Kate Yanchulis
Oct 25, 2022
The No. 5 Wisconsin women’s volleyball team will face off against No. 1 Nebraska on Wednesday in the midst of an eight-game winning streak — and an ongoing photo leak investigation.
The University of Wisconsin police department is investigating a leak of private photos and videos of Badgers women’s volleyball players, which were then shared on the internet, the athletic department announced on Oct. 19.
One of the photos appears to have been taken after the team won the Big Ten title last November and shows members of the team posing with their sports bras lifted, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The athletic department called the leak a “significant and wrongful invasion” of the athletes’ privacy.
Despite the turmoil of the leak and the investigation, the Badgers keep winning. They swept Michigan State at home Friday and beat Michigan 3-1 on the road Sunday, improving to 15-3 overall and 9-1 in Big Ten play.
Still here. 😤 pic.twitter.com/A8a3bTwyMh
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) October 24, 2022
Wisconsin outside hitter Sarah Franklin, who transferred from Michigan State in the offseason, stepped up against her former team. She recorded eight kills and four blocks in the win over the Spartans.
Against Michigan, middle blocker Devyn Robinson led the team with 17 kills. The Wolverines took the first set, but the Badgers won the next three to come away with the win.
“After set one, I felt like we just needed to stay calm and loose and it felt tense in the huddle, but we just had to realize that we have to take a deep breath and get back to our game,” Robinson said after the match.
Next up: a national championship rematch against top-ranked Nebraska (18-1, 10-0) in front of a sold-out crowd at UW Field House at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday. The match will air on Big Ten Network.
The Badgers bested the Cornhuskers in five sets to take their first NCAA title in program history last December. They’ll look to hand the Cornhuskers their first Big Ten loss of the season and extend their winning streak to nine matches.
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Emma Hruby
Jun 6, 2024
Oklahoma is on the brink of a four-peat at the Women’s College World Series after taking Game 1 over Texas of the championship series 8-3.
Should the Sooners win, they earn an eighth-overall and fourth-straight WCWS title. No other team has won four consecutive NCAA softball championships.
"This is it," Sooners pitcher Kelly Maxwell, who transferred in this season from Oklahoma State, said of being on the brink. "This is my last opportunity. I'm just going to do everything I can to keep this team in it. I know that they have my back and I got theirs."
While Oklahoma has dominated throughout the regular season, they did face an unexpected setback courtesy of ared-hot Florida team. In Monday’s Game 11, the No. 6-seeded Gators snapped the Sooners’ 20-game NCAA tournament win streak, forcing Tuesday’s winner-take-all Game 12 with a convincing 9-3 win. Florida’s victory was fueled by two monster home runs from infielder Skylar Wallace alongside Keagan Rothrock’s ace pitching.
Despite the upset, a recomposed Oklahoma took the field the following day for a tight eight-inning clash culminating in awalk-off blastfrom Jayda Coleman that sent the Sooners to WCWS final.
But head coach Patty Gasso knows there’s still work to be done in the WCWS.
"We're not over-jubilant because we know there's still a lot of work to do against a very, very good team that has very good pitchers, very good hitters," Gasso said. "We know what's in front of us still. So you don't see us celebrating."
Texas, meanwhile, entered the postseason as the No. 1 overall seed. And the Longhorns are not about to roll over: In their Super Regional against Texas A&M, they lost the first game before winning the next two to advance.
Earlier this season, they lost the first game of their series to Oklahoma before rebounding to take their first series over the Sooners since 2009.
"Now it's theirs to lose in some respect," Texas coach Mike White said of the Sooners. "They have to win one of the next two games. I like being in that position, sometimes being the underdog. We're the top dog for a little bit, so to speak, but were we? They're three-time national champions. It's a mind game.
"Champions reframe. How can we reframe from this loss, what we're facing right now, come out and have a better game and see if we can play some good softball."
