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. It is just about time. For international

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season, everybody. Here we go. So as promised,

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today's episode is all about VNL, specifically

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the women's side. We will be covering the men's

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VNL next week because, you know, the genders

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alternate weeks anyway during competition. So

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today is dedicated to the women. For those of

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you who aren't familiar with the ins and outs

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of VNL, we will be breaking down how the competition

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works. how we feel about the top team's roster

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selections, in particular the US, who we think

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got snubbed, you know, all of that stuff. We're

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just going to kind of break it all down for you.

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We also got so many amazing questions relating

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to VNL and the implications for the Olympics.

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So we're going to try to address them all. We

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are very excited about this episode and we hope

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you are too. So let's get started. Let me guess,

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we have at least some NCAA news to talk about

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before we hop into V &L. That just seems to be

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the way things go. Of course we do. Come on.

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You guys know. You know. There's always something

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in the NCAA, particularly the women's side. They

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always sneak in. So we do have a couple noteworthy

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transfers to mention today. Both are heading

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to UCLA. Okay. So Mariana Singletary. the former

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Texas middle blocker committed to UCLA, and Lola

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Schumacher, the former Wisconsin libero. So UCLA

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made some big pickups in this offseason. I mean,

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they definitely needed to add some pieces because

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they didn't have a great season. I'm not sure.

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I mean, these players are good. They're going

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to help, but I'm not sure these two moves in

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isolation move them up. the leaderboard when

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it comes to season standings. They have picked

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up some great assets in maybe the least critical

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positions. Like if you picked up a great center

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or a great outside, those I think could be more

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impactful, but they picked up PK Kong, as we

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mentioned from Louisville, Singletary. So they've

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got the middle and libero position on lock, but

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like, Well, and if you're going to have good

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middles, you have to pass. So, like, that is

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important. They need a piece on the outside.

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Yeah, they're starting right side, left, like,

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quit volleyball due to injury. So there's a hole

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in the right side, shared in whatever they have

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on the outside. But, like, they're still missing

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some pieces. They graduated their setter. You

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have to hope, if you're UCLA, that this is kind

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of momentum that people want to come to your

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program. Like, it's a good step. But if they're

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going to be competitive in the next season, they

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need to add one, probably two more pieces. On

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the NCAA men's side, many people were speculating

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that Moni Nikolov would leave Long Beach State

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and go pro. That is the case. He is going to

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be playing in Russia. He signed with Lokomotiv

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Novosibirsk. Excuse my Russian. So, yeah. I mean.

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I think that's a good move for him from a career

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trajectory. He was one of the best, if not the

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best player in the NCAA all around. Playing here

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four years, are they going to win? Probably.

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He's that good, but is he going to get better?

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No, you want to play against the best of the

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best. I mean, he came, he won, he won up to his

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brother, as he so charmingly said in his interview.

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And, I mean, this makes sense for him. I'm thinking

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about the Jay -Z song encore. I came, I saw,

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I conquered. He did. Yeah, and he's out. So it'll

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be interesting to see where Long Beach goes without

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him next season. And just an update on the men's

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Champions League side. Perugia are the 2025.

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Champions League winners. They beat Zivertsev

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from Poland in five all the way down to the wire.

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And it was held in Poland. Yeah so that was a

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big win by them and it was great volleyball.

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You should check it out if you have a chance.

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Look at that. Our shortest weekly highlights

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ever. I think we just set a record. Time to get

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to the meat of the episode. Time to dive into

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VNL. Okay. For those of you who may not be familiar,

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what is VNL? Volleyball Nations League. Okay.

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For the first time, there's usually been 16 teams.

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But for the first time this year, there are going

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to be 18 teams represented by gender. And this

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is kind of how it works. Okay. So each team plays

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a minimum of 12 matches that are spread across

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three weeks of competition. For every week of

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competition, there are three locations around

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the world and six teams get sent to each of those

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locations. The crazy thing is you're only playing

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four out of the five teams that are in your location

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at any given time, any given week, which that

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stumps me. Do you know how they do? Was it random

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draw who you play, or is it based off seeding?

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Like the top team doesn't play the bottom team?

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It just seems strange to me. I'm pretty sure

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the FIVB has arranged the schedule to make it

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as fair as possible. That's what they say. So

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basically by the time it's all said and done,

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you will not have played five teams. Got it.

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That seems strange to me, but... It is definitely

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strange, but they... claim to have worked out

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the most fair and efficient way to determine.

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And what they mean by that is ChatGPT has determined

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what? The FIVB's special algorithm has determined

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who's playing who and who doesn't have to play

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each other. So at the end of these three weeks,

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the top eight teams advance to the final eight.

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The kicker is that the host country gets an auto

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birth. This year's host is Poland. They did make

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the top eight last year. So it's not, they're

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no slouches is what we're saying. So basically

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host team and the top seven teams after them

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make it to the final eight where they host a

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quarter semis finals type of deal. The twist

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this year, however, is that the last place team.

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in the final standings when all is said and done

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is going to be relegated and they can't play

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VNL the next season. And the highest ranked team

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at the end of VNL who did not participate this

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season gets to play next year. I really like

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the relegation piece to it. I think it gives

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countries that are on the edge. something to

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try and attain, something to push for. It means

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you have to compete consistently in the pool

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play. So I really like the relegation format

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of it. The not playing everybody in your pool,

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for me, and maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist.

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Well, it's not even a pool. They just send six

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teams, and they're calling the six teams a pool.

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No, I understand that. change every single week

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of every location they go to. Yeah, I get that.

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But you're still not playing everybody. And that's

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still up to interpretation behind the veil. Like

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the conspiracy theory in me is, you know, they're

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arranging it so that the biggest markets are

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going to have a chance. Like this allows them.

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It's not unheard of with the FIVB. They definitely

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push for the success of countries who bring the

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money. Sure. And again, it's a business. You

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know, you have to make money to make the league

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run. I get all of that. I just personally, I

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like transparency and fair competition. And this

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just behind the veil stuff always gets me the

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wrong way. It definitely always leaves you being

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like, what if? You know what I mean? But I do.

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And you and I have spoken about this a lot. There

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is something at stake for every. of the competition.

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Correct. Which we have been critical of in certain

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leagues and formats we've been watching lately.

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So I like that even though you may blow it and

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not make it to the final eight, you still have

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to fight for something. So you can't just coast

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and be like, whatever, this doesn't matter. The

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relegation piece to me is great. I'm a huge fan

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of that. So every country and... Based on the

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number of messages we have received when these

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rosters came out, a lot of you already know the

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VNL rosters were released a couple weeks ago.

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So every country submits a 30 -person wide roster

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about a month before the competition starts.

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And so once we enter the competition, there are

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14 players and four alternates that are named

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to the travel roster. each week. So whoever is

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traveling, the alternates, the 14, whatever,

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they can switch in and out match by match, but

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that those 18 people are set for that week. Once

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that week is over, the whole 30 opens up again.

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So the travel rosters can switch week to week,

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but only the players that were named to the original

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30 person list can ever be selected, which has

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brought up a lot of conversation and we will

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dive into that. And another thing is that every

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single match and every single set counts as far

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as world ranking goes. You can't, if you want

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to like hold on to your ranking or if that's

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really important to a certain country at a certain,

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at this point in time, if you're supposed to

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win 3 -0, You need to win 3 -0 or you lose a

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lot of points, basically. So I'm a huge fan of

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the formulaic approach that they took to ranking

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this. And I want to expand just a little bit

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on the formula so that it's clear. It's not just

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about wins and losses. Going into each match,

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they generate a percentage chance that each of

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the outcomes could happen. So a 3 -0 win, a 3

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-1 win, a 3 -2 win, and then so on and so forth

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for the next team. If you win in the highest

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percentage, you have a smaller change to your

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world ranking points. If there's a big upset,

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you lose way more points. So not only if you

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win or lose matters, but how you win and lose

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matters. For me, I love the consistency. I love

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the pressure of having to perform. I love having

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to show up when it matters, which is all the

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time at this level. We're talking about the best

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in sport. I love this way of doing it personally.

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Well, it's so wild. Like for the first round

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of VNL, like, and this is updated after every

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single match. So you can see what those percentages

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are. If you go onto the volleyball world website

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for the first round of matches and even like

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a 10 versus 11 match, if the 11 seed upsets the

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12, the 10 seed, the point swing is like. pretty

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big and you would think with two teams that are

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ranked that close it wouldn't be the case but

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every match has implications which I think is

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amazing and the other thing that I wanted to

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touch on about relegation is like you see so

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much stagnation in the indoor side internationally

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you see the same teams performing all the time

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you see the same teams at every competition so

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I really like the relegation model to just kind

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of mix things up a little bit because, I mean,

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the contenders are perennially the same indoor

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and you don't see much fluctuation at all. So

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that is the Coles Notes summary of how VNL works.

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Honestly, shout out to Avid Volley on Instagram.

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They posted a comprehensive graphic recently.

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Visualizing is more your thing and reading. Go

00:13:36.289 --> 00:13:39.190
check out Avid Volley on Instagram for their

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VNL graphic. And they provided a lot of useful

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intel for this episode. So thanks so much. All

00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:51.730
right. The moment people have been waiting for.

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As soon as the VNL wide rosters were released,

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we got so many messages about the American women's

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roster. Fair. I had a lot of questions as well.

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We have pulled together some data here, but I

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think before we kind of critique and get into

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everything here, it is worth saying that as the

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host country of the next Olympics, the U .S.

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gets an automatic birth. So they... Don't have

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to worry about the qualification process at all.

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As a host nation, you get a team in every single

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sport. We actually had a listener question about

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this, which asked, would this fact impact the

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VNL roster selection? And do the coaches have

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more time to test out players because of this?

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I think absolutely that's the case. And we'll

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get into this a little bit more. But knowing

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that you're going. takes all of the pressure

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off having to perform especially early in the

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cycle and given the age of the American roster

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for the last Olympics you're going to need a

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whole bunch of new players so I don't mind them

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having a young roster I still have some question

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marks about it but This is the perfect opportunity

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for a brand new staff who's trying to forge its

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own identity as a program with incredibly high

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expectations. I would say anything less than

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a gold medal in 2028 is going to be a disappointment.

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100%. You need to know how your athletes perform

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against the best international athletes. And

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they don't have any benchmarks because these

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kids have been playing college. There's no comparison.

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You don't know how they're going to respond.

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They need to be out in the fire getting worked

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to see how they respond and if they can get better.

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And I think that the beginning of a cycle is

00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.740
not critical. It's the last two years leading

00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:06.519
into the Olympics that are the most important.

