Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to volley talk the podcast created for volleyball lovers who want to dig deep into what is going
On in NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host Sarah pavin
I'm an Olympian Beach volleyball world champion former Nebraska corn husker and longtime pro both indoor and on the beach
And I'm Adam Schultz former indoor player international volleyball coach and the show's resident stack guy
Welcome to March
One we have made it through January and February
We have lots of volleyball to talk about this week and yet again the NCAA women just can't stay away because we have some more
Coaching news for you on that front
There were some big changes being made with some love
rosters starting six situations
coaches, etc and
Conference play has started here and there for a lot of men's teams, but not all of them quite yet
We are so excited to talk volleyball with you today. So let's get started
All right on the NCAA women's front
Following the cascade of events following brain for shards retirement at, Kansas
Trent Kirsten is going from LMU to Oregon. I believe he was only at LMU for one season
Keep climbing that was very short-lived. Let's put it that way and this week you saw a few
LMU athletes making the transfer to Oregon to go with him
So that is happening next question who will coach at LMU? We just keep the domino effect going here
Champions League last week. I was out of it
On one, I don't know what was going on. I thought we were already in March
Maybe it was call it wishful thinking perhaps
But the first round of women's quarterfinals start this week
Not last week as I was so incredibly passionate about we went to look for games to watch this week
And I couldn't find any because they all start because I was hallucinating I guess so I apologize for that
The men's quarterfinals are set however we have got
Lundenberg playing okay
Again the pronunciation is going to struggle but we've got Lundenberg from Germany playing
Zavirchi
From Poland
We've got an all-italian matchup between Monsa and Perugia
Then the Turkish team halkbank from Ankara is playing Warsaw from Poland
And then a Greek team Piraeus is playing another Polish team Jastrzebski
Vagio Vagio you get the idea so we've got
Three Polish teams two Italian teams and then one each from Germany Turkey and Greece
So those matches are going to be happening
Next week, so we're going to go women's matches this week then men's matches
And alternate like that on the NCAA men's front number 15 Lewis took down number seven Loyola Chicago 3-1
We will be talking about that match as our feature match this week
We had a lot of fun watching that one number four, Hawaii beat number three UC Irvine
3-0 in their first matchup, which happened very very late Friday night
The second match is happening after our recording
Sunday night. Do you have any predictions for that one?
Because we watched about half of that match. Yes, and it was a ton of fun. Well, UC Irvine has made some serious adjustments
We saw Nolan Flexin playing left side. We saw William Darcy playing right side. So their
Passing slash ball control left side in and in Kiriakou. He was not on the court at all
They definitely needed a better size matchup. I would say to you mean against the 611 setter that Hawaii has that and against
Tetriski, yeah, they are big on the right side of the court
So I don't know if that's going to be a permanent change
But it was definitely something that they felt they needed to do against Hawaii, which I agree
Well, but it was interesting because they gave up a ton of aces clean like watching balls hit the floor. So
I mean clearly yes, the size is important, but they're also not comfortable with the service reception
And what we were watching Tetriski was like scoring at will anyway
Yeah, and you took Flexin out of his element, which he just didn't look as comfortable on the left
So, I don't know. I don't know what the Sunday night match looked like because we're going to be a Monday at this point
But 3-0, I expected it to be much tighter
However, the lineup changed through me for a loop. Well, and I think
The changes make sense long term for them if they're going to compete for a national title having more size on the left side
It's just going to be a matter of how long does it take them to settle in?
Well, the changes and I'm sorry, but Joe Carlos will always be a liability at the net. He just doesn't put up a block
Yeah, and
I mean they try to bring in Aiden Rigg. They're like backup setter who's 6'6", but he's young
He's inexperienced. So I was shocked, but it was definitely entertaining to watch
Oh, it was a great game
Number 14, UC San Diego beat number 8 Stanford 3-2 on Saturday night
And number 12 Grand Canyon dropped both of their matches to number 9 Pepperdine 3-1
We watched the first one of these
So it was it was interesting for me to watch my initial instinct was Pepperdine was bigger and more physical than Grand Canyon
But I like the style of volleyball Grand Canyon played better
I think I mean Grand Canyon just couldn't stop the right side for Pepperdine Cole Hartke who
Had 18 points and hit 552 and came in par away through the match didn't even start
No, and he but he literally hit the same angle on every single ball and Grand Canyon just couldn't stop him
So Pepperdine was big but they were slow in my opinion and not quite as skilled
But their size just allowed them to win. So the right side and middle combination were just untouchable by Grand Canyon
So I'm curious to see how Pepperdine will do against other big skilled teams
Not that they're unskilled but they're not as dynamic as some of the top, you know, five schools
So it was an interesting stylistically for me and Pepperdine came out on top
But I did like the skill and speed Grand Canyon played with
I definitely liked Grand Canyon's style
Their one left side was so dynamic and so so fast off the ground lightning speed arm
But yeah, it was just a bit of a tougher matchup size wise
The way that the word that kept coming to mind when I was watching Stanford or sorry Pepperdine play was lumbering
They were big but they were just like plotting along a little bit
So, I don't know for me watching NCAA men's volleyball
I feel like there's kind of two groups that are playing together
I feel like there's kind of two groups that have kind of emerged
I feel like the top, you know, six to eight play at a certain level
And then there's a jump, a slight dip in level once you get below that
I feel like the top six to eight in the rankings are just playing higher above the net with more power, more athleticism
And it's not that the volleyball that we've seen from the mid-range teams is bad
It's just like different, it's a different style than we're seeing from the Long Beach's, the Hawaii's, the UC Irvine stuff like that
Well, I think your six to eight was generous
I think mine probably stops at four or five
And I think for me when I watch it, those top teams have everything
They have size, they have speed, they have their dynamic and they're skilled
And then when you get to that, you know, let's call it six to ten and we can kind of argue about that six or seven teams
Well, it's hard because like BYU is like pretty good, they're six
And then I've seen moments of brilliance from Stanford who was like an eight this week
But then like Loyola Chicago watching them, I'm like, I wouldn't really put them in that same category
So it's tough, it's like, yeah
Yeah, but for me those teams that are on the, in the second, let's call it the second tier
They have, you know, two of the three or two of the four characteristics of the top team
Just not quite everything
And that's not to say they can't win
But if you put them in a best ten match series, I think those top teams are going to win eight of ten, nine of ten
But the men's has been thoroughly entertaining
Well, we're seeing more movement happening in the rankings with each week that progresses
So I think this week will be no exception
I, you know, depending on how the Sunday match goes, I think Hawaii could take over the number three spot
Pushing Irvine down to number four per hour
Like we're going to see some mix up because we're seeing more and more ranked upsets
Agreed
So that makes it exciting, definitely
If you know anything about me, I never cheer for the underdog
But like the ranking switch ups keep it, everyone on their toes, you know
This week in love, we saw the head to head match feature Salt Lake and Houston with Salt Lake winning 3-0
Which, good for Salt Lake, but a little surprising
We didn't watch that
We know that Houston has been doing line up things with resting
They looked a little tired last week, but I don't know
Yeah, and then for our weekend with love, Atlanta beat Omaha 3-2
I'm a little surprised that one went five
Madison had a great weekend winning both at home
They beat Omaha 3-1 and Austin 3-0
Back in that win column, baby
They just have to play in Madison and they're going to win matches
We watched the Austin match, so we'll go over that one in a little more detail later on
But that leaves the standings as Atlanta in first, Houston in second, Austin in third, Omaha in fourth, Salt Lake and still followed up by Madison
However, they have three wins instead of one after this weekend, so they're trending in the right direction
Got to start somewhere
If we look at the PVF, Columbus is continuing their winning streak
They took down Atlanta last Sunday 3-0
Big win for them
But then their run came to an end on Saturday
They had a 3-1 loss to San Diego, but I do think they're picking up momentum
I think they're going to move and shake
Have to start somewhere
Exactly
Vegas, however, is sliding the other way
They continue to struggle
They lost 3-1 to Indy
Orlando keeping on, they're dominating
They beat Omaha 3-0 and Atlanta 3-2
Two tough matches
Yeah, and they won both of them
They're consistent at this point
So Orlando is now solidly in the lead with 10 wins and four losses
Followed by Omaha at 8-4 and then Indy in Vegas
Columbus is back in last place, but they are not solidly there
I think you're going to be able to see some movement in that last place spot in the coming weeks
This week was really good
I think we started to see some unusual results
Let's call them that way
Not everything happened as we would have predicted based on the rankings, which is good to see
I think at this point of the season, you're starting to see teams find their coaches' identity
The ones who had maybe a long-term plan, you're starting to see that settle in
Teams are starting to figure out how they want to play together
Other teams are realizing they're going to have to make switches for long-term success
And they're seeing a bit of a dip
So at this point, I think we're starting to see some long-term strategic decisions
Which will be interesting to see how they play out over the course of the rest of the seasons in all three leagues
Our first feature match of the week is Love Madison versus Love Austin
We saw a lot of changes both on the benches and on the court for both teams
So let's touch on those before we dive into the match
I think, first of all, the biggest one is Austin has a new head coach in Chris McGown
He was the head coach of the BYU men's team from 2011 to 2015
He was the 2013 AVCA national coach of the year
He has been coaching in Japan
He's been around, but now he's back in Austin because the Italian coach Marco Bonita
He left the team for personal reasons
I very much hate when people cite personal reasons for leaving things
It could be anything, it could be illness, a death in the family
It could also be that he didn't like coaching here
It could be that he hated, yes
It's like, can we get a little more specific, please?
Trust me, Adam and I did some digging, we tried to figure it out
But they are keeping this very hush hush
So if you have any insight, please hit me up on Instagram or by email
Because we couldn't find any details other than personal reasons
And I mean, we hope everything is okay, that there's no major problems
But that's the cop-out excuse
Man, we also saw Nicole Fossett on the Austin coaching staff
She has been an assistant with the Ohio State women's team for the last couple seasons
I did see that Ohio State said goodbye to her, wished her well
But I didn't see much past that
Turns out she's coaching in Austin now
So that was very interesting to see
That was an interesting move for me
I'm still trying to figure out
I mean, there's obviously more opportunities in college
And I don't know if more prestige
But I have to think more money, especially for somebody of her name value
So this was an interesting move for me to see her on the bench at Love Austin
Definitely, I felt like Ohio State was a great fit for her
She grew up in Ohio, solid program
They're building, they're young
I thought she would be there for a while
So I was surprised to see that she left
And like you said, to go to Austin, of all places
I can see a lot of former volleyball athletes and people that have been in the USA system
Like getting involved in love
I think a lot of former athletes are very excited about it
And they're trying to build careers in that space
And help the mission, which I think a lot of them are passionate about
But to give up the opportunity at Ohio State, yeah, it's an interesting decision
So that was the bench changes we saw
Now on the court, we saw some differences on both sides as well
From the Austin side, we saw Asia O'Neill starting
Molly McCage has been starting for most of the season
But that was a difference
We also saw Zoe Jarvis move to DS
And Inoue, Inoue, you guys know who I mean, is now playing libero
I'm a little surprised to see the changes for Austin just because they were playing well
And they were definitely up and down
I wouldn't have considered them particularly consistent
I mean, they were better than this
Yeah, I mean, if you have a solid...
I'm shocked that Inoue wasn't playing more during the season
Like she wasn't even coming in as a DS ever and all of a sudden she's out there
She played great, I thought she was really good
But I'm like, where have you been hiding?
Well, and I think the other thing to remember here is that this coach is brand new
Doesn't know the players
So things are shaking up
He's trying to get his footing, understand what all of the athletes are capable of
So he does need to be given a little bit of leeway as he tries to figure out what his roster looks like and what he has
Well, I'm saying I liked the libero decision because I thought she was very good
Yeah, I don't disagree with you, but I'm saying that the changes are not surprising given he is going to put his own stamp on this team
Well, and I think that she actually was playing libero last week too
So this one's like a brand new change
This was like the first time we have seen Austin in this like lineup
So keep that in mind
From the Madison side, Sarah Franklin did not play
And Jennifer Janiska from Germany was playing in her spot
Other than that, we also saw Annie Drews
She had been like flashing in and out here and there through the season, but was not playing consistently
So we saw Annie Drews shoe mucker back, Franklin out, replaced by Janiska
So my initial thought on this move for Madison was that it was about ball control
I didn't hear about any injuries, so I'm assuming that was not the case
But I know that Sarah Franklin was being picked on
I know that Madison wasn't running their middles as much as I think they probably should have
And I think that had a lot to do with ball control
I'm curious if...
Well, they also switched their libero
They had Wong from China playing all season, and now they switched to Medved
So my instinct is that Furbringer wanted to start from the back, dial in the pass, try and find some rhythm
as a team, and then go from there
And they won two matches in a row, it's hard to say that...
I mean, obviously that had a factor, but they're also at home
Well, they had to make a change
I'm sorry, you're like bleeding out all season, you need to change something
So I'm glad to see that some adjustments were made
You can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result
The ball control makes sense to me
My question is, do you think this is a sustainable change for long-term success?
Annie Schumacher was scoring efficiently
I... okay, we know I'm not a fan, but like, she was scoring points for them, albeit mixed in with errors
I don't think they were getting a ton of scoring prowess from the left sides
I don't know, is it sustainable?
But you win two matches in a row like that, if passing is the big difference, then ride that, you know?
I kind of agree with you, but I also disagree with you
I think that, yes, you needed to show up your passing, I think that that was a good call
Watching Annie Drews, for me, I think she scored at least five balls where she just nicked the block on a tip
Oh, yes
But that's not an in-system play, to me that is not sustainable
Well, I think that was a product of Carlini's setting
She got player of the game for that match and I was stunned because I thought her setting against Austin was super inconsistent
I thought the setting across the board in this match was not very good
Also fair
But you're saying she's tipping and I'm like, you saw the left sides having to tip a ton, you saw Drews having to tip a ton
They had no choice because the balls were like flaring tight and then they were flaring off and then they were switching like it was wild
But that comes to me to the consistency of whether this change is going to work long term
So a couple things, you make a change and teams don't have any video on those rotations, there's less preparation, you can go out and score
It's like a coach bump, you get an instant juice to your team when you make switches
When I watch this, who is going to score points consistently?
Because when I watch them score on those tips, that is not sustainable to me
Well, you need two players who can score consistently at least and you need to run your middle if you want to be a successful team long term
I completely agree with you in that
Well, and I thought they did run the middle well because Anahal had nine points, Carrera had eight, they hit 357 and 500
I thought Madison did a better job of getting the middles into the match and I think that will lead to sustainable long term success
But you're going to need, I don't know if you can ride Annie Drews all the way to the top of the league
And if you don't have Franklin in, who's going to score points on the left side?
Chausse is consistent, I like her as a player, but you don't have a horse on the left side without Franklin on the floor
I'm just not sure that works long term
I think the devil's advocate here, do you need a horse on the left side if you're able to consistently run the middle and keep the other side honest?
Because if you don't have a horse and you're getting your less capable scorers one on ones, that's something
Yeah, but I don't, it's good that Madison ran the middle more, but I don't think that Hall and Carrera are, they can score you some points
But I don't think they can win you the match from an offensive standpoint
They're not like Anak Bagu
Exactly, and so while they do need to use that to open it up, I just don't think, they need Franklin on the left side as an option to anchor everything
But she needs to be able to pass
And so that is going to be the consistent trade off of where do they find their balance in that regard
Well it's like Franklin is one of the top five scorers in the league
So my question is, is it because she's passing so bad that she has to get every ball because the setter's running everywhere
That she's just getting that many more attempts than everybody, or is she that good of a scorer?
Yeah, I mean
I want to say it's somewhere in between
Yeah, probably, and you know, Carlini, they passed better and Carlini didn't set well
Like I'm waiting for everything to click for Madison, and you know maybe Carlini will find some rhythm with the passing being a little more consistent
I mean again, it's a step in the right direction for them
There were some individual bright moments in that, but watching it, I'm just not sure it's sustainable with what they're doing
Fair
I mean watching it, I was also like, how is Austin losing this?
Because I wasn't watching Madison being like, oh my gosh, you're a brand new team, amazing
I was watching them being like, okay, you're not like getting aced and you're not making just bonehead mistakes
But I'm watching it, I'm like, I feel like Austin should be winning this
None of the Austin players played particularly well
There were a lot of errors
We talked about the setting, I thought Carly Lloyd struggled in that match
Well they keep giving her chances
I saw her set a slide that nobody was there for
It happened three times
Completely missed her hitters, but then like a middle ran a route, they're like
A 31
Well she ran the in between behind the set, you know what I mean?
Not the C, not the slide, the one in between, the gap behind
And Lloyd set the full slide, and it's like how...
The thing is, that's not the first match I've seen this happen
I've seen this consistently, but they keep giving her the nod to start
And then they have to take her out, and I'm like, I'm not saying Torres came in and was like all world or anything, but
I mean, again, and you have a coach in here who's trying to figure it out
I get it from a coaching standpoint, you come in, you have Carly Lloyd
You know what she has done in her past, you're gonna give her a shot, you wanna maintain that relationship
But it's, where is that going to happen?
And you know, I thought Ugbagu was their best player by far
They set her way more, and we've been talking about how they have to set her more
And I was like, hallelujah, this is what they need to do
They got her 18 balls, she had, she hit 6-11 with 11 kills
That is the example of a player who can dominate in the middle, and you need to get her the ball as much as you can
Stop me, stop me, she was the best player in the match for me, hands down, I thought she was outstanding
Yeah, I was so happy to see them getting her the ball more, she's the difference maker for that team
And you could see her, because she was getting more involved, she was more vocal
She was more of a leader on the court, able to draw on her experience to direct the team
The thing that confused me is, they yanked Madison Skinner at one point and put Julian Fauset in
Meanwhile, I then see Fauset make what, 4 hitting errors in a row, and they do not put Madison Skinner in
They choose to put Cat Bell in, let me tell you
And it was the point where the right side was rotating to the back row
If we're picking somebody that needs to attack back row here, I'm picking Madison Skinner all day over Cat Bell
That decision left me head scratching
I was like, what are they doing? Is she injured? Can she not go back in?
Honestly, my first thought was the coach was trying to make a point, I don't know what that point was
Because, I mean, other than Ugbagu, Skinner was your best hitter
She was only hitting 188, but nobody else was even close to that
And she was the only one other than Ugbagu who was scoring points
I was shocked that they pulled her, it didn't make any sense to me
That they pulled her, but then they just didn't put her back in?
Yeah, because Eggleston struggled, she hit 0-42
I thought Eggleston passed decently, I was pleasantly surprised with her passing, but the hitting, yeah
Well, things are not great right now for Austin
And for me, they get a pass as they try and settle into a new coach, a new style, figuring it out
We'll see what happens, but if Austin is going to be successful, Maddie Skinner is part of that
Whether it's on the left, whether it's on the right, take your pick
To me, she needs to be on the floor, your team needs to revolve around Ugbagu and Skinner
And they're going to have to figure that out
Overall, I was happy to see Madison get two wins
Just to move their season in the right direction
For me, the jury's out on whether this is sustainable for them
I want to see how they play in the next two weeks
To me, this is going to be, can you build on that momentum?
Do your changes stick and do you find a way to get Franklin back in?
I'm cautiously optimistic for them in that regard
And on the Austin side, I'm going to forget about this match
I'm going to give them a pass and give them a week to settle in
Another week to settle in with the coach and figure out what's going on
If I don't see Maddie Skinner on the court next week
Watch out everybody, Adam's coming for you
I'm confused
So we will see, I will say Ugbagu needs to keep getting as many balls as she can
Keep Eggleston on the floor to pass, don't set her
Well, Eggleston typically is your point scoring left side
That's what they have Gennari and Hawk on the court for, for ball control
Eggleston, her role is she needs to score
Yeah, they got to figure out the setting for it
I mean everybody has rough games, don't like, I know but
The setting needs to get ironed out
For sure, yes
But good for Madison, we'll see what happens with Austin
At least it made things interesting
I enjoyed watching that match
Our second feature match of the week is on the NCAA men's side
Lewis versus Loyola Chicago
I feel like we've kind of been staying west coast a little bit for men
So we wanted to mix it up and go back midwest, more east, you know what I'm saying?
Heading home
Yeah, we're on our way home over here
Into the snow
This is a typical thing that we were talking about earlier of
You've got that top chunk of teams and then you've got teams that are very good
But are more, as Adam said, like second tier, I guess
This was an entertaining match
And I think we saw a lot more rallies and digs happening because as you were kind of saying earlier
They don't have the, necessarily the same crazy physicality and power that some of the top teams have, you know?
It was definitely not as terminal
There weren't as many errors
They had better ball control
And again, part of that's because the ball's not coming quite as fast when you're watching it
So it was definitely entertaining
For the viewers who like the volleyball rallies and were missing maybe some of that NCAA women's feel
Watching the match had that same kind of, oh man, what a dig, there's a rally
You know, went over and it was a different
It was different from watching, like you said, the top six teams play
Which was like, holy cow, those guys are hitting above the antenna
It's like just run off of the quarter, you're going to just get impacted into the floor
Yeah, so I enjoyed watching this
I thought Lewis was very good
I liked Lewis, okay
Even though it was considered an upset
I think I said like 15-7
I really liked Lewis and I thought they won for sure
The setting battle and the libero battle
I would agree with you on that
Lewis to me was just a good volleyball team
They were skilled, they passed well, they looked well trained, they operated as a unit
You could tell they had a game plan and everybody knew their roles and responsibilities
To me watching them, you go, okay, their coach knows what they're doing
They have a style and an identity as a team and they execute that
And watching that, you think, okay, if they had a 6-9 opposite who touched 12-2
They could compete with all of the other teams
Do you know what I mean?
They didn't have, like their right side played pretty well
Oh, gosh, I might have mispronounced that, sorry
Yeah, he was
He played pretty well, but I think like their left sides
While they were consistent and did well in this match
I think once they face like a Hawaii where they have to block a go head to head with Tretrisky
Or, you know, with Ido David or, you know, flexing people like that
I think that's where you'll start to see the difference
Your dad has said something to me since I've known him about volleyball
And this resonates with me 100% of the time
Big and skilled beats little and skilled every time
But little and skilled can beat big and unskilled
And that is Lewis to me
But like you were looking up their heights during the match and you were like shocked
Yeah, their setter was 6-7, okay
Yeah, they're not tiny, obviously
But they're not like elevating
The height that they're playing above the net is not the level of the top five
As a team, Lewis only made 13 errors in four sets
Including serving?
No, they made 13 hitting errors in four sets
That is very impressive to me in men's volleyball
When did they hit on the match?
They hit 347 as a team
Compared to Loyola Chicago who made 24 hitting errors and hit 219
So they are, again, they're skilled
They know what they're trying to do
They make good decisions
Like volleyball IQ wise, they were very good
I said this like very early in the first set
Which may be premature
But you guys love my opinions, don't you?
No, I'm just kidding
But it held true for me for the entirety of the match
Is that I thought that the Lewis setter just ran a much cleaner offense
Watching the Loyola Chicago side
I thought he ran the middle and left side pretty well
Their main point scorer, Parker Van Buren, is on the right
And I found the setter's right side or back setting to be very inconsistent
Which took Van Buren out of his rhythm
The back row attacks were way too far behind the 10-foot line
Well, it's crazy that they didn't execute with the right side very well
But they still set him 50 times in the match
Well, that's the thing, it looks like a struggle at times
And I'm like, I feel like he's better than this
But you could see him, and I don't know
Adam picked this up about him pretty quickly
Is that his jump is very up and down
Which may lend itself to front row attacking
But it's not ideal for back row attacking
You want to kind of drift forward in the back row
So maybe that was also a piece
I had a hard time picking up whether he was jumping straight up and down
Because of the sets or because that's what he normally does
And the other thing I noticed was that his arm didn't come all the way back
When he was attacking, but it did when he was serving
And so, having only watched him once, I'd need to watch again a little bit
And maybe the setter had an off night
We don't have a comparison, but he got 50 sets, he had 21 kills, he hit 260
So he didn't have a terrible night
No, that's not bad
I feel like he could have been more effective
And that was it, it wasn't
Watching him as a player, and he was pretty dynamic, he jumped well
I thought he was the most athletic person on the floor
Watching both teams
But there was something missing in that match specifically
Where you thought that he could have been doing more
And it would be, I mean I want to watch Loyola Chicago again
They are obviously ranked in the top 10
That was not a top 10 performance in my opinion
And so, I'll watch again when they play a good opponent and see
Is it a difference, am I noticing the same things
But he can be a difference maker, and he wasn't enough of one in that match
I did think they're outside Fabikovic
I thought he was pretty solid, pretty consistent
Well they only set those two players
So the opposite got 50, Daniel got 38, and hit 211
I thought they ran the middle, like their middles when they were run were scoring
Like they were pretty effective in my opinion
Was that Nicodemus?
Nicodemus Meyer, you guys, okay
So Nicodemus only got-
My cousin named her hamster Nicodemus once
So when I saw this name I was like, wow
Brought back a childhood?
Well I thought it was always like, there was a character on Star Trek
Because my uncle's obsessed with Star Trek
And I'm like, he for sure named this hamster
But then Adam just told me before this that that's not the case
Because he also loves Star Trek
It is biblical for sure
Now if it is a Star Trek name and I'm just blanking this morning
I'm gonna look like a Star Trek frog
Is it a Star Trek character? Adam claims to be a huge Trekkie
And if he's missing this, unacceptable
But Nicodemus only got seven sets
I mean he was efficient, he got five kills, he hit 571
What, get the man the ball
He only hit seven
I will say, the setter got pulled
Correct
In what was his set three
Yeah
And Smiths Van Oyen came in, finished the match
I liked this guy
I thought that he delivered a really nice ball
He is a redshirt freshman
So I don't know if that is playing a role into why he's not playing more
But I thought that the way that he ran the offense was much smoother
Curious if he'll start to play more, I don't know
But I liked him better
Well and again, I would agree that he did a better job when he came in
I thought it made a difference
I'm curious
It's hard with no comparison
We need to watch them play a little more
But in a snapshot in one match, he was better that night
The game was entertaining
The four set had a ton of lead changes
Loyola was up 10-5
And then all of a sudden, they were down 13-12
And there were runs of points
How does that happen?
I think that match very easily could have gone to five
Had Loyola been able to keep their lead at 10-5
But again, Lewis is one of those teams, and I would say similar to Stanford
Where they make you beat them
I thought they served well
I loved their serving plan
They passed well
But again, they served so many short balls
So many
And they were working
Lewis, it was obvious
They're well coached
They had a game plan
Everybody was on point
They were executing as a team
I really liked Lewis as a team
I liked them too
The thing for me is Lewis was not hiding the fact that they were short serving
Not at all
It was like hitting the ceiling
And the amount of miscommunication on the Loyola Chicago side on these short balls was astounding to me
Like the libero running in front of the left side trying to pass it
Just the middle standing there and then jumping out of the way at the last second
It's like this ball is literally a rainbow
Like somebody take charge of this
Because Lewis must have obviously identified something to be like, yes, let's exploit this
The other thing that was nuts to me is every single time there was a short serve
They ran a 31 at the middle, fastball over the top to the left side and only set those two players
They never set the right side on a short serve once
Well, that came back to I think to you saying that's the setters most uncomfortable is going back
Again, I don't know this setter
Just watching him. I'm like he does not like setting back
But Lewis had 21 block assists and two solo blocks
Like their serve block strategy was on point
And that's compared to Loyola Chicago only had eight block assists and two solo blocks
So like Lewis obviously had a plan and they executed it at a very high level
And the other thing I will say, you talked about the setter for Lewis
He ran a super balanced offense
His hitters got 33, 27 and 22 sets as an outside core, right?
I thought the one thing I noticed in Lewis was I thought they could have run the middles a little bit more
I like the distribution of the setter to the pin hitters
I thought they did a good job with that
Again, overall Lewis super skilled, good game plan
Thought they could have run the middle a little bit more
But other than that, I really liked them as a team
I think their middles were good blockers
I feel like they're more of the blocking style middles
I thought their opposite Auguste brought a ton of energy and fire
Which like fired up the other guys on the team
Daniel Haber, the left side, like sneaky good
Yes
Like he was putting up some numbers like from an offensive perspective
From the service line like not super flashy
So he kind of flew under the radar
But I think he did really well
It's funny you mentioned that because in my notes while I was watching the game
I have Lewis number 14 is low-key good
Like you don't
Yes
It took me all match
I had that note in the fourth set
It took me all match to kind of clue in
This guy is legit
You don't notice him but every time he touches the ball it's a positive action
You need guys like that on your team
Like man
Well, I mean he was
He hit 227, he had 9 kills
He had 4 aces, 3 blocks and 8 digs
That's a solid outing
That's a great night
You need players like that
I loved moving east
It was really good
You know we hadn't seen Lewis or Loyola play
Both of them were ranked in the top 15
It was good to see kind of another style
I want to see them play some of these other teams
I'm not sure we'll see that now until
I wanted to say I heard the announcers mention that one of them is going to play CSUN
Okay
Who is like around that level, I don't know
Yeah, I'm curious just given the style how they would compete
My instinct is they're not going to compete with Long Beach
I think they could beat UCLA depending on which UCLA team we see
We never know
But I don't think they beat Irvine, I don't think they beat Hawaii
But all of the other
Even BYU, I think they could push BYU
Well that was going to BYU
I think the game against Stanford would be really good
Those matches would be super interesting just given the style
And again I thought Lewis was very skilled
So I had a lot of fun
I'm going to definitely be following them now
I feel like I finally have a good snapshot of the NCAA men's landscape
We've watched a lot of the teams
So I'm invested now
This week
I never know what's coming
It kind of stresses me out and I get excited
It's crazy
Sarah, my only line in the show notes is Adam game
And so I make these up as we go and we just kind of see what happens
You know we've watched a lot of volleyball at this point
I would say I think we're about halfway through the seasons
We've got you know Love, PVF, NCAA men's
We've got the quarterfinals of both the women's and the men's Champions League coming up
So we are going to make midseason predictions
Oh dear
So we're going to go through each league
And you are going to tell me which two teams you think
Do you have references for me?
I do
So I have it all here
I'm going to give you the current standings
And you're going to tell me which two teams you think are going to be in the finals
Is this just based on my feelings or is it like
I'm anticipating what the rankings will be and what the matchups are
Do you know what I'm saying?
No
So I'm just going like straight feel like who cares what the playoff matchups are
Yeah who cares what the playoff matchups are
And you know if in the scenario where you have maybe a 2-3 in the semi-finals
If that's the final of those the best two teams
Like who do you think are going to be the best two teams in the league at the end?
Okay
So let's start with Love
We have Atlantis 8-1
Houston's 4-4
Austin is 4-5
Omaha 4-5
Salt Lake 4-6
And Madison 3-6
And this is as of Saturday night
I think we are going to see the final be Atlanta and Houston
And I think Houston will win
I have always in watching Love
I feel like Houston is the most well balanced and the most consistent team
Again consistent teams you don't have a perfect season necessarily
So yes they've dropped a couple here and there but Atlanta Houston, Houston takes it
We have the same prediction on that one
Really?
Yeah I like Houston's ability to win in big moments
You know I think they're still playing lots of players again all things being equal
I like their setting
Yeah
I like their right side, I like their left side pair, I like their middles are coming on
Like yeah
Yeah I would agree with you on that one
Okay let's move to the PDF
We have Orlando is 10-4
The Supernovas are 8-4
Indy 7-5
Vegas 7-5
Atlanta 6-8
San Diego 5-8
Grand Rapids 4-8
And Columbus 4-9
Oh dear, oh dear
Okay I think Orlando will be in the final
I think you know they have really hit their stride
Found good rhythm
And like even though they've been pushed to 5 a few matches
They've been dominant recently
So oh then the second team
I mean Omaha knows how to win
They did it last year, a lot of their core players are back
I feel like I'm copping out and just going for whoever's in the top two right now
But oh I also like Vegas even though they're underperforming
Maybe they'll find it again
Now I'm overthinking it
I want to say Orlando Omaha or Orlando Vegas
I'm going Orlando Indy
What?
I like Indy
You like? We've been? What? No
Okay well
I think they're going to figure it out
You know what I'm just going to go for a flyer here and say Orlando Vegas, Orlando takes it
I think Orlando will win
I think they're the best team this year
Now barring any trades or anything like that
But I think Indy's going to figure it out
Alright let's move to NCAA men's
We've spent a lot of time talking about this
There's lots of teams
I'm not going to go through the 1-20
But who do you think is going to be standing in the finals?
Oh my goodness
I feel like Long Beach State hasn't really been pushed yet this season
I think entering big west play will be a huge indicator
As to where they're actually at
Because I want to say their preseason schedule
Like I wasn't super or like their schedule to date
I haven't been super impressed with it
They've played a lot of lower ranked teams as opposed to like a UC Irvine whose schedule was loaded
So it's hard for me to make a prediction at this moment
But if I'm just going to go for it based on what I've seen so far
I'm going to say Long Beach State Hawaii in the finals
Was that yours?
I thought I was going to have a different take than you
I love Hawaii, I love them right now
And you guys know I love UC Irvine too
But they need to figure out their lineup situation
If like Kyriaku stays in they need to figure out that L2 situation
Like I don't know they've kind of taken a dip lately
But I do really like them too
But no I'm going to say Long Beach State Hawaii in the final
And then
You know what let's just be wild I'll say Hawaii wins
I was shocked I thought I didn't think you were going to pick Hawaii
Oh my gosh
I like them I think they are
I think right now they've got lightning in a bottle
And they're big and they're getting better
And I would have said UC Irvine two weeks ago
But they're just they lose out on the size matchup in the setting position in their L2 unless they figure it out
Why in their middle?
Yeah
So it will be interesting
When they run into a middle a team who has dominant middles they can't compete
And I definitely think UCLA is the dark horse of the tournament
And I say dark horse they're very good but they're inconsistent
They're so up and down
They can't seem to find the motivation to be good night in and night out
They play down to their competition
Would I be surprised if UCLA wins?
No but I don't think they're showing the characteristics of a championship team right now
Okay let's move on to Champions League
I'm going to give you the teams who are in the quarterfinals what the matchups are
So what am I picking who's going to make the final four?
Who's going to make the final four?
No I want you to pick who's going to be in the final
Like give me your top two teams
Okay
We're going to do this for women's and men's
We haven't been following men's so the men's is going to be a flyer
But we will watch the quarterfinals
So on the women's side you have Milano Italy versus Izahsi Baci Turkey
Okay so then you have Lodz from Poland playing Scandicci from Italy
You have Vakith Bank Turkey versus Fenerbahce Turkey
You have Rejo from Poland versus Cunegliano from Italy
So three Italian teams, three Turkish teams and two Polish teams
Where is your head at?
Okay I'm not going to overthink this
I think the Milano Izahsi Baci matchup is going to be very good
But I think Izahsi Baci is going to win
Their roster is stacked
I think Scandicci will win
I think Vakith Bank will win
I think Cunegliano will win
Then for the final four I think
Again I don't know what the matchups are exactly
Is it the Scandicci plays Vakith Bank?
I didn't look that far
This is just the order in which they're playing
Okay so if I'm just taking it randomly
I don't know the matchups
I'm just looking at these four teams and I'm going to pick a team to win
If it was just completely random I would probably
I will say the final Izahsi Baci Cunegliano
I'm going to be bold and say Izahsi Baci will win
I think Cunegliano is going to win everything
That's my pick
Again, fair guess, they're stacked
And unless Fenurbaci plays in the semis against Cunegliano
I think they will be in the final as well
Fenurbaci
Yeah
I mean the Turkish teams are loaded
Yeah
Loaded
That's my pick
Okay, I got Izahsi Baci Cunegliano again
Do I know the matchups? Absolutely not
And Adam has Fenurbaci Cunegliano
With Cunegliano
Oh baby
Alright, for fun
This is going to be completely made up because I have not followed men's overseas at all
Yeah, we'll roll the dice on this but I think it's fun anyway
So men's Champions League is going to be Lundbergh, Germany versus
Zaverci?
Zaverci, Poland
We've got Monza, Italy versus Perugia, Italy
We've got Ankara from Turkey versus Warsaw from Poland
Piraeus from Greece versus Wigel from Poland
Okay, I cannot make an informed statement about almost any of these
I will say Perugia will win
I think Zaverci will win
Ankara and Piraeus
I'm making this up you guys
I think Perugia is going to take it all
They've got Leon on that team I think, right?
Or the Polish right side
He's outstanding
I'm going to take Perugia, they've been good for a while
Again, shocker that Trentino didn't make it but too bad
I'm going to go with a flyer, I'm going to pick Lundbergh, Germany
Whoa
In the final, again we're flying here, I've got to watch some matches
We'll talk about this again next week or the week after they've played
And we'll go with, let's go with Poland and Wigel
Okay
We'll see what happens
We'll keep you posted after we actually watch them play next week
Anyway, there are your predictions for the end of season
And we'll see how that goes, I hope you have fun
Alright, it is time for my personal favorite time of the show, listener questions
Our first question is a two-parter
Okay
So maybe I can take the first one, you can take the second part
But can you rank the major overseas leagues from top to bottom?
You mentioned that some of the European leagues like the Italian league are a cut above the rest
Part two, given that love is probably the higher level volleyball in the US right now
What would love have to do to get up to par with those European leagues in terms of quality?
This is going to be generally, like a general statement
It's not like set in stone
But if I'm looking at the women's leagues, I would say the top two are for sure Italy and Turkey
You know, Russia, they have strong teams
The Russian players, especially what's going on politically right now, stay in Russia
And you do have several foreigners that are continuing to go to Russia
So the Russian league is like still legit
It just depends on like who makes the decision to go there
We're not seeing them in Champions League anymore
So Italy, Turkey, Russia, Poland
I would say those are probably the top top
Then we take a step down a little bit and we get into the likes of Germany, France
You know, Japan's, the style is very different, but the Japanese league is pretty good
And then we take another step down and that's when we start to see like Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece
Those type of leagues
So I would say that you've got like the upper echelon
You've got the middle tier with Germany, France, Japan
And then you've got like the lower tier
Where does China fit in, in your opinion?
I would put it, the thing is there are like very, very good Chinese teams
And then like the league top to bottom might not be the strongest
But when you get to the top top, it's very good
I would probably put it on like the Japan, Poland level
Fair enough
Yeah, I think it's pretty good
On the men's side, I'm not as well versed in the men's
But historically, Italy, Poland, Russia, very, very good
Germany is solid
Turkey, I would say second tier
France
France in that group
When you get into like the Scandinavia again, Spain
There is a lot of crossover because again, you're seeing the countries who are able and willing to invest in the sport
So while it might not look the exact same, you see a similar general layout
So we're talking about love versus the other teams
I mean, to me, it just comes down to financially what you're offering players
So I think you have good liberos in love
I think you have good setters in love
Where you're lacking is generally on the pins
And you don't have any of the top right sides in the world other than Jordan Thompson playing in love
Would you put her at the top?
She's not at the top
I want to give her the respect that she deserves based on what she's done
But again, she's not playing at that level
I mean, when you're comparing to like Boskovich, Vargas, Egon, those women are both
Yeah, but you already look at she's found her rhythm and she's pretty much unstoppable in love in these last couple of games
I would definitely put her like top 10 in the world
Yeah, for sure
But so you're missing that and then you're missing the really good left sides
You're Gabi's, you're Italian left side
Like all of those players are still playing overseas
And remember when we want the middle?
So like every position
Yeah, and I was going to say the middles are just bigger and more physical
The game happens faster
You can't pay those players or they are not currently paying those players those salaries to bring them in and play in this league
So that to me is the biggest difference
The other thing I will say is that love is not set up to have, you know, one owner come in and pay a million dollars in salary
You come into the league
And so you don't see those top teams who either have a super rich owner or a big corporation who loves volleyball going
I'm going to buy all of the best players and we're going to make a run at Champions League
It is a unified approach to creating a good product versus 10 owners competing to have the best team
And I think that that fundamental difference changes how the league functions
Well, I think you see typically three different types of motivation when athletes are choosing where to go
Tell me if you agree with this or not
You see money
So players are either going for huge contracts, earn as much as they can
You're going for lifestyle
Somewhere where you can be comfortable, have a, you know, manageable training schedule and game schedule and enjoy your life
Or you have volleyball
Either you are looking to play against better players to improve
You're looking for a certain level of competition
You want to make sure you're starting
So I feel like those three factors or some players focus on one
Some players focus on a combination
I feel like those three things kind of come together in some capacity to determine where players go
And I think the lifestyle aspect in the US is interesting for a lot of players
But the volleyball and the money is better in other leagues
And so until that changes, I don't think you're going to see the top players there
And I'm quite frankly not sure they want those top players in the league
It is, they are very big on a showcasing American talent
Which again, and that's not wrong
That's just their approach to it
And you know, quite frankly, we don't get a lot of messaging from them other than we're here to grow the game
And we love our Americans being at home
And so it would be curious to know after the season, you know, what the future is
What they thought of the season and where it's going to go
Our second question is, can you talk about the opposites in men's NCAA volleyball?
There seems to be more impressive play by them than the outsides
That's an interesting question
I'm not sure I fundamentally agree with the question
I think, so here's
I can get behind it on a case by case basis
Well, so it depends what you mean by impressive
You generally see the monster human beings on the opposite side
So if we're talking about your ability to come screaming out of the back row
And blow people up when you're hitting the ball
It's part of the job
Absolutely, it's in the job description
You are a terminal monster
That is you're coming in and you're hitting and you're blocking
And so and serving
And so, yes, we have seen some incredible displays of physicality
Of swings of peak performances where you're scoring, you know, tons of points
And I would agree we definitely have some of those players in the NCAA right now
If we're looking at value to a team or nuance in terms of the game
I think there are some incredible outside hitters that are playing right now
You look at the two outsides for UCLA in
Robinson and Roma
If those two decide that they care about the match and that they're going to be engaged
They are out of this world
You look at we have the left side from Heno from UC Irvine
He is his own breed of magical
Well Dylan Klein for USC
Yeah, there's I'm not sure I would sit here and say that the opposites are more impressive than some of the left sides
They may be bigger and a little more physical in certain aspects
So you see some of those spectacular plays
Flexin I think is spectacular when he gets a set just his physicality how high he hits
I think to Trisky
I think, you know, Van Buren for Loyola Chicago is kind of that as well
So I think as an opposite you have more opportunities to do some of those impressive things
Where you're the out of system option and you're getting flung the ball and you come screaming in the hit
It's kind of like beach volleyball
You know people think the most impressive is when like the player makes an incredible dive and like digs the ball
And it's like for the spectators the opposite is impressive because of the physicality in beach volleyball watching the defenders like
Layout is impressive because it looks exciting
But it's like there are so many nuance II pieces that go to the get into the game that might not look impressive
But they really are
So I hear you about the impressiveness of some of the physicality of the opposites
But I don't think in my opinion that they're running the league or more impressive if you're watching the game from a holistic standpoint
Good question though. Yeah
This one's for you. So I'll tee it up
Sarah why did you switch over to beach considering that you said you've loved indoor more and what went into that decision and was it easy to make?
Whoo, story time with Sarah. Here we go
I'm assuming the majority of you know this but for those who don't I am Canadian
So I started playing for our senior national team in Canada when I was 16
And so I went through the qualification process for the Athens Olympics. Yes, I'm aging myself the Athens Olympics
Look it up. It was a while ago
Then I went to college
Stayed in Nebraska for that and then I came back went through the qualification process for London at the time
I my biggest goal as a volleyball player since I was like
Five years old was to go to the Olympics
And in going through those qualifying cycles and seeing where Canada was on the international stage for indoor volleyball, I just
Didn't feel like I would be able to accomplish my goal following that path at that time
So in thinking about what how I was going to make that happen. I kind of decided to take matters into my own hands
And pursue beach volleyball on the international side
So basically I started playing beach strictly as a means to an end which was to go to the Olympics
That is the only reason I made the switch again
Not many people know this about me, but I actually played professionally overseas and played internationally
Beach volleyball for Canada for six years
So I would take my indoor contracts from you know, August or September till April or May I would
Then go on the world tour from May until August and I kind of continued that cycle for six years. I didn't give up indoor
For a very long time. So I held on to it as long as I possibly could because I again loved it so much more and
So that is why I made that decision
Eventually, I like ended my career on the beach when I was you know, ready to stop playing indoor
But I wouldn't say it was an easy decision to make
I was wondering if I was committing career suicide on the indoor side by choosing to do that as like
What amounted to a hobby at the time like a summer hobby
But yeah, I mean the response I got or the lack of response I got when I kind of voiced my thoughts to the indoor side kind of
Made it clear that that was the choice I should make. So that is why I did that
Mission accomplished. I was able to do several things on the beach side, but no I am and always will be an indoor player
Final question of the episode is do you know what happened to Cami Miner where she's playing
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the internet and people figured she would have ended up at love
Good question. So after the NCAA season both Cami Miner and Sammy Francis signed with an agency called the Top Volley Group
It is a massive agency that has branches that work in Brazil, Turkey, Poland, like big
They have big names in this group. There aren't a ton of Americans, but you see the likes of Kendall Kip, Micah Hancock, Haley Washington
I believe Katherine Bowden and even internationally you see like Roberta Ratsky, you see Joanna Walasz
Like big names are a part of this agency so they did sign there, but they have not been placed with a team
I don't know if they couldn't find anywhere to place them at when the market opened in January
I don't know if Cami graduated, I mean if she's still trying to finish her education, I don't know
I do know that for all intents and purposes she will be playing pro because she signed with this group
But has not been placed anywhere yet
Alright looking forward to this week, let's give you some of our matches that we think we're going to be watching
And we'll let you know where you can find them
So the Love head to head match is on Thursday 9pm Eastern between Omaha and Salt Lake, that will be on ESPN Plus
The Weekend with Love is in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday and those matches can be seen on Love Live or the Women's Sport Network
Champions League is actually starting this week, quarterfinals will happen
And so I did a little digging, those matches are going to be on Tuesday and Wednesday and you can find them on EuroVolie.tv
And I was able to sign up for a subscription for 16 euros for 3 months which gets me through all of Champions League
Or what is it like 8 euros for 1 month?
Yeah, so it's very affordable if you're open to another volleyball subscription, we went ahead and did that, the feeds look good
So check that out if you want to watch any of the Champions League
In NCAA men's action on Wednesday at 9pm Eastern, Long Beach State plays Cal State Northridge
So we'll see what happens with that one, I'm predicting a 3-0 sweep
Yeah maybe
Thursday and Friday, and Sarah's calling one of these matches, at 10pm Eastern, Stanford plays UCLA
Those will be on Big Ten Plus
I am curious to watch this game given that Stanford is the backboard team that makes you beat them
Let's see what UCLA shows up, so that will be an interesting match to pay attention to
And then at 7pm Eastern on Friday, Ball State plays Loyola Chicago, so we're back on the East Coast
I'm going to watch that one because I'm curious to see what Loyola Chicago looks like in game 2
Friday and Saturday at 9pm Eastern, USC plays BYU, that is going to be a heavyweight match
That has ranking consequences to it and I think that's going to be a lot of fun
If we look at the PVF, San Diego and Grand Rapids play each other twice this week
Wednesday and Sunday both at 7pm Eastern, Vegas and Atlanta play Friday at 7pm Eastern
And all of those matches will be on the PVF YouTube channel
So lots to watch this week, take in a little bit of everything
And we will be back here to talk about all those matches next week
For men's NCAA, whenever you have an MPSF school playing, those are all shown on Big Ten Plus
And we've often had success finding them on ESPN Plus too
That concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk
There's always something shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you enjoyed this little fix
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Thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back next week