1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,800 Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:11,160 who want to dig deep into what is going on in NCAA and international volleyball. 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:16,040 I'm your host Sarah Pavin, I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball world champion, former Nebraska 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:20,800 Cornhusker and longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,960 And I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international volleyball coach and resident 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,400 stats guy. 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,200 You changed the intro. 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:33,080 I wasn't really comfortable calling myself a guru, so we're going to change it up. 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:38,880 I wrote that intro so I called you that, but fair, you can do whatever you want. 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:44,280 Okay you guys, the pressure is mounting as we start seeing conference champions being 11 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,600 named and selection Sunday is coming up very soon. 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,800 This is my favorite time of year, I love to see which teams step up, which ones can't 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,840 handle the pressure and who's ready for tournament time. 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:03,760 We have already seen several conference champions be named, but there are still a lot of titles 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,480 up for grabs including in the ACC, the SEC and the Big Ten. 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:14,320 We saw some big upsets this week, we got to watch some highly anticipated matches including 17 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:18,240 the classic Nebraska-Wisconsin showdown. 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,920 We're going to take a look at that match a little later on, but we have got a lot to 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:23,440 discuss this week. 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:37,720 So let's get started. 21 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,240 We had some teams in the Big Ten have really important weeks. 22 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:46,160 So both Purdue and Wisconsin split matches this weekend. 23 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:52,480 Wisconsin beat Minnesota 3-2 and that was honestly a much closer game than I thought 24 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:53,480 it was going to be. 25 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,600 My prediction was Wisconsin in 3, but Minnesota really pushed them having a better hitting 26 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,480 percentage and really applied pressure and blocked well against them. 27 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:08,540 We also saw Wisconsin lose to Nebraska which we will talk about later in the show. 28 00:02:08,540 --> 00:02:11,240 Very interesting matches across the board for Wisconsin this week. 29 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:17,320 I've been hating on Minnesota in recent weeks and they're like, hey, here we are, let's 30 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,200 just take Wisconsin to five. 31 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,480 I feel like Minnesota is a Jekyll and Hyde team. 32 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,800 They have the potential to be incredibly good. 33 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:28,260 They're very good at the block. 34 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:32,400 They can put pressure on teams from the service line, but they don't pass particularly well 35 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,760 and their defensive structure seems non-existent at times. 36 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,600 So if they can put those two pieces together, they're going to cause some trouble in the 37 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,640 tournament, but we haven't seen it yet. 38 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:46,880 They actually had a couple swings for the match. 39 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:47,880 Correct. 40 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:49,800 So how did they not finish it? 41 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,440 Like, I'm not going to get into it, but they did have a couple swings for a match. 42 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,720 Purdue also split this week as Adam mentioned. 43 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:05,720 They lost 3-0 to Penn State in state college, but then they turned around and beat USC 3-0. 44 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,980 So they, both of those teams had a tough week this week. 45 00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:10,160 Both of the teams split. 46 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:15,560 We are going to dive into Wisconsin, Nebraska a little bit later, but another result from 47 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,840 the big 12 saw BYU getting upset by Cincinnati 3-2. 48 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,960 At the time of that match, BYU was ranked number 24. 49 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:33,040 I feel like that could definitely knock them out of the top 25 this week and potentially 50 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,440 cause them issues heading into tournament time, but who knows. 51 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:41,720 We saw Claire Little and Ellie Mortenson have tough outings. 52 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:51,200 Claire Little hit 172 and Ellie hit 059 and Cincinnati out-dug them 74-56, so it wasn't 53 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,000 a good night for the hitters from BYU. 54 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,760 Claire Little did miss last week in that trouncing BYU took from Utah. 55 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,200 Looks like she's back. 56 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,520 Looks like she's getting a lot of sets again, but not the most efficient night. 57 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,580 We're going to talk about Georgia Tech this week, and they had a tough go. 58 00:04:09,580 --> 00:04:15,880 They lost two matches in five to lower ranked teams, number 23 Florida State and then unranked 59 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:22,240 Miami, and this puts them in a really tough place leading into the conference championships. 60 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,160 We'll get into that one in detail. 61 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,720 Those were interesting matches. 62 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:33,120 We also had Missouri, my dark horse team, lose to Mississippi State 3-1, which is jamming 63 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:34,560 me up right now. 64 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,580 So they're out of the running for the SEC title with that loss, but I still think they 65 00:04:38,580 --> 00:04:40,200 can do damage in the tournament. 66 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,840 We were talking of Missouri so much last week. 67 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:47,080 You were like, they're going to go so far in the tournament, and they're like, thank 68 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,720 you so much for the compliment. 69 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:50,440 Let's lose to Mississippi State. 70 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,440 Goodbye. 71 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:52,440 You know what? 72 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,920 I'm going to take this is their one loss that's going to flip the switch for them, and they're 73 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,520 going to be ready to play come tournament time. 74 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:57,960 I'm still choosing them. 75 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,040 That loss was a real head scratcher. 76 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,560 And speaking of head scratchers, ladies and gentlemen, number 18 Dayton got swept by Loyola 77 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:12,320 Chicago in the championship match for the Atlantic 10 title. 78 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,320 Okay? 79 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,400 Dayton had lost one match the entire season. 80 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,000 They lost to Marquette early during preseason. 81 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:26,760 They have rolled through the Atlantic 10 conference this year like nobody's business. 82 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:27,760 Okay? 83 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:32,760 And they played Loyola Chicago twice, swept them both times. 84 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:33,900 Things were looking good. 85 00:05:33,900 --> 00:05:36,360 Things were looking bright for Dayton. 