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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in NCAA and international volleyball.

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I'm your host Sarah Pavin, I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball world champion, former Nebraska

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Cornhusker and longtime pro both indoor and on the beach.

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And I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international coach and the resident show

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stat guy.

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It was a week of surprises and shake ups, particularly in the NCAA women's world.

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So if you are one of the few people who probably didn't have your social feeds bombarded by

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the big news, buckle up because you're in for a shock here in a couple minutes, okay?

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I thought we were going to get away from the NCAA women's game this week with the transfer

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portal being closed and then there it is.

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We're back.

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In current league action, we have new teams atop the standings in both love and the PVF.

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Same teams at the bottom though, don't worry.

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And it was a very fun week for NCAA men's volleyball matchups.

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We are so excited to discuss it all with you.

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So let's get started.

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All right.

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In the news that shocked the volleyball community this week, Nebraska head coach John Cook announced

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his retirement, which created a sort of domino effect in a couple programs.

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So Danny Busboom Kelly will be taking over the head coaching job at Nebraska, which means

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Dan Meske, the former associate head coach at Louisville will be the new head coach of

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that program.

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And as we found out a couple weeks ago or recently, Jordan Larson is out.

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So before we talk about this seriously, do you think Dan Meske getting the head coaching

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job at Louisville?

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Do you think his social media game will be greater or less frequent now that he's a head

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coach?

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I really hope it's less frequent because I've never seen a coach post social media videos

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from their practice as much as he does.

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I hope it decreases.

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It's just a pet peeve of mine, but whatever.

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You played for Nebraska.

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You knew John well.

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You played with Danny.

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You played with Jordan.

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Your opinion.

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Everybody wants to hear your opinion.

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Everybody wants to know what you think and then, you know, maybe I'll put in my two cents

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at the end.

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I must admit I was caught off guard when I got the news that Coach Cook was retiring,

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particularly because he had signed his contract extension to 2028, like last spring summerish.

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I was surprised and I was trying to think like there's something else at play here.

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Like what is going on?

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And watching the press conferences, it's like, yeah, their second grandchild is expected

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in the family.

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A coach's life is unforgiving.

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They miss so, so much.

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And I can completely respect the fact that he wants to be there for his grandchildren

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in a way that he wasn't able to be for his children.

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I honestly think he expected to win a national championship with Lexi Rodriguez and I think

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when that didn't happen, it kind of had him questioning like, and again, I am speculating

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here.

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I do not know this a hundred percent, but when you are so certain that you're going

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to win with a particular athlete and you don't, then all of a sudden it's like, okay, well,

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she was outstanding and we didn't win.

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So how long am I going to keep going searching for this?

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Do you know what I mean?

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Like it could be never ending.

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Yeah.

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I was going to ask you if you think the window closing now, listen, Nebraska always has a

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chance to win, but if you look at their roster and what they had, if they were going to do

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it, it was going to be in these last couple of years.

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Now you have a little more uncertainty with other teams and how the conferences and the

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tournament looks.

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I was curious if that played a part in it.

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Well, especially because coming into this season, they had lost zero players.

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So they were primed to do it this past season.

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I think, you know, he is, if not 70, he's close to 70 years old already.

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Like at what point are you just going to live your life?

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Do you know what I mean?

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And ride off into the sunset.

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No pun intended.

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I think honestly I was surprised, but I'm happy for him because it's like at some point

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you need to move on.

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Every coach comes to that point in their career.

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When you coach, it's all you think about.

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It is all consuming.

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You can't do anything else well.

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You're always weighing the sacrifices of family, of being around, of doing that.

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Everybody comes to that tipping point in their life and sometimes it happens quickly.

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And for him, it was probably, he might've woken up one morning and just said, I want

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to be with my grandkid.

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That's it.

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I'm done.

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And it can happen that quickly.

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Like I don't want to put myself on this level at all, but it's like I can relate to that

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with my own recent retirement from playing.

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It's like I physically could have kept going.

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I physically was capable of still competing at a high level and I loved competing, but

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it's like you can't do it forever.

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And there comes a point in time where you have to look at yourself and be like, do I

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want to keep down this path or do I want to explore new options?

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So I can relate to the sort of decision-making of understanding like I am capable of doing

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this, but do I want to?

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And I feel like it's probably something similar.

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And I have a lot of respect for him for stepping away.

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He is the winningest coach of this century.

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He has created an incredible legacy at Nebraska and he continued the tradition that Terry

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Pettit started and built it into this global standard of what women's volleyball can be.

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And I think that what he has done for women's sport and women's volleyball in general is

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unparalleled.

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And so it's the end of an era and it's sad, but I also don't think they could have chosen

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anybody other than Danny to take over the program.

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So this was the other thing I was going to ask you is do you think having a successor

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in Danny who from Nebraska, loves Nebraska, played at Nebraska, great coach, you saw what

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she did with the Louisville program.

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For me personally, I think handing something that you've built to somebody else for your

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whole life is, it's almost intimate.

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You want to know that that is going to be in good hands, that it's going to continue.

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And I wonder, you saw a bunch of people come through that program, notably, you know, Tyler

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Hildebrand, who I thought was potentially going to be somebody who could run that program,

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their current assistant coach.

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And I wonder if John just wasn't comfortable or didn't feel good about where the program

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was going to be.

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I think Danny coming in and agreeing to do that probably eases his mind because I think

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she's a great choice.

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I don't think it could have been anybody else.

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And aside from Danny's success and pedigree, it would require somebody very special to

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walk into that program, even from a public facing perspective.

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Like expectations for the Nebraska volleyball program are high throughout the state, throughout

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the country.

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And I think to have somebody that is homegrown that they can trust, that the fans can trust

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to take that program, like it would not go well, I don't think if an unknown person kind

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of came in this part.

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Like Danny has history.

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She won a national championship for the school.

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I just feel like there's that inherent trust from the public in bringing her in and you

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might not like it, but that's a big part of it for Nebraska.

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So a couple things about Danny coming in from my perspective.

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One is, I think, technically, she's taken athletes at Louisville and made a competitive

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program.

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I think she's going to be able to do that at Nebraska.

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I'm very curious to see what she can do now that she can recruit the best athletes.

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And I'm not saying she couldn't get them at Louisville, but playing at Louisville and

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playing at Nebraska are two different things.

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I'm curious to see how she shapes her roster with maybe a little more choice of athlete.

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The one thing which I think is going to be curious to see how she handles is at Louisville,

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you were always the underdog.

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That program didn't-

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Didn't get to the end, in the ACC maybe not, but once you get to the final four fair.

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I'm talking about national championships.

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That's a different mentality than being the one that everybody's chasing.

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And how long does it take her to settle in?

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How does she handle that?

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Expectations are different.

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I think that's going to be the hardest part for her coming in is that kind of shift between

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chasing and being chased.

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And I'm curious to see how she handles that.

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Well, I'll also mention it's not just about coaching when you're the head coach in Nebraska,

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the media requirements, the public engagement.

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Like there is so much that goes into being a head coach at that program aside from what

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happens on the court.

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And it is a lot of work.

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Again, I don't think it could have been anybody else.

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I am so happy for her.

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I think she deserves it and like on a human level, I'm excited that her and her husband

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get to move back to Nebraska and be close to family.

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Like I think that's amazing.

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It's a new era.

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Quick take off the cuff here.

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Do you think Dani A wins more matches than Coach Cook by the end of her time at Nebraska?

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And do you think she wins more national championships?

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My instinct is no.

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It is getting harder and harder to win, particularly in the conference Nebraska is currently in.

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You know, she's young though.

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She's only like 39 going on 40.

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She could coach there for as long as she wants.

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So she's got a little more runway than Coach Cook did.

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That is a hard question.

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You don't just like casually become the most winningest coach in the century.

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You know what I mean?

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Like there's so many things that are at play.

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My instinct is no.

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Would I love her to do that?

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Absolutely.

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But that's tough.

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Okay.

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And the final piece around this is Jordan Larson out as the assistant coach at Nebraska.

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What are your thoughts around that?

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She must have known this was coming.

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Do you think it was Dani's decision or do you think it was Jordan's decision?

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I have my own personal thoughts about this.

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I don't know what Jordan is planning.

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So it's hard for me to answer that.

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What is your thought?

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Nobody in Nebraska is Jordan with her resume and her playing experience.

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I think for Dani coming in for the program to really be hers and for her to put her stamp

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on it, I think that's a really tough dynamic to manage because who do you who do you go

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to?

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They were teammates.

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Jordan is again one of the best U.S. players to have ever existed.

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If they don't agree on something, there's an interesting power dynamic there.

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Like they're the same age pretty much.

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I think it's a really hard dynamic for Dani to navigate if they disagree.

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And so that had me thinking, you know, did Jordan just step away and say, I'm not interested

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if Coach Cook is there?

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I would be curious what the conversation and what the dynamic around that was.

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But it would be tough to constantly navigate that I feel if I'm looking at this from Dani's

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perspective.

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I think that's a fair argument, but we'll never know.

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Or maybe we will.

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Who knows?

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We'll find out someday.

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But was anybody else getting some fishy vibes last weekend watching like Love Omaha and

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things like that?

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When Dani was in the stands, I immediately had my radar up and I was like, wait, there's

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a reason she's here.

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Did I think that the retirement announcement would come like four days later?

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Absolutely not.

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But seeing her in Omaha, I'm like, wait a minute, signing that contract, something's

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going on.

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But honestly, as somebody who played a small part in what became an incredible legacy for

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Coach Cook, I am very thankful and grateful for the opportunities that he gave me as a

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young student athlete, especially in the formative years of my career.

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Nebraska changed my life.

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And so I'm so thankful for the opportunities he gave me.

