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. We had a little hiatus last week as Adam

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and I headed back to Canada to visit family for

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the holiday. If you're watching on YouTube, we

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also have a bit of a different setup today. And

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even if you're listening on a podcast app, it

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might sound a little different as well because

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we got locked out. of our regular recording location.

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So we have hidden ourselves up in our loft. With

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some borrowed equipment. Hoping that this will

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work. So this is hopefully temporary. So we apologize

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for the last minute setup here. But aside from

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our own difficulties, things have been quite

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busy. It was a good week. And we've got a lot

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to unpack, particularly on the NCAA men's side

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of things. The conference tournaments all happened

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this past weekend. So we're going to dive into

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a bit of that. All of the pro leagues are finishing

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up their seasons. So you know what that means.

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International season is upon us, everybody. We're

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very excited for that. I thought you were going

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to say Champions League final. Well, yeah, I'm

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excited for Champions League final, but international

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season too. Like, come on. We can all cheer for

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our countries. Tell me where you're from. We

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are so excited to be back with you after our

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little break, and we are ready to talk volleyball.

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So let's get started. Alright, first things first.

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The NCAA women have been happening. We can't

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escape them. We don't want to escape them is

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more like it, okay? But we did get several questions

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about the spring season, so I did want to touch

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on it in our highlights. The NCAA women have

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been playing their spring season over the last

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few weeks. So we got numerous emails and questions

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about the Penn State pit match. and how that

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was on TV. So one question that kind of summarizes

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everything was, did you and Adam watch it, first

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of all? And what were your thoughts? As a player

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at Nebraska, did you have spring matches? And

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did you like them or find them useful? So here's

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the thing. We did have spring matches. They were

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a thing even when I was in college too long ago

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to talk about. I don't remember if I like them

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or not. I'm repping Nebraska with my t -shirt

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today, though. We did have them, but back then

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they were not televised. They were very much

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exhibition feel, just like very low -key. We

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didn't really travel far for them. We always

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hosted our spring matches. We would go somewhere

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for spring break, and so we would travel for

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those. Like, we went to Hawaii or San Diego or

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Florida or places like that because, like, let's

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get out of the Nebraska winter. But we would

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host, like, local programs, like D2 schools in

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Nebraska, the other D1 schools, Wichita State,

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like people who were close by. Very low -key.

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Not a big deal, but they have definitely gotten

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more popular. I guess I still see spring season

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as what I experienced, like teams testing out

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their potential rosters after graduating players,

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after losing players to the portal, after bringing

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in their freshmen who graduated early. So I see

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it as very experimental. There's no rankings.

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Yeah. So that is 100 % what it is. So we didn't

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watch because I kind of still have that attitude

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toward them. But Pitt and Penn State played.

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I saw Nebraska played Kansas yesterday. So if

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you are missing NCAA women's volleyball, you

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can check out the updated rosters and see how

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people are looking. But we didn't watch them.

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And even as a player, it was nice to kind of

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get those competitive juices flowing again after

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a few months off. But would I consider them like

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super useful? Not really. I mean, if you're starting

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every match in the season and you're playing,

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then yes, probably not useful. For athletes who

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have worked on something or didn't get a chance

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to play, I'm sure it's nice to get on the court

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and do some of those things. So it's a useful

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tool, I would say, for the coaches. And I mean,

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back then, you didn't even have players graduating

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high school early to get an extra semester in.

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Like, if anything, you would see girls come in

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May and spend the summer there. Like, that was

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the, like, new thing back when I played. So it's

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like a completely different landscape now. I

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understand why. With no real transfer portal,

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like, it would have just been more of an opportunity

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for your... young players red shirts to come

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in and 100 yeah 100 so that's happening check

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it out if you're interested they have the games

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posted on youtube as well we noticed yesterday

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so check those out i mean if you're watching

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any volleyball this past week it should have

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been the men's ncaa because there were some fantastic

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matches on the italian side because you know

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how much we love to talk about the italian leagues

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Corneliano swept Milano three matches to zero

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in the A1 Italian women's final. It wasn't even

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really. Not even. Corneliano's just like light

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years better. They're so good. So that's their

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eighth title, seventh in a row, by the way. So

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in the Turkish league, Vakif Bank won. So we'll

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be seeing all three of those teams in the Champions

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League. semi -finals final four in a few weeks

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but on the men's side we were thinking things

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were cut and dry we were wrong perugia was up

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two matches to zero on chivita nova next thing

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i blinked and chivita nova took the series three

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to two this is why you do playoffs as a best

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of three or a best of five right here honestly

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though that wasn't upset i know good for chivita

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nova because they had to show up But upsets are

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fine if you've got to earn it. Like, it's not

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a mistaken upset if you win three of five or

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two of three. I mean, like, you're a good team

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at that point. Like, you've proven that you can

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do it. So we've got Chivita Nova taking on Trento.

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At the time of our recording, you know, we record

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on Sundays. Match one is happening. So matches

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two and three are going to be happening this

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week. So lots of excitement in Europe as well.

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On the love front, we got a ton of feedback from

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those of you who would, I think, call yourself

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casual volleyball viewers. Because Adam did ask

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a very specific question. I did. And to be honest,

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I thought we were going to take, I thought there

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were going to be a ton of negative comments.

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And I thought people were going to disagree with

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us wholeheartedly. I don't think I saw one person

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kind of disagreeing with what we were saying,

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at least online from what I could saw. And I'm

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on the Facebook, you're doing more of the Instagram

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stuff. But I was surprised to see the same feedback

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from people. And I do appreciate everybody who

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reached out to us and gave us your opinions.

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And I hope that... the love league is getting

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some of that feedback because i think there's

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a ton of potential there and it'd be great if

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they made some of the adjustments that some people

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were were talking about but i enjoyed that dialogue

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so thanks for everybody who took the time to

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write in and engage to give us that perspective

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absolutely because we're like okay if you are

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a casual viewer if you live with a casual viewer

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please let us know what your experience was and

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yeah You guys agreed. So thank you for that feedback.

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We thought we were out in left field. Well, we

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just weren't sure if we shared, given our volleyball

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background, the same opinion as people who haven't

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been in the sport at the same level. So that

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was really interesting to read. I really enjoyed

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that. In other love news, Eric Sullivan has been

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named the head coach of Austin. He was also recently

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named the head coach of the USA Women's National

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Team program. I think this is a curious move.

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I got so many messages about this. So my initial

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thought was it's a very shrewd move by love because...

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it's going to allow them to keep some of their

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young players playing in the league, I think.

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And I think that was the motivation behind it.

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Now, lots of coaches go overseas to coach when

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they're not with their national programs. This

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allows Eric to be in the U .S., to see more players,

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to be close to the national team. It makes a

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ton of sense for him, I think. It also allows

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Love to align closely with the national team

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program. And I would imagine that some athletes

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are going to feel comfortable being there and

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allowing them to see him versus going overseas.

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So I think it was a shrewd business move on Love's

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side. My knee -jerk reaction to this was to scream

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from the rooftops, conflict of interest. I haven't

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taken more time to think about this in the last

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several days. So the reason I thought it was

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a conflict of interest is because We have had

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so many conversations about who's going to be

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the starting outsides for the national team,

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who's going to play opposite. And when you've

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got a Madison Skinner, for example, who was playing

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for Austin, to have her in front of Sullivan's

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face every day, and I understand she played college

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for him as well, I just felt like it would give

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her kind of an unfair advantage or look. That

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is why I, that was my gut reaction. And as Adam

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mentioned, and a lot of people I realize don't

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know this, is a ton of national team coaches

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do coach professionally. You often see it in

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Europe, in Brazil, like the Brazilian coaches,

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they coach club teams and stuff too. The thing

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though that I have noticed is the club, The national

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team coaches don't really have a say of which

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of their national team players come with them.

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They do, however, have a say when it comes to

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the low price players, the bench players. So

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they will often take a young developmental player

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from their national team who they know won't

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start, but they need to get practice. And they

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will take those players with them overseas to

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get extra training. But the national team coaches

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are often coaching like super high -powered teams

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in really good leagues. So the budgets are huge

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and the management doesn't care who you coach

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on your national team. They just want to win

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championships. This move is not the same to me.

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It's not the same. For me, I see this as love

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being like, we need a way to keep our players

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in the U .S. And I wonder... Honestly, this just

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came to my mind. I wonder how long this was in

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the works because Chialka Agbagu was taken off

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of every VACF bank post. So I'm wondering if

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she left her contract that she recently signed

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to stay when she found out that Sullivan was

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going to be in Austin. Well, I mean, absolutely

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that was Love's intention behind it. But I don't

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see it as... It's a win -win -win for a lot of

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different people. Now, whether it works out long

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-term for the U .S. national program, that remains

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to be seen. But Love wants to keep U .S. athletes

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here. Eric Sullivan will be a draw for that.

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If I was coaching a national team, I would want

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to coach my players. I want my players to play

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with and against the best every single day. I

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totally, I don't disagree. I don't know if I

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take the same stance as you on that. I can't,

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as if I'm Eric Sullivan and I'm staying in Austin,

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I can't offer my potential national team players

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the level of day -to -day competition and training

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that another... Like a top league can. Fair.

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And I would want them to go get that experience.

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But if they're going to stay anyway. What if

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they're staying for you? It's like a chicken

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and egg discussion here. Like, why are they staying?

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So Madison played in Austin last year anyway.

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She probably could have gone overseas. Right?

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If she's going to stay again, you get a chance

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to work with her. It's the athlete's choice.

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They all know what's going on. I mean, I definitely

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see why Love was doing it. But as a young, impressionable

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athlete, you are inherently going to feel more

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pressure to stay there because you want to make

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a good impression. I don't think you're going

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to necessarily have the foresight. to look elsewhere.

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You're going to feel so much pressure to stay,

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to like try to make that impression. I don't

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know. I mean, it also, that also, it depends

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on what Eric's messaging is too. Maybe it's like,

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Hey, I get to coach a whole young developmental

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team and I'm trying to push my top player. Like

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we don't know what those conversations are. It's,

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it's an interesting move given how love operates

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and what Eric's goals are with the national team,

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which has to be a gold medal in 2028. So. I'm

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very curious to see how this plays out. It's

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an interesting experiment. In other love news,

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several of the athletes have gone to Indonesia

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to compete in the remainder of the Indonesian

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Pro League after the love season wrapped up.

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So that includes Jess Merzik, Maddie Rischel,

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Kelsey Cook, and Jordan Thompson. What do you

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think about that? Well, given the fact that during...

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The semi, they were talking about how Jess Marczyk

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is going to go to Indonesia but not play national

00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:33.950
team. I was like, what? Like, why? Maddie Urschel,

00:15:34.049 --> 00:15:36.629
she's played there. Just make some extra money.

00:15:36.769 --> 00:15:38.389
Like, she's not really a national team athlete.

00:15:38.629 --> 00:15:40.350
Kelsey Cook has said that she's taking the summer

00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:42.490
off. So maybe her and her husband went to have,

00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:45.230
like, a nice vacation after. Like, play for three

00:15:45.230 --> 00:15:48.659
weeks and just chill. I don't know. It's like,

00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.700
do you need to supplement your income? Like,

00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:55.419
why? Yeah, I mean, this kind of defeats the purpose

00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:58.740
of a local league to me. You want the athletes

00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:00.360
to be able to stay home to make a living, but

00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:01.740
then they feel like they have to go overseas

00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:04.080
to make more money. Like, and how much it was

00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.460
rammed down our throats of, like, these athletes

00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:10.139
so happy that they're playing at home. And they're

00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:12.620
like, thank you so much. Now we're going to go

00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:15.539
overseas. And, I mean, I get it for Maddie and

00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:18.090
Kelsey. Do what you want to do. That's fine.

00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:21.210
Jordan Thompson, if she's playing national team,

00:16:21.370 --> 00:16:23.429
that surprises me a little bit. And the league

00:16:23.429 --> 00:16:26.549
isn't even good. Yeah. It's not like you're going.

00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:29.809
You're going purely for money. What are they

00:16:29.809 --> 00:16:32.149
even paying? Because in my experience, I never

00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:34.269
played in Indonesia, but from what I understand,

00:16:34.570 --> 00:16:37.909
it's not a great league. It's pretty bad. And

00:16:37.909 --> 00:16:42.059
they don't like paying a ton of money. Yeah,

00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.980
maybe vacation. I don't know. I thought it was

00:16:43.980 --> 00:16:46.360
curious. Just take a vacation after your season.

00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:51.419
I don't know. It was confusing. And we also saw

00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:56.480
that Madison Skinner and Amber Ejidi both alluded

00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.779
to coming back next year and continuing to play.