86 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,360 But Loyola Chicago said not today. 87 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:44,520 Thank you so much for holding this conference together singlehandedly all season, but we 88 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:45,960 will take the title. 89 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:47,100 That was wild. 90 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:50,040 This is a prime example of why I love this time of year. 91 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,620 You're poised, you're ready to go, and you're looking ahead to the tournament, and you didn't 92 00:05:53,620 --> 00:05:55,720 take care of business. 93 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,360 It's just so fascinating to watch teams. 94 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,780 Needless to say, this week was intense. 95 00:06:01,780 --> 00:06:02,780 It was crazy. 96 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:06,640 We had a lot of ups, a lot of downs, but we were here for it. 97 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,220 We watched a ton of volleyball. 98 00:06:08,220 --> 00:06:11,960 We watched actually the majority of the matches we just mentioned. 99 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:18,920 Yeah, just when we think that things are not going to be crazy, the NCAA surprises us. 100 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:24,680 Well, as everybody probably knows, Selection Sunday is coming up December 1st. 101 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:29,880 I wouldn't say I'm new to NCAA volleyball, but I'm diving into it for the first time 102 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:31,120 in depth. 103 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,480 I had some questions, which I'm assuming other people had as well. 104 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,040 We're going to go over how the bracket actually works, where the teams are coming from, and 105 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,160 give you a little background. 106 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,800 The tournament is a 64-team bracket. 107 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:50,040 You have 32 automatic qualifications from conference winners. 108 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,720 I didn't realize there were 32 conferences, so that was news to me. 109 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:59,640 Then you have 32 at-large bids, which are selected. 110 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:05,000 Generally done by ranking, RPI, that sort of thing. 111 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,640 Basically how they try to organize it. 112 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,600 We've touched on it briefly in recent weeks. 113 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:18,160 The NCAA likes to set up the bracket in such a way that as many conferences as possible 114 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,440 will be represented at the end. 115 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:28,400 So even if all season long the AVCA ranking, which is what you typically see every Monday, 116 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:34,520 is a certain way, you will see adjustments to that in the tournament bracket ranking 117 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:40,700 because they're looking for certain matchups to get conferences represented as equally 118 00:07:40,700 --> 00:07:42,640 as possible. 119 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,320 In the first and second weekend for round one and two, they like to keep travel to a 120 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:48,800 minimum. 121 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:54,320 Even if matchups might not make complete sense, geographically they'll make it as easy as 122 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:59,480 possible for travel, particularly for the smaller conferences whose budgets maybe aren't 123 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,440 as big to be able to travel across the country and things like that. 124 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:08,480 So week one is typically more regional. 125 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,160 Obviously there are exceptions. 126 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,760 And then as you get into week two, which are the regional championships, that's when we 127 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:16,600 see more of a mix up. 128 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,920 As of this recording, the following schools have earned automatic births by winning their 129 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,000 conference championships. 130 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:34,600 We've got New Hampshire, Florida Gulf Coast, Western Kentucky, Wichita State, Loyola Chicago, 131 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:45,200 Cleveland State, Fairfield, Colgate, Charleston, Yale, Chicago State, UT Arlington, and Arizona 132 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:46,280 State. 133 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,960 One of the other interesting things is that not all championships are decided the same 134 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:51,960 way. 135 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:57,440 Some of the conferences take into effect the whole record over all of conference play and 136 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,240 other conferences have a tournament at the end of conference play and the winner gets 137 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:02,240 to go on. 138 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,880 So it depends which conferences you're following as to which teams get to come out of that 139 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:08,620 conference specifically. 140 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:10,960 So that's what happened to Dayton. 141 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:16,760 If the Atlantic 10 operated in the same way that the Big 10 did, for example, Dayton would 142 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:18,480 have won. 143 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:20,720 They went undefeated. 144 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:22,200 They had the best record. 145 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:23,520 They would have won. 146 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:31,240 But the Atlantic 10 does do a tournament playoff among the top seeds and that's how that happened 147 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:32,240 for them. 148 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,560 Whereas like in the Big 10, whoever has the best record just wins. 149 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:41,700 Speaking of teams that have clinched their conference, ASU has earned at least a share 150 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:43,640 of the Big 12 title. 151 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,320 So they're battling with Kansas as well. 152 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,240 If ASU loses their final game and Kansas wins, they will both be tied, meaning they will 153 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,120 share that conference title as there is no competition for that. 154 00:09:55,120 --> 00:10:01,560 We also have the Big 10 title coming down to Nebraska and Penn State this coming week. 155 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:05,360 And that will be a game everybody needs to watch. 156 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,160 Nebraska hasn't lost in Big 10 play. 157 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:09,160 They're undefeated. 158 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,080 Penn State has lost one match. 159 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,400 Obviously, they have other matches. 160 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,600 We're assuming they will win those, but anything can happen. 161 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,920 But if Penn State should beat Nebraska, then both will be tied. 162 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,080 What's your prediction for that match? 163 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,440 I think Nebraska is going to win three straight. 164 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,320 I'm going to go Nebraska in four. 165 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,720 And then we get to the ACC. 166 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,140 Nothing is certain in the ACC. 167 00:10:35,140 --> 00:10:38,460 This is the conference that I'm going to be paying attention to this week for sure. 168 00:10:38,460 --> 00:10:45,120 So coming into this final week of conference play, Pitt and Louisville are both 17-1. 169 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,840 Stanford and SMU are both 15-3. 170 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,960 Pitt has Georgia Tech and Louisville. 171 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,920 Stanford also has Georgia Tech and Louisville. 