00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:11.980
The tricky thing is with the world ranking system

00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:16.789
as it is. If this team doesn't perform, they

00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:19.029
could really plummet in the world rankings, which

00:16:19.029 --> 00:16:22.950
may affect things in the run -up to the Olympics.

00:16:23.009 --> 00:16:30.129
Who knows? But they are safe, and they will be

00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:34.029
there. So we are going to talk about this roster,

00:16:34.169 --> 00:16:37.190
basically not taking that into consideration.

00:16:37.990 --> 00:16:41.629
We know that it's a fact, but we will be talking

00:16:41.629 --> 00:16:45.769
about this roster. Just, you know, as it is.

00:16:46.149 --> 00:16:50.789
So that being said, the U .S. wide roster selections

00:16:50.789 --> 00:16:56.149
came out. And Adam did a lot of digging here

00:16:56.149 --> 00:16:59.750
of the top teams in the world because the U .S.

00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:04.890
is among them. Of the Olympic roster from Paris,

00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:09.630
there are only three athletes that have been

00:17:09.630 --> 00:17:13.910
named to the 2025 wide roster. Jordan Poulter,

00:17:14.009 --> 00:17:17.730
Avery Skinner, and Dana Retke. Now, there's a

00:17:17.730 --> 00:17:20.250
couple things to consider here. One is which

00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:23.170
athletes are retiring. One is you have a bunch

00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:25.049
of experienced athletes who may want the year

00:17:25.049 --> 00:17:28.710
off, which is totally fine if there's communication

00:17:28.710 --> 00:17:32.450
with the program. There's a couple athletes here

00:17:32.450 --> 00:17:35.529
who I would kind of expect to either go to world

00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:37.509
championships later this year or to be on the

00:17:37.509 --> 00:17:41.170
VNL roster next year. Those would include Jordan

00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:43.160
Thompson. Like, I don't think she's going to

00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:46.359
be done. I don't know what your thoughts are

00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:50.980
on Washington. I mean, she was injured for a

00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:55.319
lot of the love season. So her not being on it

00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:59.240
wasn't a shock to me. But I think if she doesn't

00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:02.359
come back for Worlds or next year, I'll be surprised.

00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:06.720
So she'll probably come back. Plummer is dealing

00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.759
with some personal issues, which are condolences

00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:15.579
to her. I would expect her to play. Wongarontis

00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:20.380
is not on the roster, which I found pretty surprising.

00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.079
I don't know if that was a program decision or

00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:25.240
if that was a personal decision for her for wanting

00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.599
a break. I know she did get married last year.

00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.799
That was the biggest question mark to me. Justine

00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.380
was the biggest question for you? Ogbalgu was

00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:37.380
a question for me. Fair. And then Kelsey Cook

00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:40.240
also. I'm like, I wouldn't be surprised either

00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:44.640
way. Yeah. So a lot of players who probably could

00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.740
have and should have been eligible to play on

00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:50.920
VNL have either. And I would have to imagine

00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.839
that these were personal decisions to opt out

00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:54.579
of playing. Like if they wanted to play, they

00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:56.680
would be on the roster. So it's curious to see

00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.680
where their heads are at. They don't want to

00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.000
compete this year. They need to take a year off

00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.339
or they're trying to figure out if they want

00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:06.019
to do a whole cycle because it's a grind. It's

00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:09.099
a lot of investment. It's a lot of travel. So,

00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:12.759
yeah. There are a lot of holes to fill and a

00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.779
lot of spots to bring on, and they'll be a very

00:19:15.779 --> 00:19:19.440
young and inexperienced squad. Which, given the

00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:25.079
taking a break aspect, I find it very interesting.

00:19:25.180 --> 00:19:28.900
I just want to throw it out there that the majority

00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:33.519
of these athletes that are missing or are taking

00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:38.119
time off opted to play in love for the purpose

00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.380
of playing at home. I have done this before where

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:47.140
you go play overseas for nine months. You come

00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:50.619
back home and you're not really home because

00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:52.720
you have to be at the localized training center.

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.980
And you do that for three months. It's tough.

00:19:56.779 --> 00:20:02.420
But for the ones who chose to stay domestic for

00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:06.500
professional play, I'm not sure I would use that

00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:09.720
as an excuse. I mean, you give yourselves three

00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.539
years to the Olympics, but at the same time,

00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:16.140
if your goal is to win a gold medal, all of your

00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:18.880
competition is continuing to play. They're continuing

00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.240
to gel as a team. They're continuing to integrate

00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:25.700
the new players. Are you really that good that

00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:28.619
as a program you can sit the majority of your

00:20:28.619 --> 00:20:31.240
starting players and you are going to come back

00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:34.119
and just win when you all decide to play? From

00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:38.440
a performance standpoint? It's tough because

00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:41.039
you're not the clear -cut favorites, in my opinion.

00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:46.119
Adam touched on it. Your competition is continuing

00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:49.799
to compete. Let's put a bookmark in that because

00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:52.500
we are going to return to that. But let's just

00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:56.299
go over the wide roster selection for people

00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:58.900
who maybe don't know. How do you want to do this?

00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:00.779
Do we want to just go through the roster or do

00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:04.049
we want to talk about... snubs position by position

00:21:04.049 --> 00:21:06.990
or go over it and then talk about snubs how do

00:21:06.990 --> 00:21:10.109
you i like talking about let's we can talk about

00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:12.630
some potential snubs and our thoughts on the

00:21:12.630 --> 00:21:16.450
choices in general how about let's do it okay

00:21:16.450 --> 00:21:20.250
let's start with the setters so the setters that

00:21:20.250 --> 00:21:23.589
were named to the wide roster were jordan polter

00:21:23.589 --> 00:21:28.369
jenna gray former setter for stanford rachel

00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:32.410
fairbanks Ella Mae Powell, who played for Washington,

00:21:32.589 --> 00:21:36.210
and Sage Kahina -Torres, who played for Love

00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:40.029
Austin this past season. What are your overall

00:21:40.029 --> 00:21:43.250
thoughts, and who do you think is missing? Looking

00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:49.630
at this list, I'm like, okay, they clearly did

00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:53.170
something to keep Poulter around because every

00:21:53.170 --> 00:21:55.529
other Olympian was like, peace, we're taking

00:21:55.529 --> 00:21:59.269
the summer off. So my thought was like, Sullivan's

00:21:59.269 --> 00:22:03.690
thinking, if all else goes sideways and we cannot

00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:06.930
pass the ball and we cannot do anything, at least

00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.029
we'll have an experienced setter who can at least

00:22:09.029 --> 00:22:12.170
put the ball in a hittable position. Like, having

00:22:12.170 --> 00:22:16.250
experience in the setting position is critical.

00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:20.109
So I'm not surprised that they somehow got her

00:22:20.109 --> 00:22:24.029
to play. She might hate her life, though. There

00:22:24.029 --> 00:22:27.150
is the possibility that she is more track athlete

00:22:27.150 --> 00:22:30.430
than setter this season. We will touch on the

00:22:30.430 --> 00:22:35.150
outsides in a bit. I'm shocked that Kahina Torres

00:22:35.150 --> 00:22:39.410
is there. Given how she played in the love season,

00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:44.170
I was jaw on the floor. Where do you think she's

00:22:44.170 --> 00:22:46.569
going to play love next year? Probably for Eric

00:22:46.569 --> 00:22:51.640
Sullivan at Austin. Fairbanks. I felt like she

00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.799
would be in the conversation eventually. Powell,

00:22:56.940 --> 00:23:01.660
I'm like, ow. These are wild. I mean, Fairbanks

00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:04.299
did a great job this season. There's potential

00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:08.599
there. And the thing is, you never really know

00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:10.920
how a college athlete is going to transition

00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:13.259
to the professional ranks unless you give them

00:23:13.259 --> 00:23:16.180
a chance. So out of all of these, Fairbanks is

00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:19.839
the one that makes the most sense to me. I think

00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:24.339
Kami Miner is missing. That, for me, was also

00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:27.420
the one. I think she had potential to play at

00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:29.900
this level. I did hear, however, that she hasn't

00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:33.079
graduated yet, and she finishes school like a

00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:35.440
week before VNL starts. Well, and that's fair.

00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:39.039
If there are reasons for that, so be it. But

00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:41.319
that was a noticeable absence from the list.

00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:46.859
Yeah. These aren't bad choices. The one, you

00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:50.779
know my question mark with Sage. But I think

00:23:50.779 --> 00:23:56.160
throughout my history playing against and watching

00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.720
USA Volleyball, the Americans have always been

00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:04.720
a very strong setting country. And so the fact

00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.059
that I don't see anybody other than Poulter jump

00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:13.779
out at me as like, yes, this person can run the

00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:17.619
show is concerning. Well, I mean, look at...

00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.599
You had five American setters setting in love

00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:24.400
this year who were all, like, Olympic caliber

00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:28.640
or in the gym and around that level, and you

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.720
only have one on this roster. Like, there is

00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.259
a serious... Not two. Fairbanks as well. Fair.

00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:38.859
You're going to have a serious turnaround in

00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:42.359
that position, and it's, in my opinion, after

00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:47.660
Poulter, it's open. It's fair game. I like having

00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.339
four young setters here to come in and see who

00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:54.400
can take the reins, but there is a large drop

00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.680
-off, in my opinion, between Poulter and the

00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:00.279
rest of these. 100%. I honestly think Izzy Stark

00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:04.420
is the future long -term. I just think because

00:25:04.420 --> 00:25:08.839
of her age, it would be too tough to get her

00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:13.099
in for L .A. because she will have graduated

00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:16.740
a year before. It's just too tight, but I think

00:25:16.740 --> 00:25:21.920
long -term, Izzy Stark is the answer, but hopefully

00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.200
Jordan Poulter can avoid injury and get them

00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.559
through this season. Do you see any of the other

00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:31.859
kind of older, I'm not calling them old, but

00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:36.539
older setters for the Team USA coming back next

00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:38.720
year? Well, Carlini already announced that she's

00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.920
done with USA. So, Micah Hancock, I could...

00:25:42.860 --> 00:25:46.500
potentially see. She's early 30s, early to mid

00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:51.720
30s. This would probably be her last run. I wouldn't

00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:53.460
be surprised either way. But the thing for me

00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:55.900
is like you're hosting the Olympics. If you're

00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:59.359
on the edge age wise, play anyway. Well, and

00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:01.759
this is something that you need to consider going

00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.119
forward is athletes who might normally retire.

00:26:04.339 --> 00:26:07.160
Being in the Olympics in your home country is

00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:11.069
a huge deal. There are. great financial opportunities.

