Elite players at any level of sport possess a competitive nature unrivaled by the majority of their peers, but staying composed when the game is on the line can often be a more difficult balance to strike.

What happens when the pressure of the moment becomes unbearable? Who will keep their teammates together when adversity arrives? And which players achieve greatness by their ability to rise above the moment and deliver for their team?

That self-possessed demeanor has always been second nature for Bergen Reilly.

Ever since she first touched the court for O’Gorman High School (S.D.) as an eighth grader, the top-ranked volleyball setter in the nation has helped set the standard for a program that enters the 2022 fall season in search of a historic third-straight Class AA state title.

Reilly’s passion for volleyball has taken her far beyond her community in Sioux Falls, S.D. She’s traveled internationally to represent USA Volleyball at the youth level, putting her on the radar of top-level scouts and coaches. While her relentless work ethic has been the driving force behind her success, Reilly sets the standard at O’Gorman with her infectious personality.

For Reilly, there’s no moment too difficult to handle.

“She’s competitive, don’t get me wrong. She’s very competitive,” says O’Gorman’s second-year coach, Cale Hecht. “But she has this kind of calm demeanor that I think sets the tone in our gym. You have Bergen Reilly, who has this calm, cool and collected demeanor and doesn’t really get frazzled in high-pressure situations. I think that’s something that’s come as she’s grown and played on bigger stages, but she has this calming persona that kind of feeds off in the rest of the gym, especially the girls on the varsity team she’s always playing with.

“It’s a pretty solid team in that it takes a lot to get them frazzled. I think that all starts with Bergen.”

In July 2021, Reilly committed to the University of Nebraska, and everything else seemed to fall into place. Two months later, she helped guide Team USA to a bronze-medal finish at the U18 World Championship in Mexico before returning to O’Gorman and leading the Knights to a second-straight Class AA crown. Then over the summer, Reilly was named MVP at the Pan American Cup when the U19 team took home gold in Tulsa, Okla.

Reilly has won back-to-back honors as Gatorade South Dakota Volleyball Player of the Year and is coming off a junior year in which she amassed 393 assists, 191 kills, 174 digs, 43 aces and 29 blocks. As both a setter and an outside hitter, Reilly relies on her versatility, recording a hitting percentage of .341 and a kill percentage of .434 last season.

“It feels kind of mind-blowing how crazy and easy some of that stuff is for her, but it is because she’s spent hours in the gym and always wants to learn and takes feedback and all that stuff,” Hecht says. “It makes things very easy for me because she’s so versatile and has a great attitude about it. She loves playing somewhere else, and I think it’s just because she loves the game.”

An early bloomer

Reilly first began playing volleyball when she was 7 years old and was drawn to the sport by her older sister, Raegan.

The two sisters are separated by just two years, and their connection on the court has brought them closer together over the years. When COVID-19 brought the sports world to a halt in 2020, Bergen and Raegan turned to each other to stay on top of their game.

“The biggest part was during quarantine when no one really had anyone to play with, we could just play with each other, get a ball, get some reps in,” Bergen says. “We could always kind of hold each other accountable for what we were doing, so I think that’s been huge for both of us.”

By the time Bergen reached eighth grade, she was starting for O’Gorman, and she immediately began to realize her potential. It’s uncommon for any eighth grader to compete against high schoolers, but in South Dakota’s most competitive classification (Class AA), it’s an anomaly.

During that first varsity season, the Knights ran a 6-2 system that allowed Bergen to play exclusively as a setter on the back row, and she was used heavily, playing in 108 sets and finishing the year with 549 assists, both single-season highs in her varsity career.

Bergen admits the early years were a little nerve-wracking, but Raegen’s presence on the court helped alleviate those concerns.

“Having her there just made the transition seamless,” Bergen says. “My first couple of games I was a little nervous, but once I got the hang of it, everyone was so welcoming and so good to me that I really had nothing to be nervous about.”

Perhaps the most memorable moment of her high school career came when the Knights finished the 2020 season with a state title. Bergen was a sophomore for O’Gorman that year, while Raegan was one of seven seniors who guided the Knights to a perfect 26-0 record and the first undefeated Class AA state championship season since 1991.

Bergen played both setter and right-side hitter, racking up 400 kills, 260 digs, 131 assists, 62 blocks and 36 aces, with a kill percentage of .448 and a hitting percentage of .304.

“It was so special,” Bergen says. “There were seven seniors on that team, and they all became some of my best friends. One of them was my sister. Just winning a state championship and especially having it be an undefeated season, which hasn’t happened since the ‘90s, we knew there was something special there, so we wanted to go after it.

“That team was just unwilling to lose, and I think that was just such a crazy year and such a special team.”

