McCutcheon volleyball made history last year when it won the program’s first state championship. Coming off that monumental achievement with a roster full of returning talent, including the second-ranked recruit in the nation, the Mavericks entered the 2022 season in an unusual position as state title favorites.

The Mavs suffered a temporary setback in the opening month of the season, falling to 2020 state champion Yorktown, but McCutcheon has reeled off 10 consecutive wins since that defeat, including four this past week.

Purdue commit Chloe Chicoine, the aforementioned second-ranked recruit who was recently named JWS Player of the Week, leads the Mavericks with 289 kills (6.1 kills per set) and is second on the team with 148 digs. She classmate and Kansas commit Reagan Burns, the Mavs’ star libero who has 166 digs. Another Purdue commit, junior Allie Shondell, quarterbacks the Mavs’ offense, averaging more than 10 assists per set for a total of 448 this season.

The Mavs can rely on their postseason experience as they look to repeat as state champions, and thanks to that 10-match winning streak, they’ve risen to No. 5 in this week’s Just Women’s Sports volleyball team rankings.

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

1. Cathedral Catholic (Calif.), 25-0

The Dons passed another test with flying colors, winning the prestigious Durango Fall Classic tournament this weekend without dropping a set. They have yet to lose a set this season.

2. Bloomfield Hills Marian (Mich.), 23-0

The Mustangs aren’t quite at Cathedral Catholic’s level, but they have dropped just three sets all season and last lost a match over a year ago.

3. Cornerstone Christian (Texas), 44-2

The Warriors are full of senior talent, with Iowa State commit Nayeli Gonzalez notching a team-high 422 kills, Purdue commit Taylor Anderson compiling 653 assists and Notre Dame commit Alyssa Manitzas leading the team with 329 digs.

4. Dike-New Hartford (Iowa), 23-1

Since an early season loss, the Wolverines have dropped just two sets.

5. McCutcheon (Ind.), 16-1

McCutcheon is 3-0 in conference play as they prepare for another tournament this weekend.

It was a Tuesday night 🧹 for @LadyMavsVB over @BHSvolleydogs 25-8 25-23 25-20. GO MAVS❤️💛🤘🏻 @mccutcheonmavs @samueltking @IndianaPrepVB @WLFISports @officialbshack @ihsvca @IndyStarSports pic.twitter.com/rKxR7cMcWy

— Rachel Burns (@rachelburns79) September 21, 2022

6. Westminster Christian (Fla.), 12-0

The Warriors continue to dominate the opposition, notching a victory Wednesday in straight sets.

7. Prestonwood Christian (Texas), 27-1

Sophomore Macaria Spears leads a trio of attackers with more than 200 kills, with Camille Edwards (463 assists) and Taylor Cook (295 assists) playing providers and Gillian Pitts leading the defense with 387 digs.

8. Fayetteville (Ark.), 20-1

The Bulldogs tested themselves against top-tier competition at the Durango Fall Classic and finished third. Their sole blemish is a loss to reigning California state champion Marymount.

9. Mira Costa (Calif.), 14-2

The Mustangs continue to roll, having dropped just two sets in the last six matches, all wins.

10. Mother McAuley (Ill.), 17-0

The Mighty Macs begin conference play next week, and their remaining schedule includes a rematch with Kentucky powerhouse Assumption.

11. St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.), 16-1

The Saints won the Missouri-Kansas Volleyball Invitational and then followed it up with two wins Tuesday over a pair of Kansas powerhouses, previously unbeaten St. James and reigning Class 6A state champion Blue Valley North.

Mokan Challenge Champs!
🆚Liberty | Finals
🏐Saints 23-25, 25-22, 25-11 pic.twitter.com/P1EO4jiTLJ

— GoAquinasSaints (@GoAquinasSaints) September 18, 2022

12. Highland Park (Texas), 29-2

The Scots have opened district play with four consecutive sweeps.

13. Sierra Canyon (Calif.), 23-3

Olivia Babcock, a Pittsburgh commit, led the Trailblazers to fifth place at the Durango Fall Classic, nabbing a spot on the all-tournament team.

14. Tompkins (Texas), 26-3

The Falcons have not lost a set in the month of September.

15. Marymount (Calif.), 18-5

The Sailors appear to be rounding into form. After consecutive losses dropped them to 10-4, Marymount has won eight of its last nine matches. The sole loss was to Cathedral Catholic in the Durango Fall Classic championship, as the Sailors nabbed a second-place finish.

16. Santa Fe (Fla.), 12-1

The Raiders have dropped just three sets all season, two of them in a loss to Cornerstone Christian.

17. Mater Dei (Calif.), 17-4

The Monarchs bounced back from a qualifying loss in the Durango Fall Classic to claim the silver bracket title.

18. St. James Academy (Kan.), 12-1

The Thunder suffered their first defeat of the season, falling to St. Thomas Aquinas.

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

Washburn packed its early-season schedule with tough matchups, beating St. Thomas Aquinas before losing to St. James Academy. The hope is that those regular-season tests will lead to a deep postseason run.

Your Lady Blues varsity had another sweep tonight against Spring Hill going 25-20, 25-22, and 25-12!!🧹🧹
Your JV lost 20-25 and 23-25
Way to go ladies!!

— WRHS Volleyball (@LadyBluesVB) September 21, 2022

20. Assumption (Ky.), 20-4

The Rockets’ four losses have all come against top-25 teams: Mother McAuley, Mater Dei, Marymount and Sierra Canyon.

21. Cypress Ranch (Texas), 31-2

The Mustangs’ two losses are to Tompkins and Cornerstone Christian.

22. Wayzata (Minn.), 10-1

The Trojans’ 61-match winning streak may have ended earlier this month, but the Trojans’ state championship dreams remain intact.

