WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:04.160 Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.700 who want to dig deep into what is going on in 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:09.519 NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:11.500 Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.300 world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:17.399 longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:19.719 I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:22.699 volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:27.219 guy. Women's VNL is officially over. Italy got 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:32.380 that repeat. Okay. They now have a world record 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:37.039 29 consecutive wins. Super impressive. Maybe 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.020 people will disagree with this, but I thought 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:42.600 that they looked pretty untouchable as they cruised 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:44.960 through finals week this week. Their match is 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:47.219 generally straightforward, but there were some 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:49.840 very exciting matches mixed in there this week. 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:56.429 So today... It is all about women's VNL Final 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:59.270 Eight. And we are very excited to talk about 00:00:59.270 --> 00:01:01.890 what went down in Poland. So let's get started. 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:18.409 Shockingly, but maybe not so shockingly because 00:01:18.409 --> 00:01:20.549 the same thing happened last week. The summer 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:22.980 seems a little slow. So we don't really have 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:28.920 highlights or juice. But NCAA programs are starting 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:33.159 up soon. This week, they got the go -ahead by 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.019 the NCAA to start their preseason a week earlier 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:40.719 than usual. Why? Why not? Because now they're 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.760 getting paid $500 ,000, so the schools want them 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.379 to show up and be prepared. That's why. Just 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:48.260 a whole week in advance, you know? Just really 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:50.620 make that investment worth it for that extra 00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:54.129 week. So, yeah, NCAA preseason is going to be 00:01:54.129 --> 00:01:57.890 starting, is starting. We also, I got sent a 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:01.549 little screenshot. And nobody sends me anything. 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:06.170 Of some Instagram comments. And basically, it 00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.610 was this girl commenting on one of Jess Merzik's 00:02:09.610 --> 00:02:14.129 photos on Instagram. If you are familiar with 00:02:14.129 --> 00:02:16.289 Beach, you might know the name Devin Newberry. 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:20.819 She played at UCLA. I think she's trying to make 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:23.639 moves internationally. But anyway, she commented 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.280 on Jess Merzik's post and she was like, get this 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.419 girl on the beach. And Jess Merzik responded 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:35.199 with a double winky face. So, yeah, my sources, 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.699 you know, sent me that. So, and the reasoning 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:42.500 it was sent was like, maybe she feels like she's 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:46.800 falling behind her counterparts. that graduated 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:49.520 and maybe she's thinking about it. I don't know. 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.139 Just speculation. I mean, we talked about this 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:55.139 earlier in the summer when we found out she declined 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:57.560 an invitation or didn't want to train with the 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:00.819 national team to take a break. And I don't know 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:02.780 about you, but I said, I think this is a mistake. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:04.780 I mean, everybody has to take care of their own 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.539 mental well -being, physical well -being, rest. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.780 But this was a huge summer, as we saw for all 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:15.580 kinds of young, inexperienced. U .S. athletes 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:18.099 to get international experience, and she doesn't 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:23.180 have that anymore. And I think this might cost 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:26.780 her if she wanted to play internationally indoor 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.439 because it's going to get real after this, both 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:32.919 for the players and for the coaching staff. So 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.979 beach is maybe an option. Well, I have been following 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:40.900 the signings for different people in the Italian 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:44.849 market. I've kind of been following. The Turkish, 00:03:45.129 --> 00:03:49.050 Japanese. I have not seen her name come up anywhere, 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:51.729 so I'm assuming she's going back to love. If 00:03:51.729 --> 00:03:54.550 I miss something, let me know. But I have not 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:58.969 seen her name come up anywhere. So maybe it's 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:01.250 back to love. Anyway, here I am. I'm like, we 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:05.210 don't have any gossip, but listen to this. Tracks. 00:04:05.669 --> 00:04:10.169 So there's that. But as I said, this episode 00:04:10.169 --> 00:04:13.050 is all about the women's final eight. Little 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:15.629 recap, we're not going to dive into every match 00:04:15.629 --> 00:04:19.689 in detail, but we will talk them through, you 00:04:19.689 --> 00:04:22.810 know. So why don't we get started with that. 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.790 Quarterfinal matchups. So match number one, we 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:30.589 had Italy versus USA. There was a very interesting... 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.459 kind of question brought up on the YouTube channel 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:36.860 that pertains to this match. So I kind of want 00:04:36.860 --> 00:04:39.620 to address it now. I'm glad you brought that 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:41.699 up because when I read it, I was like, this is 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:45.459 very interesting. And I'm curious how many people's 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:49.279 perspective are similar because I had a very 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.600 different reaction to this match. So let's read 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.939 the comment. I'm curious how many people or what 00:04:55.939 --> 00:05:00.040 other people thought about this match. And I'm 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.629 assuming. People are not going to agree with 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:06.209 me on this. I'm very curious, actually. So this 00:05:06.209 --> 00:05:09.029 person sent a comment on the YouTube channel. 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:13.790 And they said... I thought the gold medal rematch 00:05:13.790 --> 00:05:17.709 Italy versus USA was closer than the 3 -0 score 00:05:17.709 --> 00:05:21.050 would suggest. The deciding factor every set, 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:24.670 rather than the pure talent gap I expected, were 00:05:24.670 --> 00:05:27.930 unforced errors and effort. The USA had so many 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.649 uncontested swings they sent way wide or long. 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:34.329 Italy rarely. USA never made the effort to dive 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.759 for tips. Italy... rarely seem to give up a point 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.319 off a tip. They're diving, going to a knee, making 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.879 sure to follow up with a solid set to avoid sending 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.779 free balls over. Would you attribute this to 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:48.240 coaching experience or was that a mark of how 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:52.100 wide the skill was? Am I wrong in thinking that 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:54.819 it didn't seem like the US was not out of their 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:57.439 depth had they tightened things up a little bit? 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:00.660 I'm not saying they're on the same footing, but 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:04.639 they're not leagues apart. So let me just, I 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:08.949 will say, The U .S. had a lead in every set. 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:13.089 Yes. In the first set, they were up like 10 -7, 00:06:13.230 --> 00:06:17.769 I want to say. Granted, a little early. But that 00:06:17.769 --> 00:06:23.110 got gone real fast. 10 -7, 10 -10, snip, snap. 00:06:23.370 --> 00:06:28.730 Okay. Second set, I feel like they pushed it 00:06:28.730 --> 00:06:31.389 a little further. They had a slight lead, like 00:06:31.389 --> 00:06:35.240 16 -14 maybe, something like that. Gone. But 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.540 the biggest one, and this lead extended even 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:41.660 deeper into the set, was set three. They were 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:45.000 up like 22 -18, and they could not get it together, 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.660 and they lost in overtime. So they did have a 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:52.180 lead in every set. Pissed it away. In every set. 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:55.980 What are your thoughts? My original thought watching 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:59.399 Italy in this match was they are so confident 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:01.019 that they're going to win that nobody's really 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:04.959 engaged in the match. That was my first kind 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:09.379 of take watching the team. They were laughing 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:12.019 when balls hit the floor. They were coming together. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.180 Honestly, the feeling watching that team, having 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:17.819 watched them over the three weeks, was that they 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:21.980 knew they were going to win, and they could kind 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:27.180 of just coast. They were very relaxed. The demeanor 00:07:27.180 --> 00:07:32.069 on the court was very relaxed. And specifically 00:07:32.069 --> 00:07:36.509 for Aganu. And so what people saw was Aganu tipping 00:07:36.509 --> 00:07:40.649 a whole bunch of balls. I think one thing that 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:44.970 is missed is that this was, to me, very clearly 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:48.769 an Italian game plan on how to score on them. 00:07:49.189 --> 00:07:53.189 So if you look at the difference in how the US 00:07:53.189 --> 00:07:57.250 and Italy play defense, my take is the US has 00:07:57.250 --> 00:08:01.089 a game plan for an individual player. So if they 00:08:01.089 --> 00:08:02.870 set this player, we're going to set up here. 00:08:02.970 --> 00:08:04.790 These are your responsibilities. This is how 00:08:04.790 --> 00:08:07.730 you're going to play defense. What I saw was 00:08:07.730 --> 00:08:09.810 the ball go back to the right side. Everybody 00:08:09.810 --> 00:08:13.269 got into position. Iganu saw where they were 00:08:13.269 --> 00:08:15.949 and knew that she could score tipping the ball 00:08:15.949 --> 00:08:17.870 where they weren't. And they weren't fast enough 00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:20.509 or making reads to adjust to that. So you would 00:08:20.509 --> 00:08:23.790 see. Sarah Franklin slide over in six because 00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:25.709 they were playing her for the cross court. Lexi 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:27.610 would stay back to dig the line. She would tip 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:29.230 the ball right into the middle of the court, 00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:31.529 knowing where everybody was. They would adjust. 00:08:32.409 --> 00:08:34.870 Sarah would still shift over. Lexi would come 00:08:34.870 --> 00:08:36.970 in for short. She would push the ball straight 00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:40.009 over her head into the corner. She was toying 00:08:40.009 --> 00:08:42.649 with them, and the defense was moving early enough 00:08:42.649 --> 00:08:45.450 that she could see where the open holes were. 