After two months of anticipation, Ohio State announced the return of their star guard on Feb. 5 with a simple tweet: “Jacy Sheldon is available for today’s game at Maryland.”

Sheldon played four games to start the season before being sidelined with a lower leg injury. The details of the injury weren’t made public, but Sheldon was seen wearing a walking boot on the sidelines during several of her team’s games.

Prior to the injury, Sheldon was averaging 16.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In her last appearance before being sidelined, Sheldon dropped 22 points to lead her team to victory over then-No. 18 Louisville.

Sheldon’s absence raised concerns for the Buckeyes, but against all odds they opened their season at 18-0 and crept up to No. 2 in the AP Poll. Ohio State even managed to maintain its unblemished record when Madison Greene suffered a season-ending ACL injury. But eventually, the injuries and fatigue caught up with the Buckeyes, who dropped three games in a row to Iowa, Indiana and Purdue in the final week of January.

Sheldon’s return seemed to come at the perfect time when the Buckeyes took on No. 8 Maryland on the road on Feb. 5. But the senior clearly wasn’t 100 percent, finishing with just five points in a 90-54 loss that Maryland controlled from start to finish.

Worse than the blowout loss was the fact that Sheldon was sidelined once more. After missing 20 games, she went back to street clothes for the Buckeyes’ next two contests — a win over Minnesota on Feb. 8 and a blowout 83-59 loss to Indiana on Monday.

“Nothing has changed,” coach Kevin McGuff told reporters following the win over Minnesota. “She still feels fine there, but just in terms of just getting her whole body back and going, we’re still sort of in management mode. We did have her practice a little bit. We’re still sort of just picking and choosing, making decisions how much to bring back right now.”

Forward Rebeka Mikulasikova sustained an ankle injury during the Minnesota game and was also absent for Ohio State’s loss to Indiana. It’s likely a high ankle sprain, according to McGuff. The Buckeyes haven’t given a timeline for her return, but high ankle sprains typically take twice as long to heal as low ankle sprains since ligaments are involved.

The Buckeyes have three regular-season games remaining against Penn State, No. 12 Michigan and No. 8 Maryland. Then comes the NCAA Tournament. For Ohio State to make a deep run in March, they will need Sheldon and Mikulasikova on the court. McGuff hasn’t specified a target date for their return, but keeping the two out for regular season games in anticipation of March Madness appears to be a smart move for the depleted squad.

Since they’ve lost five of their last seven games, Ohio State’s projected seeding has changed dramatically (from a potential No. 1 seed to a 4 or 5). More losses could mean an even lower seed. But the trade-off to having a healthy team in March might warrant the current drop.

The Buckeyes won’t get Greene back, but with both Sheldon and Mikulasikova on the court, the team looks dramatically different. On offense, Sheldon runs the point and is able to create off the bounce, which opens up both post players and shooters, like Taylor Mikesell, the team’s top scorer at 17.8 points per game.

At 6-4, Mikulasikova is the team’s only player over 6-foot who plays significant minutes. Without her, the Buckeyes are undersized. Offensively, she can also free up the paint by extending defenses with the ability to shoot 3-pointers, hitting from deep at a 35.2 percent clip.

Between the two, Ohio State is missing 26.6 points per game (32.3 percent of their total scoring).

In their absence, The Buckeyes have seen the development of freshman forward Cotie McMahon, a bright spot in the injury-riddled season. McMahon is averaging 14 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Against Minnesota, she scored 25 points — her second-highest mark this season — and she held her own against Indiana on Monday, with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists.

If Ohio State can get both Sheldon and Mikulasikova back, McMahon’s increased confidence will only help the Buckeyes. That’s the best-case scenario for this team heading into the postseason.

“Every season has inevitable highs and lows,” McGuff said earlier this month after the three-game losing streak. “Some are maybe not as extreme as 19-0 and three losses in a row, but they all have their highs and lows. If we can push ourselves to being the team that got us to 19-0 and then infuse Jacy back at the right time, then hopefully, we can be on an upswing down the stretch and peak heading into March.”

The new-look New York Sirens continue to impress in the early stages of the 2024/25 PWHL season, most recently notching a big 4-2 win over Toronto in the the team home opener on Wednesday.

All four of New York's goals came in the second period — the most in a single period all season — and all were the first goals of the season by each scorer.

Finland international Noora Tulus opened the game's scoring with her first PWHL goal, with teammates Emmy Fecteau, Micah Zandee-Hart, and Jaime Bourbonnais following suit. Both Fecteau's goal and team captain Zandee-Hart's were the first of their PWHL careers.

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Sirens rookie Sarah Fillier and teammate Alex Carpenter both assisted on Tulus's game-opening goal, with each booking a point in their fourth straight contest. Fillier remains in the PWHL's lead with two goals and five assists for a total of seven points, while Carpenter is just behind with six points — though her three goals make her the league's scoring leader.

As for the Sceptres, forwards Hannah Miller and former Siren Emma Woods each made a dent in the scoresheet with goals of their own in the third period, but it wasn't quite enough as Toronto failed to complete the comeback.

