Bethania de la Cruz wins Athletes Unlimited Volleyball crown
Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited
Bethania De La Cruz was crowned the Season 2 Athletes Unlimited Volleyball Champion on Saturday, capping off a dominant showing during the five-week competition.
The outside hitter, who finished second last season, clinched the title with 4,652 points, serving as a captain for all five weeks.
De La Cruz led the league in kills with 233 and aces with 18 while notching a total of 168 digs. Posting a record 13 MVP honors on the season, De La Cruz broke the record for most leaderboard points in a single match at 477, single-match kills, firing 27, and single-match aces, posting four.
“The fact that he came here and learned a lot about the game and was with all of us together, it’s emotional for me and it motivates me to play better,” De La Cruz said of her win.
Natalia Valentin-Anderson, who led the league in assists, finished behind De La Cruz with 3,337 points, with Dani Drews and Cassidy Lichtman rounding out the top four.
Athletes Unlimited also named the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Volleyball Dream Team honorees, voted on by players and facilitators. Opposite Sheilla Castro, setter Valentin-Anderson, libero Morgan Hentz, middle blockers Molly McCage and Jenna Rosenthal, and outside hitters De La Cruz and Drews were all named to the team.
In addition to her Dream Team honor, Hentz was also selected as the GEICO Defensive Player of the Year. Hentz led the league in digs with 229, breaking Kristen Tupac’s previous single-season digs record of 200. The libero was awarded a $5,000 prize for the distinction.
Athletes Unlimited Volleyball will return for its third season in 2023.
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Hayes Taps Future USWNT Stars for 2025 SheBelieves Cup Roster
Lily Yohannes, Catarina Macario, Jenna Nighswonger, and Emily Fox are all returning to February's SheBelieves Cup. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes dropped her 23-player roster for February's 2025 SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday, showcasing a lineup that centers both the team's immediate future and Hayes's long-term strategy.
For their upcoming matches against No. 8 Japan, No. 15 Australia, and No. 21 Colombia in the 10th edition of the annual US-hosted tournament, the world No. 1 USWNT will be without several superstar veterans.
Absences include midfielder Rose Lavelle, who is still recovering from an offseason ankle surgery, and center-back stalwart Naomi Girma, who is working back from a calf injury.
The roster represents Hayes's first group for friendly competition since early December, as the US begins the long journey of preparing for their next major tournament: the 2027 World Cup.
For Hayes, the aforementioned injuries and absences offer an opportunity to bolster the team's depth by giving young players experience against top international teams.
"There's no point in me sitting in two and a half years time and saying actually, if there was an injury to key players, have I prepared the entire playing pool adequately?" Hayes said on Tuesday.
"We are facing three excellent teams with three very different styles and the tournament will be a great test to see who can perform against world-class players, but to see that, we need to give them opportunities," she explained in the US Soccer press release.
Gisele Thompson is one of four uncapped players on the February USWNT roster. (Julian Medina/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Fresh faces to join USWNT vets at 2025 SheBelieves Cup
To that end, the upcoming camp includes 10 players with fewer than five senior team appearances. Four of those players are uncapped, including midfielder Claire Hutton, forward Michelle Cooper, and defenders Gisele Thompson and Tara McKeown. All four impressed Hayes during her January camps and all have experience in youth level World Cups.
"I want to see what they look like within the WNT setup to determine, do they have the necessary qualities right now to be in the WNT, or do they go back to the Futures [camp] come April," said Hayes.
Also notably back in USWNT action is midfielder Catarina Macario, who has returned to form with her club, Chelsea FC, after an ongoing knee injury forced her to withdraw from last summer's Olympic roster.
Ultimately, the US is in the experimental stage of the long preparation for the 2027 World Cup, complete with the risks and rewards that accompany long-term roster development.
Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (KC Current), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)
How to watch the USWNT at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup
The No. 1 USWNT will first face No. 21 Colombia at 8 PM ET on Thursday, February 20th, before battling No. 15 Australia at 5 PM ET on Sunday, February 23rd.
