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No. 1 Cathedral Catholic volleyball continues perfect campaign

Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Ella Schomer celebrates a point during a match on Sept. 28 in Farmington Hills, Mich. (Brandon Folsom/Hometownlife.com via USA TODAY NETWORK)

An undefeated season is quite the task, and Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) has taken it one step further. The Dons haven’t just lost a match this season; they haven’t dropped a set.

Cathedral Catholic has done so while winning the prestigious Durango Fall Classic, the Kamehameha Tournament and now the GEICO High School Volleyball Invitational this past weekend. To claim the title, Cathedral Catholic defeated Ponte Vedra, runner-up in Florida’s highest classification last season, and Nebraska powerhouse Papillion-LaVista South.

The Dons are led by Stanford commit Julia Blyashov, the No. 3 recruit in the nation, but talent is sprinkled across the roster with six more Division I commits — senior Noemie Glover (Oregon), senior outside hitters Cate Schell (Tennessee) and Milan Bayless (Colgate), senior middle blocker Ryleigh Patterson (Harvard), junior middle blocker Jenna Hanes (Michigan) and junior setter Amanda Saeger (DePaul).

A few more regular-season matches remain before the most important tournament begins, as Cathedral Catholic eyes a state title and tries to maintain its unblemished set record.

Check out the complete rankings below, and click here to view last week’s rankings.

1. Cathedral Catholic (Calif.), 32-0

Coming off the GEICO title, the Dons won twice more Tuesday and Wednesday.

2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (Mich.), 28-0

The Mustangs have over a week off before they return to action at the Beast of the East tournament.

3. Cornerstone Christian (Texas), 54-2

The Warriors returned to the court with a three-set sweep Tuesday, pushing their winning streak to 18 matches. Two of those victories came against top-25 teams.

4. McCutcheon (Ind.), 29-1

After notching 28 kills over three matches to lead the Mavericks to a conference tournament title, senior Chloe Chicoine learned she was one of 27 players selected to compete at the Under Armour Next All-America game.

5. Mira Costa (Calif.), 32-3

Fresh off a second-place finish at the Tournament of Champions Southwest, the Mustangs went 6-0 at the Molten Power Classic, beating Redondo Union in the championship.

6. Westminster Christian (Fla.), 20-0

The Warriors may not play the type of national schedule that other top-10 teams face, but they defeated Cornerstone Christian and have dropped just three sets all season.

7. Prestonwood Christian (Texas), 31-1

Since a loss to Cornerstone Christian, Prestonwood has reeled off 19 victories in a row.

8. Washburn Rural (Kan.), 30-1

The Junior Blues just continue to win, claiming the Derby Tournament title with six wins Saturday before notching three more victories Tuesday to stretch their unbeaten streak to 29 matches.

9. Highland Park (Texas), 35-2

The Scots continue to roll in district play, and their winning streak has reached 13 matches.

10. Marymount (Calif.), 28-6

Torrey Stafford recorded 20 kills, Alexa Trapani had 26 digs and Lauren Brooker racked up 49 assists in the Sailors’ four-set league win over Alemany on Tuesday.

11. Fayetteville (Ark.), 30-2

The Bulldogs have three more regular-season matches remaining before their quest for a third consecutive state title begins in earnest.

12. Hamilton Southeastern (Ind.), 27-1

The Royals’ path to a Class 4A state title begins Thursday with a sectional matchup against 22-win Carmel, which eliminated Hamilton Southeastern last year.

13. Tompkins (Texas), 32-3

The Falcons’ winning streak has reached 12 matches with a handful of regular-season contests remaining.

14. Mother McAuley (Ill.), 26-2

The Mighty Macs flexed their muscles with a sweep of 24-win De La Salle on Tuesday, winning both sets without giving up more than 12 points.

15. Sierra Canyon (Calif.), 29-4

After losing to Marymount last week, the Trailblazers ended the regular season on a high note with three consecutive wins.

16. Oconomowoc (Wis.), 33-1

Cordelia Kearns notched 18 kills, and Lilly Wagner added 37 assists in a four-set victory last week to conclude conference play. The Raccoons now wrap up regular-season play Thursday.

17. Cypress Ranch (Texas), 37-2

With two more victories, the Mustangs’ winning streak has reached 21 matches.

18. Assumption (Ky.), 28-6

Whitney Woodrow had 61 assists, Kristen Simon added 34 digs and Emma Barnett had a team-high 20 kills in the Rockets’ five-set victory over Mercy, last year’s state runner-up. Assumption followed that up with a win Tuesday on Senior Night.

19. Santa Fe (Fla.), 21-1

State champions last season, the Raiders’ winning streak is at 14 matches, and they’ve dropped just four sets all season.

20. St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.), 32-3

The Saints defeated four teams, including three with 20 or more wins, to claim a tournament title this past weekend.

21. ‘Iolani (Hawaii), 20-5

Maya Imoto-Eakin racked up 61 assists as the Raiders beat rival Punahou, avenging a loss from earlier this season.

22. Dike-New Hartford (Iowa), 39-2

The Wolverines wrap up the regular season Thursday and then turn their attention to the postseason.

23. Mater Dei (Calif.), 27-7

The Monarchs have depth across the board. They have two players with more than 200 kills, two players with more than 300 assists and two players with more than 200 digs.

24. Liberty (Mo.), 29-1

The Blue Jays’ sole blemish is a loss to St. Thomas Aquinas.

25. Yorktown (Ind.), 28-2

The future is bright for the Tigers, who are the only team to have beaten McCutcheon this season and have sophomores leading the team in kills (Charlotte Vinson, 363) and digs (Addi Applegate, 354).

Phillip Suitts is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. He has worked at a variety of outlets, including The Palm Beach Post and Southeast Missourian, and done a little bit of everything from reporting to editing to running social media accounts. He was born in Atlanta but currently lives in wintry Philadelphia. Follow Phillip on Twitter @PhillipSuitts.

USWNT Vet Carli Lloyd Announces Pregnancy After ‘Rollercoaster’ IVF Journey

retired soccer player carli lloyd
Lloyd will welcome her first child with husband Brian Hollins this October. (Dennis Schneidler/USA TODAY Sports)

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

Project ACL addresses injury epidemic in women’s football

arsenal's laura wienroither being helped off the field after tearing her acl
Arsenal's Laura Wienroither tore her ACL during a Champions League semifinal in May 2023. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

USC enters superteam era with transfer portal gains 

Oregon State transfer and USC recruit Talia von Oelhoffen at 2024 NCAA women's tournament
Oregon State transfer Talia von Oelhoffen adds fuel to USC's 2025 NCAA title dreams. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

U.S., Mexico drop bid to host 2027 Women’s World Cup 

uswnt fans cheer at 2023 fifa women's world cup in australia
USWNT fans will have to settle for cheering on their home team from abroad in 2027. (Brad Smith/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.

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