172 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,240 And SMU has Florida State and NC State. 173 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:04,520 So if we're playing probabilities here, SMU is probably going to win out. 174 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,240 So they'll end with three losses. 175 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,680 Louisville is playing Pitt and Stanford. 176 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:11,760 That is tricky. 177 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:12,760 That's must see TV. 178 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,760 Pitt has Georgia Tech and Louisville. 179 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,440 Who knows what's going to happen? 180 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,240 And then Stanford has, like, I don't know what's going to happen here. 181 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:30,280 So the ACC is really going to come down to who can play the best this weekend and who 182 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,240 takes care of the matches that they should take care of. 183 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:38,640 After seeing Georgia Tech this week, I'm pretty confident that both Pitt and Stanford will 184 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:39,960 beat them. 185 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:45,760 But then I feel like it's up in the air for both of those teams against Louisville. 186 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:47,200 People are going to have to show up. 187 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,500 This is going to be, get your popcorn out, everybody, because this is going to be crazy. 188 00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:55,700 There should be some great volleyball with some really high level teams this coming week 189 00:11:55,700 --> 00:11:57,560 in the ACC. 190 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:01,520 We are for sure going to be tuning in to Selection Sunday on December 1st. 191 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:03,420 We want to see how things are laid out. 192 00:12:03,420 --> 00:12:09,720 We want to create our own bracket to see how closely we can get to perfect. 193 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,800 I don't think it'll be close. 194 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,200 I'm really excited because I've watched a lot of these teams pretty in depth over the 195 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,480 last month and a half that we've been doing this. 196 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:23,600 And I'm probably overconfident, but I'm really looking forward to it. 197 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,200 Let's talk about Georgia Tech. 198 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:31,040 As we mentioned earlier, they had a pretty rough week this week, dropping two matches 199 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,560 in five sets to both Florida State and Miami. 200 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:38,680 It was a bad trip to Florida on the volleyball court. 201 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:40,540 That is for sure. 202 00:12:40,540 --> 00:12:46,960 Not only did they lose two matches, but they really created some uncertainty in their standings 203 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,840 moving into the tournament. 204 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:50,120 Yes. 205 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:57,360 At this time, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and North Carolina are all 12 and 6 in the 206 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:58,840 ACC. 207 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:06,040 Thinking about that, Georgia Tech could potentially have been 14 and 4 and locked up a spot. 208 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:07,040 That is correct. 209 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:14,500 And it's absolutely wild because they, as we just said in our last segment, play Pitt 210 00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:17,020 and Stanford this week. 211 00:13:17,020 --> 00:13:19,440 So I'm just going to throw this out there. 212 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,580 Obviously I'm shocked every week at these results, but I'm going to say they're probably 213 00:13:24,580 --> 00:13:31,680 going 0 and 2 this week against those teams, which will put them at 12 and 8 to finish 214 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:33,680 ACC play. 215 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:37,100 And I'm not sure that's good enough to make the tournament, depending on what happens 216 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:42,880 with the other teams, because there are five teams jockeying for that position right below 217 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:44,680 the top four we spoke about earlier. 218 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:50,840 Well, and not to mention, Miami and Virginia are 11 and 7. 219 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,200 We talked about all the top teams and how they're playing each other this upcoming week. 220 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:02,520 So the Florida State, obviously Florida State has SMU, but Florida State, UNC, Virginia, 221 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,120 Miami, they're not playing the top teams. 222 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:12,800 So their records will likely improve, meaning Georgia Tech could maybe go from fifth in 223 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,800 the ACC to what? 224 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:15,800 Tenth? 225 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:16,800 Correct. 226 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,820 What a terrible way to end your conference play. 227 00:14:20,820 --> 00:14:26,360 And we watched both of those matches and I've got some things to say. 228 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:27,920 Let's hear it. 229 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,360 First of all, I think a lot of what happened this week, now it's always on the players 230 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:39,520 to perform, but I was unimpressed with the coaching staff for Georgia Tech. 231 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:47,920 I think your team takes on the identity of the coaching staff and the attitude that you 232 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,840 present and they were all over the map. 233 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:59,000 In that first match against Florida State, you saw the coaches walk off and basically 234 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,280 clap their clipboards at the refs after losing their minds in the fifth set. 235 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:09,240 They got a yellow card and you could see the team tighten up, start complaining in the 236 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,840 fifth set, looking at the refs. 237 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:16,380 You have to remember, these is not professional sports. 238 00:15:16,380 --> 00:15:19,920 These are young athletes and there's emotion involved. 239 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:21,240 Some of them are freshmen. 240 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,000 This is their first time through. 241 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:28,240 You look to your coach in big moments and I thought the Georgia Tech coaching staff 242 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:29,760 let their team down. 243 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:36,720 Obviously in every match there is the potential for some questionable calls. 244 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:42,120 Things might not always go your team's way, but the way that these coaches were treating 245 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:49,920 the referees, the way that they were talking, their body language, it was awful. 246 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:56,760 And I will say even as a professional, I have played for very volatile coaches, even with 247 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:03,340 a ton of experience and self-confidence and things like that, seeing a coach act up like 248 00:16:03,340 --> 00:16:07,720 that on the side of the court is very distracting. 249 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,000 Georgia Tech should not have lost both of those matches in my opinion. 250 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,000 They should not have lost. 251 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:22,080 Against Florida State, they were up 15-8, which became 18-12 in the fourth set and they 252 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,420 were winning two sets to one. 253 00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:29,520 They lost and honestly it happened after the coach had a meltdown. 254 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:35,320 And then they were winning two sets to zero against Miami and got reverse swept. 