They will complete their 2025 SheBelieves Cup play against No. 8 Japan at 10:30 PM ET on Wednesday, February 26th.
All of the tournament's USWNT matches will air live on TBS.
Dee Lab
Feb 10, 2025
First-time LPGA Tour Champion Yealimi Noh Wins Founders Cup
Yealimi Noh earned her first LPGA win at the Founders Cup on Sunday. (James Gilbert/Getty Image)
After four days of stiff competition,​ the 2025 Founders Cup yielded a first-time LPGA Tour winner on Sunday as US golfer Yealimi Noh surged to victory on strong back-nine play in Bradenton, Florida.
The world No. 32-ranked Noh kicked off her sixth season with the LPGA by lifting her first trophy in her 111th start.
In just two holes on Sunday, the 23-year-old flipped a one-shot deficit into a three-shot lead, eventually claiming the $300,000 championship check with an overall 21-under-par performance.
"I always knew it would happen and it was a matter of time," Noh told reporters after her win. "To really get it done, and especially in the first tournament of the year, is really nice."
Noh, who earned a captain's nod in the 2021 Solheim Cup, is officially on an upswing. After less successful 2022 and 2023 seasons, she made 21 cuts across her 25 LPGA starts in 2024, helping fuel last weekend's blockbuster 2025 debut.
"Having a lot of better results and getting my confidence back and contending a few times last season really helped me carry that out through the winter and just really prepare for this week," she explained. "[I] just felt really ready — this was going to be my year and week."
Jin Young Ko made bogeys on Sunday's 13th and the 14th hole to finish the Founders Cup in second place. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Founders Cup sees additional standout performances
Just behind Noh on last weekend's leaderboard is No. 7 Jin Young Ko. The South Korean star's narrow lead fell when she made her first bogeys of the competition, logging two back-to-back on Sunday.
The 15-time LPGA title-winner capped her tournament four strokes back from Noh, with US golfer and world No. 17 Megan Khang one stroke behind Ko in third place.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda finished tied for seventh place after capping her Founders Cup outing nine shots behind Noh.
The US star will next take a seven-week break, opting to sit out the upcoming trio of LPGA Tour stops in Asia. Korda will instead continue to search for her first victory of 2025 at the end of March, when she tees off at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Arizona.
JWS Staff
Feb 10, 2025
Unrivaled Cancels Game, Shortens 1v1 Tournament Due to Player Injuries
Injuries forced Unrivaled to shorten this week's 1v1 tournament. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball hit an injury wall this weekend, forcing the inaugural offseason league to cancel one regular-season game and truncate this week's 1v1 tournament.
With multiple Laces players sidelined, the league called off the team's Saturday night matchup against Vinyl BC.
Similarly, after seven participants had to pull out of Unrivaled's hotly anticipated 30-player 1v1 tournament, the league responded by shortening the contest's first round.
With all teams camped together on Unrivaled's Miami campus, specific details concerning player availability as well as injury type and severity have been tough to come by.
Laces stars Alyssa Thomas (knee) and Tiffany Hayes (concussion) both exited the 1v1 tournament after suffering injuries in previous Unrivaled matchups, putting their fitness statuses in question as the 2025 WNBA season looms.
Fellow Laces standouts Kayla McBride and Kate Martin, plus Rose BC's Brittney Sykes and Phantom stars Natasha Cloud and Marina Mabrey, will not participate. The withdrawal is "due to lingering injuries and to prioritize player wellbeing for regular-season games," per Unrivaled.
Injuries shrink Unrivaled 1v1 tournament's first round
Instead of a planned 14 games split across an afternoon session and an evening set on Monday, the now eight-game opening round of the league's 1v1 contest will occur in a single night of competition.
In an effort to maintain the original bracket as much as possible, Unrivaled decided against making any changes to its first-round matchups.
