When the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces and the No. 4 seed Seattle Storm square off Sunday for the opening game of their best-of-five semifinal series, all eyes will be on A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.

And for good reason: The two former No. 1 draft picks (Stewart in 2016 and Wilson in 2018) are the leading candidates in the MVP race, with very similar stat lines. Wilson is averaging 19.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while Stewart is averaging 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

“Everyone always talks about the matchup between Stewie and I,” Wilson said. “We love it. We get better every single possession we guard each other, so we are going to give the people what they want, which is a good series, and we are going to have some fun while doing it.”

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The teams played four times during the regular-season, with Vegas securing three of four victories. And while Stewart and Wilson may be the most eye-catching matchup, it’s far from the only storyline.

“I feel like this matchup with the Storm is going to be good no matter what,” Wilson said. “You have phenomenal players on both sides in this series.”

Here are four keys to the series:

Jewell Loyd

The former Notre Dame guard is one of seven No. 1 draft picks in this semifinal series, and she’s arguably the most important for the Storm.

Loyd has been absolutely dominant against the Aces this season in all but one contest. In three of their meetings, the guard put up 38, 24 and 19 points, at least keeping them within striking distance and once leading them to a victory.

But she isn’t unstoppable, and in the fourth matchup, the Aces managed to hold her to just 1 point in an 89-81 Las Vegas win on Aug. 7.

Loyd already has been crucial to the Storm this postseason, scoring 19 points in Seattle’s first win over the Mystics and 16 in the second. The Game 2 performance was especially important, as Loyd scored 12 of her points in the final five minutes of play to propel her team into the semifinals.

Loyd’s ability to step up in key moments could be the difference for the Storm against the top-seeded Aces this time around.

There will be SEVEN number 1 overall picks in the Semis match-up between @LVAces and @seattlestorm 🤯 pic.twitter.com/C83oFgZbVm

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Chelsea Gray

Gray has been consistent for the Aces all season, but in the second half she’s taken her game to another level. She was key in Las Vegas’ win over Phoenix in the opening round, posting 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in Game 1, and 27 points, eight assists and three rebounds in Game 2.

The Storm saw her heightened play firsthand when she poured in 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Aces past Seattle in Sue Bird’s final regular-season home game.

As Loyd is for Seattle, Gray is the X-factor for Las Vegas. The Aces will need big games from her, while the Storm will seek to slow down the skilled point guard.

Balance

One of the reasons the Aces have been so tough to beat this season is their balance. They have four players who consistently put up big numbers: Kelsey Plum (20.2 points per game), Wilson (19.5), Jackie Young (15.9) and Gray (13.7). That trend showed itself in their four games against Seattle, as the Aces had four double-digit scorers in two games and five in the other two.

One knock on Las Vegas this season has been its lack of bench production, but the team has managed to make it work thanks to consistency in its starting five.

However, with Dearica Hamby (9.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg) out with a knee injury, the Aces are missing a crucial piece. They got past the Mercury without her, but Kiah Stokes will have to perform well in her absence in order to fend off the Storm.

On the other side, Seattle needs to find a way to shut down one of Las Vegas’ big four. If those players are all scoring at a high clip, the Aces become nearly impossible to stop.

Free throws and 2-pointers

The Aces spent a lot of time at the line during the regular-season matchups, with 72 attempts to Seattle’s 52. The Aces have capable scorers at every position, and stopping them is hard enough without giving them extra attempts. Seattle will need to defend without fouling to gain an edge.

These teams are also two of the best in the league at 3-point shooting. The Aces are second in the WNBA with 343 makes on the year, while Seattle slides in at third with 333.

The Storm have made more long-range shots in all four matchups this season, but that means Las Vegas has dominated from inside the arc. The Aces will look to continue that trend while also defending better at the 3-point line, while Seattle needs to find a way to lock up Las Vegas in the paint and the mid-range.

Prediction: Las Vegas in 5

When Wilson says this will be a good series, take her word for it. I’d be surprised if it goes any less than five games, but in the end, the Aces will win out.

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.