WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host

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Sarah Pavin. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. So it was a bit of a slower week from a

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volleyball watching perspective, but the drama

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was flowing, particularly on the American pro

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side of things. So let me tell you, my sources

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were doing a lot of work. Over time. And something

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else that I really love is that our listeners

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were getting in on the action too. They were

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like sending me screenshots and posts and being

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like, did you see this? I was in my element.

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You definitely were. You love getting those messages.

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I really do. But so we're going to dive into

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some of the details of what went on in the worlds

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of PVF. We'll call it that for now. And love.

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We're also going to. attempt to dive in to one

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of the tougher questions we've received in recent

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months. I've been holding on to this one because

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it was intimidating and there was a lot going

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on from a playing perspective so I didn't want

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to dive into it but I felt like this was a good

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week to do it because there wasn't anything like

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happening really. There was a lot of back and

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forth on some of the Brazil Italy commentary

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on the YouTube channel specifically last week.

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The Italians and Brazilians were going at it.

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And I love to see it. Which was fun to read.

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But I think after this little segment this week,

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I feel like I'm going to get a lot of messages.

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The Italians and Brazilians are not going to

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be fighting each other on YouTube. They're going

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to be fighting us. And so will everybody else,

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probably. So stay tuned for that question. Because,

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yikes, I was really, really, not avoiding it,

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but waiting for the perfect moment to address

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it. I love the opinions, though. So keep them

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coming. Yes. That question's its own segment.

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So let's dive in. Let's talk about the drama.

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See what my sources have been coming up with,

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you know. So let's get started. Okay, first things

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first. The men's VNL Dream Team was announced.

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Love. I know I said it last time. Love that they

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do it after the fact. It makes a ton of sense.

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So what? Well, I was just going to say there

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was some commentary on the women's Dream Team

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on the last podcast and conversation around some

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choices based off how people played in the first

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week. or in the final week versus the whole V

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&L and whether the award should be representative

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of the whole V &L. And I think that that is true,

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but I also think that the final week is weighted

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heavier than the first three. Recency bias, whoever's

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selecting it. So just keep that in mind as we

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go through who won the top awards, that there

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is definitely some recency bias around how you

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played in the final versus the whole V &L. Well,

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I've got a couple questions with this list. Well,

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here we go. Okay. The setter, best setter was

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Simone Gianelli from Italy. Yeah. Nothing to

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say. I have nothing to say. Yes. Finals, whole

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V &L, take your pick. He's amazing. And I know

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there's always a lot of discussion between Gianelli

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and Brizard. Gianelli was just better. He was

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better. In V &L. And he played more. Yep. So.

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snip snap that's that best opposite was given

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to kevin sasek from poland i think this is one

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of those situations that was weighted very heavily

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for final weight yes because he was unbelievable

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specifically in the quarters and semis for poland

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like unbelievable so yeah i mean it's nice to

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see him play like that and get acknowledged and

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get the award was he the best opposite for the

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whole vnl maybe not but i would agree that played

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a massive role in getting yeah to the final yeah

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i don't think they make it to the final without

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him the way they played in the quarters and the

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semis and if we're looking straight at final

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eight he was the best opposite there I know people

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could make an argument for Allen. He did play

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very well for Brazil, but if we're comparing,

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Sasek was just unconscious in the quarters and

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semis. And Allen also came out for one game,

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and his brother played well in one match, so

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it wasn't quite as consistent. So I can get behind

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that. I can get behind that. The best outside

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hitters were Alessandro Micheletto from Italy

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and Wilfredo Leon from Poland. See, this is interesting

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because... Mickey Leto, yes. Well, fair. But

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I was going to say Mickey Leto didn't play well

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in the final. And also it was taken out because

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his team messed up. Right. And Leon only played

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well in the final. Leon definitely... He wasn't

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present in week one. Can't remember if he was

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there in week two. Was not... in week three,

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in my opinion. Poland wasn't great in week three,

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period. No, Poland was pretty bad in week three.

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Also, a non -factor, in my opinion, in the quarters

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and semis. 100%. Like, this one. He literally,

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he literally showed up for the gold medal match

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and was like, for now, you sprained your ankle.

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I'm sorry. I'll take over. I'll take all the

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glory. And we'll get the gold medal. And the

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thing is, self -admittedly, he said he didn't

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play well either. Yeah, it's true. But who else

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would you give it to? I mean, maybe Fornal. Fornal

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didn't have a great week three. He played pretty

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well in the first couple rounds, and then he

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got injured. Yeah. I mean, you could maybe...