00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:01.240
So it'll be interesting to see where that goes.

00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:05.039
And then we also are kind of up in the air with

00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.329
what Obagu is going to do. Next year. She was

00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:10.589
supposed to go to Vacath Bank, but she's nowhere

00:17:10.589 --> 00:17:13.230
to be found on their website now. And she was

00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:15.029
removed from all of their social media posts.

00:17:15.410 --> 00:17:19.049
My assumption is that she's coming back to love.

00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:23.390
I feel about that. We'll see what happens in

00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:26.369
all of those situations. On the NCAA men's side,

00:17:26.470 --> 00:17:29.990
it was the make or break weekend. Let's call

00:17:29.990 --> 00:17:34.319
it that. Ever won their conference tournament

00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:38.000
gets the automatic qualifying bid to nationals.

00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.039
There are only two at -large bids up for grabs.

00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:43.420
So we have seven conferences here. There was

00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:45.680
a lot of weird stuff that happened. Okay, so

00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:49.720
we've primarily on the podcast been following

00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.440
the three biggest conferences, the MPSF, the

00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.609
Big West, and MIVA. For the conferences outside

00:17:57.609 --> 00:18:00.769
of those three, the automatic qualifiers were

00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:04.710
for Valley State, Belmont Abbey, Damon, and Penn

00:18:04.710 --> 00:18:10.970
State, which we had so many concerns about Penn

00:18:10.970 --> 00:18:13.690
State this season. Thank God for them that they

00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:16.230
play in that conference and not me, but because...

00:18:16.230 --> 00:18:18.690
I think they were 0 -8 at the beginning of the

00:18:18.690 --> 00:18:20.589
season. Oh my gosh, it was probably worse than

00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:26.880
that. They were limping. That's generous. Crawling.

00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:30.619
Like, willing. I don't know what they were doing,

00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.059
but it was not looking good. But somehow they

00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:35.039
miraculously managed to win their conference

00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.200
tournament and beat Princeton in the final. I'm

00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.119
very curious to see what they look like at Nationals,

00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.500
because I haven't watched them since those early

00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:48.259
debacles. I'm not hopeful. But anyway. In Meva,

00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:51.599
we ended up having a one versus three matchup

00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:54.779
in the final. We had Loyola Chicago, who finally

00:18:54.779 --> 00:18:59.799
beat Lewis in the semi after losing both matches

00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.019
to Lewis earlier this year. Ohio State beat McKendree,

00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:06.960
and so... Ohio State wasn't ranked high enough

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.900
for McKendree to beat. That's true. Ohio State

00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:11.960
was ranked under McKendree for a long time, so

00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:14.380
McKendree's like, meh, we only beat people ranked

00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:18.839
ahead of us. But we watched the Loyola Chicago

00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:22.720
game against Ohio State, and Loyola Chicago crushed

00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:28.660
them 3 -0. This week, I think I watched one of

00:19:28.660 --> 00:19:31.380
the most entertaining volleyball games that I've

00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:34.480
seen in a long time. And this one might have

00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:37.839
been one of the worst games that I've watched.

00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:41.680
Ohio State was nowhere to be found. It was like,

00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:45.259
I was kind of embarrassed watching it. It wasn't

00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:49.119
easy to watch. It wasn't even close. Loyola Chicago

00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:54.559
wiped the floor with them. Shane Wetzel has been

00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:58.400
Ohio State's go -to guy all season. Did nothing.

00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:01.759
Absolutely nothing. Nobody could put the ball

00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:05.880
down. It was hard to watch. Well, the scores

00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:10.849
were 25 -10, 25 -17. And the third set was 25

00:20:10.849 --> 00:20:13.230
-21. But they scored a bunch of points at the

00:20:13.230 --> 00:20:16.869
end. At no point did you ever think Ohio State

00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:21.190
had a chance of winning. Absolutely not. Well,

00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.289
here were their hitting percentages. So as a

00:20:23.289 --> 00:20:26.950
team, in the first set they hit negative 077.

00:20:27.710 --> 00:20:32.289
In the second set they hit 156. And in the third

00:20:32.289 --> 00:20:35.890
set they hit 250. Which is respectable, but it

00:20:35.890 --> 00:20:39.230
doesn't count when your opponents hit... 455

00:20:39.230 --> 00:20:42.589
in the first set, and then 500 as a team in the

00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:45.849
next two sets. It was all credit to Loyola. They

00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.109
played well, they served well, they were in system

00:20:48.109 --> 00:20:50.890
on literally every pass. Blocked them every ball.

00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:54.130
Yeah, I think they passed a 5 -0 on the match.

00:20:54.309 --> 00:20:59.789
There was op and shards. Yeah, they had 12 blocks.

00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:03.150
It was so lopsided it wasn't even worth watching.

00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:06.650
I was kind of sad that I spent time watching

00:21:06.650 --> 00:21:08.349
that game because it was so bad. Loyola Chicago

00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:12.329
100 % deserved to win that. Absolutely. So they

00:21:12.329 --> 00:21:15.549
are the Mevo representative at Nationals. And

00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:18.329
I'm actually really curious to see how they do.

00:21:18.390 --> 00:21:21.190
And this is the thing. Teams, whatever happens

00:21:21.190 --> 00:21:23.670
in the preseason, but they've had their season

00:21:23.670 --> 00:21:26.190
to develop. They're not necessarily as big and

00:21:26.190 --> 00:21:28.029
physical as some of the teams from the other

00:21:28.029 --> 00:21:30.769
top two conferences. But they are very skilled,

00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:33.630
so I'm very curious to see what those matchups

00:21:33.630 --> 00:21:37.630
look like. On the NPSF side, we had some offsets

00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:40.930
to get to the final, everybody. Stanford upset

00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:45.450
BYU in one of the quarters. I mean, Stanford...

00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:48.890
We thought they packed it in weeks ago. I mean,

00:21:48.910 --> 00:21:51.190
we said at the beginning of the season, they

00:21:51.190 --> 00:21:53.450
played some good matches. They were a team that

00:21:53.450 --> 00:21:57.450
were super young. You thought that they were...

00:21:58.669 --> 00:22:03.210
consistent and that teams had to beat them. And

00:22:03.210 --> 00:22:05.390
I was hopeful for them at the beginning of the

00:22:05.390 --> 00:22:10.150
season. And then the wheels fell off in the middle

00:22:10.150 --> 00:22:12.549
of the season. They couldn't win a match to save

00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:15.470
their lives. They looked terrible. And then they

00:22:15.470 --> 00:22:18.269
come back and upset in the conference finals,

00:22:18.369 --> 00:22:20.970
which as a team, like you want to play well in

00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:23.109
the conference finals, but that was a bit of

00:22:23.109 --> 00:22:26.200
a shock to me. Failure shock. was on the other

00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:28.700
other side of the bracket pepperdine upset ucla

00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:32.640
in the semi although pepperdine was hosting yes

00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:36.319
but is that as an excuse i don't think so we

00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:41.019
didn't watch that game but we did watch pepperdine

00:22:41.019 --> 00:22:47.000
play usc in the final and they were very good

00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:50.079
well okay let's qualify that are we gonna get

00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:54.809
into this sure we'll just touch on it their left

00:22:54.809 --> 00:22:58.430
sides were very good and I think that's all I've

00:22:58.430 --> 00:23:01.710
got to say their left side right Barnett was

00:23:01.710 --> 00:23:04.529
unstoppable I kept being like how can he literally

00:23:04.529 --> 00:23:08.529
not stop this guy he was unconscious every single

00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:10.930
thing he hit from anywhere on the court he could

00:23:10.930 --> 00:23:13.069
have hit balls from the baseline and he would

00:23:13.069 --> 00:23:14.849
have he could have passed balls over the net

00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:16.849
and scored like that's kind of what it was like

00:23:16.849 --> 00:23:19.049
everything he touched he just scored on and I'm

00:23:19.049 --> 00:23:23.109
like this is ridiculous he had 45 attempts and

00:23:23.109 --> 00:23:27.380
he hit 333 against the best blocking team in

00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:31.880
the NCAA, if I'm not mistaken. It was absolutely

00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.539
wild to watch. And this is the one thing that's

00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:37.220
often interesting about men's volleyball, specifically

00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:40.940
in the college space, is that there's a lot of

00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:43.240
physical players who can do a lot of different

00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:46.599
things. And if somebody gets hot who hasn't done

00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:48.779
anything all year or you haven't game planned

00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:52.940
for, sometimes there's nothing you can do. Quite

00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:56.579
frankly, both their left sides got unconsciously

00:23:56.579 --> 00:23:58.559
hot at the end of the season. Well, somebody

00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.539
tell me where this number seven came from. Haver.

00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:05.799
We had George Dyer playing left side for the

00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:07.880
whole season. And then all of a sudden I tune

00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:12.319
into this game and Haver is playing. Who is this

00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.519
kid? I think he had seven points in the first.

00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.680
Where did? Okay. Somebody tell me where he came

00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:18.420
from and what the deal with that is, because

00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:20.740
I was so confused because you guys also know

00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:22.920
how I felt about George Dyer all season and how

00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:26.680
he just wasn't it. So like great job by number

00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:32.630
seven, but as. impressive as the Pepperdine left

00:24:32.630 --> 00:24:36.029
sides were, I was equally unimpressed by Caleb

00:24:36.029 --> 00:24:39.970
Blanchett on USC's side, the setter. I didn't

00:24:39.970 --> 00:24:42.970
think USC played poorly. Like, watching them

00:24:42.970 --> 00:24:46.289
play, I wasn't like, wow, they are just not in

00:24:46.289 --> 00:24:49.640
it today. The only person I felt with that, and

00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:52.059
it's a critical position, was Blanchett because

00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:55.299
I have loved him all season. How he's forced

00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:58.140
the middle, how he's run his offense really nice

00:24:58.140 --> 00:25:01.920
and quick, blah, blah, blah. But he was not good.

00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:05.039
None of their hitters looked like they were in

00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:08.140
rhythm all night. It was tough. Their middles,

00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:12.599
who normally do a great job, I didn't think were

00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:16.039
utilized enough. And I thought they passed pretty

00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:20.960
well. And he was just off, and the team could

00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.400
not get going. Because I don't think they should

00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.380
have lost that match. No, I don't think so either.

00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:28.980
And the interesting thing was they're normally

00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:31.779
a very good blocking team, and they blocked really

00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:34.880
well against Cole Hartke, who had a rough night.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:37.940
I think he hit negative. So he got 42 sets. He's

00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:40.759
the right side for Pepperdine. He got 42 sets,

00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:44.720
and he hit negative on the night. And so you

00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:48.700
have to think that USC's game plan was probably,

00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:51.599
we're going to shut down Cole. He gets the majority

00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:54.279
of their sets, and we're going to make other

00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:56.759
people beat us. Because they just played Pepperdine

00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:59.299
a couple weeks ago, and Barnett was really good

00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:02.339
against them then, too. Like, hello. Yeah, I

00:26:02.339 --> 00:26:05.269
mean. They shut down the big right side, but

00:26:05.269 --> 00:26:07.930
the left sides killed them, and it was. I was

00:26:07.930 --> 00:26:10.210
expecting more of the USC middles as well, to

00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:11.710
be honest. Well, they weren't getting the ball

00:26:11.710 --> 00:26:14.390
nearly as much as they usually do. Like, I'm

00:26:14.390 --> 00:26:16.410
sorry to say, like, I don't want to lay this

00:26:16.410 --> 00:26:18.730
on one person's shoulders, but, like, Branca

00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:22.049
didn't do his job. Yeah, fair. If you look at

00:26:22.049 --> 00:26:25.890
the middles for USC, Dennis only got nine sets,

00:26:25.990 --> 00:26:31.019
and Tompkinson only got 11. And... I thought

00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:35.079
that had been a strength of USC all year. And

00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:37.359
I thought they had the edge in the middle against

00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.740
Pepperdine, or should have. And it just didn't

00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:44.119
connect. They didn't use them. And to me, that

00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:47.579
was on the setter. Well, USC's hopes at Nationals

00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:50.440
are gone now, I think. I agree. I don't think

00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:52.940
they're getting an at -large bid. So Pepperdine

00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:56.259
is coming out of the NPSF, which only leaves

00:26:56.259 --> 00:26:59.630
the Big West. We're going to talk about this

00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:03.049
match in more depth because as head -scratching

00:27:03.049 --> 00:27:04.829
as some of the other matches we watched were,

00:27:04.950 --> 00:27:11.150
this one was so entertaining. And Hawaii beat

00:27:11.150 --> 00:27:15.730
Long Beach State 3 -1 to earn the Big West bid

00:27:15.730 --> 00:27:20.430
to Nationals. One of the most fun games I have

00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:23.430
watched in a very long time. It was really good.