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And you know, as a former teammate of Dani, I'm so excited for her and I cannot wait to

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see what she does with this program because she's amazing.

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Hopefully now that everybody's heart rates recovered from that big news this week, let's

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get into what has been happening around the volleyball world.

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So in NCAA men's volleyball, Loyola Chicago beat Pepperdine and UCSD this week, both in

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five sets.

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Hawaii and BYU had a back to back series.

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Hawaii took both of those matches.

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They won in five and four.

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Pretty solid because that was a four or five matchup.

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So very nice by Hawaii.

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UC Irvine and Stanford also had a back to back series and UC Irvine swept both of those.

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We actually watched those matches.

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UC Irvine is good.

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Yeah, UC Irvine was a lot of fun to watch.

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They have two former national players of the year on that team.

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One's a transfer.

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But in the first game, they were clicking on all cylinders.

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They looked really good.

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In the middle, too, were outstanding.

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Middles were good.

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They've got they're a big team.

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In the second match, their French left side, who's also a lefty, Hanno, he seemed like

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00:14:34,940 --> 00:14:36,440
he was unhappy with his teammates.

242
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,280
They were still on the first match, too.

243
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Let's not get ourselves.

244
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,360
Well, unless the set was absolutely perfect.

245
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,040
He was storming around the court.

246
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,040
Yeah.

247
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,220
And that was an interesting dynamic to watch.

248
00:14:46,220 --> 00:14:49,480
And his teammates looked maybe a little more frustrated with him in the second match than

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00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:51,160
in the first match.

250
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:52,960
They ended up figuring it out.

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00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,760
And at the end of the day, they're just bigger and more physical and more experienced than

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Stanford.

253
00:14:58,760 --> 00:14:59,760
Yeah.

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00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,560
My concern, and as we get deeper into this, we've only watched them play once, but their

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00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,880
setter I think is readable.

256
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:13,160
And even Stanford, and I say even, they're still a top 10 team.

257
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,880
They always generally knew where the ball was going.

258
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,560
They run a super high ball to their right side.

259
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:24,080
I'm curious how they fare when they play some other big teams that have good blocks and

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00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:25,360
are disciplined.

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00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,200
They play USC and UCLA coming up in February.

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That's going to be a real test to see if their offense, namely their setter, can isolate

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00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:39,760
some of their hitters and get them going because their outside hitters are very good, but it's

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00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,960
hard to hit against the double and triple block all the time.

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00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:49,040
Well, Flex in their right side hit like 500 in the first match, and then they held him

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00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,760
to really low numbers in the second match.

267
00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,760
So maybe they weren't passing as well.

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00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,960
When they were running that middle, that was outstanding.

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Yeah, they definitely-

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00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:00,720
So good.

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00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,120
They need to run that middle because they set that ball to the outside so high.

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00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,360
And I mean, the hitters are 6'8 and 6'9.

273
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,100
Yes, of course it needs to be high, but come on.

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00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:16,280
You can run a high set that still has tempo and stresses the block defense, and that wasn't

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00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:17,280
happening.

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00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,240
So we will see if that offense changes or how that looks.

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00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,960
And don't get me wrong, their hitters could go off and score against the three-man block

278
00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,360
for a whole match, but is that the most efficient or easy way to win?

279
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:30,360
No.

280
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,720
So let's see what happens when they play against higher level of competition.

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I just didn't like how different the vibe was from one night to the other.

282
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,840
Night one, they were dominant.

283
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,400
And then night two, it just didn't look as crisp.

284
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:50,760
So I'm excited to see them play again, but that was a series that I was really excited

285
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:51,760
about.

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00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:57,380
USC and UCLA both went 2-0 in Columbus this weekend.

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They both beat Penn State and Ohio State.

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00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,740
We'll be talking about one of those matches here shortly, but I think that was a really

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00:17:04,740 --> 00:17:09,280
cool tournament with all the big 10 teams.

290
00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:14,640
So in NCAA men's volleyball, we still have five undefeated teams.

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00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:20,640
Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Hawaii, USC, and Loyola Chicago are the only undefeateds

292
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:21,640
left.

293
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,600
How long is this going to last?

294
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:28,360
We didn't really have any movement in the rankings this past week, like tiny moves here

295
00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:31,760
and there by one spot, but the top five stayed consistent.

296
00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:37,360
Long Beach State is still number one, followed by UC Irvine and UCLA.

297
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:43,760
So yeah, we'll see what this week has in store, but this was a very jam packed week with big

298
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:44,760
matchups.

299
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,200
So it was fun to see.

300
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:51,740
Looking at Love, the head to head match, Houston beat Madison 3-0.

301
00:17:51,740 --> 00:17:57,120
In the weekend matchups, Atlanta beat both Salt Lake 3-0 and then went on to beat Omaha

302
00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:58,120
3-1.

303
00:17:58,120 --> 00:17:59,980
So it was a good weekend for Atlanta.

304
00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:03,240
And then Salt Lake City beat Austin 3-2.

305
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:07,340
If we look at the league standings, Atlanta now takes over the number one spot, followed

306
00:18:07,340 --> 00:18:13,960
by Omaha, Houston, Salt Lake, Austin, and a bit of a head scratcher, Madison still in

307
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,200
last place.

308
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:21,520
I'm still not okay with the fact that the team that I thought would be worse, Atlanta,

309
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:22,520
is winning.

310
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,800
You know, you just needed to switch your predictions, Atlanta and Madison, just flip flop them.

311
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:27,800
Like literally flip flop.

312
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:28,800
I don't know.

313
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:34,580
I'm just getting kind of, I don't want to say annoyed, but like with so few teams in

314
00:18:34,580 --> 00:18:39,680
Love and how they structure their weekends, I feel like I'm literally watching the same

315
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,200
teams play each other every day.

316
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,160
It almost feels like friendlies to me.

317
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,960
And it was interesting, we found something out this week that we've been talking about

318
00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,520
where the teams were organized ahead of time.

319
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,240
The players didn't necessarily know which teams they were going to.

320
00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,320
So it was a group consensus as to what it would look like.

321
00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:07,760
I don't know if that's going to continue moving forward, but that to me has a scripted feel.

322
00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:14,120
It seems like a showcase to me, like a volleyball showcase as opposed to like, let's create

323
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:17,040
a strong team to win a league title.

324
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,120
Like they just seem like, let's just show good volleyball.

325
00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:22,720
Do you know what it felt like to me?

326
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,400
The analogy that I thought of was it's like professional wrestling.

327
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,260
There's a script and a story and you're putting on a show.

328
00:19:30,260 --> 00:19:34,680
And obviously the athletes are competing on the court and they're trying to win each match,

329
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,960
but it just, it lacks.

330
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,360
I want to see a GM make great moves and be rewarded.

331
00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:45,280
I want to see somebody be in the basement and there to be a reason for that, not a rejigging

332
00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,440
so the league has parody.

333
00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:51,800
I want to see some of those rivalries and I just, they're not developing for me.

334
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:53,640
The volleyball is good.

335
00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:59,200
The athletes are out there playing, no complaints, but there's no storylines.

336
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,920
There's no rivalries that I can feel.

337
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:07,680
Well somebody submitted a question that was, do you think it matters who wins or loses

338
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,200
the inaugural season of love?

339
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,200
Or do you think it's more about storytelling?

340
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,200
It's storytelling.

341
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:19,280
I hate to say it, but I don't think love cares who wins or loses, especially because one

342
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,520
company owns every single team.

343
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:27,400
Like there's no vested interest, you know, in the same way there is with like a franchise

344
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:28,400
model.

345
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,120
So yeah, they love the story.

346
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,680
Like look what we're doing for women's sport.

347
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:37,160
Look at the pathway we're creating, which we have said this before is great.

348
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:38,160
We love that.

349
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,560
But when you get to the pro level, like it's about winning.

350
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:42,560
Okay.

351
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:43,560
I hate to say it.

352
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:44,940
Professional sports is about winning.

353
00:20:44,940 --> 00:20:49,680
It just feels like, you know, the other piece of it, who's playing for a contract?

354
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,200
Did you sign a six year contract?

355
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,200
Well, no.

356
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:53,200
Okay.

357
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,880
We also got some Intel, some listeners did some detective work.

358
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:56,880
Thank you very much.

359
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:58,360
I'm going to send me some messages.

360
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,080
So apparently the salaries for love started at 60,000.

361
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:03,080
Okay.

362
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,040
So lower than PVF, which started at 65.

363
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,080
And then there were some that were like higher.

364
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,520
Obviously, I'm assuming the founding athletes are making way more than that, but salaries

365
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:17,360
started at 60 grand and players signed either two or one year contracts.

366
00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:23,560
Well, the other thing for me too, is if you want to start attracting international athletes,

367
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,160
how are you going to sell them on?

368
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,600
Hey, just sign to love and we'll put you somewhere.

369
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,600
Yeah, right?

370
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,280
Like I want to know who am I competing with?

371
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:32,280
Who is my coach?

372
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,280
Can I win?

373
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:34,360
What is my chance of winning?

374
00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:36,560
And what are my bonuses for winning?

375
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:37,560
Please and thank you.

376
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,480
Like I'm not just going to be like, yeah, just put my name in this pool.

377
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:41,680
I'll, you know what?

378
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:42,680
Salt Lake City?

379
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:43,680
Great.

380
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:44,680
I'll live there.

381
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:45,680
Omaha?

382
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:46,680
Sure.

383
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,480
Like no, tell me where I'm living, who I'm playing with, who's coaching me and what are

384
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,640
our realistic opportunities to win here.

385
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,920
Well, and we talked about this last week in terms of Lexi Rodriguez being behind Justine

386
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,640
and I'm not sure she had a choice.

387
00:21:58,640 --> 00:21:59,640
I'm curious.