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.990 And the left sides did that as well on several 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:53.200 occasions. Now, if you watch Italy play defense, 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.840 they play a rotational style defense. So given 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:58.980 what rotation the U .S. is in, they have a very 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:01.860 specific serving strategy. They're either jamming 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:05.299 up a route or trying to take a player away. They 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:07.580 have, if the ball gets set out to the left side 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:10.379 and it's a fast set versus an inside set, they're 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:12.179 going to play defense this way. And their six 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:14.639 is actively reading the situation and filling 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.279 in the gaps based on how their block is set up. 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:21.559 It works very well in coordination, and the U 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.940 .S. just plays one style and everybody does their 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:27.639 own job. I think there is a huge gap there in 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.000 their ability to play defense. I mean, Italy, 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.860 there's a huge gap between Italy and everybody, 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:36.220 how they play team defense, I think. Japan might 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:39.500 be the exception to that, but Italy's team block 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:44.740 defense is elite. I find this comment interesting 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:50.389 because... at this level I mean everybody's a 00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:54.090 good volleyball player I know based on some of 00:09:54.090 --> 00:09:55.909 my feedback you guys probably think I don't think 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:59.450 that I do everybody at this level if you have 00:09:59.450 --> 00:10:01.470 made it to this level you are a good volleyball 00:10:01.470 --> 00:10:06.230 player the difference is understanding how to 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:11.090 make adjustments the difference is mindset, mentality, 00:10:11.309 --> 00:10:14.470 when the game is tight. Do you tighten up? Do 00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:17.409 you make smart swings? Do you go for it? Do you 00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:19.970 have the confidence? Have you been in situations 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:23.610 like this enough that you are able to maintain 00:10:23.610 --> 00:10:27.789 aggression? There's so many factors that come 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:31.269 involved. So a skill gap, like I think individually, 00:10:31.370 --> 00:10:34.769 when you look at players at this level, the skill 00:10:34.769 --> 00:10:36.909 gaps aren't huge. The things that differentiate 00:10:36.909 --> 00:10:43.690 teams that are, and teams that aren't, are cohesion, 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:47.610 team systems, game plans, adjustments, like I 00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:51.350 said, mindset, mentality, confidence. And Italy 00:10:51.350 --> 00:10:55.330 blows the U .S. out of the water in almost every 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:58.230 single one of those, quite frankly. I don't know. 00:10:58.330 --> 00:11:02.590 I don't know if I agree with it. It's just like, 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:04.990 okay, for me in that situation, if I was the 00:11:04.990 --> 00:11:07.750 U .S., and the thing is, even when Nganou was 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:11.419 swinging, She was just reaching high and snapping 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:17.399 like 60, 70 % to the openings. You didn't see 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:20.460 her go up and unload on anything. She was going 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:24.419 up, reaching high, snapping to corners or seams, 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.940 or she was tipping. And quite frankly, the U 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:30.940 .S. didn't even do anything to stop it. The only 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:33.539 adjustment we saw was in the third set. Eric 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:35.919 Sullivan said, we can't let another tip hit the 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.149 ground. Like, I'm not even sure. He knew what 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:41.789 was happening in the moment. Because that feedback 00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:44.129 is, she's putting the ball where our defenders 00:11:44.129 --> 00:11:46.269 aren't. It's not about them not trying. It's 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:49.690 about them not being in a position or understanding 00:11:49.690 --> 00:11:52.250 that she's waiting for them to move to look for 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:54.289 the spot. Here's how I would have defended it. 00:11:54.429 --> 00:11:57.289 And it may have been effective for a few points. 00:11:57.509 --> 00:12:00.850 And then Italy would have adjusted. And then 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:04.370 you adjust back. But in this scenario, what I 00:12:04.370 --> 00:12:08.730 would have done. Egonu. She swings high and deep, 00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:12.210 as I said, seams and corners generally. When 00:12:12.210 --> 00:12:14.889 she does attempt a sharp angle, that is usually 00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:17.990 where you see her make her most errors, is attacking 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:22.389 the sharp cross -court angle. So I would bring 00:12:22.389 --> 00:12:25.409 the off blocker under to get the tip. I would 00:12:25.409 --> 00:12:28.850 play position six neutral, middle of the court. 00:12:29.509 --> 00:12:33.289 The libero digs down the line and then the off 00:12:33.289 --> 00:12:38.779 the position one digger. play like near the sideline 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:43.259 but like in your normal position force her to 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:45.720 hit the sharp angle and go to that sharp angle 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.159 because then it's just like nobody think about 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:52.360 the tip off blocker you are covering the tip 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.399 it is your job and they run the pipe well enough 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:58.159 that they still have an option back there if 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.230 the off attacker can't attack then if she starts 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:04.590 throwing it a tip in the sharp angle or she starts 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:07.750 going and stroking a sharp angle then you can 00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:09.870 move that digger back and make a slight adjustment 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.370 but that you didn't you saw both players going 00:13:12.370 --> 00:13:14.750 under sometimes you saw neither one going sometimes 00:13:14.750 --> 00:13:17.809 and it's just you have a disaster you have to 00:13:17.809 --> 00:13:19.830 give her a different look you can't just set 00:13:19.830 --> 00:13:21.769 up the same way on her all the time and expect 00:13:21.769 --> 00:13:24.190 that she's not going to figure it out yeah so 00:13:24.190 --> 00:13:27.009 yeah it's great to have a lead early in a set 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:29.320 It's great to have a lead in the middle of the 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.360 set, but good teams make adjustments. Good teams 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:36.519 figure it out. So that's why I think that there 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:41.039 is a massive gap between the two teams. USA is 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.220 out. If we look towards World Championships, 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:49.000 given what you saw from them, give me two things 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.080 that you think they're going to be working on 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:53.639 in preparation, and do you think we can expect 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:57.240 a better result from them come Worlds? Honestly, 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:01.759 I feel like maybe one and a half attackers connect 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.919 well with Jordan Poulter right now. That is a 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.240 problem. Avery Skinner is in a good rhythm with 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.059 her. And Dana Redke, when she runs in front of 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:14.399 Poulter, good connection. Everybody else is struggling 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.940 with that speed. So they need to figure that 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.539 out. Outside of the pipe. I think she runs the 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:23.059 pipe well. The pipe runs well with pretty much 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:28.740 everybody. You're right. But front row, you see 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:31.440 everybody struggling except Avery Skinner and 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.480 Redke in front. I also think they need to work 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:38.919 on their defensive system and their passing. 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.659 So I said basically everything. Great. Yeah, 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:46.379 I think for me the biggest thing is I'm making 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:48.039 an assumption that the coaches are going to get 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:49.759 a good system in place for teams and that they'll 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:52.399 be prepared. So that's one thing. They're outside 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.330 hitters. like you said, outside of Avery Skinner, 00:14:55.350 --> 00:14:58.009 they're in this weird place as a program because 00:14:58.009 --> 00:14:59.929 they've been so successful hitting high balls, 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:01.509 but that's not going to work internationally, 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.870 and they have to be able. Not the U .S. program. 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:08.029 The U .S. outsides in general, like coming from 00:15:08.029 --> 00:15:10.570 college. But the U .S. has built their legacy 00:15:10.570 --> 00:15:14.009 in the last 10 years on a fast offense. Correct. 00:15:14.190 --> 00:15:18.820 Yeah. So none of, like, Madison Skinner. Sarah 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:21.600 Franklin struggles with those fast balls. She 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.340 started getting a little bit better, I think. 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:25.639 She started figuring it out a bit. But you even 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:28.779 saw when the ball comes fast, she can cut off 00:15:28.779 --> 00:15:30.840 and hit angle, but she makes errors down the 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.940 line. So you saw Italy make an adjustment. We're 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:34.440 going to block her angle. We're going to leave 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:36.659 her the line. She made some errors. She has to 00:15:36.659 --> 00:15:38.720 find a way to be able to hit those fast sets 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:42.460 down the line as well. So they need to keep sticking 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:45.559 with it because... If they don't iron out a faster 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.519 offense, they're not going to be successful. 00:15:47.899 --> 00:15:50.120 So how long does that take? Can they figure it 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.700 out before Worlds? Is it going to be next VNL? 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.879 But that's something they need to iron out because 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:00.500 they need both Maddie Skinner and Sarah Franklin 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:02.720 to be able to score points on the outsides because 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.440 their middles right now just aren't super offensive. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:07.779 They're not generating a ton of points. They're 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:09.759 blocking pretty well, but they need to score 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:12.379 more points in the middle. If the outsides aren't 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:14.460 going to score. I'm not liking Dana Redke on 00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:16.600 the slide. Not going well. I'm sorry. She does 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:21.000 not run it well. She is not an M1 keeper in front 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:22.779 of the setter and find somebody who can run a 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:25.159 better slide because it's not effective. She 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:27.639 gets under the ball every time. No pace on it. 00:16:28.419 --> 00:16:31.340 Also, Kalia Lanier came in that match. That was 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:33.019 a tough spot to put her in. That was a tough 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:35.240 spot to put her in, but she literally got taken 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:39.659 out with the first serve. And it was not good. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.679 I think they will make it to the Quarters of 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:45.179 Worlds. I don't think they'll go further. Okay, 00:16:45.259 --> 00:16:47.960 second match was Poland versus China. We saw 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:51.960 Poland win that one in five. Honestly, after 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.019 the third set, I thought China had it. The two 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:58.200 of the three first sets, they looked dominant. 00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:05.140 My favorite player of theirs, WuMJ, was unstoppable. 00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:10.690 Poland had to put a good set together in set 00:17:10.690 --> 00:17:12.849 two, but after set three, I was like, China's 00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:17.690 got this. Wow. Was I wrong? Poland's blocking 00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:21.710 destroyed them. I almost felt bad for China, 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:26.470 honestly. They're two main attackers in Gong. 00:17:26.589 --> 00:17:29.809 They're opposite in Wu, the outside, number one 00:17:29.809 --> 00:17:34.250 and number six. They could not hit past the block. 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:39.859 It was bad. Well, I thought China's inexperience 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:44.359 and youth showed in that moment. I thought their 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:46.839 setter, who I thought has done a fantastic job, 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:50.140 all V &L, started getting a little trigger happy 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.740 to the outsides, didn't run the middle as much, 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.140 didn't run the pipe as much, so the middles for 00:17:56.140 --> 00:17:59.460 Poland could close. And it just kind of spiraled 00:17:59.460 --> 00:18:03.680 from there. Once things started going, the setter 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:05.839 became so predictable. Like her patterns became 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:09.480 predictable. Yeah. Like she got pulled in both 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:12.900 of the last sets. And she just looked a little 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:15.900 overwhelmed. Yeah. Which, again, she's 16. Yeah. 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:19.259 So to be expected on that. But China just couldn't 00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:22.619 right the ship. And this is the downfall or the 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:25.079 issue with having such a young team and not a 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:28.180 ton of leadership in that places they couldn't. 00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:31.390 Again, you're playing in Poland. It's loud. They're 00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:35.730 pushing back. Those were youthful mistakes or 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.230 kind of learning experiences for me watching 00:18:38.230 --> 00:18:40.569 China play, and Poland, to their credit, stuck 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:42.190 with it, and their block made the difference. 00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:45.609 Well, I think Damaske came in off the bench in 00:18:45.609 --> 00:18:47.750 set four and made a big difference for Poland. 00:18:48.569 --> 00:18:50.849 Stiszak got taken out with the double sub a whole 00:18:50.849 --> 00:18:54.069 bunch in the other right side. Did a great job 00:18:54.069 --> 00:18:56.410 when she came in, both blocking and offensively. 00:18:56.509 --> 00:18:59.369 Poland got it together. Like, we can't say it 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.150 was all, like, their blocking was amazing. They 00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:06.269 kept China out of system to make their setter 00:19:06.269 --> 00:19:08.849 predictable. Yeah. So their serving stepped up. 00:19:08.910 --> 00:19:11.450 And then the bench players who came in for Poland 00:19:11.450 --> 00:19:14.029 did their job. Well, if I'm not mistaken, they 00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:16.529 did a straight -up setter swap in the fourth 00:19:16.529 --> 00:19:20.009 set that kind of got everything going. Grabka 00:19:20.009 --> 00:19:23.339 came in. Yeah, her and Damaske. kind of brought 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:25.660 a different energy to the floor, and they went 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.559 from there. I also thought their young left side, 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.640 number 15, I can't pronounce her name. Starts 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.619 with a C. Yeah. So I apologize, but my Polish 00:19:35.619 --> 00:19:38.319 isn't great. But I was really impressed with 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.500 her in this final V &L. I thought she played 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:43.599 well all the way through. So it was an entertaining 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:45.799 game, kind of back and forth. You saw some young 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:48.039 mistakes. You saw Poland come back. I wasn't 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:49.500 sure how they were going to deal with the pressure 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:53.910 of the home crowd. Going to five, it was good. 00:19:54.210 --> 00:19:58.170 With China being eliminated in this round, do 00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:01.470 you see them bringing a few more experienced 00:20:01.470 --> 00:20:04.230 athletes to Worlds, or do you think China has 00:20:04.230 --> 00:20:06.410 decided this is pretty much their Olympic roster 00:20:06.410 --> 00:20:08.369 and they're going to learn and they're going 00:20:08.369 --> 00:20:11.589 to go through with these players? I mean, the 00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:13.869 Worlds rosters have been announced. I would be 00:20:13.869 --> 00:20:16.589 lying if I said that I dove into all of them. 00:20:17.390 --> 00:20:20.390 I haven't. This may be out there already. I wonder 00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:24.289 if Zhu Ting will make an appearance. You know, 00:20:24.329 --> 00:20:27.170 the middle, the middle who was playing for Vacavbank 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:29.009 last season, I feel like she's a little older. 00:20:29.089 --> 00:20:31.029 I feel like she's probably done. I think that, 00:20:31.049 --> 00:20:32.890 you know, they have nothing to be ashamed of. 00:20:33.009 --> 00:20:36.589 I think continuing to build this group is worth 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:40.670 it. Yeah. I don't know. I would say China, for 00:20:40.670 --> 00:20:43.789 me, is one of the most unpredictable teams for 00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:46.250 Worlds. If they bring in a couple veteran pieces 00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:49.390 or they learn their lesson and their youth show 00:20:49.390 --> 00:20:52.609 up and compete really well, they could have won 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:56.210 that Poland match. So, yeah, I don't really have 00:20:56.210 --> 00:20:57.690 a feel for how they're going to do at Worlds, 00:20:57.789 --> 00:20:59.849 but I think they're a team to watch. The third 00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:03.369 quarterfinal saw Japan beating Turkey in five. 00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:08.160 We were talking about... you know, a couple weeks 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:12.420 ago, whose strengths would surpass the other's 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:16.440 weaknesses. And, you know, I think Japan did 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.039 a really good job of getting Karakurt out of 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:23.819 the game early. You know, a big thing for that 00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:28.059 matchup is the physicality and the height mismatches 00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:31.680 at the net. So removing the physical presence. 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:35.619 of Karakurt at the net so early, I think worked 00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:38.339 in Japan's favor. That was the only way they 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:40.960 were going to end up beating Turkiye. But the 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:45.180 other thing that I was thinking, Erkek, the smaller 00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:48.119 left side who came in for her, I kind of feel 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.619 like that worked in Turkiye's favor because as 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:53.880 a smaller hitter, it's so much easier to find 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.779 a smaller block. And she did a great job, I thought, 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:01.500 finding the Japanese block's hands. and working 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:05.299 the ball, whereas when you're bigger, it's hard 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:09.299 to find the block when you're above it. Mind 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:12.220 you, hitting over a block is always a good alternative. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:18.059 But I think Urkick came in, because against any 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:20.420 other team, it might have not gone so well for 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:23.900 her because of the size mismatch, but her having 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:26.220 to come in against Japan was good. Yeah, I mean, 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.880 we saw the same issues we've seen. with Turkey 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.400 all through this tournament. Passing was an issue. 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:36.579 Emotional, executional stability is an issue 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:38.460 for them. Like you said, they have some smaller 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:40.660 left sides who are ball control skilled, which 00:22:40.660 --> 00:22:43.819 is why I think it was a game when Kirk came out. 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:48.779 But they're just not able to put a full match 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:52.079 together. They play in spurts. They do things 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.440 really well. But there's very little consistency. 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:58.799 That happens with that team. And I don't know 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.940 what the remedy for that is. I mean, we've been 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:05.000 saying at all VNL, you in particular, that they 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.279 are too volatile. They're either incredible or 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:11.759 they just cannot figure it out. And, you know, 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:15.519 we saw the young right side come in to replace 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:19.680 Vargas on some double sub situations. Like they 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.839 were trying everything, but I mean, it was a 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:25.559 good game. For sure, and we expected it to be 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:27.839 a good game. We expected it to be close. And 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.700 they could have won. Yeah, I mean, 15 -9 in the 00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:34.920 fifth, it was not close in the fifth, but there 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:38.000 were definitely opportunities. Japan found a 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.799 way. Yeah, and I don't think Japan gets enough 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:43.759 credit. So if you watch international volleyball, 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:46.900 you always are just, Japan is so good defensively, 00:23:46.900 --> 00:23:50.019 they don't give up. It's almost a foregone conclusion 00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:52.019 that you just assume that they do that, which 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:54.740 is fair. They've earned that reputation. But 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:58.859 I don't think people realize how much work and 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:01.720 effort that takes. And they have to play that 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.799 way every match. They don't ever have an easy 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.059 out because they don't have a Vargas. They don't 00:24:07.059 --> 00:24:10.460 have an Iganu. They have players who can score, 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.049 but you don't have an out -of -system. genius 00:24:14.049 --> 00:24:16.309 or somebody you can rely on they have to be so 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:18.890 good all the time and it's just impressive to 00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:20.890 watch them be able to do that they just push 00:24:20.890 --> 00:24:24.069 teams and wear teams down to five and you have 00:24:24.069 --> 00:24:28.349 to be on to beat them