00:27:23.490 --> 00:27:26.529
It was so fun. Super entertaining. And I will

00:27:26.529 --> 00:27:31.170
say before we wrap up that if you put money on

00:27:31.170 --> 00:27:33.630
Pepperdine to win the conference championship

00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:37.130
at the beginning of this year, you will be very

00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:39.109
rich at this point. Because I don't think anybody

00:27:39.109 --> 00:27:43.490
saw either one of USC or UCLA not coming out

00:27:43.490 --> 00:27:45.650
of this conference. I was going to say for Big

00:27:45.650 --> 00:27:47.890
West, I'm pretty satisfied because I've been

00:27:47.890 --> 00:27:53.660
a fan of Hawaii all season. And I'm like... so

00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:55.799
happy that they put it together when it really

00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.200
mattered because I was like, they have the potential.

00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:04.519
This team is so good. But anyway, the automatic

00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:07.480
qualifiers are set. The biggest question that

00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:10.039
remains is who, which two teams are going to

00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:14.240
get the at -large bids. Well, I think it has

00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:17.119
to go to Long Beach and UCLA. That is my instinct

00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:18.740
of who's going to get them. If you listen to

00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:21.000
the Big West broadcast, they think that they

00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.640
should get both. No, it's not happening. The

00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.259
Big West thinks that they should get both at

00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:32.680
-larges. Long Beach and UCLA held the 1 -2 spot

00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:36.440
for the majority of the season. I would be shocked

00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:39.640
if it wasn't those two teams. UCLA also played

00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:42.980
a tough schedule. Much tougher, in my opinion,

00:28:43.180 --> 00:28:46.460
than the non -conference schedule. Much tougher

00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:48.740
than Long Beach State's. So I think that needs

00:28:48.740 --> 00:28:51.460
to be in consideration. They are my two picks.

00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:54.140
I think that those are picks. And I think they're

00:28:54.140 --> 00:28:56.200
safe, right? You're not going to ruffle any feathers.

00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:58.460
They're the top two teams that didn't make it.

00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:02.579
And I would be shocked if that's not the case.

00:29:02.859 --> 00:29:05.940
Looking to the PVF, which is still ongoing, Vegas

00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:08.680
has managed to get a couple wins in the last

00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:11.799
little while. Woo! So that's good for them. They've

00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:14.180
kind of righted the ship. I'm not sure if it's

00:29:14.180 --> 00:29:16.940
going to be too little too late, but we will

00:29:16.940 --> 00:29:18.740
see how that works. They still have a chance.

00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:20.720
They still have a chance, but things have got

00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:22.500
to work in their favor at this point, and they've

00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:26.099
got to keep winning. Atlanta finally beat Omaha,

00:29:26.420 --> 00:29:29.680
which is good to see. I'm not sure if Omaha is

00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:33.740
still caring as much. I think they've locked

00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:38.279
up the seat, but... They've walked up AC. Yeah.

00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:41.240
Maybe not first. They need to keep winning. Yeah.

00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:43.240
We'll see what happens, but that's a good win

00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:47.819
for Atlanta. Grand Rapids beat Indy again, so

00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:50.539
that was interesting. Entering the last week

00:29:50.539 --> 00:29:54.160
of regular season play, Omaha, Atlanta, and Orlando

00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.059
are all safe. They're going to be in the 14 playoff.

00:29:57.460 --> 00:30:01.599
The fourth spot is still up for grabs. Indy has

00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:05.619
a good cushion, but... grand rapids and vegas

00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:08.559
still have a chance if they continue to win and

00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:14.200
they lose a few matches so it's like they have

00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:17.160
the points but they don't seem to play a role

00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:20.359
in how they do the rankings but like indy's a

00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:23.660
couple games ahead of them but their points are

00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:26.920
so much higher so i'm like are they is that the

00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:28.460
tiebreaker is that what they're going to use

00:30:28.460 --> 00:30:31.400
if the other teams get those two wins like i

00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:34.220
don't know yeah And I couldn't find anything

00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:36.359
online in terms of what the tiebreak procedures

00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:37.880
were. You'd have to think they mean something.

00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:40.700
So Indy should be safe. But if we're looking

00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:44.279
at straight win -loss, Grand Rapids and Vegas

00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:46.980
still do have a chance if they win out. Yeah.

00:30:47.299 --> 00:30:51.460
But they control their own destiny. So we'll

00:30:51.460 --> 00:30:53.079
see what happens there. And then playoffs will

00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:56.019
get started. And we'll be deep in the PVF playoffs

00:30:56.019 --> 00:30:58.539
once they start. We had a lot of opinions mixed

00:30:58.539 --> 00:31:01.930
into our weekly update. So we're not just results

00:31:01.930 --> 00:31:05.869
today, everybody. Well, with the men's playoffs,

00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:08.069
we watched a few of those matches. I think we

00:31:08.069 --> 00:31:10.250
needed to talk about them and give them a little

00:31:10.250 --> 00:31:14.029
bit of airtime. Nothing happened in love on the

00:31:14.029 --> 00:31:17.650
court, but we still have opinions, okay? Well,

00:31:17.650 --> 00:31:19.930
they're still drawing people in and there's players

00:31:19.930 --> 00:31:21.809
that we're following and it'll be interesting.

00:31:22.069 --> 00:31:26.349
I'm curious to see what the PVF playoffs look

00:31:26.349 --> 00:31:28.670
and feel like. We didn't watch them last year.

00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:31.259
But I like how they've laid out the league. I'm

00:31:31.259 --> 00:31:33.440
curious what we're going to see. So I am looking

00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:36.039
forward to watching those playoffs when my regular

00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:37.900
season is done. All right, so we're going to

00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:42.759
talk about two matches in full. Full breakdown,

00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:45.799
I guess. Well, how much... There's not a ton

00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.400
to talk about with our first match. We just kind

00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:50.960
of... We wanted to talk about it to give it a

00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:54.500
nice little bow on the season. Well, and I think

00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:58.390
it may... Like, Kunigliano is... We're talking

00:31:58.390 --> 00:32:01.509
about the Italian League final. Yes. And Canegliano

00:32:01.509 --> 00:32:03.869
is probably the best women's team out there,

00:32:03.990 --> 00:32:06.289
hands down. I would be shocked if they didn't

00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:12.529
win the Champions League. Adam just jinxed them,

00:32:12.710 --> 00:32:16.349
basically. I don't believe in that. They're just

00:32:16.349 --> 00:32:18.670
so good. They're fun to watch. If you haven't

00:32:18.670 --> 00:32:20.309
had a chance, I think they have highlights. You

00:32:20.309 --> 00:32:22.109
might be able to find the game on YouTube. But

00:32:22.109 --> 00:32:27.859
they're just so good. They're just... I expected

00:32:27.859 --> 00:32:31.259
this series, not necessarily, I didn't think

00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:33.759
Milano was going to win this series, but I was

00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:36.480
like, you know what? They could potentially take

00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:39.859
a match off of them. Like, mind you, Corneliano's

00:32:39.859 --> 00:32:43.440
lost one match all season. Yeah. So was that

00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.059
realistic? Was that naive of me? Maybe. I mean,

00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:50.059
you think you've got to be on for three games

00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:52.700
in a row. You know, you have the ability for

00:32:52.700 --> 00:32:55.160
one team to push. We watched them in the Coppa

00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:58.099
Italia. It was close -ish, at least in a couple

00:32:58.099 --> 00:33:01.119
sets. But this one, they ran through 25 -22,

00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.680
25 -20, 25 -21, and it never really was close.

00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.940
I mean, I think that Canigliano is just better

00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:13.000
all around, almost in every position. And if

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.579
Milano was going to have a chance, Iganu was

00:33:15.579 --> 00:33:21.390
going to have to outplay Hawk. That didn't happen.

00:33:21.829 --> 00:33:25.269
I will say, I thought Lugano served better than

00:33:25.269 --> 00:33:28.849
Hawk. She dug more balls than Hawk, but Hawk

00:33:28.849 --> 00:33:31.210
doesn't dig any balls. Hawk is just there to

00:33:31.210 --> 00:33:33.769
score points. Her defense leaves a little to

00:33:33.769 --> 00:33:37.029
be desired. She scores so many points, who cares?

00:33:37.809 --> 00:33:41.730
But Hawk attacked and blocked. She was the difference

00:33:41.730 --> 00:33:44.049
in the match. It was impressive to watch. She

00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:46.950
was very good. She was very good. But the thing

00:33:46.950 --> 00:33:50.599
is, though, I feel like... Hawk is able to do

00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:54.059
that for Corneliano because of all the other

00:33:54.059 --> 00:33:57.299
pieces around her. Their middles, Kirikella and

00:33:57.299 --> 00:34:02.319
Farr, like, they are run just enough to keep

00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:04.619
the middles on the other team honest. And they

00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:08.199
are, when they get set, they are almost unstoppable.

00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:11.599
Yeah. So they don't use them often. It's just

00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:15.300
like the outside core of Corneliano and Gabi,

00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:20.559
Zhu Ting, and... hawk are so good that they kind

00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:23.500
of carry the load but the middle you can't sleep

00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:26.940
on the middle so you just see so many opportunities

00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:30.900
being created and the way that they are able

00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:33.940
they're running their back row in the gaps i

00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:36.599
was gonna talk go ahead off of the middle who

00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:39.119
isn't even run all that often it's just like

00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:44.519
impressive so hawk is a star Don't get me wrong.

00:34:44.699 --> 00:34:47.559
But the team in general and the ball control

00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:53.719
generated by Moki, Dagenaro, and Gabi allows

00:34:53.719 --> 00:34:57.659
them to run just an in -system offense. And then

00:34:57.659 --> 00:34:59.960
their middles you have to respect. And then their

00:34:59.960 --> 00:35:03.420
outside score. And then Hawk is pretty much guaranteed

00:35:03.420 --> 00:35:07.940
to... It's just a pleasure to watch them. It's

00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:11.000
just so well executed. They were in -system all

00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:14.820
night. They pass so well. And the thing that

00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:17.000
impressed me was just how they attack the different

00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:19.420
zones. Like you mentioned, the middles will run,

00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:21.500
the middles will run a slide and they'll move

00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:24.420
the right side in or the middles will run a quick

00:35:24.420 --> 00:35:26.380
and they'll run just over top or the 30, like

00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:28.840
they attack from all different zones and the

00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:32.320
setter runs an offense where there's always an

00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:35.539
empty hitter versus a split block. And she does

00:35:35.539 --> 00:35:38.239
such a great job of finding them. They're just

00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:40.760
a, they're so well oiled and there's no gaps

00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:43.519
in any position. It's, you want to watch, the

00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:46.579
best high -level volleyball, this is it in every

00:35:46.579 --> 00:35:51.059
regard. The thing about Milano, though, and Egonu

00:35:51.059 --> 00:35:54.440
is one of the best opposites in the world, hands

00:35:54.440 --> 00:35:58.099
down. I think her job is made substantially more

00:35:58.099 --> 00:36:01.380
difficult because they don't have the same pieces

00:36:01.380 --> 00:36:05.519
that Conigliano does. Like, Anna Dinesi is an

00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:10.280
incredible blocker in the middle, but... They

00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.019
weren't running the middle much. No. And their

00:36:14.019 --> 00:36:19.599
left sides do not bring enough offensively to

00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:22.699
take any type of attention away from Egonu. She

00:36:22.699 --> 00:36:27.639
needs to be scoring just lights out for them

00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.340
to have a chance. I think they are a really good

00:36:30.340 --> 00:36:35.139
team, but it's just... Conigliano has people

00:36:35.139 --> 00:36:38.719
scoring in every single position, and it's much

00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:42.239
more inconsistent on Milano's side. And it makes

00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:45.400
Egonu not scoring every single ball that much

00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:47.400
more obvious. Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong.

00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:53.079
She was still very good. She hit 290, and she

00:36:53.079 --> 00:36:56.420
got set 37 times. But to me, the difference,

00:36:56.820 --> 00:37:00.719
you almost, Milano needs a hawk. So when a hawk

00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:03.880
swings, generally the play ends. Somebody's scoring.

00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:07.400
Like, she is scoring or the play ends. There's

00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:11.719
not a lot of middle ground with her. Iganu, when

00:37:11.719 --> 00:37:15.239
I watched, she's not as aggressive. She tipped

00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:18.960
a lot. And I think that she looks like she's

00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:23.460
more error adverse. And she'll keep a play going.

00:37:23.659 --> 00:37:25.960
And that's tough when you always have two blocks

00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:29.920
when the rest of your teammate isn't open. In

00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:32.940
Milano, when you don't have as many other point

00:37:32.940 --> 00:37:35.619
scores, you have to be a little bit more terminal.