00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:13.630
It's an amazing experience to have your friends

00:26:13.630 --> 00:26:17.730
and family there, to be here. This could potentially

00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:20.849
extend some careers for USA players who were

00:26:20.849 --> 00:26:23.910
maybe on the edge and wondering if traveling

00:26:23.910 --> 00:26:26.269
for four more years was worth it. All right,

00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:28.470
let's dive into the outside hitters on this roster.

00:26:28.730 --> 00:26:35.509
Oh, boy. We have got Avery Skinner, Allie Franti,

00:26:35.750 --> 00:26:42.099
Kalia Lanier. Ronnie Jones -Perry, Sarah Franklin,

00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:47.519
Mackenzie Adams, and Logan Eggleston. What is

00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.700
the first thing you think about when you see

00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:54.480
this list? That four out of the seven played

00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:57.900
in love. And a lot of them won't be able to pass.

00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:03.460
That's the thing that... So this for me signals

00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:09.069
a shift in philosophy for... US volleyball, which

00:27:09.069 --> 00:27:12.150
I think is interesting. So generally when you

00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:16.369
think about the US teams for the last decade,

00:27:16.549 --> 00:27:20.750
two decades, incredible ball control, very good

00:27:20.750 --> 00:27:25.150
setters, run a super fast offense. Unstoppable

00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:27.170
middles, basically. Unstoppable middles, but

00:27:27.170 --> 00:27:31.630
not super physical on the pins. So they're running

00:27:31.630 --> 00:27:33.769
speed, they're holding the middle of the court,

00:27:33.950 --> 00:27:38.079
and that's how they've played. You are transitioning

00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.859
to more physical, heavy swinging outsides with

00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:44.819
this list and your ball control. Like there's

00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:48.740
no Jordan Larson. There's no person who can come

00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:50.839
in and just say, I'm going to pass, you know,

00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:53.299
with the libero three quarters of the court.

00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.539
We're going to lock it down. You just pass a

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:57.960
sliver and away we go. There are going to be

00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:00.799
seams on this court between passers, between

00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:04.829
liberos. that are going to be exposed by very

00:28:04.829 --> 00:28:07.710
good serving countries. And I'm curious to see

00:28:07.710 --> 00:28:10.589
how this goes from a passing standpoint. 100%.

00:28:10.589 --> 00:28:14.490
So Eggleston, Adams, Franklin, Jones, Perry.

00:28:15.190 --> 00:28:19.269
They're big. Like literally all of them, I'm

00:28:19.269 --> 00:28:25.549
like passing liability. Okay. Avery Skinner started

00:28:25.549 --> 00:28:29.250
in Paris. I have no questions with her. Absolutely

00:28:29.250 --> 00:28:32.589
not. Allie Franti coming off the bench for Vacav

00:28:32.589 --> 00:28:38.250
Bank. She was on the travel rosters for several

00:28:38.250 --> 00:28:42.130
VNL squads in the last little while. Kind of

00:28:42.130 --> 00:28:46.130
phased out a little bit with the emergence of

00:28:46.130 --> 00:28:50.549
Plummer and Skinner in recent years. But, you

00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:54.349
know, I can get behind it, I guess. I'm wondering

00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:57.109
how her passing is going to be having been in

00:28:57.109 --> 00:29:00.839
Vacav Bank. Has she gotten better being around

00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:02.720
great servers, playing in those leagues, playing

00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:08.019
against that level of athlete? I'm curious. Well,

00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:11.039
and your same thing was on the bench at Conigliano.

00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:13.299
I mean, you're playing behind Gubby and Zhu Ting.

00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:18.599
But to me, that's how you get better. So I'm

00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:21.839
curious to see how those two specifically look.

00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.880
at VNL because we haven't seen them play a ton.

00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:27.359
Like you were on the bench, but you were in the

00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:30.460
gym training against the best players in the

00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:33.380
world. Lanier playing for the best team in the

00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:38.619
world, even as a sub for the last, in her case,

00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.579
I think a couple of years. So I am fine with

00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:46.039
those decisions. Do I think Ronnie Jones -Perry

00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:49.859
is an international caliber left side? No. Mackenzie

00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:56.009
Adams, also no. Egleston, Franklin, even like,

00:29:56.049 --> 00:29:58.390
I don't know the four who came from love for

00:29:58.390 --> 00:30:01.970
me and don't misinterpret what I'm saying as

00:30:01.970 --> 00:30:03.950
it's like, because they came from love. That's

00:30:03.950 --> 00:30:06.690
not what this is. When I see the standard that

00:30:06.690 --> 00:30:10.329
USA has set over the years, they just aren't

00:30:10.329 --> 00:30:13.589
it. I don't disagree with you. And the thing

00:30:13.589 --> 00:30:17.349
is with them coming from love is you don't have

00:30:17.349 --> 00:30:20.759
a sample size. of what they can do against the

00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:23.539
best players. Those are four question marks.

00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:27.539
At least you know with Franti and Lanier, somebody

00:30:27.539 --> 00:30:30.980
from the top organizations in the world saw something

00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:33.160
in them that said, you belong in the gym with

00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:35.900
us. Because I'll tell you what, that third position,

00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:38.559
that third outside position, is important for

00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:40.559
those teams. You don't know when you're going

00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:42.940
to have an injury. You don't know, and let's

00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:45.400
be honest, you get better training, not really

00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:47.720
playing. So the fact that they were in the gym

00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:49.799
doing that day in and day out, like that's the

00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:53.380
important piece for those players. And so I'm

00:30:53.380 --> 00:30:56.940
very curious to see, you know, there's going

00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:58.859
to be a ton of video, there's going to be a ton

00:30:58.859 --> 00:31:01.339
of preparation, what you're going to see from

00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:04.119
a block defense standpoint. Like if you're hoping

00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:06.920
that those four athletes are hitting out of double

00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:09.099
blocks consistently against the top teams in

00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:15.740
the world, that's a tall order for me. The outsides

00:31:15.740 --> 00:31:18.160
are going to struggle in V &L this year, given

00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.440
this list. And maybe we'll eat our words. Maybe

00:31:20.440 --> 00:31:24.619
they'll prove us wrong. I don't know. But in

00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:29.240
consultation with, as we mentioned, Avid Volley,

00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:31.559
we kind of went through some potential snubs

00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:34.380
in the outside position. Curious what you guys

00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:38.160
think about this. So one potential snub is Simone

00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:42.700
Lee. She played at Penn State, was playing for

00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:46.160
Vallefolia in Italy this year. She's going to

00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:50.400
go play in Brazil in Rio next season. So she

00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.640
was a potential question mark of, like, why are

00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:56.960
you not here? And another one was Tori Stafford.

00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:00.579
I'm not sure how old Tori Stafford is, but I

00:32:00.579 --> 00:32:05.240
was surprised she's not on any of the USA teams.

00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:11.940
She's not on U23. So along with this VNL roster,

00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.259
USA sends teams to the under 21 world championships

00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:17.400
and the under 23 world championships. So a lot

00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:19.339
of those athletes who are in college can play

00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:22.799
on those teams. So at first I didn't see her

00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.420
on the list because I think she's got good potential.

00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:28.500
I'm not sure right now she's better than any

00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:30.440
of these players or who you would replace her

00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:35.480
with. But you would think given her caliber and

00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:38.880
what she's done so far, be potentially thinking

00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:42.519
about her. So when she wasn't on even a U23 roster,

00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:45.140
I was a little surprised. And maybe, you know,

00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.799
she's new to the Texas program and they wanted

00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:50.019
more time with her in the gym before they start

00:32:50.019 --> 00:32:53.859
their season. Like, I don't know. The curious

00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:56.960
thing is, was that a personal choice or was that

00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:01.079
a program choice? Yeah, fair. The other one that

00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:03.559
was thrown out, which I'm not sure I would consider

00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:08.440
this a snub, is Maddie Kubik. No, I don't. I

00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:11.839
don't think she's at the level of the athletes

00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:16.599
that are on the list currently. Agreed. Again,

00:33:16.660 --> 00:33:20.519
when you go through the potential snub list and

00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:25.660
you see how few legit possibilities there are,

00:33:25.819 --> 00:33:29.799
it's like you realize just how big a hole these

00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:33.079
veterans not showing up are leaving. Oh, yeah.

00:33:33.740 --> 00:33:36.700
Like, it's massive. Because, like, would I pick

00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:39.319
some of these players for a wide roster? No.

00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:43.559
But when you take away the experienced veterans,

00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:47.579
like, there really aren't that many good options.

00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:52.319
The other one who's missing, and we believe that

00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:56.240
it was a personal choice, but Jess Merzik is

00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:01.349
not on this list. I think she came out and said

00:34:01.349 --> 00:34:05.289
that she's burnt out and she needs a break. I

00:34:05.289 --> 00:34:06.930
don't know if we want to talk about this here

00:34:06.930 --> 00:34:12.670
or there, but in my opinion, this is a mistake.

00:34:13.030 --> 00:34:16.570
I think it's a huge mistake. You are a young

00:34:16.570 --> 00:34:20.070
athlete. You didn't have an amazing season at

00:34:20.070 --> 00:34:24.949
Love. You are competing for one of four spots

00:34:24.949 --> 00:34:29.579
for the 2028 Olympics as a coaching staff. When

00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:32.480
you're that young with no experience, and don't

00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:35.320
get me wrong, burnout is a thing. I get it. You

00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:38.019
have to make decisions for yourself, but everybody

00:34:38.019 --> 00:34:41.159
is in the same position. For you to do that,

00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:45.440
I think this hurts her chance of making the roster

00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:49.599
down the road, regardless of how good she becomes.

00:34:50.659 --> 00:34:54.590
I agree. I mean, with the veterans taking the

00:34:54.590 --> 00:34:57.050
summer off, this was your chance to prove your

00:34:57.050 --> 00:34:59.789
worth and to show how valuable you are because

00:34:59.789 --> 00:35:02.949
you might not get this opportunity again. When

00:35:02.949 --> 00:35:06.510
those players, if those players come back, they

00:35:06.510 --> 00:35:10.329
are experienced. They know how to win. They will

00:35:10.329 --> 00:35:12.730
be selected to the roster. And, like, you may

00:35:12.730 --> 00:35:15.650
have missed the boat. Yeah, even if you're injured,

00:35:15.809 --> 00:35:18.510
if you can get on that roster and be around and

00:35:18.510 --> 00:35:21.610
show the coaching staff how hard you work, how

00:35:21.610 --> 00:35:24.230
diligent you are, your intangibles, like all

00:35:24.230 --> 00:35:26.829
of that matters when you're picking a roster.

00:35:26.969 --> 00:35:29.429
I think she's going to regret this decision.

00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:32.969
This is part of pro sports. Like, yeah, sometimes

00:35:32.969 --> 00:35:36.510
you are tired. Sometimes you feel burnt out.

