Andi Sullivan looks to be on the verge of becoming a mainstay on the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

In a 9-0 victory over Paraguay on Thursday, the midfielder scored her first two international goals for the USWNT, had an assist and was third in votes for the Woman of the Match.

The USWNT plays Paraguay again on Tuesday — an opportunity for Sullivan to put a period on the statement she made in Thursday’s game.

“I think this a great opportunity for me to try to weasel my way in here, and it’s tough, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Sullivan said. “I wouldn’t want it to be easy.”

Ninety minutes, two goals and an assist 💪 Standout stuff from @sunshine_sully on Thursday night in Cleveland ☀️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/yQ6BYh4p8J

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) September 18, 2021

The 25-year-old made the starting 11 in the first game as the lone central midfielder. U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski was satisfied with her performance and said she’ll have a similar role on Tuesday.

“The only difference is we’re going to ask her to be just a little bit more aggressive with her passing and look for more penetrating passes,” he said.

On Thursday, Sullivan was the USWNT’s second-best passer, connecting on 92 percent of her 54 passes. She was also the second-best shooter, hitting three of her four shots on target.

Sullivan is no rookie to international play. Getting her first cap with the senior team in 2016, she’s been on and off the rosters since. Injuries have been a problem, including a torn ACL in 2016, a torn meniscus in 2020 on the same knee and a quad injury in January 2021.

“It’s been quite a journey, but if you look around at every player here, every player has had injury struggles and good timing and bad timing and I think my story is no different, and it’s not over,” said Sullivan.

Andonovski made it clear, even before the first match against Paraguay, that Sullivan would get lots of playing time during the fall series, with both Julie Ertz and Lindsey Horan being sidelined by injuries. The USWNT coach says the level of skill and success he’s seen from his younger players in the NWSL this season is what inspired him call them into camp. Sullivan has three assists and a passing success rate of 82.9 per cent with the Washington Spirit.

The Spirit have had issues recently with the league’s COVID-19 protocols, that including four positive cases on the team. Washington was forced to forfeit their two latest games against Portland Thorns FC and OL Reign, and after Thursday’s game. Meanwhile, a power struggle between co-owners threatens to throw the club into further chaos.

“It’s rare that this environment is less stressful than my club environment, but that’s the case for me right now,” said Sullivan of the Spirit situation. “Just super excited to get into camp, great to have some great training, and get to play a game.”

Andonovski said he was “very well aware” of how the Washington situation might be affecting his players mentally, and said that coming to camp might have been the escape Sullivan and her Spirit teammates needed.

“We find that all three of them – Kelley [O’Hara], Andi and [Emily] Sonnett – to be in very good spirits,” he said. “They’re excited to be in camp.”

The USWNT’s second match against Paraguay is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sullivan says the game is important for herself and the team in establishing good habits as they begin preparations for the 2023 FIFA World Cup, with qualifiers beginning later this year.

With half of the Elite Eight now set, a few Big Ten underdogs still have a shot at disrupting the No. 1 seed stronghold at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend.

The No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers are through to the quarterfinals after defeating No. 2-seed SMU 3-1 on Thursday, while the No. 4-seed Indiana Hoosiers, No. 3 seed-Wisconsin Badgers, and the still-undefeated overall No. 1 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers all face stiff Sweet Sixteen competition on Friday afternoon.

Coming off a strong regular season, the Big Ten could still field half of the quarterfinal round — though that would require the first No. 1-seed upset of the 2025 national tournament in the form of an Indiana victory over top-seeded Texas.

Bolstered by their defensive leader, senior middle blocker Madi Sell, the Hoosiers booked just their second-ever Sweet Sixteen trip with last week's win over No. 5 Colorado, with Indiana now hoping their lucky run continues against the 2022 and 2023 champion Longhorns.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Huskers will look to keep rolling against No. 4-seed Kansas while the No. 3 Badgers aim to snag another Big Ten spot in the Elite Eight by ousting No. 2-seed Stanford on Friday.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend

The NCAA volleyball tournament's Sweet Sixteen action will wrap with four games on Friday, starting with No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Indiana at 12 PM ET.

The Elite Eight will then meet at the net on Saturday and Sunday to determine the last-standing teams heading to next week's Final Four in Kansas City.

All of this weekend's NCAA tournament games will air live across ESPN platforms.

Team USA is on a roll, officially taking the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada before the slate of friendlies is even over, with the US collecting three consecutive wins so far — and one shot left at making it a clean sweep.

The US downed their northern neighbors by a commanding 10-4 scoreline in Edmonton on Wednesday, marking Team USA's first-ever 10-goal victory against the reigning Olympic champs — all while upping the 2025 series' goal tally to 20-6.

While each team fine-tunes rosters ahead of the 2026 Olympics, one test remains for both international hockey titans before the Winter Games take the ice in February.

"The work doesn't stop. Our Olympic team is not named. There's still one more game to go," said USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, acknowledging that her squad is not taking their foot off the gas despite the recent lopsided results.

"We have one more game against them before the Olympics," echoed Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're all aware of that."

How to watch Team USA vs. Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series

The puck drops on the final match of the sixth annual hockey Rivalry Series between the USA and Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will begin at 9 PM ET on the NHL Network.

The latest FIFA women's soccer rankings dropped on Thursday, with Spain widening their lead at No. 1 after winning a second consecutive UEFA Nations League title earlier this month.

The USWNT held steady at No. 2, ceding 7.48 points after losing an October friendly to No. 22 Portugal before going on to secure four straight wins over Portugal, No. 35 New Zealand, and No. 13 Italy to close out 2025.

Elsewhere in the FIFA Top 10, No. 3 Germany and No. 6 Brazil both saw boosts after successful fall runs, while Canada skidded to No. 10 amid a recent five-match winless streak, with Les Rouges's last victory coming against No. 43 Costa Rica last June.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The biggest changes, however, occurred outside the top ranks, as No. 96 Nicaragua, No. 118 Burkina Faso, and No. 137 American Samoa all rose by 16 spots.

Notably, upcoming USWNT opponent Paraguay saw the largest drop in this month's Top 50, sliding five spots to No. 46.

Ultimately, as the USWNT battled to keep pace in a year of roster experimentation — and without a major competition on the team's 2025 docket — the many international competitions in Europe benefitted victors and challenged losers in this week's FIFA rankings update.

The No. 16 USC Trojans are gearing up for another top-ranked test, hosting the reigning national champion No. 1 UConn Huskies in the weekend's flashiest NCAA women's basketball matchup on Saturday.

Coming off their second ranked win of the season, USC topped No. 20 Washington 59-50 last Sunday, with 22 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Jazzy Davidson helping pull the Trojans to a 7-2 record.

"I saw a resolve in our team," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb afterwards. "I knew we could get the next stop, I knew we could get the next play."

USC will face a particularly familiar foe against the Huskies — this time without sidelined star junior JuJu Watkins — after UConn knocked the Trojans out of the NCAA tournament two years in a row.

Notably, sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel departed USC over the summer for the Huskies, with the former Trojan averaging 7.7 points per game entering Saturday's clash with her old team.

"I just try to take one game at a time, but I'm excited to go back," Heckel said ahead of her first trip back to LA since transferring. "I had a great freshman year there, and I learned a lot, and it was a great experience, a lot of fond memories. So I'm looking forward to it."

How to watch No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 USC on Saturday

The Trojans will host the Huskies with tip-off set for 5:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on FOX.