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You had a turnstile for Brazil on the left side.

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Yes. So, you know, where do you go from there?

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Klevno was clutch. Until he wasn't. Until the

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final eight, and then was terrible. Slovenia?

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Yeah. Again, you struggle with the flash factor

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for Slovenia. Neither of them are names. They

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played very well, but I'm not sure. I don't like

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that. Yeah, the name thing, it shouldn't matter.

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But it does, right? It does. Well, you could

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make an argument maybe for Jant from Cuba. Yeah.

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He played really well. All V &L. Lopez, he only

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really showed up in week three, so you can't

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really give it to him. And he wasn't great in

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a couple of their final matches either. I think

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you could make an argument for Yant. But again,

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you're only going to get it if you're in the

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final four. So if we're looking at the final

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four, I'm on the fence for Leon. I don't know.

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I don't love that. I think Mikio Leto is deserved,

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but Leon, I think you could have gone somewhere

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else with that. Middle blockers, Jakub Koschanowski

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from Poland, who also was given MVP, and Jan

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Kozomiernik from Slovenia. Poland's middles held

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it down with Sasek, in my opinion, especially

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in the final eight quarters and semis, notably.

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Both Slovenian middles were also very good. So

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I'm okay with this. If you looked at Slovenia,

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I would say their middles, were their strength.

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They had players step up and play, have really,

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really good matches, but the middles were constantly

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a factor, I thought, both offensively and defensively.

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And Poland was very good in the middle as well.

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So I like those picks personally. And finally,

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the libero, Mikey Nascimento from Brazil. This

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is one of those situations where I feel like

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they needed to give Brazil something. Because

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they meddled. I thought the Polish libero blew

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every libero out of the water. So I went back

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and looked at some of the stats and read some

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of the comments. And I agree that the Polish

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libero was better in the final week. But Mikey,

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and I don't understand how we get that pronunciation.

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Adam doesn't know how to read Portuguese. That's

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true. It's definitely how Brazilians would say

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it. Yeah, fair enough. But he played pretty consistently

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throughout the whole VNL. So that's an award

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that was given for his play over four weeks and

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aided by the fact that you didn't have another

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Brazilian on the awards podium and they medaled.

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And I'm not sure which other Brazilian you potentially

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could have given that award to. I mean, like

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I said, you could have made an argument for Allen.

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He held it down pretty consistently. I mean,

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Cacioppo, there's no way. No, he's not as good

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as Ginnelli. Sorry. No. Anyway, you cut it. Not

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happening. The middles... Again, their middles

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are good, but they weren't dominant on that team.

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And the outsides played well until the final

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eight, but even then, were they as good as a

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Micheletto? I don't think so. So, okay, fine,

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I get it. I think in the final eight, the Polish

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libero was like... Yeah, and that's fair. That

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doesn't mean he's necessarily going to get an

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award. But he was the best libero for three matches

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when it counted in the final, I would say. And,

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I mean, going back to the MVP, we saw the women's

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MVP, a libero, men's MVP, a middle. I love that.

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Quite frankly, middles don't get enough love

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in the game, period. And for him to win... We're

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not saying that these things never happen. Like

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how many comments were there that was like, well,

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it has happened. Yeah, we didn't say it never

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happens. Happens rarely. It's definitely more

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rare for those two positions to be given MVP

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over an opposite or an outside or something.

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So I think that that was very interesting. I

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love that. I love that. So that is the men's

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VNL dream team. VNL is officially closed. Worlds

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is coming, baby. Well, actually, it's not closed

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because they announced the teams who are coming

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up in VNL 2026. So the Ukrainian women will be

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replacing Korea, and the Belgian men are replacing

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Netherlands. Ukraine making a push as a country.

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It's good to see. They'll have men and women.

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So congrats to those countries, and we're looking

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forward to seeing you in 2026. All right, so

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we did have some volleyball going on. This past

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week, women's U21 World Championships started

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last Wednesday, and they are still in pool play.

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So Argentina, Vietnam are currently at the top

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of pool A. USA and China are currently at the

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top of pool B. Brazil and Japan at the top of

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pool D. And pool C is messy with Italy has three

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wins. Poland, Turkey, and Czech all have... Two

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wins. So TBD on where that pool is going to end

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up. My question is, where did Vietnam come from?