Because of this, five additional athletes will join the previously announced Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale in snagging first-round byes, with Courtney Williams, DiJonai Carrington, Satou Sabally, Rae Burrell, and Azurá Stevens now also set to tip off their 1v1 journeys during Tuesday's second round.
Unrivaled's reliance on short, elite rosters has spelled heated competition on a star-stacked court, but the strategy is now revealing its shortcomings. Such slim margins leave the league scrambling whenever one of their players — all of whom plan to return to the WNBA in mid-May — needs a break to prioritize rest and recovery.
DiJonai Carrington is one of five players who now have 1v1 tournament byes because of league injuries. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
How to watch Unrivaled's 1v1 tournament
The three-day competition tips off its eight-game first round at 7 PM ET on Monday. Both the second round and quarterfinals are set to begin at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with the semifinals and finals slated for Friday at 7:30 PM ET.
All games will air live on truTV, with TNT also broadcasting Monday's and Friday's sessions.
Claire Watkins
Feb 10, 2025
Texas Snaps South Carolina’s SEC Streak in NCAA Weekend Action
Texas handed South Carolina their first SEC loss since 2021. (Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
No. 4 Texas basketball claimed their revenge over No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday, taking down the reigning NCAA champs 66-62 to even the pair's regular-season series at 1-1.
In the process, the Longhorns snapped South Carolina's 57-game regular-season SEC winning streak — a victory chain dating back to December 2021.
Texas star sophomore Madison Booker led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, prompting South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to levy high praise by calling her "a beast on the boards" after the game.
Texas could claim the SEC's top spot outright by defeating LSU on Sunday. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
Strength of SEC sets up fight for NCAA tournament positioning
This weekend's results ultimately bottlenecked Texas, South Carolina, and LSU into a three-way regular-season tie for first-place in the SEC — one of the NCAA's toughest leagues.
With that result, all three teams now have 10-1 conference records, though LSU and Texas could break from the line during their possible winner-take-all date this Sunday.
All in all, the Southeast's depth is both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, the conference's elite teams are gearing up to take March Madness by storm: Each of the SEC's top trio is likely to finish the season as an AP Top-10 team, ultimately earning a strong seeding throughout the postseason.
Other strong squads, however, must grapple with under-seeding due to disappointing conference records suffered in the gauntlet of the SEC.
For example, despite last week's big win over No. 5 UConn, Tennessee's string of slim conference losses have them sitting 4-6 in SEC play. This means that the Vols will likely face an uphill battle to claim beneficial seeding in March's NCAA tournament, giving them a disproportionately difficult road to the Final Four.
Already looking beyond the 2024/25 NCAA postseason, star center Lauren Betts will return to UCLA next season and forego the 2025 WNBA Draft, the National Player of the Year candidate confirmed on Friday.
Ranked No. 1 out of high school, the 6-foot-7 junior transferred to the Bruins from Stanford after her freshman year, making the 21-year-old eligible to pass up her senior season and instead turn pro this spring.
"College is the best years of your life, and so I don't think I'd ever give that up," Betts told ESPN. "Why not be spoiled for a whole another year?"
"The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I've created -- I'd want to do that for another year," she added.
She also cited the opportunity to play with her sister, incoming UCLA freshman forward Sienna Betts, as a factor in her decision to remain in the NCAA.
"I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I'm going to come back next year," Betts said.
UConn star Paige Bueckers is expected to go pro this year. (BM. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WNBA teams eye draft-eligible college athletes
Betts isn't the only top college player weighing her options. A number of factors are impacting the decision NCAA standouts currently face in deciding when to turn pro, from NIL money to the new CBA expected to reshape the WNBA in 2026.
Lottery locks like UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles could technically also opt to stay in school for another year. However, neither has indicated any plans to do so.
Accordingly, WNBA franchises eyeing the upcoming draft have noted that the volatility of the market is affecting first-round pick trades. Teams would be unwise to place their bets on every top NCAA prospect making the leap this April.
