The Volleyball Nations League comes to Arlington on July 9 with matches hosted at College Park Center. The Volleyball Nations League is an annual international volleyball tournament organized by the International Volleyball Federation. The tournament hosts men’s and women’s national teams in various cities around the world. The women’s tournament began June 3 and will run through July 27, when the finals are held in Łódź, Poland. The tournament opened with a 3-1 win by Turkey over France. The men’s competition started on June 11, with Poland defeating the Netherlands 3-1, and will conclude Aug. 3 in Ningbo, China. For the third year in a row, Arlington is playing a key role in the women’s group of the Volleyball Nations League. The city hosted the women’s finals in 2023 and week two of the preliminary phase in 2024. This year, Arlington will host week three games of the women’s preliminary round. The second week of the women’s preliminary round ended June 22, with the most recent match a 3-1 win by Poland over Serbia. Italy currently holds the top spot with eight wins and 22 points, followed closely by Poland with seven wins and 21 points. To start week three, Arlington spectators can expect to see matches from the United States, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, Germany and Thailand teams. The remaining women’s teams will compete in Apeldoorn, Netherlands and Chiba, Japan. This year’s Volleyball Nations League tournament features a new competitive format, expanding the number of teams and matches. In each gender, 18 teams will compete in 116 matches. Last year’s tournament included 16 teams and 104 matches per gender. In the preliminary round, teams play 12 matches spread across three weeks. There are three pools per week played at three different venues. Each pool includes six teams. The tournament picks back up July 8 with a match between Brazil and Bulgaria in Chiba, Japan. To start its hosting stint, Arlington will host a day full of matches starting with a game between Canada and Germany at 12:30 p.m. July 9 at College Park Center. All matches are available to stream on VBTV. @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

The Texas Rangers (41-43) dropped their series finale 6-4 in extra innings against the Seattle Mariners (43-40) on Sunday at Globe Life Field. The Rangers opened the series against the Mariners with a 7-6 loss Friday, then bounced back with a 3-2 win Saturday. Every game in the series went into extra innings. Earlier in the series, former shortstop Elvis Andrus — who signed a one day contract to retire with the Rangers last September — was inducted into the Rangers’ Hall of Fame. Andrus debuted with the Rangers in 2009 and spent 12 of his 15 MLB seasons in Arlington. Additionally, there was a moment of silence before the first pitch Sunday for three-time Golden Glove winner Dave Parker, who died Saturday from Parkinson’s disease. Parker will be posthumously inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27. Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter said that trial and error has gone into his game, but he is trying to keep it as simple as possible. Leiter recorded six innings and delivered seven strikeouts while on the mound. “There’s so many little things you could think about as a starting pitcher in this game. You can dive into all the little nuances or you can keep it as simple as possible; I’ve seen it done both ways,” he said. The Rangers opened the scoring in the second inning off an RBI from third baseman Josh Jung, who ran in outfielder Evan Carter. The Rangers were then held scoreless for seven innings. Mariners catcher Mitch Garver tied the game in the sixth inning with an RBI single. Seattle added two more runs to open extra innings and took the lead. In response, Rangers shortstop Corey Seager smashed a two-run home run over left center field, running in catcher Kyle Higashioka and tying the game. Seager recorded three RBIs and one hit in four at-bats, and tallied his 10th home run of the 2025 season. After a scoreless 11th inning, the Mariners broke through in the 12th inning on a sacrifice fly, running in outfielder Luke Raley. Immediately after, Garver hit his second home run of the game, sending a left-center field hit over the wall that scored outfielder Randy Arozarena. The Rangers managed one more run off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th, but could not overcome the deficit. A pop out by Ranger’s second baseman Marcus Semien secured the game and the series for the Mariners. Despite the overall outcome, Leiter was pleased with what he saw from the team. “Obviously wish we could’ve gotten a win, gotta shout out [Jacob] Latz and Luke [Jackson] and Cole [Winn]. The bullpen has been great all year and those guys kept us in it,” he said. “It’s been fun to watch everybody in the bullpen work.” The Rangers revisit the Baltimore Orioles at home, having just won a three-game away series against the team earlier in the week. Texas will host Baltimore at 7:05 p.m. Monday at Globe Life Field. @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