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Is Vietnam, I don't think, are they typically

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good at youth stuff? That one apparently stumped

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me. Apparently better than Canada. Canada, who

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lost a set 25 -5 to Vietnam. That's worse than

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the other bait down we were talking about in

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V &L with, who was it, Czech? What was that,

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25 -4 or something? Eight, I thought. Eight.

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Was it four? Regardless. On par. I didn't think

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I'd see it again. On par. There we go. Good job.

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Good job. So, yeah, we'll see what happens with

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that. Canada not doing hot. Vietnam kind of dark

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horse coming out there in pool A. All the other

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teams that are at the top, though, that's what

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you expect. Yeah. Honestly, pool A for me is

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like on the eyeball test, like weakest pool by

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far. Pool C. Who put these together? Yeah, that's...

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That is crazy. Yeah, I'm not sure if you go only

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by previous, must be previous rankings at U21.

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Well, the teams that usually dominate, and I'm

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talking like since the 70s, Japan, China, Brazil,

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Italy, those teams are like staples on the podium.

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Russia, when they were playing as well, was in

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the mix. But... Yeah, Brazil, Italy, Japan, China

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are like perennial podium contenders. But like

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you're telling me you're putting Poland, Turkey,

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and Italy in the same pool. And then in pool

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A, you've got like Vietnam, Indonesia, Puerto

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Rico. Yeah, I'm curious. And I understand Indonesia

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is hosting, so they get the one seed, but still.

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And I wonder if how much of that is random and

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if it's all seeded. Is it, you know, here are

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the top. four teams pull out of a ball, pools

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are a little random, or is it totally seeded?

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I'd have to look that up. I'm not sure. We have

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the top four teams from each pool will advance

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to the playoffs, and all of those teams will

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have a chance for gold. So we'll see what happens.

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I think the tournament wraps up next week. Next

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weekend, maybe. Yeah, on the weekend. Yeah, you

00:13:56.100 --> 00:14:00.940
can catch that on FIVB TV or VB TV if you're

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hankering for some volleyball and get another

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week without any. All right, ladies and gentlemen,

00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:09.139
it is time to dig into the drama. Are we ready?

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I don't know. Are we? So in a surprising turn

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of events, and I know that we have made so much

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fun of this whole situation. Well, here we go.

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It's not going to stop. I was stopped dead in

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my tracks this week. So it was announced that

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the PVF is merging with none other than the elusive.

00:14:33.790 --> 00:14:37.769
MLV in a deal that's valued at $325 million.

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Not only that, the league is rebranding as Major

00:14:45.629 --> 00:14:48.570
League Volleyball. Yeah, let's try to figure

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that one out. There's not a lot of details that

00:14:51.610 --> 00:14:55.649
are being presented around this. I'm just like,

00:14:55.750 --> 00:14:59.110
what? Yeah, it's a little confusing. The only

00:14:59.110 --> 00:15:02.779
thing I can think of is that the PVF. needed

00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:08.039
money and the guy or the owner of Omaha who wanted

00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.399
to start the MLV has that money to put into the

00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:16.299
league and this is purely a play about financials

00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:20.179
the crazy thing is like hey we're gonna start

00:15:20.179 --> 00:15:23.419
a new league no we're not we're just gonna take

00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:26.440
what's already been created and just slap our

00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.740
name on it I don't even know how to start thinking

00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:33.370
about this because Now you're not starting from

00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:35.909
ground zero, but you had built a presence as

00:15:35.909 --> 00:15:39.889
the PVF, and now you're just changing it to MLV.

00:15:39.950 --> 00:15:42.669
Which was also already a league in the U .S.

00:15:42.669 --> 00:15:46.669
from 1987 to 1989. Thank you so much, Volleyball

00:15:46.669 --> 00:15:49.110
Recap, for the history lesson that you gave us

00:15:49.110 --> 00:15:51.769
on Instagram. But not only that, it sounds like

00:15:51.769 --> 00:15:57.870
MLB. You have to differentiate yourself. This

00:15:57.870 --> 00:16:00.289
just doesn't seem like it's about the volleyball.

00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.159
It seems like it's about one person or one group

00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:08.139
of people having control over something instead

00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:11.539
of working together to build a league. Stop pretending

00:16:11.539 --> 00:16:14.320
you're reinventing the wheel here. You're literally

00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.259
just taking what was already created and you're

00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:19.980
trying to pretend like it's brand new and yours.

00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:24.080
Yeah, I mean, I don't... And why not keep the

00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.700
name the same? It has brand recognition already.