00:35:36.710 --> 00:35:39.969
And she alluded to some mental health struggles

00:35:39.969 --> 00:35:44.219
and stuff like in a post after love. And it's

00:35:44.219 --> 00:35:48.000
like I sympathize with what you're going through.

00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:52.300
It is very hard to jump levels and kind of be

00:35:52.300 --> 00:35:55.719
thrown into the spotlight. Trust me, I've been

00:35:55.719 --> 00:35:59.519
there. But you also have to think about your

00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:02.559
career long term. And maybe she doesn't, this

00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:05.079
isn't important to her. Well, and again, I'm

00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:07.440
not saying it's the wrong decision for her. I'm

00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:10.199
saying if her goal is to play at the Olympics

00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:15.250
in 2028. this is a setback and potentially one

00:36:15.250 --> 00:36:18.469
you can't come back from. The final potential

00:36:18.469 --> 00:36:21.969
snub is Kendall Kipp, who played at Stanford,

00:36:22.150 --> 00:36:25.010
was with Vakif Bank in Turkey, recently signed

00:36:25.010 --> 00:36:28.630
with Bergamo in Italy. Word on the street is

00:36:28.630 --> 00:36:33.989
she is rehabbing an injury. So I'm assuming they

00:36:33.989 --> 00:36:37.190
would have put her on the list, but due to injury,

00:36:37.349 --> 00:36:41.440
they didn't want to use a roster spot if. She

00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:43.239
wouldn't be ready. Yeah. And again, we don't,

00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:45.119
we're not aware of the conversations that are

00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:47.239
going on between the programs and the athletes.

00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:49.599
So just looking at the list, I would agree with

00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:53.820
you. Okay. Opposites. Everybody's favorite position.

00:36:55.079 --> 00:37:01.219
We have got Madison Skinner, Taylor Mims, Danielle

00:37:01.219 --> 00:37:06.920
Catino, Olivia Babcock, Logan Litnicki, and Stephanie

00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:10.900
Samity. There are a couple people missing from

00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:13.920
this list, in my opinion. I probably would have

00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:16.659
put Kennedy Martin on this list. I know she's

00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:19.400
super young and very inexperienced. I also didn't

00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:23.619
see her on any of the U21 or U23 rosters, although

00:37:23.619 --> 00:37:27.800
I may be mistaken. There's an athlete who's physical,

00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:30.760
who probably has a future. The Olympics are four

00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:33.460
years away. She might be ready. If I was going

00:37:33.460 --> 00:37:36.019
to take a flyer on a player, it would probably

00:37:36.019 --> 00:37:39.059
be her to get her into the gym to see what she's

00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:41.519
like, to see how she responds to coaching. I

00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.599
think she has a ton of upside. I would have liked

00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:48.900
to see her on the list as not ready to play now,

00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:52.099
but you want her in the system. The other question

00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:55.400
that I think people might have is Tessa Grubbs.

00:37:56.310 --> 00:38:01.570
who started over danielle catino for the majority

00:38:01.570 --> 00:38:04.730
of the love season was dominant in love until

00:38:04.730 --> 00:38:08.949
she got injured and catino who played basically

00:38:08.949 --> 00:38:11.230
behind her all season made the roster and she

00:38:11.230 --> 00:38:14.070
didn't so that was actually one of the questions

00:38:14.070 --> 00:38:21.150
we had this week is why that happened i agree

00:38:21.150 --> 00:38:23.530
with everything that's being said there i think

00:38:23.530 --> 00:38:28.019
that i would have taken tessa as well the only

00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:30.559
question is how did her how far back did her

00:38:30.559 --> 00:38:34.099
injury set her would she be ready and you know

00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:37.239
what was that conversation like but from a performance

00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:40.340
standpoint you know all things being equal in

00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:43.059
terms of health i would have taken grubs personally

00:38:43.059 --> 00:38:47.539
well she was dressed for the matches at the end

00:38:47.539 --> 00:38:49.380
of love do you know like i'm not saying that

00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:53.659
that means that she's fine but yeah yeah I mean,

00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:57.159
I agree. I was a little surprised that she wasn't

00:38:57.159 --> 00:39:00.500
on the list and Katina was. Well, the other,

00:39:00.539 --> 00:39:05.880
like, Lednicki for me, she's good. It's fine.

00:39:06.059 --> 00:39:08.599
She's good. But she's, like, a little more raw

00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:12.400
than the other ones. This is what I come back

00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:14.659
to. If you're comparing kids in college, though,

00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:18.059
Logan Lednicki is not Olivia Babcock. And Kennedy

00:39:18.059 --> 00:39:20.760
Martin, like, if you're going to take Lednicki,

00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:22.860
take Martin. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah,

00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:25.400
I agree. If we're comparing kids that are that

00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:29.420
age, that is confusing to me. Skinner, sure,

00:39:29.539 --> 00:39:31.820
we've talked about her. Mims, she's played for

00:39:31.820 --> 00:39:34.840
Navarra for the last couple seasons, formerly

00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:38.480
for Washington State. Navarra's a top team in

00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.460
Italy. I can get behind that. Coutinho's a question

00:39:42.460 --> 00:39:45.539
mark, especially because she was only good for

00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:49.480
the last few matches in love. Babcock, I think

00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:52.969
she's your future. Samity, I haven't seen her

00:39:52.969 --> 00:39:55.050
play. She's been in Japan for a little bit. But

00:39:55.050 --> 00:39:58.630
in college, I wasn't a huge fan. Linnicky, Raw.

00:40:00.329 --> 00:40:03.710
Yeah, and I guess it comes down to when I'm looking

00:40:03.710 --> 00:40:09.050
at this roster, I'm comparing to the other international

00:40:09.050 --> 00:40:13.809
rosters, to the players sitting in those. Who

00:40:13.809 --> 00:40:19.190
on this list is going up against Boscovich? At

00:40:19.190 --> 00:40:21.809
this point, nobody. And that's my point, right?

00:40:22.010 --> 00:40:24.570
Who's going to go head to head with Paola Egonu?

00:40:24.789 --> 00:40:29.170
None of them. So it's, again, you're building

00:40:29.170 --> 00:40:31.789
towards 2028. I understand that you're looking

00:40:31.789 --> 00:40:37.090
for your future in the program. There's just

00:40:37.090 --> 00:40:39.590
so many question marks about how these athletes

00:40:39.590 --> 00:40:41.170
are going to transition to the international

00:40:41.170 --> 00:40:42.909
game. And it doesn't mean they're not good. That's

00:40:42.909 --> 00:40:45.300
not what we're saying. It's just. You know, you

00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:47.199
have a fraction of volleyball players who go

00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:50.199
to college and you have an even smaller fraction

00:40:50.199 --> 00:40:53.360
of players who can go play at the next level.

00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:59.780
And if the ball control is not as good as they

00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:03.500
are used to, which is, I think, a fair question

00:41:03.500 --> 00:41:06.699
mark at this point, which of these players is

00:41:06.699 --> 00:41:09.300
going to be able to score out of system consistently

00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:12.619
against an international block defense? That's

00:41:12.619 --> 00:41:14.869
the question you're looking to answer. Again,

00:41:15.030 --> 00:41:18.230
there are holes to be filled. I understand why

00:41:18.230 --> 00:41:21.409
the majority of these athletes were picked. For

00:41:21.409 --> 00:41:25.429
me, the snub definitely comes to Tessa Grubbs.

00:41:25.449 --> 00:41:29.010
Yeah, agreed. Agreed. Because she has proven

00:41:29.010 --> 00:41:31.789
herself. More than somebody else on this list.

00:41:31.809 --> 00:41:33.849
More than somebody else. Direct comparison. Exactly.

00:41:33.869 --> 00:41:38.130
Direct comparison. All right. Two positions to

00:41:38.130 --> 00:41:41.690
go, everybody. Let's talk about middle blockers.

00:41:42.380 --> 00:41:44.519
So the middle blockers announced to the list

00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:48.219
were Breon Butler, formerly of Texas, played

00:41:48.219 --> 00:41:52.800
in Japan this past season. Amber Igied. Anna

00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:57.980
Dodson played for UCLA after she just graduated,

00:41:58.139 --> 00:42:02.059
signed for the second half in Italy. Will return

00:42:02.059 --> 00:42:06.219
to Italy next season for Pinerolo. Meh, medium

00:42:06.219 --> 00:42:10.949
team. Dana Retke, Asia O 'Neill. Tia Jemerson,

00:42:11.230 --> 00:42:18.949
Molly McCage, Serena Gray. Okay, I'm sorry. Tia

00:42:18.949 --> 00:42:24.809
Jemerson came out of nowhere. She had one good

00:42:24.809 --> 00:42:28.530
love season, which further emphasizes my point

00:42:28.530 --> 00:42:31.889
about Tessa Grubbs. I would say same situation,

00:42:32.070 --> 00:42:34.530
similar situation coming in where you're like,

00:42:34.610 --> 00:42:36.489
yeah, you're probably, you might be on the bench.

00:42:36.510 --> 00:42:38.130
Like we don't really know what to expect of you.

00:42:39.289 --> 00:42:42.710
both of them performed well in love. One of them

00:42:42.710 --> 00:42:46.050
makes this roster. The other one doesn't. I definitely

00:42:46.050 --> 00:42:48.809
have questions about Jimmerson. Definitely have

00:42:48.809 --> 00:42:53.389
questions about Anna Dodson. And I don't know.

00:42:53.929 --> 00:42:56.909
There's a, yeah. What do you think? Yeah. I mean,

00:42:56.929 --> 00:42:58.750
I kind of liked the Jimmerson pick. I thought

00:42:58.750 --> 00:43:02.630
she's dynamic. She's raw. I think that there's.

00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:05.760
upside there i kind of feel like she got better

00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:08.300
and better with the coaching that she received

00:43:08.300 --> 00:43:12.800
so for me i just envision her going head to head

00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:18.820
with sarah farr yeah or like zara gunish from

00:43:18.820 --> 00:43:24.719
turkey and just these girls like right again

00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:27.579
i'm not saying that she's at that point i'm saying

00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:30.619
She's gotten better. She improved. You put her

00:43:30.619 --> 00:43:33.280
in a situation where she was successful. She's

00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.559
relatively physical. So give her a chance to

00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:38.880
see where she can go. I'm more okay with that

00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:41.760
pick than some of the other ones. Like what ones?

00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:45.500
I mean, I haven't seen Dodson, but that would

00:43:45.500 --> 00:43:47.639
be one. Trust me, I did UCLA games all season.

