Before the U.S. women’s national team’s scoreless draw with the Czech Republic in the SheBelieves Cup opener Thursday night, Catarina Macario told the media that her preferred position is the nine.

Macario is happy playing anywhere, but after some probing from broadcaster and former USWNT player Julie Foudy on the call, she admitted she feels she’s at her best when scoring goals. Finding the back of the net is something Macario has done everywhere she’s been — 63 goals in 69 appearances at Stanford, and nine in 13 appearances for her club team, Lyon, this season.

But in 12 caps with the USWNT, the 22-year-old has been labeled a midfielder.

Finally on Thursday, in front of Macario’s family and friends near her hometown of San Diego, the two-time MAC Hermann trophy winner was slotted into the starting lineup as a center forward. And, in the USWNT’s 2022 debut, she impressed the nation.

“I think that we’re going to see a little bit more of Cat in [the nine] position going forward,” Andonovski said after the game in Carson, Calif.

That’s a wrap on Match Day No. 1.#SheBelievesCup x @Visa pic.twitter.com/Gj0oldoLxu

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 18, 2022

Playing up top against the Czech Republic’s low block was no easy task. Despite having 64 percent of the possession, the U.S. struggled throughout the game to find a way past the organized Czech defense.

“You need someone like Cat with her precision and technical abilities,” said Andonovski. “I thought that when we were able to find her underneath the line, she did an incredible job of unlocking them or creating opportunities for the players around her, so I was very happy with that.”

Macario proved very successful at dropping behind the front row of defenders and tapping one-touch balls into the runs of center midfielder Rose Lavelle. 

“That’s pure creativity and technical ability, so I’m very happy to see that because I think she has the ability to do that,” Andonovski said. “The players around will have to get used to those passes or expect those passes so we can make plans to be more dangerous.”

The chemistry between Macario and Lavelle was one of the most impressive aspects of the first match, and something Andonovski was hoping to see coming into this tournament. He says Lavelle is “one of the better ones” when it comes to reading Macario’s movements. Their creativity enables them to play interchangeably and make nifty combinations with each other.

“She’s just a big magician, I feel like, with the ball,” Macario said of Lavelle. “She’s incredibly creative and you never know what she’s going to do.” 

With four shots each, Macario and Lavelle tied for the most in the game, and Lavelle was later named Woman of the Match. 

“I’m excited to see these players back on the field together because I think that they can do some damage once they start clicking,” Andonovski said.

😼 ➕ 🌹, knocking at the door.#SheBelievesCup x @Visa pic.twitter.com/SAaPEEnsH6

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 18, 2022

With it being Macario’s first time in the nine, everyone else will need time to adjust to her inventive runs and passes. The team has had only a couple of training sessions to work with her in camp, since she arrived late due to a game with her club team.

Andonovski has referred to Macario as “the future of the team,” so it’s no surprise that he’s started to build the team around her.

For example, her presence influences which wingers the coach puts on the field. In the starting lineup on Thursday were Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh, and coming on in the 61st minute were Trinity Rodman and Midge Purce.

“We want wingers that have abilities to play behind the line a lot more. Especially at least one of them has to have ability to play as a second line to complement Cat’s movements, because if she’s coming underneath the line, somebody has to stretch them out, and that’s where Soph comes in,” Andonovski said.

With Macario up top and central, playing the ball through the middle is also a goal.

“At times we were forcing it, but we wanted to do that,” Andonovski said. “We wanted to be brave, we wanted to try to be more creative and unload the team in different ways.

“We want to win every game we step on the field, we want to win every tournament, but for us, the most important thing is to get something out of it and ultimately win the qualifiers and qualify for the World Cup and win the World Cup.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Led by undefeated overall No. 1-seed Nebraska, the college volleyball elite will begin their quest for the 2025 national championship on Thursday, when the first round of the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament hits courts nationwide.

The Huskers are still chasing a perfect season, entering the 2025 title hunt on a 30-0 run having dropped just six sets all season — including losing just one set since September 16th.

"I was expecting us to be great, but certainly not undefeated," said Nebraska alumna and first-year Cornhusker head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on a recent episode of the Welcome to the Party podcast. "They continue to exceed our expectations."

Busboom Kelly's roster is loaded with the kind of experienced connection that only comes when the core of players have competed together for three straight seasons — an increasing rarity in the transfer portal and NIL era.

That said, this core has unfinished business on the national stage, with the superstar junior trio of middle blocker Andi Jackson, outside hitter Harper Murray, and setter Bergen Reilly — all AVCA Player of the Year semifinalists — looking to bring the first NCAA trophy in eight years back to Lincoln.

"It's such a special row, because we just know that all of us have been through thick and thin together and our bond is so strong," Jackson told USA Today Sports earlier this week. "[And Busboom Kelly] gives us so much confidence and we know that with her as our coach, we just can play fearless."