00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:28.360
The league has been going for a couple years.

00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:30.720
Thanks so much to my sources for this information.

00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.360
So there was an article in the Sports Business

00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.379
Journal, and they interviewed the owner of the

00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:41.919
Grand Rapids Rise, who, if you remember back

00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:44.539
when we talked about this in the spring, there

00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.039
was like some head -butting, I think, between

00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.669
Grand Rapids and Omaha, like the ownership. Of

00:16:50.669 --> 00:16:54.389
those two teams. So this guy's involved, obviously.

00:16:54.789 --> 00:16:57.970
The key takeaways from this article were the

00:16:57.970 --> 00:17:01.309
MLV not announcing a schedule like they promised

00:17:01.309 --> 00:17:04.589
they would back in January made the deal somewhat

00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:08.690
more clear cut. Meaning MLV had no idea what

00:17:08.690 --> 00:17:10.630
they were doing. This is how I'm taking it. MLV

00:17:10.630 --> 00:17:13.089
had no idea what they were doing. So they decided

00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:17.410
to merge or they just wouldn't exist. Yeah. I

00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:18.990
mean, we said it right at the beginning that.

00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.759
Trying to build a league from scratch in, what

00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.619
was it, eight months or a year was going to be

00:17:24.619 --> 00:17:27.460
a massive undertaking. And it wasn't going to

00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:30.319
happen. PVF staff will remain as MLV did not

00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.900
have personnel who would move over. What staff

00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:37.259
did MLV have? Listen, this is how I see this

00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:40.859
whole thing. Nothing has changed with the PVF

00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.759
other than... I'm guessing that the org structure

00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:47.539
of who makes decisions is different based on

00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:50.839
the inflow of new capital to the league. And

00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:55.079
so you now have different voices who are in charge,

00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:58.079
who put money in, and they have just basically

00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:01.579
purchased the PVF. That's how I see this whole

00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:05.819
thing. But my thing is, if MLV had staff that

00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:07.940
they were working, if they were legitimately

00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:10.400
working on building a league, they would have

00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.700
had staff in place. creating a league is a massive

00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:18.660
undertaking so it sounds like you really didn't

00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:22.579
have anybody working for you at all and you're

00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:25.000
just like we'll just take what was already created

00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:30.119
i mean i see it the same way i again purely organizational

00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:33.839
restructuring based around capital shout out

00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.980
to our listener who sent me this article and

00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:38.940
these quotes from this article it almost seems

00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:42.509
like Almost, or does it seem like? Omaha made

00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:45.089
this power move. They thought that people would

00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:47.490
get on board. PVF just continued to operate.

00:18:47.569 --> 00:18:50.130
It was fine. This league was completely fake.

00:18:50.349 --> 00:18:52.450
Nothing was happening. They didn't hire anybody

00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:56.049
to manage these teams, workout scheduling, workout

00:18:56.049 --> 00:19:00.690
ticketing, get athletes, et cetera. So they just

00:19:00.690 --> 00:19:04.869
bought their way back to fix their huge mistake

00:19:04.869 --> 00:19:09.049
of talking such trash about the PVF in January.

00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:13.049
Yes. Totally. I can't get behind that. I'm sorry.

00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:16.490
I mean, you see this all the time between owners

00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:20.150
and new leagues and something similar just happened

00:19:20.150 --> 00:19:23.609
with women's professional hockey. You have two

00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:25.329
leagues who are starting. You have people who

00:19:25.329 --> 00:19:27.589
have different ideas as to how things should

00:19:27.589 --> 00:19:30.029
be run and how it should be done and all of that.

00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:32.950
And at the end of the day, the person with the

00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:35.869
biggest checkbook makes the rules. And that's

00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:38.720
what happened here. He's got... Or they have

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:41.160
access to the biggest market, volleyball market

00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:45.000
in the U .S., in Omaha. And we're going to do

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.779
it my way. And that's the way it goes. Cut your

00:19:47.779 --> 00:19:49.640
losses. Admit when you're wrong. You don't need

00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:52.720
to name it MLV. Okay? You don't. That is probably,

00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.700
like, a huge ego thing. I'm sorry. But just,

00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.920
like, keep it as PVF. Do what you want. But,

00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:02.880
like. I mean, let's see what the season looks

00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:07.720
like. Let's see how things pan out. I'm not sure

00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:09.660
we're going to notice any material differences

00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:13.299
from last year to this year other than the colors