The Dallas Wings (4-13) failed to come back from an early deficit in a 94-86 loss against the Indiana Fever (8-8) Friday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Fever played without 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, who was out due to a left groin injury — her second injury of the season. The highly anticipated match would have been the first WNBA meeting between the Wings’ 2025 No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers and Clark. Several notable figures attended the high-profile game, including 2016 NBA champion Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, the Dallas Mavericks’ 2025 No. 1 draft pick and Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, among others. For the first time in franchise history, the Dallas Wings played a home game away from College Park Center. The game was a sellout, with over 20,000 fans in attendance, setting the largest recorded crowd for a professional basketball game in Texas. The crowd was loud from the opening tipoff and stayed that way throughout the game. Fans erupted in boisterous cheers while twirling towels after every play that went in the Wings’ favor. Indiana opened the game with a 14-0 run, taking a 16-2 lead less than four minutes in. The run was tanked after a personal foul was overturned on review, setting up a free throw from rookie guard Bueckers to get the Wings back on the board. The Fever held a 20-point lead by the end of the first quarter. The Wings struggled to convert shots and secure rebounds, giving the Fever chances to capitalize. Bueckers found her rhythm in the second half, more than doubling her first-half scoring. She finished with six assists and went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. “I think really the spark was that third quarter defensively, us locking in and really paying attention to the details of the scout and making things as difficult as possible for them,” Bueckers said. In the fourth quarter, Wings guard JJ Quinerly tied the game with a fouled jump shot and granted Dallas its first lead with the ensuing free throw. Shortly after, Indiana responded with a 9-0 run. Down by seven with 36 seconds left, Dallas missed three shots, failing to close the gap, and Indiana pushed through for a 94-86 win. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell led the way with 32 points and seven assists, playing a key role in Indiana’s assertive runs. Mitchell said Bueckers’ performance stood out, calling out how she plays great basketball and sets up her teammates to do the same. “Paige is just such a smart player, she reads defenses well, she knows how to pick you apart and so when you play against her, you have to make sure that you’re aware of where she is at all times,” Mitchell said. The Wings will host the Washington Mystics at 7 p.m. Saturday at College Park Center. The game will stream on WNBA League Pass and be broadcast on KFAA. @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

The Western Athletic Conference will rebrand in July 2026 as the United Athletic Conference, with UTA set to be the flagship university, forming a consortium with the Atlantic Sun Conference, UTA Athletics announced Thursday in a press release. The new NCAA Division I conference will be led by executive director Jeff Bacon, the Atlantic Sun Conference’s current commissioner, according to a WAC press release. The initiative aims to improve operational efficiency, strengthen collaboration and longevity, and promote innovation across the conference. The alliance promises reduced travel demands for student athletes, continued access to NCAA tournaments and competition among like-minded institutions. The partnership with the Atlantic Sun Conference also opens new opportunities for UTA and other transitioning programs, including new potential revenue streams, joint scheduling initiatives and shared resources. The United Athletic Conference is set to host eight institutions. UTA can expect to see familiar schools like Tarleton State University and Abilene Christian University, alongside five new schools from the Atlantic Sun Conference: Austin Peay State University, University of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky University, University of North Alabama and University of West Georgia. The Atlantic Sun Conference is expected to maintain membership of seven institutions. The balance will allow the conference to remain intact and operate independently while still supporting the transition. “We are thrilled about this groundbreaking move,” athletics director Jon Fagg said in UTA’s press release. “As college athletics sees changes across the country, we believe that these types of partnerships and associations represent the future landscape of college athletics.” @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

