The NWSL Challenge Cup playoffs are set, with the league releasing the official bracket Monday.

No. 1 seed OL Reign will take on the No. 4 seed Washington Spirit, while the No. 2 seed Kansas City Current will face off against the No. 3 seed North Carolina Courage, with both matches set for May 4.

Semifinals Set ✅

Details, locations, and times for the #NWSLChallengeCup semifinals are here:

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 25, 2022

Due to a scheduling conflict, the top-seeded OL Reign will go on the road to face the Spirit at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va. OL Reign was awarded home-field advantage, but the Seattle Sounders are using Lumen Field on the same date as the Challenge Cup semifinal, which left OL Reign without a venue.

The match between the Spirit and OL Reign will kick off at 8 p.m. ET and will air on CBS Sports Network.

The Current and the Courage will play at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the match to be streamed live on Paramount+.

The winners will advance to the Challenge Cup final on Saturday, May 7. The NWSL did not specify a start time for the final in their latest news release. The league initially set the championship game for 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET, and that time remains on the league’s official schedule.

OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer has been outspoken about the early start time for the final, making her thoughts known Thursday via Twitter.

i would love to see someone look into an NWSL player’s eyes and tell them they have to eat pregame meal between 6-7am for a 9/10am kickoff for a PROFESSIONAL WOMENS GAME

— Bethany Balcer (@bethanybalcer) April 21, 2022

“If you really cared about women’s sports you would actually put us at prime time,” Balcer tweeted at the NWSL and at CBS, which will televise the championship. “Thanks in advance!”

According to the club, should OL Reign win its semifinal match, the Challenge Cup title game will be played at Lumen Field.

Adding to the scheduling woes surrounding the preseason tournament, the Week 2 regular-season games for the Challenge Cup finalists will need to be rescheduled.

Balcer also criticized the overlap between the Challenge Cup and the regular season on her social media account.

“Where is the COMMON SENSE,” Balcer tweeted. “Now your reward for making the Challenge Cup final is having to play three games in seven days… I cannot sit idly by as the well being of the player’s is put in jeopardy by bogus kickoff times and high physical demand. Let’s be better.”

The NWSL faced a similar line of criticism last year, with players protesting the league championship’s 9 a.m. PT kickoff at Providence Park. The game was eventually moved to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, with a noon start time.

Sidelined Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally is still down for the count, with the 27-year-old set to miss the 2026 season tip-off of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball as she continues to recover from lingering concussion symptoms.

Sabally suffered the head injury in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 8th, requiring assistance in exiting the matchup after visibly swaying upon standing.

The concussion forced Sabally to sit out the remainder of the postseason series against the eventual 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Both Sabally and Unrivaled planned her return to Phantom BC for the league's second season, with the German national impressing in the offseason venture's debut run by averaging 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Sabally is under a multi-year contract with the upstart, with Unrivaled promising that while the forward will be out "indefinitely," medical personnel will reevaluate her fitness "at a later date" as both parties hope to see her on the 3×3 court this season.

In her stead, Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes — who suited up for Unrivaled's Laces BC last season — will join Phantom BC as Sabally's replacement.

The second season of Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball will tip off in Miami on January 5th, 2026.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is running it back, with the 23-year-old confirming plans to return to the Windy City for the 2026 WNBA season while participating in a USA Basketball training camp over the weekend.

"I'm under contract, so yes, I plan on returning to the Sky," Reese told reporters. "[I'm] continuing to talk to [head coach] Tyler [Marsh], and building that relationship with [GM] Jeff [Pagliocca] and Tyler."

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Her future with the Sky came into question in September, after the front office suspended Reese for half a game for making comments deemed "detrimental to the team" in a Chicago Tribune interview — comments she later apologized for, both publicly and privately.

Drafted by the Sky as the overall No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the LSU alum remains under a rookie contract through 2026, with an option to extend through the 2027 season.

After leading the WNBA in both double-doubles (23) rebounds-per-game (12.6) in the 2025 season, Reese's late-season availability waned due to a back injury — though the forward now reports a full recovery from the knock.

"Angel is an ascending young talent in this league who's had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago," said Pagliocca after September's suspension. "Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like we closed the chapter on it."

Overall No. 1-seed Nebraska's perfect season is officially over, after No. 3-seed Texas A&M volleyball ousted the Huskers in a five-set Elite Eight thriller on Sunday, booking the Aggies a program-first trip to the Final Four.

Undaunted by Nebraska's 33-0 record, the Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Huskers stormed back to force a fifth-set tiebreaker — which A&M won 15-13, stunning a home crowd that hasn't seen a Cornhusker loss in Lincoln in more than three years.

"A lot of us are seniors, and we've been doing this for a really long time," said Aggie senior opposite Logan Lednicky. "And I think all the newbies came in ready to work, ready to grind."

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Though Nebraska boasts five national titles — good for third on the all-time NCAA volleyball championship list — the Huskers haven't won an NCAA volleyball tournament since 2017, falling three times in the final and once in the semifinals in recent years.

With fellow No. 3-seed Wisconsin's Sunday Elite Eight upset win over four-time champ No. 1 Texas, the 2025 Final Four will now feature two squads — A&M and No. 1-seed Pitt — hunting a first-ever title.

Meanwhile, No. 1-seed Kentucky and the Badgers will be aiming for a second national trophy after earning their debut Division I championships in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four

Texas A&M will kick off the 2025 Final Four against Pitt at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, before Kentucky takes on Wisconsin at 9 PM ET.

Both semifinals will air live on ESPN.

The WSL appears to have a serious 2025/26 title race on its hands, after No. 1 Manchester City cemented their six-point lead on six-time reigning champs No. 2 Chelsea with Sunday's lopsided 6-1 win over No. 8 Aston Villa.

City striker Bunny Shaw scored four times in the victory, bringing her all-time club tally to 103 goals — and becoming the first woman to reach the century scoring mark in the team's modern era.

"Coming into this game, I knew that if I scored it would have been a really good milestone for me," she told BBC Radio.

Manchester City have been perfect since dropping their 2025/26 season opener — a 2-1 loss to six-time champions Chelsea — with the Citizens now carrying a 10-match WSL winning streak into 2026.

While Chelsea and No. 3 Arsenal have ample ground to make up on the WSL table, both managed to keep pace by snagging their own multi-goal wins over the weekend.

After No. 10 Everton snapped the Blues' 34-game WSL unbeaten streak last week, goals by France international Sandy Baltimore and USWNT star Alyssa Thompson shot Chelsea past No. 7 Brighton 3-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal is also back to their winning ways, taking down Everton 3-1 on Saturday to hold off No. 4 Manchester United as captain Leah Williamson returned from injury.

How to watch the WSL in 2026

Now on holiday break, the WSL will return at 7:30 AM ET on January 10th, when Arsenal will kick off 2026 play against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium, airing live on ESPN+.