00:37:35.699 --> 00:37:39.099
I'm not sure that her style of play professionally,

00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:41.579
and I haven't watched her enough to say, like,

00:37:41.579 --> 00:37:43.679
this is always how she plays, but in general,

00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:47.539
that team makeup needs a more aggressive right

00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:49.420
side, in my opinion. I think she tipped too many

00:37:49.420 --> 00:37:51.659
balls, even though she was good and she didn't

00:37:51.659 --> 00:37:54.639
want to make errors. Like, Hawk made eight errors,

00:37:54.760 --> 00:37:57.739
I believe, on the match, and Iguanu only made

00:37:57.739 --> 00:38:00.400
three. They needed a few more points out of her

00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:02.699
if they were going to win. Well, and also, I

00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:05.559
am an Alessia Oro fan, the setter for Milano.

00:38:05.659 --> 00:38:10.219
I didn't think she set the best game I've seen

00:38:10.219 --> 00:38:13.239
her play. I do think some of her sets were trailing

00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.239
tight. I think out of system, they were kind

00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:18.619
of setting Egonu a little too far off the net.

00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:22.239
So was it Oro's best match that I've seen her

00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:24.179
play? Absolutely not. I think she's better than

00:38:24.179 --> 00:38:28.380
that. Also, Miriam Silla wasn't playing. Like,

00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:30.360
she came off the bench in every set, but I'm

00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:32.659
like, was she struggling throughout the series?

00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:35.639
Like, we watched match one, she started. We just

00:38:35.639 --> 00:38:38.420
mismatched, too. They needed her to be better.

00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:39.800
They needed her to stand out in that series.

00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:41.380
I don't know. And she's just, like, an energy

00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:43.500
boost on the team, too. Like, even if she's not

00:38:43.500 --> 00:38:47.659
playing her best, like, she is the energy on

00:38:47.659 --> 00:38:50.000
that team. You're not getting it from Danese

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.260
or Egonu or people like that. Like, she is it.

00:38:55.239 --> 00:38:57.639
And in the hostile environment, like, they were

00:38:57.639 --> 00:38:59.659
playing away. Like, you need somebody to keep

00:38:59.659 --> 00:39:02.940
people together. I don't know. At the end of

00:39:02.940 --> 00:39:06.340
the day, Corneliano was just better. Yeah, it

00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:09.139
wasn't as entertaining a match other than the

00:39:09.139 --> 00:39:11.639
fact that the volleyball was a super high level.

00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:14.780
And I did look up the stats as we were chatting.

00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:17.500
Hawk only made three errors, so disregard where

00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:19.460
that A came from. She was pretty lights out.

00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:24.309
I misread that. Yeah. One, she got... three errors

00:39:24.309 --> 00:39:27.289
and was blocked once and Nagano made three errors

00:39:27.289 --> 00:39:30.369
and was blocked twice. Ahaka's just pretty fantastic.

00:39:30.730 --> 00:39:35.630
She was very good. I did enjoy watching just

00:39:35.630 --> 00:39:38.730
to see the level of volleyball but from a competitive

00:39:38.730 --> 00:39:42.110
standpoint it wasn't super competitive. It was

00:39:42.110 --> 00:39:46.789
such like a joy to watch such talented athletes.

00:39:47.230 --> 00:39:51.360
You know what I mean? Of course, there are errors.

00:39:51.420 --> 00:39:53.619
Of course, we can pick it apart all we want,

00:39:53.719 --> 00:39:59.300
but it was just so good. If you could draw up

00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:02.719
how you would want your team to play, Kunigliano

00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:06.639
executed that match. Check it out. Highly recommend.

00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:08.519
Or if you don't want to check it out and you

00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:10.320
want to wait for Champions League, this is actually

00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:14.179
going to be a rematch. It's going to be a semifinal.

00:40:14.179 --> 00:40:17.219
These teams are playing again. In a neutral location

00:40:17.219 --> 00:40:19.539
this time in Istanbul. So maybe that'll have

00:40:19.539 --> 00:40:22.239
an effect. Who knows? Well, it's always hard

00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:24.340
to beat a team multiple times. And they beat

00:40:24.340 --> 00:40:28.059
them in Coppa Italia. And they beat them in the

00:40:28.059 --> 00:40:31.460
league. And they beat them in the playoffs. In

00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:34.880
Supercoppa. Yeah. Like in every single thing.

00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:39.179
Can they put the sweep on? I want to say yes

00:40:39.179 --> 00:40:44.929
because I love excellence. I just like, I feel

00:40:44.929 --> 00:40:48.289
like teams that have proven themselves to be

00:40:48.289 --> 00:40:53.690
excellent, just, it breaks my heart when they

00:40:53.690 --> 00:40:56.369
don't see it to the finish line. Well, the one

00:40:56.369 --> 00:40:59.190
thing I think Milano can do, I mean, there's

00:40:59.190 --> 00:41:01.429
obviously lots of things, but I think they need

00:41:01.429 --> 00:41:05.429
to engage Hawk in her defensive position. They

00:41:05.429 --> 00:41:08.070
need to tip the ball to her. They need to swing

00:41:08.070 --> 00:41:12.300
cross court. They need to... drive their offensive

00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:14.800
play to that side of the court. She doesn't dig

00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:17.179
tips. Well, to make her play defense and also

00:41:17.179 --> 00:41:20.119
to take her out of. Like, they tipped a few times

00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:21.980
and she had to come to the ground and then you

00:41:21.980 --> 00:41:24.199
can load up your block. Like, I think there's

00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:27.659
some things that they can do against Conigliano

00:41:27.659 --> 00:41:30.159
so that they're not always firing on all cylinders.

00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:33.260
In listening to the timeouts, they seemed overly

00:41:33.260 --> 00:41:36.420
preoccupied with their defensive positioning

00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:41.780
and their defensive strategy. On Hawk, I didn't

00:41:41.780 --> 00:41:45.139
hear them talk much about their offensive strategy.

00:41:45.480 --> 00:41:50.440
But even so, they weren't doing what the coach

00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:53.139
wanted them to defensively. I was listening to

00:41:53.139 --> 00:41:58.840
this being like, you guys, what? But yeah, Volosh,

00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:00.980
the setter for Conigliano, was definitely a liability

00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:04.119
at the net. You've got Hawk digging behind her

00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:07.360
down the line. Trust me, as somebody who has

00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:12.699
dug behind many a small setter, you don't want

00:42:12.699 --> 00:42:15.059
to be at the attack line, so you have to be deep.

00:42:15.099 --> 00:42:17.000
Otherwise, you're getting pelted in the face,

00:42:17.099 --> 00:42:20.440
which you're exposing yourself to tips. You need

00:42:20.440 --> 00:42:23.219
to yo -yo Hawk back and forth on defense, like

00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:25.320
Adam was saying. They can definitely do more

00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:28.980
than they did, but that means... setting their

00:42:28.980 --> 00:42:30.900
left side yeah and the left side needs to do

00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:33.039
something or run your pipe and attack that side

00:42:33.039 --> 00:42:35.139
of the court they do not run the yeah that is

00:42:35.139 --> 00:42:38.179
another thing they need to use either move and

00:42:38.179 --> 00:42:40.800
go new more in the back row or get your left

00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:43.780
sides going on the pipe because you it's pretty

00:42:43.780 --> 00:42:46.599
good yeah so i'm curious to see if they make

00:42:46.599 --> 00:42:48.480
any of those adjustments i will definitely be

00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:51.019
watching that game but yeah i'm glad we chose

00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:55.820
this one to watch Alright, we got some serious

00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:59.159
flack for not covering this matchup. And rightly

00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:01.840
so. Rightly so, but we had a lot to cover with

00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:04.400
love. I appreciate you guys holding us accountable,

00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:06.980
though, for not covering Long Beach State and

00:43:06.980 --> 00:43:09.840
Hawaii in the Big West season. So, we did not

00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:13.280
want to disappoint you guys today, okay? We got

00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:16.199
up extra early to watch this because it was past

00:43:16.199 --> 00:43:22.389
my bedtime last night. Wow. This... This might

00:43:22.389 --> 00:43:26.750
be one of my favorite matches definitely this

00:43:26.750 --> 00:43:30.590
year that I've watched. It was so entertaining.

00:43:30.789 --> 00:43:34.550
And right off the bat, one of the things that

00:43:34.550 --> 00:43:36.829
I found the most interesting was that both teams

00:43:36.829 --> 00:43:40.789
were missing their starting opposite. Yeah. Which

00:43:40.789 --> 00:43:43.190
is just a fascinating dynamic because that's

00:43:43.190 --> 00:43:45.289
generally your highest point scorer. In this

00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:48.090
case, both very good players, although I did

00:43:48.090 --> 00:43:50.780
think... Going into the match that it would hinder

00:43:50.780 --> 00:43:55.599
Hawaii more than it hindered Long Beach. I agree.

00:43:55.699 --> 00:43:59.820
I personally have not been a huge Herstinovich

00:43:59.820 --> 00:44:02.199
fan. I feel like we're going to have some controversial

00:44:02.199 --> 00:44:05.480
statements come up during this segment. So just

00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:09.739
like hang tight for those hot takes. I'm sure

00:44:09.739 --> 00:44:13.679
I'll get some feedback. But I personally have

00:44:13.679 --> 00:44:16.340
not been a Herstinovich fan through the season.

00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:21.300
I thought Tetriski would be a huge loss. Although

00:44:21.300 --> 00:44:24.019
they did beat Long Beach State without Tetriski

00:44:24.019 --> 00:44:27.679
in Big West play. And I was like, who is this

00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:30.719
Nato Dickinson coming in? Let me tell you, he

00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:34.679
shut me up so fast after he literally flayed

00:44:34.679 --> 00:44:37.519
the defense on the first few swings he took.

00:44:37.559 --> 00:44:43.079
I was like, watch out. This kid was unbelievable.

00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:48.659
He detonated balls. i i mean it was wild for

00:44:48.659 --> 00:44:53.559
him to come in and take that role and play the

00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:57.099
way he played in a championship match to go to

00:44:57.099 --> 00:45:01.119
nationals knowing you're the backup i mean kudos

00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:06.039
to him he had 33 attempts and he hit 485. it

00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:10.099
he was unconscious he was so good that's a pretty

00:45:10.099 --> 00:45:13.309
good stat line and i was actually really looking

00:45:13.309 --> 00:45:17.329
forward to it because the right side for hawaii

00:45:17.329 --> 00:45:22.469
started the first set and was all world i think

00:45:22.469 --> 00:45:25.510
he had he went seven for nine in the first set

00:45:25.510 --> 00:45:28.550
i think is finnigan finn carney yeah finn carney

00:45:28.550 --> 00:45:31.889
that was so i thought they were going to go back

00:45:31.889 --> 00:45:34.510
and forth now finn kind of fell off as the match

00:45:34.510 --> 00:45:39.280
went on but dickinson was amazing And one thing

00:45:39.280 --> 00:45:44.119
I do want to bring up, Hawaii's fan sign game.

00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:48.119
Might be maybe the best in the world. Maybe the

00:45:48.119 --> 00:45:50.400
best in the world. There is this mother -daughter

00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:53.000
duo in particular. I watched a lot of Hawaii

00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:55.699
volleyball this season. There's this mother -daughter

00:45:55.699 --> 00:45:59.380
duo who come with like a stack of these signs

00:45:59.380 --> 00:46:04.159
and they are so good. Very clever. So good. But

00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:07.579
like the Hawaii fan base in general, these signs

00:46:07.579 --> 00:46:11.239
are, they add to the viewing experience. Let

00:46:11.239 --> 00:46:14.530
me tell you. My favorite, I think, was the no

00:46:14.530 --> 00:46:18.309
beach dot dot dot access. I put up when they

00:46:18.309 --> 00:46:20.150
got blocked. Oh, that was one that was like so

00:46:20.150 --> 00:46:25.469
long. Dot dot dot beach. It was a lot of fun.

00:46:25.510 --> 00:46:28.849
The atmosphere in the gym was great. And I will

00:46:28.849 --> 00:46:32.769
say, it got a little chippy. Which I love. I

00:46:32.769 --> 00:46:35.289
love that too. And the ref came back and told

00:46:35.289 --> 00:46:38.550
the players to calm down. Let's be honest, okay?

00:46:40.139 --> 00:46:43.880
You need, the trash talking is fun. There's a

00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:47.539
net in between both teams. And quite frankly,

00:46:47.739 --> 00:46:50.679
and I'm including myself in this, we're volleyball

00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:52.280
players. There's not going to be any violence

00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:56.280
on the court. Like, let them go. Let them trash

00:46:56.280 --> 00:46:59.039
talk. It's fun. I was disappointed with that.