Raegan wrapped up her prep career with three all-state selections and played Division I volleyball for North Dakota State last season before transferring to South Dakota State in January.

Meanwhile, the Knights went on to win back-to-back state championships, despite Bergin missing time in late September of the 2021 season to compete for Team USA at the U18 World Championship.

During bracket play at the World Championship, Team USA won five-set thrillers in consecutive nights over Argentina and Turkey before getting swept by Italy in the semifinals. They bounced back on the final night, however, to defeat Serbia and claim the bronze medal.

“That was just an unreal experience for me,” Bergen says. “Being my first time playing international volleyball, it’s insane. The speed of the game is just a whole different level, and the competition you’re playing against night in and night out is just something I’d never experienced before. It was so cool because everyone pushed us. There wasn’t a single easy game.”

Her exploits with USA Volleyball didn’t end there.

In July, Bergen guided Team USA to a gold-medal finish at the U19 Pan Am Cup in Tulsa. Despite a target on their backs as the team to beat in the tournament, the Americans didn’t drop a single set during the competition and finished things off by avenging a scrimmage loss against Brazil in the final.

“We kind of were like, ‘OK, now we know what they do and how they run things,’” says Bergen, who earned MVP honors and was named Best Setter. “When we played them again in the gold-medal match, we just kind of took them out of their systems. That was super cool, too, because we kind of had a gauge for how much we grew.

“We lost to them before the tournament started and then came back and swept them. That was really rewarding to see the team and how we all came together in those five days.”

Becoming a Husker

Bergen’s recruiting process began in eighth grade, but on May 1, 2019, a new NCAA recruiting rule went into effect that was intended to slow down the trend of coaches offering scholarships to athletes as young as seventh and eighth grade. The new rules prevent any communication between a student-athlete or parent/guardian and a Division I coach before June 15 after sophomore year.

“It was a little weird,” Bergen says. “I had phone calls with coaches, and then the next week, I would send them emails, but they couldn’t respond. It’s tough because you don’t really know. Are they interested? Are they not? They could be super interested, but they can’t respond.

“So I think I had to kind of work through that, but I just kept in contact with all the schools I was interested in.”

Bergen said she never planned to commit as fast as she did. She had intended to take her official visits to Kentucky, Minnesota and Wisconsin, but after a trip to Lincoln, Neb., to attend a volleyball camp on campus, Bergen committed to the Cornhuskers on July 15, 2021, choosing the reigning NCAA Tournament runners-up over offers from Creighton, Purdue and Texas.

“I just fell in love with it,” Bergen says. “I knew that I wasn’t going to find anywhere else that I liked more, so I kind of still wanted to take my officials. But then my parents were like, ‘That’s kind of pointless if you already know,’ so I committed that night after the camp.”

I am excited to announce that I committed to further my academic and volleyball careers at the University of Nebraska. Thank you to my parents, coaches and especially my sister Raegen who have made me the player and person I am today. I can’t wait to join Husker Nation!! #gbr ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UGObPMH3Qc

— Bergen Reilly (@BergenReilly) July 15, 2021

Bergen will be joined by the No. 1 recruit in her class, Harper Murray of Michigan. Bergen met Murray during the U18 World Championship last fall, where they became close friends, and their bond grew even more at this year’s Pan Am Cup.

Murray, who was named Best Spiker at the Pan Am Cup, roomed with Bergen during their first weekend in Tulsa, and they both played alongside fellow Nebraska recruit Andi Jackson.

“Our relationship really grew there,” Bergen says. “I think we’ve always had a pretty good connection on the court. I think it’s just kind of a natural connection there. I can’t wait to see where that all goes at Nebraska.”

Bergen played at the club level with Kairos Volleyball, leading Kairos 16 Adidas to the Premier Division title at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando last year. She earned MVP honors for her contributions to the title run, which was the program’s first at the Premier Division, the second-highest level.

“Kairos has been huge for me, too. I’ve pretty much always played up,” Bergen says. “There’s only been one year that I played with my age group, so I think that was really good for me just to kind of let me be around people that were going to challenge me and push me and play the game at a different speed than I would in my age group. I think that just forced me to grow faster and got me to where I am.”

Bergen credits Kairos Volleyball Club Director Mitch Lunning, who coaches the setters, as one of her key mentors, along with Hecht and former O’Gorman coach Emily McCourt.

“He taught me everything I know about setting,” Bergen says about Lunning. “I definitely think those three have all been huge for me.”

Bergen has always been fascinated by former Wisconsin star Sydney Hilley, whose calm personality mirrors her own. But since she committed to the Huskers, she’s focused on how Nebraska senior setter/defensive specialist Nicklin Hames runs the offense.

“She started her freshman year, and I think that’s the goal,” Bergen says. “Just seeing what she does right and how I can learn from that and hopefully transfer that over to my play, too.”