Stacked tournament field looks to spoil Nebraska's season

Even with their "fearless" play, a host of stellar opponents await Nebraska in the NCAA tournament gauntlet, hoping to play spoiler — including Busboom Kelly's previous program, the Louisville Cardinals, who await the Cornhuskers as the No. 2-seed in their own regional quadrant.

Fellow No. 1 seeds Texas, Kentucky, and Pitt will also chase their eventual chance at the Huskers via their own regionals, where the Longhorns could see arguably the stiffest competition from both No. 2-seed Stanford — the winningest program in NCAA volleyball history — and defending champion and No. 8-seed Penn State.

With tickets to the 2025 Final Four in Kansas City on the line, the NCAA volleyball bracket's 64 squads will start serving at 16 campus sites on Thursday.

How to watch the first round of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament

This year's NCAA volleyball finale begins when No. 5-seed Colorado takes on unseeded American University at 3 PM ET on Thursday, kicking off a two-day first round of 32 matches — with No. 1 Nebraska looking to handle Long Island University in their initial tournament tilt at 8 PM ET on Friday.

All games in the early rounds of the 2025 Division I tournament will air live on ESPN+.

US tennis star Coco Gauff continues to win off the court, with the 2025 French Open champion topping Sportico's list of the 15 Highest-Paid Female Athletes for the third consecutive year.

Fueled by $23 million in off-court endorsements, the $31 million earned by the 21-year-old world No. 3 WTA player edged out the $30 million total income that fellow tennis star and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka garnered in 2025.

View this post on Instagram

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

Unsurprisingly, a full 10 athletes on the Sportico Top 15 list are tennis stars, a direct result of the fact that all four Grand Slams and the Masters 1000 tournaments boast equal prize money between the men's and women's competitions — a shift that began with the 1973 US Open.

That established expectation of gender equity in prize money has tennis far outpacing salaries in most other women's sports.

Also making the Top 15 are two LPGA golfers — world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (No. 15 on the Highest-Paid Female Athletes list) and US star No. 2 Nelly Korda (No. 7) — as well as popular Olympic skiier Eileen Gu (No. 4), WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark (No. 6), and USA gymnastics legend Simone Biles (No. 11).

Notably, Gu, Clark, and Biles as well as Venus Williams (No. 14) all proved the power of endorsements on this year's list, with nearly all of the quartet's earnings coming from sponsorship deals.

As WNBA CBA negotiations rage on, revenue sharing continues to be a wedge issue for both sides of the table, with the league office and the WNBPA eyeing the terms of the most recent proposal from differing viewpoints.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the WNBA believes it has offered the revenue-sharing salary model that the players have pushed for throughout the CBA talks, leaving athletes to claim 50% of the "sharable" portion of league revenue.

How the WNBA will determine the "sharable" cut is uncertain, though sources claim the compensation structure on offer will result in players taking home less than 15% of the league's total earnings.

That percentage is likely to take a further hit over the lifetime of a new CBA, according to the league's multi-year earning projections.

"I don't feel like there's any cultivation of a culture of trust [in the CBA talks]," WNBPA president and Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike told The Athletic. "I feel like we've been heard, but not listened to, and I'm hoping that that changes in this 40-day extension, because what we want to do is get a good deal done."

View this post on Instagram

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

Parental leave, draft combine, and more enters the WNBA CBA talks

Along with the issue of revenue sharing, the latest WNBA offer also reportedly outlined other proposals, such as the institution of a required offseason draft combine, the elimination of team housing, and the possible extension of the competition calendar by starting earlier and/or finishing the season later.

As for the WNBPA's Tuesday counteroffer, the players union is seeking to eliminate the core designation and shorten the current four-year rookie contract to three years.

The WNBPA is also asking to add non-birthing parental leave, retirement benefits, and reimbursements for mental healthcare.

The WNBA and WNBPA will meet again to negotiate sometime this week, with talks racing toward the second-extension deadline of January 9th, 2026.

After setting a new NCAA basketball record by scoring 100+ points in eight consecutive games, the No. 5 LSU Tigers will face their season's first true test when they visit the preseason-No. 7 Duke Blue Devils as part of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday night.

"We don't play nobody in our nonconference schedule," senior guard Flau'jae Johnson told JWS in November. "From December on out, that's when it gets really [exciting]."

View this post on Instagram

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

With their history-making string of lopsided wins under their belt, the Tigers will try to keep the streak alive against a now-unranked Duke side on a three-game losing skid.

The Blue Devils will rely on leading scorer and rebounder Toby Fournier for a spark, with the sophomore forward averaging 15.8 points per game despite Duke's 3-5 start.

As for LSU, the title-hunting Tigers will look to stat undefeated behind Johnson's team-leading 17.0 scoring average, as well as the 16.1 points per game put up by junior star transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley.

"Ballers just want to ball, like hoopers just want to hoop," Johnson said of LSU's quick cohesion this season. "You find different ways to bond and gel with teammates."

How to watch LSU vs. Duke on Thursday

Duke will host No. 5 LSU in the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.