00:46:59.059 --> 00:47:01.840
But the game itself was incredible. Man, I'm

00:47:01.840 --> 00:47:06.300
all about that. The little prolonged stares.

00:47:07.940 --> 00:47:10.500
Vargas hitting one ball and landing in a squat

00:47:10.500 --> 00:47:12.760
position, watching it hit the ground. I actually

00:47:12.760 --> 00:47:16.719
thought he was... He wasn't super efficient on

00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:18.500
the night, but he played really good defense.

00:47:18.719 --> 00:47:21.260
I thought he blocked pretty well. He passed very

00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:23.420
well. He was under pressure. I liked his game

00:47:23.420 --> 00:47:26.260
last night. I think when Long Beach ran the middle,

00:47:26.400 --> 00:47:29.699
they were very good. And a little freshman middle

00:47:29.699 --> 00:47:32.039
came in. High pressure environment. And I thought

00:47:32.039 --> 00:47:35.800
he did great as well. He did send one free ball.

00:47:36.510 --> 00:47:38.789
probably 30 feet out the baseline which was a

00:47:38.789 --> 00:47:42.050
bit of a head scratcher but other than that i

00:47:42.050 --> 00:47:45.150
thought he did great so let's i have two questions

00:47:45.150 --> 00:47:48.070
for you overall because the matches were all

00:47:48.070 --> 00:47:50.610
pretty close the sets were yeah i always do that

00:47:50.610 --> 00:47:54.070
the sets were very close what do you think was

00:47:54.070 --> 00:47:58.210
the difference like if you have to sum up kind

00:47:58.210 --> 00:48:00.909
of what happened because it was very it was very

00:48:00.909 --> 00:48:04.269
often 2020 2019 like coming down the stretch

00:48:04.269 --> 00:48:08.469
it was close and then Hawaii would pull at well

00:48:08.469 --> 00:48:11.670
I think we would always see Long Beach State

00:48:11.670 --> 00:48:14.210
make a couple back -to -back errors after 20

00:48:14.210 --> 00:48:18.010
we would see like a service error followed up

00:48:18.010 --> 00:48:21.090
by an attacking error followed up by a net call

00:48:21.090 --> 00:48:24.789
or like some combination of that they would hold

00:48:24.789 --> 00:48:26.929
it together and then there would be like two

00:48:26.929 --> 00:48:29.230
or three errors in a row and like that was the

00:48:29.230 --> 00:48:35.550
difference and I think honestly Hawaii played

00:48:35.550 --> 00:48:41.250
a full team game. Their left side, Sakonoko and

00:48:41.250 --> 00:48:45.309
Roar, have been a little up and down throughout

00:48:45.309 --> 00:48:49.110
the season. When we saw them early, they were

00:48:49.110 --> 00:48:53.329
outstanding, but they've kind of been okay some

00:48:53.329 --> 00:48:58.010
games, excellent others. They were outstanding.

00:48:58.690 --> 00:49:02.469
Louie hit a couple of the biggest balls I think

00:49:02.469 --> 00:49:07.039
I've seen all season. He went up and detonated

00:49:07.039 --> 00:49:09.460
on a few, one down the line and I think one out

00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:11.940
of the back row that were just spectacular to

00:49:11.940 --> 00:49:14.800
watch. And brought them back into set four. Hawaii

00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:18.599
was down 13 -7 in set four. Yep. Brought them

00:49:18.599 --> 00:49:21.480
back into it when he was serving to bring it

00:49:21.480 --> 00:49:24.099
to 13 -13 and then went on another run at the

00:49:24.099 --> 00:49:27.099
very end of the set. Yep. Roar got player of

00:49:27.099 --> 00:49:29.780
the match, like MVP of the tournament. Yep. He

00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:31.739
was very good in the match before. Oh my gosh,

00:49:31.780 --> 00:49:36.380
like... It was a full team effort. Like Hawaii

00:49:36.380 --> 00:49:40.519
as a unit showed up and everybody did their job.

00:49:40.820 --> 00:49:45.260
Whereas, and Long Beach State wasn't bad by any

00:49:45.260 --> 00:49:49.139
means. It was just like they made untimely errors.

00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:56.260
And here's probably the biggest hot take that

00:49:56.260 --> 00:50:01.079
we've got. And I agree with you. I think Tread

00:50:01.079 --> 00:50:06.059
Rosenthal outset Moni Nikolov. And quite frankly,

00:50:06.219 --> 00:50:10.699
if I'm being honest, which you know I am, duh.

00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:14.420
Nikolov, when things are going sideways, he often

00:50:14.420 --> 00:50:18.440
tries to do too much. And I know people, like,

00:50:18.460 --> 00:50:22.280
are obsessed with this kid. Totally fine. I truly

00:50:22.280 --> 00:50:26.500
think, and I was an athlete like this, he is

00:50:26.500 --> 00:50:30.010
a very good... all -around skilled volleyball

00:50:30.010 --> 00:50:33.809
player who was made into a setter. I don't think

00:50:33.809 --> 00:50:39.210
he's a natural setter. And I think he needs to

00:50:39.210 --> 00:50:44.500
spend more time focusing on... Getting his hitters

00:50:44.500 --> 00:50:48.000
hittable balls as opposed to trying to have all

00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:50.280
the attention of the defense on him by making

00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:53.260
fake moves, by swinging as hard as he can. And

00:50:53.260 --> 00:50:55.480
quite frankly, I'm very convinced he doesn't

00:50:55.480 --> 00:50:57.420
see the block at all. He just closes his eyes

00:50:57.420 --> 00:51:00.400
and hits it as hard as he can. I think he needs

00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:03.340
to focus more on delivering a solid, consistent

00:51:03.340 --> 00:51:06.800
offense as opposed to being trying to do everything.

00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:11.920
I agree with you. I think he's a very, very good

00:51:11.920 --> 00:51:15.519
setter when he focuses on just doing that. But

00:51:15.519 --> 00:51:18.800
how often does that happen? Well, yeah. There

00:51:18.800 --> 00:51:20.400
were a couple instances. There were some very

00:51:20.400 --> 00:51:24.500
unhittable balls. Yes. So when you see him kind

00:51:24.500 --> 00:51:27.539
of jump fake set and then try and deliver a ball,

00:51:27.739 --> 00:51:31.480
some of the left side balls got tight. There

00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:34.079
was two instances that stick out in my mind.

00:51:34.260 --> 00:51:37.539
Dickinson was so good all match. It didn't matter

00:51:37.539 --> 00:51:40.159
if Hawaii knew where the ball was going. He just

00:51:40.159 --> 00:51:42.179
needed a hittable ball. And there were a couple

00:51:42.179 --> 00:51:45.039
times, two in particular, where I saw him jump

00:51:45.039 --> 00:51:48.199
and turn to hit and then flick it back and it

00:51:48.199 --> 00:51:50.559
was unhittable. And they lost both of those points

00:51:50.559 --> 00:51:54.079
and they were both in critical moments. And that,

00:51:54.159 --> 00:51:58.980
knowing when to do that and when it's going to

00:51:58.980 --> 00:52:01.599
hinder your ability to deliver a ball to your

00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:04.599
team. I don't think he did a great job of that

00:52:04.599 --> 00:52:07.219
in this match particularly because there were

00:52:07.219 --> 00:52:10.360
at least six or seven balls where he tried to

00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:13.380
do that and it didn't work out in his favor.

00:52:13.480 --> 00:52:16.239
And I don't think it was gaining him as much

00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:20.280
as he thought it was. And I get you want to do

00:52:20.280 --> 00:52:21.880
that if you're thinking about playing at the

00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:23.860
next level or for the national team and you want

00:52:23.860 --> 00:52:27.639
to have that in your toolbox, totally fair. But

00:52:27.639 --> 00:52:30.110
this maybe wasn't the match to do that. Because

00:52:30.110 --> 00:52:32.750
when he just sets, location's good, he makes

00:52:32.750 --> 00:52:35.550
good decisions, I have no issues with it. But

00:52:35.550 --> 00:52:39.269
he had a couple runs where those balls were not

00:52:39.269 --> 00:52:41.730
hittable, and they should have been. And before

00:52:41.730 --> 00:52:44.389
everybody gets all mad, I feel like I personally

00:52:44.389 --> 00:52:48.530
am uniquely qualified to speak to this. Because,

00:52:48.550 --> 00:52:52.809
little known fact about me, I was a setter. Okay?

00:52:52.989 --> 00:52:55.510
Until my team just was like, no, we need you

00:52:55.510 --> 00:52:58.780
to hit more. I set for our youth national team,

00:52:58.860 --> 00:53:00.920
our junior national team. I was a setter until

00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:07.739
I was 16 years old, okay? I understood the strategy

00:53:07.739 --> 00:53:10.239
and how to isolate hitters and how to put hitters

00:53:10.239 --> 00:53:12.619
in a position, and I had good vision to be able

00:53:12.619 --> 00:53:15.639
to run an offense at the junior national team

00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:20.780
level. Was I a true setter? No. So I see a lot

00:53:20.780 --> 00:53:25.989
of similarities between myself at that age. when

00:53:25.989 --> 00:53:28.789
i was setting and nikolov now like he is very

00:53:28.789 --> 00:53:32.710
good he understands the game he can make incredible

00:53:32.710 --> 00:53:36.329
athletic moves and not a lot of people can but

00:53:36.329 --> 00:53:41.550
he needs to just i don't know i i don't think

00:53:41.550 --> 00:53:44.349
he's a true setter i like watching tread's hands

00:53:44.349 --> 00:53:49.389
more than his fair i think that if he he only

00:53:49.389 --> 00:53:52.190
went on one real serving run and his team needs

00:53:52.190 --> 00:53:57.380
him to serve if he Could have just focused on

00:53:57.380 --> 00:54:00.199
setting and serving and maybe not worried about

00:54:00.199 --> 00:54:02.239
everything else. I think there could have been

00:54:02.239 --> 00:54:05.619
a different outcome because Long Beach had leads

00:54:05.619 --> 00:54:09.480
in the third set and in the fourth set. And when

00:54:09.480 --> 00:54:12.579
the team gets tight, you see him thinking about

00:54:12.579 --> 00:54:17.239
too many things. Like, how can I score the point?

00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:20.369
Yeah. And it's like, that is very much a hitter's

00:54:20.369 --> 00:54:23.710
mentality. Yeah. As the level keeps getting better,

00:54:23.769 --> 00:54:25.590
you're not going to be able to get away with

00:54:25.590 --> 00:54:27.949
that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Even in the

00:54:27.949 --> 00:54:30.269
set that they won in the third, they had a massive

00:54:30.269 --> 00:54:32.289
lead. Yeah. And they gave it up. And you're up

00:54:32.289 --> 00:54:35.570
13 -7. And kudos to Louis. He served a couple

00:54:35.570 --> 00:54:40.590
bombs. But you can't give up a 13 -7 lead when

00:54:40.590 --> 00:54:45.690
you need to win the set. And yeah, I think Irie

00:54:45.690 --> 00:54:49.599
Tread out -set him. You look at the Hawaii middles.

00:54:49.719 --> 00:54:54.199
Justin Todd was 7 for 9, hit 778. And you had

00:54:54.199 --> 00:54:58.400
Nuster went 6 for 9, 556. Those aren't massive

00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:01.940
point scoring numbers, but they kept Long Beach's

00:55:01.940 --> 00:55:05.079
middles engaged. He ran it just enough and then

00:55:05.079 --> 00:55:07.179
ran the pipe over top. They owned the middle

00:55:07.179 --> 00:55:09.699
of the court. They opened up the wings for that.

00:55:09.780 --> 00:55:12.380
I just like the way Tread manipulated that game.

00:55:12.880 --> 00:55:15.320
And normally my criticism of Trent is the exact

00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:17.760
opposite of what I just said about Nikolov, in

00:55:17.760 --> 00:55:24.360
that, like, for his size, he is not as offensive

00:55:24.360 --> 00:55:27.340
as I think he could be. I think he struck a good

00:55:27.340 --> 00:55:29.460
balance this match, though. Like, he was able

00:55:29.460 --> 00:55:32.559
to, like, read how the game was playing out.