Bergen has also played for the Knights’ girls basketball team, which won a state title last season, but she won’t be a part of the team this season as she plans to finish up high school in December to begin her college career a semester early.

For now, she’s focused on leading O’Gorman to a third-consecutive state championship, a feat that’s never never been achieved in South Dakota’s Class AA. Hecht believes Bergen is ready to become the team’s go-to attacker in 2022 and take on a bigger role as an outside hitter, but he knows teams will be keying in on her.

With versatility and experience on her side, Bergen is poised to rise to the occasion.

“She’ll be a huge weapon,” Hecht says. “I think that’ll be somewhere she’s going to learn as she goes, and I think she’ll hit the ground running pretty quickly. But she’ll bring that intensity, and it’s good for her and our gym for everyone to see that willingness of like, ‘Yeah, I want to play somewhere else because I want to do what we can to win.’

“I think that shows a lot about who she is. She wants to win, and she’ll do whatever it takes.”

Trent Singer is the High School Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow him on Twitter @trentsinger.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins dives into the individuals who put together standout performances for the USWNT in the team's recent pair of friendlies, from a big update in the goalkeeping race to the squad's multi-layered midfield project.

Watkins also breaks down the missed opportunities amid the USWNT's 3-0 win over China PR and 4-0 victory against Jamaica, as the year of head coach Emma Hayes's great roster experiment crosses the six-month mark.

Diving straight into the players who impressed, Watkins first calls out US captain Lindsey Heaps, applauding her performances while also noting that she "[wishes] maybe [Heaps] was used more situationally than kind of all the time."

"Heaps has so much to give this team, but it is probably against teams like this where they're sitting back a little bit more," explains Watkins. "I don't love her against a press. I don't love her against a super athletic, physical midfield, but in these games, she really shines."

Shifting to the ongoing search to crown retired goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher's replacement, Watkins dubs Manchester United net-minder Phallon Tullis-Joyce — who started both USWNT friendlies — the overall frontrunner.

"Tullis-Joyce honestly reminds me a lot of Alyssa Naeher in her first couple years with the USWNT," says Watkins. "She's calm, she's organized, she's a good shot-stopper. She's a great communicator."

Young talent make strong cases for USWNT roster inclusion

Watkins also sings the praises of several young talents whose performances over the last week will make them hard to drop, including "obvious" choices like forward Alyssa Thompson and attacker Catarina Macario, as well as strike Ally Sentnor and teen midfielder Lily Yohannes.

Callling Yohannes "the freaking truth," Watkins notes that "you're seeing glimpses of what could become truly world-class play against the top teams in the world in a couple of years."

Making a slightly quieter, but no less impactful, case, argues Watkins, is winger Michelle Cooper.

Cooper's consistent refining and improvement have Watkins comparing her progress to star Trinity Rodman's USWNT evolution, saying that top passing is "how [Rodman] worked her way into the team before starting to take more shots. I think Cooper can follow that same game plan."

Missed opportunities leave some players scrambling

Pivoting to the missed opportunities arising from the two friendlies, Watkins calls the center-back pairings "lackluster," celebrating the return of star Naomi Girma and her rock-solid play as well as veteran Emily Sonnett's versatility while critiquing Hayes's decision to not test much depth at the position.

"It just feels like a wasted opportunity with so many other center back injuries," Watkins explains, referencing season-ending injuries to players like Tierna Davidson.

Along with what Watkins calls "rough" set pieces, she notes that less rotation and late subs were a missed opportunity to adequately test fresh faces or build chemistry with other players.

Noting that performances like forward Lynn Biyendolo's Jamaica match, in which she scored a brace off the bench, are "the gold standard," Watkins also questions Hayes's own criticism about the level of play dropping off when athletes aren't given enough minutes to find their feet and make an impact.

Citing talent like defender Emily Sams and midfielders Lo'eau LaBonta and Olivia Moultrie, Watkins posits that the sub patterns "just didn't quite have the focus that I'm sure Hayes was looking for."

"I worry that the players that kind of got dumped into games late never really had a chance, which is this happens at times when they're starting to ramp up," she says.

Overall, Hayes seems to be more obviously honing in on her starting core.

"We're starting to see players get multiple starts.... Those are the players to take seriously as the future of this program," notes Watkins.

"Hayes is being very purposeful with what she wants to see from her starters and what she wants to see from her bench. And there is an increasing gap between those two groups," says Watkins. "So the competition rises next international break."

About 'The Late Sub' with Claire Watkins

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes on the USWNT, NWSL, and all things women's soccer. Special guest appearances featuring the biggest names in women’s sports make TLS a must-listen for every soccer fan.

Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women's Sports newsletter for more.