00:43:47.820 --> 00:43:50.739
She's not the answer. I'm shocked that she is

00:43:50.739 --> 00:43:56.719
on the list. Yeah, and McKage. McCage played

00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:00.719
well in the final four of love. Yeah. Asia O

00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:04.260
'Neal wasn't even a starter. On her love team,

00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:06.239
barely sniffed the court, and you're going to

00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:09.860
put her on the VNL roster? Same with Serena Gray.

00:44:10.340 --> 00:44:13.719
Tori Dixon was starting over her. And you're

00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:18.119
on the VNL roster? I understand that we were

00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:20.099
saying Serena Gray should be starting all season,

00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:23.739
but I'm just like, what is your criteria for

00:44:23.739 --> 00:44:28.579
picking these? Names. This list to me more than

00:44:28.579 --> 00:44:31.500
anything is about what you think you can have

00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:35.320
down the future because none of these athletes

00:44:35.320 --> 00:44:38.820
are international caliber at this point. Maybe

00:44:38.820 --> 00:44:43.320
Breon Butler. Maybe. I mean, you have Dana Redkey.

00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:47.079
Who had a terrible season at Exasi Bashi who

00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:49.840
was on the bench for the last, at least she has

00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:52.739
experience in that environment. Well, and she's

00:44:52.739 --> 00:44:56.829
a relatively good blocker. But offensively, she

00:44:56.829 --> 00:45:00.969
needs to put more work in because, again, if

00:45:00.969 --> 00:45:03.250
you look at the caliber of middles that the USA

00:45:03.250 --> 00:45:06.929
has historically had, there is a significant

00:45:06.929 --> 00:45:09.530
drop -off here from what they're used to. Who's

00:45:09.530 --> 00:45:12.769
missing from this list that you think should

00:45:12.769 --> 00:45:17.369
be there? For me, Andy Jackson. Agreed. Now,

00:45:17.369 --> 00:45:20.510
we did hear that Nebraska's kind of keeping their

00:45:20.510 --> 00:45:23.809
players at home this summer. Understandable.

00:45:24.570 --> 00:45:28.070
coaching change there's a big shift there's a

00:45:28.070 --> 00:45:30.510
lot to kind of work through with that system

00:45:30.510 --> 00:45:32.610
particularly for a program where the expectation

00:45:32.610 --> 00:45:36.110
is to win but yeah i have heard that nebraska

00:45:36.110 --> 00:45:39.190
is keeping players at home i don't want to talk

00:45:39.190 --> 00:45:42.929
about that right now i have my own opinions about

00:45:42.929 --> 00:45:46.030
see adam needs everybody to like him so he just

00:45:46.030 --> 00:45:49.030
doesn't say they've The things that might be

00:45:49.030 --> 00:45:51.349
controversial and then I say them and then everybody

00:45:51.349 --> 00:45:54.670
comes at me. I didn't know if this was the place

00:45:54.670 --> 00:45:59.389
to talk about that. But this is another instance

00:45:59.389 --> 00:46:04.190
that kind of highlights the massive generational

00:46:04.190 --> 00:46:10.489
gap and just how strong this former generation

00:46:10.489 --> 00:46:16.650
has been. 100%. Because I don't know who else

00:46:16.650 --> 00:46:19.309
I would pick. like I understand I'm critical

00:46:19.309 --> 00:46:22.110
of these picks but like after that generation

00:46:22.110 --> 00:46:25.050
that won those three four medals in a row it's

00:46:25.050 --> 00:46:27.389
like there's a drop there's a there's a void

00:46:27.389 --> 00:46:31.510
there for sure and they have to be filled players

00:46:31.510 --> 00:46:33.610
are gonna have to step up and it'll be interesting

00:46:33.610 --> 00:46:36.090
to see it's like you said there's nothing you

00:46:36.090 --> 00:46:38.670
don't have any issue with these athletes per

00:46:38.670 --> 00:46:42.559
se but there are very big shoes to fill with

00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:44.420
very little experience. I mean, I do have some

00:46:44.420 --> 00:46:47.079
issues. I just went through some of my issues.

00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:51.219
Yeah, issues, but again, who would you replace

00:46:51.219 --> 00:46:54.539
them with? Exactly. It's not that the picks are

00:46:54.539 --> 00:46:57.639
bad. It's just that some of these athletes are

00:46:57.639 --> 00:47:02.239
going to have to surprise us for the U .S. to

00:47:02.239 --> 00:47:06.019
kind of stay ranked where they are. And again,

00:47:06.099 --> 00:47:08.639
when I'm talking about these athletes, it's like

00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:12.139
based on the standard that USA has set over the

00:47:12.139 --> 00:47:16.280
years for the last three cycles. Yes, even if

00:47:16.280 --> 00:47:19.599
there might not be better options from the standard

00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:24.639
that the USA has, I think this is lacking. They

00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:28.679
are in a rebuild. Again, I think it's a huge

00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:31.909
mistake for those veterans to just... Take time

00:47:31.909 --> 00:47:34.289
off. The only other middle, not the only other,

00:47:34.349 --> 00:47:36.170
but one of the other middles who I thought might

00:47:36.170 --> 00:47:38.449
be on this roster who's not is Sammy Francis.

00:47:39.269 --> 00:47:42.710
I like the way she plays. She's big. She's physical.

00:47:42.869 --> 00:47:45.710
She's got a little attitude to her. Yeah, I was

00:47:45.710 --> 00:47:48.070
a little surprised. I didn't see her on any of

00:47:48.070 --> 00:47:50.050
the rosters. I don't know if she's over 23. Well,

00:47:50.130 --> 00:47:52.130
I think also she had to go back to school after

00:47:52.130 --> 00:47:54.909
love too, right? That's true. That might be a

00:47:54.909 --> 00:47:56.389
school issue. Maybe that's a school issue as

00:47:56.389 --> 00:47:57.989
well. But she's somebody else who I would have

00:47:57.989 --> 00:48:02.050
my eye on if I was running the program. Okay,

00:48:02.090 --> 00:48:05.889
final group are the Liberos. We've got Morgan

00:48:05.889 --> 00:48:10.090
Hentz, who played PVF for Atlanta, Lexi Rodriguez,

00:48:10.530 --> 00:48:14.389
Zoe Jarvis, and Lauren Briseño, who played at

00:48:14.389 --> 00:48:18.230
Baylor. I know you have a huge snub here. Just

00:48:18.230 --> 00:48:22.050
let us hear it. I mean, you know my opinions

00:48:22.050 --> 00:48:27.269
on Liberos. I think Elena Scott has risen to

00:48:27.269 --> 00:48:30.090
all of the occasions that she's been put into.

00:48:30.679 --> 00:48:34.739
And I'm a big fan of her setting. I'm a big fan

00:48:34.739 --> 00:48:38.099
of how she plays the game. Attitude. I think

00:48:38.099 --> 00:48:39.940
she has a lot of intangibles from what you can

00:48:39.940 --> 00:48:42.739
see watching her play. I'm surprised she's not

00:48:42.739 --> 00:48:46.199
on this list. I think that's a huge snub. I don't

00:48:46.199 --> 00:48:47.860
know if that was a decision by her to take the

00:48:47.860 --> 00:48:51.840
summer off or whatever. If it was, that's a massive

00:48:51.840 --> 00:48:54.159
mistake for her. If that was, she made a huge

00:48:54.159 --> 00:48:56.980
error. Like this was her chance. Justine's taking

00:48:56.980 --> 00:49:00.179
the summer off. But if she didn't make that choice,

00:49:00.380 --> 00:49:05.139
that was a huge miss by the staff. I agree. I

00:49:05.139 --> 00:49:06.960
don't know what Zoe Jarvis is doing on this list.

00:49:07.019 --> 00:49:10.320
I'm sorry. Like, what are you doing there? Morgan

00:49:10.320 --> 00:49:13.460
Hentz, I can get behind. She is more of a veteran.

00:49:13.559 --> 00:49:17.360
She was the backup to Justine for the last cycle,

00:49:17.460 --> 00:49:21.019
like 100%. Lexi Rodriguez, I feel like a lot

00:49:21.019 --> 00:49:22.199
of people believe. She was going to get her chance.

00:49:22.500 --> 00:49:25.599
Yes, they were going to give her a chance. They

00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:28.219
believe she is the future. I can get behind that.

00:49:28.260 --> 00:49:33.599
The other two. Yeah. Particularly Jarvis. Like,

00:49:33.599 --> 00:49:35.579
Brisenio, I haven't seen her play enough to really

00:49:35.579 --> 00:49:41.119
have an opinion. But, yeah. I mean, we'll see.

00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:44.980
So those are our impressions of the USA roster.

00:49:45.099 --> 00:49:46.739
Let's just talk about how many Texas athletes

00:49:46.739 --> 00:49:49.039
there are on this roster. Shall we? All right.

00:49:49.219 --> 00:49:55.719
Here we go. Jarvis. McCage. O 'Neal. Butler.

00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:02.599
Skinner, Eggleston, Kahina Torres. At least seven.

00:50:03.820 --> 00:50:06.280
Maybe I missed someone. I was scanning through

00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:09.440
real quick. Just saying. I think this is a slippery

00:50:09.440 --> 00:50:14.480
slope. For who? For me or for the program? No,

00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:20.260
for the program. And again, it's year one of

00:50:20.260 --> 00:50:24.340
the cycle. You're guaranteed a spot. You have

00:50:24.340 --> 00:50:26.420
a lot of senior athletes either sitting out or

00:50:26.420 --> 00:50:30.699
retiring. As a coach, you need to put a good

00:50:30.699 --> 00:50:34.980
showing in and you know these athletes. However,

00:50:35.260 --> 00:50:38.800
there is always a bias towards people you know

00:50:38.800 --> 00:50:40.300
and you've worked with if those relationships

00:50:40.300 --> 00:50:44.099
have gone well. And you better make sure that

00:50:44.099 --> 00:50:48.219
if you make those choices, those players live

00:50:48.219 --> 00:50:50.460
up to expectation because the scrutiny of those

00:50:50.460 --> 00:50:53.219
players will be higher than the other ones. So

00:50:53.219 --> 00:50:57.119
if none of those other players get put on rosters

00:50:57.119 --> 00:51:00.820
and don't perform, that's a tough look starting

00:51:00.820 --> 00:51:04.980
a cycle. This, in my opinion, was a real gamble.

00:51:05.679 --> 00:51:09.579
And TBD to see if this pans out. Because if it

00:51:09.579 --> 00:51:11.739
doesn't and you pulled seven athletes that you've

00:51:11.739 --> 00:51:15.719
previously worked with, that looks like favoritism,

00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:19.699
which is not a great place for a program to be

00:51:19.699 --> 00:51:22.280
for athletes coming in. That's not the culture

00:51:22.280 --> 00:51:24.760
or the environment that you want. And it's definitely

00:51:24.760 --> 00:51:28.860
not the environment that Karch had. Karch got

00:51:28.860 --> 00:51:31.500
rid of great players because their attitude stunk.