The Indiana Fever and one of the most notable faces in the WNBA take on the Dallas Wings and the 2025 No. 1 draft pick at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Wings guard Paige Bueckers have become spotlight players in the league and will meet on the court for the first time in a professional setting this week. The two have shared a history dating back to the 2019 International Basketball Federation Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup, where they were teammates. They later faced off twice in the NCAA women’s championship, in the 2021 Sweet 16 and the 2023 Final Four, representing their respective universities. Both players received recognition for their impact at the collegiate level. The University of Iowa retired Clark’s No. 22, and the University of Connecticut inducted Bueckers into the Huskies of Honor. Clark was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year in addition to other notable professional accolades, including the Associated Press’ 2024 female athlete of the year and Time’s 2024 athlete of the year. She has entered her second season in the WNBA with the Fever. The Fever currently holds a 7-7 record in the Eastern Conference and boasts a 3-2 record in its last five games. Clark missed five games earlier in the season due to an injury sustained in a game against the New York Liberty on May 24. Bueckers made her WNBA debut this season and has appeared in 12 of the team’s 16 games so far. She missed four games due to injury and illness. Bueckers has since broken the record for the fastest player to reach 200 points and 50 assists, taking just 11 games. The record was previously held by Clark, who did it in 12 games. The Wings currently hold a 4-12 record in the Western Conference. A win over the Fever would secure the Wings’ third home game win. The teams share a competitive history that dates back to 2015 when the Wings relocated to Dallas. Their most recent meeting concluded with a nail-biting 110-109 win for the Fever in September 2024. Tickets to Friday’s game are available on Ticketmaster, and the game will be available for streaming on ION. @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

In a nearly full College Park Center, the Dallas Wings beat the Atlanta Dream 68-55. The Wings are 3-2 in their most recent five games. Atlanta scored the first points with a layup in the first two minutes of the game. Dallas opened its scoring seconds later off a two-point jumper from rookie guard Paige Bueckers. Li Yueru, recently acquired Wings center, started the game strong with eight points and five rebounds as Dallas went into the first break with a 19-10 lead. Head coach Chris Koclanes said the team had a different intensity from the jump. He said he enjoyed the effort the team displayed to contest shots despite Atlanta’s 3-pointer tendencies. The Dream attempted 34 shots outside the arc to the Wings’ 13. The Wings came out getting blocks and defensive rebounds early in the second quarter. The Dream put points on the board, but errors and violations helped the Wings maintain the lead at halftime. Guard Arike Ogunbowale said the team made a point to come into the game playing with intensity. “We know they’re really good shooters and have good inside [and] outside presence,” she said, “so we just tried to stay aggressive for four quarters.” Dallas forced a timeout from Atlanta midway through the second quarter. Atlanta guard Allisha Gray scored a two-point jump shot and a 3-pointer in the next two minutes to bring the score within seven. After a 9-0 run by Dallas, Atlanta called another timeout just under three minutes into the third quarter. Both teams went on to trade baskets, but it was the finishing and defense from the Wings that made the difference. Dallas led 50-40 going into the fourth quarter. Atlanta Dream forward Brionna Jones hit a two-point turnaround fadeaway less than a minute into the final frame. The Wings countered with a 3-point shot from forward Myisha Hines-Allen. A minute later, Hines-Allen got her eighth point of the game with a fadeaway jumper in the paint. The Wings played defensively in the final minute. They held the ball until a shot clock violation was called and waited out the clock when they regained possession. The Wings had multiple players out in their game against the Dream. The team saw three injuries and two absences due to national team obligations. Koclanes said the game wasn’t perfect, but the team played well. He said the team needs to find its physicality without fouling. Yueru finished the game with 10 points, 15 rebounds and one assist. Koclanes said Yueru is a smart and physical player that does not back down and has stepped up in her role on the team. The Wings will face guard Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The game will be televised on ION. @wall035203 news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu