The 18-player USWNT Olympic roster dropped on Wednesday, marking manager Emma Hayes’s first major tournament roster.

With Hayes's selections, the team appears to be going big on potential and versatility, while conceding a certain amount of experience. Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn as the team’s most experienced players, while the average age of the roster is 26.8 — the fourth-youngest Olympic roster and the youngest overall since 2008.

The current lineup averages 58 international caps per player, down from 111 at the Tokyo Olympics. It will be the first major tournament experience for Jenna Nighswonger, Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, and Jaedyn Shaw. Additionally, Shaw becomes just the fifth teenager to ever make a USWNT Olympic roster, and the first since Mallory Swanson in 2016.

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"Making an Olympic roster is a huge privilege and an honor and there is no denying that it was an extremely competitive process among the players and that there were difficult choices, especially considering how hard everyone has worked over the past 10 months," said Hayes in a US Soccer press release. "Choosing an 18-player roster plus alternates involved many considerations, but I am excited for the group we have selected and I’m looking forward to building on the work from last camp as we head into the send-off matches and then onto France. These are great opportunities for us to continue to show the progress we are making."

Only eight players from the Tokyo Olympics squad punched their tickets to Paris, while nine players will become first-time Olympians. 

Hayes appears to be thinking about the future, but this group will be looking to improve upon a disappointing 2023 Women's World Cup showing — or even top their bronze medal placement at the last Olympics.

"Everything we're doing is a step-by-step approach to get us as close as we possibly can to our best level, to our best version of ourselves," Hayes told media on Wednesday. "As I explained so far, this is a team that's making really good progress in doing that, and my interest and investment is getting our performances right."

One notable absence is USWNT and NWSL veteran Alex Morgan, who will miss the Summer Games for the first time since 2008. Hayes said Wednesday that it was difficult to adhere to the Olympics' 16 outfield player-limit throughout the roster-honing process.

"It was a tough decision of course, especially considering Alex's history and record with this team," Hayes said. "But I felt that I wanted to go in another direction."

"I want to talk about what an amazing player and human Alex Morgan has been," she continued. "There are players on the roster in the forward areas performing well, and the decision to take those players was one that we certainly deliberated over, but I think it's a balanced roster."

Without Morgan, not a single player on the USWNT Olympic roster has won a gold medal. 

"Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage," Morgan tweeted in response to her exclusion. "This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest," she continued. "In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country. LFG"

Full USWNT roster:

• Goalkeepers: Casey Murphy (NC Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
• Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)
• Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Catarina Macario (Chelsea)
• Forwards: Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)

Alternates: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)

With half of the Elite Eight now set, a few Big Ten underdogs still have a shot at disrupting the No. 1 seed stronghold at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend.

The No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers are through to the quarterfinals after defeating No. 2-seed SMU 3-1 on Thursday, while the No. 4-seed Indiana Hoosiers, No. 3 seed-Wisconsin Badgers, and the still-undefeated overall No. 1 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers all face stiff Sweet Sixteen competition on Friday afternoon.

Coming off a strong regular season, the Big Ten could still field half of the quarterfinal round — though that would require the first No. 1-seed upset of the 2025 national tournament in the form of an Indiana victory over top-seeded Texas.

Bolstered by their defensive leader, senior middle blocker Madi Sell, the Hoosiers booked just their second-ever Sweet Sixteen trip with last week's win over No. 5 Colorado, with Indiana now hoping their lucky run continues against the 2022 and 2023 champion Longhorns.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Huskers will look to keep rolling against No. 4-seed Kansas while the No. 3 Badgers aim to snag another Big Ten spot in the Elite Eight by ousting No. 2-seed Stanford on Friday.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend

The NCAA volleyball tournament's Sweet Sixteen action will wrap with four games on Friday, starting with No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Indiana at 12 PM ET.

The Elite Eight will then meet at the net on Saturday and Sunday to determine the last-standing teams heading to next week's Final Four in Kansas City.

All of this weekend's NCAA tournament games will air live across ESPN platforms.

Team USA is on a roll, officially taking the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada before the slate of friendlies is even over, with the US collecting three consecutive wins so far — and one shot left at making it a clean sweep.

The US downed their northern neighbors by a commanding 10-4 scoreline in Edmonton on Wednesday, marking Team USA's first-ever 10-goal victory against the reigning Olympic champs — all while upping the 2025 series' goal tally to 20-6.

While each team fine-tunes rosters ahead of the 2026 Olympics, one test remains for both international hockey titans before the Winter Games take the ice in February.

"The work doesn't stop. Our Olympic team is not named. There's still one more game to go," said USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, acknowledging that her squad is not taking their foot off the gas despite the recent lopsided results.

"We have one more game against them before the Olympics," echoed Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're all aware of that."

How to watch Team USA vs. Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series

The puck drops on the final match of the sixth annual hockey Rivalry Series between the USA and Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will begin at 9 PM ET on the NHL Network.

The latest FIFA women's soccer rankings dropped on Thursday, with Spain widening their lead at No. 1 after winning a second consecutive UEFA Nations League title earlier this month.

The USWNT held steady at No. 2, ceding 7.48 points after losing an October friendly to No. 22 Portugal before going on to secure four straight wins over Portugal, No. 35 New Zealand, and No. 13 Italy to close out 2025.

Elsewhere in the FIFA Top 10, No. 3 Germany and No. 6 Brazil both saw boosts after successful fall runs, while Canada skidded to No. 10 amid a recent five-match winless streak, with Les Rouges's last victory coming against No. 43 Costa Rica last June.

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The biggest changes, however, occurred outside the top ranks, as No. 96 Nicaragua, No. 118 Burkina Faso, and No. 137 American Samoa all rose by 16 spots.

Notably, upcoming USWNT opponent Paraguay saw the largest drop in this month's Top 50, sliding five spots to No. 46.

Ultimately, as the USWNT battled to keep pace in a year of roster experimentation — and without a major competition on the team's 2025 docket — the many international competitions in Europe benefitted victors and challenged losers in this week's FIFA rankings update.

The No. 16 USC Trojans are gearing up for another top-ranked test, hosting the reigning national champion No. 1 UConn Huskies in the weekend's flashiest NCAA women's basketball matchup on Saturday.

Coming off their second ranked win of the season, USC topped No. 20 Washington 59-50 last Sunday, with 22 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Jazzy Davidson helping pull the Trojans to a 7-2 record.

"I saw a resolve in our team," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb afterwards. "I knew we could get the next stop, I knew we could get the next play."

USC will face a particularly familiar foe against the Huskies — this time without sidelined star junior JuJu Watkins — after UConn knocked the Trojans out of the NCAA tournament two years in a row.

Notably, sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel departed USC over the summer for the Huskies, with the former Trojan averaging 7.7 points per game entering Saturday's clash with her old team.

"I just try to take one game at a time, but I'm excited to go back," Heckel said ahead of her first trip back to LA since transferring. "I had a great freshman year there, and I learned a lot, and it was a great experience, a lot of fond memories. So I'm looking forward to it."

How to watch No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 USC on Saturday

The Trojans will host the Huskies with tip-off set for 5:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on FOX.