23. North Allegheny (Pa). 15-1

The Tigers notched three sweeps this past week.

24. Hamilton Southeastern (Ind.), 16-1

Since a season-opening loss to McCutcheon, the Royals are on a 16-match winning streak, dropping just four sets during that run.

25. Byron Nelson (Texas), 28-3

The Bobcats’ 18-match winning streak ended with back-to-back losses.

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.

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) enters its inaugural postseason this weekend, with the Talons and Bandits to battle in the 2025 Championship Series to determine the first-ever title-winner of the new four-team pro league.

The 2025 AUSL Championship Series will run as a best-of-three competition between the top two finishers in the standings, with the Talons entering as favorites behind a league-best 18-6 season record.

Meanwhile, the offense-heavy Bandits finished regular-season play in second place with a 15-9 record, despite leading the AUSL in batting average, runs scored, doubles, home runs, total bases, slugging percentage, hits, triples, on-base percentage, and RBIs.

The Bandits' offense — led by 2025 AUSL Hitter of the Year Erin Coffel — will have to contend with the Talons' league-leading defense.

Helmed by this year's Defensive Player of the Year, Talons shortstop Hannah Flippen, the inaugural 10-player AUSL All-Defensive Team included a full five athletes from the league-leading roster.

Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick also made the elite defenders list, earning her two honors behind an AUSL-leading 2.04 ERA for the Talons and the league's only perfect record in the circle.

Notably, despite the Talons finishing the 2025 regular season on top, the Bandits have been the toughest task for the league leaders this season: The No. 2 squad handed them four of their six losses, outscoring the Talons 45-31 across their eight matchups.

"They've been a thorn in our side a little bit," acknowledged Talons head coach Howard Dobson.

Even so, this weekend wipes the slate clean.

"It doesn't matter what's happened up to this point," said Bandits head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz. "It's literally which team comes at it the sharpest, making the fewest mistakes."

How to watch the 2025 AUSL Championship Series

The Talons and Bandits will take the field for the inaugural AUSL Championship Series at 3 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ESPN.

Sunday's 2 PM ET clash will also air on ESPN, with ESPN2 claiming Monday's potential 7 PM ET winner-take-all finale.

With one last match remaining, the 2025 UEFA Women's Euro has already become the most-attended edition in tournament history, bursting through the 600,000-fan attendance mark during the first match of this week's semifinal round.

That Tuesday mark officially surpassed the previous tournament record attendance of 574,875 fans, set during the 2022 edition in England.

Exceeding event organizers' predictions, Switzerland's iteration is currently on track to become the first Women's Euro to see average crowds of over 20,000 fans per match — a mark made even more impressive by the fact that half of the eight 2025 venues have capacities well under 17,000 seats.

Along with the competition's record-smashing attendance, global TV viewership of the 2025 Euro has also boomed, with live coverage reaching new highs both in Europe and abroad.

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A peak of 10.2 million UK viewers tuned in to see the defending champion Lionesses defeat Italy in their semifinal on Tuesday, delivering broadcaster ITV their largest audience of 2025 so far.

US broadcaster Fox Sports is also seeing historic numbers from the company's history-making media deal, with US viewership continuing to climb.

With an average of 925,000 US viewers tuning in to see Germany advance past France in last week's quarterfinal, Fox is already gearing up for an even better turnout for Sunday's grand finale.

How to watch the 2025 Euro final

World No. 2 Spain will take on No. 5 England in the 2025 Euro final at 12 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on Fox.

As injured guard Caitlin Clark looked on from the bench, the Indiana Fever refused to quit, silencing Las Vegas 80-70 on Thursday night to overtake the Aces at No. 6 in the WNBA standings.

Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell led the team with 21 points, helping the Fever secure back-to-back wins over the now-No. 7 Aces for the first time since the franchise landed in Las Vegas in 2018.

"It started out with our defense," Indiana forward Natasha Howard said after the game. "We don't rely on our offense a lot…. When our defense is going, our offense is going."

The rest of Thursday's slate saw standout individual performances give way to blowout victories, with the No. 4 Seattle Storm and No. 10 LA Sparks both earning results.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum tied LA-turned-Seattle star Nneka Ogwumike for the most 30-point games in franchise history during LA's 101-86 Thursday win over the last-place Connecticut Sun, hitting the milestone in just 24 matchups.

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Elsewhere, 19-year-old Seattle rookie Dominique Malonga also made waves, becoming the youngest-ever WNBA player to record a double-double with her 14-point, 10-rebound showing in the Storm's 95-57 drubbing of the No. 11 Chicago Sky.

All in all, as some teams heat up, others are out in the cold as the race to the 2025 WNBA postseason grows fiercer by the day.

The final WNBA team returning to regular-season action from the 2025 All-Star weekend hits the court on Friday night, when the Golden State Valkyries resume their quest to become the first expansion side to make the playoffs in their debut season.

Entering the WNBA All-Star break on a three-game losing skid, No. 9 Golden State will shoot to regain momentum with games against No. 12 Dallas and No. 13 Connecticut this weekend.

The weekend action features tight clashes across the WNBA standings, with serious positioning implications on the line:

• No. 3 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 2 New York Liberty, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Both the Mercury and Liberty are getting healthy, with Phoenix aiming to curb a two-game losing streak during their visit to a surging New York.

• No. 12 Dallas Wings vs. No. 9 Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): It's a youth-fueled battle as the quick-start Valkyries attempt to re-enter the win column against the young and hungry Wings.

• No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Washington Mystics, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The up-and-down Mystics look to prove they can hang with some of the best as they host perennial playoff contenders Seattle.

• No. 5 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Sunday at 7 PM ET (NBA TV): Following a turbulent July, Atlanta faces a tough test of their resilience in Sunday's clash with the league-leading Lynx.