation of talent

While the U.S. has been undergoing many roster changes in recent years, they have room to get even younger still. Players like Jaedyn Shaw, Sam Coffey, Olivia Moultrie, Mia Fishel, Jaelin Howell and Jenna Nighswonger are all getting experience and contributing in professional systems, with some of them forgoing the old pipeline pathways of the NCAA system.

Beyond young American players already proving their worth at the professional level, youth internationals at the collegiate level are also rising through the ranks. Alyssa Thompson’s little sister, Gisele Thompson, trains with NWSL club Angel City, as have other standouts like Simone Jackson. USC standout Croix Bethune was listed on Andonovski’s provisional roster for Concacaf World Cup qualifying, and other talents like Trinity Byars, Lexi Missimo and Lilly Reale will be eager to step up and fill the positional gaps left by the exits of longtime veterans.

That this is not even the exhaustive list of players available to refresh a USWNT project that didn’t get the balance right in 2023 should be exciting for fans of the team. It also represents just how daunting the year ahead might be for the coaching staff. After big wins, there is always an impulse to run it back with the players you know. In the face of failure, the future might look a little different.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

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.