255 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,400 And again, as an athlete you have to play and we'll get into some of the performances 256 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:45,880 and numbers, but watching that match I thought the coaching staff had a direct impact on 257 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:52,560 the mood, the feeling and the confidence of the team on the floor in a negative way. 258 00:16:52,560 --> 00:17:00,400 As far as the on court stuff goes, I think that within those four lines, I wasn't seeing 259 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:08,840 anybody from Georgia Tech's team bringing energy, leading the team. 260 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:12,280 I saw a lot of looking to the sidelines. 261 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,160 There was nobody on the court that was kind of directing things. 262 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:23,320 I would agree with that and I think that was both emotionally, mentally, but also technically 263 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,120 or performance wise. 264 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:28,840 They don't have a standout hitter in my opinion. 265 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:33,920 They don't have somebody who is a go-to player that can just score for them. 266 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,900 And the other thing that I noticed was they don't run their middles. 267 00:17:36,900 --> 00:17:39,920 They rely heavily on their outside hitters. 268 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,160 Now they run a 6-2 so they always have a front row opposite. 269 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:50,800 They played okay, but if you look at the stats against Florida, they only ran their middles 270 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,680 19% of the time. 271 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:57,080 They hit 371, which isn't bad, but isn't great for middles. 272 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,520 And against Miami, they only ran the middle 15% of the time and they were ineffective 273 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,660 hitting 136 as a pair. 274 00:18:03,660 --> 00:18:08,200 So as those five set matches go on and we've talked about this, if you're not running your 275 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:14,040 middle and they don't have a consistent back row ball, you have the blockers putting up 276 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:15,360 solid double blocks. 277 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:19,660 The defense has a chance to get a read on those hitters and you just make life difficult 278 00:18:19,660 --> 00:18:22,720 for your pin hitters if you can't run the middle. 279 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,360 I feel like we say this about everybody. 280 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,000 It seems to be a common thing. 281 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,200 When teams are not successful, they're not running their middles. 282 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,140 We love middles. 283 00:18:33,140 --> 00:18:34,520 Run the middle. 284 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,560 I know you have to pass the ball to be able to do that, but I wouldn't say that Georgia 285 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,720 Tech's passing was that big of a liability. 286 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:42,720 I didn't think. 287 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,840 No, I thought they had the opportunity to run it. 288 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,280 And again, running the middle is a little more of a high risk set if the pass isn't 289 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,800 perfect, but it pays dividends and we're just not seeing that. 290 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,660 And it could be obviously when you're running a 6-2, you don't have a setter who can dump, 291 00:18:57,660 --> 00:19:00,320 but if you have a setter who's front row, they need to dump. 292 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,020 You need to run a back row ball. 293 00:19:02,020 --> 00:19:04,240 You need to establish the middle of the court. 294 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,280 And I think that was lacking in both of their losses. 295 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,760 I feel like they were under setting their middles a lot too. 296 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,180 They're pretty low. 297 00:19:12,180 --> 00:19:18,940 And again, as much as we love middles, I think we've expressed our disdain for 6-2 offenses. 298 00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:20,240 It is so hard. 299 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:27,340 A connection between a middle and their setter is so important and it requires so much attention 300 00:19:27,340 --> 00:19:29,120 and training. 301 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:32,820 When you're running a 6-2, you're spending two rotations with one setter and one with 302 00:19:32,820 --> 00:19:35,060 another as a middle. 303 00:19:35,060 --> 00:19:38,400 And you could definitely see the disconnect there as they were switching. 304 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:45,000 I actually, Georgia Tech's numbers against Florida overall, the game was pretty consistent 305 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,840 for the different skills, but they edged Florida in a few different categories, out digging 306 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,680 them 86 to 76. 307 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,680 They had similar number of blocks. 308 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,200 They had similar number of service aces and errors. 309 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,220 So this was a very tight match. 310 00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:07,520 We're talking about they traded first and second set kickings at 13 and 15, but then 311 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,760 it was 25-21, 26-24, 15-10. 312 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:17,640 They just needed someone to step up and make a play and it didn't happen. 313 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,840 I personally did not think they were a very good blocking team. 314 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:30,600 The number of balls that the block was there, it was set, it was composed, that ended up 315 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,400 going between the blockers and the net. 316 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:34,800 It was frequent. 317 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,720 It's really interesting that you bring that up. 318 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,080 I will say that I was focused on the sidelines for a lot of that match, given what was going 319 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:47,880 on and you could see the coach putting her hands straight up and down and then pushing 320 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:49,280 over the net. 321 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:55,120 I don't know whether she was trying to get her athletes to press earlier, but almost 322 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,520 all of their athletes go straight up and then try and time the block versus putting their 323 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,800 hands over the net as they start to create space. 324 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,000 I saw the same thing. 325 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,920 Do you think she was telling them that you're going up and then over and that's the problem? 326 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,080 Or do you think she was telling them to do that? 327 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,960 I can't say because there's no audio, but I saw her making the motion of exactly what 328 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,560 they were doing wrong. 329 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,320 So I was curious thinking about that watching the match. 330 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:27,560 You do not want to put your hands up and then over so that you're like waving your arms 331 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:28,560 almost. 332 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:34,080 You almost want to think about extending your elbows straight as soon as possible to cover 333 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,220 that distance. 334 00:21:35,220 --> 00:21:38,480 I hope she wasn't telling them to go up and then over. 335 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,080 It's what they were doing. 336 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:41,300 Yikes. 337 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:46,560 If you do look at the total blocks, Georgia Tech had six to Florida's eight and against 338 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,280 Miami they were 10 to 13. 339 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,500 But I think the bigger issue isn't total blocks. 340 00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:56,120 But as soon as the ball hits your hands and comes down in front of you, you have no chance 341 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:57,600 to play defense either. 