Last-place Toronto has now allowed their opponents to breach the scoresheet first in each of their 2024/25 matchups, ultimately losing their last three games in regulation.

New York Sirens to face Minnesota Frost in top matchup

New York's shifting fortune highlights the second-season league's rapidly growing parity. With only one loss through their first four games, the Sirens sit in second place to stake an early season claim on "most improved" after finishing last in the PWHL's inaugural season.

Just above New York on the league's table are the Minnesota Frost. The reigning Walter Cup champions are holding strong as the team to beat, but New York has already proved that it's possible after handing Minnesota an overtime 4-3 season-opening loss on December 1st.

The Sirens' will officially take aim at the top of the PWHL table on Sunday, when New York will try to gift Minnesota a second season loss in the league's pre-Christmas closer. This time, the Sirens will have the crowd on their side as the Frost visit New York's home ice.

How to watch New York Sirens vs. Minnesota Frost in PWHL action

The puck is set to drop on New York vs. Minnesota at 12 PM ET on Sunday, with live streaming coverage on YouTube.

Despite being populated by all four No. 1 seeds, Thursday's 2024 NCAA volleyball semifinals served up the bracket's biggest upsets, as heavily favored Nebraska and overall top seed Pitt were sent packing by their conference foes.

In front of 21,726 fans — a new record for college volleyball's postseason — Louisville shocked Pitt with a 3-1 victory before Penn State ousted Nebraska in a five-set instant classic.

Louisville books second national championship ticket

After dropping their first set to Pitt on Thursday night, it seemed the deck was stacked against the Cards, who had already lost twice to the Panthers in the regular season.

However, buoyed by their raucous home crowd, Louisville surged back, sweeping the next three sets to book their first trip to the national championship match since 2022, when they became the first and only ACC team to ever compete in the collegiate final.

As for Pitt, Thursday's loss was just their second all season, and not even 2024 AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock's astounding 33 kills could extend their title chase. Notably, their national semifinal curse continues, with the Panthers now falling in the NCAA tournament's penultimate round for four straight years.

On the other hand, Louisville's victory was a true team effort, with three senior outside hitters — Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz — leading the offensive charge with 14 kills each.

The Cardinals' roster was also required to step up in unexpected ways. Just two points into the fourth set, Louisville star DeBeer crumbled to the court with an ankle injury and did not return to the match. The visibly shocked Cards looked to freshman Payton Petersen, who made a massive statement by recording two kills and four clutch digs to help seal the win.

"I wanted to do this for her," Petersen said of DeBeer. "She's meant so much to me."

Penn State roars back to top Nebraska

In Thursday's battle between two Big Ten titans, the message was clear: Never count out the Nittany Lions.

After falling behind the Cornhuskers 2-0 in what increasingly looked like an inevitable Nebraska victory, Penn State emerged from the brink of defeat to pull off the first reverse sweep of the Huskers in the NCAA tournament since 1982.

Following a 5-0 run that helped the Nittany Lions stay alive with a third set win, they flipped a 22-16 deficit into a match-point battle that ended the fourth set 28-26 in Penn State's favor. With the match now equalized, Penn State took control in the fifth, holding off Nebraska 15-13 to clinch their first championship trip since winning their seventh title in 2014.

Star Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions' charge with a 26-kill, 12-dig double-double, putting together what Nebraska head coach John Cook called "one of the best performances [he's] ever seen by an outside hitter." 

Like Louisville's Petersen, freshmen also stepped up for Penn State, with Izzy Starck recording six key blocks and redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius hammering 20 kills against her former team, having transferred from Nebraska in December 2023.

As for the Huskers, their stacked roster showed out, with outside hitter Harper Murray leading the charge with a 20-kill, 15-dig double-double, plus three aces — the most by any player in either match on Thursday. Middle blocker Andi Jackson also had a standout night, putting together a near-errorless performance to finish with 19 kills.

Four-time All-American libero Lexi Rodriguez added program history to Thursday's mix, closing out her NCAA career as the Huskers' all-time digs leader with 1,896.

Sunday's court will make NCAA history

Louisville and Penn State's semifinal victories have guaranteed that Sunday's 44th NCAA volleyball championship match will go down in the history books.

With Dani Busboom Kelly leading the Cardinals and Katie Schumacher-Cawley coaching the Nittany Lions, a woman head coach will lift the national championship trophy for the first time.

Only two women have ever coached their teams into the college volleyball final, with Florida's Mary Wise doing so in 2003 and 2017 before Busboom Kelly followed in 2022.

For context, the last seven Division I basketball trophies came under women head coaches.

The fact that this glass ceiling still exists is partially due to volleyball having less women in head coaching positions than other NCAA sports. Less than half of Division I's 334 teams are led by a woman, while basketball boasts nearly 68% female leadership and softball claims almost 74%.

Busboom Kelly's ACC exceeds that 50% stat, but the Schumacher-Cawley remains one of only six women leading the Big Ten's 18 teams.