Game 2 of the WCWS Championship Series starts at 8 PM ET on Thursday, June 6th and will be broadcast live on ESPN. Game 3, if necessary, will air on ESPN on Friday, June 7th starting at 8 PM ET.
Emma Hruby
Jun 6, 2024
The French Open final is set, with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek set to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Swiatek took care of top-ranked American Coco Gauff in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in Thursday's French Open semifinal. Afterward, Swiatek expressed high praise for Gauff's performance.
"She is progressing a lot. You can see by her results. Last year's US Open, for sure, showed that she's tough. At this age, it's kind of obvious that she's going to just grow. So it's nice to see her handling well everything around her, because it's not easy," Swiatek noted. "I'm sure we're going to have plenty more really intense matches on the really highest level."
For Gauff, the tournament isn’t a total loss. She’ll move up to a personal best world No. 2 this week after 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva upset former No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open to become the youngest major semifinalist since 1997.
Gauff will now be the first American tennis player — male or female — to be ranked inside the top two since Serena Williams in 2017.
Emma Hruby
Jun 6, 2024
The first-ever women’s version of the Soccer Tournament (TST) gets underway Friday morning, where eight teams will play for a $1 million winner-take-all prize.
This year’s tournament features a slate of pro, semi-pro, amateur, and retired athletes representing teams from four different countries and five pro clubs: US Women, Wrexham Red Dragons, Burnley FC, Soccerhead FC, North Carolina Courage, Streetball FC Canada, Tampa Bay Sun FC, and Angel City 7S.
TST first launched in June 2023. Since branching out into the women's game for the 2024 season, it’s now the world’s highest-stakes women’s soccer tournament, offering equal $1 million prizes for both the men’s and women’s champions.
The 2023 tournament was modeled after the World Cup, with 32 teams battling it out in eight groups of four before 16 teams advanced to single-elimination knockout rounds.
USWNT legend Heather O’Reilly led the creation of the women’s side when she entered an all-women’s team coached by Hamm into the inaugural tournament, with the rest of the teams being all men.
This year's headliners include NWSL and USWNT vets Mia Hamm, Michele Akers,Heather O’Reilly, Lori Lindsey,Ali Krieger, Allie Long, and Carli Lloyd (US Women); Jessica McDonald (NC Courage); Chenya Matthews and Kealia Watt (Burnley FC); Carley Telford (Wrexham Red Dragons); and Brazil’s Formiga (Tampa Bay Sun FC).
TBT Enterprises— which has run a basketball version of the tournament since 2014 — is behind the venture.
Thewomen’s group stagekicks off on June 7th at 9:30 AM ET and runs through June 10th’s championship doubleheader. Select games throughout the tournament will air onESPN networks, with the remaining games available to stream onTST’s website.
Emma Hruby
Jun 6, 2024
USA Basketball released its official 3×3 Olympic roster on Wednesday, naming some familiar faces to the four-player team.
2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup champs Cameron Brink, Cierra Burdick, and Hailey Van Lith were all named to the squad alongside 2022 No. 1 draft pick Rhyne Howard. Brink was named MVP of the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, while Burdick also won gold at the 2014 World Championship for 3×3.
Brink is a rookie in the WNBA this season, going No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks. Van Lith, meanwhile, will finish her college career at TCU this upcoming season.
"It is an honor to announce the USA Basketball 3×3 Women's National Team," Jay Demings, USA Basketball 3×3 national team director and member of the USA Basketball 3×3 women's selection committee said in a statement. "It is an exciting process to put a roster together that will represent the country on a global stage. We are thankful for all the athletes who attended training camps or participated in 3×3 competitions on the journey to Paris 2024."
2011 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year and current WNBA Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti will be the team’s head coach, while University of Rhode Island coach Tammi Reiss will be her assistant.
The sport was first introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Games, with the WNBA’s Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young all taking home the inaugural gold medal.
Other qualified teams for the women's Olympic 3×3 competition include China, France, Azerbaijan, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Canada. Team USA is currently ranked second in the world behind China.