342 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,040 The rally ends there. 343 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,660 And so you're taking away a defensive opportunity if you're not sealing the net. 344 00:22:04,660 --> 00:22:10,640 The other thing that I couldn't tell was I couldn't pick up on a strategy that Georgia 345 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,680 Tech was trying to implement. 346 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,000 I didn't pick up a serving strategy. 347 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:21,540 I couldn't figure out if they were trying to overload or attack a certain player. 348 00:22:21,540 --> 00:22:24,160 It just looked like they were on the court playing. 349 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,160 I don't know if you had that same sense, but it looked the same in both matches I watched. 350 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:34,320 Yeah, I kind of felt like they were just playing their game and then reacting. 351 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,440 I think that's a good way to put it. 352 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,240 Reacting to what was happening instead of imposing their game plan on the other team. 353 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:48,600 But it was also so confusing because their position six defender kept coming up almost 354 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,480 in line with the libero and the back row setter on defense. 355 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:59,600 And the number of balls I saw land behind her was staggering. 356 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:06,400 As position six, in my opinion, if somebody is going to hit the ball straight down, i.e. 357 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:12,440 where these defenders were playing, that's on the block or it's on the serve. 358 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,440 Free ball, too many options available. 359 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:20,800 As a position six defender, I think the job is to get the touches off the block, to get 360 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,760 the balls that are being driven deep around the block. 361 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,200 I think being that shallow, you're doing absolutely nothing. 362 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:33,720 And as I saw attack after attack, get like sometimes a decent touch and go high out the 363 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:40,400 back line or be hit with force behind these players, I was like, why are they positioned 364 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:41,400 there? 365 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Do you think that was undisciplined play game plan or trying to compensate for the poor 366 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:49,920 block we spoke about earlier? 367 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,040 Well, I saw it in both matches that we watched. 368 00:23:54,040 --> 00:24:00,040 So I don't want to say it might just be their tendency and how they play defense, but I 369 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:05,160 can't as a coach, I don't understand how you don't correct that. 370 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:10,360 So if it's not being corrected, that leads me to believe that that is what the coaching 371 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:15,400 staff wants from their position six defender or it was a game plan. 372 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:19,760 But I can't see them having the same game plan against both teams because that is a 373 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,040 very strange position. 374 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:23,640 I would agree with that. 375 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:31,240 Overall, for a number 15 ranked team, I was underwhelmed and quite frankly, unimpressed. 376 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:32,240 I would agree. 377 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,880 I think the number 15 ranking is probably a little high. 378 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,720 They're consistent with their hitters, but there were nothing spectacular. 379 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,640 And I'm assuming they're going to drop given that I believe they'll lose their last four 380 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,680 matches before the tournament starts. 381 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,000 Again, I've been pretty critical of Minnesota and their ranking. 382 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,440 Georgia Tech is currently ranked higher than Minnesota, but I think the team that we saw 383 00:24:54,440 --> 00:25:00,120 play this weekend in Georgia Tech would not stand up against Minnesota right now. 384 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:01,120 Agreed. 385 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:06,600 Now the time that everybody has been looking forward to, and I'm just going to say, I called 386 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:12,120 it Nebraska three zero against Wisconsin, but let's get into it. 387 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:13,520 Let me hear your thoughts. 388 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,020 And I know you have a lot to say. 389 00:25:15,020 --> 00:25:23,400 I'm going to start this segment out with like an apology pre warning buckle up, ladies and 390 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,240 gentlemen, because it's about to be a bumpy ride. 391 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,560 And I was watching this match and I was so frustrated. 392 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,740 I have got a lot of thoughts. 393 00:25:31,740 --> 00:25:33,360 You might not like all my thoughts. 394 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:35,160 You might not agree with all my thoughts. 395 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,000 So that is why I'm giving you this pre warning slash apology. 396 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,280 Okay, let me let me start. 397 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:47,680 I'll tell you a few things that I think and then you can you can finish with your thoughts. 398 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,380 Nebraska is just a better team than Wisconsin flat out. 399 00:25:51,380 --> 00:25:56,420 What I like about them as a team is a they have a balanced offense. 400 00:25:56,420 --> 00:25:59,060 They don't rely on one person. 401 00:25:59,060 --> 00:26:03,120 They are able to do that because they pass so well. 402 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:06,500 They put Wisconsin in trouble from the baseline. 403 00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:09,640 And this to me was is the most evident. 404 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:10,940 They had a game plan. 405 00:26:10,940 --> 00:26:14,260 They executed that game plan flawlessly. 406 00:26:14,260 --> 00:26:15,720 And it was incredibly effective. 407 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,780 I said this about Georgia Tech and I will say it about Wisconsin. 408 00:26:18,780 --> 00:26:21,760 I had no idea what Wisconsin was trying to do. 409 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:27,100 But it was clearly evident what Nebraska came to do against Wisconsin. 410 00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:28,220 And they executed. 411 00:26:28,220 --> 00:26:30,480 They went after the young libero. 412 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,960 Once she passed a couple good balls, they got off of her. 413 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,100 They served the front court left side. 414 00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:38,960 Then they jammed up the middle from the service line. 415 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,820 I thought they were brilliant. 416 00:26:40,820 --> 00:26:44,940 They never let Wisconsin get into any kind of rhythm. 417 00:26:44,940 --> 00:26:45,940 Let me clear my throat. 418 00:26:45,940 --> 00:26:46,940 Here we go. 419 00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:49,940 Are you shocked that I agree with everything you said? 420 00:26:49,940 --> 00:26:56,300 No, I mean anybody who was watching who has played volleyball at a high level, I think 421 00:26:56,300 --> 00:26:58,020 would be able to see the same thing. 422 00:26:58,020 --> 00:27:03,940 I thought Wisconsin was worse this outing against Nebraska than they were a couple weeks 423 00:27:03,940 --> 00:27:04,940 ago. 424 00:27:04,940 --> 00:27:10,780 The last time these two teams played, I understood and could pick up immediately what each 425 00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:12,540 team was trying to do. 426 00:27:12,540 --> 00:27:16,540 I also could pick up what Nebraska was trying to do this time around. 427 00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:20,820 I had no clue what Wisconsin's plan was. 428 00:27:20,820 --> 00:27:22,160 Absolutely none. 429 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:27,460 They started out serving zone one, which they did last time. 430 00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:29,860 Fair, which we spoke about. 