388
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,720
Would she have gone there if it was up to her or is it just a great story?

389
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,600
She just like was like, okay, I'm in this pool and put me where you want because her

390
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:14,960
training against Justine in Omaha, like that's a good story, but is she okay being on the

391
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,600
bench all season?

392
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,660
Like it's, it's really interesting.

393
00:22:18,660 --> 00:22:21,400
And again, I'm not saying it's right or wrong.

394
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:22,400
It's different.

395
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:29,040
They're trying to do something, but it's has lacked that rivalry to me watching the matches.

396
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,680
And with so many matches in the same weekend, it's just like, I'm sick of seeing the same

397
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:34,560
matchups over and over and over again.

398
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:35,560
Yeah, fair.

399
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:36,560
Okay.

400
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,560
I'll get off my soapbox now.

401
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:38,560
Let's move on to PVF.

402
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:39,560
All right.

403
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:45,040
If we look at PVF this week, Indie Ignite got reverse swept by Vegas for their second

404
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,740
straight loss, boosting Vegas to the top of the standings and Indies dropped to fourth.

405
00:22:49,740 --> 00:22:51,160
So we're seeing some movement there.

406
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:56,920
Omaha and Atlanta continue to take care of business and then Grand Rapids beat Orlando

407
00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:01,520
in five and Columbus is still struggling to get in the win column.

408
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:07,720
So like I said, Madison and Columbus, the same bottom teams were staying consistent

409
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:08,720
there.

410
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,880
Vegas jumped from like fifth to first.

411
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:12,560
Yeah, it was crazy.

412
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,560
Vegas came out of nowhere and finished that reverse sweep.

413
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,720
They've had some interesting matches, but here we are.

414
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,600
Cameron Hanna played well.

415
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:22,600
She did.

416
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:23,600
You're seeing more.

417
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:24,600
We will get into this.

418
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,360
Adam has done some serious work this week, everybody.

419
00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:29,600
So we'll get into this more later.

420
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,560
But the rookies in PVF, you're starting to see more and more of them play big roles on

421
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:35,560
their teams.

422
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,440
Cameron Hanna played really well for Vegas, I thought.

423
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:41,340
Charity Looper was on the court.

424
00:23:41,340 --> 00:23:44,880
There was several rookies, but man, that game was...

425
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:45,880
Undescribable.

426
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,760
Literally, we watched Indie play a couple of times now and it's like, you start great

427
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,120
and then you get really bad.

428
00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:53,480
They cannot finish.

429
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,020
Their warmup protocols are great.

430
00:23:55,020 --> 00:24:00,200
They come out of the gate flying, but they cannot settle in and put a match away.

431
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,480
And the only time that Teeler scores is when they run a combo play.

432
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,240
I don't think I've seen her score from the pin.

433
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:07,240
I don't even know.

434
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,280
She scores on the combo plays though.

435
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:14,160
Well, the other thing about that too, and we talked about this, is Sydney Hilly is becoming

436
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,360
more and more predictable as the matches go on.

437
00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,820
So you see her being able to isolate her hitters early.

438
00:24:19,820 --> 00:24:22,040
Their scoring efficiency is higher.

439
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,640
They're cruising as a team.

440
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,400
And then it seems like she stops running the middle as the match goes on, just sets the

441
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,800
quote, unquote, hot hitter.

442
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,480
And the defenses adjust, the blocks adjust, and the hitters start to struggle and they

443
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:37,680
can't close out matches.

444
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,440
And I'm not saying it's all Sydney Hilly's fault, but that's two matches in a row where

445
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:47,320
I've kind of seen the same thing from a decision making and an offensive standpoint.

446
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:48,560
And they're going to have to figure that out.

447
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,720
We're clearly very passionate about what is going on in these leagues, everybody.

448
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,840
NCAA men's, we're cruising.

449
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:55,840
We're loving it.

450
00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:01,480
But the other ones, we've got a lot of question marks here, but it's fun to watch nonetheless.

451
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:06,360
Let us know what matches you watched, what your thoughts were, but overall a really fun

452
00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:07,360
week.

453
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:12,240
One of our feature matches of the week is going to be a PVF match and we're going to

454
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,040
do the Grand Rapids Rise versus the Orlando Valkyrie.

455
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:19,920
It was a Grand Rapids Rise victory in five.

456
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,640
It was a good game, a lot of fun actually.

457
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:27,800
They ended up winning the second, the fourth, and the fifth set.

458
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,360
And I'm curious what your thoughts were about that match.

459
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:33,360
Yes.

460
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:38,320
Um, the way Brittany Abercrombie was going off in set one, I was like, okay, this will

461
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:39,960
be over soon.

462
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:40,960
Unstoppable.

463
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,960
She had like 11 kills.

464
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,040
Every time she had touched the ball, she was scoring.

465
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:47,260
I was like, this is actually insane.

466
00:25:47,260 --> 00:25:50,400
Please stop her or make an adjustment or something.

467
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,400
But then she completely disappeared.

468
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:54,900
It was confusing.

469
00:25:54,900 --> 00:26:02,800
How do you go from scoring 11 kills in set one and then get six more in four sets?

470
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,480
Not only just six more points.

471
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,480
Like there was nothing else that happened.

472
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:07,480
Didn't do anything.

473
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:08,480
Didn't get a block.

474
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:09,480
Didn't get an ace.

475
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:10,480
Definitely didn't get a dig.

476
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:11,480
Let me tell you, wasn't digging anything.

477
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:12,480
Okay.

478
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,160
She ended up hitting 167 in that match.

479
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,160
How does that happen?

480
00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:22,320
How do you go from hitting like 900 to down to 167?

481
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:29,280
On the flip side of that, the left side for Grand Rapids also played very well in the

482
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:30,280
first set.

483
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,560
Erica Pritchard or Carly Snyder?

484
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,760
Erica Pritchard.

485
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:39,620
She was kind of going, I'm not going to say point for point because Abercrombie was unconscious,

486
00:26:39,620 --> 00:26:45,160
but she was the player in my opinion who kept them in the match and kept it close and gave

487
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:46,840
them a chance.

488
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,760
It was interesting to see and I thought that was going to be the matchup all game as to

489
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,600
who could score more.

490
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,160
But yeah, like you said, Abercrombie just kind of fell off the cliff.

491
00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,080
Abercrombie disappeared and Pritchard elevated.

492
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,840
I think she ended with 21 kills, hitting 340.

493
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,520
So if we looked at the match as a whole, in the first set it was really close.

494
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:15,960
Orlando was leading most of the way, almost gave it up at the end, pulled it out 26-24.

495
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,420
Grand Rapid Rise had a really good response.

496
00:27:18,420 --> 00:27:24,440
They contained Abercrombie and they ended up winning 25-15.

497
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:25,440
We saw another flip.

498
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,560
The second and third sets weren't great.

499
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,160
Third and fourth were just kind of blowouts.

500
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,600
Yeah, and so there was a bit of a lack of consistency.

501
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,920
It was one team's passing, the other team would go on a serving run.

502
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,240
It would be sets out to the antenna, good defense, transition.

503
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:47,640
There were a lot of long rallies in this match where Grand Rapid Rise from an eye test seemed

504
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,780
to come out on top of most of those and gain the momentum.

505
00:27:51,780 --> 00:27:57,040
But the fifth set was incredibly close and you saw, again, I thought we had a couple

506
00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,760
players from Grand Rapid Rise step up in that fifth set.

507
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:07,560
Overall you had Erica Pritcher hit 340 on the night, which was really good.

508
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,160
She had 50 swings.

509
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,400
Maren Grote also played pretty well.

510
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,400
She didn't get a ton of sets, but she was really efficient, hitting 538.

511
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,240
Nyah Shemay also played.

512
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:24,060
She didn't have the most amazing match, but she got 40 swings, scored 12 points.

513
00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:30,700
It seemed more of a team effort from the Rise than relying on one player and not seeing

514
00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:32,240
it happen for Orlando.

515
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:38,180
Yeah, you have three players on the Rise who had a significant amount of sets, but Snyder

516
00:28:38,180 --> 00:28:41,480
and Shemay hit under 200, both of them.

517
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:48,520
Whereas for Orlando, Abercrombie had 60 sets and then it was pretty evenly distributed

518
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:54,960
between four other players whose numbers were pretty good, aside from Adora and Nay who

519
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:55,960
hit zero.

520
00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,520
Well, and she also got the second most sets, so when you look at those two things, then

521
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,520
it's tough, right?

522
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:06,040
Fair, but when you're looking at Foster, 27 sets as a middle, that's pretty good.

523
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,560
Kaz Brown, 22 sets as a middle.

524
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:16,280
I appreciate what Orlando was trying to do and obviously if you are usually getting production

525
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,960
from your right side, you tend to expect it.

526
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,860
And so I think the fact that Abercrombie kind of disappeared really made them have to force

527
00:29:24,860 --> 00:29:30,520
the middle a lot more to try to get something going because their producer was not delivering.

528
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:36,160
But then Nay, who they also is usually their second kind of go-to player hitting zero,

529
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:37,400
that hurts as well.

530
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:43,260
So the fact that this match even went five, considering that Orlando's top two hitters

531
00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:47,480
just tanked is kind of shocking to me.

532
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:52,200
So then do you look at that and go, okay, if one of Orlando's outside hitters, given

533
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:58,760
they won the middle battle, if one of their outside hitters had played relatively well,

534
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,060
they would have won that match?

535
00:30:00,060 --> 00:30:02,720
Is that your instinct watching it?

536
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,640
Okay, I can't take away from Green Rapids.

537
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,100
They blocked very well, okay?

538
00:30:08,100 --> 00:30:12,200
And hearing the broadcast, like that tends to be one of their strengths.

