The Line: 7 Undersung Second-Years

These sophomores won't be slumping.

Ruby Gholston and Zane Bird Smith of UC Santa Cruz Sol raise their arms at the 2024 College Championships. Photo: Sam Hotaling – Ultiphotos.com

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The Line brings together lists of sevens from our reporting staff.

The 2024 D-I rookie class was without a doubt one of the strongest in history. It was chock full of high-level recruits who took on big roles in huge moments. To think of players like Stanford’s Harper Baer or Colorado’s Tobias Brooks only skims the surface of much-ballyhooed players entering their second collegiate campaigns. Even with as much attention as we lavished on them, though, there were still a healthy number of 2024 freshmen who, for one reason or another, didn’t get quite as much attention. Here are seven of those unheralded players, now entering sophomore campaigns. Could they be among the breakout stars of 2025? Don’t put it past them.

UC Santa Cruz Sol’s Ruby Gholston throws a backhand at the 2024 College Championships. Photo: Sam Hotaling – Ultiphotos.com

Ruby Gholston – UC Santa Cruz Sol

When your top first-year recruit has already played at Nationals with San Francisco Fury, they tend to absorb a lot of the attention. That was exactly the case with Sol’s Rachel Chang in 2024. Alongside them, though, were two other extremely talented rookies who stepped up in a big way for the program’s first Nationals appearance in 20 years: Ruby Gholston and Goodness Nwakudu. For now, let’s stick with Gholston.1 Her hard-nosed cutting and reliable backhand were essential in the unruly Madison weather. That solid foundation got some serious seasoning with Seattle END in the club season over the fall. The forecast says she’s going to be a serious factor as Sol make a push for a repeat trip.

Ryan duSaire – Carleton CUT


  1. They’re equally deserving of a shout – and honestly the tiebreak went to Gholston simply because it was easier to find a picture of her on Ultiphotos.com. 

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