431 00:27:29,860 --> 00:27:33,100 They serve zone one because they're so preoccupied with Andy Jackson. 432 00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:35,980 They don't want her to get set and make Bergen Riley spin around. 433 00:27:35,980 --> 00:27:36,980 Fair. 434 00:27:36,980 --> 00:27:39,660 But as a match progressed and don't get me wrong. 435 00:27:39,660 --> 00:27:41,820 Andy Jackson did not have a good offensive match. 436 00:27:41,820 --> 00:27:43,220 What were her numbers? 437 00:27:43,220 --> 00:27:48,860 She hit 0 67 15 swings, seven kills, six errors. 438 00:27:48,860 --> 00:27:54,940 So if their game plan was to neutralize her, you succeeded at that piece. 439 00:27:54,940 --> 00:28:00,500 That might be the only piece because as the game progressed, the serves started going 440 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:04,840 to zone six and Lexi Rodriguez was passing in zone six. 441 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:10,180 So not only are you serving an incredible serve receiver, she's right in front of Bergen 442 00:28:10,180 --> 00:28:11,180 Riley. 443 00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:12,240 Perfect view. 444 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:18,100 So the setter can keep an eye on every single attack option and see where the pass is coming. 445 00:28:18,100 --> 00:28:19,100 Piece of cake. 446 00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:20,380 Volleyball basics. 447 00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:24,760 And not only were they serving her, they were serving her in the middle third of the court. 448 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,240 She didn't have to move short. 449 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,140 She didn't have to open up and push the ball to the net. 450 00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:33,140 She literally could have eaten an ice cream cone and pass those balls. 451 00:28:33,140 --> 00:28:38,860 I will say Charlie Furbringer had a couple cross court serves to the zone one sideline 452 00:28:38,860 --> 00:28:40,540 that were very effective. 453 00:28:40,540 --> 00:28:44,020 She got a couple aces that way, but that was the exception. 454 00:28:44,020 --> 00:28:46,300 Okay, since we're on serving. 455 00:28:46,300 --> 00:28:47,940 Oh boy. 456 00:28:47,940 --> 00:28:53,900 Not only do you have your DS that is missing a ton of serves, your current libero Sage 457 00:28:53,900 --> 00:28:56,340 Damro is missing a ton of serves. 458 00:28:56,340 --> 00:28:57,340 She is playing good defense. 459 00:28:57,340 --> 00:28:58,340 I will give her that. 460 00:28:58,340 --> 00:29:04,380 I do think that she is playing well defensively, but passing is an issue. 461 00:29:04,380 --> 00:29:07,460 Sarah Franklin is passing three quarters of the court. 462 00:29:07,460 --> 00:29:15,300 When your go to hitter is diving on the ground to make your libero not have to pass, that's 463 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:16,660 a head scratcher. 464 00:29:16,660 --> 00:29:22,860 And then on top of that, you're bringing in yet another DS who is hidden in serve receive. 465 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:27,620 They do not let this girl even pass and then she's not really digging anything either. 466 00:29:27,620 --> 00:29:32,820 So my question is you're telling me that you just do what you do. 467 00:29:32,820 --> 00:29:34,360 This is what we do. 468 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:35,780 This is how we're going to operate. 469 00:29:35,780 --> 00:29:39,500 I'm going to make these subs even if they make no sense. 470 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:40,860 These subs make no sense. 471 00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:45,940 You're serving sub missing serves your defensive specialist isn't digging balls and she's not 472 00:29:45,940 --> 00:29:51,660 passing and your libero your main attackers taking balls poaching balls from her to please 473 00:29:51,660 --> 00:29:52,980 don't serve her again. 474 00:29:52,980 --> 00:29:53,980 Why are you? 475 00:29:53,980 --> 00:29:55,020 Why do you continue to do this? 476 00:29:55,020 --> 00:29:56,260 Like let's be flexible. 477 00:29:56,260 --> 00:29:57,260 Let's be adaptable. 478 00:29:57,260 --> 00:30:01,780 You're trying to tell me there is not one person on your entire bench, even a potential 479 00:30:01,780 --> 00:30:07,420 left side that could go in and serve a ball in that could go in and maybe make a dig. 480 00:30:07,420 --> 00:30:08,660 I'm clearly passionate. 481 00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:10,360 I think you can hear it in my voice. 482 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,380 Like this makes absolutely no sense to me. 483 00:30:13,380 --> 00:30:17,580 You're just doing things because it's how you do it and you're not changing. 484 00:30:17,580 --> 00:30:23,180 Well, and in fairness to Wisconsin, I believe there are two starting liberos are injured. 485 00:30:23,180 --> 00:30:24,980 So they've had some injury trouble. 486 00:30:24,980 --> 00:30:29,300 I mean something I thought about is Orzel played libero. 487 00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:31,140 Why not move her? 488 00:30:31,140 --> 00:30:33,820 Clearly your issue is passing and ball control. 489 00:30:33,820 --> 00:30:38,260 Move her back to libero that will alleviate some of the pressure on Sarah Franklin. 490 00:30:38,260 --> 00:30:41,980 It will allow her to focus on being able to attack. 491 00:30:41,980 --> 00:30:49,060 You can't tell me one of the other six foot something flying athletes you have on the 492 00:30:49,060 --> 00:30:51,780 bench can't go in and score some points for you. 493 00:30:51,780 --> 00:30:56,940 I mean if you have Orzel and Sarah Franklin passing in the back row, that other passer 494 00:30:56,940 --> 00:30:58,540 needs to pass a sliver. 495 00:30:58,540 --> 00:30:59,780 Pass the balls at you. 496 00:30:59,780 --> 00:31:02,220 Go hit, get some experience. 497 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:06,260 This just isn't working and I'm shocked that there wasn't at least something different 498 00:31:06,260 --> 00:31:10,780 tried, especially after you didn't really play that well against Minnesota either. 499 00:31:10,780 --> 00:31:13,740 You have a massive roster. 500 00:31:13,740 --> 00:31:20,380 Let's do some problem solving and find a way to make it happen because this like DS like 501 00:31:20,380 --> 00:31:23,860 turnstile we have going on here, it's not working. 502 00:31:23,860 --> 00:31:26,540 I understand Lola Schumacher is out with a concussion. 503 00:31:26,540 --> 00:31:33,420 I understand that Guchtiken is also injured in some capacity, but like the core of your 504 00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:35,460 team is healthy. 505 00:31:35,460 --> 00:31:37,860 Is healthy and it's not like I'm sorry. 506 00:31:37,860 --> 00:31:40,260 It's not like Sarah Franklin is injured. 507 00:31:40,260 --> 00:31:44,420 It's not like we're talking about your main score is out. 508 00:31:44,420 --> 00:31:45,420 No. 509 00:31:45,420 --> 00:31:52,220 I know in a DS and quite frankly in last few weeks we have said that we don't think Lola 510 00:31:52,220 --> 00:31:54,300 Schumacher is it either. 511 00:31:54,300 --> 00:31:55,300 So yeah. 512 00:31:55,300 --> 00:31:58,260 Well, you have great middles on that team. 513 00:31:58,260 --> 00:32:02,940 Carter Booth could be an absolute weapon for you and actually I thought she was their best 514 00:32:02,940 --> 00:32:10,420 player against Nebraska going 545 on 11 swings, but you don't pass particularly well so you 515 00:32:10,420 --> 00:32:16,460 can't get her the ball and you have a first year setter who is playing in big matches, 516 00:32:16,460 --> 00:32:22,220 figuring out how to be an NCAA athlete in the big 10 on the biggest stage, help the 517 00:32:22,220 --> 00:32:23,300 girl out. 518 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:25,800 They pass so many balls at the attack line. 519 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,940 You need to shore up your passing so that Furbringer has the chance to actually run 520 00:32:29,940 --> 00:32:34,180 an offense, get the middles involved and then you might have a chance, but until you do 521 00:32:34,180 --> 00:32:36,740 that you're going to lose to good teams period. 522 00:32:36,740 --> 00:32:37,740 Well, C.C. 523 00:32:37,740 --> 00:32:39,700 Crawford barely got set at all. 524 00:32:39,700 --> 00:32:40,700 Five sets. 525 00:32:40,700 --> 00:32:41,700 Five sets. 526 00:32:41,700 --> 00:32:46,020 You have a middle that's hitting 545 or whatever you just said and I'm sorry, but there were 527 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:48,900 more opportunities to set her than she did. 528 00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:52,580 I personally, I thought Carter Booth was great. 529 00:32:52,580 --> 00:32:53,700 Feed her more. 530 00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:54,700 Feed C.C. 531 00:32:54,700 --> 00:32:55,700 Crawford more. 532 00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:56,700 100%. 533 00:32:56,700 --> 00:32:59,940 Well, Devin Robinson went zero on 12 swings, three kills, three errors. 534 00:32:59,940 --> 00:33:02,460 So you have to get Crawford involved in the game. 535 00:33:02,460 --> 00:33:08,260 I do think watching that Furbringer was setting the pins too tight. 