00:55:33.059 --> 00:55:35.579
And, you know, his left sides were scoring. His

00:55:35.579 --> 00:55:39.449
middles were doing well. Like, Carney... Was

00:55:39.449 --> 00:55:41.809
holding his own. He trailed off as the match

00:55:41.809 --> 00:55:44.170
went on. But, like, he didn't necessarily have

00:55:44.170 --> 00:55:47.190
the need. He took the swings when he had good,

00:55:47.269 --> 00:55:50.989
solid opportunities. Dumped the ball for match

00:55:50.989 --> 00:55:54.710
point. He took 11 attempts. He took his opportunities

00:55:54.710 --> 00:55:59.110
when he had them. And normally, I am like, you

00:55:59.110 --> 00:56:01.849
need to be more aggressive. Yeah. Well, it's

00:56:01.849 --> 00:56:04.369
interesting. Both of them took, had 11 attempts

00:56:04.369 --> 00:56:07.780
on the match. Nikolov had seven kills and two

00:56:07.780 --> 00:56:10.980
errors and Rosenthal had five kills and two errors.

00:56:11.119 --> 00:56:14.940
But watching the match without looking at the

00:56:14.940 --> 00:56:18.820
stats, it felt like Nikolov tried more and that

00:56:18.820 --> 00:56:21.739
Tread was more successful. That's how it definitely

00:56:21.739 --> 00:56:23.940
felt watching the game. His timing of decision

00:56:23.940 --> 00:56:26.039
making was better. It felt like that for sure.

00:56:26.139 --> 00:56:29.059
The other thing is they straight up set Nikolov

00:56:29.059 --> 00:56:32.360
as a right side hitter when he digs or something.

00:56:32.860 --> 00:56:34.860
He doesn't get off the net to get an approach.

00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:37.780
He just kind of like chills there halfway through

00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:41.780
and just does a step close. He is straight up

00:56:41.780 --> 00:56:45.639
being used offensively if he digs the ball. True.

00:56:46.639 --> 00:56:52.480
Whereas Tread isn't. Yeah. I mean, it was a great

00:56:52.480 --> 00:56:56.260
match. It lived up to the hype. I thought you

00:56:56.260 --> 00:56:59.539
had ebbs and flows. You had pushback. You had...

00:57:00.279 --> 00:57:05.000
challenges and plays at the net. These guys were

00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:08.420
going for their serves. And like, I didn't have

00:57:08.420 --> 00:57:11.840
that same feeling of like, we are leaving everything

00:57:11.840 --> 00:57:14.000
we have on the court. When I was watching the

00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:16.139
Miva final, when I was watching the MPSF final,

00:57:16.199 --> 00:57:18.940
like in the big West final, I was like, these

00:57:18.940 --> 00:57:21.599
guys are giving this everything they've got.

00:57:21.659 --> 00:57:24.760
And if they go down, they are okay going down

00:57:24.760 --> 00:57:27.599
swinging. It was a heavyweight fight. Yeah. And

00:57:27.599 --> 00:57:30.719
both teams came out. The passing, I thought,

00:57:30.800 --> 00:57:33.039
was incredible. Given the serving pressure, and

00:57:33.039 --> 00:57:35.860
yes, there were some aces. Yes, Long Beach missed

00:57:35.860 --> 00:57:38.019
a whole bunch of serves. Long Beach was out -acing

00:57:38.019 --> 00:57:41.920
Hawaii 8 -0 going into Step 4. Yeah. Louie brought

00:57:41.920 --> 00:57:42.579
that back a little bit more. Louie brought that

00:57:42.579 --> 00:57:46.559
back to 8 -4. So it ended up being 20 errors

00:57:46.559 --> 00:57:51.579
and 8 aces for Long Beach and 11 errors and 5

00:57:51.579 --> 00:57:55.010
aces for Hawaii. Those totals don't dictate.

00:57:55.170 --> 00:57:57.869
The serving pressure was intense, but the passing

00:57:57.869 --> 00:58:03.829
was even better. It was a fantastic match. If

00:58:03.829 --> 00:58:06.650
you didn't watch it, go back and watch it. Either

00:58:06.650 --> 00:58:10.170
on YouTube or ESPN Plus or something. I can't

00:58:10.170 --> 00:58:12.769
tell you the number of times I was just stunned.

00:58:13.670 --> 00:58:16.489
That might be a national final if it lines up

00:58:16.489 --> 00:58:21.769
that way. Both of those two teams, if they play

00:58:21.769 --> 00:58:24.230
the way they can play, I think they're going

00:58:24.230 --> 00:58:28.849
to be hard outs. That was so fun to watch. I

00:58:28.849 --> 00:58:31.090
mean, congrats to Hawaii. And that's a tough

00:58:31.090 --> 00:58:33.650
environment for Long Beach to play in, for sure.

00:58:33.849 --> 00:58:37.670
I'm very curious to see. That crowd is amazing.

00:58:37.829 --> 00:58:41.230
Maybe only second to the Nebraska crowd. I'm

00:58:41.230 --> 00:58:44.269
like, they are the Nebraska, the men's version

00:58:44.269 --> 00:58:46.550
of Nebraska women's volleyball. Now they're a

00:58:46.550 --> 00:58:50.269
little bit louder, I think. A little more boisterous.

00:58:50.760 --> 00:58:52.900
Well, Nebraska, you've got like a lot of young

00:58:52.900 --> 00:58:57.000
people in the crowd there in Hawaii. I feel like

00:58:57.000 --> 00:59:00.840
Nebraska, it's like young girls with their parents

00:59:00.840 --> 00:59:05.420
and then like, I don't know, fans who have been

00:59:05.420 --> 00:59:07.880
fans forever. Do you know what I mean? It's not

00:59:07.880 --> 00:59:12.639
like the rowdy, you know, 30 -year -old crowd

00:59:12.639 --> 00:59:17.929
where you see like that in Hawaii a ton. It's

00:59:17.929 --> 00:59:20.630
a very different vibe, but I would say that they

00:59:20.630 --> 00:59:24.369
are like the men's equivalent. Yeah, that's fair.

00:59:24.409 --> 00:59:27.349
So I'm curious to see if they meet again in a

00:59:27.349 --> 00:59:32.030
neutral site, what that looks like. Do the Hawaii

00:59:32.030 --> 00:59:34.730
fans travel as well as Nebraskaville fans? Yeah,

00:59:34.769 --> 00:59:38.409
we'll see. That's a lot further to go. Like Hawaii

00:59:38.409 --> 00:59:42.150
to Ohio, that's tough. It was a very good match.

00:59:42.289 --> 00:59:44.489
If you have a chance, go back and watch it. All

00:59:44.489 --> 00:59:46.750
right, we're going to jump right into our listener

00:59:46.750 --> 00:59:51.190
questions because we went a little wild on the

00:59:51.190 --> 00:59:54.670
weekly highlights. I enjoyed the men's volleyball

00:59:54.670 --> 00:59:57.570
this week, okay? No, we had a lot to talk about.

00:59:57.590 --> 00:59:59.789
I have zero regrets, don't get me wrong, but

00:59:59.789 --> 01:00:01.969
I want to dive into these listener questions.

01:00:02.530 --> 01:00:05.110
So we got some good ones this week. Question

01:00:05.110 --> 01:00:07.789
number one is, can you spend some time talking

01:00:07.789 --> 01:00:11.230
about the NCAA men's liberos? How much do they

01:00:11.230 --> 01:00:13.929
add to the game compared to women's liberos?

01:00:13.929 --> 01:00:19.710
And who is on your radar this season? Oh, so

01:00:19.710 --> 01:00:23.610
the essence of this question is great. You see

01:00:23.610 --> 01:00:27.429
more rallies in the women's game than you do

01:00:27.429 --> 01:00:31.929
in the men's game. And so the liberos can be

01:00:31.929 --> 01:00:34.719
a little bit more noticeable. I think in that

01:00:34.719 --> 01:00:38.300
regard. On the men's side, the ability to pass

01:00:38.300 --> 01:00:40.900
the ball for the libero and cover a decent amount

01:00:40.900 --> 01:00:45.840
of court and service reception is massive. And

01:00:45.840 --> 01:00:49.760
I think you see the biggest kind of effect on

01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:52.519
the game there, and maybe not from necessarily

01:00:52.519 --> 01:00:56.760
an execution standpoint, but from alleviating

01:00:56.760 --> 01:00:58.900
some of the service pressure from some of your

01:00:58.900 --> 01:01:02.590
other passers. So, for example, If you play with

01:01:02.590 --> 01:01:04.909
a libero who goes, hey, I've got both seams,

01:01:05.190 --> 01:01:07.769
then as a passer, you're like, hey, I can just

01:01:07.769 --> 01:01:10.150
take this seam and I can hit out of that. And

01:01:10.150 --> 01:01:12.289
generally, both your left sides are hitting front

01:01:12.289 --> 01:01:15.250
row, back row. So if they only have to pass a

01:01:15.250 --> 01:01:17.150
little bit of court and then can come in and

01:01:17.150 --> 01:01:19.969
run their offense, that makes a huge difference

01:01:19.969 --> 01:01:23.769
on other players in the match where you don't

01:01:23.769 --> 01:01:26.489
necessarily see that as a fan, but it's a huge

01:01:26.489 --> 01:01:28.670
effect. And playing with a libero who can pass

01:01:28.670 --> 01:01:30.949
that court on the men's game is really important.

01:01:31.820 --> 01:01:33.719
And I mean, in the women's game, you see them

01:01:33.719 --> 01:01:37.980
tip the ball a lot more because, I mean, men's

01:01:37.980 --> 01:01:43.019
players are, I mean, typically faster. So the

01:01:43.019 --> 01:01:46.699
tips aren't always as effective. But like because

01:01:46.699 --> 01:01:49.519
the tips and stuff are so much more involved

01:01:49.519 --> 01:01:51.559
in women's volleyball, you get to see the liberos

01:01:51.559 --> 01:01:55.320
make those spectacular diving plays to dig them

01:01:55.320 --> 01:01:58.000
and stuff, which because it's not as much a part

01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:01.429
of the men's game. It kind of gets taken away.

01:02:01.570 --> 01:02:03.809
I would say in the men's game, it's harder to

01:02:03.809 --> 01:02:06.329
notice a good libero, but it's easier to notice

01:02:06.329 --> 01:02:10.070
a bad one. I totally agree with you. And I think

01:02:10.070 --> 01:02:13.650
that one other thing where libero on the men's

01:02:13.650 --> 01:02:18.750
side is on block recovery. So if you're in there

01:02:18.750 --> 01:02:21.670
and you make a good read on a block and you can

01:02:21.670 --> 01:02:26.940
dig a bowl and extend a rally, I've seen... really

01:02:26.940 --> 01:02:29.139
good plays like that it just allows your hitters

01:02:29.139 --> 01:02:31.019
to take a little more risk if they know that

01:02:31.019 --> 01:02:33.280
you're there covering them so i think that's

01:02:33.280 --> 01:02:36.079
also super important it's important in the women's

01:02:36.079 --> 01:02:39.000
game as well underappreciated skill i would yes

01:02:39.000 --> 01:02:42.960
the men's liberos their block coverage you don't

01:02:42.960 --> 01:02:44.900
see that same thing in the women's game i would

01:02:44.900 --> 01:02:49.179
say well it generally again your hands yeah yeah

01:02:49.179 --> 01:02:53.199
so i think those it's it's different and they

01:02:53.199 --> 01:02:56.650
don't have maybe as much of an effect on the

01:02:56.650 --> 01:02:59.230
stat sheet as in the women's game. You're not

01:02:59.230 --> 01:03:02.530
seeing liberos making 22 dig. 25 dig. Yeah. Like,

01:03:02.570 --> 01:03:05.909
no. But they have a huge impact. And if you have

01:03:05.909 --> 01:03:09.809
a good libero, it makes a difference. So I know

01:03:09.809 --> 01:03:13.190
who my standout liberos in the season were. Do

01:03:13.190 --> 01:03:17.130
you have any? I'm terrible with names. I think

01:03:17.130 --> 01:03:19.550
the libero for Stanford is very good. Evan Porter.

01:03:20.429 --> 01:03:25.400
I also think the libero for... USC is very good.

01:03:25.579 --> 01:03:28.119
Johnny Dykstra. Yeah, those would be the two

01:03:28.119 --> 01:03:30.780
that stick out. Okay, my third. I had three on

01:03:30.780 --> 01:03:34.059
my list. My third is Choi from Hawaii. That was

01:03:34.059 --> 01:03:36.780
going to be... He extended some rallies in that

01:03:36.780 --> 01:03:40.400
final, and he actually made a few spectacular

01:03:40.400 --> 01:03:42.500
digs that I thought were very good. Like, those

01:03:42.500 --> 01:03:46.920
three, I watched a lot of all three of those

01:03:46.920 --> 01:03:49.519
teams this season, and those three, I consistently

01:03:49.519 --> 01:03:56.449
was like, I really like this guy. And those were

01:03:56.449 --> 01:03:59.730
probably the only three liberos that I was like,

01:03:59.909 --> 01:04:03.130
yeah. One, I think, you know, if you look at

01:04:03.130 --> 01:04:06.550
a team who struggles at that position, it's UCLA.