539
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,160
We haven't really seen them play much.

540
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:18,160
So they 18 blocks for Ryze to Orlando's 11.

541
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,160
Okay, so I think that's a significant difference.

542
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,160
Absolutely.

543
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,440
So I think you can't take away from what the Ryze did.

544
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:32,200
Obviously, they identified that Abercrombie needed to be stopped after set one and clearly

545
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:37,680
focus their blocking attention on her 100%.

546
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,300
If she's the only one scoring, make that adjustment and it worked.

547
00:30:42,300 --> 00:30:46,680
You can see in the number of blocks they were getting, they actually started to dig a few

548
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:47,960
more balls in the first set.

549
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,960
I was like, your block defense is like on a different planet.

550
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:57,000
The fact that, and even like you say they won the middle battle Orlando, I think Maren

551
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,920
Grote played very well.

552
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:05,760
Even though she only got 13 sets compared to the other middles, 20 plus, almost 30.

553
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:11,800
I didn't think that the middles for Orlando were, I didn't notice them.

554
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,880
Like I'm surprised to see that they got that many sets.

555
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:15,880
You know what I mean?

556
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,200
Yeah, I thought Maren was great away from the ball.

557
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,640
I thought she was a linchpin for their block defense.

558
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,320
She got a ton of touches.

559
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:28,360
She to me is a player who does things that don't necessarily show up on the score sheet.

560
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:34,640
And I thought she was noticeable just from a block touch, be an option, hold the other

561
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,520
middle and you know those things you don't always see.

562
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:43,280
But looking at some of the numbers, RISE kind of won all of the categories.

563
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,400
6-3 in aces for the RISE.

564
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:54,220
If we look at the attack efficiency, RISE hit 259 to Orlando's 194.

565
00:31:54,220 --> 00:31:56,680
As I said before, they outblock them 18-11.

566
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,060
They out dug them 84-75.

567
00:31:59,060 --> 00:32:04,560
And while those aren't necessarily huge statistical leadings, you're winning in all of

568
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,400
the categories.

569
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:11,080
And we had some blowouts and players, you know, some of these numbers are inflated because

570
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,840
you have a bad set or you have a great set.

571
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,120
But overall, I think they were a little more consistent than Orlando was.

572
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:25,040
What I'm about to say is kind of a big difference for me between PVF and love right now is that

573
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,540
there's one person who kind of made a difference.

574
00:32:29,540 --> 00:32:35,920
If you look at the stats and you compare the like Erica Pritchard made the difference.

575
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:40,200
And it's not like her numbers were off the charts, like 340, that's a good night, but

576
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:43,600
it's not like an outside going up and hitting like 600 or something.

577
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:44,960
You know what I mean?

578
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:52,000
One player was able to elevate her team to take the win.

579
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,600
Carly Snyder didn't attack particularly well.

580
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:56,840
Nia Chame didn't attack particularly well.

581
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,280
They didn't run their middles a ton on the other side.

582
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:05,200
Abercrombie got a set a ton of balls, didn't score that many.

583
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:11,280
Anae same thing, the middles they were producing okay, but like it literally was like pretty

584
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,440
even across the board.

585
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,320
Like if you're looking at the outsides from both sides, the middles from both sides, pretty

586
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:18,320
even playing field.

587
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:22,120
It literally took one player to push the difference.

588
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:24,440
And I don't think you're seeing that in love.

589
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,160
In love you're seeing obviously players have good games, but you're seeing more than one

590
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,520
player needing to step up.

591
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,120
Yeah, and you're seeing more lapses.

592
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,520
We saw a lot of runs in that match.

593
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,680
So for example, in the four sets, Snyder went on a 7-0 serving run.

594
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,040
Like that can't happen.

595
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:48,200
And the crazy thing too, I was pulling my hair out at this watching that game.

596
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:53,560
Grand Rapids could not set a transition ball to save their lives.

597
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,760
Well, it's interesting that you brought that up.

598
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,800
So their second contact was not very good, even though they got a bunch of good block

599
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,800
touches.

600
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:05,120
But on the flip side, Orlando didn't adjust their defensive position.

601
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:11,000
So when they would be out of system and have a terrible second contact, they would stay

602
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,720
packed into the court and then the grand rise hitters would hit into the back of the court.

603
00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:19,600
As soon as you see that ball off the net, the Orlando defense needed to take a step

604
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,800
back, protect the outside of the court, have the front court left side come in for the

605
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,480
tips and you would have had way more controlled touches.

606
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:33,420
When Orlando got them out of system or Grand Rapids just didn't execute for whatever reason,

607
00:34:33,420 --> 00:34:36,560
they didn't take advantage of those opportunities.

608
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:41,700
Grand Rapids was like either getting blocks or if they dug, they were almost sending a

609
00:34:41,700 --> 00:34:43,040
free ball over every time.

610
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:48,800
I was beside myself watching this transition setting.

611
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:53,180
You're professional athletes here and you're telling me that you cannot get a hittable

612
00:34:53,180 --> 00:34:56,880
ball up to your hitter after a dig.

613
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:01,720
I was shocked that they were managing to stay ahead in this match because I'm like this

614
00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:02,920
this is crazy.

615
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,800
Yeah, you they're going to have a week's worth of transition setting practice.

616
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:08,800
I hope so.

617
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:09,800
Has to be.

618
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:10,860
I hope so.

619
00:35:10,860 --> 00:35:16,320
Because on the flip side, if we talk about Orlando's outsides being able to score some

620
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:21,360
points to win that match, if Grand Rapids can hit some out of system balls effectively,

621
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,760
their block defense is giving them chances.

622
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,560
So you're you're making and you're doing all of the work to get the chance and you can't

623
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:32,840
execute on the one skill that allows you to transition that success into points.

624
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,600
And it'll be interesting to see if they can kind of figure that out.

625
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaking of setting, I was not a fan of either setter in that match.

626
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:47,360
I did appreciate August Rasky's offensive mindset.

627
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:53,440
She really pulled out some interesting swings at the right times, which also has to keep

628
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,000
the block defense honest.

629
00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,640
But as far as decision making and set location for these setters, I struggled.

630
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:07,040
Do you think that has anything to do with the ball control being inconsistent in this

631
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,520
match or just straight decision making?

632
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:14,440
I will have to watch them play more, but I don't I didn't like their location and some

633
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:15,440
of the decisions they made.

634
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:20,920
I was like what I wish I could understand what you were thinking.

635
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:25,080
So I think one of the things that we'll start to see and we'll get to this later is there's

636
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:26,800
a lot of turnover on roster spots.

637
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,440
A lot of young players are pushing through and seeing.

638
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,900
So I'm wondering if setters are still trying to figure out who they can set in big moments

639
00:36:33,900 --> 00:36:40,200
and what the flow should be and you know, learning their hitters in game situations

640
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,960
because there's been again a lot of fluctuation in terms of who's playing and who's coming

641
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:44,960
in.

642
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:50,080
So I'm curious to see if it's just a general limitation or if there's going to be a personnel

643
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,200
learning curve on some of these teams.

644
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,320
Well because the lineups that we were seeing a couple weeks ago are not even close to the

645
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:56,320
same.

646
00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:00,120
No, so we were going to I think we're going to see more and more of those first year college

647
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:02,560
players starting to take roster spots.

648
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:08,600
My last kind of note from this match before we move on to the men's matches is Orlando

649
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:14,440
continue to go to the double sub with Lydia Grote and it never worked.

650
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:18,160
I mean if you're trying to get Lydia some playing time to get her in because you think

651
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:23,760
that she's going to be able to add to your totals later on, totally fair.

652
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:28,080
If you're doing it from a strategic position, you did it again and again and again and then

653
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,680
again in the fifth set and I believe she made at least one error in that situation in a

654
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,680
tight match trying to close it out.

655
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,360
I get that the double sub is a good thing but you also have to have a pulse on if it's

656
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,400
working or not in that match and I thought that was a bad decision.

657
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:47,440
Well particularly like you're creating this double sub to take away a small setter from

658
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:53,240
the block and I don't remember if I don't recall if she was lined up with Prichard or

659
00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:57,640
no Prichard was lined up with Abercrombie but she didn't block anything.

660
00:37:57,640 --> 00:37:58,640
No.

661
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:03,240
Like it's not like Orlando was getting extra defensive opportunities because they put a

662
00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:08,320
bigger block up and they weren't scoring more points because Grote wasn't scoring.

663
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:14,080
So yeah it was interesting that they kept choosing to go back to that.

664
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,120
Maybe they're trying to build for the future, I don't know.

665
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,960
Well and that's to me that's the only way that that's a legitimate decision.

666
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,240
Overall I thought it was an entertaining match.

667
00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:26,840
Some of the sets were blowouts it could have been a little bit closer in the middle of

668
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:30,480
that match but there were a lot of storylines to follow.

669
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,120
Athletes coming and going, playing well, who you're going to run, who's going to come out

670
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:35,120
on top.

671
00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,020
I enjoyed watching that match.

672
00:38:37,020 --> 00:38:41,640
So we asked the question last week, should we continue to cover men's matches and there

673
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,720
were a lot of people who were very interested in getting coverage and having us continue

674
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,280
to talk about that so we are definitely going to do that.

675
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:56,040
We watched a bunch of men's matches this weekend notably Ohio State and UCLA which we're going

676
00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:57,480
to talk about now.

677
00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:03,180
While the rallies in the women's game make it I would say a little more exciting, man

678
00:39:03,180 --> 00:39:10,080
watching some of these men's players is it's just incredible what they can do.

679
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,960
Let's get into it but I had a ton of fun watching men's volleyball this week.

680
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,960
This was a particularly fun match to watch.