I will say for Japan Wada 00:24:28.349 --> 00:24:32.109 kind of dropped off for me after week two and 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:36.950 I thought that she struggled to find consistency 00:24:36.950 --> 00:24:41.680 this week I think life would have been much easier 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:46.180 for Yoshino and Ishikawa had Wada been able to 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:49.180 show up the way she did in week one. And obviously, 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:52.880 teams were more prepared for her after her incredible 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:57.500 performances early. But a lot of the load was 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:00.660 put on Ishikawa and Yoshino. And being lined 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:03.539 up with some of those massive blocks was not 00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:06.490 great. I mean, and this is typical, right? You 00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:08.630 get some film on somebody, you can prepare for 00:25:08.630 --> 00:25:11.109 them. Not that she hasn't played, but she was 00:25:11.109 --> 00:25:13.630 a star centerpiece. So defenses were focused 00:25:13.630 --> 00:25:17.730 on her. Japan, in my opinion, needs to own the 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:19.890 middle of the court a little bit more. Moving 00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:21.930 their middles around, creating seams and blocks, 00:25:22.150 --> 00:25:23.950 running the pipe. To me, that's their key to 00:25:23.950 --> 00:25:27.089 success. And they don't physically win those 00:25:27.089 --> 00:25:29.980 matchups because other middles are large. They 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:32.019 need to find a way to hold those blockers to 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:34.119 make life a little bit easier on their outside 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:36.980 hitters. What do you think about Turkey going 00:25:36.980 --> 00:25:42.119 into Worlds? Do you think they will find a little 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:46.240 team magic? Or are we going to see the same Turkey 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:50.200 we saw in the VNL? I mean, I said something similar 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.839 about the US and Italy is like at this level, 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:57.880 a lot of success comes down to connection, mentality, 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:03.309 mindset. confidence attitude and turkey is a 00:26:03.309 --> 00:26:07.349 good skilled team they have the pieces but the 00:26:07.349 --> 00:26:09.869 question mark with them always comes down to 00:26:09.869 --> 00:26:15.670 consistency and attitude roll the dice you know 00:26:15.670 --> 00:26:18.089 see what happens yeah i'd be curious to watch 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:22.750 turkey in the u .s play in the sea That matchup, 00:26:22.750 --> 00:26:24.789 because I agree with you. I think they're struggling 00:26:24.789 --> 00:26:26.789 with similar things, and it will be interesting 00:26:26.789 --> 00:26:29.230 to see how they try and find their own individual 00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:32.430 solutions. Like, Turquoise is the most inconsistent 00:26:32.430 --> 00:26:37.529 top team. Correct. Every other team, you know 00:26:37.529 --> 00:26:39.809 what you're getting, you know what to expect, 00:26:39.849 --> 00:26:41.710 and if it doesn't go that way, you're almost 00:26:41.710 --> 00:26:46.809 surprised. Turquoise is... for sure the most 00:26:46.809 --> 00:26:49.650 volatile, which is a very dangerous place to 00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:51.809 be, I think. Well, I feel when you play Turkey, 00:26:52.029 --> 00:26:55.210 your mentality is, if we can push them to four 00:26:55.210 --> 00:26:57.390 or five sets, we'll beat them because they can't 00:26:57.390 --> 00:27:00.349 play that long. Turkey is capable of winning 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:02.710 matches against the top teams if they could play 00:27:02.710 --> 00:27:04.549 their best volleyball for three sets straight. 00:27:04.690 --> 00:27:06.869 They just haven't been able to do it. Okay, I 00:27:06.869 --> 00:27:09.869 don't have much to say about this last quarterfinal. 00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:14.609 Brazil just laid a beat down. To Germany, three 00:27:14.609 --> 00:27:17.869 straight. Germany was just outclassed. Yeah. 00:27:18.869 --> 00:27:23.109 They did a very good job in qualifying for the 00:27:23.109 --> 00:27:27.509 final, but they're just out of their depth against 00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:30.930 these teams. Yeah. And, you know, they pushed 00:27:30.930 --> 00:27:34.559 Brazil to five in week one. Brazil didn't have 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.180 the same roster that they came to the finals 00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:39.619 with. They obviously studied that game film. 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:43.160 It was not even close to the same match as the 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.579 first time they met up. I don't have much to 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:49.519 say other than Brazil was just better. They came 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:51.839 to play, and Germany needs to be happy with their 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.660 performance. All right, on to the semifinals. 00:27:55.460 --> 00:27:59.000 Semifinal number one had Italy beating Poland 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:03.190 three straight. As Italy will do. Two teams. 00:28:03.470 --> 00:28:07.490 Poland, Stasiak, who played well in the quarterfinals, 00:28:07.490 --> 00:28:12.109 could not buy a point against the big block and 00:28:12.109 --> 00:28:16.049 the controlled defense. Poland just couldn't 00:28:16.049 --> 00:28:20.150 generate points against Italy. They couldn't 00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:22.890 dig anything either. Wow. The thing that got 00:28:22.890 --> 00:28:25.910 me, like, first of all, Italy, you could tell 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:29.369 they decided to all show up. They were dialed 00:28:29.369 --> 00:28:31.809 in this match. They were very good. And that's 00:28:31.809 --> 00:28:33.250 what I kind of said. Like, if you look at the 00:28:33.250 --> 00:28:36.210 team who came out against the U .S. versus Poland, 00:28:36.390 --> 00:28:38.809 it was totally different. Oh, they were much 00:28:38.809 --> 00:28:41.009 more focused, for sure. But Poland's defensive 00:28:41.009 --> 00:28:46.309 system. I am sorry. Stiszak is a liability. This 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:49.390 girl goes under for tips and doesn't dig the 00:28:49.390 --> 00:28:52.349 tip. Like, what are you doing under there then? 00:28:53.269 --> 00:28:56.289 Okay, like and when you do hit the floor, you 00:28:56.289 --> 00:28:58.329 don't get up until the ball's already coming 00:28:58.329 --> 00:29:01.549 back after going over and coming back. So like 00:29:01.549 --> 00:29:06.250 Italy was just having a field day because Stishak 00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:08.730 is a liability for the tips. So they send her 00:29:08.730 --> 00:29:10.690 up for tips and then they're like, but she's 00:29:10.690 --> 00:29:12.930 not going to dig any. So let's bring our left 00:29:12.930 --> 00:29:15.410 side blocker under for tips too. And you know 00:29:15.410 --> 00:29:17.910 what? Let's try to dig the backcourt with two 00:29:17.910 --> 00:29:21.170 people. It's not going to work. You might as 00:29:21.170 --> 00:29:22.750 well just stick Stischak back there to just get 00:29:22.750 --> 00:29:24.650 hit by the ball and just have the left side dig 00:29:24.650 --> 00:29:28.650 tips and just balance it. This is where I think 00:29:28.650 --> 00:29:30.910 Italy right now is head and shoulders above everybody 00:29:30.910 --> 00:29:33.670 else. You see teams coming in with defensive 00:29:33.670 --> 00:29:39.009 game plans to attack certain players or rotations. 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:41.740 Italy's coming in with a defensive game plan 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:45.160 and then a very specific offensive game plan 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:48.500 to just rip teams' defenses apart where they 00:29:48.500 --> 00:29:50.839 have weaknesses, and they will do it over and 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:54.140 over and over again until you make an adjustment. 00:29:54.299 --> 00:29:58.400 And it's automatic, and it's, quite frankly, 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:01.240 impressive to watch. Yeah. You watch most teams 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:04.460 tip to get out of trouble. Italy tips to expose 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:06.599 your defense, and then when you adjust, they 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:09.180 hammer balls at you. Or it's just like, I'm going 00:30:09.180 --> 00:30:12.339 to tip here because A, I think it's my best opportunity 00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:15.519 to get a point. But if not, we know where you're 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:17.619 going to set out of this. And our defense is 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:19.859 better than yours. So we'll just get another 00:30:19.859 --> 00:30:24.279 chance. Also, their out -of -system setting for 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:27.240 every player on their team is spectacular. They 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.859 get a defensive touch. They're getting a good 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:32.980 swing out of it. Every player on the court can 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:38.059 set out -of -system. Poland, again. had a good 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:41.559 tournament, but they're just outclassed, quite 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:43.980 frankly, in every position. And Laverini, who 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:49.640 coaches Poland, coached and coaches Egonu, Oro, 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:54.920 Danesi, Silla, all at Milano. I mean, obviously 00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:56.980 not this year with some players leaving, but 00:30:56.980 --> 00:31:00.039 he knows them. Yeah, and they couldn't stop them. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:04.019 And, I mean, Poland, their players just don't 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:07.089 match up one -on -one with... I mean, Poland's 00:31:07.089 --> 00:31:09.049 a great blocking team, don't get me wrong, but 00:31:09.049 --> 00:31:12.970 Italy is good enough and experienced enough that, 00:31:12.990 --> 00:31:15.250 sure, yeah, they'll get blocked a few times, 00:31:15.410 --> 00:31:18.470 but they understand the assignment and what their 00:31:18.470 --> 00:31:21.289 get -out -of -trouble options are should it come 00:31:21.289 --> 00:31:25.289 down to it. Players will get blocked when they 00:31:25.289 --> 00:31:28.289 decide to take swings, but they aren't going 00:31:28.289 --> 00:31:31.410 to allow that to continuously happen in the way 00:31:31.410 --> 00:31:34.690 that you saw the very young Chinese team that 00:31:34.690 --> 00:31:37.099 happened to them. Correct. Yeah, it wasn't close. 00:31:37.339 --> 00:31:39.920 No, it was not. Brazil versus Japan, however, 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:44.259 was very close. That one went five. I was a little 00:31:44.259 --> 00:31:45.920 nervous my prediction wasn't going to come true. 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:49.339 So was I. What did you think the biggest difference 00:31:49.339 --> 00:31:53.480 was in that match? As to why Brazil won? Yeah, 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:57.500 I have an idea. Don't look at my... I just think 00:31:57.500 --> 00:32:00.960 that when it came down to it... Brazil's hitters 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:04.319 are just a little more physical than Japan can 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:07.460 handle from a blocking standpoint. They put Brazil 00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:12.200 in trouble and they dug balls and they extended 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.720 rallies. But normally when you watch Japan play 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:18.740 defense, they're getting attacks out of their 00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:21.980 defense. And against Brazil, it was over dig 00:32:21.980 --> 00:32:25.720 or free ball came over. They were always playing 00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:30.900 slightly on the edge of out of control. and they 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:35.660 just couldn't hang for five sets with their physicality. 00:32:35.700 --> 00:32:37.460 You're looking at me like you disagree with me. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:43.440 My reasons are different, for sure. Okay, there's 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.980 a few changes that happened on the Brazil side 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:50.700 that I think contributed to pushing them over 00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:53.940 the edge, but there's one thing on Japan's side 00:32:53.940 --> 00:32:57.190 that I think was their shortcoming. The changes 00:32:57.190 --> 00:32:59.710 that Brazil made. First of all, they started 00:32:59.710 --> 00:33:03.829 Roberta. Well, that was a mistake. Who had been 00:33:03.829 --> 00:33:06.089 coming in with a double sub and played on an 00:33:06.089 --> 00:33:08.890 off -throat VNL, but Macris got you there. So 00:33:08.890 --> 00:33:12.990 I was surprised to see Roberta on the court so 00:33:12.990 --> 00:33:15.970 much. She was setting a lot of balls tight. I 00:33:15.970 --> 00:33:18.049 don't think she played well this week, personally. 