Both of Sunday's sideline leaders know what it takes to win the national championship, with Schumacher-Cawley taking the 1999 title while playing for Penn State and Busboom Kelly doing the same with Nebraska in 2006.

Even so, in some ways, this year's title will mean even more, as the coaches pave the way for future generations of volleyball leaders.

"[There’s] just honestly no better feeling than being led by a female because that could be me someday, that could be one of my teammates someday," Mruzik noted. 

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How to watch the 2024 NCAA volleyball championship match

Sunday's final won't just make women's coaching history, it could see Louisville earn the ACC's first-ever NCAA volleyball title. But to do so, the Cardinals, who fell to Penn State 3-0 in early September, will have to deny the Nittany Lions an eighth national championship.

NCAA volleyball will crown its Division I champion in Sunday's 3 PM ET match, with live coverage on ABC.

For the first time, USWNT and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman is opening up in unprecedented detail about her famous father, NBA legend Dennis Rodman, discussing him on Wednesday’s episode of the popular podcast "Call Your Daddy."

While having previously discussed their estranged relationship in brief, the 22-year-old enters "new territory" in sharing this amount of detail. 

Speaking to host Alex Cooper, Rodman described a financially controlling, partying alcoholic who was mostly absent after her parents’ divorce, and at one time left his children and their mother to briefly live in their car.

"I think he's an extremely selfish human being," Rodman told Cooper. "I think everything has always been about him."

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An NWSL breaking point

In 2021, Dennis unexpectedly showed up to Rodman’s NWSL quarterfinal match — the first and only he ever attended — causing the then-19-year-old to become emotional.

"I was so mad. I was like 'You took this happy moment from me. You f***ed with my head again,'" Rodman said. "I’m walking over [to him] so mad... he grabs my head and I just start bawling into his arms as if it’s a daddy-daughter [moment]."

That embrace was captured in a viral photo that was misconstrued as familial joy, rather than anger and overwhelm.

After Dennis expressed that he wanted to see her more in what Rodman calls a "wholesome" post-match catchup, she once again grew optimistic about building a relationship, but instead received total "radio silence" that lasted until late 2023.

"I think after that was when I lost hope in ever getting him back," she said. "Even at that game, I don’t think that was for me. I think he wanted to have a good conscience and then be like, headline, Dennis Rodman showed up to his daughter's game."

Today, Rodman has almost no relationship with her father, though she does answer when he calls.

"If something does happen, God forbid, I want to know that I did that. Or if he needed to hear my voice," she said. "That’s why I answer the phone, not for me."

"He's not a dad. Maybe by blood but nothing else. Hearing his voice is painful."

Gotham FC and USWNT forward Lynn Williams is being traded to the Seattle Reign, according to multiple reports late Wednesday.

Sports Illustrated reports that Williams and goalkeeper Cassie Miller will join the Reign in exchange for midfielder Jaelin Howell and an undisclosed transfer fee. 

Though still unconfirmed, the move reportedly comes at Williams’s request, with the 31-year-old Olympic gold medalist hoping to close out her club career on the West Coast, closer to her California home.

In her two seasons at Gotham, Williams scored 11 goals and tallied four assists en route to back-to-back NWSL Playoff runs.

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Williams is a major score for Seattle

The addition of Williams — the NWSL’s all-time leading scorer and third on the career assists list — would be a massive win for the Reign, who are in desperate need of firepower after posting the league’s fourth-worst goal count and finishing in 13th place last season.

Plus, Williams knows how to win, arguably more than nearly any other player in the league.

Since entering the NWSL in 2015, Williams has lifted trophies with all three of her clubs, earning championships with the Western New York Flash (2016), the NC Courage (2018, 2019), and Gotham FC (2023). Those four titles surpass every other NWSL athlete except McCall Zerboni, who coincidentally was Williams's teammate for all of those championships.

That title-winning aptitude would be clutch for Seattle, who are still hunting a franchise-first NWSL championship despite competing in three league finals.

Howell, Miller on the move again

Both Howell and Miller will exit their respective clubs after short tenures.

Miller joined Gotham from Kansas City in January as a replacement for starting goalkeeper Abby Smith, who suffered a season-ending injury in August 2023. In April, however, the NJ/NY club snagged German international Ann-Katrin Berger — one of the best keepers in the world and the NWSL's 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year — leaving Miller in a backup role.

Logging an even shorter time at Seattle than Miller's 11-month Gotham stretch is Howell, who will join her third club in five months with this trade. The midfielder began her NWSL career with Racing Louisville in 2022, but was sent to Seattle in August in exchange for striker Bethany Balcer and $50,000.

The 25-year-old, who captained her Louisville team, has struggled to stay in form. That said, if Gotham can help Howell unlock consistency in her top-level play, her on-pitch potential and off-pitch leadership could be a boon for the NJ/NY side.

Ultimately, trading Williams for a player with more potential than top form reads as a possible rebuild for a club who entered a so-called superteam era just one year ago — particularly in light of Gotham's flood of defectors this offseason, which includes star midfielder Delanie Sheehan.