01:04:07.150 --> 01:04:11.110
They switch their liberos back and forth. I don't

01:04:11.110 --> 01:04:14.289
think, like, the passing libero kind of gets

01:04:14.289 --> 01:04:18.599
them in trouble. very often and you have two

01:04:18.599 --> 01:04:20.440
outsides there who are pretty good ball control

01:04:20.440 --> 01:04:22.780
players but if they could focus a little more

01:04:22.780 --> 01:04:25.280
on passing and getting outside to hit I think

01:04:25.280 --> 01:04:27.980
that would really help UCLA that that to me is

01:04:27.980 --> 01:04:30.639
a libero that I have noticed in a negative way

01:04:30.639 --> 01:04:34.619
exactly great question great question all right

01:04:34.619 --> 01:04:37.059
this is a long question let me bring my computer

01:04:37.059 --> 01:04:39.079
closer because you know my eyeballs are getting

01:04:39.079 --> 01:04:43.360
old okay so this one's about serving I understand

01:04:43.360 --> 01:04:46.219
that you want to serve tough to get the opposing

01:04:46.219 --> 01:04:48.340
team out of system, but when you're giving the

01:04:48.340 --> 01:04:50.980
game or match away on constant missed serves,

01:04:51.059 --> 01:04:54.760
doesn't it defeat the purpose? What ace to error

01:04:54.760 --> 01:04:58.039
ratio would you want your team to aim for? Because

01:04:58.039 --> 01:05:00.800
this person is basically asking, why would you

01:05:00.800 --> 01:05:03.400
not just try to get the ball in and rely on your

01:05:03.400 --> 01:05:08.360
block defense as opposed to just missing? This

01:05:08.360 --> 01:05:11.920
is a very nuanced question. I like this question.

01:05:11.920 --> 01:05:13.960
I'm going to poke a little fun right at the beginning.

01:05:14.519 --> 01:05:16.619
What if your blocking defense isn't very good?

01:05:17.780 --> 01:05:21.760
And so you, different teams will have different

01:05:21.760 --> 01:05:26.719
styles and different strategies. So let's say

01:05:26.719 --> 01:05:29.519
you're a really good blocking team and you like

01:05:29.519 --> 01:05:34.019
to play, you know, a triple block or blocking

01:05:34.019 --> 01:05:36.500
out of system is your strength. But if you're

01:05:36.500 --> 01:05:38.480
in system, your middle doesn't make good decisions

01:05:38.480 --> 01:05:41.719
and, you know. you don't get many stops getting

01:05:41.719 --> 01:05:44.119
a team out of system is then more important because

01:05:44.119 --> 01:05:46.440
you're not getting stops if a team is in system

01:05:46.440 --> 01:05:49.420
like a lot of this defensive structure and serving

01:05:49.420 --> 01:05:52.920
pressure is kind of calculated on a per team

01:05:52.920 --> 01:05:56.380
basis based on what your strengths are now if

01:05:56.380 --> 01:05:59.460
you play really good block defense as a team

01:05:59.460 --> 01:06:02.719
then yes you would take some of that error out

01:06:02.719 --> 01:06:04.940
and go we're okay if the ball's in play because

01:06:04.940 --> 01:06:07.760
we're getting chances And it differs between

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:10.000
the men and the women's game because you have

01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:12.719
to look at the other team as well. Are they a

01:06:12.719 --> 01:06:15.420
super high side out team? Like Long Beach is

01:06:15.420 --> 01:06:18.539
not very good at defense. They must put serving

01:06:18.539 --> 01:06:22.019
pressure in an attempt to get blocked. Get their

01:06:22.019 --> 01:06:25.400
block involved. Because they don't generate a

01:06:25.400 --> 01:06:27.539
ton of points defensively from Diggs, right?

01:06:27.659 --> 01:06:32.420
You see Vargas. You see... Nikolaevic. Nikolaevic,

01:06:32.420 --> 01:06:35.179
yeah. They're not... That's not their team strength.

01:06:35.519 --> 01:06:38.960
And so your serving and the type of serving you

01:06:38.960 --> 01:06:42.179
do needs to play into your team identity. But

01:06:42.179 --> 01:06:45.019
conversely, you don't want to just get the serve

01:06:45.019 --> 01:06:47.159
in against Long Beach State because they have

01:06:47.159 --> 01:06:51.659
so many weapons. And if a team has three or four

01:06:51.659 --> 01:06:55.400
options on an attack, you're basically missing

01:06:55.400 --> 01:06:58.320
a serve anyway. That's kind of the thought process

01:06:58.320 --> 01:07:02.639
of this team is so good that if I just get the

01:07:02.639 --> 01:07:05.860
serve in and give them almost a free ball, it's

01:07:05.860 --> 01:07:08.079
basically the same result as missing a serve.

01:07:08.820 --> 01:07:11.139
So you're definitely playing the percentages

01:07:11.139 --> 01:07:15.960
and who is in the front row, who's on offense.

01:07:16.019 --> 01:07:18.780
If you have the setter in the front row and their

01:07:18.780 --> 01:07:22.539
middle's not good, Yeah, it's easy to just serve

01:07:22.539 --> 01:07:25.420
the left side short, keep it in, and then overload

01:07:25.420 --> 01:07:28.980
over to the left side. But, like, there's so

01:07:28.980 --> 01:07:31.400
much evaluation that has to take into account.

01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:34.940
I do agree with you. It is very frustrating to

01:07:34.940 --> 01:07:38.260
watch a match that is just missed serves. That

01:07:38.260 --> 01:07:42.719
is not fun to watch for anybody. But there's

01:07:42.719 --> 01:07:47.280
so much to consider when weighing your risk to

01:07:47.280 --> 01:07:51.099
reward. In response to the part of like what

01:07:51.099 --> 01:07:54.059
ACE to error ratio are you looking for? For women,

01:07:54.159 --> 01:07:57.639
if you're float serving, I think you're typically

01:07:57.639 --> 01:08:01.659
looking for one to one. And if you're spin serving,

01:08:01.739 --> 01:08:07.320
like one to 1 .5 or two. On the men's side, it's

01:08:07.320 --> 01:08:10.900
a lot higher. So I would say if you're spin serving

01:08:10.900 --> 01:08:13.679
on the men's side, if you're doing one to two

01:08:13.679 --> 01:08:17.079
and a half ACE to error, you're doing pretty

01:08:17.079 --> 01:08:20.920
well. Two other things to think about. One of

01:08:20.920 --> 01:08:24.979
them may not come intuitively is if you put an

01:08:24.979 --> 01:08:27.399
easy serve in and the team gets a good side out,

01:08:27.460 --> 01:08:29.579
that team builds rhythm. They build connection

01:08:29.579 --> 01:08:31.979
with their setter. The hitters feel good. They're

01:08:31.979 --> 01:08:34.380
getting kills. The passers feel good. Exactly.

01:08:34.699 --> 01:08:38.560
If you go miss serve, miss serve, you don't touch

01:08:38.560 --> 01:08:40.640
the ball, you haven't passed, there's no rhythm,

01:08:40.760 --> 01:08:43.260
and then you get bomb, bomb, bomb, and you're

01:08:43.260 --> 01:08:45.930
a little bit out of system. it works that way

01:08:45.930 --> 01:08:48.569
too so keeping a team out of rhythm while it

01:08:48.569 --> 01:08:51.189
may not be fun to watch also plays a point in

01:08:51.189 --> 01:08:53.930
that and then teams will also have certain rotations

01:08:53.930 --> 01:08:55.750
so you mentioned if the setter's in the front

01:08:55.750 --> 01:08:58.250
row and teams know they're just going to set

01:08:58.250 --> 01:09:00.229
their left side and go over top of your setter

01:09:00.229 --> 01:09:03.229
for those three rotations you look at your servers

01:09:03.229 --> 01:09:05.189
and go you have the green light to just hit this

01:09:05.189 --> 01:09:06.609
as hard as you want because we're probably not

01:09:06.609 --> 01:09:09.409
going to score anyway and teams will look at

01:09:09.409 --> 01:09:11.569
certain rotations and go okay when we have these

01:09:11.569 --> 01:09:13.569
three guys in the front row we're really going

01:09:13.569 --> 01:09:15.409
to work to keep it in because we turn a lot of

01:09:15.409 --> 01:09:18.130
points so there are not only do you have team

01:09:18.130 --> 01:09:20.149
philosophies and things that you're good at but

01:09:20.149 --> 01:09:23.130
you also have rotational philosophies depending

01:09:23.130 --> 01:09:25.989
on what your matchups are and who your server

01:09:25.989 --> 01:09:28.710
is yeah like nikolov always has the green light

01:09:28.710 --> 01:09:30.930
to just go as hard as he wants yeah because he

01:09:30.930 --> 01:09:33.729
gets a ton of aces yeah great question great

01:09:33.729 --> 01:09:37.750
question question three is as an attacker, how

01:09:37.750 --> 01:09:40.130
many times do you swing with a trajectory in

01:09:40.130 --> 01:09:43.789
mind and hope to avoid the block versus being

01:09:43.789 --> 01:09:47.310
able to see the block before you attack? Similarly,

01:09:47.409 --> 01:09:50.409
when attackers intentionally aim for the top

01:09:50.409 --> 01:09:52.550
of hands, do they typically see the position

01:09:52.550 --> 01:09:55.270
of the hands or are they just predicting where

01:09:55.270 --> 01:09:58.390
the hands will be? I think we might have different

01:09:58.390 --> 01:10:02.869
answers. So there are definitely some players

01:10:02.869 --> 01:10:04.630
who see the block and some players who don't

01:10:04.630 --> 01:10:08.899
see the block. Well, I know why you're laughing.

01:10:09.920 --> 01:10:12.420
So it's really interesting. When I played on

01:10:12.420 --> 01:10:14.659
the right side of the court as a right -handed

01:10:14.659 --> 01:10:18.939
opposite, I often found it hard to see the block.

01:10:19.479 --> 01:10:21.699
Just because the ball's coming over your shoulder,

01:10:21.800 --> 01:10:23.779
you're trying to find it. That was just something

01:10:23.779 --> 01:10:25.899
that I struggled with. There are lots of really

01:10:25.899 --> 01:10:28.180
good hitters in this position who don't struggle

01:10:28.180 --> 01:10:31.140
to see the block. However, when I moved to the

01:10:31.140 --> 01:10:33.760
left side and my approach opened up and I could

01:10:33.760 --> 01:10:37.560
see the whole court, it was definitely, you could

01:10:37.560 --> 01:10:39.260
definitely see the block and the defense coming

01:10:39.260 --> 01:10:42.500
into play. So it depends on what you're looking

01:10:42.500 --> 01:10:44.600
at, your angle of approach, what the situation

01:10:44.600 --> 01:10:47.859
is, and then your kind of innate experience with

01:10:47.859 --> 01:10:51.300
that. But definitely good hitters see the block.

01:10:51.579 --> 01:10:54.739
I would say if you're playing at a high level,

01:10:54.819 --> 01:10:58.779
you see the block. Even when I'm a lefty on the

01:10:58.779 --> 01:11:00.859
left side, for me, when I would have to hit left

01:11:00.859 --> 01:11:04.199
side, I would always position myself and line

01:11:04.199 --> 01:11:06.859
up my approach angle to be able to see the block.

01:11:06.979 --> 01:11:09.920
If a set got off the net or something happened,

01:11:10.039 --> 01:11:14.479
it was very rare and very uncomfortable if I

01:11:14.479 --> 01:11:16.359
was in a situation where I couldn't see the block.

01:11:16.979 --> 01:11:20.060
You can tell, actually, when players can see

01:11:20.060 --> 01:11:23.579
the block or not just based on the decisions

01:11:23.579 --> 01:11:28.380
they make. There are some players who can see

01:11:28.380 --> 01:11:30.760
the block and see the entire defense behind the

01:11:30.760 --> 01:11:33.880
block as well. That is much more rare. I would

01:11:33.880 --> 01:11:36.699
say the majority of high -level attackers for

01:11:36.699 --> 01:11:40.300
sure see the block, but there's an elite separate

01:11:40.300 --> 01:11:44.119
group that can see everything. In response to

01:11:44.119 --> 01:11:46.479
your question about aiming for hands, I honestly

01:11:46.479 --> 01:11:52.609
think a lot of it depends on the hitters. size,

01:11:52.609 --> 01:11:56.050
jumping ability, contact point. Like a smaller

01:11:56.050 --> 01:12:00.069
hitter, it is much easier to see the hands because

01:12:00.069 --> 01:12:05.590
you're below them. A bigger hitter or hitter

01:12:05.590 --> 01:12:08.310
who plays very high above the net, when you're

01:12:08.310 --> 01:12:12.689
hitting, so that was me as a bigger attacker.