00:33:18.230 --> 00:33:20.750 They brought Macris in, I want to say, what's 00:33:20.750 --> 00:33:24.049 that? Three? Three, four? Yeah. So that was a 00:33:24.049 --> 00:33:28.049 big difference. Secondly, I thought Julia Bergman 00:33:28.049 --> 00:33:31.890 struggled for the majority of the match and then 00:33:31.890 --> 00:33:35.349 had the set of her life in set five. So Bergman 00:33:35.349 --> 00:33:39.170 had a tough time getting going defensively, passing 00:33:39.170 --> 00:33:41.730 -wise, attacking. Makes it a little predictable, 00:33:41.789 --> 00:33:46.190 and Brazil's middles aren't the most offensive 00:33:46.190 --> 00:33:49.289 out there. They're not like the Italian middles 00:33:49.289 --> 00:33:53.639 who are used as part of the regular flow. Julia 00:33:53.639 --> 00:33:56.519 gets set a lot more than Gianna does. So a lot 00:33:56.519 --> 00:34:00.759 of the load fell on Gubby. But Macris and Bergman 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:02.599 stepping up in the fifth, I think, was a difference 00:34:02.599 --> 00:34:06.140 maker for Brazil. Japan did not run the middle. 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:09.199 And again, the Brazilian middles are very good 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.440 blockers. I would say that they are more blocking 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:15.119 middles than offensive middles. They weren't 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:18.539 threatened by Japan's middles at all. which made 00:34:18.539 --> 00:34:22.300 it very easy to put a massive wall up in front 00:34:22.300 --> 00:34:25.840 of the undersized attackers that Japan has. I 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.219 just kept being like, just run the middle, even 00:34:29.219 --> 00:34:32.539 if it doesn't score, just to keep them thinking. 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:35.559 And then if you run the middle, you can incorporate 00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:39.539 the pipe over top. But it was just very predictable 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:41.679 because they were refusing. It's almost like 00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:43.980 they were scared to run their middles into those 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:50.250 blocks. Japan has accepted the fact that they're 00:34:50.250 --> 00:34:52.889 mismatched on the outside and trust them to find 00:34:52.889 --> 00:34:55.110 hands and to do that, but they don't have the 00:34:55.110 --> 00:34:58.750 same faith in their middles. Which, I mean, may 00:34:58.750 --> 00:35:01.909 or may not be accurate, but as the match goes 00:35:01.909 --> 00:35:05.750 on and your style is to grind teams down in five 00:35:05.750 --> 00:35:08.710 sets, you have to hold that middle some way, 00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:11.349 shape, or form. Otherwise, we talked about it 00:35:11.349 --> 00:35:14.980 again on the previous team they played. But you 00:35:14.980 --> 00:35:17.960 have to give your outside some seams. And by 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:21.599 the end, Brazil's block was just solid. Yeah, 00:35:21.619 --> 00:35:24.780 that's a great observation. I don't know. Brazil's 00:35:24.780 --> 00:35:26.440 a pretty good ball control team. I'm not sure 00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:29.780 Japan could have served, like if they even served 00:35:29.780 --> 00:35:32.199 that much better. They already made a bunch of 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:33.880 errors in that match. Like they were trying to 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:37.360 be aggressive. They just, they're skilled. They're 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.239 very good. They push teams. But Brazil is one 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:43.559 of the top teams in the world. You have to do, 00:35:44.250 --> 00:35:47.150 A little bit more than just forcing teams to 00:35:47.150 --> 00:35:49.750 beat you. Where Turkey made mistakes against 00:35:49.750 --> 00:35:52.170 them, Brazil doesn't make those same mistakes. 00:35:52.469 --> 00:35:56.230 And Japan just, they need to find a way to earn 00:35:56.230 --> 00:35:59.949 a few more points against those top teams. All 00:35:59.949 --> 00:36:03.210 right. What were your thoughts on the bronze 00:36:03.210 --> 00:36:07.309 medal match? So the bronze medal match saw Poland 00:36:07.309 --> 00:36:10.929 beating Japan 3 -1. Going into that, I honestly 00:36:10.929 --> 00:36:13.639 thought Japan was going to take it. Agreed. Poland 00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:17.039 continued their blocking that we saw throughout. 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:20.820 They were a very good blocking team. I think 00:36:20.820 --> 00:36:22.480 at one point they said they were outblocking 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:25.599 Japan 12 -2. They did play earlier in VNO, and 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:29.920 they outblocked Japan 16 -4 and Japan 1. I believe 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:33.440 that was in Week 3. But the biggest difference 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:37.460 in the Japanese performance for me from the semi 00:36:37.460 --> 00:36:40.139 to the bronze was that they were making a concerted 00:36:40.139 --> 00:36:43.010 effort to run the middle. And I think it was 00:36:43.010 --> 00:36:47.349 effective. It elicited the response that I thought 00:36:47.349 --> 00:36:50.190 it was going to get. But the left sides, the 00:36:50.190 --> 00:36:52.710 outsides in general, were having trouble putting 00:36:52.710 --> 00:36:54.969 the ball away. It looked like they had run out 00:36:54.969 --> 00:36:58.650 of gas. They played, those three in particular, 00:36:58.710 --> 00:37:01.889 played a lot of volleyball. Got set a whole bunch 00:37:01.889 --> 00:37:05.250 of balls. And it just looked like they didn't 00:37:05.250 --> 00:37:09.559 have the juice to finish the match. I mean, Japan's 00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:13.480 passing was good. Their defense was good. I liked 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:15.699 how they were running the middle to try to open 00:37:15.699 --> 00:37:18.840 things up better. Their serving was not as effective. 00:37:18.900 --> 00:37:20.940 They missed way too many serves, I think. And 00:37:20.940 --> 00:37:24.480 that needs to be like a staple for them. It is 00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:27.519 a staple for them. So I think their serving kind 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:32.099 of killed them a bit. And again, WADA just didn't 00:37:32.099 --> 00:37:36.019 do much. Yeah. And as you said, the outsides 00:37:36.019 --> 00:37:38.869 in general struggled. Yeah. And Stasiak, when 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:41.030 she doesn't feel like she's threatened with the 00:37:41.030 --> 00:37:43.530 block, she was unloading. She scored a ton of 00:37:43.530 --> 00:37:45.289 points in that match. She had a good game. And 00:37:45.289 --> 00:37:48.590 Japan just didn't have an answer for her. Poland's 00:37:48.590 --> 00:37:52.590 middle also played very well. Kornelik? Yeah, 00:37:52.610 --> 00:37:56.070 Kornelik. That was a mismatch, and Poland set 00:37:56.070 --> 00:37:59.550 her quite a bit, and Japan couldn't. Well, Stasiak, 00:37:59.550 --> 00:38:03.980 massive mismatch. Kornelik. Again, we're talking 00:38:03.980 --> 00:38:07.519 6 '6", 6 '7". Yeah, I think they said 30 centimeters 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:09.599 difference in a couple of the players. These 00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:12.920 girls were not threatened. And they played like 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:15.400 it. Yeah, they played well. They scored well. 00:38:15.539 --> 00:38:20.079 They blocked well. The outsides having that kind 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:22.800 of block in front of them, it was not pretty. 00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:26.039 I thought Japan would be able to break down Poland's 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:29.280 serve -receive. and kind of like work around 00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:33.159 defensively, but it didn't happen. And Poland 00:38:33.159 --> 00:38:35.440 subbed in a few different left sides to kind 00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:38.800 of mix that up, find a passing rhythm, kind of 00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:40.500 negate that. And they did a good job of it. And 00:38:40.500 --> 00:38:42.219 again, like you said, I think Japan made a whole 00:38:42.219 --> 00:38:46.099 bunch of errors from the baseline in that match. 00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:49.340 So Poland on home soil brings home a medal. I 00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:51.960 think that's their third bronze in a row. It 00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:55.489 is, yeah. Okay, so looking ahead to... worlds 00:38:55.489 --> 00:38:58.889 for both these teams thoughts on japan what they 00:38:58.889 --> 00:39:00.969 can do do you think we'll see anything different 00:39:00.969 --> 00:39:04.429 i mean i think japan has their system yeah their 00:39:04.429 --> 00:39:06.909 system when they're executing it works for them 00:39:06.909 --> 00:39:09.769 i do think they need to continue to push the 00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:14.050 middle if not for scoring just to be eventually 00:39:14.050 --> 00:39:18.699 be a good decoy yeah to be able to run the pipe 00:39:18.699 --> 00:39:21.579 over the top, get people to stay a little longer, 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:24.079 just like make life easier for your outsides. 00:39:24.739 --> 00:39:28.960 So I would push the middle discussion and yeah, 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:31.559 they need to apply that service pressure that 00:39:31.559 --> 00:39:33.559 we're used to seeing from them that just didn't 00:39:33.559 --> 00:39:37.199 come through in the same way that it usually 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.119 does. I love that they were using two liberos. 00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:43.699 Kojima was the passing libero. Fukudomi was the 00:39:43.699 --> 00:39:45.300 defensive one. I think that was a really good 00:39:45.300 --> 00:39:48.739 system for them. So I would like to see them 00:39:48.739 --> 00:39:51.559 continue that. Yeah, and I think that Worlds, 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.880 given time to rest, their players, their outsides 00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:56.659 will be a little more fresh. It kind of lends 00:39:56.659 --> 00:40:01.039 itself to their five -set grinding style. I think 00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:04.119 they'll be, you know, a little bit more, they'll 00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:06.039 have a higher level of execution on the outside 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:08.960 for Worlds as opposed to, I think you'll see 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:11.820 closer to week one performance versus finals 00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:14.440 performance from Japan. What about on the Poland 00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:18.550 side? Poland? You need to figure out what you're 00:40:18.550 --> 00:40:21.170 going to do with Stiszak defensively. Are you 00:40:21.170 --> 00:40:25.750 going to just give up the tips and have her under 00:40:25.750 --> 00:40:28.869 there? Do you want her back and just make your 00:40:28.869 --> 00:40:32.150 off -blocker work to just get all the tips? You 00:40:32.150 --> 00:40:35.449 need to do something with her or figure out how 00:40:35.449 --> 00:40:37.170 to do something with her defensively because 00:40:37.170 --> 00:40:40.409 as it is right now, it's a massive liability 00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:45.090 and teams are just... going at her whenever they 00:40:45.090 --> 00:40:48.230 need a point and they're scoring like 90 of the 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:50.869 time well and then along with those defensive 00:40:50.869 --> 00:40:53.610 liabilities against big blocks she's not nearly 00:40:53.610 --> 00:40:57.489 as effective no so she's gonna need if poland's 00:40:57.489 --> 00:41:00.349 gonna take a step she needs to find a way to 00:41:00.349 --> 00:41:02.730 elevate her performance on both sides of the 00:41:02.730 --> 00:41:04.829 ball well because i think their left sides played 00:41:04.829 --> 00:41:08.250 well yeah as a group even the ones when they 00:41:08.250 --> 00:41:10.349 had to make substitutions i think the left sides 00:41:10.349 --> 00:41:13.280 in general played well I think the middles did 00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:16.519 their job. As a team, their blocking was very 00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:20.000 good. They could shore up their defensive coverage 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.239 around their block. I know Stasiak is a big issue 00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:27.559 with that, but I think their six could do, their 00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:30.159 left sides could do a little better job reading 00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:33.460 and filling in some of those positions situationally. 00:41:33.519 --> 00:41:36.599 I think that their M2 needs to be a little more 00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:39.860 offensive. I think that would help as well. And 00:41:39.860 --> 00:41:43.050 they don't generally run a pipe. So if they could 00:41:43.050 --> 00:41:45.530 run a little more back row and maybe alleviate 00:41:45.530 --> 00:41:48.269 some of the pressure on Stasiak. I think they're 00:41:48.269 --> 00:41:52.969 close. I think their adjustments are within reach 00:41:52.969 --> 00:41:56.449 and not kind of pie in the sky. So I'm going 00:41:56.449 --> 00:41:58.489 to be curious to see what they bring to Worlds. 