681
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:24,440
It was a rematch from a couple weeks ago when Ohio State upset the then number one UCLA in

682
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:32,320
four so needless to say UCLA was coming out hoping for a better outcome than they had

683
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,080
a couple weeks ago and they did.

684
00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:36,920
UCLA won in four.

685
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,640
Ohio State took the first set.

686
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:45,120
On the heels of what I would say were just like so many UCLA serving errors.

687
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:46,600
And hitting errors.

688
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:47,600
Errors.

689
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:49,800
Just bad all the way around.

690
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:55,440
UCLA was either getting an ace or it was like watch out if you're in the stands.

691
00:39:55,440 --> 00:40:00,800
So I'm like okay seeing the first set I'm like Ohio State's passing is suspect.

692
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,060
It was not.

693
00:40:02,060 --> 00:40:05,400
They are not a solid passing team in my opinion.

694
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:09,000
But UCLA just couldn't keep the ball in to exploit it.

695
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:13,520
So before we get into some of the tactical and what happened in the match I think not

696
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,880
a lot of people are aware of even the players on some of these teams.

697
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:23,160
So let's highlight a couple of the key players for each team and then we can talk about some

698
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:24,360
of the strategy.

699
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:26,480
Let's start with UCLA.

700
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:32,320
I think that their strength generally lies on their outside.

701
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:40,380
So they have two incredibly dynamic outside hitters in Cooper Robinson and Zach Rama.

702
00:40:40,380 --> 00:40:42,140
These are big boys.

703
00:40:42,140 --> 00:40:44,480
They jump well.

704
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:45,920
Watching them hit is incredible.

705
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,560
They're a little inconsistent but I think that's one of their strengths and their setter's

706
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:56,440
ability to deliver a tempo high set from anywhere on the court was impressive to watch.

707
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:57,440
100%.

708
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:02,720
I agree the UCLA strengths are their setting and their outside hitters.

709
00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:07,040
They were missing their opposite Edo David that match.

710
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:08,040
The man among children.

711
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,360
Oh my gosh this man's serve everybody.

712
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,980
I know we talked about it a few weeks ago but he was not playing.

713
00:41:13,980 --> 00:41:15,620
He wasn't even on the bench.

714
00:41:15,620 --> 00:41:18,840
As we're talking about that this match keep that in mind.

715
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:24,880
On the flip side I think Ohio State's strength is in their right side.

716
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:30,920
Correct his name is Shane Wetzel and he for a right side first of all I'm just going to

717
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,160
shout out he made a lot of digs.

718
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:34,160
Wowee.

719
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,240
There was a stretch where he was at the service line.

720
00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:39,020
I think they scored five points in a row.

721
00:41:39,020 --> 00:41:41,380
He was unloading from the service line.

722
00:41:41,380 --> 00:41:44,540
He made at least two digs that were playable.

723
00:41:44,540 --> 00:41:48,920
And for those of you who think that digging is impressive or not impressive because you

724
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:50,880
watch mostly women's volleyball.

725
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:55,120
Let me tell you two digs from your right side on the men's side and six points game changer.

726
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,120
And he follows up by scoring from the back row.

727
00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,440
I was thoroughly impressed with how he played this match.

728
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:08,760
I think across the board UCLA is just more skilled but in watching this match I think

729
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:17,160
Ohio State has found a way to maximize the players and the skills that they do have.

730
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:20,800
Whereas and I thought that they were more consistent overall.

731
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:29,520
Whereas UCLA was very up and down and I don't know if it was a focus thing or or what it

732
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:37,440
was but they have the skill but they need to maintain that focus and that intensity.

733
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:42,080
Whereas Ohio State is maybe a little less skilled but they were doing everything they

734
00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,920
could with what they have.

735
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,560
So I think that that's why the match was like so close.

736
00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:58,760
If UCLA can dial in their mentality and just like do work they could be unbelievable.

737
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,560
But the runs and the ups and downs are too frequent.

738
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,360
I completely agree with your analysis.

739
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:06,080
So a couple of things that struck me.

740
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:11,480
If you're gonna say that is young men for you because that's always your excuse when

741
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,720
I talk about men's volleyball or college men's volleyball.

742
00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:16,920
Oh yeah that's young men.

743
00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:18,520
I don't care.

744
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:19,520
I don't care.

745
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:26,120
So I would say that Ohio State had a blue collar work ethic and they were grinding.

746
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:31,520
I thought the libero for Ohio State played very well in that match.

747
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,520
The thing that's noticeable is I would say the athleticism.

748
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:39,560
Now I'm not gonna tell you that the Ohio State players can't jump because they definitely

749
00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:40,760
couldn't.

750
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:50,360
But when you watch them jump and contact the ball versus the outside hitters for UCLA it's

751
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:51,960
a bit of a different stratosphere.

752
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:53,520
They're playing at a different level.

753
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:57,560
The UCLA boys have that surfer mentality.

754
00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:59,800
We're flipping the hair back on the service line.

755
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:01,960
We're a little nonchalant.

756
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:08,000
You know we kind of there's a little bit of swagger there and I agree that it's not business

757
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:09,080
all the time.

758
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:14,800
And so you saw in the first set UCLA missed a ton of serves.

759
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,040
It was absurd.

760
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,800
And then their outside hitters were calibrated you know half a foot out of bounds and they

761
00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:26,160
were swinging hard but it wasn't they weren't gelling.

762
00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:32,760
Now I noticed in the second set they took 15% off their serves they kept the ball in

763
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:34,040
and then all of a sudden.

764
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:35,840
And Ohio State's passing was still bad.

765
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:42,600
Yeah but if you look at that match UCLA had 25 block assists on that match.

766
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:46,880
No solo blocks which meant that as a team they knew exactly what was going on.

767
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:52,480
They had big blocks on every hit when the ball was in play and that was in comparison

768
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:56,360
to only eight block assists from Ohio State.

769
00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:00,840
So when they kept the ball in and they still serve tough when they're serving 15% off their

770
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:01,840
off their hard serves.

771
00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:06,600
I think my wrist would snap if I tried to pass one of those.

772
00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:10,200
I have skinny wrists.

773
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:12,880
It would be fractured.

774
00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:18,320
Well and so when you look at their ability to block and play defense in that regard I'm

775
00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:22,080
curious if their coach is going hey go out on the first set just unload let's see where

776
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,960
our serving goes we're going to work on that for later on in the season and then when they

777
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:30,640
lost it's dial it back we're going to keep it in we're going to play block defense or

778
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:31,960
whether they just found it.

779
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,320
Like I'm curious what that adjustment was because it was distinct.

780
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,920
It definitely was planned.

781
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:45,800
The thing for me when we're talking about the focus and the mentality is when I see

782
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:55,120
three juicy overpasses be completely mishandled you are not focused and it was happening at

783
00:45:55,120 --> 00:46:01,080
critical times at one point Robinson goes up hammers it out of bounds then twice their

784
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:07,440
right side Decker faked hitting it and then the ball just landed and then hammered it

785
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:14,600
into the stands like if you're getting overpasses for me that is a great indicator of where

786
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:21,440
your mind is at and as a team if you're messing them up you're not focused you're not dialed

787
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:28,120
in the way you need to be and I will say I think UCLA would have lost without their setter

788
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:35,460
Andrew Rowan because he was their most consistent player from top to bottom from the service

789
00:46:35,460 --> 00:46:43,800
line for delivery of the set he kept the team together he was the one who was serving for

790
00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:47,560
all these overpasses I can't even imagine what was going through his head seeing these

791
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:52,040
guys mess them up if I'm a setter at that point and you mess up my overpass I'm walking

792
00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:56,120
up to you and I'm telling you you're not getting sets for five balls figure it out Adam would

793
00:46:56,120 --> 00:47:00,680
never do that he's too nice I would do that.

794
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:07,840
What you you talk about David Decker and I thought he was a roller coaster he was a liability

795
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:12,940
well there were stretches where he was all world and he was hitting a thigh I must have

796
00:47:12,940 --> 00:47:20,120
missed those points but he was very streaky so it was either you know seven good swings

797
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:25,560
in a row and then you know miss miss overpass miss out to lunch and then he would come back

798
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:31,480
he just seemed to come in and out of the match at different times and that was it was interesting

799
00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:35,960
because you talk about Cooper Robinson missing that overpass so he misses that overpass I

800
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:41,880
was ripping him in one her mind as we were watching this game and then he knew and then

801
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:47,080
they set him he sides out and then he goes back to the baseline and rips two aces and

802
00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:52,840
finishes the match and she goes okay I'm fine with that no I was like good you had to make

803
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:58,360
up for that thank you so much you needed to score those points and we didn't see that

804
00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:07,680
same response from Decker oh no no but my other thing is like Rama when he chooses to

805
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:14,840
goes over top of the block the the ceiling of but then sometimes he's like bringing it

806
00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:21,060
down into the block and I don't know if that's like an experience thing if it's a attention

807
00:48:21,060 --> 00:48:28,040
to detail thing but it's like when you are approaching hard when you're fully extended

808
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:33,640
when you're executing you are unstoppable like let's replicate that you know for more

809
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:39,720
than a couple swings in a row because I love I think he is so good I love that kid but

810
00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:46,240
I'm like let's let's build some consistency so I'm I'm really curious two things I think

811
00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:51,800
UCLA has a ton of high-end potential their ceiling is very high if they can put everything

812
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:55,800
together and even though their middles are a little undersized they're very dynamic they're

813
00:48:55,800 --> 00:49:00,960
very quick they close the block well they get up early they can score and their setter

814
00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:06,440
uses them well but if they're outsides all three are clicking at once they're gonna be

815
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:11,800
really really tough to stop because they're also a very good blocking team I'm really

816
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:17,640
curious to see them play some other high-end opponents and see if they can get to that