01:12:12.750 --> 01:12:15.210
My contact point above the net was very high.

01:12:15.409 --> 01:12:19.359
I was often... higher or taller than the blockers

01:12:19.359 --> 01:12:26.060
so you see the the bodies you see the arms but

01:12:26.060 --> 01:12:30.199
because you're kind of above the blockers it's

01:12:30.199 --> 01:12:33.920
harder to see the fingertips as a smaller hitter

01:12:33.920 --> 01:12:36.460
the fingertips are above you so it's much easier

01:12:36.460 --> 01:12:38.600
to find that so that's why you see like smaller

01:12:38.600 --> 01:12:40.939
hitters or players who don't jump very well are

01:12:40.939 --> 01:12:44.800
usually very good at finding the hands so yeah

01:12:45.260 --> 01:12:48.079
you do want to be able to see yeah the other

01:12:48.079 --> 01:12:50.859
thing about this is that once you've done it

01:12:50.859 --> 01:12:54.100
enough there's a certain amount of pattern recognition

01:12:54.100 --> 01:12:57.500
and automation that happens as a hitter so you're

01:12:57.500 --> 01:12:59.979
in system you're coming up you're doing your

01:12:59.979 --> 01:13:02.920
approach you know you see maybe the middle bites

01:13:02.920 --> 01:13:05.899
with your middle you know that you have one blocker

01:13:05.899 --> 01:13:08.300
and you'll be able to see their body and kind

01:13:08.300 --> 01:13:10.140
of know where their hands will be because of

01:13:10.140 --> 01:13:13.699
that you see the blocker close you know and you

01:13:13.699 --> 01:13:15.859
know you're gonna have four hands solid so you

01:13:15.859 --> 01:13:19.979
have different options so it's not always a cognizant

01:13:19.979 --> 01:13:22.619
decision but because you've played so much and

01:13:22.619 --> 01:13:24.960
you watch film and you prepare some of those

01:13:24.960 --> 01:13:27.800
cues kind of allow you to make those decisions

01:13:27.800 --> 01:13:31.220
very quickly well that's why sometimes you see

01:13:31.220 --> 01:13:33.439
this more on the beach because it's a one -on

01:13:33.439 --> 01:13:35.359
-one block but like when you see one -on -one

01:13:35.359 --> 01:13:39.210
block situations The reason a lot of the time

01:13:39.210 --> 01:13:42.350
that the hitter does get blocked is because they

01:13:42.350 --> 01:13:47.510
see the blocker's body, but if the blocker makes

01:13:47.510 --> 01:13:50.710
a really big move and the arm position doesn't

01:13:50.710 --> 01:13:54.029
line up with the body position, that is where

01:13:54.029 --> 01:13:57.310
the disconnect comes in. Because as a hitter,

01:13:57.350 --> 01:14:01.989
your brain tells you where the body is, the arms

01:14:01.989 --> 01:14:06.229
will be straight. But when you see a body and

01:14:06.229 --> 01:14:10.489
the arms go really big in one direction, that

01:14:10.489 --> 01:14:15.250
is where the disconnect comes in and how one

01:14:15.250 --> 01:14:17.310
-on -one blockers are able to make those plays.

01:14:17.569 --> 01:14:22.109
Our final question of the week is referring to

01:14:22.109 --> 01:14:26.770
sort of a blurred line in the skills of opposites

01:14:26.770 --> 01:14:31.140
and outside hitters. This person, as we've talked

01:14:31.140 --> 01:14:33.199
about, there's usually one outside hitter that

01:14:33.199 --> 01:14:35.699
is predominantly a point scorer, maybe a little

01:14:35.699 --> 01:14:38.979
weaker with ball control, and the other that

01:14:38.979 --> 01:14:41.500
their strength is ball control, and they're not

01:14:41.500 --> 01:14:44.819
relied upon as heavily to score points. So this

01:14:44.819 --> 01:14:50.159
person is like, isn't an opposite similar to

01:14:50.159 --> 01:14:52.779
the outside that scores the points? Like, isn't

01:14:52.779 --> 01:14:56.289
their skill set very similar? How do teams determine

01:14:56.289 --> 01:14:59.529
which player plays opposite and which player

01:14:59.529 --> 01:15:02.569
plays the point scoring left side role? And the

01:15:02.569 --> 01:15:04.649
athlete they were referring to in this question

01:15:04.649 --> 01:15:08.489
was Logan Eggleston. So the very first one is,

01:15:08.590 --> 01:15:13.470
can you pass or can you not pass? That's generally...

01:15:13.470 --> 01:15:16.829
For the point scoring left side, oftentimes their

01:15:16.829 --> 01:15:19.569
passing leaves a lot to be desired. And it's

01:15:19.569 --> 01:15:26.300
usually still better than the opposite. You're

01:15:26.300 --> 01:15:31.159
not wrong. I mean, we kind of made fun of Hawk

01:15:31.159 --> 01:15:35.159
for not being able to play defense. She, I don't

01:15:35.159 --> 01:15:37.420
know this, but if I was a betting man, I would

01:15:37.420 --> 01:15:40.399
say is not a very good passer. Well, no. And

01:15:40.399 --> 01:15:42.340
the person referred to Logan Eielson because

01:15:42.340 --> 01:15:46.699
we have said that her defense isn't great. Passing

01:15:46.699 --> 01:15:49.420
is like... up and down so it's like well why

01:15:49.420 --> 01:15:51.439
wouldn't madison skinner just play that position

01:15:51.439 --> 01:15:53.819
and then eggleston plays right side yeah like

01:15:53.819 --> 01:15:55.979
that's the essence of it yeah well so there's

01:15:55.979 --> 01:15:58.920
a couple things so one is a lot of times if you

01:15:58.920 --> 01:16:01.060
were a middle you will transition to the right

01:16:01.060 --> 01:16:03.720
side first so that you can kind of feel the flow

01:16:03.720 --> 01:16:06.119
of the game from a different position and then

01:16:06.119 --> 01:16:08.380
maybe you move to a left side or you learn to

01:16:08.380 --> 01:16:11.079
pass that is that's a very common progression

01:16:11.079 --> 01:16:15.510
that happens i think the other one too is You

01:16:15.510 --> 01:16:17.489
know, sometimes you just have super physical

01:16:17.489 --> 01:16:21.510
athletes who are even better than your top left

01:16:21.510 --> 01:16:23.960
side because you... You don't always see a team

01:16:23.960 --> 01:16:26.760
with a true P1 who scores a ton of points. Or

01:16:26.760 --> 01:16:29.899
gets set out of the back room. Exactly. So there's

01:16:29.899 --> 01:16:32.399
a couple things. Some players attack better on

01:16:32.399 --> 01:16:34.180
the right side of the court than the left side

01:16:34.180 --> 01:16:36.520
of the court. Is your hitter left -handed? Some

01:16:36.520 --> 01:16:38.840
right -handed hitters can drop their shoulder

01:16:38.840 --> 01:16:40.840
and hit down the line. Some really struggle with

01:16:40.840 --> 01:16:45.079
that. Are they semi -competent at passing and

01:16:45.079 --> 01:16:47.319
defense? If the answer is no, probably a right

01:16:47.319 --> 01:16:51.680
side. Yeah. Are they very powerful from the back

01:16:51.680 --> 01:16:54.220
row? probably want to use them on the right side

01:16:54.220 --> 01:16:57.039
well and blocking comes into play there as well

01:16:57.039 --> 01:16:59.300
some people block better to the right they have

01:16:59.300 --> 01:17:01.119
a better stronger hand outside like there's lots

01:17:01.119 --> 01:17:04.180
of factors as to why athletes would be on the

01:17:04.180 --> 01:17:06.920
right versus the left and some of those maybe

01:17:06.920 --> 01:17:09.159
you grew up playing club or on your pro team

01:17:09.159 --> 01:17:11.220
and you were you could have played the left side

01:17:11.220 --> 01:17:13.319
but you were the third best passer and they wanted

01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:15.340
you on the floor so you played right side there's

01:17:15.340 --> 01:17:18.159
all kinds of scenarios like that which determine

01:17:18.159 --> 01:17:20.500
whether you end up on the right or the left Great

01:17:20.500 --> 01:17:21.979
questions this week, everybody. Yeah, very good.

01:17:22.180 --> 01:17:27.079
Love those. All right. So, we have another great

01:17:27.079 --> 01:17:30.140
week of volleyball for you to watch. It's a little

01:17:30.140 --> 01:17:35.579
less packed. Less going on. But still lots of

01:17:35.579 --> 01:17:38.060
good games. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Men's Italian

01:17:38.060 --> 01:17:41.439
League Finals are happening. The second match

01:17:41.439 --> 01:17:44.079
is on Thursday, and the third match is on Sunday.

01:17:44.640 --> 01:17:47.880
Both of those you can watch on VBTV, and they

01:17:47.880 --> 01:17:52.319
should be very competitive matches. We also have

01:17:52.319 --> 01:17:55.979
PVF matches this week. Vegas, Indy, and Grand

01:17:55.979 --> 01:17:58.479
Rapids are fighting for their lives. They need

01:17:58.479 --> 01:18:00.699
to keep winning in order to give themselves a

01:18:00.699 --> 01:18:04.439
chance. Grand Rapids has got Orlando at 7 o 'clock

01:18:04.439 --> 01:18:07.899
Eastern on a Wednesday. That's on Roku. And Omaha

01:18:07.899 --> 01:18:11.800
at 7 p .m. Eastern on Friday. That's on Fox Sport

01:18:11.800 --> 01:18:15.930
2. Vegas has got Orlando at 10 p .m. Eastern

01:18:15.930 --> 01:18:18.649
on Friday. That's on Volleyball TV. And Columbus

01:18:18.649 --> 01:18:21.430
at 9 o 'clock Eastern on Sunday, and that's on

01:18:21.430 --> 01:18:24.609
CBS. You should check all of the websites out

01:18:24.609 --> 01:18:26.390
because that's a lot of different places to watch

01:18:26.390 --> 01:18:29.789
games. So many different ones. Finally, Indy

01:18:29.789 --> 01:18:32.329
is playing Atlanta at 7 p .m. Eastern on Thursday

01:18:32.329 --> 01:18:36.149
and San Diego at 9 o 'clock Eastern. Both of

01:18:36.149 --> 01:18:40.250
those are on Roku. So there's lots of... I'm

01:18:40.250 --> 01:18:43.949
not even sure... I think both, all three of these

01:18:43.949 --> 01:18:46.909
teams have got a challenge match and a winnable

01:18:46.909 --> 01:18:50.289
match. You know what I mean? Yeah. One kind of

01:18:50.289 --> 01:18:52.170
ranked team or one team that's ahead of them.

01:18:52.369 --> 01:18:55.270
Like a match that'll really, they're going to

01:18:55.270 --> 01:18:57.770
have to show up and one that like, obviously

01:18:57.770 --> 01:18:59.710
they're still going to have to show up, but like

01:18:59.710 --> 01:19:03.140
winnable. Do you know what I mean? Well, and

01:19:03.140 --> 01:19:05.159
this is, I mean, this is obviously, outside of

01:19:05.159 --> 01:19:07.699
playoffs, the most fun time to watch. Which teams

01:19:07.699 --> 01:19:10.739
rise to the occasion? Who crumbles under pressure?

01:19:10.840 --> 01:19:13.439
What happens when you have to win? I love watching

01:19:13.439 --> 01:19:15.500
sports at this time of the year. Give me the

01:19:15.500 --> 01:19:18.779
meltdowns, baby. Yeah. It's always fun. That

01:19:18.779 --> 01:19:21.279
concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

01:19:21.460 --> 01:19:23.079
There's always something shaking in the volleyball

01:19:23.079 --> 01:19:25.520
world, and we hope you enjoyed this little fix.

01:19:26.250 --> 01:19:27.970
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss

01:19:27.970 --> 01:19:30.390
any updates, and we'd be so grateful if you'd

01:19:30.390 --> 01:19:32.989
leave us a five -star review. You can also find

01:19:32.989 --> 01:19:36.050
us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore podcast.

01:19:36.750 --> 01:19:38.909
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss,

01:19:39.010 --> 01:19:41.050
be sure to let us know by reaching out to us

01:19:41.050 --> 01:19:45.310
on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks

01:19:45.310 --> 01:19:47.729
so much for joining us, and we'll be back next

01:19:47.729 --> 01:19:48.029
week.