00:41:58.949 --> 00:42:02.050 Hit me with your thoughts on the final. To be 00:42:02.050 --> 00:42:04.630 honest, I don't think either team played their 00:42:04.630 --> 00:42:08.369 best. What was that face for? I was going to 00:42:08.369 --> 00:42:11.429 start with a similar comment. That game was won 00:42:11.429 --> 00:42:15.289 by the substitution depth, by the team depth, 00:42:15.469 --> 00:42:19.550 because I didn't think either Brazilian setter 00:42:19.550 --> 00:42:22.230 set very well, so they were in trouble. Brazil 00:42:22.230 --> 00:42:25.110 rotated through three different opposites. Their 00:42:25.110 --> 00:42:28.030 right sides could not get it together. Their 00:42:28.030 --> 00:42:32.190 middles. Julia blocked well, but they're not 00:42:32.190 --> 00:42:34.670 offensive. Gianna blocked. Both of them blocked 00:42:34.670 --> 00:42:38.869 well. Julia was scoring. Props to her, too. She 00:42:38.869 --> 00:42:41.090 set a record for V &L or tied the record for 00:42:41.090 --> 00:42:43.710 most blocks. So congratulations. That was kind 00:42:43.710 --> 00:42:46.489 of cool to see. So she played well. I think the 00:42:46.489 --> 00:42:50.230 depth comment you made is apt. You know, for 00:42:50.230 --> 00:42:53.869 Italy, we saw Oro get subbed out as well. We 00:42:53.869 --> 00:42:58.969 saw Degrotti get injured. I mean, Italy's middles 00:42:58.969 --> 00:43:03.829 are just so good. It's almost not fair. I love 00:43:03.829 --> 00:43:06.550 how they can switch up the depth of their attack. 00:43:06.750 --> 00:43:09.650 They have really good angles, but they're also 00:43:09.650 --> 00:43:12.469 very good at hitting deep. And you don't often 00:43:12.469 --> 00:43:16.250 see middles searching for those deep swings. 00:43:17.429 --> 00:43:20.230 Especially, well, Farr, especially off the net. 00:43:20.309 --> 00:43:22.489 When the pass is around the attack line, Farr 00:43:22.489 --> 00:43:25.030 does a great job of being available and being 00:43:25.030 --> 00:43:28.110 able to hit the deep corners. in that spot. And 00:43:28.110 --> 00:43:31.769 it's a discussion. Velasco does a good job of 00:43:31.769 --> 00:43:36.250 reminding them of doing that. And then, I mean, 00:43:36.269 --> 00:43:38.769 we saw Agano get taken out and Antropova. That 00:43:38.769 --> 00:43:41.289 1 -2 combo on the right side for Italy, just 00:43:41.289 --> 00:43:45.010 the thing about watching Italy play is nobody 00:43:45.010 --> 00:43:47.710 has to be all -world for them to win. If you 00:43:47.710 --> 00:43:50.730 look at teams, you look at Brazil, for example. 00:43:50.909 --> 00:43:52.409 Now, again, I understand they're dealing with 00:43:52.409 --> 00:43:56.239 an injury, but... If Rosa Maria is not playing 00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:58.599 well, it makes it really hard for Brazil to win. 00:43:59.000 --> 00:44:01.000 Gabi always plays well, pretty much. Gabi is 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:04.320 very consistent. But they need one other person. 00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:06.719 Bergman struggled a little bit, then played well. 00:44:06.820 --> 00:44:09.199 She was a little inconsistent. She's pretty good 00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:11.679 down the stretch. Bergman played better in the 00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:14.139 final than she did in the semi, I thought. Yeah, 00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:16.059 I let you have better as the match went on. But 00:44:16.059 --> 00:44:18.760 with a team like Italy, whose game plans are 00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:23.639 tight, if you're... filtering through three right 00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:27.039 sides and your middles aren't a super threat 00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:31.559 offensively, your left sides are having the worst 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:34.800 night of their lives because you're either facing 00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:39.539 Antropova and Danese or you're facing Agonu and 00:44:39.539 --> 00:44:43.039 Farr. Like, it's just not good. And Oro's no 00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:44.340 slouch as a blocker either. And Oro's a good 00:44:44.340 --> 00:44:49.059 blocker as a setter. So, for me, I thought the 00:44:49.059 --> 00:44:52.329 Brazilian setting killed them. Like Macris at 00:44:52.329 --> 00:44:54.730 the start could not find the middle. Flat out 00:44:54.730 --> 00:44:57.769 missed on a couple ones. When Roberta came out, 00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:00.030 she sewered the left sides with a bunch of balls 00:45:00.030 --> 00:45:02.269 that were dragging onto the net right into the 00:45:02.269 --> 00:45:04.949 block. Rosa Maria was struggling getting to some 00:45:04.949 --> 00:45:09.969 tight sets too. Yeah. So it wasn't a clean match. 00:45:10.329 --> 00:45:14.750 But again, for me, Italy's ability to rotate 00:45:14.750 --> 00:45:18.769 players in and not have their level drop as much 00:45:18.769 --> 00:45:21.699 as Brazil was the difference. And the middles. 00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:25.139 We saw two right sides come in, two setters, 00:45:25.239 --> 00:45:28.440 four different left sides. The only players that 00:45:28.440 --> 00:45:30.179 stayed true the whole match were the middles 00:45:30.179 --> 00:45:32.940 and the libero. Like, Degrotti went out and set 00:45:32.940 --> 00:45:35.739 two. Nervini had to come in, a little 21 -year 00:45:35.739 --> 00:45:38.139 -old. Then Giovannini came in to serve for Silla 00:45:38.139 --> 00:45:40.679 and play back row sometimes. And Tropova came 00:45:40.679 --> 00:45:44.400 in to replace Oganu when Oganu kind of dropped 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:48.840 off a little. Like, it's just they keep coming. 00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:51.420 You get rid of one, you hit somebody off the 00:45:51.420 --> 00:45:53.579 court, and it's like, well, we've got an equal 00:45:53.579 --> 00:45:55.800 replacement coming in right now, so good luck. 00:45:56.199 --> 00:46:03.019 Yeah. Italy can just play at 85%, 90 % with all 00:46:03.019 --> 00:46:05.519 of their players on their bench, and other teams 00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:09.739 find that hard to match. Their level just drops 00:46:09.739 --> 00:46:12.380 when they've got to pull some players off. And, 00:46:12.380 --> 00:46:15.980 you know, again, Gabi was good, as she always 00:46:15.980 --> 00:46:19.519 is. Oh, Bergman did fine. I think the middles 00:46:19.519 --> 00:46:21.460 blocked well. They scored when they were given 00:46:21.460 --> 00:46:26.139 a good ball. Yeah, neither team played their 00:46:26.139 --> 00:46:29.880 absolute best. Italy's B game is better than 00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:33.280 Brazil's B game, especially with Ana Cristina 00:46:33.280 --> 00:46:36.719 being injured. Yeah. And, I mean, they did a 00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:39.400 good job filling in for Ana Cristina. Those two 00:46:39.400 --> 00:46:41.980 teams are the deepest teams in the world, I think. 00:46:42.139 --> 00:46:45.849 And the best. And they're just the best. Would 00:46:45.849 --> 00:46:47.730 Anna Christina have made a difference? Yeah, 00:46:47.829 --> 00:46:51.349 absolutely. But that's the reality of sport. 00:46:51.469 --> 00:46:54.110 And you might not have her back for Worlds. And 00:46:54.110 --> 00:46:57.110 Italy might not have Degrotti back. So we don't 00:46:57.110 --> 00:46:59.130 know what the injury was at the time of this 00:46:59.130 --> 00:47:01.449 recording. We hope she's okay. But she had surgery 00:47:01.449 --> 00:47:03.510 on that knee pre -Paris. So hopefully it's not 00:47:03.510 --> 00:47:06.110 a re -injury. But honestly, I think these two 00:47:06.110 --> 00:47:08.610 teams are the best teams in the world. I wouldn't 00:47:08.610 --> 00:47:11.730 be surprised if we got a rematch at Worlds. Agreed. 00:47:12.199 --> 00:47:14.699 Who knows? As long as pool play doesn't get messed 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:17.940 up and they meet in the semis. I think these 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:21.139 two teams have separated themselves. There's 00:47:21.139 --> 00:47:25.320 a 1A, 1B here, and then the next grouping of 00:47:25.320 --> 00:47:28.460 teams, in my opinion. Regardless, I think the 00:47:28.460 --> 00:47:30.880 matches were fun to watch. There were a couple 00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:34.860 blowouts that I was like, ooh, yikes. But from 00:47:34.860 --> 00:47:36.880 top to bottom this week, I think the games were 00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:44.079 really good. feedback during timeouts to his 00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:49.599 team I love his tactics I love his instruction 00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:54.019 of the adjustments that they're making like well 00:47:54.019 --> 00:47:56.340 their staff is so good Barbellini is your assistant 00:47:56.340 --> 00:47:59.780 I love their timeouts I love listening to them 00:47:59.780 --> 00:48:04.659 so yeah it was it was fun huge congrats to Italy 00:48:04.659 --> 00:48:06.139 let's see how long they can keep this streak 00:48:06.139 --> 00:48:09.650 going because that is Impressive. I mean, you 00:48:09.650 --> 00:48:12.750 know they're pushing for the Olympic gold, VNL 00:48:12.750 --> 00:48:15.789 gold, back -to -back, and a Worlds gold. Oh, 00:48:15.789 --> 00:48:20.750 100%. Yeah, you're going for that trifecta. Worlds 00:48:20.750 --> 00:48:23.230 will be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Okay, 00:48:23.289 --> 00:48:28.050 our focus today was obviously VNL finals, all 00:48:28.050 --> 00:48:32.210 things VNL finals. So we've got a bit of a roster 00:48:32.210 --> 00:48:37.340 of questions from our listeners today. We wanted 00:48:37.340 --> 00:48:41.099 to wrap up VNL. We wanted to wrap up the women's 00:48:41.099 --> 00:48:43.960 side of things. So I'm kind of throwing a bunch 00:48:43.960 --> 00:48:46.880 out there. I'm going to give you a heads up. 00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.659 The majority of these questions are about the 00:48:50.659 --> 00:48:55.860 Americans. There are some that aren't. But the 00:48:55.860 --> 00:48:58.500 questions that are submitted, most of them are 00:48:58.500 --> 00:49:01.320 about the U .S. So in the future, if you have 00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:03.579 a question, be sure to submit it, and we will 00:49:03.579 --> 00:49:06.880 answer it about your team. So question one is 00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:09.800 what happens to the relegated teams and how do 00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:13.760 they get back to VNL? So the international ranking 00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:16.099 system is the same for all teams, whether you 00:49:16.099 --> 00:49:18.760 participate in the VNL or not. So VNL is the 00:49:18.760 --> 00:49:21.360 top level. And then there are regional competitions. 00:49:21.599 --> 00:49:25.820 So you have like the CEV, which is like the European 00:49:25.820 --> 00:49:28.219 League where all the Europe teams compete and 00:49:28.219 --> 00:49:30.949 you can still earn. international points you 00:49:30.949 --> 00:49:33.690 have you know the division in asia you have one 00:49:33.690 --> 00:49:36.210 in north america if you get relegated from vnl 00:49:36.210 --> 00:49:38.690 you go back to your regional competitions and 00:49:38.690 --> 00:49:40.489 they host the same tournaments and you aggregate 00:49:40.489 --> 00:49:43.829 points for wins same way you do in vnl and then 00:49:43.829 --> 00:49:46.869 the team that has the most internationally kind 00:49:46.869 --> 00:49:49.469 of sitting below the vnl threshold comes in the 00:49:49.469 --> 00:49:52.150 next year and the bottom team goes down so that's 00:49:52.150 --> 00:49:55.449 how it works so the relegated teams cannot participate 00:49:55.449 --> 00:49:59.739 in the 2026 version of vnl So even if they do 00:49:59.739 --> 00:50:05.219 have the highest world ranking going into 2026, 00:50:05.300 --> 00:50:08.340 like aside from the top teams, they can't, they 00:50:08.340 --> 00:50:12.019 have to wait till the next year. But for example, 00:50:12.019 --> 00:50:16.239 like the US goes and plays Norseca. So let's 00:50:16.239 --> 00:50:20.260 say like Puerto Rico beats the US. It doesn't 00:50:20.260 --> 00:50:22.480 take into account if it's like the B team or 00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:26.130 not. Norseca championships. Is worth points. 00:50:26.289 --> 00:50:29.409 Is worth points. So regardless of who the U .S. 00:50:29.409 --> 00:50:31.510 sends, if like a Puerto Rico beats them, they 00:50:31.510 --> 00:50:34.610 would gain a ton of points. Whereas like in the 00:50:34.610 --> 00:50:37.789 Asian championship, China sends a team. So if 00:50:37.789 --> 00:50:41.090 South Korea beats China, they will get a ton 00:50:41.090 --> 00:50:43.989 of points. So there are opportunities to do that. 00:50:44.590 --> 00:50:46.929 Question two, do you think Italy should consider 00:50:46.929 --> 00:50:50.570 moving Iganu or Entropova to outside like Turkey 00:50:50.570 --> 00:50:53.409 did with Karakurt when Vargas joined? It seems 00:50:53.409 --> 00:50:55.809 like a waste to have either of those opposites 00:50:55.809 --> 00:50:58.849 sitting on the bench. It is a waste to have them 00:50:58.849 --> 00:51:01.650 on the bench, but look at the, wow, they are 00:51:01.650 --> 00:51:06.349 so good as a like duo. So two things. One is, 00:51:06.369 --> 00:51:11.230 you know, sometimes Iganu looks a little unmotivated. 00:51:11.829 --> 00:51:15.510 Disengaged. Disengaged. So having Antropova come 00:51:15.510 --> 00:51:19.750 in is huge to kind of keep that balanced. When 00:51:19.750 --> 00:51:22.269 they have the ability to use the double sub and 00:51:22.269 --> 00:51:25.289 have nine rotations with a front row right side, 00:51:25.409 --> 00:51:27.590 I think that that gives them a huge advantage 00:51:27.590 --> 00:51:31.230 in matches to like separate by a few points kind 00:51:31.230 --> 00:51:35.289 of leading into that 20 mark of sets. And the 00:51:35.289 --> 00:51:38.250 other thing is their middles are so effective 00:51:38.250 --> 00:51:41.320 that you need to be able to pass the ball. And 00:51:41.320 --> 00:51:44.480 I mean, I don't know this for sure, but I'm going 00:51:44.480 --> 00:51:46.639 to go out on a limb and say Antropova and Aganu 00:51:46.639 --> 00:51:49.199 don't pass as well as the combination of Degrati 00:51:49.199 --> 00:51:53.159 and Scylla and the kids that they've got coming 00:51:53.159 --> 00:51:57.280 up. So they just, they don't need to. And having 00:51:57.280 --> 00:52:00.280 two really good opposites allows you some flexibility 00:52:00.280 --> 00:52:02.659 to do some things, which is one of the reasons 00:52:02.659 --> 00:52:06.679 they're so consistent. I can't see them making 00:52:06.679 --> 00:52:09.900 a change. Like Karakur, it took her a while to 00:52:09.900 --> 00:52:12.340 figure out how to pass. And even though she has 00:52:12.340 --> 00:52:14.460 gotten so much better at passing, it's just not 00:52:14.460 --> 00:52:19.340 the same level as the top left sides that you 00:52:19.340 --> 00:52:21.860 see. And I feel like it might be a similar situation. 