536 00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:13,780 There were a lot of sets that were trailing towards the net that she completely trapped 537 00:33:13,780 --> 00:33:17,940 her outsides and I'm hearing the announcers being like they need to be aggressive. 538 00:33:17,940 --> 00:33:18,940 They need to be aggressive. 539 00:33:18,940 --> 00:33:19,980 They couldn't. 540 00:33:19,980 --> 00:33:22,020 They could not be aggressive. 541 00:33:22,020 --> 00:33:29,100 When a set is trailing towards the net into the blockers hands, it is stupidity to be 542 00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:32,140 aggressive and to try to take a big swing on that. 543 00:33:32,140 --> 00:33:34,580 They were just trying to keep the ball in play. 544 00:33:34,580 --> 00:33:41,020 This is an observation that has no factual basis to it, but I think Sarah Franklin is 545 00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:44,340 really struggling to hit Furbringer sets. 546 00:33:44,340 --> 00:33:47,300 I think she is not finding a rhythm. 547 00:33:47,300 --> 00:33:51,680 I think there's a lack of trust of knowing where that ball is going to be. 548 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:56,020 It's better out of the back row, but in the front row, she looks tentative. 549 00:33:56,020 --> 00:34:00,300 She looks like she's slowing down her approach to try and find the ball and see where it's 550 00:34:00,300 --> 00:34:03,460 going and it's affecting her ability to attack. 551 00:34:03,460 --> 00:34:08,720 And like I said, it's not just Charlie setting because the passing is not great, but she 552 00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:10,100 looks hesitant. 553 00:34:10,100 --> 00:34:11,780 I understand what you're saying. 554 00:34:11,780 --> 00:34:16,540 Part of me is wondering if maybe she's tired and exhausted. 555 00:34:16,540 --> 00:34:22,940 Honestly, I think in the last few matches, Sarah Franklin is looking like a way worse 556 00:34:22,940 --> 00:34:24,720 player than she actually is. 557 00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:26,020 I think she's very good. 558 00:34:26,020 --> 00:34:29,820 I think she's being put in positions that are difficult to score. 559 00:34:29,820 --> 00:34:34,460 I think, yeah, I'm not saying that the trust thing and the uncertainty is not a factor. 560 00:34:34,460 --> 00:34:39,460 I think it definitely could be, but I think she has been put in this position with Wisconsin 561 00:34:39,460 --> 00:34:42,660 that she is expected to do everything. 562 00:34:42,660 --> 00:34:43,860 Well that I agree with. 563 00:34:43,860 --> 00:34:49,220 Your poaching passes from the libero so that you can run your offense. 564 00:34:49,220 --> 00:34:50,400 You're expected to do that. 565 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,300 You're expected to make digs. 566 00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:57,500 Nobody, if you think about having Orzel behind you as a libero, you just have so much more 567 00:34:57,500 --> 00:35:01,220 confidence because she's a great ball control player most of the time. 568 00:35:01,220 --> 00:35:03,540 You're asking so much of her. 569 00:35:03,540 --> 00:35:08,740 Not only is it like, hey, make sure to pass two thirds of the court because our libero 570 00:35:08,740 --> 00:35:14,340 is getting aced off the court, but then get up and be ready to hit this back row ball 571 00:35:14,340 --> 00:35:21,700 because I'm sorry if and when Charlie Furbringer was setting somebody else, as soon as they 572 00:35:21,700 --> 00:35:25,540 didn't score, the next ball immediately went to Franklin. 573 00:35:25,540 --> 00:35:28,140 You need to repeat hitters. 574 00:35:28,140 --> 00:35:30,340 If somebody makes a mistake, you need to go back to them. 575 00:35:30,340 --> 00:35:34,540 You can't just panic and then immediately be like, oh, the next one has to go to Sarah. 576 00:35:34,540 --> 00:35:37,600 And I don't know if that is like messaging from the coaching staff. 577 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:42,180 Like you need to get Sarah the ball if we don't score or if that's her and Sarah is 578 00:35:42,180 --> 00:35:46,980 like a security choice for her, which like, yeah, she should be absolutely. 579 00:35:46,980 --> 00:35:54,500 But like the weight of all the things Sarah Franklin has to do right now, I can see it. 580 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:59,340 And I would also say that pattern of going to Sarah after an error, good coaches will 581 00:35:59,340 --> 00:36:04,300 pick up on that and she'll have a double triple block on the next one. 582 00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:07,340 Yeah, you're just you're setting her up to fail right now. 583 00:36:07,340 --> 00:36:09,940 You know, we've talked about Carter Booth's performance, C.C. 584 00:36:09,940 --> 00:36:15,460 Crawford not getting set enough, Orzel and her, you know, back row ball control strengths. 585 00:36:15,460 --> 00:36:20,440 Franklin, I think, you know, the one person we haven't really mentioned is Anna Smrech. 586 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:25,960 I think that if you look at her statistics over the season, you her her hitting numbers 587 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:26,960 are impressive. 588 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:33,060 However, if you break those down into when she plays against really good blocking teams 589 00:36:33,060 --> 00:36:38,800 that are sizable, six, three, six, four, six, five, those numbers change drastically. 590 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,860 Or teams that have a solid game plan. 591 00:36:41,860 --> 00:36:42,860 Fair. 592 00:36:42,860 --> 00:36:47,380 She likes to hit that deep seam, which is generally very effective to her over top of 593 00:36:47,380 --> 00:36:52,380 the block with a lot of pace into the back corner when that shot is not available to 594 00:36:52,380 --> 00:36:57,180 her because it's going off the top of the block and they're getting recycled touches. 595 00:36:57,180 --> 00:37:02,080 She's not as comfortable going down the line or swinging sharp angle to make them block 596 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:03,140 move. 597 00:37:03,140 --> 00:37:07,380 She just tries to go harder and higher and it's not working for her. 598 00:37:07,380 --> 00:37:11,580 Well, we said this last time Nebraska and Wisconsin played in that it was very obvious 599 00:37:11,580 --> 00:37:15,460 that Sarah Franklin is the only person who can hit out of system balls. 600 00:37:15,460 --> 00:37:17,820 And a smrack is not an out of system hitter. 601 00:37:17,820 --> 00:37:19,840 She goes in at one speed. 602 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,140 She needs a very specific set. 603 00:37:23,140 --> 00:37:28,340 And you can talk about the setting, but the reality of it is for bringers of freshmen 604 00:37:28,340 --> 00:37:32,960 and as a senior hitter, you need to build that setter out sometimes in the past. 605 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:37,940 She's had experienced setters putting the ball in a very good place to allow her to 606 00:37:37,940 --> 00:37:40,200 be successful. 607 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:45,860 And now that you're a senior, it's your job to do the same thing for your freshmen setter. 608 00:37:45,860 --> 00:37:49,340 The ball is not always going to be perfect, but you need to find a way to be better than 609 00:37:49,340 --> 00:37:50,340 you currently are. 610 00:37:50,340 --> 00:37:52,280 If you want the team to have success. 611 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:57,820 I would argue not even as a senior, but as a good opposite hitter all over the world. 612 00:37:57,820 --> 00:38:01,860 The best opposites are the ones that get set the out of system balls. 613 00:38:01,860 --> 00:38:06,140 When the team's in trouble, they throw them the ball and that hitter has to clean up the 614 00:38:06,140 --> 00:38:07,300 mess. 615 00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:09,120 You can't do that with Anna Smrack. 616 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:14,940 She doesn't vary her attack enough and for whatever reason doesn't hit well enough angles 617 00:38:14,940 --> 00:38:16,640 to be able to be effective. 618 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:18,540 So is this overly critical? 619 00:38:18,540 --> 00:38:23,680 I'm sure I'm sure I'm going to hear some comments about it, but especially with their passing 620 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,020 issues that you're seeing now, it's tough. 621 00:38:27,020 --> 00:38:31,540 If we flip sides of the court and look at Nebraska, it was a really good team effort. 622 00:38:31,540 --> 00:38:36,340 They move the ball around incredibly effectively. 623 00:38:36,340 --> 00:38:39,920 Nobody got that many more sets than anybody else. 624 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:45,180 They passed well, they executed their defensive strategy, they put service pressure on. 625 00:38:45,180 --> 00:38:50,060 It was, it was a classic execution of a team game plan. 626 00:38:50,060 --> 00:38:56,260 I mean, as confused as I was watching Wisconsin side, it was very clear what Nebraska set 627 00:38:56,260 --> 00:39:02,400 out to do and to be able to see the execution of that plan was great. 628 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:08,220 You know, I think from an offensive perspective, when Anna Smrack was in the front row, it 629 00:39:08,220 --> 00:39:13,100 was very clear they were not setting the left side unless they were out of system. 