00:51:32.639 --> 00:51:36.099
Flat out, this is what it takes to win. I'm curious

00:51:36.099 --> 00:51:39.820
to see how this plays out. All right, so I went

00:51:39.820 --> 00:51:42.780
through and polled rosters, V &L rosters for

00:51:42.780 --> 00:51:46.860
the top five or six teams. We were curious, basically,

00:51:46.860 --> 00:51:50.989
if other countries... were kind of going through

00:51:50.989 --> 00:51:53.409
the same transition that the Americans were going

00:51:53.409 --> 00:51:57.349
through or which veteran players were leaving.

00:51:57.550 --> 00:52:01.050
So Adam did some digging. So let's start with

00:52:01.050 --> 00:52:05.829
Italy. Italy is returning 10 players. From their

00:52:05.829 --> 00:52:07.590
Olympic roster. From their Olympic roster. So

00:52:07.590 --> 00:52:10.230
again, yes, from the Olympic roster. And I would

00:52:10.230 --> 00:52:14.829
say the only one of note who is missing would

00:52:14.829 --> 00:52:22.800
be Bossetti. Very strong. They have to be looking

00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:26.860
to win VNL this year. And quite frankly, they

00:52:26.860 --> 00:52:29.679
are probably better than the U .S. in every position.

00:52:30.039 --> 00:52:34.820
Hands down. And a lot of these athletes are in

00:52:34.820 --> 00:52:38.300
their 30s. Yeah. They all play pro, and they

00:52:38.300 --> 00:52:40.960
decided to come back. So Italy is fully loaded,

00:52:41.119 --> 00:52:46.599
ready to rumble. Brazil is returning eight players

00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:50.300
from their Olympic roster. You're missing two

00:52:50.300 --> 00:52:54.039
liberos. Thaisa, who was more of a figurehead.

00:52:55.079 --> 00:53:00.300
She's 38. She's retiring. I would say the most

00:53:00.300 --> 00:53:03.300
noticeable missing player would be Kat Alder

00:53:03.300 --> 00:53:07.179
-Middle, who is very good. So she's probably...

00:53:07.179 --> 00:53:10.079
Not sure if she's done with national team. Maybe

00:53:10.079 --> 00:53:13.340
she is. Yeah, I'm not sure. She's 34, so she

00:53:13.340 --> 00:53:16.500
would be 38 going into the next cycle. She could

00:53:16.500 --> 00:53:20.099
be taking a break, but... We've got Roberta,

00:53:20.119 --> 00:53:22.579
the setter coming back, Gabi, Ana Cristina, Rosa

00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:25.619
Maria, Bergman. They're going to be loving. They're

00:53:25.619 --> 00:53:28.480
fine. They have eight returning, but they're

00:53:28.480 --> 00:53:31.119
all very good players, lots of experience. They're

00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:33.019
going to be a very strong team. Next would be

00:53:33.019 --> 00:53:37.800
China. China's returning eight players. They

00:53:37.800 --> 00:53:41.139
have a decent amount of turnover. Now, the thing

00:53:41.139 --> 00:53:44.639
about China is their athletes are quote -unquote

00:53:44.639 --> 00:53:48.829
old at a younger age. 26. Yeah, I mean, they

00:53:48.829 --> 00:53:52.070
start much younger. The wear and tear of their

00:53:52.070 --> 00:53:54.349
system is a little bit higher. Having played

00:53:54.349 --> 00:53:59.289
in China for a couple seasons, it is rare for

00:53:59.289 --> 00:54:04.630
athletes to play into their 30s. So they do have

00:54:04.630 --> 00:54:08.809
some roster turnover, but, I mean, they're always

00:54:08.809 --> 00:54:12.670
strong. They have athletes coming, playing pro.

00:54:13.369 --> 00:54:15.349
But are still returning eight. Yeah, they're

00:54:15.349 --> 00:54:17.210
still returning a starting lineup. They're going

00:54:17.210 --> 00:54:20.449
to be solid. Zhu Ting is taking the summer off,

00:54:20.530 --> 00:54:24.010
it looks like. She's 30, which for a Chinese

00:54:24.010 --> 00:54:27.489
volleyball player is considered old. Now, they

00:54:27.489 --> 00:54:30.010
did retire both of their setters. So it'll be

00:54:30.010 --> 00:54:33.530
interesting to see who comes in, what the offense

00:54:33.530 --> 00:54:35.789
looks like, what that transition is. That was

00:54:35.789 --> 00:54:38.710
of note and interesting. If we look at Poland,

00:54:38.989 --> 00:54:43.300
they also are returning eight athletes. A couple

00:54:43.300 --> 00:54:47.719
retiring. Their setter is 35. Volosh, that's

00:54:47.719 --> 00:54:50.260
a big piece. She is going to continue to play

00:54:50.260 --> 00:54:53.019
pro, but that's a big piece that they're going

00:54:53.019 --> 00:54:54.800
to be missing. Yeah, so it'll be interesting

00:54:54.800 --> 00:54:58.099
to see who steps in there to set. They had a

00:54:58.099 --> 00:55:00.360
young middle blocker who's also not coming back

00:55:00.360 --> 00:55:05.159
by the name of... Alagirska. Yeah, I think she

00:55:05.159 --> 00:55:09.260
played for some decent pro teams. But again...

00:55:09.260 --> 00:55:11.840
But the foundation is there. Yeah, you're returning...

00:55:12.039 --> 00:55:14.099
eight of your athletes, so they're going to be

00:55:14.099 --> 00:55:17.360
good. Now, this is where it gets a little interesting.

00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:22.579
Serbia is only returning four athletes, similar

00:55:22.579 --> 00:55:25.579
to the U .S., but they struggled in the last

00:55:25.579 --> 00:55:29.139
Olympics. They were very bad last season. They

00:55:29.139 --> 00:55:32.840
won Worlds the year before and then came out

00:55:32.840 --> 00:55:35.940
last year in the Olympic year and were honestly

00:55:35.940 --> 00:55:41.519
terrible. Yeah. Guidetti was coaching them. left

00:55:41.519 --> 00:55:44.480
to go coach Canada. TBD on how that's going to

00:55:44.480 --> 00:55:47.880
work out. Yeah. So they have a lot of turnover

00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:51.400
here. And some older athletes, but also some

00:55:51.400 --> 00:55:55.380
younger athletes. So they are, I would say this

00:55:55.380 --> 00:56:00.000
is a full rebuild program wise. Most notable

00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.619
returner is Boscovich. If without her, they're

00:56:04.619 --> 00:56:09.929
in trouble. Correct. But Dirtza. She was setting

00:56:09.929 --> 00:56:16.469
for Fenerbahce this year. Boucher left. Onienovic,

00:56:16.469 --> 00:56:19.190
I mean, Onienovic is 40. She was a setter. She

00:56:19.190 --> 00:56:21.710
was kind of like backup, just there for assurance

00:56:21.710 --> 00:56:26.489
purposes the last year. Jovana Stevanovic, she,

00:56:26.630 --> 00:56:31.489
I mean, plays for Zazibar, but hasn't really

00:56:31.489 --> 00:56:34.429
been starting for the national team. Kortadzic.

00:56:35.260 --> 00:56:38.539
who was the middle for Milano. She's a notable

00:56:38.539 --> 00:56:42.920
miss for me. Now, I could see a lot of these

00:56:42.920 --> 00:56:45.880
athletes waiting to see what the program looks

00:56:45.880 --> 00:56:48.719
like, how much funding they have, how it's all

00:56:48.719 --> 00:56:50.400
going to look like. I wouldn't be surprised to

00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:53.079
see some of these players back next year, but

00:56:53.079 --> 00:56:57.639
that program is going to be in flux this year,

00:56:57.679 --> 00:56:59.780
I would say. Well, I would say that's the only

00:56:59.780 --> 00:57:03.369
top team. That is kind of going through the same

00:57:03.369 --> 00:57:06.929
thing that the U .S. is. And we only looked at

00:57:06.929 --> 00:57:09.909
the top, top teams. Because when we look at Turkey.

00:57:10.429 --> 00:57:12.010
Well, they're returning 11 players. They're going

00:57:12.010 --> 00:57:14.730
to be the exact same. The only player they're

00:57:14.730 --> 00:57:17.110
not returning, really, is their 37 -year -old

00:57:17.110 --> 00:57:20.809
middle, Erdem. Which, okay, makes sense. But

00:57:20.809 --> 00:57:26.090
they're fully intact. So, all that to say, I

00:57:26.090 --> 00:57:27.789
don't know what you think about this, but I think

00:57:27.789 --> 00:57:30.050
looking at this and what the other top teams

00:57:30.050 --> 00:57:34.260
are doing. all of whom play professionally, all

00:57:34.260 --> 00:57:38.920
of whom are in their late 20s to mid 30s, all

00:57:38.920 --> 00:57:43.639
of them have chosen to play this season. So I'm

00:57:43.639 --> 00:57:46.980
thinking that this decision by the American veterans

00:57:46.980 --> 00:57:50.840
and Olympians is very questionable. So it's interesting.

00:57:50.960 --> 00:57:54.360
The U .S. has a bit of a different situation

00:57:54.360 --> 00:57:57.019
than anybody else, any of the other top teams

00:57:57.019 --> 00:58:01.070
in the world. So all of the national teams, get

00:58:01.070 --> 00:58:04.449
to watch their athletes from a young age play

00:58:04.449 --> 00:58:06.570
professionally against the best athletes in the

00:58:06.570 --> 00:58:09.989
world. You have a very good sample size of who

00:58:09.989 --> 00:58:12.070
your athletes are coming through just because

00:58:12.070 --> 00:58:14.929
of where they play. Because a lot of the American

00:58:14.929 --> 00:58:17.630
athletes, almost all of them, play college first,

00:58:17.809 --> 00:58:20.210
you only see them against their peers, not against

00:58:20.210 --> 00:58:24.170
the best in the world. And while I think having

00:58:24.170 --> 00:58:27.530
a pro league in the U .S. is a very good idea

00:58:27.530 --> 00:58:31.090
long term, Until you can pull some of those top

00:58:31.090 --> 00:58:33.570
athletes in the world to play here, you have

00:58:33.570 --> 00:58:37.050
no idea what Sarah Franklin looks like against

00:58:37.050 --> 00:58:39.809
a top block in the world. You have no idea what

00:58:39.809 --> 00:58:42.510
all of the other young U .S. players look like

00:58:42.510 --> 00:58:47.170
in this situation. You have less data for these

00:58:47.170 --> 00:58:49.929
U .S. players than any other country in the world.