00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:24.539 Yeah, but with Turkey, their left sides don't 00:52:24.539 --> 00:52:26.699 score as well as Italy's. So you kind of needed 00:52:26.699 --> 00:52:29.199 a little more firepower, which is why they did 00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:32.010 that, in my opinion. Question three, why does 00:52:32.010 --> 00:52:34.050 Avery seem like such a complete player compared 00:52:34.050 --> 00:52:36.610 to Madison? Does this pertain to a past viewer 00:52:36.610 --> 00:52:38.809 question about Maddie changing back and forth 00:52:38.809 --> 00:52:42.469 from opposite to outside? Avery has more experience. 00:52:42.670 --> 00:52:45.670 She's played internationally. I will say this 00:52:45.670 --> 00:52:47.530 person also alluded to the fact that even when 00:52:47.530 --> 00:52:49.769 they were in college and playing the same position, 00:52:49.949 --> 00:52:52.650 Avery seemed like the more complete player. Maybe 00:52:52.650 --> 00:52:59.019 she just is. Maybe her perception of... the ball 00:52:59.019 --> 00:53:00.880 and her ability to control her body is a little 00:53:00.880 --> 00:53:02.980 bit better, so she's innately a better passer. 00:53:03.079 --> 00:53:04.920 I'm assuming that this question is coming down 00:53:04.920 --> 00:53:07.400 to passing and ball control because Maddie's 00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:09.539 a great attacker. I think Maddie jumps better 00:53:09.539 --> 00:53:11.719 than Avery does. Maddie gets off the ground better 00:53:11.719 --> 00:53:16.420 than Avery does. I think she has potential to 00:53:16.420 --> 00:53:19.820 be a better attacker. Yeah. I just feel like 00:53:19.820 --> 00:53:22.920 it comes down to their innate skill sets. I think 00:53:22.920 --> 00:53:25.780 Avery is just a better ball control player, whereas 00:53:25.780 --> 00:53:29.159 Madison is a little more physical. And probably 00:53:29.159 --> 00:53:30.980 their playing experience. I don't know what Maddie 00:53:30.980 --> 00:53:32.739 played in club or leading in, but she's played 00:53:32.739 --> 00:53:34.860 opposite, so she's not passing and not expected 00:53:34.860 --> 00:53:37.320 to play defense the same way Avery is. That experience 00:53:37.320 --> 00:53:39.920 matters. Well, and the thing is, if you go into 00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:43.260 my experience, my experience is different, but 00:53:43.260 --> 00:53:45.440 the college game has evolved and college training 00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:49.099 has evolved. If you don't go into college with 00:53:49.099 --> 00:53:52.039 the skill set already, the coaches don't spend 00:53:52.039 --> 00:53:55.159 a ton of time trying to teach it to you. So it's 00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.739 like maybe she was a late bloomer passing or 00:53:58.739 --> 00:54:01.039 defensively or something, but then when she got 00:54:01.039 --> 00:54:04.940 to her school, they were just like, let's just 00:54:04.940 --> 00:54:06.780 maximize your strength and we can hide your weaknesses. 00:54:07.139 --> 00:54:11.809 I got games to win. Yeah, exactly. Okay, question 00:54:11.809 --> 00:54:14.070 four. How do you think the Love players looked 00:54:14.070 --> 00:54:17.130 during VNL compared to the Love season? Who adjusted 00:54:17.130 --> 00:54:21.289 and who didn't? Oh, what an interesting question. 00:54:21.650 --> 00:54:23.670 Well, we can't say anything about Lexi Rodriguez 00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:25.710 because she didn't play in Love. She didn't even 00:54:25.710 --> 00:54:28.730 get a chance to play. So there's that one. Okay, 00:54:28.849 --> 00:54:32.070 let's Sarah Franklin. Did better than I thought 00:54:32.070 --> 00:54:36.730 she would. I did not think she would be able 00:54:36.730 --> 00:54:40.409 to pass as well as she did. Now, she didn't pass 00:54:40.409 --> 00:54:43.010 amazing, but she was better than I expected. 00:54:44.230 --> 00:54:48.530 So kudos to her. She had some matches where she 00:54:48.530 --> 00:54:52.289 scored very well and some where she struggled, 00:54:52.409 --> 00:54:55.309 to be expected. I think she needs to learn how 00:54:55.309 --> 00:54:57.590 to hit the line. Well, so what I was going to 00:54:57.590 --> 00:55:00.849 say is now that teams have seen her play, the 00:55:00.849 --> 00:55:04.630 benchmark for me will be how she adjusts to those 00:55:04.630 --> 00:55:07.369 top teams adjusting to her. She did better than 00:55:07.369 --> 00:55:11.050 I thought she was originally. And now you've 00:55:11.050 --> 00:55:13.289 been able to get away doing a couple things super 00:55:13.289 --> 00:55:15.690 well in the leagues that you've played in. How 00:55:15.690 --> 00:55:20.190 will you adjust to being countered? But overall, 00:55:20.269 --> 00:55:22.349 I think better than I expected from Sarah Franklin. 00:55:22.670 --> 00:55:26.309 What about Eggleston? I think she did about as 00:55:26.309 --> 00:55:28.849 well as I... She seemed the same. She did the 00:55:28.849 --> 00:55:34.590 same things that she did in Love. I don't think... 00:55:35.579 --> 00:55:37.920 I don't think she's it for the U .S. on the left 00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:42.400 side internationally. Sage? She was, again, they're 00:55:42.400 --> 00:55:45.820 good volleyball players. I don't think she's 00:55:45.820 --> 00:55:48.219 making the jump. I don't think she made any adjustments. 00:55:48.300 --> 00:55:51.280 I think she set fine. She set the high balls 00:55:51.280 --> 00:55:53.739 that the Texas players like to hit, and they're 00:55:53.739 --> 00:55:56.840 comfortable with her, but she doesn't run an 00:55:56.840 --> 00:55:59.780 international -style offense for me. And that's 00:55:59.780 --> 00:56:02.420 not to say she's not capable, but I didn't see 00:56:02.420 --> 00:56:04.650 it. And I don't know if they're going to put 00:56:04.650 --> 00:56:06.510 the time in to get her to change it. I don't 00:56:06.510 --> 00:56:09.010 think Maddie really adjusted. She had a couple 00:56:09.010 --> 00:56:11.809 really good matches, but if you take the VNL 00:56:11.809 --> 00:56:14.570 experience as a whole, I feel like she did what 00:56:14.570 --> 00:56:18.590 she always does, which is jump and just hit straight 00:56:18.590 --> 00:56:22.210 where she's facing. Maddie needs to learn to 00:56:22.210 --> 00:56:24.650 hit a fastball in different places. She needs 00:56:24.650 --> 00:56:27.710 to learn to hit away from her body, hit some 00:56:27.710 --> 00:56:31.429 angles. You can tell where she's going to hit. 00:56:32.329 --> 00:56:35.250 She relied a lot on being higher than blockers 00:56:35.250 --> 00:56:37.309 and throwing the ball to the ground when she 00:56:37.309 --> 00:56:40.630 was feeling uncomfortable, and she rotates her 00:56:40.630 --> 00:56:42.869 shoulder on the right side and kind of pushes 00:56:42.869 --> 00:56:46.630 the ball to the sideline, which makes it inconsistent, 00:56:46.809 --> 00:56:49.570 and she makes errors in those situations. She 00:56:49.570 --> 00:56:51.809 doesn't hit outside the body or use the wrist 00:56:51.809 --> 00:56:53.909 at all, and you can see her trying to swing her 00:56:53.909 --> 00:56:55.849 hips around, and that's when she's making errors. 00:56:56.250 --> 00:56:59.110 Yeah, I didn't see much adjustment from her. 00:56:59.550 --> 00:57:01.909 I can say the same thing about Molly McCage. 00:57:02.989 --> 00:57:07.590 But I did think IG'd was pretty good. Yeah, I 00:57:07.590 --> 00:57:10.150 thought she blocked well. There were a couple 00:57:10.150 --> 00:57:12.150 matches where they got her going. She needs to 00:57:12.150 --> 00:57:14.530 find a way to be more offensive. The U .S.'s 00:57:14.530 --> 00:57:17.309 middles have to contribute offensively. I think 00:57:17.309 --> 00:57:20.050 when they set her, she scores. They just don't 00:57:20.050 --> 00:57:22.929 often. I don't think anybody really made adjustments. 00:57:24.090 --> 00:57:28.429 Franklin was starting to figure it out. And IG'd. 00:57:28.809 --> 00:57:32.610 But other than that, yeah. Question five. Did 00:57:32.610 --> 00:57:35.929 any of the snubbed U .S. players like Simone 00:57:35.929 --> 00:57:39.630 Lee, Elena Scott, Taylor Bannister, Kami Miner, 00:57:39.630 --> 00:57:43.889 etc. expose cracks in the final roster choices 00:57:43.889 --> 00:57:48.530 by USA? Or did Sullivan's decisions seem justified? 00:57:49.250 --> 00:57:51.190 I mean, I don't think any of those players are 00:57:51.190 --> 00:57:53.269 moving the needle. I mean, I thought, you know, 00:57:53.329 --> 00:57:56.389 my thoughts on Elena Scott, but, you know, Hentz 00:57:56.389 --> 00:57:59.010 was... decent when she played like not great 00:57:59.010 --> 00:58:01.750 but decent like I'm not sure Alina Scott would 00:58:01.750 --> 00:58:04.110 have done much better than that I don't think 00:58:04.110 --> 00:58:06.650 you know you're given players who you think have 00:58:06.650 --> 00:58:10.369 a higher upside the chance to see what they have 00:58:10.369 --> 00:58:14.050 and I'm not sure any of these players are that 00:58:14.050 --> 00:58:16.730 much better than who they brought or who they 00:58:16.730 --> 00:58:19.590 gave chances to I wonder I wonder about Kami 00:58:19.590 --> 00:58:23.309 Minor not that she was snubbed I understand that 00:58:23.309 --> 00:58:26.639 Stanford's school schedule didn't allow them 00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:28.659 to make the first week. I think I still would 00:58:28.659 --> 00:58:30.300 have put her on the roster for the later weeks, 00:58:30.420 --> 00:58:32.539 so that's just me. I think it would have been 00:58:32.539 --> 00:58:35.619 worth a try with her. I definitely think Kami 00:58:35.619 --> 00:58:37.280 Weiner would have done better than Ella Mae Powell. 00:58:37.599 --> 00:58:39.860 Yeah, I agree. But she's not going to be better 00:58:39.860 --> 00:58:42.460 than Poulter. But Poulter wasn't connecting with 00:58:42.460 --> 00:58:46.500 anybody. I very much doubt that any of the setters 00:58:46.500 --> 00:58:49.079 that they brought other than Poulter to VNL will 00:58:49.079 --> 00:58:51.940 be a starting setter when the Olympics roll around 00:58:51.940 --> 00:58:55.900 in 2028. Maybe Cammy can do that depending on 00:58:55.900 --> 00:58:59.260 how her pro seasons go. You almost need Poulter 00:58:59.260 --> 00:59:02.539 to figure it out with those hitters. I wonder 00:59:02.539 --> 00:59:05.179 how Sammy Francis would have done. I think she 00:59:05.179 --> 00:59:08.460 would have run a slide better than we saw. Agreed. 00:59:08.659 --> 00:59:12.199 I think there's room for a couple other middles 00:59:12.199 --> 00:59:14.280 to come in. You know, we talked about Jackson. 00:59:14.500 --> 00:59:18.099 We talked about Sammy Francis. Ogbogu. Ogbogu's 00:59:18.099 --> 00:59:22.159 on the world's list. So there's, again, I thought 00:59:22.159 --> 00:59:26.289 Dana. Dana is good defensively. She's a good 00:59:26.289 --> 00:59:28.489 blocker. She's a good blocker. She moves well, 00:59:28.610 --> 00:59:31.670 especially for middle on the defensive end. Her 00:59:31.670 --> 00:59:35.289 all -around game is good, but I just think when 00:59:35.289 --> 00:59:37.469 push comes to shove, if their goal is to win 00:59:37.469 --> 00:59:41.349 a gold medal in L .A., they're going to need 00:59:41.349 --> 00:59:45.969 some offensive threats from the middle. And can 00:59:45.969 --> 00:59:50.539 those two generate it? Rettke, we'll see. But 00:59:50.539 --> 00:59:52.159 I think that they're going to have to seriously 00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:54.480 look at some other offensive options in the middle. 00:59:54.719 --> 00:59:57.019 When I think of the snubbed players, do I think 00:59:57.019 --> 00:59:59.099 any of them would have passed better than what 00:59:59.099 --> 01:00:03.579 they had? I don't know. I mean, you can justify, 01:00:04.039 --> 01:00:07.059 Sullivan can justify his choices. There's not 01:00:07.059 --> 01:00:09.360 one person you look at and be like, that's just 01:00:09.360 --> 01:00:13.960 wrong. Well, I have a couple. I mean, in terms 01:00:13.960 --> 01:00:16.260 of who you would replace them with. I don't agree 01:00:16.260 --> 01:00:18.159 with some of the players they brought along to 01:00:18.159 --> 01:00:19.960 play. I don't think they have necessarily a future, 01:00:20.079 --> 01:00:23.760 but you can justify them on the roster compared 01:00:23.760 --> 01:00:26.219 to some of those players mentioned. Question 01:00:26.219 --> 01:00:29.619 six pertains to Lexi Rodriguez. This listener 01:00:29.619 --> 01:00:33.659 was basically saying that it seems that she's 01:00:33.659 --> 01:00:37.059 been struggling. She has not been performing 01:00:37.059 --> 01:00:43.110 as... well as you saw her play at Nebraska, i 01:00:43.110 --> 01:00:45.969 .e. she's on her heels for balls that get dropped 01:00:45.969 --> 01:00:48.750 in the middle of the court but are obvious tips. 01:00:50.090 --> 01:00:53.949 She's not passing as well as usual. What are 01:00:53.949 --> 01:00:56.050 these players on the other side of the net doing 01:00:56.050 --> 01:00:59.929 differently that makes her react so slowly or 01:00:59.929 --> 01:01:03.250 miss the ball completely? This person was basically 01:01:03.250 --> 01:01:06.230 saying it looks like she's just like not trying 01:01:06.230 --> 01:01:08.409 because like sometimes she's not even going for 01:01:08.409 --> 01:01:11.869 the ball. Why is she playing over hints and why 01:01:11.869 --> 01:01:14.510 do her stats look better than when you actually 01:01:14.510 --> 01:01:17.670 watch the game? I think that there's an issue 01:01:17.670 --> 01:01:21.489 of expectation around jumping from college to 01:01:21.489 --> 01:01:24.389 international. So when you play at the college 01:01:24.389 --> 01:01:27.690 level, hitters don't have as many angles. They're 01:01:27.690 --> 01:01:30.690 not hitting the ball as hard. They have fewer. 