630 00:39:13,100 --> 00:39:17,060 They were forcing the middle and right side when Smrack was in the front row. 631 00:39:17,060 --> 00:39:20,900 As soon as Furbringer got to the front row, they started pumping the balls out to the 632 00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:23,540 left side and it was effective. 633 00:39:23,540 --> 00:39:28,160 From a serving standpoint, they were testing Sage Damrow early. 634 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:32,740 They got a lot of points, a lot of bad passes off of her, but then as soon as she would 635 00:39:32,740 --> 00:39:37,720 nail a perfect pass, they would switch it up and go somewhere else. 636 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:41,100 They did not allow the libero to get into a rhythm. 637 00:39:41,100 --> 00:39:44,220 Meanwhile, they were in rhythm almost the entire match. 638 00:39:44,220 --> 00:39:50,500 I mean, there were times early, I think in set one, you know, we saw Riley running around 639 00:39:50,500 --> 00:39:52,380 a little more than usual. 640 00:39:52,380 --> 00:39:58,140 Well, Nebraska was up 2016 and then it was 21-19 and that was on the back of some passes. 641 00:39:58,140 --> 00:39:59,340 They were passing and setting trouble. 642 00:39:59,340 --> 00:40:04,100 Yeah, they had a little run there where things weren't as clean as usual. 643 00:40:04,100 --> 00:40:08,580 And I think also in that run, when Bergen Riley was forced to run around, I think her 644 00:40:08,580 --> 00:40:10,220 sets got a little inconsistent. 645 00:40:10,220 --> 00:40:13,820 She was pulling the ball off the net for both pins. 646 00:40:13,820 --> 00:40:20,260 But I think the big difference between the two is that Nebraska never disappears. 647 00:40:20,260 --> 00:40:26,340 You don't have stretches where the whole team is just gone. 648 00:40:26,340 --> 00:40:27,660 Like nobody's perfect. 649 00:40:27,660 --> 00:40:32,820 There everybody makes errors, but it happens to maybe one person and the rest of the team 650 00:40:32,820 --> 00:40:35,460 is there to cover their back. 651 00:40:35,460 --> 00:40:40,280 Wisconsin on the other hand, everybody would disappear sporadically. 652 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:46,340 You see Wisconsin try and get Andy Jackson out of rhythm and she doesn't play particularly 653 00:40:46,340 --> 00:40:47,340 well. 654 00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:53,980 But you see Rebecca Alec step up and go 10 for 12 and she holds the middle. 655 00:40:53,980 --> 00:40:59,740 In neutralizing one of their most dynamic players, somebody else steps up and you have 656 00:40:59,740 --> 00:41:00,740 other options. 657 00:41:00,740 --> 00:41:08,340 I mean, I was critical of Rebecca Alec when we started this podcast about her lack of 658 00:41:08,340 --> 00:41:13,000 connection with Bergen Riley and miss hitting a lot of balls. 659 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,700 And I would say for the first half of the season, that was the case. 660 00:41:16,700 --> 00:41:22,380 I have to give her credit and it is very clear that Nebraska has been working on that connection 661 00:41:22,380 --> 00:41:28,740 between Alec and Bergen Riley and Alec is a much bigger offensive threat now than she 662 00:41:28,740 --> 00:41:30,300 was earlier in the season. 663 00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:32,620 She's making really good contact. 664 00:41:32,620 --> 00:41:34,300 She's hitting good angles. 665 00:41:34,300 --> 00:41:39,260 The opposing middle blockers need to respect her now because she's putting pace on the 666 00:41:39,260 --> 00:41:41,420 ball and it's very hard to dig. 667 00:41:41,420 --> 00:41:47,460 So I have to give her credit and the Nebraska team credit for making that change. 668 00:41:47,460 --> 00:41:51,440 Another thing that has kind of developed is earlier in the season, Beeson was being taken 669 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,020 out for serving. 670 00:41:53,020 --> 00:41:55,860 She wasn't staying in all the time. 671 00:41:55,860 --> 00:41:58,820 Nebraska has a back row option at all times. 672 00:41:58,820 --> 00:42:03,680 Now when Beeson rotates to the back row, she's back there with the Barrow and a DS. 673 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:08,340 So she is serving and in that serve receive rotation, she's hitting back row. 674 00:42:08,340 --> 00:42:12,540 Harper Murray then enters the back row and Beeson is taken out and Harper Murray is hitting 675 00:42:12,540 --> 00:42:14,300 from the back row. 676 00:42:14,300 --> 00:42:19,860 Nebraska has made sure not only in their set distribution to be balanced, but in their 677 00:42:19,860 --> 00:42:23,340 available options to be balanced as well. 678 00:42:23,340 --> 00:42:28,700 So I can see the evolution of Nebraska over the last couple months and the things that 679 00:42:28,700 --> 00:42:33,300 they have implemented and improved upon and changed and I can tell what they've been focusing 680 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:34,300 on. 681 00:42:34,300 --> 00:42:37,420 I can't say the same for Wisconsin. 682 00:42:37,420 --> 00:42:41,820 I think that's a fair summary of that match and the season so far. 683 00:42:41,820 --> 00:42:47,340 I honestly think based on all of the volleyball that we've been watching, seeing the ebbs 684 00:42:47,340 --> 00:42:53,340 and flows, the positive and the negative moments, the momentum, etc. 685 00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:56,060 Nebraska and Pitt are on a collision course. 686 00:42:56,060 --> 00:43:04,780 I just don't think that there are any teams out there that are as good as those two. 687 00:43:04,780 --> 00:43:12,500 Both of them are complete teams with dynamic offenses where everybody is contributing. 688 00:43:12,500 --> 00:43:15,440 That is going to be a fun match if we get there. 689 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:22,180 By one last question for you is, if we see a Wisconsin-Penn State quarterfinal, where's 690 00:43:22,180 --> 00:43:23,180 your money? 691 00:43:23,180 --> 00:43:25,740 It's all going to come down to Wisconsin's passing. 692 00:43:25,740 --> 00:43:29,660 I think if Wisconsin can pass, they will win. 693 00:43:29,660 --> 00:43:32,380 I mean just throwing it out there, I'll say Wisconsin. 694 00:43:32,380 --> 00:43:34,440 I would say Wisconsin in five. 695 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,180 This was not the match that I was hoping it would be. 696 00:43:37,180 --> 00:43:42,220 I was hoping that we would have seen Wisconsin make some improvements from the last matchup, 697 00:43:42,220 --> 00:43:47,300 but it was nice to see Nebraska playing well. 698 00:43:47,300 --> 00:43:53,260 Do they have, like you said, they don't have any player that's standing out and just shining 699 00:43:53,260 --> 00:43:54,700 above the rest. 700 00:43:54,700 --> 00:44:01,740 The set distribution is even, the hitting numbers are respectable, nothing crazy. 701 00:44:01,740 --> 00:44:03,300 They're a well-oiled machine. 702 00:44:03,300 --> 00:44:07,100 They know what their responsibilities are and they execute and honestly, that's all 703 00:44:07,100 --> 00:44:08,100 you can ask. 704 00:44:08,100 --> 00:44:10,300 It has been a big week. 705 00:44:10,300 --> 00:44:16,580 A passionate week, clearly, if the last segment was any indication of how I feel. 706 00:44:16,580 --> 00:44:21,420 But I think we're going to have an even bigger week this coming week. 707 00:44:21,420 --> 00:44:26,500 I'm going to sit on the couch all day Wednesday getting ready to eat a really big meal on 708 00:44:26,500 --> 00:44:28,020 Thursday. 709 00:44:28,020 --> 00:44:31,460 But on Wednesday, we'll be watching the following matches. 710 00:44:31,460 --> 00:44:36,540 You've got Pitt Louisville, potentially for first place in the conference. 711 00:44:36,540 --> 00:44:42,340 You've got Stanford and Georgia Tech, who is fighting for their tournament spot. 712 00:44:42,340 --> 00:44:45,620 You've got SMU and Florida State. 713 00:44:45,620 --> 00:44:53,180 You've got Oregon and Purdue, BYU and Kansas, and Kentucky and Missouri. 714 00:44:53,180 --> 00:44:59,040 I mean, buy another TV, set it up, watch five volleyball matches. 715 00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:00,860 It's going to be a great day. 716 00:45:00,860 --> 00:45:02,220 Just hunker down. 717 00:45:02,220 --> 00:45:06,340 Don't make any plans for Wednesday because you already know what you're going to be doing. 718 00:45:06,340 --> 00:45:11,760 On Friday, Penn State is hosting Nebraska, which, as we mentioned before, will likely 719 00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:15,760 be the key match to determine the Big Ten champion. 720 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:20,680 And on Saturday, be sure to check out the ACC matches of Louisville versus Stanford 721 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:23,600 and Pitt versus Georgia Tech. 722 00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,060 That concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk. 723 00:45:26,060 --> 00:45:30,060 There's always something shaking in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this little 724 00:45:30,060 --> 00:45:31,140 fix. 725 00:45:31,140 --> 00:45:35,180 Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful if you'd 726 00:45:35,180 --> 00:45:37,300 leave us a five-star review. 727 00:45:37,300 --> 00:45:42,220 You can also find us on Instagram at VolleyTalk underscore podcast. 728 00:45:42,220 --> 00:45:46,300 If you have a topic that you want us to discuss, be sure to let us know by reaching out to 729 00:45:46,300 --> 00:45:50,500 us on Instagram or at info at SarahPavin.com. 730 00:45:50,500 --> 00:46:05,500 Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll be back next week.