00:58:50.429 --> 00:58:56.139
And that is a very interesting... place to be

00:58:56.139 --> 00:58:59.539
in when it comes to roster construction and so

00:58:59.539 --> 00:59:03.579
I mean I understand you want to throw these young

00:59:03.579 --> 00:59:06.679
athletes into the fire and see what do we have

00:59:06.679 --> 00:59:09.019
how do we compete can you play at that speed

00:59:09.019 --> 00:59:11.320
can you play at that size what is your mentality

00:59:11.320 --> 00:59:14.099
like when you know you're up against it and you

00:59:14.099 --> 00:59:17.119
have to hit against that block so I don't necessarily

00:59:17.119 --> 00:59:20.239
disagree with having all of these younger athletes

00:59:20.239 --> 00:59:22.059
on the roster and maybe you didn't have a choice

00:59:22.059 --> 00:59:23.980
because well yeah he might not have had a choice

00:59:23.980 --> 00:59:26.539
but i'm saying like the athletes to make that

00:59:26.539 --> 00:59:28.559
choice i think it's questionable yeah i'm not

00:59:28.559 --> 00:59:32.440
saying it's he sullivan made the choice necessarily

00:59:32.440 --> 00:59:36.679
but for the athletes to choose that yeah it's

00:59:36.679 --> 00:59:39.219
i don't know it's going to be a very interesting

00:59:39.219 --> 00:59:42.639
watch to see how they compete against these teams

00:59:42.639 --> 00:59:47.260
and just quickly going through the canadian roster

00:59:48.139 --> 00:59:50.940
Pretty much everybody that was expected to be

00:59:50.940 --> 00:59:54.300
there is there with the exception of Alexa Gray.

00:59:54.539 --> 00:59:59.039
So their most important player. I think the absence

00:59:59.039 --> 01:00:03.559
of Gray is going to hurt them way more than they

01:00:03.559 --> 01:00:07.519
might think. I would agree with that. And I don't

01:00:07.519 --> 01:00:11.119
know, maybe she chose to take the time off. I

01:00:11.119 --> 01:00:13.420
don't know what the reason is for her not playing,

01:00:13.519 --> 01:00:16.599
but I think her absence is going to seriously

01:00:16.599 --> 01:00:21.039
be felt. Agreed. The other question was, where's

01:00:21.039 --> 01:00:25.300
Jen Cross? Jen Cross had ACL surgery, I want

01:00:25.300 --> 01:00:28.860
to say last year. So she was nearing the end

01:00:28.860 --> 01:00:31.000
of her career anyways. I don't know if she recovered.

01:00:31.159 --> 01:00:32.820
I don't know if she's planning on playing again,

01:00:32.960 --> 01:00:36.469
but that is what had happened to her. But all

01:00:36.469 --> 01:00:38.750
the other people who were there in the run -up

01:00:38.750 --> 01:00:41.090
to the Olympics, you know, Brie O 'Reilly, Kira

01:00:41.090 --> 01:00:45.809
Van Ryk, Shaina Joseph, Hilary Howe, Emily Maglio,

01:00:45.949 --> 01:00:49.829
Jasmine White. Like, the core group that made

01:00:49.829 --> 01:00:52.349
the run at the Paris Olympics is still there,

01:00:52.469 --> 01:00:55.530
minus Gray. I mean, if you're going to qualify,

01:00:55.730 --> 01:00:57.530
this is the quad to do it because the U .S. is

01:00:57.530 --> 01:01:00.929
in automatically. So you better have it together.

01:01:01.670 --> 01:01:05.099
Yeah, this is Canada's chance, honestly. In looking

01:01:05.099 --> 01:01:09.380
at what is kind of being thrown out there from

01:01:09.380 --> 01:01:11.960
the international teams and what the commitments

01:01:11.960 --> 01:01:14.380
are made there, how do we think this American

01:01:14.380 --> 01:01:18.559
team will do in VNL? So they're currently ranked

01:01:18.559 --> 01:01:21.739
third in the world, correct? Yeah. If I had to

01:01:21.739 --> 01:01:26.480
bet, I would say they will squeak into the top

01:01:26.480 --> 01:01:31.380
eight for VNL. If I had to guess, I would say

01:01:31.380 --> 01:01:36.320
they will be seven. Really? Are you lower than

01:01:36.320 --> 01:01:39.619
that? You're being more generous than me. Maybe

01:01:39.619 --> 01:01:43.019
they will squeak into the final eight. But, like,

01:01:43.019 --> 01:01:45.460
by U .S. standards, that's terrible. They're

01:01:45.460 --> 01:01:48.440
going to take a dip, no question. But I think

01:01:48.440 --> 01:01:52.480
just because they don't have experience doesn't

01:01:52.480 --> 01:01:55.619
mean that you won't find a couple athletes who

01:01:55.619 --> 01:01:59.940
can rise to the occasion. They're big. They're

01:01:59.940 --> 01:02:03.800
physical. They have assets here. They have Poulter

01:02:03.800 --> 01:02:07.420
to lead them. They all know how to play volleyball.

01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.659
They're not going to compete with the Italy's

01:02:10.659 --> 01:02:14.179
and the Brazil's, in my opinion. Turkey. Yeah.

01:02:14.300 --> 01:02:19.480
But they will, I think, if the roster is managed

01:02:19.480 --> 01:02:23.059
properly and they take what they learn and they

01:02:23.059 --> 01:02:25.840
adjust and they play to win versus giving players

01:02:25.840 --> 01:02:28.099
a chance to see who they are, I think they can

01:02:28.099 --> 01:02:34.219
finish. That might be fair. I figured it would

01:02:34.219 --> 01:02:38.800
be a stretch, a push for them, a challenge to

01:02:38.800 --> 01:02:41.820
make the final eight. Yeah, I think that they're

01:02:41.820 --> 01:02:44.199
going to be playing meaningful games at the end

01:02:44.199 --> 01:02:47.719
of the tournament to get in. But could Avery

01:02:47.719 --> 01:02:50.780
Skinner be all world for three weeks? Sure. Could

01:02:50.780 --> 01:02:54.039
Madison Skinner figure it out on the right side

01:02:54.039 --> 01:02:56.639
and score points? 100 % they have the capabilities

01:02:56.639 --> 01:02:59.480
to do that. They have the capabilities not to

01:02:59.480 --> 01:03:02.539
do that. But it wouldn't surprise me if three

01:03:02.539 --> 01:03:06.039
or four of the athletes on that list play really,

01:03:06.139 --> 01:03:09.119
really well. And again, you have those teams

01:03:09.119 --> 01:03:13.980
that are in the 6 -10 bubble. The U .S. has the

01:03:13.980 --> 01:03:16.860
swagger factor. You know, when they step on the

01:03:16.860 --> 01:03:19.199
court, that's probably worth a few points. Not

01:03:19.199 --> 01:03:21.079
when you're playing Turkey or Italy, because

01:03:21.079 --> 01:03:22.500
they'll be like, who are these people? Yeah,

01:03:22.500 --> 01:03:25.139
but that's not who I'm talking about. Who was

01:03:25.139 --> 01:03:28.630
playing when they played Canada? If they're playing...

01:03:28.630 --> 01:03:30.110
Well, Canada's going to be like, this is our

01:03:30.110 --> 01:03:32.230
chance to win. We better not mess this up. They

01:03:32.230 --> 01:03:36.429
still have to do it. But who are the teams? What

01:03:36.429 --> 01:03:39.630
does that look like when they play Japan? What

01:03:39.630 --> 01:03:43.610
does that look like? Germany, Netherlands. Exactly.

01:03:44.010 --> 01:03:46.389
At the end of the day, they're still wearing

01:03:46.389 --> 01:03:50.269
the USA uniform. I think the story for me is

01:03:50.269 --> 01:03:53.329
going to be who is named to the world championship

01:03:53.329 --> 01:03:57.110
roster. Yes. Okay, you know what? You don't want

01:03:57.110 --> 01:04:01.150
to come back and play national team for a couple

01:04:01.150 --> 01:04:06.550
months. Sure, your choice. The story for me will

01:04:06.550 --> 01:04:09.150
be who decides to show up for world championships.

01:04:09.630 --> 01:04:13.989
And if the roster looks the same then, that'll

01:04:13.989 --> 01:04:17.789
be a different conversation. Well, if I'm running

01:04:17.789 --> 01:04:20.809
the program, I'm looking at this as a fact -finding

01:04:20.809 --> 01:04:25.039
and a character -determining, you know. summer.

01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:28.579
And then you're trying to win world championships

01:04:28.579 --> 01:04:32.260
as you are every year. So it'll be a very interesting

01:04:32.260 --> 01:04:35.280
summer in the USA gym. Okay, let's dive into

01:04:35.280 --> 01:04:38.639
some listener questions. We did address a few

01:04:38.639 --> 01:04:41.900
of them over the course of the episode, but here

01:04:41.900 --> 01:04:45.760
are the ones that we didn't directly talk about.

01:04:46.239 --> 01:04:51.340
Question one. What new athletes do you think

01:04:51.340 --> 01:04:54.079
are going to be on the 2028 Olympic team and

01:04:54.079 --> 01:04:57.460
which longtime members won't be on that roster?

01:04:57.780 --> 01:05:00.659
Do you think Dana Retke will see playing time

01:05:00.659 --> 01:05:05.000
if she's on the roster again? I think Dana Retke

01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:08.219
will see playing time. Assuming that she continues

01:05:08.219 --> 01:05:12.619
to get better and to keep growing, to me she's

01:05:12.619 --> 01:05:15.380
one of their leading candidates in the middle

01:05:15.380 --> 01:05:19.840
position at this point. The list that is out

01:05:19.840 --> 01:05:22.079
there currently, I think she does have a better

01:05:22.079 --> 01:05:24.579
chance of playing this time around. Yeah. I mean,

01:05:24.579 --> 01:05:27.719
right now, depending on what happens with Washington,

01:05:28.099 --> 01:05:33.739
her and Ogbagu are kind of my one -two. Washington

01:05:33.739 --> 01:05:38.179
and Ogbagu would be my two picks still. I'm assuming

01:05:38.179 --> 01:05:42.300
Ogbagu will be back. Yeah. Question mark on Washington.

01:05:42.380 --> 01:05:44.739
I'm not sure. Yeah. So which longtime players

01:05:44.739 --> 01:05:48.139
do I think won't be back? We know Carlini's out.

