JWS Staff
Nov 29, 2022
Defending champion Wisconsin volleyball ended its regular season on an 18-match winning streak.
The Badgers have not lost since Sept. 25, even as the team endured a tough Big Ten schedule and the turmoil of a photo leak investigation, and now they enter the NCAA tournament with a 25-3 overall record and the No. 1 seed.
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 28, 2022𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙊𝙢𝙖𝙝𝙖 begins now.
Badgers earn the No. 1 Seed in the Top Right Region. pic.twitter.com/BPSfSPSNHc
The University of Wisconsin athletic department announced on Oct. 19 the investigation into a a leak of private photos and videos of Badgers women’s volleyball players, which were then shared on the internet.
At least 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. Yet even after the off-court issue, which highlighted the vulnerable position of college athletes, the Badgers continued to roll.
Wisconsin finished its conference season Saturday with a 3-1 win against Ohio State, clinching a 19-1 conference record and theBig Ten title. The only loss came on Sept. 25 against Minnesota.
“There was so much learning that came from our one loss against Minnesota,” coach Kelly Sheffield said. “That was really important for where we are right now. There was so much opportunity for us to learn throughout the course of the year and I am so proud of them.”
The 18-match winning streak is tied for the second-longest winning streak in program history. The 19-1 conference record is tied for the best conference record in program history.
Wisconsin already has sold out all-session tickets to its first- and second-round matches in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers will start their quest for a repeat title at 8 p.m. ET Friday against Quinnipiac.
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Emma Hruby
Jun 27, 2024
Nominees for the ESPY Awards dropped Wednesday, with Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark topping the list with three nods, followed closely by Aces' A'ja Wilson with two.
Both Wilson and Clark snagged Best Athlete in Women’s Sports nominations, alongside Coco Gauff and Nelly Korda. Clark was also nominated for the Best Record-breaking Performance for breaking Pete Maravich’s record to become the NCAA DI all-time scoring leader. Joining her in that category is newly retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who became the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history this year.
LSU gymnast Haleigh Bryant and USC basketball player JuJu Watkins was nominated in the Best Breakthrough Athlete category, while superstars Simone Biles and UConn's Paige Bueckers are among the nominees for Best Comeback Athlete.
Boston College lacrosse player Kayla Martello and Gotham FC’s Midge Purce received nominations for the Best Championship Performance.
In addition to the nominations, ESPN announced that South Carolina coach Dawn Staley will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for her work in advocating for cancer research and bone marrow donors as well as her advocacy for women’s sports. Past recipients include Dick Vitale, Kay Yow, and Liam Hendriks.
"I’m grateful to ESPN for their coverage and the honor of this award," Staley said in a statement. "We’ve come a long way, and we will continue to move the women’s game forward and push for equity and visibility for our sport."
JWS Staff
Jun 27, 2024
The Paris-bound US gymnastics team will soon be selected, with the 2024 US Olympic Gymnastics Trials beginning tonight.
The women’s competition will take place Friday and Sunday, with 16 athletes competing for five available roster spots. Four alternates will also be named, with two of them traveling with the team to Paris.
While performance at Trials weighs heavily, a top-five table finish does not guarantee an Olympic berth. Only the gymnast that wins the all-around will be guaranteed a ticket, while the remaining four team members will be selected by a three-person committee.
Among selection criteria include difficulty scores, as well as results and consistency across all competitions extending back to last fall’s World Championships.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles leads the contingent, having earned a record-extending ninth US all-around title earlier this month. Three of her Olympic teammates are also looking for another shot: Jordan Chiles, Tokyo gold medalist on floor Jade Carey, and reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, who's now in remission after chronic kidney disease nearly ended her gymnastics career.
Skye Blakely, who many predicted would make the Olympic cut this weekend, has been ruled out of the competition after suffering an Achilles injury during a Wednesday training session. The second-place finisher in the all-around at the US Championships, Blakely is not allowed to submit a petition for a spot on the Olympic team.Selection procedures only allow for a petition under an illness or "extenuating circ*mstance," with petitions because of injury not accepted.
Others going after a spot include Shilese Jones, a six-time World medalist, as well as four-time World medalist Leanne Wong and 2023 Pan Am Games all-around champion Kayla DiCello.
The US Olympic Gymnastics Trials women’s competition starts at 8 PM ET on Friday, airing live on NBC and streaming on Peaco*ck.
Meredith Heil
Jun 27, 2024
Just over halfway through their Return to Royalty season, the Utah Royals have unveiled a brand new, multimillion-dollar sports medicine and performance facility in a JWS exclusive.
At over 11,000 square feet, the NWSL-specific property boasts top-of-the-line weight and training rooms, including a dedicated hydrotherapy room complete with a sauna, which will include hot and cold tubs, plus a spacious locker room and players’ lounge, and weight and training room equipped with top-of-the-line equipment. The expansive new digs also have on-site childcare and lactation rooms.
As a part of Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah, the new facility places the Royals on the same 42-acre campus as the other four Utah Soccer teams, including MLS’s Real Salt Lake. The campus features five natural-grass outdoor fields, two full-size indoor fields, as well as the 5,000-seat capacity Zions Bank Stadium.
When the space officially opens in a few weeks, it will be dedicated as the SharkNinja Performance Center after the global appliance company inked a multi-year naming rights deal.
The Royals’ new home is the latest in a small but growing collection of training facilities created specifically for women’s teams —and the NWSL is leading the way. Three other NWSL clubs — Racing Louisville and Houston Dash — also have dedicated team homes in complexes shared with men’s clubs, while the Orlando Pride the Kansas City Current both work out of their own exclusive facilities.
JWS Staff
Jun 26, 2024
The Minnesota Lynx won another trophy on Tuesday, taking home the Commissioner’s Cup for the first time.
"You got to talk about us now, you've got no choice," Reeve said. "We don't really care what you think, except for right now, when we get to say to you, 'You've got to talk about us.'
They beat the New York Liberty 94-89 to take the Cup. Afterwards, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said she wants there to be more dialogue around her team.
"We just beat a superteam," said Reeve. "You know how hard that is to do? Because you guys love your superteams. That's all you want to talk about. But we just beat a superteam. Let's talk about it."
Minnesota's win on Tuesday — in addition to their 13-3 start to the season — has some talking about whether or not they’re back in contention for more WNBA titles this year. The Lynx ran a dynasty from 2011 to 2017, winning four titles and making it to two other WNBA Finals.
"We have a lot of offensive threats, but on defense, we're so solid," Commissioner's Cup MVP Napheesa Collier told reporters after the game. "That's why it's so hard to play against us. Our aggressiveness, our willingness to sell out on anything [because] we have each other's backs.
"This is the most talented, most fun team I've been on since I've been here. We want to build on this, we don't want to peak here. We want to achieve bigger things than this at the end of the season."
