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.

Sophia Smith isn't much of a gamer. 

"It just does not come naturally to me," the Portland Thorns and USWNT forward tells Just Women's Sports with a laugh. "I think with more practice, I could get good."

Whatever skills Smith may lack on the virtual pitch are made up in full by her talent on the actual one. And that talent has ironically earned her an outsized on-screen role in the popular soccer video game EA Sports FC.

Earlier this week, the 24-year-old earned her second-straight spot on EA Sport's Team of the Year. The honor that places her alongside international heavyweights like Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati, Chelsea's Lauren James, and Lyon's Wendie Renard.

While gaming might not have been front of mind when Smith won Olympic gold in Paris last summer, she has noticed how FC 25 has become an essential way for soccer fans to get to know their favorite players. The franchise only started fully integrating NWSL teams in 2023, but Smith's rise to in-game prominence was swift. 

Her avatar is regularly featured in national TV commercials, scoring in both a Thorns and a USWNT jersey alongside men's soccer stars like Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham. It might be just a video game, but FC 25 feels increasingly like one of the few platforms that views both sides of the sport as having equal potential.

The phenomenon is not lost on Smith. She says that from time to time fans will recognize her not from the Olympics or an NWSL championship appearance, but from the video game. "When people have the ability to play with women in a game that they've played all their life, it opens a whole new door for us," she says.

"It's so great for women in sports, because it shows that we also deserve to be in a game," she continues. "We also deserve to have that platform, to have our names out there at the same level as the men."

EA FC levels the playing field

While the EA FC 25 Team of the Year is voted on by fans, the breadth of leagues in this year's lineup also calms some of the debates currently raging within the women's side. It's no secret that NWSL players sometimes have trouble gaining traction in top European awards. This is a tension that Smith herself has faced before her US national team breakout.

"I do think the NWSL isn't recognized enough," says Smith. "People have a lot of opinions on it, maybe people who don't even watch any games. That can be frustrating because it's a very challenging league to play in — every game is competitive."

To prove her point, she references the time it's taken for her USWNT teammate and fellow Stanford alum Naomi Girma to gain recognition on the international stage. If there were any player she could add to EA FC's Team of the Year, she adds, it'd be the San Diego Wave center-back — "and not just because she's my best friend." The growing global market for NWSL-based players like Girma and Smith likely won't silence critics promoting European-style football over American. But Smith sees differences across leagues as an asset for a player, not a problem.

"Either league could be good for any player for a number of reasons," she explains. "You can learn something in Europe that you can't learn here, and vice-versa. That's why players go back and forth."

"I believe that every league that exists can be challenging in its own way, and we're all just trying to figure it out," she continues. "FC having women in the game — women from the NWSL and European leagues — just puts us all as equals as we should be. It allows you to determine someone's game based off someone's game, not if they play in Europe or the NWSL."

Focusing on USWNT growth in 2025

Smith's game speaks for itself. Coming off a disappointing 2023 World Cup, the forward scored three goals and registered two assists during the USWNT's Olympic run, leading the team to their first major tournament trophy since 2019. Her club contributions were similarly impressive. She scored 12 regular-season goals alongside six assists despite Portland's failure to make it past the 2024 quarterfinals.

But the year took a toll, and Smith says that prioritizing rest has been essential to preparing herself for everything 2025 has to offer.

"I feel like this offseason was very much needed for me," she says. "While it was a great year, it was a long year — we just gave everything 110%, 24/7, so when we got to the offseason, it kind of just smacked us in the face."

Smith says she's physically bouncing back after a lingering ankle injury limited her playing time in the later half of 2024. "Most offseasons I'll take a few weeks and I'll start training," she says. "This offseason I took a little longer. I knew that in order to start this next year off right, I needed to give my body what it needed while I could."

With no major US tournaments set for 2025, Smith is looking forward to seeing the national team continue to gel and evolve. She's a big believer in USWNT manager Emma Hayes's "If it's not broken, break it" ethos. It makes her excited to push herself and her team to take things to the next level. 

Bringing the EA FC Team of the Year energy back to Portland

Smith also has work to do in the NWSL. She's rejoining a Portland club that saw multiple legends of the game step away after 2024's uncharacteristic sixth-place finish. As a leader, she wants to see the Thorns back at the top of the table. And she hopes to carry on the legacy of retired stars like Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg.

"Since I arrived in Portland, every year there's been change. I'm just used to it at this point," she says. "The best thing we can do as players is stick together, really just show up for each other every day. And work towards the same goal, which is to win."

"It's easier said than done," she admits. "I'm used to being one of the younger players on the team. I still am, but I have more experience. I feel like I can be a leader in a different way."