01:05:48.440 --> 01:05:51.719
Jordan Larson's out. I bet Annie Drews will not

01:05:51.719 --> 01:05:57.260
be around until 2028. Cook is a question mark

01:05:57.260 --> 01:06:00.820
for me, but I feel like she will want to play

01:06:00.820 --> 01:06:04.340
at home for the Olympics. And I agree with you.

01:06:04.420 --> 01:06:07.679
I think whether she gets that spot or not depends

01:06:07.679 --> 01:06:11.469
on how the rest of the team passes. Agreed. I

01:06:11.469 --> 01:06:15.110
think the ball control issue will be very obvious

01:06:15.110 --> 01:06:18.070
very quick, and if they need somebody like her,

01:06:18.230 --> 01:06:21.190
I can see them calling her back. The new players,

01:06:21.489 --> 01:06:24.909
who from this V &L roster do you think could

01:06:24.909 --> 01:06:28.969
be their long -term? I mean, Poulter, Skinner,

01:06:29.070 --> 01:06:35.269
Skinner, Retke. Those five? I would probably

01:06:35.269 --> 01:06:39.130
add maybe one of Henson Rodriguez, and I'd probably

01:06:39.130 --> 01:06:43.530
add Babcock. Babcock is fair. I think the other

01:06:43.530 --> 01:06:47.530
ones are honestly up in the air. Yeah. I mean,

01:06:47.550 --> 01:06:49.230
if you made me pick, those would be the ones.

01:06:49.309 --> 01:06:54.750
Would I be shocked? Could Franklin raise the

01:06:54.750 --> 01:06:58.909
level of her game? Sure. Will she? There's just

01:06:58.909 --> 01:07:01.449
so many question marks. I'd love to answer this

01:07:01.449 --> 01:07:05.170
question again after we watch VNL. I mean, some

01:07:05.170 --> 01:07:07.429
of these players are going to have to make the

01:07:07.429 --> 01:07:10.989
roster because all of the veterans are not coming

01:07:10.989 --> 01:07:14.829
back. So a few of them will have to be staples.

01:07:15.070 --> 01:07:18.869
Maybe we'll revisit this after VNL. Again, you

01:07:18.869 --> 01:07:20.849
have to see them play at this level. How out

01:07:20.849 --> 01:07:23.769
of place do they look? What's the decision making

01:07:23.769 --> 01:07:26.130
like? How do they compare to the speed and size?

01:07:26.510 --> 01:07:29.570
You know, lots of questions. Question two, if

01:07:29.570 --> 01:07:31.809
you were in Eric Sullivan's shoes, how would

01:07:31.809 --> 01:07:34.730
you have gone about the VNL roster building process?

01:07:35.289 --> 01:07:37.789
I mean, probably pretty similarly. to be honest.

01:07:37.929 --> 01:07:40.210
I hate to say it, we're ripping this roster apart,

01:07:40.409 --> 01:07:41.530
and then we're like, but we wouldn't have changed

01:07:41.530 --> 01:07:46.010
anything. But you have to, again, because you

01:07:46.010 --> 01:07:50.449
don't have, and I mentioned this before, the

01:07:50.449 --> 01:07:52.570
data of seeing these players against international

01:07:52.570 --> 01:07:55.909
rosters, you have to give them a chance. You

01:07:55.909 --> 01:07:59.849
don't know which diamond in the rough is out

01:07:59.849 --> 01:08:03.590
there who just loves playing at this level. And

01:08:03.590 --> 01:08:07.619
so... We talked about some snubs who we thought

01:08:07.619 --> 01:08:10.300
should be on that roster, whether they declined

01:08:10.300 --> 01:08:11.980
or they didn't want to be there or they were

01:08:11.980 --> 01:08:16.880
programmed decisions, TBD. But this year is about

01:08:16.880 --> 01:08:21.840
seeing what you have. And it will be more interesting,

01:08:21.960 --> 01:08:24.619
like you said, to see what decisions come out

01:08:24.619 --> 01:08:28.079
of VNL for Worlds. Question three, who do you

01:08:28.079 --> 01:08:30.060
think will take over the national team setting

01:08:30.060 --> 01:08:34.529
position? Not just for LA 28, but like into the

01:08:34.529 --> 01:08:37.829
future for future cycles. So this person listed

01:08:37.829 --> 01:08:40.750
some potentials as being Kimmy Miner, Rachel

01:08:40.750 --> 01:08:44.329
Fairbanks, Jenna Gray, Bergen Riley, Izzy Stark,

01:08:44.789 --> 01:08:47.770
Poulter and Hancock are on the older side. But

01:08:47.770 --> 01:08:50.470
who do you see leading this team into the future?

01:08:50.710 --> 01:08:53.529
My pick is Izzy Stark. I think she's the future

01:08:53.529 --> 01:08:57.609
for USA Volleyball. She's big. She's mobile.

01:08:58.439 --> 01:09:01.720
She's good in and out of system. She is my long

01:09:01.720 --> 01:09:04.340
-term pick, but I don't know if you have... Yeah,

01:09:04.380 --> 01:09:07.199
I like Izzy Stark as well. I think Kami Miner

01:09:07.199 --> 01:09:12.000
is very good. To me, it would be Izzy Stark right

01:09:12.000 --> 01:09:16.920
now would be my number one with my number two

01:09:16.920 --> 01:09:20.180
tied between Kami and Fairbanks. Kind of fighting

01:09:20.180 --> 01:09:23.300
it out to see. I think both of them have strengths

01:09:23.300 --> 01:09:27.659
and weaknesses. I'd want to see them run. a team

01:09:27.659 --> 01:09:31.659
with all of usa weapons okay our last question

01:09:31.659 --> 01:09:34.039
adam in the hot seat who do you have for your

01:09:34.039 --> 01:09:37.260
three middle blockers for la 20 to 28 in an ideal

01:09:37.260 --> 01:09:40.680
world like we don't know who's gonna like there

01:09:40.680 --> 01:09:42.399
are some question marks about retirement obviously

01:09:42.399 --> 01:09:46.520
but washington retke and obagu he didn't even

01:09:46.520 --> 01:09:50.279
hesitate now i will put one caveat on that i

01:09:50.279 --> 01:09:54.550
think andy jackson definitely has the potential

01:09:54.550 --> 01:09:58.069
to make this roster potentially instead of retki

01:09:58.069 --> 01:10:02.569
she's more offensive minded dynamic and more

01:10:02.569 --> 01:10:06.149
dynamic so she's one that i would keep my eye

01:10:06.149 --> 01:10:09.109
on she's not on the roster so i don't know what

01:10:09.109 --> 01:10:11.470
her plans are well she's only gonna have two

01:10:11.470 --> 01:10:15.289
years post -college before the games too yeah

01:10:15.289 --> 01:10:18.810
now If she's allowed to play national team next

01:10:18.810 --> 01:10:21.369
year, I think that makes a big difference. I

01:10:21.369 --> 01:10:24.229
just, I like the way she plays. I like how dynamic

01:10:24.229 --> 01:10:29.270
she is. And I think the US is going to need to

01:10:29.270 --> 01:10:33.170
be dynamic in the middle to compete. So I think

01:10:33.170 --> 01:10:37.670
she's a dark horse for me. And I think that Sammy

01:10:37.670 --> 01:10:40.770
Francis, to me, she's behind Andy Jackson, but

01:10:40.770 --> 01:10:45.329
she's got potential. And I'd be curious to see

01:10:45.329 --> 01:10:48.770
her you know, with a full professional season

01:10:48.770 --> 01:10:51.970
under her belt, those would be my kind of three

01:10:51.970 --> 01:10:55.449
plus two. I think the first year after the Olympics

01:10:55.449 --> 01:10:59.369
is always interesting in terms of which teams

01:10:59.369 --> 01:11:01.510
are retiring players, you know, which currently

01:11:01.510 --> 01:11:03.829
the U .S. looks like they're doing, new head

01:11:03.829 --> 01:11:07.210
coaches, new systems, different funding. You

01:11:07.210 --> 01:11:10.229
know, it kind of sets the foundation for what

01:11:10.229 --> 01:11:12.050
your plans are going into the next Olympics.

01:11:12.640 --> 01:11:14.720
I think that with the Olympics being in the US,

01:11:14.819 --> 01:11:18.880
there's an incredible amount of pressure. I don't

01:11:18.880 --> 01:11:21.939
disagree with them looking at all of the options

01:11:21.939 --> 01:11:24.460
and trying to figure out what they have and what

01:11:24.460 --> 01:11:27.579
the choices are. I think this summer is going

01:11:27.579 --> 01:11:31.239
to be very telling, especially for the US. I

01:11:31.239 --> 01:11:33.460
think for the other top countries, you know what

01:11:33.460 --> 01:11:35.659
you're going to get. Most of them are returning

01:11:35.659 --> 01:11:38.920
their players. I think after LA, you'll see a

01:11:38.920 --> 01:11:41.380
lot of... turnover in some of those other programs,

01:11:41.500 --> 01:11:45.300
but for this Olympics, I don't see much movement

01:11:45.300 --> 01:11:48.100
in those top kind of five countries, and it'll

01:11:48.100 --> 01:11:51.359
be up to the U .S. to raise their young players

01:11:51.359 --> 01:11:53.979
to that level. Well, let us know your thoughts.

01:11:54.359 --> 01:11:58.760
We were very opinionated, as always, but let

01:11:58.760 --> 01:12:01.060
us know what you're thinking as far as the roster

01:12:01.060 --> 01:12:04.119
as it is, the choices that were made based on

01:12:04.119 --> 01:12:06.640
who is taking time off, who do you think is coming

01:12:06.640 --> 01:12:10.310
back. There's a lot of things to speculate about,

01:12:10.409 --> 01:12:15.930
but the VNL for women starts not this week, but

01:12:15.930 --> 01:12:19.310
next week, June 3rd. So be sure to tune in and

01:12:19.310 --> 01:12:23.210
we will be covering the men's VNL rosters next

01:12:23.210 --> 01:12:26.489
week. That concludes this week's episode of Volley

01:12:26.489 --> 01:12:28.170
Talk. There's always something shaking in the

01:12:28.170 --> 01:12:30.390
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this

01:12:30.390 --> 01:12:32.869
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you

01:12:32.869 --> 01:12:35.489
don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful

01:12:35.489 --> 01:12:38.270
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

01:12:38.270 --> 01:12:40.510
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

01:12:40.510 --> 01:12:43.409
podcast. If you have a topic that you want us

01:12:43.409 --> 01:12:45.369
to discuss, be sure to let us know by reaching

01:12:45.369 --> 01:12:48.510
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin

01:12:48.510 --> 01:12:51.350
.com. Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll

01:12:51.350 --> 01:12:52.529
be back next week.