817
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:23,920
level consistently for a whole match I always think that's my only knock on row in the setter

818
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:30,300
is he could have set the middle more his Rama and Robinson are his security blanket it's

819
00:49:30,300 --> 00:49:35,760
just like oh yeah just give them the ball but I think he needs to set the middle more

820
00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:40,880
I think it's gonna depend on who they're playing if their outsides can dominate the other teams

821
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:45,060
outsides he'll just set them because he runs the ball fast enough his contact point on

822
00:49:45,060 --> 00:49:51,520
his set and how he flings it out to the antennas it's flat it's high it's on the mark if they

823
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:55,600
start to move out and teams are putting two blockers on there and leaving the middle he'll

824
00:49:55,600 --> 00:50:01,040
have to be able to find them to open them back up so that will be their kind of struggle

825
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,800
against top teams but I'm looking forward to seeing them play you see Irvine coming

826
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:11,120
up as much as I loved Rowan I thought Rodriguez the setter for Ohio State struggled I know

827
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:18,240
he's a freshman okay I'm aware but I thought his delivery was not as clean I did however

828
00:50:18,240 --> 00:50:23,680
like how he ran the middle he forced the middle and he had to because Ohio State didn't really

829
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:29,200
pass that well so I mean you are putting a freshman setter in a tough place but yeah

830
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:36,300
he he was outplayed in that match I would say blatantly as we were saying the outsides

831
00:50:36,300 --> 00:50:44,280
for UCLA outperforms the Ohio State outsides I we were saying that the Ohio State right

832
00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:50,520
side battle they won that I think that honestly Ohio State might have won the middle battle

833
00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:55,600
I think that's fair especially from an offensive perspective I also thought they were up their

834
00:50:55,600 --> 00:51:01,640
arm was back they were loaded it was a it was run well and they were very efficient

835
00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:06,360
I would agree with that I also thought Ohio State won the libero battle agreed I didn't

836
00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:11,080
even notice the UCLA libero I thought the passing libero was better than the defensive

837
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:15,080
one but like I wasn't getting much from them but I thought the Ohio State libero made some

838
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:21,280
great digs why and he kudos to him he was strapping it on he got hit by a few balls

839
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:27,640
that were I would have had cardiac arrest missiles it was why and he just stood in there

840
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:33,200
and dug ball it was impressive to watch I'm curious to see Ohio State I want to see them

841
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:39,960
play a BYU Hawaii you know some teams I mean the Hawaii State's not small but they're not

842
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:44,720
playing at that same level as some of those other teams I want to see if their mentality

843
00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:51,560
can grind them out some wins against the like 5 to 12 range opponents so I'm curious to

844
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:56,360
see how that goes for them because I think they have the makings of a team that forces

845
00:51:56,360 --> 00:52:02,280
you to beat them and if you don't show up they will win like when I watched Penn State

846
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:09,040
play I thought and again I haven't watched either team a ton but I think Ohio State is

847
00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:16,400
better than Penn State they just can't find a win against a top team obviously they upset

848
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:23,160
UCLA that is their one win against a top team but like I do think they're capable yeah I

849
00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:30,320
do too they just don't have that high end point score unless Wetzel is unconscious they

850
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:36,760
need something more from their left sides yeah overall I had so much fun getting into

851
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:41,800
that men's match and we watched a few other matches it was it was good and after the first

852
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:44,880
set they didn't miss too many serves so there was some action to actually watch and pay

853
00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:51,840
attention to I will say and we're gonna do my hot take right now oh I have never seen

854
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:58,080
so many men volley the ball over the net on third contact get get out of there get it

855
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:02,040
out of the way I don't want to see it I'm not interested it wasn't just this match it

856
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:07,680
was all the men's matches we were watching we're like when did a volleying jump volleying

857
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:13,440
it over become a thing tip the ball find a rip take a swing I know you don't want to

858
00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:17,920
make an error but a jump volley get that out of here just like think of how many errors

859
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:23,000
you're making on your serve let's have the same mentality offensively okay just go for

860
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:29,920
it I don't want to see you jumping and volleying the ball down that's my rant on on the men's

861
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:36,800
volleyball that I watched it was fun to watch though all right so instead of a game this

862
00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:45,080
week we had so many people asking about how are the recent graduates from the NCAA doing

863
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:49,880
in the American professional leagues where are we at what's going on now that we're you

864
00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:57,000
know a month and a bit in what are your thoughts so I did a deep dive into all of the players

865
00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:02,360
who were drafted who are on teams who played in college last year and we're going to go

866
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:06,200
over some of those we're going to talk about the highlights I'm going to give you an overview

867
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:11,160
of how many there are what teams they're on and then we'll talk about the ones making

868
00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:18,240
the biggest difference so if we look at love obviously we had the love six so they pulled

869
00:54:18,240 --> 00:54:26,560
six of the recruits or top NCAA players into their league and out of all of them four are

870
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:32,600
making a significant contribution so Rachel Fairbanks is obviously playing a ton of games

871
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:39,440
at the center position for Atlanta I think she's doing well the team is cruising along

872
00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:46,680
so instant impact she's doing great I think we both liked her as a setter I'm not surprised

873
00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:55,880
Madison Skinner also played four or five for Austin she is finding her way she hasn't been

874
00:54:55,880 --> 00:55:02,680
amazing she's got 58 points on the season you know 25% kill efficiency you know 120

875
00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:07,280
attacks she's doing okay I think she will continue to get better her ceiling is higher

876
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:11,800
she's playing a new position feel free to hop in and give your take on any of these

877
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:18,080
no I agree with both of those Jess Merzik playing all the matches for Houston getting

878
00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:27,440
set a ton of balls having a pretty good season 73 points 24% efficient she is blocking she

879
00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:35,640
is serving aces she is digging they're nowhere without her in my opinion and so I think we

880
00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:39,960
both really like Jess Merzik we talked about her finding hands and being able to swing

881
00:55:39,960 --> 00:55:44,240
against a bigger block and that was going to help her transition I think that's definitely

882
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:50,160
true finally Sarah Franklin played six of six matches she has the most points out of

883
00:55:50,160 --> 00:55:58,160
any of the rookies at 84 she's 28% efficient 78 kills she's been set almost 200 times since

884
00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:05,120
they've started passing relatively well not as effective on the blocks and aces as Merzik

885
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:09,880
is but she's making a lot of digs too so I would say that's been a pretty successful

886
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:14,200
transition I'm honestly surprised that Franklin and Merzik are when they grabbed the ball

887
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:17,880
and graduated I thought that those two I had question marks about how they would transition

888
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:26,080
into the pro game and they have proven me wrong I personally think Merzik is playing

889
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:34,200
outstanding I think she is the top rookie in love right now but we actually did have

890
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:42,080
a question of why are so many rookies playing over veterans or team USA players and honestly

891
00:56:42,080 --> 00:56:47,960
I think it's because they're playing better and there's not the same hierarchy necessarily

892
00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:55,640
in pro that you sometimes see in in high school or college as we were saying we do have some

893
00:56:55,640 --> 00:57:01,040
issues with kind of like the vibe of love but at the end of the day the pro game is

894
00:57:01,040 --> 00:57:08,160
about winning and the college players came into these seasons game ready and I think

895
00:57:08,160 --> 00:57:14,200
that's a huge they had been playing for four and a half months already and there's something

896
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:20,280
to say about walking into a team being game ready and having that playing experience very

897
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:28,000
recent as opposed to having taken an entire summer and fall off so I think there are a

898
00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:34,280
couple things that play like I just mentioned the the readiness piece but also I think that

899
00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:40,520
these young players are playing better than some of the veterans who may be they have

900
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:47,080
something to prove they are trying to build their career they don't have that same reputation

901
00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:53,000
and clout to be able to fall back on so they've got something to prove and I'm curious if

902
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:58,720
these veterans are going to push back or if they're like cool and I also think from a

903
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:03,140
coaching perspective you know you had some of those vets out there earlier but you give

904
00:58:03,140 --> 00:58:08,360
them a chance the rookies come in they haven't been with the teams as long as the other players

905
00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:14,000
but as they start to find their rhythm you've given your vets a chance you have done your

906
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:18,320
due diligence in terms of kind of honoring their experience and doing that and now it's

907
00:58:18,320 --> 00:58:22,960
earn it like show up and play and the rookies have had a chance to fit into the team dynamics

908
00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:28,160
to understand the systems and you're seeing them play more and more in both leagues.

909
00:58:28,160 --> 00:58:32,200
Okay that was only a fraction of your research let's hit us with the juice.

910
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:37,200
All right so then the last two you have Lexi Rodriguez who we've talked about at length

911
00:58:37,200 --> 00:58:43,800
and is seeing no playing time other than a sub or two and then Sophie Fisher who's playing

912
00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:47,480
for Salt Lake she's been subbed in and out but hasn't been a regular contributor to the

913
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:53,800
lineup so she's only had you know 22 points 27 attempts so she's still figuring her way

914
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:56,800
out there in Salt Lake City.

915
00:58:56,800 --> 00:59:07,920
Now as we transition to PVF it gets a little more let's call it messy there are 45 total

916
00:59:07,920 --> 00:59:13,000
first year rookies in the PVF league.

917
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:14,840
That's crazy.

918
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:23,520
Not all of them are playing or making contributions so we have about 10 that are seeing regular

919
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:24,520
playing time.

920
00:59:24,520 --> 00:59:28,920
The reason I broke this down was you had to have played in more than half of your team's

921
00:59:28,920 --> 00:59:33,520
matches and not just in a substitution standpoint.

922
00:59:33,520 --> 00:59:38,040
So I kind of I want to do this real quick we'll go team by team and I'll tell you how

923
00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:40,840
many first years they have and then who's playing.

