From Trinity Rodman’s first preseason practice with the Washington Spirit in February, her teammates noticed there was something different about the forward from Newport Beach, Calif. The youngest player ever drafted into the professional soccer league at 18 years old, Rodman garnered their attention for reasons other than the reputation that preceded her NWSL debut.

“When we drafted Trinity, I’d heard that she was an insane athlete, but thought she’d be more of a pick for the future,” Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe said. “When I saw her play during preseason, she was even faster than expected, but her strength was what amazed me.”

“I still remember the first practice that week that I had with her back in preseason and I just remember being like, ‘This girl is really good,’” said defender Kelley O’Hara. “Like I just got that feeling from her.”

It wasn’t until the Spirit started their Challenge Cup schedule and were playing against other opponents on a full field that the rookie’s talent crystallized for her teammates.

“It was, like, next-level Trinity,” said Spirit co-captain Tori Huster.

Just minutes into her NWSL debut on April 10, in the second half against the North Carolina Courage, Rodman expertly controlled a long ball at the top of the box and slid it past the keeper for her first professional goal. The league, and U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski, took notice.

💥 @trinity_rodman is here, and she is not. messing. around. pic.twitter.com/OY6i28k3ct

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 10, 2021

Before that goal, Rodman was perhaps best known in the public sphere as being the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman. After it, she began to forge her own path, confounding some of the best defenders in the world with her speed, playmaking and finishing ability and producing arguably the greatest rookie season in NWSL history.

“We have many great athletes in this league, but what separates Trinity is not only her athleticism but her technical ability,” said Courage defender Carson Pickett, who was playing left fullback for Rodman’s first goal. “She’s dangerous with and without the ball and is efficient with her chances.”

Finishing the season with seven goals and six assists, Rodman led all rookies in scoring despite trailing them in both age and college soccer experience. The 19-year-old was committed to play soccer at Washington State in 2020, but opted to turn pro out of high school when COVID-19 pushed the season back to the spring.

At the beginning of the Spirit’s season, Rodman mentioned O’Hara as one of her biggest mentors on the team. It was fitting, then, that Rodman assisted on O’Hara’s game-winning goal in the NWSL championship game to close out the Spirit’s 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars and bring home the first title in franchise history.

Picture-perfect first goal of the season from @kelleymohara 🔥#WASvCHI | @CBS | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/89ohWFr9Dl

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 20, 2021

After the game, the two stars sat side-by-side at the podium to speak with the media.

“The more I got to play with [Trinity] and just see — she says amateur, but she is so mature for her age — the player that she is impressed me all season,” O’Hara said as Rodman looked on.

“She does have that killer instinct, that never-say-die attitude, and the fact that I know she’s in front of me and I get to play with her gives me a lot of confidence on the field. She’s obviously done amazing this season, and it being a rookie season, I couldn’t be more proud. And I know that she has a lot ahead of her and I’m excited to watch her shine.”

The final against the Red Stars encompassed everything that made Rodman the 2021 Rookie of the Year. She set the bar for the Spirit’s energy in the second half, leading by example when Washington needed to step up its game. In the 61st minute, she carried the ball out of pressure in the midfield, found space just outside of Chicago’s box and shook the goalpost with the best shot the Spirit had taken up to that point in the game.

The Rook rocks the bar 👀#WASvCHI | @CBS | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/JbWH3LzQGi

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 20, 2021

“That’s actually where they came into the game,” former Red Stars coach Rory Dames said after the final. “I don’t think they were ever really in the game prior to that where I felt they were dangerous, but that kind of rattled the group and they got us on the back foot.”

From then on, Rodman didn’t let up. She stole more balls in the midfield, fired shots on target and set up scoring opportunities. Even Chicago’s experienced backline, led by Sarah Gorden and Tierna Davidson, couldn’t figure out how to stop her.

“Trin has picked up the speed of play so quickly and to her advantage,” Huster said. “Her technical abilities really showcase during games as well as her ability to use her athleticism to her advantage in defending. Her willingness to press, sometimes all on her own, are an incredible asset to have. I think her decision-making at this level continues to improve and has certainly been a reason for her success this season.”

The Spirit found out early in Rodman’s rookie season that she has the motor to run endline to endline without hesitation. Interim head coach Kris Ward consciously planned formations to encourage her to stay in the attacking third and not spend entire games running around.

As the season progressed, Rodman became a smarter playmaker who could speed up and slow down the play, recognize open spaces and combine with teammates.

“She’s so good at relieving the pressure on us by herself sometimes, with her ability to break out into the other team’s half and hold up possession and then just gives all the rest of our players in it [time] to join but also to take a breath while they’re joining,” Ward said.

Bledsoe cited Rodman’s perfect through-ball to Ashley Hatch for the game-winning goal in the Spirit’s 1-0 win over Racing Louisville FC in October as evidence that she’s more than a scorer.

“Rookies don’t do that, but Trinity does,” Bledsoe said.

The combination of Rodman’s technical, defensive and playmaking skills have landed her high on Andonovski’s watch list for the USWNT. After she represented her country with the U17 and U20 squads, Andonovski called the 2020 U.S. Young Female Soccer Player of the Year into camp for the senior team’s November friendlies in Australia. Rodman declined for undisclosed reasons, but she’ll likely remain in consideration for the 2023 World Cup roster.

Whatever her future on the national team holds, Rodman has all the tools to write her own script.

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern for Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can find her on Twitter @jessabraun.

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.