On a hot, sunny day last weekend in Phoenix, Nayeli Gonzalez slipped on headphones to line dance in a gymnasium packed for a premier high school volleyball tournament.

“Everyone looks at us,” Gonzalez said. “We do it every tournament.”

It may bewilder opponents, but the warmup works. The Cornerstone Christian (Texas) Warriors, who are ranked No. 3 in the latest Just Women’s Sports volleyball team rankings, won the tournament, defeating Mira Costa 2-1 (25-23, 26-28, 15-8) in the championship match. Gonzalez, a 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter, finished with 65 kills and 21 blocks, earning JWS Player of the Week honors along the way.

So far this season, she’s recorded 533 kills, averaging 4.4 per set, with a kill percentage of 51.6 and a hitting percentage of .380.

“She’s a security blanket. You know what you’re going to get,” Cornerstone Christian coach Mike Carter said. “You know she’s going to deliver, along with her teammates, and give us an opportunity to be successful in every match.”

Volleyball: @ccs_warriors won 68-team NIKE Tourney of Champions in Phoenix, beating California's Mira Costa 25-23, 26-28, 15-8 in final & 2021 mythical national champ Marymount (Calif.) in semis. @gracecarrollvb @kaia_thiele @busserylee @tay2anderson @nayeli3914 @alyssamanitzas pic.twitter.com/NcERJokxMq

— SA_terrence1 (@sa_terrence1) October 2, 2022

Gonzalez started volleyball in sixth grade at the request of her older sister.

“She made me practice,” Gonzalez said about her sister. “I actually struggled a lot with passing. I’d get upset with her. I’d tell her I don’t want to play. She’d tell me, ‘You have to do it.’”

In two short years, things started to change. Gonzalez moved to a bigger club, realizing volleyball was her sport. One year later, she envisioned herself as a Division I college athlete.

Next year, she’ll make her childhood dream a reality. She has committed to play at Iowa State University. Gonzalez has a big family, and when she began searching for the right college program, she wanted a family-like atmosphere. Early in the recruiting process, the Iowa State volleyball staff welcomed the Gonzalez family with open arms.

“They took such good care of my siblings,” Gonzalez said. “They were sweet and patient with them. They’re just loving, and I felt I would be at home there.”

In just two weeks, Gonzalez’ high school career will end. On Oct. 8, she’ll take the court one last time as a Warrior, and in the time she has left, she hopes to leave a legacy that extends beyond the boundaries of the court.

“I want to finish it off with everyone knowing I love them, and I had the best four years of my life here,” Gonzalez said. “As soon as that game finishes, I hope they think of me and be like, ‘Hey, she was the one who helped me through this. She had that energy, she had that spunk, she had the mentality for us to keep going.’”

Nika Anschuetz is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @nlanschuetz.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a proposal to expand the women’s soccer tournament from 12 to 16 teams for the 2028 LA Olympics on Wednesday, solidifying the event’s international importance as the women's game continues to see skyrocketing growth.

"We wanted to do something to reflect that growth, and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women's football," IOC sports director Kit McConnell said on Wednesday.

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IOC balloons multiple 2028 LA Olympics women's events

Soccer isn't the only women's event expanding, with additional IOC decisions pushing the total number of women athletes participating in the 2028 LA Games over the 50% line.

The women’s water polo field will grow from 10 to 12 teams to align with the men’s competition, while 3×3 basketball will expand its field from eight teams to 12.

Even more, women’s boxing will gain an additional weight category, and the IOC will incorporate new mixed events across several other Olympic sports.

Ultimately, increased parity will only intensify competition, with the IOC making moves to keep the Olympics in line with the continued demand for and rise of women's sports.

"The message of gender equality is a really important one for us," added McConnell.

NCAA basketball standouts are still making decisions on whether to remain in college or make the leap to the pros as the 2025 WNBA Draft looms on Monday — and many are choosing to stay in school.

In the most recent example of this trend, Texas senior Rori Harmon announced Wednesday that she’ll use her injury redshirt year to return to the Longhorns next season.

While most players in this year’s senior class began college in 2021 — after the cutoff to receive an extra year of eligibility following the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown — 2025’s draft-eligible group includes many players opting to stay in the NCAA.

Like Harmon, injuries resulting in redshirt seasons are allowing college standouts like South Carolina's Raven Johnson, newly announced TCU transfer Olivia Miles, and 2025 national champion and UConn star Azzi Fudd a final shot at the NCAA court.

LSU's Flau’jae Johnson and UCLA's Lauren Betts — current juniors who are draft eligible under the WNBA's age clause, which permits players who have not hit four collegiate seasons to go pro so long as they turn 22 years old within the draft's calendar year — have also declined to make the jump in 2025.

Star-power still up for grabs in the 2025 WNBA Draft

Despite the collegiate holdouts, there will still be significant NCAA names earning WNBA spots on Monday, led by UConn guard Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers is still considered a lock for the 2025 WNBA Draft's overall No. 1 pick, which is held tightly by Dallas — in spite of speculation that the Wings might not be her preferred destination.

Other projected first rounders include Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron, USC forward Kiki Iriafen, LSU forward Aneesah Morrow, South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao, Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore, and Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers — with TCU guard Hailey Van Lith also making an early-round draft case through her 2025 March Madness play.

Monday could also see international prospects making a splash, with some mock drafts expecting French prodigy Dominique Malonga to go as high as No. 2, with Slovenian forward Ajsa Sivka and Lithuanian shooting guard Justė Jocytė also possibly earning WNBA invites.

All in all, the upcoming 2025 WNBA Draft class boasts experience, solid shooting, and many winning resumes, but it's up to the pro scouts to determine who will fit their team best.

The first-ever League One Volleyball (LOVB) postseason begins on Thursday, with all six teams competing though the weekend determine who will eventually lift the pro league’s inaugural trophy on Sunday.

Following years of success at the youth level, LOVB’s pro arm is capitalizing on volleyball’s surging popularity by stocking rosters with Olympians and NCAA champions.

Atlanta, Houston lead LOVB postseason favorites

This weekend's four-day postseason follows a classic tournament format, with single-elimination quarterfinals and semifinals preceding a winner-take-all championship match.

Play-in teams Austin, Salt Lake, Omaha, and Madison will battle on Thursday night for spots in Friday's semifinals, where No. 1-seed Atlanta and No. 2-seed Houston await.

As the clear frontrunner, Atlanta is captained by 2025 LOVB MVP and Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Cook. The team also features Outside Hitter of the Year McKenzie Adams on the court and Coach of the Year Paulo Coco on the sideline.

Cook’s USA teammate Jordan Thompson, who finished the LOVB regular season as the league’s overall points leader, leads fellow tournament favorite Houston.

How to watch the 2025 LOVB Finals

LOVB's first-ever postseason begins with Thursday's quarterfinals, with Austin taking on Salt Lake at 4:30 PM ET before Omaha faces Madison at 7 PM ET.

Friday's semifinals begins at 6:30 PM ET, with Sunday's championship match starting at 4 PM ET.

All coverage for the 2025 LOVB postseason will air live across ESPN platforms.

UConn’s big NCAA championship win over South Carolina on Sunday weighed in as ESPN’s third most-watched title match in women’s March Madness history, with an average viewership of 8.6 million fans and a peak of 9.9 million.

Also making a viewership mark last weekend were Friday's Final Four tilts. Both the 4.2 million fans who tuned into UConn's win over UCLA and the 3.7 million who saw South Carolina take down Texas helped those games claim spots in the sport's Top 10 most watched across ESPN platforms.

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The 2025 grand finale fell short of the Caitlin Clark-fueled 2023 and 2024 championship games. However, Sunday’s matchup towered over the 2022 edition with an impressive 75% viewership increase.

The 2025 championship more than doubled the 2021's 4.1 million viewers. This demonstrates a sharp continued uptick in the sport's widespread popularity.

With the 2024/25 NCAA women's basketball tournament scoring massive viewership numbers from tip-off through trophy-lifting, it's not entirely surprising that this season's edition registered as the second most-watched women's March Madness on record, boasting an impressive 8.5 billion minutes of content consumed.

Auriemma, Staley push for new March Madness media deal

Both 2025 NCAA championship-contending head coaches subsequently voiced support for securing a new media rights deal. They seek one that separates women's basketball from its current package alongside 39 other collegiate championships.

"For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say, 'What are we worth to you?,'" UConn manager Geno Auriemma said on Sunday.

Although a separate deal is a tough ask given that the current contract runs through 2032, South Carolina boss Dawn Staley echoed Auriemma's sentiment. She advocated for a standalone deal similar to the one that's brought lucrative success to the men's tournament.

"I don't know if [new WBCA president Jose Fernandez] can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice," said Staley.

"We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is."