924
00:59:40,840 --> 00:59:48,360
So if we start with Atlanta Atlanta has eight rookies on their roster the ones who are seeing

925
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:54,640
playing time are Merritt Beeson and Corey Lewis so they've both played all of their

926
00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:55,640
matches.

927
00:59:55,640 --> 01:00:00,240
Beeson's putting up great numbers she's got 85 points she's hitting almost 24 percent

928
01:00:00,240 --> 01:00:07,600
she's had 200 swings six blocks five aces 46 digs she is exactly what they expected

929
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:09,280
her to be at this point.

930
01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:15,600
You also have Corey Lewis playing in the middle also played all of the matches 46 points hitting

931
01:00:15,600 --> 01:00:21,480
almost 50 percent she's got nine blocks she's making digs those two have been staples for

932
01:00:21,480 --> 01:00:23,480
that team and done a really good job.

933
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:29,420
And then Mia Tuaniga is like coming into the roster now but like hasn't played as much

934
01:00:29,420 --> 01:00:30,640
as the other ones.

935
01:00:30,640 --> 01:00:31,640
Correct.

936
01:00:31,640 --> 01:00:34,520
So if we look at Columbus they have five total players.

937
01:00:34,520 --> 01:00:41,200
Kaylee Cox is an outside hitter she's played six of six matches also doing a good job 74

938
01:00:41,200 --> 01:00:48,880
points 31 percent efficient she's taken 190 swings she's adding 12 blocks making digs

939
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:53,680
so she's been a real bright spot for Columbus even though they're not winning any matches.

940
01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:58,480
And then you have Abby Walker middle blocker from Cincinnati played six of six matches

941
01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:05,680
has decent stats but is a regular player for them.

942
01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:10,520
Looking at Grand Rapids they have five rookies none of them are playing so you have a couple

943
01:01:10,520 --> 01:01:16,600
subs Jenna Ortec from Purdue has been in a bunch of matches they have a couple of barrels

944
01:01:16,600 --> 01:01:18,680
also in Elena Ogilvie.

945
01:01:18,680 --> 01:01:24,760
Nia Shumay has been kind of there she's breaking through I think you're going to see her starting

946
01:01:24,760 --> 01:01:30,560
to play more she's had 120 sets and she's hitting fairly efficiently but they haven't

947
01:01:30,560 --> 01:01:35,080
those rookies haven't broken in and are consistent starters at this point.

948
01:01:35,080 --> 01:01:43,040
Moving on to Indy seven rookies in this one also to making contributions you have Caroline

949
01:01:43,040 --> 01:01:47,920
Crawford not unexpected here she was coming in she played for Wisconsin she's been in

950
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:54,840
four or five of their matches 30 points 32 percent efficient you know 51 attempts blocking

951
01:01:54,840 --> 01:02:01,760
really well at 11 so far and she's a staple for them along with Nina Chayich who's also

952
01:02:01,760 --> 01:02:06,960
played a ton for them she's racked up 62 points hitting almost 29 percent efficient she's

953
01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:12,440
had 190 sets so they're relying on her she's done a really good job for them also defensively

954
01:02:12,440 --> 01:02:14,680
with 45 digs.

955
01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:19,520
We're almost there Omaha seven rookies none of them really playing.

956
01:02:19,520 --> 01:02:20,520
Not even Baton-Horst.

957
01:02:20,520 --> 01:02:30,280
No Baton-Horst has she's played two of their five matches she's been okay 27 points 84

958
01:02:30,280 --> 01:02:37,000
swings no blocks no aces eight digs she's coming in she's played recently we'll see

959
01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:41,660
where she goes but I wouldn't say she's been a huge contributor at this point.

960
01:02:41,660 --> 01:02:46,640
If we look at Orlando we have Natalie Foster from SMU playing middle she's been in five

961
01:02:46,640 --> 01:02:52,880
of six of their matches 60 points 47 percent efficient so she's been scoring really well

962
01:02:52,880 --> 01:02:58,840
they've been setting her more impressively it's 13 blocks 10 aces 12 digs we saw her

963
01:02:58,840 --> 01:03:03,600
serve in the college game and it's transitioned for her really well so she's been really good

964
01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:10,440
and then San Diego's got three Layla Blackwell the third middle from Nebraska playing all

965
01:03:10,440 --> 01:03:17,800
of their matches you know 28 points very efficient at 38 getting set 61 times five blocks seven

966
01:03:17,800 --> 01:03:25,920
digs she's been stable for them not a superstar but I think what you expected of her and then

967
01:03:25,920 --> 01:03:31,540
finally if we look at Vegas they also have five Cameron Hanna has played five of seven

968
01:03:31,540 --> 01:03:40,560
matches 61 points very efficient at 37 percent 144 swings she's blocking serving aces making

969
01:03:40,560 --> 01:03:45,720
digs and then Charity Looper also an outside hitter so interestingly they have two rookie

970
01:03:45,720 --> 01:03:54,120
outsides she's played four of seven but she's also 54 points 42 percent 150 sets digging

971
01:03:54,120 --> 01:04:01,480
blocking serving aces so that's kind of your rookie roundup that's where they're at I think

972
01:04:01,480 --> 01:04:08,180
we've seen some of the players we saw in the NCAA play really well making a good transition

973
01:04:08,180 --> 01:04:12,860
in the PVF and I would expect that to continue I think you'll see more and more of these

974
01:04:12,860 --> 01:04:18,240
young players who we didn't talk about you know notably Anna DeBeer is there you have

975
01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:22,580
Elena Scott who has a chance to come through and a few other high-end college players who

976
01:04:22,580 --> 01:04:27,680
I think we'll see make a difference on their teams down the stretch so of all the people

977
01:04:27,680 --> 01:04:32,520
who came in from college we're seeing about a third of them little less than a third of

978
01:04:32,520 --> 01:04:39,480
them making significant contributions to their teams so we'll see how many you know kind

979
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:45,280
of stick it out for the long run how many will start to make more contributions later

980
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:51,800
in the season and and how that will go but we can post Adams sheets on Instagram if you

981
01:04:51,800 --> 01:04:58,520
guys want to take a closer peek we got a lot of listener questions this week so I have

982
01:04:58,520 --> 01:05:04,300
them all recorded so if we don't hit your question this week don't worry I have them

983
01:05:04,300 --> 01:05:12,440
all down but I've selected a few to discuss this week our first question is now that has

984
01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:19,920
been a couple of weeks has your view of the level of play between PVF and love changed

985
01:05:19,920 --> 01:05:26,240
now so I'm gonna go into it a little in a little more detail than just the know you

986
01:05:26,240 --> 01:05:34,960
got from Sarah I think if anything it's gotten more the the chasm has widened for me so I'm

987
01:05:34,960 --> 01:05:42,540
seeing two things I'm seeing one just the size and reach of the athletes is is pretty

988
01:05:42,540 --> 01:05:47,320
different from league to league so you know if you look at like let's take Tealer and

989
01:05:47,320 --> 01:05:54,360
member Mena for example super physical athletes you know technically sound but they're five

990
01:05:54,360 --> 01:06:01,280
nine they're five eight and you're seeing the outside hitters in love are six four six

991
01:06:01,280 --> 01:06:05,760
five they're your Sarah Franklin's they're your Jess Merzick's and then you have you

992
01:06:05,760 --> 01:06:13,480
know your Thompson's they're just bigger athletes and it's less about the volleyball per se

993
01:06:13,480 --> 01:06:16,800
and more about the physicality of the game I would say

994
01:06:16,800 --> 01:06:22,160
and the consistency and and the consistency but the other piece of that too is the setters

995
01:06:22,160 --> 01:06:27,080
are just so much more experienced in love and when those experienced players are touching

996
01:06:27,080 --> 01:06:32,440
the ball every second contact they can fix a lot of things they can make good decisions

997
01:06:32,440 --> 01:06:39,240
they put their hitters in better places those are my two kind of stark observations from

998
01:06:39,240 --> 01:06:45,680
these first several weeks and I think something to keep in mind is like because we're saying

999
01:06:45,680 --> 01:06:52,920
that the level is different it doesn't take away from the entertainment factor or the

1000
01:06:52,920 --> 01:07:00,760
enjoyment of watching one versus the other the love athletes are better volleyball players

1001
01:07:00,760 --> 01:07:05,880
they are more polished they're more consistent they're bigger they're more physical the PVF

1002
01:07:05,880 --> 01:07:10,480
players like we said a few weeks ago are more of an extension of the college game these

1003
01:07:10,480 --> 01:07:17,680
are the players in PVF who probably wouldn't make a great career overseas who probably

1004
01:07:17,680 --> 01:07:23,760
wouldn't be able to make a living for like a good living playing overseas but they have

1005
01:07:23,760 --> 01:07:28,440
been given this opportunity because these players are playing against athletes of a

1006
01:07:28,440 --> 01:07:34,200
similar caliber it is entertaining but I think if you were to take a random PVF team and

1007
01:07:34,200 --> 01:07:39,520
put them against a love team it would not be fun to watch because it would be very one-sided

1008
01:07:39,520 --> 01:07:47,880
so each league the volleyball is fun to watch in its own way but you cannot compare the

1009
01:07:47,880 --> 01:07:55,040
level that the game is being played at and the height if you under if you truly understand

1010
01:07:55,040 --> 01:08:01,000
volleyball and you have actually played the game you know what I'm talking about and from

1011
01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:07,040
a fan perspective that is what makes volleyball so beautiful is like you don't have to understand

1012
01:08:07,040 --> 01:08:12,240
the game and you don't have to understand how technically sound or physical players

1013
01:08:12,240 --> 01:08:20,960
are to derive enjoyment from it and so I think the the levels are completely different and

1014
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:28,000
that is totally fine but if anything I think the difference in the abilities is is more

1015
01:08:28,000 --> 01:08:36,340
clear now than it was earlier I will say I really like the competitiveness and the intensity

1016
01:08:36,340 --> 01:08:40,400
that the PVF has managed to generate in their league and that goes back to you know what

1017
01:08:40,400 --> 01:08:43,880
we talked about in terms of owners trying to do things and players going back and forth

1018
01:08:43,880 --> 01:08:49,360
yeah so I've enjoyed that but that's that's what I'm saying.

1019
01:08:49,360 --> 01:08:53,580
Our second question is how does the subbing work in the leagues?

1020
01:08:53,580 --> 01:09:00,720
So great question let's give a little context college is 15 subs unlimited you can do whatever

1021
01:09:00,720 --> 01:09:06,180
you want international is six subs in and out once per athlete that means once you've

1022
01:09:06,180 --> 01:09:10,280
come off the bench onto the floor and you go back onto the bench you cannot come back

1023
01:09:10,280 --> 01:09:19,720
in so love and PVF both have eight subs per set now the difference is in love it's similar

1024
01:09:19,720 --> 01:09:24,720
to the college rules where the players can go in and out and in and out so you see Omaha

1025
01:09:24,720 --> 01:09:30,080
doing the double sub and they can do that because you can come in and out PVF also has

1026
01:09:30,080 --> 01:09:35,400
eight subs but they play the international rule so you'll see a player come in maybe

1027
01:09:35,400 --> 01:09:39,240
serve once and then come back off the floor and can't go back in you're seeing that with

1028
01:09:39,240 --> 01:09:44,040
an Elena Scott for example so while they have the same numbers the rules around what you

1029
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:46,320
can do are slightly different.

1030
01:09:46,320 --> 01:09:51,920
And our final question of the week is what new athletes do you think could make the US

1031
01:09:51,920 --> 01:09:54,440
2028 Olympic team?

1032
01:09:54,440 --> 01:09:59,040
First and foremost I think you have to understand how the US plays volleyball internationally

1033
01:09:59,040 --> 01:10:05,320
generally they are middle dominant their middles have been incredibly talented and at the top

1034
01:10:05,320 --> 01:10:10,400
of the world for several cycles now they seem to pump out middles who can score who can

1035
01:10:10,400 --> 01:10:19,160
block at an incredible rate in order to utilize them your ball control needs to be on point

1036
01:10:19,160 --> 01:10:24,840
so you are seeing left sides like Jordan who are ball control Justine Wong-Arantis who

1037
01:10:24,840 --> 01:10:31,200
has great ball control is the libero there they need to be in system to be successful

1038
01:10:31,200 --> 01:10:38,280
and so as everybody's kind of looking at Jess Merzik and Sarah Franklin and saying are

1039
01:10:38,280 --> 01:10:46,900
we going to see them make that jump and I think one of those two could potentially be

1040
01:10:46,900 --> 01:10:54,960
on the team on the bench to come in as a sub in 2028 when they need a little size unless

1041
01:10:54,960 --> 01:11:01,440
their ball control improves greatly they are not going to win and I say they the US is

1042
01:11:01,440 --> 01:11:06,400
not going to win at the Olympics if those passers are passing at the attack line and

1043
01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:13,040
then having to hit out of system so that's on the left side I think Maddie Skinner so

1044
01:11:13,040 --> 01:11:18,520
the one thing in my opinion that the US has locked is a super terminal opposite and Maddie

1045
01:11:18,520 --> 01:11:24,080
Skinner has the potential to be that because she's physical enough but I'm not there to

1046
01:11:24,080 --> 01:11:32,360
say she's not going to be her I think it'll be Olivia Babcock I think at the international

1047
01:11:32,360 --> 01:11:38,640
level and the way the international game is played Olivia Babcock is the type of opposite

1048
01:11:38,640 --> 01:11:45,400
player you want on the court the US has always fallen behind other powerhouse countries in

1049
01:11:45,400 --> 01:11:54,560
the opposite position they haven't had a beast terminal opposite like you see from the Italians

1050
01:11:54,560 --> 01:12:02,140
the Serbians the Turkish teams like as Adam said the US has gotten by with incredible

1051
01:12:02,140 --> 01:12:07,240
ball control running an incredibly fast offense and having dominant middles I think to get

1052
01:12:07,240 --> 01:12:15,000
to that next level I think Olivia Babcock will step in I think Jess Merzik could be a typical

1053
01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:23,000
like outside there I feel like the US system in the way that they play is going to change

1054
01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:31,840
oh interesting yeah I think Alexey Rodriguez could be on the team as a backup libero because

1055
01:12:31,840 --> 01:12:41,920
you do need to but I haven't seen any middles I think Andy Jackson potentially could be

1056
01:12:41,920 --> 01:12:48,000
on the US team in 2028 I think compared to some of the middles out there she's a little

1057
01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:56,040
smaller internationally do you see Dana Retke being on there do you see oh Dana Retke is

1058
01:12:56,040 --> 01:13:00,680
already on the team okay that's what I'm saying do you see her as I think Retke could step

1059
01:13:00,680 --> 01:13:06,060
in I think I was thinking like current or recently graduated college players totally

1060
01:13:06,060 --> 01:13:10,400
fair that just popped into my head out of curiosity as you were talking about Jackson

1061
01:13:10,400 --> 01:13:17,840
okay so yeah Retke I think so Jackson I think Babcock I wouldn't be surprised if Rachel

1062
01:13:17,840 --> 01:13:24,480
Fairbanks enters the system because Carlini stepped away Rodriguez I think could there's

1063
01:13:24,480 --> 01:13:30,480
there's a few but I think the US definitely needs to step up their right side game and

1064
01:13:30,480 --> 01:13:35,720
they need to I mean Avery Skinner has kind of stepped into the similar role that I just

1065
01:13:35,720 --> 01:13:41,640
outlined for Jess Merzik so I I'm not sure Merzik will beat her out but those are the

1066
01:13:41,640 --> 01:13:46,680
players that come to mind for me yeah I think that makes sense I wouldn't write Maddie Skinner

1067
01:13:46,680 --> 01:13:52,880
off just based on how physical she is if she steps in there and she can be that dynamic

1068
01:13:52,880 --> 01:13:57,360
but I also I wasn't thinking about Babcock I think that's a good choice too so it'll

1069
01:13:57,360 --> 01:14:03,440
be interesting to see if they get chances and how they perform this summer even in some

1070
01:14:03,440 --> 01:14:08,360
of that play again thanks so much to all of you who submit questions if I didn't get to

1071
01:14:08,360 --> 01:14:13,320
your question this week don't worry it will be coming but we also answered some throughout

1072
01:14:13,320 --> 01:14:19,240
the episode so if it wasn't in the actual section we may have addressed it throughout

1073
01:14:19,240 --> 01:14:24,000
the episode but thank you so much all of you who take the time to write to us all right

1074
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:27,840
looking forward to the week coming up here's what we have our eye on here's what we're

1075
01:14:27,840 --> 01:14:33,520
going to be watching on Wednesday the love head-to-head match features Houston and Austin

1076
01:14:33,520 --> 01:14:38,680
so we got a little Texas showdown that's at 8 p.m. Eastern on love live hopefully we don't

1077
01:14:38,680 --> 01:14:44,400
get any black screens and the women's sport network the weekend with love will be in Salt

1078
01:14:44,400 --> 01:14:49,520
Lake City this weekend the Friday match will be on love live and the zone and Saturday

1079
01:14:49,520 --> 01:14:56,080
matches on love live and the women's sport network as we get into the NCAA men's action

1080
01:14:56,080 --> 01:15:01,440
if you want to stay up late on Thursday and Saturday at midnight Eastern Stanford plays

1081
01:15:01,440 --> 01:15:06,320
Hawaii that's too late for me that should be a good game I might be up to watch that

1082
01:15:06,320 --> 01:15:12,920
one on Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern UCLA plays Long Beach State I think that's going to be

1083
01:15:12,920 --> 01:15:18,080
an incredible match I want to go I'm excited I haven't seen Long Beach State play yet I've

1084
01:15:18,080 --> 01:15:23,160
I've wanted to but their games have been hard to find yeah so that I would circle that one

1085
01:15:23,160 --> 01:15:30,000
on the calendar as being we might go to that one live yeah so we'll see we'll see and then

1086
01:15:30,000 --> 01:15:35,640
in the PVF on Friday at 10 Eastern you got the Vegas thrill playing the San Diego mojo

1087
01:15:35,640 --> 01:15:42,240
on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern the Omaha Supernovas play Atlanta vibe and those matches can both

1088
01:15:42,240 --> 01:15:50,960
be found on YouTube on the PVF channel I will say occasionally the PVF matches show up on

1089
01:15:50,960 --> 01:15:55,920
the volleyball world TV yeah we've been going through it lately yeah short notice I was

1090
01:15:55,920 --> 01:16:00,440
looking for it on YouTube and then somebody posted that it had moved station so if you

1091
01:16:00,440 --> 01:16:05,900
can't find it on YouTube check volleyball world TV that concludes this week's episode

1092
01:16:05,900 --> 01:16:10,360
of volley talk there's always something shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you enjoyed

1093
01:16:10,360 --> 01:16:14,920
this little fix be sure to follow the show so you don't miss any updates and we'd be

1094
01:16:14,920 --> 01:16:19,920
so grateful if you'd leave us a five-star review you can also find us on Instagram at

1095
01:16:19,920 --> 01:16:25,080
volley talk underscore podcast if you have a topic that you'd like us to discuss be

1096
01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:30,760
sure to let us know by reaching out to us on Instagram or at info at Sarah pavin calm

1097
01:16:30,760 --> 01:16:50,520
thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back next week