With 2024's triumphs behind her, Smith views the new year as an opportunity to improve without the intense pressure of a major tournament. As always, the goal comes down to one simple thing: growth.

"I'm not the loudest person," she says. "But I can lead by example and show up every day, trying to be the best version of myself and helping those around me get better, too."

Making connections on and off the screen

One thing Smith can guarantee is that she'll continue to connect with fans. That goes whether it's signing autographs after a match or finding the back of the net in EA FC 25. 

"It wasn't that long ago that I was that little kid, watching people I grew up looking up to," she remembers. "If they took a minute out of their day to say hi or to sign something, that stuff means a lot." 

"So I try to be that person for people. If I can do that through FC, if I can do that in real life, I always take the opportunity."

Some of the NWSL's brightest stars made headlines this week, as the league's free agency transfer window continues to turn heads both at home and abroad.

Brazil forward Kerolin is officially departing North Carolina after spending all three of her NWSL seasons with the Courage, the club confirmed on Wednesday. The 2023 NWSL MVP will reportedly head to the WSL's Manchester City in a deal extending through 2028.

Sources are also linking two-time NWSL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma to the first $1 million transfer offer in women's soccer history, courtesy of French side Lyon and UK titans Chelsea and Arsenal. The 24-year-old USWNT star's current contract with the San Diego Wave runs through 2026, making a transfer fee a necessary part of any earlier deal.

The current record for a women's soccer transfer fee is $860,000, which Bay FC shelled out to receive Zambian forward Rachael Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF in February 2024.

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More NWSL teams make moves to lock down contracts

NWSL preseason has already started for select clubs, with teams putting the final touches on solidifying both their rosters and front offices.

Angel City hired former Portland Thorns FC and Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons as the club's new sporting director on Wednesday. The franchise is still searching for a permanent head coach after parting with boss Becki Tweed in December.

The 2022 expansion team also signed veteran forward Christen Press to a new one-year contract, per a Friday morning press release.

Meanwhile, with Girma's possible departure dominating the rumor mill, the Wave announced the addition of 17-year-old UNC defender and 2024 College Cup champion Trinity Armstrong to the club's ranks on Thursday.

Though Girma's fate is yet to be confirmed, San Diego's decision to pick up a talented young center back — on a three-year contract, no less — supports the theory that the USWNT standout is on the move.

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball tips off its inaugural season on Friday night, when four of the league's six clubs will take the court for the first time.

The Miami-based league's debut doubleheader begins with a co-founder face-off, as Breanna Stewart's Mist will first square off against 2024 WNBA Finals foe and fellow Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier's Lunar Owls.

Shortly after that inaugural game, Rose BC, whose roster includes top-rated 2024 rookie Angel Reese plus WNBA Finals MVPs Kahleah Copper (2021) and Chelsea Gray (2022), will take the Unrivaled court. Facing them in Friday's nightcap will be Vinyl BC, a team headlined by WNBA Rookies of the Year Aliyah Boston (2023) and Rhyne Howard (2022).

The two remaining Unrivaled teams will debut on Saturday afternoon, when Phantom BC takes on Laces BC in another 3×3 doubleheader.

Led by All-Stars like Brittney Griner and reigning WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu, the Phantom will start the season without guard Marina Mabrey due to a calf strain. Her recovery is expected to take two to four weeks, with an injury re-evaluation set for late January. In the meantime, the Phantom have added relief player Natisha Hiedeman to their short-handed roster.

IT'S GAME DAYYYYYYY! 🗣️ Make sure you tune in tonight at 7pm ET! pic.twitter.com/vAZ2IkemoF

— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 17, 2025

Unrivaled stars prepare for their close-up

The innovative new league is launching with 36 of the WNBA's biggest stars, a brand new 3x3 format, and a product finely tuned for national TV broadcast. The goal is to bring fans even closer to their favorite athletes.

Subsequently, Unrivaled has teamed up with six US bars "dedicated to elevating women's sports" in an effort to promote official watch parties nationwide.

"The content piece and the TV piece of this is huge for us," Collier told The Athletic ahead of Friday's launch. "We want to make it the most interactive, fun, and exciting experience we can for people."

With a smaller court and cameras positioned closer to the action than in WNBA games, Unrivaled is aiming to bring a small-venue experience to a national audience.

"It’s definitely intimate, and you’re definitely going to hear a lot of stuff," Mist athlete Jewell Loyd told The Athletic. "But at the same time, that’s what you want, and it’s definitely going to make us play a little harder."

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this weekend

The new 3x3 league will tip off with the Mist and Lunar Owls at 7 PM ET on Friday, with Rose BC and Vinyl BC following at 8 PM ET.

All Unrivaled games will air across TNT, truTV, and Max throughout the season, with Friday's tip off broadcast live on TNT.

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.