01:01:31.360 --> 01:01:33.539 tools in their toolbox in terms of the decisions 01:01:33.539 --> 01:01:38.239 they can make. And so Lexi has her decision making 01:01:38.239 --> 01:01:41.119 revolves around what's capable at that level 01:01:41.119 --> 01:01:45.159 in the system at Nebraska. You move out and you 01:01:45.159 --> 01:01:47.739 start hitting or you start playing defense against 01:01:47.739 --> 01:01:52.340 hitters like Gabi or really good left sides as 01:01:52.340 --> 01:01:54.079 she's digging a lot of those cross -court balls. 01:01:54.730 --> 01:01:57.349 They hide where they're going to hit for longer. 01:01:57.429 --> 01:01:59.710 The ball comes a little bit faster. They have 01:01:59.710 --> 01:02:02.510 angles that you're not used to. So you're starting 01:02:02.510 --> 01:02:04.510 in positions that you think are covering the 01:02:04.510 --> 01:02:06.369 angles, and then they're not when the ball comes 01:02:06.369 --> 01:02:10.650 on you faster. It's just your understanding of 01:02:10.650 --> 01:02:13.849 the game needs to shift based on your competition, 01:02:14.110 --> 01:02:17.530 and that takes time. And Lexi set such a high 01:02:17.530 --> 01:02:20.030 standard for herself in college that if you're 01:02:20.030 --> 01:02:23.050 watching her expecting the same results, it's 01:02:23.050 --> 01:02:25.480 just not realistic. I think the other thing to 01:02:25.480 --> 01:02:30.920 think about too is the college game from a ball 01:02:30.920 --> 01:02:33.480 control perspective offers a bit of a luxury 01:02:33.480 --> 01:02:38.659 because you often see a back row stacked with 01:02:38.659 --> 01:02:42.900 defensive specialists. So there's no looking 01:02:42.900 --> 01:02:44.719 at each other of who's going to take the ball 01:02:44.719 --> 01:02:48.719 because all of you are very good at serve receive 01:02:48.719 --> 01:02:51.699 and at defense. Internationally, because of the 01:02:51.699 --> 01:02:55.230 substitutions, She's now in the back row with 01:02:55.230 --> 01:02:58.130 players who aren't defensive specialists. They 01:02:58.130 --> 01:03:00.329 don't move as well. They maybe don't read the 01:03:00.329 --> 01:03:04.369 game as well. So you could definitely see a lot 01:03:04.369 --> 01:03:07.969 of hesitation from Lexi, I thought, on the defensive 01:03:07.969 --> 01:03:12.150 end where it was clearly her ball, but she didn't 01:03:12.150 --> 01:03:14.889 go for it because I think she's so used to being 01:03:14.889 --> 01:03:19.210 on the court with three highly skilled defensive 01:03:19.210 --> 01:03:24.159 players. Now it's like, no, you are it. You need 01:03:24.159 --> 01:03:28.460 to take care of all those things. Again, as Adam 01:03:28.460 --> 01:03:31.599 said, the college game is much more linear. You're 01:03:31.599 --> 01:03:33.800 not seeing players go up and like put crazy spin 01:03:33.800 --> 01:03:37.480 on their serves like sideways or you're playing 01:03:37.480 --> 01:03:39.960 against players whose trajectory of their serve 01:03:39.960 --> 01:03:41.860 is just coming at you so much. I'm not making 01:03:41.860 --> 01:03:45.760 excuses for her. I agree. The Lexi that you saw 01:03:45.760 --> 01:03:47.760 in college is not the Lexi you're seeing at USA 01:03:47.760 --> 01:03:50.489 Volleyball right now. But I think that's to be 01:03:50.489 --> 01:03:54.309 expected. Why is she playing over Hentz? Who 01:03:54.309 --> 01:03:57.190 did you think was better? Like if you were going 01:03:57.190 --> 01:03:59.909 in. I saw hesitation from both of them defensively, 01:03:59.909 --> 01:04:05.090 honestly. I thought they both passed pretty well. 01:04:05.969 --> 01:04:07.809 I mean, compared to everybody else on the team. 01:04:07.909 --> 01:04:11.110 I think Lexi set herself apart setting. That's 01:04:11.110 --> 01:04:14.130 what Lexi's about. Hentz's setting was virtually 01:04:14.130 --> 01:04:17.619 unhittable. whenever she played. So I think that 01:04:17.619 --> 01:04:20.199 that is the reason she was playing. Everything 01:04:20.199 --> 01:04:23.500 else being equal, I think she put her hitters 01:04:23.500 --> 01:04:27.880 in a better spot to score and transition more 01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:31.340 frequently. I agree with that. Question seven, 01:04:31.579 --> 01:04:34.019 how much do you think politics and past relationships 01:04:34.019 --> 01:04:36.360 are driving Sullivan's obsession with his Texas 01:04:36.360 --> 01:04:39.860 players? To me, it seems that he has his favorites, 01:04:39.900 --> 01:04:42.539 but those favorites aren't producing. Will we 01:04:42.539 --> 01:04:44.960 see a continuation of his Texas players being 01:04:44.960 --> 01:04:47.400 pushed onto rosters, or will we see new players 01:04:47.400 --> 01:04:49.960 take over? I think as a coach, you have a bias 01:04:49.960 --> 01:04:51.760 towards players you know. You know what you can 01:04:51.760 --> 01:04:56.480 expect. It's easier to put them in. So I don't 01:04:56.480 --> 01:04:59.190 think it's necessarily political. But I think 01:04:59.190 --> 01:05:01.130 there's a level of comfort. You have to remember 01:05:01.130 --> 01:05:05.570 that he's in a new position as well. So there's 01:05:05.570 --> 01:05:08.730 that. You know, everybody is new in this USA 01:05:08.730 --> 01:05:11.369 roster. I mean, you saw Eggleston start a ton 01:05:11.369 --> 01:05:13.949 in weeks one and two. And then as we got down 01:05:13.949 --> 01:05:17.389 the stretch, it was Avery and Sarah playing when 01:05:17.389 --> 01:05:20.489 it mattered. Like that is not a Texas thing. 01:05:20.550 --> 01:05:24.340 That was a performance -based decision. They 01:05:24.340 --> 01:05:27.360 have a gaping hole at right side, which is totally 01:05:27.360 --> 01:05:29.900 open for the taking. You saw them rotate through 01:05:29.900 --> 01:05:32.219 players looking for somebody to start there. 01:05:32.780 --> 01:05:37.940 Texas has produced a lot of high -level volleyball 01:05:37.940 --> 01:05:41.900 athletes, so it makes sense that they're being 01:05:41.900 --> 01:05:45.780 given a chance. Nobody on the USA roster has 01:05:45.780 --> 01:05:49.719 really separated themselves, in my opinion. Yeah, 01:05:49.800 --> 01:05:51.800 we joked about it in week one and two in terms 01:05:51.800 --> 01:05:55.099 of who got opportunities, but I think that the 01:05:55.099 --> 01:05:59.880 decisions the staff made were performance -related 01:05:59.880 --> 01:06:03.900 as we saw the VNL go forward. Well, because I 01:06:03.900 --> 01:06:06.420 think at the end, Maddie Skinner, was she the 01:06:06.420 --> 01:06:08.940 only Texas athlete that was playing consistently? 01:06:09.300 --> 01:06:11.860 Yeah. Because we didn't see Sage step on the 01:06:11.860 --> 01:06:16.840 court at all. McCage lost her travel spot. Eggleston 01:06:16.840 --> 01:06:20.070 came in as a serving sub. We saw Jarvis lose 01:06:20.070 --> 01:06:22.610 her spot. I think it definitely maybe started 01:06:22.610 --> 01:06:27.150 that way, but they dropped off real quick. Yeah. 01:06:27.409 --> 01:06:31.590 And like you said, if you have two athletes that 01:06:31.590 --> 01:06:34.449 are close in ability, you generally take the 01:06:34.449 --> 01:06:37.130 one you know better because you know how to utilize 01:06:37.130 --> 01:06:38.809 that player. You know their strengths and their 01:06:38.809 --> 01:06:42.010 weaknesses. I think that's human nature. Okay, 01:06:42.010 --> 01:06:45.429 our final question, you guys. We had a big lineup 01:06:45.429 --> 01:06:48.239 today. I love the listener questions. How do 01:06:48.239 --> 01:06:50.840 you think the U .S. program evolved during VNL 01:06:50.840 --> 01:06:52.820 and do you think it's heading in the right direction? 01:06:53.420 --> 01:06:54.699 Well, I don't think it could have gotten any 01:06:54.699 --> 01:06:58.480 worse from the beginning. So they definitely 01:06:58.480 --> 01:07:05.599 got better. Did they? I mean, you need to have 01:07:05.599 --> 01:07:09.400 perspective in this. Are they good? No. Like 01:07:09.400 --> 01:07:11.800 the U .S. is historically competing for medals 01:07:11.800 --> 01:07:16.519 in VNL in volleyball. They're not close currently. 01:07:17.000 --> 01:07:20.539 They need to sort out a lot of positions. They 01:07:20.539 --> 01:07:21.659 need to tighten up as a team. I think their passing 01:07:21.659 --> 01:07:24.239 got better. Yeah, fair, their passing got better. 01:07:24.300 --> 01:07:26.260 Their passing got better from week one to the 01:07:26.260 --> 01:07:29.920 end. They're also missing a couple players who 01:07:29.920 --> 01:07:32.800 could come back and make a difference. So we'll 01:07:32.800 --> 01:07:36.619 see what happens with that come Worlds. They 01:07:36.619 --> 01:07:39.880 pulled their six -back defender back a bit. Yeah, 01:07:39.900 --> 01:07:43.010 again, they made decisions. But you still have 01:07:43.010 --> 01:07:45.849 very inexperienced international athletes competing 01:07:45.849 --> 01:07:48.550 with high -level athletes. And coaches. And coaches. 01:07:49.190 --> 01:07:55.909 And so, yes, they made some moves and did some 01:07:55.909 --> 01:07:58.949 things better in the finals than they did in 01:07:58.949 --> 01:08:02.389 week one. Are they competitive? No. Are they 01:08:02.389 --> 01:08:07.489 moving fast enough to be contenders? TBD, if 01:08:07.489 --> 01:08:10.110 you made me answer now, I'd say no. They've got 01:08:10.110 --> 01:08:13.610 a ton of work to do. I don't think it's close 01:08:13.610 --> 01:08:19.550 yet, but... They need to find a right side. Correct. 01:08:19.590 --> 01:08:21.970 They need to find a middle who can run a slide. 01:08:22.130 --> 01:08:24.529 Maybe that's going to be bringing Ogbogu back. 01:08:25.630 --> 01:08:28.310 They need to connect with a faster offense for 01:08:28.310 --> 01:08:32.250 their outside hitters. And then they need to 01:08:32.250 --> 01:08:34.250 understand how to play team defense. There's 01:08:34.250 --> 01:08:36.949 a lot of... And make adjustments, but I feel 01:08:36.949 --> 01:08:40.550 like that's a lot on the coaching staff. I mean... 01:08:40.920 --> 01:08:44.140 They need their players to go play overseas against 01:08:44.140 --> 01:08:47.279 these top players week in and week out. That 01:08:47.279 --> 01:08:52.840 is, if they stay in this system for leading up 01:08:52.840 --> 01:08:55.619 to LA, it will not go well. They need Justine 01:08:55.619 --> 01:08:59.800 back. They need, I know people have mixed feelings 01:08:59.800 --> 01:09:02.960 about her. They need Jordan Thompson back. They 01:09:02.960 --> 01:09:05.979 need, I wonder, like, why didn't Franti travel 01:09:05.979 --> 01:09:08.840 at all? Is she still injured? Like, she's a better 01:09:08.840 --> 01:09:12.600 passer than... But Plummer is like an offense. 01:09:12.819 --> 01:09:14.760 Like, I don't think Plummer's moving the needle 01:09:14.760 --> 01:09:16.939 from a passing perspective. No, she's not. But 01:09:16.939 --> 01:09:19.819 is she a better attacker than Franklin? So who 01:09:19.819 --> 01:09:23.119 do you, like, you need a passing left side to 01:09:23.119 --> 01:09:25.340 lock it down. You need somebody who can score 01:09:25.340 --> 01:09:28.460 consistently on the left. You need an out of 01:09:28.460 --> 01:09:31.579 system opposite. Somebody who can run a slide. 01:09:32.300 --> 01:09:35.680 There are missing pieces. I mean, I think this 01:09:35.680 --> 01:09:37.659 was a wake -up call, at least I hope it was, 01:09:37.659 --> 01:09:40.319 for the coaches and the players of, like, what 01:09:40.319 --> 01:09:44.359 it takes. I honestly feel like because the scores 01:09:44.359 --> 01:09:46.300 were so close against Italy, it might give them 01:09:46.300 --> 01:09:48.399 a false sense of how good they are because, like, 01:09:48.399 --> 01:09:52.020 quite frankly, no. I don't think it was close. 01:09:52.140 --> 01:09:55.800 Italy was coasting. I really hope they don't 01:09:55.800 --> 01:09:57.460 look at that Italy game and go, hey, we're a 01:09:57.460 --> 01:09:59.859 few plays away. Yeah, we're almost there. No, 01:09:59.880 --> 01:10:03.180 because it's just not true. Thanks so much to 01:10:03.180 --> 01:10:05.359 everybody who sent in questions. I know we've 01:10:05.359 --> 01:10:07.880 got a bunch. I've been sitting on some for a 01:10:07.880 --> 01:10:10.619 while. I've been waiting for like an off week, 01:10:10.680 --> 01:10:13.159 you know, because some of these are big. So if 01:10:13.159 --> 01:10:15.479 you submitted a question a while ago and we haven't 01:10:15.479 --> 01:10:16.939 answered it, it's because I'm sitting on it. 01:10:17.020 --> 01:10:19.720 They're still coming. They're still coming. But 01:10:19.720 --> 01:10:23.220 yeah, hopefully you guys enjoyed that question 01:10:23.220 --> 01:10:28.350 session today. All right, we got one more banger 01:10:28.350 --> 01:10:31.189 week before we start to get into Worlds and the 01:10:31.189 --> 01:10:33.909 college volleyball again. We're heading into 01:10:33.909 --> 01:10:39.430 the final week of the men's VNL. Top eight quarterfinals 01:10:39.430 --> 01:10:42.109 are on Wednesday and Thursday again. Similar 01:10:42.109 --> 01:10:44.630 setup to the women's side. We have the semis 01:10:44.630 --> 01:10:47.930 on Saturday and the medal matches on Sunday. 01:10:48.109 --> 01:10:50.189 So if you like the schedule this week, it's coming 01:10:50.189 --> 01:10:53.119 at you again. If you're in North America, it's 01:10:53.119 --> 01:10:54.779 really going to mess you up because they're in 01:10:54.779 --> 01:10:57.560 China. So the time change, we're probably going 01:10:57.560 --> 01:10:59.899 to be watching a lot of replays. So you've got 01:10:59.899 --> 01:11:02.020 to not be on social media. Don't look at any 01:11:02.020 --> 01:11:04.600 scores. Load up the game right from the app. 01:11:04.680 --> 01:11:07.260 Don't look how long the game is. Just don't look 01:11:07.260 --> 01:11:11.920 at the time thing, you know. And save all the 01:11:11.920 --> 01:11:14.760 surprise. That concludes this week's episode 01:11:14.760 --> 01:11:16.840 of Volley Talk. There's always something shaking 01:11:16.840 --> 01:11:18.779 in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed 01:11:18.779 --> 01:11:21.539 this little fix. Be sure to follow the show so 01:11:21.539 --> 01:11:23.539 you don't miss any updates and we'd be so grateful 01:11:23.539 --> 01:11:26.079 if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can 01:11:26.079 --> 01:11:28.680 also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore 01:11:28.680 --> 01:11:31.460 podcast. If you have a topic you'd like us to 01:11:31.460 --> 01:11:33.859 discuss, be sure to reach out to us on Instagram 01:11:33.859 --> 01:11:38.260 or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much 01:11:38.260 --> 01:11:40.479 for joining us and we'll be back next week.