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The WNBA recognized May’s top performers on Wednesday, handing out the first round of monthly awards to early-season standouts across the league.

Lynx star Napheesa Collier picked up Western Conference Player of the Month, with the forward averaging 26.8 points per game while leading Minnesota to a 6-0 May start.

Earning the same honor in the Eastern Conference was Dream standout guard Allisha Gray, who started the season with a 21.4 points-per-game average to help boost Atlanta to third in the league standings.

New York Liberty manager Sandy Brondello won Coach of the Month — a natural fit after leading the 2024 WNBA champs to their best opening record since 1997.

The most surprising nod, however, went to Rookie of the Month Kiki Iriafen, with the Mystics forward averaging a 13.9-point, 10.1-rebound double-double while shooting 47.4% from the field in her first month as a pro.

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The USC product opened the season with a bang, becoming just the second rookie in WNBA history to record four double-doubles in her first five games, joining Utah Starzz forward Natalie Williams, who did so in 1999 — three years before Iriafen was born.

The day-one Mystics starter is also the first Rookie of the Month in Washington franchise history, telling reporters, "From the day I got drafted to the Mystics, I just put my head down, like, I'm going to work… I'm just giving my best effort every single time that I'm playing, and it's nice to see the fruits of your labor come to fruition."

How to watch the winners of May's WNBA awards in action

While Collier's Lynx and Gray's Dream are off until the weekend, Brondello's Liberty will visit Iriafen and the Mystics at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, live on Prime.

Texas softball took Game 1 of the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS) championship series by topping in-state rivals Texas Tech 2-1 on Wednesday night, putting the Longhorns just one win away from clinching a program-first national championship.

"It's tight, especially when you're facing a good pitcher," said Texas catcher Reese Atwood, who delivered the game-winning hit. "Any momentum, any energy, we'll take it."

After a controversial obstruction call gifted Texas Tech a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth, a rare misstep from Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady gave Texas the daylight they needed to pull ahead.

With two Longhorns in scoring position and Atwood — the nation's RBI leader — stepping to the plate, Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco decided to take advantage of the vacant first base by instructing Canady to intentionally walk Atwood.

Noticing that Canady's intentional balls were dangerously close to the strike zone, Atwood capitalized, launching a game-winning two-run single on a 3-0 count — her first hit of the WCWS.

"Maybe it was the wrong decision. Maybe we should've went at her," said Glasco following the loss.

With up to two games left to play, the 2025 WCWS has already been a huge hit, averaging 1.1 million viewers on ESPN before the championship series even began — the network's highest pre-finals viewership on record.

While this year's NCAA tournament chases even more viewership history, Texas Tech will be hunting a Game 2 win to keep their championship dreams alive.

How to watch Game 2 of the 2025 WCWS championship series

The Red Raiders and Longhorns will square off again at 8 PM ET in Thursday's Game 2 of the best-of-three series, airing live on ESPN.

England dropped its 2025 Euro roster on Thursday morning, with manager Sarina Wiegman's title-defending squad facing major shakeups after three longtime staples recently withdrew from consideration.

Forward Fran Kirby and goalkeeper Mary Earps officially announced their international retirements mere days before the drop, with Wiegman previously informing 31-year-old Kirby of her omission from this summer's lineup.

Defender Millie Bright followed suit, stepping back from the team in a Wednesday social media post that stated she's "not able to give 100% mentally or physically."

While these shifts don't necessarily spell defeat, England now faces an uphill climb in their hunt for a second straight European title.

The Lionesses will start their campaign in Group D, a tricky division featuring perennial powerhouses France and the Netherlands plus regional rival Wales.

To further complicate things, England is also coming off a rocky Nations League run, failing to qualify for this year's Finals after finishing second behind Group A3 winner — and 2023 World Cup champs — Spain.

Though their 2025 Euro roster is missing some homegrown talent, the England lineup does feature a handful of NWSL stars stepping into the spotlight.

Washington defender Esme Morgan will make her Euro debut after helping lead the Lionesses to the 2023 World Cup final, while Gotham defender Jess Carter and Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse return to the competition to defend their 2022 success.

All in all, with a refreshed roster and increased parity across the women's game, the Lionesses' path to 2025 Euro victory is now more uncertain than ever.

England's 2025 Euro roster

• Goalkeepers: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Khiara Keating (Manchester City), Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride)

• Defenders: Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Jess Carter (Gotham FC), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal), Esme Morgan (Washington Spirit), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Maya le Tissier (Manchester United)

• Midfielders: Ella Toone (Manchester United), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Keira Walsh (Chelsea), Grace Clinton (Manchester United), Jess Park (Manchester City)

• Forwards: Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Arsenal, on loan from Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Michelle Agyemang (Brighton, on loan from Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Arsenal), Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea)