WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. The first season of love is in the books,

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everybody. And we are dedicating this episode

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not only to unpacking the final weekend that

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just happened, but also to analyzing all things

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love after their inaugural season, what we thought

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went well, what we would change, just a full...

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rundown. We do have a few updates from the rest

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of the volleyball world but overall this is going

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to be a love season recap so buckle up because

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we're about to get started. NCAA women's volleyball.

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Still making headlines. The Creighton head coach,

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Kirsten Bernthal Booth, stepped away from the

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program after leading it for 22 years. So her

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assistant, Brian Rosen, is going to replace her

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as the head coach. But she is actually going

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to be taking on an administrative role within

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Love in Omaha. I feel like that is a bold move

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when you're the head coach of a top 10 program,

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you've built the program, and then you're going

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to leave to go be an admin in love. That's, wow.

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I wonder, I mean, 22 years as a head coach of

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a program is a lot of time, energy, effort, love

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that goes into doing that. You're on the roads.

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I'm wondering if this is a way to be. in the

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sport and wind down a little bit because that's

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a long time I mean good for her she seems excited

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about it I was just shocked when I saw the news

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because I was like dang they had a really good

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season last year they've been getting better

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and better but best of luck to her and to Creighton

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as they move forward The Italian League playoffs,

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as you know, still happening. So, Conigliano

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beat Novara in four matches. Milano took down

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Scandici 3 -0. So, those two teams are meeting

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up in the finals. That starts this week. And

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then, on the men's side, Trentino is up 2 -0

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on Piacenza. And Perugia is up 2 -0 on Civitanova.

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So, match three. which could potentially be the

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last set of matches for the men's semis, is also

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happening on Wednesday. So we are winding down

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seasons left and right here. Speaking of that,

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NCAA men, it wasn't as wacky a week as last week.

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Holy. But Lewis beat Loyola Chicago 3 -0. So

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they actually took them down in both of their

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matches this season in MIVA. UCLA beat BYU in

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both of their matches. They won in four and in

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five. USC got taken down twice by Stanford in

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four and five. That is the upset of the week.

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And, you know, just after we thought Stanford

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had hit the pause button on their season because

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they weren't playing well. You know what? I think

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we should start collecting royalties from NCAA

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men's programs. We'll talk about them playing

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poorly. And then they'll come back the next week,

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and they will be great opponents. So I think

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we should start a fund for that. For sure. It's

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actually uncanny at this point how often it's

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been happening. And then they go back down to

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earth the next week. Oh, yeah. But anyway, was

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not expecting that. Long Beach State and Hawaii

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split. Long Beach took the first in four, and

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then Hawaii won the second in five. We were ultra

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-focused on Love this weekend, so we didn't watch.

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We will probably touch on some of these matches

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in our next episode because... I'm watching those

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two. There's just too much to cover with Love

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finishing up this week. We wanted to put a nice

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bow on it, but that is a big match, set of big

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matches. Unfortunately... I don't think it even

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matters because now Hawaii and Long Beach State

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have both lost two matches in the Big West. So,

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you know, Hawaii had their chance last week against

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CSUN. If they had managed to leave that series

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with two wins, they very likely would have gone

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into the Big West tournament as number one. But

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now I think it's going to go to Long Beach State

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probably. Interesting that they split. figuring

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that there's at least a decent likelihood they

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meet in the final. So both teams are leaving

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feeling optimistic with their chances, I think,

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after that. It'll be a very interesting playoff

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time. Speaking of that, the Meva playoff bracket

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is set. So Loyola Chicago actually took the one

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seed, followed by McKendree, Ohio State, Lewis,

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and Ball State. Ball State and Lewis are facing

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off in the quarters, which leaves, if Lewis wins,

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they're going to be facing Loyola Chicago in

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the semi, and Lewis has beaten Loyola Chicago

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in both of their MIVA matches this year. That

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one's going to be interesting to follow to see

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if Loyola Chicago, whether they knew this match

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didn't mean much to them in the standings, whether

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they're going to be ready to go, can you flick

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the switch? That is also one that I'm curious

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to watch come playoff time. And McKendree, that's

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their best finish in MIVA ever. So I'm curious.

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Congrats to McKendree for a great regular season.

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Are they going to be able to keep the pedal to

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the metal in playoff time? They've got a tough

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opponent in the potential semi if they advance

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in Ohio State. So things are going to get spicy

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once the semifinals roll around in MIVA. And

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the only other conference whose sort of conference

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tournament bracket has come out is Conference

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Carolinas. So Mount Olive and Belmont Abbey have

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the top two seeds there. So it is likely that

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one of those two teams are going to be in the

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tournament as well. Looking to the PVF this week,

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Atlanta took care of business again, beating

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San Diego and Orlando. Vegas. Back to not being

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able to buy a win. They lost both their games,

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one to Omaha and one to Columbus. Grand Rapids

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surprised Indian five. And as overall standings

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go, Vegas has now dropped to seventh. And they're

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only one game up on Columbus. Now, I will say

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that I picked Columbus to not finish last. But

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I didn't think at the time that it would be Vegas

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that fell below them. That is a fall from grace,

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quite frankly. Like, literally from top to bottom.

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Yeah, that's hard to do. And that game against

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Columbus was clearly important. Definitely. Now

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we see how important it was, how close they are

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in the standings. They're only a game up on Columbus,

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and Columbus beat them. Well, now I wonder if

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they're trying to tank on purpose for the draft.

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But, I mean, I have to think as a head coach,

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you're also fighting for your job. At that point,

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because, yeah, it's a mess. So we'll see how

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they play out at the end of the season and what

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happens there. But if we look at the standings

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for the PVF, again, the top four teams go on

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to the playoffs. This is looking kind of set

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at this point. I think we would have to see a

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spectacular run or a pretty big fall off. But

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the rankings are Omaha 1, then Atlanta, Orlando,

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and Indy. So Orlando jumped up a spot. They were

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hanging out in fourth. Indy probably wants that

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game back from Grand Rapids. Yeah, definitely.

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And there's still room for a little bit of jockeying.

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But in terms of going to the playoffs, I think

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that those teams are kind of shoe -ins unless

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there's a catastrophe. That might be our quickest

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weekly highlights in recent memory, ladies and

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gentlemen. We flew through that because... We've

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got a lot to take care of on the love front.

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Honestly, it was a slow week overall in volleyball.

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Love definitely took the focus. Things are, like

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we said, kind of winding down here. NCAA men

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are going to have their conference tournament

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soon. PVF only has a few matches left, and then

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we're going to get into international season.

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So just kept it snip -snap, you know, nice and

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quick this week. Still some interesting stuff

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nonetheless. All right, everybody, let's dive

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in to the Love Finals. As you know, the season

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-ending tournament playoff battle happened this

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week in Louisville in conjunction with the JVA

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World Challenge. youth event that was happening

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there. So we had two quarters followed by two

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semis with the grand finale on Sunday. In the

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strangest turn of events that ever could have

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happened. I don't even know where to begin with

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this whole weekend. Well, the word of the weekend

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was upset. Literally from start to finish. Okay,

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so quarterfinal one, Salt Lake versus Austin.

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Reverse sweep. Austin wins. Very close match,

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though. All sets were a difference of two points.

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Entertaining match. Salt Lake had no business

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losing that. They were up 14 -10 in the fifth.

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Yeah. I'm sorry. Are you kidding me? They could

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not close it out. How do you lose that? I definitely

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have some strong thoughts about that last run

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of points, but... Do tell. Okay. If you insist.

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Ronnie Jones -Perry imploded. I understand that

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Skylar Fields couldn't score. I understand that

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they had trouble putting the ball on the ground.

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There were a couple very diggable balls, and

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there were a couple lollipop serves. All to Ronnie

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Jones Perry, who didn't dig anything and got

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aced, passed backwards. It's in the details here,

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people. I understand, put a ball on the ground,

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I get it. Somebody had to finish. But there were

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a couple very straightforward plays, and she

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was at the center of all of them. So my question

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for you is, what... Aside from the meltdown at

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the end, what do you attribute the turnaround

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in that match to? Because Salt Lake was up two

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sets to zero, and then abracadabra. I thought

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that Austin was able to run their middles, and

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their middles dominated that match, in my opinion.

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They both played phenomenal. In fact, Molly McCage

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had... maybe the best weekend of her life. She

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was unbelievable. So, I mean, Maddie Skinner

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was also good. Give her props where prop is due.

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She held her own, scored a lot of points, wasn't

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the most efficient attacker, but she scored big

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points for them. But for me, it was Molly and

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Chiaka. Molly hit 476 on 21 attempts and had

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six blocks. She scored 20 points alone, which

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was the second highest on the team. As a middle,

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that's wild. But follow that up by Chiaka, who

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also had 15 points and seven blocks. She didn't

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attack as efficient as Molly did, but those two

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were able to kind of hold the middle of the court

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and be difference makers. And I, yeah, to me,

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that was the difference. And we can talk about...

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Salt Lake serving, maybe letting off a little

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pressure or Austin passing a little better or

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finding their rhythm. But for me overall, the

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middles were golden in this match. The other

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thing I will say about this match is Salt Lake

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outdug Austin 82 to 68. They had multiple opportunities

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and their pin hitters could not find ways to

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score in key moments. I think that was... Honestly,

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the biggest difference. That was the start of

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the absolute mind meld that happened in Louisville

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this weekend. Just, I can't, I still am having

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trouble processing everything that I witnessed.

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But in the second quarterfinal, Omaha beat Madison

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in four. And last week, if you remember, Adam

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was 100 % sure. I sure was. That Madison was

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going to dominate that match. I think we all

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were pretty confident. I thought Salt Lake was

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going to win the other one. I mean, Omaha came

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together. Everything came together for them.

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It was actually crazy to watch. And, you know,

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they had three matches, and we'll talk about

00:14:38.129 --> 00:14:42.909
it. But the combination of Sammy Francis and

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Lauren Stiverins being in that match, were huge

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difference makers overall in the whole weekend.

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Not necessarily, not quite as much in this match

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specifically. In this match, Maddie Kubik -Banks

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played incredibly well. Very good. She was unbelievable.

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And, I mean, I don't think we should be surprised,

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but Jordan Larson had a very good weekend for

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her team. She just had a different attitude about

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her, I thought, compared to what we've seen for

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the rest of the season. you could tell she really

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wanted to win this weekend. And it was a pleasure

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getting to watch her play like that. Before,

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and I don't, what I'm assuming will be a retirement,

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I don't know. But it was really great to see

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that kind of fire and execution again. She decided

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that this mattered to her. Yes. And she was willing

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to put the effort in, and it showed. In all of

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the matches. She led that team and that intensity

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and those intangibles along with playing well.

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And Justine Wongarantes was unreal. So good.

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Her defense is so good. And we've gotten so many

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questions. Why isn't Lexi playing? Why isn't

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Lexi playing? Because Justine is just better.

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I'm sorry. She is so good defensively. outstanding

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setter like her passing is solid there is a reason

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why she is the starting libero and Lexi isn't

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and I know Lexi's got a lot of fans but like

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she put on a show and some of the balls that

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she picked up I was like wow yeah totally agree

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and then on the flip side Sarah Franklin struggled

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that was for me I thought she was going to be

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a difference maker in these playoffs. I thought

00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:46.080
she was going to elevate the same way we've seen

00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.700
her elevate in the past. I thought that she was

00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:51.899
finding her rhythm, both passing and attacking

00:16:51.899 --> 00:16:54.379
wise, coming into this. I know it was a bit of

00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:57.460
a roller coaster season for her. I expected her

00:16:57.460 --> 00:17:01.080
to have a good match and, you know, she really

00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:02.500
didn't. They kind of stopped setting her. She

00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:07.180
only got 23 sets and she hit 087. She only scored

00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:10.079
eight points. She was a bit of a passing liability.

00:17:10.970 --> 00:17:13.509
you know, on top of everything else. They needed

00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:18.049
her to be able to score points. And she just

00:17:18.049 --> 00:17:20.309
didn't rise to the occasion on this particular

00:17:20.309 --> 00:17:23.009
day. And they brought Shausean for her eventually.

00:17:23.369 --> 00:17:25.690
Who played well. I mean, she only got 17 sets,

00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:29.029
but she hit 353. Like she did what she could

00:17:29.029 --> 00:17:31.150
do in a given situation. But you needed Sarah

00:17:31.150 --> 00:17:34.210
Franklin to be the Sarah Franklin we've seen,

00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:36.589
you know, throughout her career. I think we've

00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:39.890
talked about this before with Madison. They set.

00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:46.539
annie drew schumacher so much 52 times it's too

00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:49.980
much well the next closest person got 30 you

00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:52.019
just know where the ball's going well and the

00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:55.960
thing is is like definitely she carried madison

00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.180
through that win streak that they went through

00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:02.019
at the end of the season but when it mattered

00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:07.150
she didn't show up They fed her so many balls

00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:10.529
at the end of set three and four in that quarterfinal,

00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:15.630
and she couldn't score. And again, she did a

00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:18.730
great job helping Madison and leading Madison

00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:21.029
to the position they ended up in in the regular

00:18:21.029 --> 00:18:24.710
season. But when the regular season doesn't really

00:18:24.710 --> 00:18:29.210
matter, that match mattered. And they just kept

00:18:29.210 --> 00:18:31.690
feeding her the ball, and she was just not putting

00:18:31.690 --> 00:18:36.410
it away. A lot of the stats were pretty similar

00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:39.730
in terms of the serving and the blocking, but

00:18:39.730 --> 00:18:42.789
the big differentiator was defensively, no surprise,

00:18:42.849 --> 00:18:48.150
with Jordan and Justine in the back row. They

00:18:48.150 --> 00:18:51.869
had 71 digs to Madison's 56, and they've dug

00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:55.890
well all season, but their hitters scored in

00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.230
these matches. All of their hitters hit over

00:18:58.230 --> 00:19:02.779
200. Most of them hit over 300. As a team, They

00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:05.779
were incredibly efficient, and they hit .353

00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:08.220
in this match as a team. If you're going to dig

00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:09.759
that many balls inside out like that, you're

00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.319
going to win matches. And they just executed.

00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:16.339
Okay, let's move on to the semifinals. This is

00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:20.859
the point in the tournament where I started being

00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:27.400
like, there is a conspiracy going on. There,

00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:32.750
I'm sorry, there was no reason. Atlanta and Houston

00:19:32.750 --> 00:19:35.630
were by far the best two teams in this league.

00:19:35.789 --> 00:19:41.650
The fact that both of them lost to the bottom

00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:46.990
two seeded teams, I was like, the league wanted

00:19:46.990 --> 00:19:51.769
this to happen. They wanted the markets of Austin

00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:55.990
and Omaha to make it to that final. And then...

00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:58.730
to build off of their narrative about how much

00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:00.930
parity there is in the league and how many five

00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:03.369
setters the league has had this season. Like,

00:20:03.390 --> 00:20:06.890
come on. You cannot tell me that two reverse

00:20:06.890 --> 00:20:10.549
sweeps in the semifinals to get those two markets

00:20:10.549 --> 00:20:14.369
into the final. I was so, I'm not saying this

00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:17.690
actually happened, but I was so convinced that

00:20:17.690 --> 00:20:20.410
there was some sort of love conspiracy going

00:20:20.410 --> 00:20:23.190
on. I could not believe what I was watching.

00:20:23.589 --> 00:20:29.640
Again. For Austin, to me, the story for them

00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:33.700
was they ran their middles consistently. I'm

00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:36.500
looking at my notes from this match, and set

00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:39.940
one, Austin running the middle. Set two, Austin

00:20:39.940 --> 00:20:42.880
still running the middle. They were able, and

00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:45.619
that matters in those five -set matches. When

00:20:45.619 --> 00:20:47.819
your middles are a threat all throughout the

00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:50.700
match, that opens up your outside hitters when

00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:53.299
it counts. And again, let's look at this. Now,

00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:56.359
Matty Skinner, again. She was phenomenal. She

00:20:56.359 --> 00:21:02.220
had 29 points. She hit 364 on 55 attacks. She

00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:07.299
was very good. But your next two best players,

00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:12.519
Chiaka and Molly, hitting 238 for Chiaka, which

00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:15.140
was better than the match before, but she had

00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:20.539
four blocks, and Molly hitting 625. They both

00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:25.039
had 13 points. That makes a difference. Very

00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:28.980
good. And on the flip side for Atlanta, I thought

00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:33.920
Coutinho played well, 20 points, hit .364. Mackenzie

00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.319
Adams played very well in the first two sets.

00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:40.400
She was .229 on the match, but much higher in

00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.000
those first two sets. And I thought Tia Jimerson

00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:46.619
played pretty well. Austin showed that if they

00:21:46.619 --> 00:21:49.039
were passing well and in system, they just had

00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.819
too many weapons. And I don't think it had all

00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:54.240
come together for Austin at any point in this

00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:57.680
season, but it all just clicked this weekend.

00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.720
Their passing has not been a strength all season.

00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:07.950
Their setting was a liability. All season. Carly

00:22:07.950 --> 00:22:11.349
Lloyd just hanging out and waiting to rocket

00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:13.289
in the final. They couldn't figure out which

00:22:13.289 --> 00:22:15.630
setter was going to be consistent at any given

00:22:15.630 --> 00:22:20.210
time. So that was rough. The passing, that libero

00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:22.309
switch they made when they had the coaching change,

00:22:22.450 --> 00:22:26.809
I think that was a big plus. Because Inoue, I

00:22:26.809 --> 00:22:31.349
think she is very good. And as we were saying

00:22:31.349 --> 00:22:35.339
the entire season, get Chiaka involved. as much

00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:38.440
as possible. And to their credit, in the matches

00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.700
that they won, which were all of them, they got

00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:46.559
good passing teams in trouble. They upped their

00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.500
service pressure, their passing improved, and

00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:54.059
they ran their middles so much more consistently

00:22:54.059 --> 00:22:58.759
than they have been. And it came together right

00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:01.480
when it had to, like you said. I have a question

00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:05.029
for you. Do you prefer Madison Skinner out of

00:23:05.029 --> 00:23:07.970
the front row or the back row? She's 100 % a

00:23:07.970 --> 00:23:10.430
better hitter from the back row. My second question

00:23:10.430 --> 00:23:13.750
is, I mean, she's always going to be on the radar

00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:16.470
because of her physicality, but do you think

00:23:16.470 --> 00:23:20.349
that this performance this weekend raises her

00:23:20.349 --> 00:23:24.089
stock for Team USA as a right side? I mean, we

00:23:24.089 --> 00:23:28.369
knew she would be in the conversation. The question...

00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:32.880
I still don't think she hits angles. I still

00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.759
think she hits very straight the majority of

00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.920
the time. I think she definitely needs to become

00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:40.920
a little more creative. I think from the back

00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:43.799
row, she's outstanding. As I said, I prefer her

00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.019
as a back row hitter than front row hitter. Her

00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:50.599
blocking on the right side has improved. Do I

00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:53.759
think that she can compete right now with the

00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:59.809
likes of the Isabel Hawks? Boscovich, the Vargas,

00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:06.250
the Eganu, no. I think their angles are better.

00:24:07.349 --> 00:24:11.609
They're hitting the ball harder. They have much

00:24:11.609 --> 00:24:14.269
more experience. I think she'll be in the conversation,

00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:17.930
and I think it just depends who else they bring

00:24:17.930 --> 00:24:21.029
and how bad Jordan Thompson wants to hold on

00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:25.089
to her spot. Okay, part two of my semifinal conspiracy

00:24:25.089 --> 00:24:31.549
theory was Houston versus Omaha. This to me was

00:24:31.549 --> 00:24:35.309
the biggest upset of the weekend. And you look

00:24:35.309 --> 00:24:38.130
at Austin and the other semifinal, you always

00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:39.990
knew they had a ton of really good athletes and

00:24:39.990 --> 00:24:42.089
they just couldn't seem to figure out how to

00:24:42.089 --> 00:24:46.410
put all the pieces together. But this one, I

00:24:46.410 --> 00:24:50.230
just never saw this coming. Well, I think a huge...

00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:55.420
Shock to me. Maddie Kubik -Banks got absolutely

00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:59.299
demolished in the face in the quarter. That's

00:24:59.299 --> 00:25:01.940
one of my top five packs in the face I've ever

00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:04.279
seen. Oh, man, and she was in six back, too.

00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:08.119
That's the craziest part. Anyway, got concussed,

00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:10.160
was in concussion protocol. I thought the loss

00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:13.220
of her was going to be the beginning of the end

00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:17.039
for Omaha. I didn't think that it was a good

00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.130
matchup for them. to begin with and then seeing

00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:23.150
how Maddie has kind of really come into her own

00:25:23.150 --> 00:25:25.289
over the in the last chunk of the season and

00:25:25.289 --> 00:25:28.049
losing her after a great performance the night

00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:30.970
before I was like okay they're in trouble yeah

00:25:30.970 --> 00:25:33.809
I I thought the same thing because I didn't think

00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:39.109
Winters would be able to hang and like you said

00:25:39.109 --> 00:25:40.950
I don't think Winters was planning on playing

00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:44.259
Kubik was playing well like it's a blow to kind

00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:46.299
of the team's success at that point, after a

00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:50.359
big win in the quarterfinals. To me, the story

00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:54.539
of this match was the three middles. And I know

00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:57.460
that Lauren Stiffens is on the right side, but

00:25:57.460 --> 00:26:00.740
she's still a middle in my books. And the head

00:26:00.740 --> 00:26:04.960
of that, Sammy Francis, was unconscious in this

00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:08.859
match. She played so well, and I know she only

00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:14.369
hit... 222 but she got set 27 times in some tough

00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:17.529
situations she scored the second most points

00:26:17.529 --> 00:26:22.450
on the team at 16 and had six blocks she was

00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:26.309
a force out there and coming in having not practiced

00:26:26.309 --> 00:26:28.730
with the team on an emergency call -up or whatever

00:26:28.730 --> 00:26:31.329
the protocol was from there she was outstanding

00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:36.279
i like her She has got a little bit of swagger.

00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:39.099
She's not in your face about it, but, oh, man,

00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.680
you can tell. The way she looks through the net,

00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:43.940
sometimes I'm like, okay. She's a girl after

00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:47.420
her own heart. Yeah. And she just hits. She's

00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:52.480
a similar size to a lot of middles. She's 6 '6",

00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:56.880
so she is big. But she's not hitting sharp angles.

00:26:56.940 --> 00:26:59.799
She's hitting high and deep to the corners, which

00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:02.720
is. So different than what we typically see from

00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:06.519
middles. And it's very effective. I really like

00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:10.799
the way she hits the ball. Yeah. And so between

00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:16.420
Sammy Francis, 16 points. Emily Thader, 14 points.

00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:19.680
Lauren Stivrens, 12 points. Coming in on the

00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.759
double sub. That's where most of their points

00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:25.799
came from. Because the outside hitting core for

00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:30.539
Omaha struggled in this match. You had... Drevniak

00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:35.359
hit 179, Jordan Larson hit 116, and Jayla Winters

00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:40.400
hit 063. Those three players were, to me, the

00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:43.200
only reason they won that match. And it was really

00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.539
cool to see because middles always affect whether

00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:49.420
you win or lose, but very... They get no love.

00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:52.920
Yeah, very rarely do you see the core of them

00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.839
taking over a match and the reason you won. And

00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:00.029
I don't mean to cut... Wonga Rontas out because

00:28:00.029 --> 00:28:03.509
she was very good in this match. Again. Yeah,

00:28:03.609 --> 00:28:08.970
she was. Houston, however, Raphael Foley finally

00:28:08.970 --> 00:28:11.630
getting the respect she deserves. She played

00:28:11.630 --> 00:28:14.710
very well. She had eight blocks in that match.

00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:21.069
Yeah. Rischel is always steady. She's there predominantly,

00:28:21.289 --> 00:28:24.650
as we have said, for her ball control, her defense.

00:28:25.069 --> 00:28:27.329
Hit 204. You can't ask anything else from her.

00:28:27.329 --> 00:28:31.019
That's like her job. Merzik, as much as Maddie

00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:34.480
Skinner has elevated her performance in the last

00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.380
little while, I would say Franklin and Merzik

00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:40.880
went in the opposite direction. She did nothing.

00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:47.119
She hit 0 -50 on 40 sets. Couldn't pass, missed

00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:52.319
serves, couldn't score. Like, I was disappointed.

00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:55.700
I would agree because I think these are the moments

00:28:55.700 --> 00:28:59.450
where... You know, as Merzik, Franklin, you want

00:28:59.450 --> 00:29:03.829
to be able to elevate. And those teams are reliant

00:29:03.829 --> 00:29:08.309
on you. And it just didn't happen for them. And

00:29:08.309 --> 00:29:12.250
I was having a hard time reading Merzik's body

00:29:12.250 --> 00:29:14.990
language. She almost seemed aloof. Resigned to

00:29:14.990 --> 00:29:18.289
their fate. Yeah. Like it wasn't, you didn't

00:29:18.289 --> 00:29:21.130
see that fight that you saw when she was in college.

00:29:21.170 --> 00:29:24.130
It was smile, hug your teammate, you know, come

00:29:24.130 --> 00:29:28.130
back in. And that's. fine if that's who you are

00:29:28.130 --> 00:29:30.730
like the fire i saw from jordan larson is what

00:29:30.730 --> 00:29:33.950
i expected from merzik like you're in the beginning

00:29:33.950 --> 00:29:39.589
of your career you had better be showing up because

00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:42.609
like people are watching your crew like you're

00:29:42.609 --> 00:29:44.829
just at the beginning you're still trying to

00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:47.210
make an impression meanwhile jordan larson's

00:29:47.210 --> 00:29:50.289
at the end and she is coming with more fight

00:29:50.289 --> 00:29:53.529
and more fire and more like gumption than you

00:29:53.529 --> 00:29:56.849
like That's a problem. And Jordan calling the

00:29:56.849 --> 00:29:59.210
ball. She didn't have a great night, but when

00:29:59.210 --> 00:30:01.490
the sets were on the line, she was calling for

00:30:01.490 --> 00:30:03.930
the ball. She was making digs. She was taking

00:30:03.930 --> 00:30:07.430
swings. Yes. She made plays down the stretch

00:30:07.430 --> 00:30:09.250
because there were a couple really tight sets

00:30:09.250 --> 00:30:15.890
that she found ways to score. I don't know. Okay.

00:30:17.109 --> 00:30:20.910
What do you think about... Houston's double sub

00:30:20.910 --> 00:30:23.869
because it was being criticized left right and

00:30:23.869 --> 00:30:26.650
center all match about what a terrible choice

00:30:26.650 --> 00:30:30.509
it was um what do you think about the frequency

00:30:30.509 --> 00:30:33.029
at which they were doing the double sub and taking

00:30:33.029 --> 00:30:35.849
Hancock and Thompson out I didn't really have

00:30:35.849 --> 00:30:38.210
a problem with it I thought the other players

00:30:38.210 --> 00:30:40.990
came in did what they needed to do I mean they've

00:30:40.990 --> 00:30:43.230
been successful for a long time they've used

00:30:43.230 --> 00:30:45.289
that double sub throughout the season as far

00:30:45.289 --> 00:30:49.440
as I'm aware you know it's not like Jordan Thompson

00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.359
was unconscious in that match. Like, she played

00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:56.380
well, but she wasn't scoring on everything she

00:30:56.380 --> 00:30:59.279
touched. And, I mean, Micah Hancock is obviously

00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.400
very good. And also credit to her, she served

00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:03.980
unbelievably well in this match. Oh my gosh,

00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:05.680
I think she must have won the whole match. Yeah,

00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:08.140
and she was the reason, quite frankly, they won

00:31:08.140 --> 00:31:10.920
the first two sets. She had serving runs. One

00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:12.319
of them was in the double digits, I believe.

00:31:12.660 --> 00:31:15.359
Crazy. And I think it was the first set. She

00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:19.200
was so good. In that regard. But you know what?

00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:21.259
I didn't have a problem with it. It is something

00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:23.519
that they've relied on all season. They were

00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:25.180
number two in the league. They've had a lot of

00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.400
success. For all intents and purposes, it should

00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:31.400
still be going. And I understand that Grace Froehling

00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:34.599
hasn't played for a little while. But it hasn't

00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:36.960
been criticized up until this point. And just

00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:41.319
because they were getting into some run issues,

00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.720
all of a sudden it was because of the double

00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:47.009
sub. And I was like, wait, what? But they don't

00:31:47.009 --> 00:31:49.490
make many other subs, so you have them sitting

00:31:49.490 --> 00:31:51.970
there. And if you need to use it, you use it.

00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:54.150
And if it doesn't work, you can take it out.

00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:58.710
I didn't think it was a coaching error in any

00:31:58.710 --> 00:32:02.069
way, shape, or form. And like you said, I feel

00:32:02.069 --> 00:32:04.190
like it was kind of a similar situation to the

00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:07.269
Andy Drew Schumacher where Jordan Thompson was

00:32:07.269 --> 00:32:10.829
quite dominant in the second part of the season.

00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:15.369
And I don't think... She was okay, but I don't

00:32:15.369 --> 00:32:17.569
think she was playing at the level that we are

00:32:17.569 --> 00:32:20.710
used to seeing her play at in that match. Well,

00:32:20.769 --> 00:32:22.990
again, she played well in the first two sets.

00:32:24.509 --> 00:32:28.569
The sets they won. Yeah. And then she had a little

00:32:28.569 --> 00:32:31.369
trouble scoring. And again, she had trouble scoring

00:32:31.369 --> 00:32:35.289
after 20. And we have mentioned that before because

00:32:35.289 --> 00:32:39.490
you know where the ball is going. At that point,

00:32:39.569 --> 00:32:42.509
Mirzik's not playing particularly well. Point

00:32:42.509 --> 00:32:45.410
is on the line. Everybody knows it's going to

00:32:45.410 --> 00:32:47.430
Jordan Thompson. They're putting up a good block.

00:32:47.609 --> 00:32:49.950
They're playing defense around them. You have

00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:54.009
Jordan Larson and Juan Garantes digging you.

00:32:54.130 --> 00:32:56.289
You have a decent -sized block up there when

00:32:56.289 --> 00:32:59.670
you're doing the Stiverins substitution and Sammy

00:32:59.670 --> 00:33:03.470
Francis is up there. They managed to apply a

00:33:03.470 --> 00:33:05.829
lot of pressure to Thompson at the end of those

00:33:05.829 --> 00:33:10.660
sets, and she didn't score, and Jordan did. Friday

00:33:10.660 --> 00:33:13.619
night, I just sat after the games and I was like,

00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.900
I don't know what I just saw. Like, what is happening?

00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:20.420
Sammy Francis coming to the team and Lauren Stiverance

00:33:20.420 --> 00:33:24.319
coming back from injury injected new life to

00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.980
them. And maybe there's something to be said

00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:29.180
for not having video on them, for not seeing

00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:31.099
them before, because you saw all of these other

00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:33.420
players, you know, seven times throughout the

00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:37.319
season. But those two found a way to make a difference

00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:42.759
and it was fun to watch. And now the final. Unfortunately,

00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.680
the most straightforward of all the matches.

00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:46.099
You would hope that the final would be the most

00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:48.140
exciting, but this one was pretty cut and dry.

00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:53.700
A dominant performance by Austin. They just weren't

00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:59.400
going to lose. No. Omaha is known for their passing

00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:03.000
and defense. Austin found a way to break down

00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.920
their serve -receive. They were also in system.

00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:11.050
which has been their weakness. So they had all

00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:14.769
options available all the time, and they blocked

00:34:14.769 --> 00:34:20.690
like crazy. 16 blocks to three on the match.

00:34:21.269 --> 00:34:25.090
That's insane. Insane. Omaha's passing struggled,

00:34:25.269 --> 00:34:29.510
so their offense was quite slow, and with a blocking

00:34:29.510 --> 00:34:34.719
core like Austin has. You can't run it that slow

00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:37.019
because they were just camped out. They knew

00:34:37.019 --> 00:34:39.199
where the ball was going at all time. And honestly,

00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:43.119
they didn't even have to read or do any planning.

00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:46.139
It was just like, wait for the set, close the

00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:49.340
block. It was like very volleyball 101. I mean,

00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:55.179
Austin's middles were good again. But the story

00:34:55.179 --> 00:34:58.699
of this match was Logan Eggleston and Maddie

00:34:58.699 --> 00:35:01.500
Skinner. I have to read you their stat line because

00:35:01.500 --> 00:35:09.210
it's... off the hook. Logan hit 469 on 32 attempts,

00:35:09.530 --> 00:35:15.070
and she had five blocks for 22 points on the

00:35:15.070 --> 00:35:20.489
match in three sets. She was amazing. And Skinner

00:35:20.489 --> 00:35:24.010
followed up right behind, 21 points, hit 308

00:35:24.010 --> 00:35:29.269
on 39 sets, hit some ridiculous shots coming

00:35:29.269 --> 00:35:32.559
out of the back row. It was... Amazing to watch.

00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:36.300
She also had four blocks and five digs. Those

00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:40.340
two players showed up to play in the final and

00:35:40.340 --> 00:35:43.480
were untouchable. Well, we have to give credit

00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:47.440
to Ogbalgu and McKage too because they were so

00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:51.380
good in the first two matches that Omaha knew

00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:55.420
if Austin is in system, we need to stick with

00:35:55.420 --> 00:35:58.309
their middles. And I'm not saying that Eggleston

00:35:58.309 --> 00:36:00.969
and Skinner had like no block up. They definitely

00:36:00.969 --> 00:36:05.409
did. But the way, the power of the middle when

00:36:05.409 --> 00:36:08.349
it is working and it was working really well

00:36:08.349 --> 00:36:11.170
in the two matches leading up to that, it makes

00:36:11.170 --> 00:36:14.090
your outside's lives so much easier. Like there

00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:16.949
were definitely some seams available. There were

00:36:16.949 --> 00:36:19.570
some angles available that probably wouldn't

00:36:19.570 --> 00:36:23.429
normally be if A, they weren't passing so well

00:36:23.429 --> 00:36:26.769
and B, the middles hadn't just. dominated in

00:36:26.769 --> 00:36:30.590
the matches prior i kept saying all match omaha

00:36:30.590 --> 00:36:34.269
needs to just like unload on their serves because

00:36:34.269 --> 00:36:37.329
they have no chance they're just austin was in

00:36:37.329 --> 00:36:41.429
system all the time i mean omaha didn't take

00:36:41.429 --> 00:36:43.690
enough chances from the service line they had

00:36:43.690 --> 00:36:47.010
two aces and two heirs they needed to go back

00:36:47.010 --> 00:36:50.869
and bomb serves at the passers and it's one other

00:36:50.869 --> 00:36:53.269
interesting thing you talk about the middles

00:36:53.269 --> 00:36:55.429
not being able to close and leaving some seams,

00:36:55.610 --> 00:36:58.949
what that does is it allows the hitters to stay

00:36:58.949 --> 00:37:02.449
away from Justine. It gives you options to not

00:37:02.449 --> 00:37:04.389
have to go to where they're setting up their

00:37:04.389 --> 00:37:08.590
defense. And that also renders her more ineffective

00:37:08.590 --> 00:37:11.949
than she was against the other matches. And I

00:37:11.949 --> 00:37:13.889
thought that was a huge, they managed to take

00:37:13.889 --> 00:37:16.610
her out of the game a little bit. Yeah. Well,

00:37:16.690 --> 00:37:21.139
we saw Dikema did not play good defense. The

00:37:21.139 --> 00:37:24.619
outsides for Austin had their way hitting the

00:37:24.619 --> 00:37:27.340
ball at her. She was not picking anything up.

00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:31.219
And they were hammering balls in the seam. Like

00:37:31.219 --> 00:37:32.719
there were balls that landed in the middle of

00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:34.980
the court between the block. Like you're not

00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.000
going to stop that. And so it was disappointing

00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:39.519
not to see Omaha make the serving adjustment

00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:43.699
and just go for it because I think that is a

00:37:43.699 --> 00:37:46.460
huge reason for Austin's success over the weekend

00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:48.679
is their service pressure definitely increased.

00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:52.480
And they missed a bunch out the baseline in all

00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:55.480
matches we watched. But they just kept going

00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:58.000
and it allowed their block to come into it, which

00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:01.440
is their strength. Well, they made life for Jalen

00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:05.739
Winters miserable. Winters was absolutely atrocious.

00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:11.539
I'm sorry. She hit negative 0 -3 on 31 sets.

00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:17.500
She was not. She had trouble passing. She offensively

00:38:17.500 --> 00:38:24.559
was. A liability. Omaha in general struggled

00:38:24.559 --> 00:38:28.980
passing, but they targeted her the most. Yeah,

00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:31.420
and I mean, Sammy Francis and Emily Thader still

00:38:31.420 --> 00:38:35.019
had pretty good matches. They were able to score

00:38:35.019 --> 00:38:39.900
when they got chances. Stiverins and Blossom

00:38:39.900 --> 00:38:42.219
struggled to connect in this match, which we

00:38:42.219 --> 00:38:45.750
hadn't seen up until that point. Stiffens was

00:38:45.750 --> 00:38:48.269
kind of held off the score sheet. She hit zero

00:38:48.269 --> 00:38:51.429
on 14 sets, and she was able to generate some

00:38:51.429 --> 00:38:53.969
offense in the other matches. I thought Jordan

00:38:53.969 --> 00:38:57.289
was steady. She hit almost 300 on 24 sets. She

00:38:57.289 --> 00:39:01.690
was trying to will that team to keep going, but

00:39:01.690 --> 00:39:06.469
Winters was just not able to hang. And Jordan's

00:39:06.469 --> 00:39:09.050
not attacking out of the back row, so it just

00:39:09.050 --> 00:39:12.550
kind of exposes her even more. I mean, Austin

00:39:12.550 --> 00:39:15.389
deserved to win that match. They had the best

00:39:15.389 --> 00:39:17.909
weekend. The weekend that they put together was

00:39:17.909 --> 00:39:24.630
what they needed. They were outstanding. As we

00:39:24.630 --> 00:39:26.210
were saying, they got their serving dial in.

00:39:26.289 --> 00:39:29.969
Most importantly, got their passing sorted out.

00:39:30.809 --> 00:39:34.710
Every one of their hitters was able to have an

00:39:34.710 --> 00:39:38.869
impact and put up some great numbers. They are

00:39:38.869 --> 00:39:42.619
the team that looked the best this weekend. put

00:39:42.619 --> 00:39:45.320
it all together in the three matches that it

00:39:45.320 --> 00:39:48.539
mattered for. And not surprisingly, given her

00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:51.739
weekend, Maddie Skinner was MVP of the finals.

00:39:52.019 --> 00:39:57.340
She should be. She elevated. It was really cool

00:39:57.340 --> 00:39:59.900
to see. And you could see she was gaining confidence

00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:04.760
like every swing she took. And, yeah, so congrats

00:40:04.760 --> 00:40:10.519
to Austin, the inaugural love champions. getting

00:40:10.519 --> 00:40:12.619
their names all over that Tiffany trophy we heard

00:40:12.619 --> 00:40:15.300
so much about. It was a fun weekend of volleyball

00:40:15.300 --> 00:40:20.539
for the most part. It looked like good competition.

00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:24.079
Teams were out there playing hard back and forth.

00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:29.079
It was enjoyable. All right. With the season

00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:34.679
officially wrapped, we wanted to go over a bit

00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:38.400
of an analysis on the league. Talk about some

00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:41.199
things they did well, things that maybe we would

00:40:41.199 --> 00:40:46.079
hope to see look different moving forward, things

00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:49.039
like that. So we're breaking it down into different

00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:51.760
categories and we're just going to kind of discuss

00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:58.539
our thoughts as we go. So to start, love's mission.

00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:03.699
What are your thoughts on their mission and what

00:41:03.699 --> 00:41:10.409
they're about? So I love the idea of it being

00:41:10.409 --> 00:41:13.329
from the grassroots to the pro level. I think

00:41:13.329 --> 00:41:17.730
that that is a great vision and mission for how

00:41:17.730 --> 00:41:20.630
sports should be done. I like that they spent

00:41:20.630 --> 00:41:22.909
time, you know, as far as we're aware, giving

00:41:22.909 --> 00:41:25.650
back to clubs in the cities that they were being

00:41:25.650 --> 00:41:28.369
accessible to the young female athletes. I think

00:41:28.369 --> 00:41:31.110
for those athletes having a role model, being

00:41:31.110 --> 00:41:34.860
in the gym, seeing that. I think it's fantastic.

00:41:35.219 --> 00:41:37.920
So what they're trying to do and how they're

00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:40.739
taking a holistic approach to it, also in terms

00:41:40.739 --> 00:41:43.360
of the maternity leave and how they structure

00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:47.440
those things around the athletes, I'm 100 % on

00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:50.719
board. I agree. I am all about what they're trying

00:41:50.719 --> 00:41:56.059
to do. I think especially as a young female athlete,

00:41:56.099 --> 00:42:00.860
having examples. That you can look up to in your

00:42:00.860 --> 00:42:03.119
own country, potentially in your own city, your

00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:06.800
own training gym. That will keep girls in sport

00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:10.800
longer. And I think it's necessary because girls

00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:14.059
drop out of sport so quickly once they reach

00:42:14.059 --> 00:42:18.280
about 13 years old. So I think their mission

00:42:18.280 --> 00:42:22.800
for female athletics, female volleyball, is amazing.

00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:26.719
Creating that pathway from youth to college to

00:42:26.719 --> 00:42:32.099
the pro level. I am all about what they are trying

00:42:32.099 --> 00:42:36.599
to do from a mission perspective for sure. What

00:42:36.599 --> 00:42:39.960
are your thoughts on the volleyball that you

00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:42.800
saw this season? The level of volleyball is good.

00:42:42.900 --> 00:42:48.119
I think it's the best level that we see in North

00:42:48.119 --> 00:42:53.559
America right now. I think as far as like...

00:42:53.820 --> 00:42:57.039
the enthusiasm, the passion, the drive that I

00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:00.219
saw in the finals, that is kind of what I would

00:43:00.219 --> 00:43:04.780
expect from professional athletes from start

00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:09.199
to finish. And I didn't really see that push

00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:15.320
and that drive and that outward desire to win

00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:20.760
so much as I did. In the last weekend. I think

00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:23.260
there were spurts throughout the season. A match

00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:26.260
would get heated in a fifth set or there would

00:43:26.260 --> 00:43:30.199
be, you know, a close set. And after 15 back

00:43:30.199 --> 00:43:33.360
and forth, you would see glimpses of it. But

00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:36.920
I agree for the most part. I think that weekend

00:43:36.920 --> 00:43:43.210
was much more intense and less friendly. than

00:43:43.210 --> 00:43:46.090
the season. Yeah. And like for the whole season,

00:43:46.150 --> 00:43:48.289
you could tell that the majority of athletes,

00:43:48.369 --> 00:43:51.610
particularly the Americans, were happy to be

00:43:51.610 --> 00:43:54.829
there. They were happy to be playing at home,

00:43:54.849 --> 00:43:58.349
not having to live overseas for, you know, whatever

00:43:58.349 --> 00:44:01.650
number of years they've been playing. It almost

00:44:01.650 --> 00:44:06.250
seems like, we've said this before, some of the

00:44:06.250 --> 00:44:09.730
matches just seemed like scrimmages. where they're

00:44:09.730 --> 00:44:11.869
there they're having a good time oh national

00:44:11.869 --> 00:44:15.630
team teammates we're all good this is fun I don't

00:44:15.630 --> 00:44:19.989
know I I like that when something is on the line

00:44:19.989 --> 00:44:24.369
you see people get like maybe a little more aggressive

00:44:24.369 --> 00:44:27.289
some stares through the net it's exciting as

00:44:27.289 --> 00:44:32.090
a fan and as a viewer to to see that enthusiasm

00:44:32.090 --> 00:44:35.980
to see the passion to see how fired up they get

00:44:35.980 --> 00:44:40.840
when they score that tight point. And I wish

00:44:40.840 --> 00:44:43.539
that that had been there the whole season. I

00:44:43.539 --> 00:44:45.099
mean, I think case in point was Jordan Larson.

00:44:45.380 --> 00:44:49.280
You saw a different Jordan Larson in those three

00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:51.780
matches than you did all season, in my opinion.

00:44:51.980 --> 00:44:55.980
And I'm singling her out because her team kind

00:44:55.980 --> 00:44:58.920
of went from the bottom to the finals, and her

00:44:58.920 --> 00:45:05.650
specific performance was very marked. It happened

00:45:05.650 --> 00:45:08.449
with a bunch of other athletes as well. I would

00:45:08.449 --> 00:45:11.489
say, looking at the league as a whole, I think

00:45:11.489 --> 00:45:16.449
the setting was pretty strong. I would say the

00:45:16.449 --> 00:45:22.150
libero position was reasonably strong. I think

00:45:22.150 --> 00:45:27.829
they're lacking the most on the outside. Middles,

00:45:27.829 --> 00:45:31.889
I feel like it was 50 -50. You had some middles

00:45:31.889 --> 00:45:34.739
that I was like... okay, this is really good.

00:45:34.900 --> 00:45:37.099
And then some where the level kind of dropped.

00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:41.800
But I think the biggest gap skill -wise in Love

00:45:41.800 --> 00:45:45.719
right now is on the outside because the libero

00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:47.539
in setting positions, I don't know if you agree

00:45:47.539 --> 00:45:49.639
with this or not, I thought they were solid.

00:45:50.039 --> 00:45:52.420
Yeah, I agree. The offenses were good. The decision

00:45:52.420 --> 00:45:55.460
-making was good. The liberos passed well and,

00:45:55.500 --> 00:45:57.500
for the most part, found a way to make a difference

00:45:57.500 --> 00:46:01.739
on defense. Yeah, you don't see any of those.

00:46:02.170 --> 00:46:05.949
big outside players that you are seeing in some

00:46:05.949 --> 00:46:07.750
of the other leagues. So I think that's a fair

00:46:07.750 --> 00:46:10.449
assessment. Where would you rank this league

00:46:10.449 --> 00:46:14.550
from a volleyball level perspective compared

00:46:14.550 --> 00:46:18.469
to other leagues that we have watched or been

00:46:18.469 --> 00:46:25.210
exposed to? I think it slots kind of in that

00:46:25.210 --> 00:46:28.800
second tier. You know, if you look at Germany

00:46:28.800 --> 00:46:33.960
or a France or a Poland you know again there's

00:46:33.960 --> 00:46:36.699
only six teams in love and they managed to divide

00:46:36.699 --> 00:46:39.280
the teams up so that there's a relative amount

00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:42.079
of parity so I think that you know they would

00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:45.599
probably beat the lower ranked teams in those

00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:49.719
divisions and would you know struggle maybe with

00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:52.199
the top two teams from the other leagues and

00:46:52.199 --> 00:46:55.920
have really good games with the middle top like

00:46:55.920 --> 00:46:57.860
i think in and around there i think they would

00:46:57.860 --> 00:47:00.880
probably be competitive for sure in the germany

00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:03.099
or france situation and i know so many of you

00:47:03.099 --> 00:47:05.019
who listen to the podcast think that the german

00:47:05.019 --> 00:47:08.480
and french leagues are just terrible but i would

00:47:08.480 --> 00:47:11.599
encourage you to think like think about how many

00:47:11.599 --> 00:47:15.219
teams are in those leagues you know like love

00:47:15.219 --> 00:47:19.099
has just six teams and they deliberately set

00:47:19.099 --> 00:47:21.880
out to try to make them as even as possible you

00:47:21.880 --> 00:47:25.800
don't get that in other leagues where presidents

00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:28.639
and management are buying players from around

00:47:28.639 --> 00:47:32.760
the world yeah when you're looking at a roster

00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:36.840
of teams with like 12 or more in a league like

00:47:36.840 --> 00:47:39.239
sure the bottom teams might not be great but

00:47:39.239 --> 00:47:41.760
there's like a promotion and demotion thing happening

00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:45.659
like the top teams are doing decently and advancing

00:47:45.659 --> 00:47:50.139
decently well in champions league so We need

00:47:50.139 --> 00:47:52.619
to think about that. I mean, Justine Wong -Arantes,

00:47:52.699 --> 00:47:54.280
I think you told me, and if I'm not mistaken,

00:47:54.280 --> 00:47:57.920
played in the German leagues leading up to the

00:47:57.920 --> 00:47:59.659
Olympics. She has made her career in Germany

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:02.300
up until this point. So if she's able to prepare

00:48:02.300 --> 00:48:04.179
for the Olympics to play on the highest level,

00:48:04.380 --> 00:48:07.239
there is good volleyball happening there. Yeah,

00:48:07.300 --> 00:48:09.719
I would agree. I would kind of slot it in as

00:48:09.719 --> 00:48:12.380
a second -tier league right now. And the thing

00:48:12.380 --> 00:48:15.300
is, you're seeing so many experienced players

00:48:15.300 --> 00:48:18.880
in this league. the majority of the athletes

00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:22.139
have been around yeah you know it's not like

00:48:22.139 --> 00:48:24.400
a lot of the top leagues where you've got like

00:48:24.400 --> 00:48:30.199
20 year old prodigies and the 24 year old like

00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:33.360
current national team stars like no the majority

00:48:33.360 --> 00:48:36.300
of the athletes here are seasoned veterans they're

00:48:36.300 --> 00:48:38.719
on their way out they've played at a high level

00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:41.719
for a very long time it's just a very different

00:48:41.719 --> 00:48:45.179
structure. So I think that lent itself to a good

00:48:45.179 --> 00:48:47.019
level of volleyball because of the experience,

00:48:47.219 --> 00:48:51.579
but it wasn't quite there compared to some other

00:48:51.579 --> 00:48:53.400
ones, obviously. Well, and in this league, you

00:48:53.400 --> 00:48:55.460
have experience where it matters, right? A good

00:48:55.460 --> 00:48:59.480
libero and a good setter, you have somebody who

00:48:59.480 --> 00:49:01.880
can... quarterback the defense and make sure

00:49:01.880 --> 00:49:04.659
things are coming up make sure you can consolidate

00:49:04.659 --> 00:49:06.960
the passing and then you have a setter who understands

00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:09.280
the flow of the game can maybe fix some things

00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:12.260
run an offense find players like having experience

00:49:12.260 --> 00:49:15.480
in those two positions specifically allow the

00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:18.099
rest of the athletes to kind of fill in and maybe

00:49:18.099 --> 00:49:20.440
make up for again the love six who don't have

00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.579
any professional experience so I don't think

00:49:24.579 --> 00:49:26.679
the way they did it was, it was smart, right?

00:49:26.760 --> 00:49:29.340
You brought an experience in key positions to

00:49:29.340 --> 00:49:31.739
kind of help everyone else around you. What are

00:49:31.739 --> 00:49:35.619
your thoughts on the league branding? This kind

00:49:35.619 --> 00:49:39.340
of ties into a question that we received. This

00:49:39.340 --> 00:49:41.619
person asked, can you tell me your thoughts on

00:49:41.619 --> 00:49:44.920
the love marketing, the scribbles that represent

00:49:44.920 --> 00:49:50.539
the team? With the small VB letters is really

00:49:50.539 --> 00:49:54.920
hard to understand. How is this promoting the

00:49:54.920 --> 00:49:58.880
league? That's what this person asked. I personally

00:49:58.880 --> 00:50:05.860
am not a fan of the branding. For me, because

00:50:05.860 --> 00:50:11.059
we don't have a team in our city, I want to pick

00:50:11.059 --> 00:50:14.539
a team to follow and to like. And I found that.

00:50:14.829 --> 00:50:17.969
very hard to do with love there's just no differentiation

00:50:17.969 --> 00:50:20.329
and I understand that that is the way the league

00:50:20.329 --> 00:50:26.050
is set up you are a love volleyball fan but I

00:50:26.050 --> 00:50:29.869
think that there's something special about having

00:50:29.869 --> 00:50:33.170
a team and and following that team and being

00:50:33.170 --> 00:50:37.250
invested I found it hard to go oh I really want

00:50:37.250 --> 00:50:40.059
to watch this team it was more oh, I think that

00:50:40.059 --> 00:50:42.619
that could be a good match. I think that these

00:50:42.619 --> 00:50:45.119
two players against each other will be interesting

00:50:45.119 --> 00:50:48.099
to watch. And even when you watch them on the

00:50:48.099 --> 00:50:50.679
court, it all kind of looks the same to you other

00:50:50.679 --> 00:50:54.619
than two different colors. The jerseys are the

00:50:54.619 --> 00:51:00.380
same, the navy. I like the feeling of home and

00:51:00.380 --> 00:51:03.579
away. I like knowing you're in somebody's gym,

00:51:03.679 --> 00:51:08.880
your home gym. It just, again, for me, I... wish

00:51:08.880 --> 00:51:12.599
I could have identified and picked a team that

00:51:12.599 --> 00:51:15.539
I liked and just have them stand out but I think

00:51:15.539 --> 00:51:18.380
that that was very intentional by the love squad

00:51:18.380 --> 00:51:21.219
so I would say mission accomplished for what

00:51:21.219 --> 00:51:24.519
they wanted but if I found it hard to resonate

00:51:24.519 --> 00:51:28.340
with personally yeah and I personally did was

00:51:28.340 --> 00:51:33.059
not a fan of their team marketing either you

00:51:33.059 --> 00:51:37.139
could kind of pick out the city names in those

00:51:38.450 --> 00:51:43.010
designs, but were they clear and distinct? Absolutely

00:51:43.010 --> 00:51:46.849
not. And your only differentiator is that little

00:51:46.849 --> 00:51:51.269
scribble and a color. Like I wasn't a fan of

00:51:51.269 --> 00:51:56.989
that at all. So I doubt they'll change it. They'll

00:51:56.989 --> 00:52:00.530
probably keep it as it's going and keep everything

00:52:00.530 --> 00:52:02.690
under the love umbrella, but their branding,

00:52:02.809 --> 00:52:06.280
not the best in my opinion. Let's talk about

00:52:06.280 --> 00:52:08.139
the format of the season. What were your thoughts?

00:52:08.440 --> 00:52:12.659
I have a few thoughts. First of all, I think

00:52:12.659 --> 00:52:19.719
it got stale for me, like really fast. The way

00:52:19.719 --> 00:52:21.739
that they had just a head -to -head match and

00:52:21.739 --> 00:52:25.619
then everybody else goes to one location, it

00:52:25.619 --> 00:52:29.639
gets kind of boring when you're seeing the same

00:52:29.639 --> 00:52:33.719
matchup. Over and over and over again. Like even

00:52:33.719 --> 00:52:37.099
with six teams. I would have loved to see just

00:52:37.099 --> 00:52:41.380
a traditional. Everybody kind of has a matchup

00:52:41.380 --> 00:52:44.119
for the weekend. You play at one team's home

00:52:44.119 --> 00:52:47.480
gym. You go through those. You go home away.

00:52:48.099 --> 00:52:51.420
However many times you feel is necessary. But

00:52:51.420 --> 00:52:56.039
it just I stopped looking forward to watching.

00:52:56.239 --> 00:53:02.619
Because it just felt stale. For me, I had two

00:53:02.619 --> 00:53:08.820
thoughts. One is I wish the playoffs would have

00:53:08.820 --> 00:53:11.820
been best of three series. I wish we could have

00:53:11.820 --> 00:53:15.099
seen some rivalries. Don't get me wrong. The

00:53:15.099 --> 00:53:18.119
weekend was intense. There was some good volleyball.

00:53:18.300 --> 00:53:21.699
There were some unexpected results. But a championship

00:53:21.699 --> 00:53:25.480
should be hard to win. Who cares if you win two

00:53:25.480 --> 00:53:28.579
matches? Do you know what I mean? You had that.

00:53:28.909 --> 00:53:30.650
middle of the season tournament which I thought

00:53:30.650 --> 00:53:33.150
was fine breaks it up a little bit you have an

00:53:33.150 --> 00:53:35.530
opportunity to do that but for me I want to see

00:53:35.530 --> 00:53:38.869
you work for a championship if you're Omaha and

00:53:38.869 --> 00:53:41.510
you finish last in the league you should have

00:53:41.510 --> 00:53:43.690
to grind an extra series you should have to come

00:53:43.690 --> 00:53:49.150
back I didn't feel like there was any value in

00:53:49.150 --> 00:53:52.590
the regular season and you saw that in the performance

00:53:52.590 --> 00:53:55.829
of the athletes and in how they cared I think

00:53:55.829 --> 00:53:59.880
they have to find a way to make more of the matches

00:53:59.880 --> 00:54:04.420
meaningful. And my other piece was when you run

00:54:04.420 --> 00:54:06.380
the weekends back -to -back like this and you

00:54:06.380 --> 00:54:10.280
have a team that plays Saturday, Sunday, you

00:54:10.280 --> 00:54:13.179
do a disservice to the preparation and to playing

00:54:13.179 --> 00:54:16.260
your starting athletes. You don't generally play

00:54:16.260 --> 00:54:18.159
back -to -back. There's not a chance to recover.

00:54:18.340 --> 00:54:20.300
There's not a chance to really prepare to play

00:54:20.300 --> 00:54:23.409
the other teams. You don't necessarily see as

00:54:23.409 --> 00:54:26.150
much strategy, in my opinion, as when you watched

00:54:26.150 --> 00:54:29.170
a Champions League where they play every three

00:54:29.170 --> 00:54:31.829
days or twice a week, and you can tell that there's

00:54:31.829 --> 00:54:33.769
preparation and thought that goes into that.

00:54:33.929 --> 00:54:37.190
A schedule like this is kind of made for the

00:54:37.190 --> 00:54:40.210
fans or to be in one location, again, which is

00:54:40.210 --> 00:54:44.530
fine, but it detracts from the overall performance,

00:54:44.750 --> 00:54:47.510
in my opinion. Well, and to build on that, they

00:54:47.510 --> 00:54:51.260
kept talking about how the top two seeds, had

00:54:51.260 --> 00:54:54.900
a benefit of not having to play the quarterfinal,

00:54:54.920 --> 00:54:57.940
I would argue that not playing that quarterfinal

00:54:57.940 --> 00:55:01.679
is actually a detriment to those teams because

00:55:01.679 --> 00:55:04.320
the other teams that they're playing against

00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:06.860
had a chance to compete in that environment,

00:55:07.019 --> 00:55:09.760
in that arena. They got to get their rhythm down.

00:55:10.360 --> 00:55:16.139
And so I think that missing out on that first

00:55:16.139 --> 00:55:20.690
match, that first day, hurt and obviously they

00:55:20.690 --> 00:55:23.769
lost hurt the number one and two teams because

00:55:23.769 --> 00:55:26.849
they didn't have the same opportunity to get

00:55:26.849 --> 00:55:32.690
into that rhythm so I agree I I just hate how

00:55:32.690 --> 00:55:38.449
the regular season meant nothing like you can

00:55:38.449 --> 00:55:41.190
and as you were saying you could kind of tell

00:55:41.190 --> 00:55:43.469
in the players attitudes all season and how they

00:55:43.469 --> 00:55:46.829
changed in the last weekend kind of not not across

00:55:46.829 --> 00:55:49.789
the board but generally speaking It just doesn't

00:55:49.789 --> 00:55:54.050
matter. You can be terrible all season, and we

00:55:54.050 --> 00:55:58.469
saw the bottom two teams were in the final. That

00:55:58.469 --> 00:56:04.809
shouldn't happen. And I think, again, anybody

00:56:04.809 --> 00:56:08.670
can win a one -off match. That is the beauty

00:56:08.670 --> 00:56:12.190
of sport. One -off matches are up for anybody

00:56:12.190 --> 00:56:18.610
to take. I think in a setting like this, It needs

00:56:18.610 --> 00:56:21.110
to be a best of three or a best of five series

00:56:21.110 --> 00:56:24.730
because then you will truly see which team is

00:56:24.730 --> 00:56:27.429
better. Like Adam said, which team is able to

00:56:27.429 --> 00:56:30.429
make the adjustments, which teams can sustain

00:56:30.429 --> 00:56:33.809
performance and be consistent because for me,

00:56:33.849 --> 00:56:36.949
that's what it means to be a professional. Anybody

00:56:36.949 --> 00:56:39.489
can have an upset on any given day. Yeah, it

00:56:39.489 --> 00:56:44.449
was the combination of it being stale in the

00:56:44.449 --> 00:56:48.769
regular season. to the regular season means nothing

00:56:48.769 --> 00:56:53.349
to what we saw happen with the bottom two teams

00:56:53.349 --> 00:56:55.949
who, quite frankly, did not deserve to be in

00:56:55.949 --> 00:56:57.989
the final after the way they performed all season.

00:56:58.489 --> 00:57:03.550
Being rewarded like that, it just, I didn't like

00:57:03.550 --> 00:57:07.929
it. I mean, obviously, the decisions that Love

00:57:07.929 --> 00:57:11.969
made were to get these women in front of as many

00:57:11.969 --> 00:57:16.849
youth athletes as possible. So I'm just wondering,

00:57:17.010 --> 00:57:22.190
do you think there's a way to take their mission

00:57:22.190 --> 00:57:26.750
of being visible to young volleyball players,

00:57:26.889 --> 00:57:29.869
combining that with what we just talked about,

00:57:29.949 --> 00:57:34.050
about what would be an ideal structure? Yeah,

00:57:34.050 --> 00:57:37.750
and again, let me be clear. This is year one

00:57:37.750 --> 00:57:40.949
of a long plan that they've put together. Not

00:57:40.949 --> 00:57:45.820
everything is going to go well. You had your

00:57:45.820 --> 00:57:48.500
first season. I think overall it was a success.

00:57:48.820 --> 00:57:52.320
How do you go back and look at your season and

00:57:52.320 --> 00:57:55.340
decide how it lines up and make changes to make

00:57:55.340 --> 00:57:57.039
it even better next year? That to me will be

00:57:57.039 --> 00:58:00.159
the mark of whether it was truly successful or

00:58:00.159 --> 00:58:02.059
not is what lessons they learned and went. But

00:58:02.059 --> 00:58:05.519
I do think that you can do that. Even if you

00:58:05.519 --> 00:58:08.760
have a one -off match or a schedule that happens

00:58:08.760 --> 00:58:13.239
in one location, you could play. those four teams

00:58:13.239 --> 00:58:16.079
that go to that location just play one match

00:58:16.079 --> 00:58:19.000
that weekend. So they all go there. You have

00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:21.519
two days to maybe interact with athletes. Just

00:58:21.519 --> 00:58:25.800
take one match away and play four in one location

00:58:25.800 --> 00:58:28.360
if being in that city and doing that activation

00:58:28.360 --> 00:58:32.139
is important. No, they played the finals in conjunction

00:58:32.139 --> 00:58:35.219
with a huge youth tournament. So if they want

00:58:35.219 --> 00:58:37.320
to continue to do that, they're not going to

00:58:37.320 --> 00:58:41.019
be able to have a multi -match series. So then

00:58:41.019 --> 00:58:44.659
do... Do the quarterfinals, best two of three.

00:58:44.719 --> 00:58:47.059
Do the semifinals, best two of three. And make

00:58:47.059 --> 00:58:49.880
the finals a one -off match so that you can hit

00:58:49.880 --> 00:58:54.400
your date. But to get to the final should cost

00:58:54.400 --> 00:58:56.920
you something. You should have to earn that,

00:58:56.980 --> 00:59:00.559
in my opinion. Okay, the last kind of piece that

00:59:00.559 --> 00:59:03.860
we wanted to touch on in our love analysis was

00:59:03.860 --> 00:59:08.000
the television slash presentation of the league.

00:59:08.420 --> 00:59:14.099
How did you feel about that? was the most disappointing

00:59:14.099 --> 00:59:19.260
thing for me. I didn't realize how much the presentation

00:59:19.260 --> 00:59:23.820
of a sporting event could affect your experience.

00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:27.539
And I've almost come to realize it's like a good

00:59:27.539 --> 00:59:33.039
libero. You just don't notice them. And quite

00:59:33.039 --> 00:59:36.519
frankly, I watched several love matches on mute

00:59:36.519 --> 00:59:40.599
this season and enjoyed the volleyball. Much

00:59:40.599 --> 00:59:42.579
better than I did when I listened to the commentary.

00:59:43.480 --> 00:59:45.760
And, you know, we've talked about this. I think

00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:48.719
people know how I feel. But there were two things

00:59:48.719 --> 00:59:52.780
that really bothered me watching the finals specifically.

00:59:53.079 --> 00:59:56.699
One is the announcers went out of their way to

00:59:56.699 --> 00:59:59.820
put down other leagues around the world. And

00:59:59.820 --> 01:00:04.239
for me, when your mission is to elevate volleyball

01:00:04.239 --> 01:00:07.079
and support athletes, you don't have to go out

01:00:07.079 --> 01:00:10.840
of your way. to bash the German and the French

01:00:10.840 --> 01:00:13.239
leagues from what players have apparently said.

01:00:13.360 --> 01:00:15.260
You don't have to put up graphics talking about

01:00:15.260 --> 01:00:17.320
how you're better than the Turkish and the Italian

01:00:17.320 --> 01:00:21.559
league. They actively went out of their way to

01:00:21.559 --> 01:00:24.920
kind of make those comparisons, and that, for

01:00:24.920 --> 01:00:28.320
me, didn't sit well. I didn't necessarily agree

01:00:28.320 --> 01:00:33.320
with all of the Olympian talk that happened throughout

01:00:33.320 --> 01:00:36.320
the season. I get it. You want to highlight the

01:00:36.320 --> 01:00:40.159
players. build up your players in a way that

01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:43.599
doesn't just talk about that and my last piece

01:00:43.599 --> 01:00:47.400
was they very rarely spent time talking about

01:00:47.400 --> 01:00:50.679
the actual volleyball during the matches something

01:00:50.679 --> 01:00:53.280
great would happen and all that would be said

01:00:53.280 --> 01:00:56.920
was hey that was amazing she's a blah blah blah

01:00:56.920 --> 01:01:00.579
blah blah instead of talking about why it was

01:01:00.579 --> 01:01:03.400
a good play what happened it always seemed to

01:01:03.400 --> 01:01:06.550
come back to things that were irrelevant to the

01:01:06.550 --> 01:01:09.230
match about how great of a job love as a whole

01:01:09.230 --> 01:01:13.469
did. And for me, that detracted from the actual

01:01:13.469 --> 01:01:15.869
watching experience of the volleyball itself.

01:01:16.389 --> 01:01:19.309
Yeah, I got really frustrated watching the games.

01:01:19.570 --> 01:01:23.789
Having them on mute was enjoyable. I understand,

01:01:24.030 --> 01:01:28.590
you know, kind of educating your viewers because

01:01:28.590 --> 01:01:31.610
the American audience. hasn't really been exposed

01:01:31.610 --> 01:01:33.789
to a professional volleyball league like this

01:01:33.789 --> 01:01:36.170
before. So I understand in the first few weeks,

01:01:36.250 --> 01:01:41.110
kind of really hitting home on Love's mission,

01:01:41.230 --> 01:01:44.070
what kind of athletes are in the league, their

01:01:44.070 --> 01:01:47.110
history, where they came from, just as an education

01:01:47.110 --> 01:01:51.409
piece. But it doesn't need to continue all season.

01:01:52.050 --> 01:01:57.960
And the same messaging. of so -and -so's the

01:01:57.960 --> 01:02:00.260
best in the world. This is the best in the world.

01:02:00.300 --> 01:02:04.059
Love is the best in the world. Like, look at

01:02:04.059 --> 01:02:06.940
how many, look at all the parody we have. Like,

01:02:06.980 --> 01:02:10.239
we go five sets all the time. This player said

01:02:10.239 --> 01:02:13.519
the French league's no good. Like, and constantly

01:02:13.519 --> 01:02:18.739
feeding bio information that in a lot of cases

01:02:18.739 --> 01:02:23.000
wasn't necessarily relevant anymore. It got incredibly

01:02:23.000 --> 01:02:26.539
frustrating, and I would say that this is true

01:02:26.539 --> 01:02:29.460
for the announcers that we heard almost across

01:02:29.460 --> 01:02:33.139
the board. I don't know if they were told what

01:02:33.139 --> 01:02:37.460
messaging to push, but it was pretty consistent.

01:02:38.440 --> 01:02:41.659
And when I'm watching volleyball, and maybe this

01:02:41.659 --> 01:02:43.539
is a personal preference, I don't know if our

01:02:43.539 --> 01:02:48.760
listeners enjoyed what they were delivering from

01:02:48.760 --> 01:02:52.409
a presentation perspective. But as a volleyball

01:02:52.409 --> 01:02:57.989
watcher, I like to hear about the strategy. What

01:02:57.989 --> 01:03:00.170
did the players see in this situation? Why did

01:03:00.170 --> 01:03:02.889
they make that choice? And I don't know if the

01:03:02.889 --> 01:03:06.969
announcers were just not experienced enough in

01:03:06.969 --> 01:03:10.929
the actual game to be able to deliver that type

01:03:10.929 --> 01:03:15.429
of information. But it was just a consistent

01:03:15.429 --> 01:03:20.980
delivery of why is this league so good? look

01:03:20.980 --> 01:03:23.179
at all the amazing players we have and here's

01:03:23.179 --> 01:03:25.960
their bio. And a lot of the times, things that

01:03:25.960 --> 01:03:28.679
the announcers would say were just blatantly

01:03:28.679 --> 01:03:33.039
untrue. But it was also on repeat. Like, if you're

01:03:33.039 --> 01:03:35.380
watching a five -set match with Jordan Larson,

01:03:35.519 --> 01:03:38.380
it is cool to bring up some of the things that

01:03:38.380 --> 01:03:40.900
she's done. A hundred percent. But if I have

01:03:40.900 --> 01:03:43.440
to hear one more time that Sammy Francis was

01:03:43.440 --> 01:03:45.679
five years old when Jordan Larson started her

01:03:45.679 --> 01:03:49.539
pro career, like, one time is enough. Yeah, there

01:03:49.539 --> 01:03:53.019
wasn't a variety of information. The same things

01:03:53.019 --> 01:03:56.239
came up over and over and over again. And that's

01:03:56.239 --> 01:04:00.159
why I feel like you need to have an understanding

01:04:00.159 --> 01:04:04.340
of high -level volleyball and be educated. My

01:04:04.340 --> 01:04:06.559
thing is if you're going to talk about the other

01:04:06.559 --> 01:04:09.920
leagues in the world, have a real understanding

01:04:09.920 --> 01:04:12.420
of them. Don't just make statements about these

01:04:12.420 --> 01:04:15.380
leagues when it is very clear that you have no

01:04:15.380 --> 01:04:18.679
idea what you're talking about. Just don't bring

01:04:18.679 --> 01:04:22.340
them up at all if that's the case. Talk about

01:04:22.340 --> 01:04:25.500
the volleyball. If biographical information is

01:04:25.500 --> 01:04:28.440
relevant to forward what you're trying to say

01:04:28.440 --> 01:04:31.800
in educating the viewers about high -level volleyball,

01:04:31.980 --> 01:04:36.139
by all means add it. But to constantly say the

01:04:36.139 --> 01:04:41.199
same things. It almost seemed like they couldn't

01:04:41.199 --> 01:04:44.619
get behind their own product in terms of the

01:04:44.619 --> 01:04:47.809
level. at which it was being executed. They wanted

01:04:47.809 --> 01:04:50.969
to talk about either other things or just love

01:04:50.969 --> 01:04:53.829
in and of itself besides the match that we were

01:04:53.829 --> 01:04:55.789
watching. We could go on about this forever.

01:04:56.610 --> 01:05:00.030
We'll stop there. I'm actually very curious to

01:05:00.030 --> 01:05:04.130
know. I mean, you and I are obviously very entrenched

01:05:04.130 --> 01:05:07.329
in volleyball. We've spent a lot of our lives

01:05:07.329 --> 01:05:09.949
doing it. We're very deep within it. I'm curious

01:05:09.949 --> 01:05:13.070
what the average... viewer thought about the

01:05:13.070 --> 01:05:15.110
presentation and that's the thing is they are

01:05:15.110 --> 01:05:18.329
feeding them misinformation that's the thing

01:05:18.329 --> 01:05:21.489
that bothers me is you you want to say all these

01:05:21.489 --> 01:05:24.050
things about your league but in the process you

01:05:24.050 --> 01:05:28.809
are misinforming the viewer about what is out

01:05:28.809 --> 01:05:31.289
there and what the other leagues are actually

01:05:31.289 --> 01:05:35.550
like like that is something that I take issue

01:05:35.550 --> 01:05:40.460
with It's like you are, as an announcer, your

01:05:40.460 --> 01:05:44.460
job is to educate the viewer and to feed them

01:05:44.460 --> 01:05:47.860
false information is just doing a disservice

01:05:47.860 --> 01:05:53.079
to everybody. So I don't know. I'm clearly very

01:05:53.079 --> 01:05:56.539
passionate about this. But, and as I said, we

01:05:56.539 --> 01:06:00.860
could talk about this forever. But putting that

01:06:00.860 --> 01:06:05.340
aside, I would say if I was just looking at the

01:06:05.340 --> 01:06:08.360
volleyball, I think it was a successful first

01:06:08.360 --> 01:06:12.960
year. I like what they stand for. I, for the

01:06:12.960 --> 01:06:16.380
most part, enjoyed watching the games. Yeah,

01:06:16.420 --> 01:06:18.460
I'm curious to see if they're going to make any

01:06:18.460 --> 01:06:21.780
adjustments next year. But just taking it for

01:06:21.780 --> 01:06:25.059
what it is and watching the volleyball, I thought

01:06:25.059 --> 01:06:28.559
it was good. Yeah, you always have to start somewhere.

01:06:28.820 --> 01:06:31.320
And I thought... The product they put on the

01:06:31.320 --> 01:06:33.139
floor, you could tell they put a lot of effort

01:06:33.139 --> 01:06:36.079
into it. You could tell the players were excited

01:06:36.079 --> 01:06:39.840
to be in the US, which I think was important

01:06:39.840 --> 01:06:43.099
to a lot of people and was a benchmark for this

01:06:43.099 --> 01:06:47.519
happening. And again, to me, it's about how you

01:06:47.519 --> 01:06:49.679
evolve and how you move forward. So I'm very

01:06:49.679 --> 01:06:52.760
curious to see what they keep for next year and

01:06:52.760 --> 01:06:54.940
how it goes. I hope they continue to evolve.

01:06:55.920 --> 01:07:00.559
All right. We have been sitting on a few, extra

01:07:00.559 --> 01:07:06.320
love questions in our inbox. So now that love

01:07:06.320 --> 01:07:08.460
is wrapped up, all of our listener questions

01:07:08.460 --> 01:07:11.840
have to do with love. So we can really put a

01:07:11.840 --> 01:07:15.719
bow on this season and wait for the next one.

01:07:15.880 --> 01:07:21.519
So our first question is Maddie Cubic Banks or

01:07:21.519 --> 01:07:24.619
Jaylee Winters? I think she answered the question

01:07:24.619 --> 01:07:29.030
this weekend. Maddie Cubic Banks. Next. No, we

01:07:29.030 --> 01:07:30.909
got this question very early in the season. And

01:07:30.909 --> 01:07:33.010
at that point, Maddie Kubik hadn't been playing

01:07:33.010 --> 01:07:38.429
much. So we kind of held on to it. As Maddie

01:07:38.429 --> 01:07:40.590
got some matches under her belt and we were able

01:07:40.590 --> 01:07:43.150
to really compare, I don't think it's even close.

01:07:43.909 --> 01:07:47.409
I would agree. Question number two. Do you think

01:07:47.409 --> 01:07:49.510
Love and the PVF would ever play one another

01:07:49.510 --> 01:07:52.590
as preseason matches or do their own version

01:07:52.590 --> 01:07:57.719
of a Champions League? Not in the next five years.

01:07:57.840 --> 01:08:01.139
I think that everybody has their own vision of

01:08:01.139 --> 01:08:03.599
what volleyball should be. I think everybody's

01:08:03.599 --> 01:08:08.000
very focused internally on putting together their

01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:11.460
best product. And I don't think we've come to

01:08:11.460 --> 01:08:15.099
a point where cooperation is in the cards. I

01:08:15.099 --> 01:08:19.500
think it's still too much of a competition. I

01:08:19.500 --> 01:08:22.560
think that both sides would look at it as a lose

01:08:22.560 --> 01:08:26.100
-lose. If you're Love and you lose to a PVF team,

01:08:26.340 --> 01:08:29.119
you're fostering the narrative that you're the

01:08:29.119 --> 01:08:31.039
best league here and then your team loses. And

01:08:31.039 --> 01:08:32.560
the same for PVF. It's like you're trying to

01:08:32.560 --> 01:08:36.579
build that and then you go and you lose. Then

01:08:36.579 --> 01:08:39.020
you have a definitive marker of what league is

01:08:39.020 --> 01:08:41.319
better than the other league. I don't think at

01:08:41.319 --> 01:08:45.239
this point cooperation is in the air. So this

01:08:45.239 --> 01:08:47.739
is a bit of a long one. Will Love be able to

01:08:47.739 --> 01:08:50.000
maintain their current status as the top American

01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:52.600
league in the future? Love started recruiting

01:08:52.600 --> 01:08:55.340
players at least one year earlier, so most were

01:08:55.340 --> 01:08:58.939
locked in before the PVF started. Salary scales

01:08:58.939 --> 01:09:02.020
are about the same. Both leagues are well short

01:09:02.020 --> 01:09:04.800
of the top European leagues. It seems to me that

01:09:04.800 --> 01:09:06.960
with one league owner, Love will struggle to

01:09:06.960 --> 01:09:09.979
keep the top talent home in the long run unless

01:09:09.979 --> 01:09:12.600
they add additional investors. It also seems

01:09:12.600 --> 01:09:14.739
like the schedule wouldn't work well for a significant

01:09:14.739 --> 01:09:18.319
TV contract. What are your thoughts? Well, if

01:09:18.319 --> 01:09:21.079
MLV has anything to say about it, they won't

01:09:21.079 --> 01:09:25.420
be taught for long. I'm just kidding. Okay. I

01:09:25.420 --> 01:09:30.159
think we've kind of touched on their schedule

01:09:30.159 --> 01:09:35.640
and how just to maintain interest, it kind of...

01:09:36.270 --> 01:09:40.109
should change but I think and going to that one

01:09:40.109 --> 01:09:41.829
match head -to -head format would definitely

01:09:41.829 --> 01:09:44.989
be more conducive to solid TV contracts I mean

01:09:44.989 --> 01:09:49.729
Love is still recruiting early they have you

01:09:49.729 --> 01:09:53.390
know sophomores and juniors in big programs that

01:09:53.390 --> 01:09:56.270
have committed to the league so they are well

01:09:56.270 --> 01:10:00.600
in advance of PVF on that front With the new

01:10:00.600 --> 01:10:03.579
news that PVF is increasing some of their salaries,

01:10:03.680 --> 01:10:05.899
I don't know what that comparison is going to

01:10:05.899 --> 01:10:11.079
look like in the future. But I think given Love's

01:10:11.079 --> 01:10:14.760
recruiting strategy, I think that they will be

01:10:14.760 --> 01:10:18.939
able to maintain that status for a little while.

01:10:19.260 --> 01:10:22.199
Do I think they'll be able to keep the young

01:10:22.199 --> 01:10:29.720
in their prime talent at home for long? No. Not

01:10:29.720 --> 01:10:31.420
with the strength of the other leagues that are

01:10:31.420 --> 01:10:34.640
out there in the world. And, I mean, it depends

01:10:34.640 --> 01:10:38.760
on players' national team aspirations, their

01:10:38.760 --> 01:10:43.800
own professional aspirations. But I think, despite

01:10:43.800 --> 01:10:48.079
that, they will maintain their status. I have

01:10:48.079 --> 01:10:50.680
two thoughts on this. One, if they got a legitimate

01:10:50.680 --> 01:10:52.920
TV contract, they would be open to modifying

01:10:52.920 --> 01:10:56.159
their schedule. So I don't think that that is

01:10:56.159 --> 01:10:58.659
necessarily an issue. I think that the current

01:10:58.659 --> 01:11:01.079
schedule falls in line with their mission and

01:11:01.079 --> 01:11:02.920
with the ability to kind of travel everybody

01:11:02.920 --> 01:11:05.359
to one location. I think it probably ends up

01:11:05.359 --> 01:11:07.600
saving them money. But with an investment for

01:11:07.600 --> 01:11:09.699
TV, I don't think they'd have an issue changing

01:11:09.699 --> 01:11:15.579
it. Two, I'm curious to see when these top founding

01:11:15.579 --> 01:11:19.539
athletes stop playing, what the recruiting looks

01:11:19.539 --> 01:11:23.020
like. Because right now, to stand on a court

01:11:23.020 --> 01:11:27.479
with your founding athletes, with Jordan Larson,

01:11:27.539 --> 01:11:29.479
with Jordan Thompson, with some of the setters

01:11:29.479 --> 01:11:32.500
and liberos. That's a draw. Those are icons for

01:11:32.500 --> 01:11:34.220
some of those kids playing and coming through

01:11:34.220 --> 01:11:38.000
college right now. When they retire, I'm curious

01:11:38.000 --> 01:11:40.520
to see if the league has the same draw. So that's

01:11:40.520 --> 01:11:42.060
something that I've thought about. Fair point,

01:11:42.180 --> 01:11:45.880
fair point. Our final question is another long

01:11:45.880 --> 01:11:50.869
one, but I find it very interesting. And it is

01:11:50.869 --> 01:11:54.270
kind of in reference to Rachel Fairbanks. So

01:11:54.270 --> 01:11:58.829
how would you feel about never crossing the finish

01:11:58.829 --> 01:12:03.210
line? The finish line is referring to a specific

01:12:03.210 --> 01:12:06.850
hurdle. Maybe it's a quarterfinal, a semi, always

01:12:06.850 --> 01:12:09.689
coming second. How would you feel about never

01:12:09.689 --> 01:12:12.810
overcoming that particular hurdle? When we see

01:12:12.810 --> 01:12:17.699
Rachel Fairbanks. Her team, Atlanta's semifinal

01:12:17.699 --> 01:12:22.680
loss in love makes her 0 -5 in semifinal matches

01:12:22.680 --> 01:12:26.880
because she was 0 -4 in the final four with Pitt.

01:12:27.039 --> 01:12:29.739
And now this. Is this something that would affect

01:12:29.739 --> 01:12:31.699
you down the road? Is this something that you

01:12:31.699 --> 01:12:35.260
would think about when you reach future semifinal

01:12:35.260 --> 01:12:38.640
matches? And at what point do you think those

01:12:38.640 --> 01:12:42.199
hurdles and losses affect your belief to go beyond

01:12:42.199 --> 01:12:45.380
that threshold? This question. It's so good.

01:12:45.699 --> 01:12:48.659
Well, I think it definitely affects you. You

01:12:48.659 --> 01:12:52.460
can't help but think about it. And quite frankly,

01:12:52.619 --> 01:12:56.520
anybody who does media for sports loves bringing

01:12:56.520 --> 01:12:59.439
this stuff up. So you can't get away from it.

01:12:59.560 --> 01:13:01.279
It's definitely a thing. Even when coaching,

01:13:01.439 --> 01:13:03.399
you have teams that, you know, you can't get

01:13:03.399 --> 01:13:07.319
across the line. And I think you have to acknowledge

01:13:07.319 --> 01:13:12.449
it. You have to have a plan with. dealing with

01:13:12.449 --> 01:13:14.550
it and whether that's with your teammates or

01:13:14.550 --> 01:13:16.770
whether that's maybe with a coach or a sports

01:13:16.770 --> 01:13:21.130
psych if you pretend it doesn't exist or it's

01:13:21.130 --> 01:13:23.689
not there it will come back and it will haunt

01:13:23.689 --> 01:13:26.229
you you need to understand it you need to understand

01:13:26.229 --> 01:13:29.109
why and then you need to prepare to overcome

01:13:29.109 --> 01:13:31.810
it and I don't think there's any other way to

01:13:31.810 --> 01:13:35.090
do it I definitely think it's in Rachel Fairbank's

01:13:35.090 --> 01:13:40.560
mind for sure and now Having this streak extended

01:13:40.560 --> 01:13:44.420
into her pro career, she 100 % will be thinking

01:13:44.420 --> 01:13:47.600
about it every time she makes a semifinal. I

01:13:47.600 --> 01:13:49.859
think the beauty of volleyball is that it's such

01:13:49.859 --> 01:13:52.659
a big sport that you're constantly changing teammates.

01:13:52.720 --> 01:13:54.720
So while it may be in the back of your mind,

01:13:54.760 --> 01:13:59.899
it's not necessarily a team identity. I understand

01:13:59.899 --> 01:14:03.159
for Pitt and in her situation at Pitt, yes, it

01:14:03.159 --> 01:14:08.600
was. Maybe it is. I think as she enters the pro

01:14:08.600 --> 01:14:10.520
environment, it's not so much a team identity

01:14:10.520 --> 01:14:13.520
thing. I think it's just, it is there and it's

01:14:13.520 --> 01:14:15.039
something that she's going to have to overcome.

01:14:15.140 --> 01:14:17.260
And I find it interesting because every time

01:14:17.260 --> 01:14:19.720
that she got subbed in for that double sub, her

01:14:19.720 --> 01:14:22.899
first set was unhittable. Not good. So that is

01:14:22.899 --> 01:14:24.659
something that she is going to have to address

01:14:24.659 --> 01:14:30.380
with a sports psych for sure. Have you ever been

01:14:30.380 --> 01:14:33.079
in a situation like that? When I played in university,

01:14:33.460 --> 01:14:37.199
we... made the final like two years in a row

01:14:37.199 --> 01:14:41.979
in our conference championships and we lost both

01:14:41.979 --> 01:14:46.579
times in the final match and as a team so we

01:14:46.579 --> 01:14:48.380
had all graduated after our fourth year but in

01:14:48.380 --> 01:14:51.020
Canada you can play a fifth year all of us except

01:14:51.020 --> 01:14:52.979
two guys decided to come back because we just

01:14:52.979 --> 01:14:56.399
weren't happy with how that ended for us and

01:14:56.399 --> 01:14:59.800
we wanted to win and everybody was committed

01:14:59.800 --> 01:15:02.479
and worked hard and came back and we were able

01:15:02.479 --> 01:15:05.210
to win the next year but Yeah, I've definitely

01:15:05.210 --> 01:15:09.250
been there. I think for me, it was probably when

01:15:09.250 --> 01:15:12.430
I started playing beach. That hurdle was going

01:15:12.430 --> 01:15:15.390
from the quarterfinals to the semis. And I think

01:15:15.390 --> 01:15:20.949
for my first two seasons on the beach, we came

01:15:20.949 --> 01:15:24.329
fifth several times, but we could not make that

01:15:24.329 --> 01:15:29.050
flip to get into the semis. And then we finally

01:15:29.050 --> 01:15:32.909
did, and then we're able to medal several times.

01:15:34.159 --> 01:15:38.180
I can't even tell you what it was that kind of

01:15:38.180 --> 01:15:41.800
made that jump, though. Well, I think your partner

01:15:41.800 --> 01:15:43.960
had a little more baggage than you in that regard

01:15:43.960 --> 01:15:46.279
because she had been playing beach for longer

01:15:46.279 --> 01:15:48.979
than you and hadn't necessarily kind of gotten

01:15:48.979 --> 01:15:53.739
to that point. But it was preparation. It was

01:15:53.739 --> 01:15:57.069
looking for the team you were playing. getting

01:15:57.069 --> 01:16:00.229
that break where you had a few plays go your

01:16:00.229 --> 01:16:04.510
way. And it was, to me, it was about belief and

01:16:04.510 --> 01:16:08.210
being able to do it. I don't think it, it didn't

01:16:08.210 --> 01:16:10.770
affect me mentally. Like I knew it was happening

01:16:10.770 --> 01:16:14.430
and I would tell myself like, we need, like we

01:16:14.430 --> 01:16:17.109
need, once we get past this match, we're going

01:16:17.109 --> 01:16:19.770
to medal for sure. It's just getting past this

01:16:19.770 --> 01:16:23.500
match, but. In the moment, I don't recall it

01:16:23.500 --> 01:16:26.840
being necessarily like a mental block. It was

01:16:26.840 --> 01:16:31.720
always just like after. It was a belief that

01:16:31.720 --> 01:16:35.060
it was like once we can just overcome this hurdle,

01:16:35.439 --> 01:16:38.220
we will get there. It definitely messes with

01:16:38.220 --> 01:16:41.060
you. I really like that question. Great question.

01:16:41.439 --> 01:16:45.920
So now that love is over and there's no more

01:16:45.920 --> 01:16:48.699
love to watch, here's what we think you should

01:16:48.699 --> 01:16:52.300
be watching this week. So the men's Italian League

01:16:52.300 --> 01:16:57.020
semifinals, Wednesday on Volleyball TV. Women's

01:16:57.020 --> 01:17:00.380
Italian League finals, Wednesday on Volleyball

01:17:00.380 --> 01:17:02.439
TV. And those are three out of five, everybody,

01:17:02.680 --> 01:17:05.520
okay? I would encourage you, if you're a fan

01:17:05.520 --> 01:17:09.500
of women's volleyball, to watch those women's

01:17:09.500 --> 01:17:13.180
Italian League final matches. They are a ton

01:17:13.180 --> 01:17:17.409
of fun. There's firepower everywhere. It is intense.

01:17:17.729 --> 01:17:20.430
You will not be disappointed. And Volleyball

01:17:20.430 --> 01:17:22.149
TV, you can kind of go back and watch it whenever

01:17:22.149 --> 01:17:24.409
you want. So even if the timing's not great,

01:17:24.609 --> 01:17:29.090
check it out. In NCAA men's action, USC and UCLA

01:17:29.090 --> 01:17:32.069
have their series this week. That's going to

01:17:32.069 --> 01:17:34.989
be a ton of fun. Should be a great game. I want

01:17:34.989 --> 01:17:37.989
to see USC's response to getting swept by Stanford.

01:17:38.699 --> 01:17:41.659
Those are Thursday at 10 p .m. Eastern and Saturday

01:17:41.659 --> 01:17:45.619
at 8 p .m. Eastern on the Big Ten Plus. Pepperdine

01:17:45.619 --> 01:17:48.779
plays BYU Friday and Saturday. Both of those

01:17:48.779 --> 01:17:52.060
are at 9 p .m. Eastern on Big Ten Plus. So these

01:17:52.060 --> 01:17:55.699
are very important matches. Very important. Because

01:17:55.699 --> 01:18:00.920
these are the top four teams in the MPSF. And

01:18:00.920 --> 01:18:05.380
with USC falling, dropping two matches, they

01:18:05.380 --> 01:18:10.979
split with Pepperdine. This weekend, it's all

01:18:10.979 --> 01:18:13.899
going to shake out as to what the standings are,

01:18:13.979 --> 01:18:17.479
and USC is trying to desperately not finish fourth

01:18:17.479 --> 01:18:20.100
because that means they match up with UCLA in

01:18:20.100 --> 01:18:24.539
the semi. Yep. So that will be must -see TV for

01:18:24.539 --> 01:18:27.640
volleyball fans. For the PDF, San Diego plays

01:18:27.640 --> 01:18:30.640
Columbus on Wednesday at 7 p .m. Eastern, and

01:18:30.640 --> 01:18:34.840
Atlanta plays Omaha. on Saturday at 7 p .m. Eastern,

01:18:34.979 --> 01:18:37.479
and that one's on Roku. For those of you who

01:18:37.479 --> 01:18:40.140
are not familiar with Roku, I was actually able

01:18:40.140 --> 01:18:42.760
to download the free version of Roku and find

01:18:42.760 --> 01:18:45.460
the matches, so it's not necessarily a paid service,

01:18:45.539 --> 01:18:47.340
although they do have those options, but for

01:18:47.340 --> 01:18:49.760
anybody who's wondering, you can still access

01:18:49.760 --> 01:18:52.880
those matches for free. That concludes this week's

01:18:52.880 --> 01:18:55.060
episode of Volley Talk. There's always something

01:18:55.060 --> 01:18:57.119
shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you

01:18:57.119 --> 01:18:59.739
enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow the

01:18:59.739 --> 01:19:01.899
show so you don't miss any updates and we'd be

01:19:01.899 --> 01:19:04.460
so grateful if you'd leave us a five -star review.

01:19:04.760 --> 01:19:07.340
You can also find us on Instagram at volleytalk

01:19:07.340 --> 01:19:10.640
underscore podcast. If you have a topic that

01:19:10.640 --> 01:19:12.560
you want us to discuss, be sure to let us know

01:19:12.560 --> 01:19:15.140
by reaching out to us on Instagram or at info

01:19:15.140 --> 01:19:18.460
at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining

01:19:18.460 --> 01:19:22.460
us and we'll be back. In two weeks. Not next

01:19:22.460 --> 01:19:25.060
week. In two weeks. Because we are traveling.

01:19:25.359 --> 01:19:28.479
So there will not be an episode next week. So

01:19:28.479 --> 01:19:31.420
we'll see you in two weeks. Bye.