THE EVE EDITION
FIRST BLUSH | SAT OCT 10
Saturday is a day of rematches and measuring sticks. The two best national teams in the world share a field in Washington, the two best college hockey teams meet for the second time in two days, and the nation’s #1 volleyball team puts an unbeaten season in front of a national television audience. Crystal Dunn, the 2015 NWSL MVP with the Washington Spirit, will be honored before the match at Audi Field.
Money in the Bank fills the evening from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, with a women’s championship and a briefcase both on the line, and Beijing keeps the coverage day running past midnight with a China Open doubles final between the tournament’s top two seeds. Before then, #13 Oregon in Ann Arbor and #17 BYU at home in Provo carry two more ranked volleyball matches deep into Saturday night on the Big Ten and Big 12 schedules.
United States vs. Spain
The Olympic champion meets the World Cup champion. Spain arrives as world #1 after winning its qualifying group with a 4-0 rout of England, though Sonia Bermúdez is without Aitana Bonmatí, still short of match rhythm. Alexia Putellas, Patri Guijarro and Salma Paralluelo still give Spain enormous quality. Emma Hayes welcomes back Naomi Girma and Sam Coffey and brings the NWSL’s top American scorers, including Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman. The United States won the first three meetings; Spain won the most recent, 2-0 in 2022.
EVE’s Edge: United States, 2-1. Spain will have more of the ball, but without Bonmatí its build-up is easier to press, and the speed of Wilson and Rodman should produce the better chances in transition.
#7 Wisconsin at #1 Nebraska
Nebraska is 16-0 and has not lost a regular-season match since 2024, a 47-match run built on the nation’s best hitting percentage and its stingiest opponent hitting. Thursday’s sweep at #15 Indiana stretched the road and neutral streak to 23, and Saturday brings the Huskers home, where they have won 57 straight regular-season matches. Wisconsin was the last team to beat Nebraska in the series, in a 2023 sweep, and brings setter Charlie Fuerbringer and freshman Decelise Champion. Andi Jackson, Big Ten Player of the Week twice running, anchors the Nebraska net.
EVE’s Edge: Nebraska in four. Wisconsin’s serve can steal a set, but Bergen Reilly’s tempo to Jackson in the middle should keep the Badgers’ block a step late.
#1 Wisconsin at #2 Ohio State
This rematch of March’s national final opened Friday with a 2-1 Ohio State win that handed Wisconsin its first loss of the season. The Badgers led on a second-period power-play goal before Mira Jungåker tied it and Hilda Svensson won it, both on third-period power plays. Ohio State outshot Wisconsin 40-21, and Rowan Houweling made a career-high 20 saves to hold the lead. The Buckeyes are now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the WCHA. Wisconsin must stay out of the box to make its depth count, or Ohio State leaves the weekend with a sweep.
EVE’s Edge: Ohio State, 3-2. The Buckeyes’ shot volume Friday was no accident, and a power play that went two-for-three gives them the sharper edge in another one-goal game.
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan
Stephanie Vaquer took the Women’s World Championship back from Liv Morgan in Chile on September 12, with Becky Lynch as special guest referee, and none of the three has let it rest since. Monday’s Raw was meant to settle a #1 contender between Lynch and Morgan, but Judgment Day interference, an accidental Lynch strike on Vaquer and a disqualification left nothing settled. Vaquer then demanded both challengers at once, and Raw general manager Adam Pearce agreed. A triple threat takes away the champion’s best protection: she can lose without being pinned.
EVE’s Edge: Vaquer retains. Lynch and Morgan have spent a month fighting each other as hard as the champion, and that history should cost one of them the finish.
Jacy Jayne vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Lash Legend vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lola Vice
Six women climb for a contract worth a women’s title match at any time and place the holder chooses. Tiffany Stratton knows the case best: she won it in 2024 and cashed in for the WWE Women’s Championship. Roxanne Perez arrives with Judgment Day, already tangled in the Women’s World Championship picture, and Sol Ruca brings the most dangerous aerial range in the field. Jacy Jayne, Lash Legend and Lola Vice add power and striking. With the title triple threat on the same card, the winner may leave New Orleans already studying her target.
EVE’s Edge: Roxanne Perez wins. Judgment Day at ringside is the surest advantage in a ladder match, and Perez has the speed to climb while the bigger names are busy with each other.
ELSEWHERE
In Ann Arbor, #13 Oregon closes a two-match Michigan trip at Crisler Center at 7:00 PM on B1G+, one night after visiting #22 Michigan State. Michigan is 11-5 but only 2-3 in Big Ten play, so beating a top-15 team at home would change the shape of the Wolverines’ conference season, while the Ducks need a clean finish to protect their place in the poll.
In Provo, #17 BYU hosts West Virginia at Smith Fieldhouse at 8:30 PM on ESPN+, the last ranked volleyball match of the night. The Mountaineers beat a ranked BYU team in five sets in Morgantown last October, so the Cougars have a recent reason to take the Big 12 visit seriously, and the late start in Provo makes it the right match to finish the evening.
The United States and Spain meet again Tuesday at 7:00 PM at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on TNT and HBO Max, with Universo and Peacock carrying it in Spanish. Three days is little time to recover, so Saturday’s lineups and substitutions are worth watching as a preview of how Emma Hayes and Sonia Bermúdez plan to split minutes across both matches.
Beijing’s doubles final closes the coverage night at 4:30 AM Sunday on Tennis Channel / App, with top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Zhang Shuai facing #2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani. Zhang gives the home crowd a second reason to fill the Diamond Court on finals day, and the matchup is exactly the final the seedings promised when the draw was made.