00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:15.539
of the courts and so on and so forth. I believe

00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:17.819
each team is still independently owned. Well,

00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.059
Vegas is no longer a team. Vegas is no longer

00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:23.059
a team. But Dallas is becoming a team for the

00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.839
2026 season. So all the Vegas players had to

00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.480
sign elsewhere. Yeah. I mean, again. Omaha's

00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.119
making moves, though. John Cook was just announced

00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.819
as the co -owner of the Omaha Supernovas. Do

00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:42.319
people just not retire anymore? Well, I mean,

00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.839
again, I think this is all part of the play,

00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.839
right? So you, I think it's safe to assume that

00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:51.720
the owner and the management of Omaha are not

00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:55.390
in the good books of most PDF owners. So now

00:20:55.390 --> 00:20:57.309
you say, hey, here's what we're bringing because

00:20:57.309 --> 00:20:59.230
we're going to do MLV. We're going to bring in

00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:01.829
a Titan in the sport. He's going to be involved.

00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:05.549
It's going to help. It's going to bring validity.

00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:08.710
All of these moves. So do you think he's actually

00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:10.609
going to do something or do you think he's just

00:21:10.609 --> 00:21:13.329
a figurehead? I think he will coach from his

00:21:13.329 --> 00:21:17.250
horse on his ranch. And they will use his name

00:21:17.250 --> 00:21:21.309
in the league. Well, Lucas Slob, if that's how

00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:24.680
you say his name. He works with the U .S. men's

00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:27.539
national team. I believe he was coaching at NC

00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:30.619
State in the NCAA. He was named the head coach

00:21:30.619 --> 00:21:33.359
of Omaha. So they're trying to bring more validity

00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:37.099
there, too. Yeah, and I mean, again, you want

00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:39.319
to bring validity to your league. I don't have

00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:42.019
any problem with them doing this. And again,

00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:45.900
bringing in these kinds of names costs money,

00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:48.900
right? You need money to do these things. You

00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:50.740
know, they're probably trying to see if they

00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:54.130
can. do something like this in Omaha and then

00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:56.230
replicate it in other markets. They've increased

00:21:56.230 --> 00:21:59.190
the salary cap, right, so you can spend more

00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:04.069
money. We'll see what happens. Yes. So the salary

00:22:04.069 --> 00:22:09.150
cap for the base salary, there was a minimum

00:22:09.150 --> 00:22:12.190
salary for PBF in the last two years. They also

00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:16.369
had a max, and only one athlete could make whatever

00:22:16.369 --> 00:22:18.369
the max was. I want to say it was maybe $125

00:22:18.369 --> 00:22:21.559
,000. And then one other athlete could make like

00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:25.180
$100, $105. Don't quote me on those exact numbers.

00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:30.380
Now there's a salary cap, but there's no max.

00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:36.259
So each team has $1 .2 million to spend. On salaries.

00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:40.980
On salaries. So the question becomes, do you

00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:47.259
go big with a couple bigger names? or do you

00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:50.480
hold on to a little bit of cash for draft day

00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:53.420
when NCAA season ends? Yeah, it'll be interesting

00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:55.579
to see what the strategy is for some of these

00:22:55.579 --> 00:22:57.980
teams. Again, the other thing to note here is

00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:01.660
that they removed the minimum salary for players

00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:04.799
as well, which... I've heard mixed things about

00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.400
that. I heard they did remove the minimum, then

00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:09.819
somebody told me that they didn't. But I don't

00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:11.940
know what the number is. Unclear on that. So

00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:14.140
I really hope they didn't. I think it's important

00:23:14.140 --> 00:23:17.460
that athletes are able to make a base salary

00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:21.039
when they're playing professionally. For me,

00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:22.960
I would say that that was important for the athletes.

00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.059
I hope that that's the case. But again, this

00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:29.839
is kind of, to me, a play of one owner who's

00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:31.980
in charge, who maybe has more money than everybody

00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:35.069
else. wants to be able to buy the best team and

00:23:35.069 --> 00:23:38.109
buy a championship. This inherently makes me

00:23:38.109 --> 00:23:43.910
want Omaha to lose. I want a level playing field.

00:23:44.029 --> 00:23:46.430
I would like to see the leagues grow together

00:23:46.430 --> 00:23:48.549
to a point where they can attract top talent,

00:23:48.650 --> 00:23:51.650
but not that you can just buy a better team than

00:23:51.650 --> 00:23:53.849
everybody else. Well, you see that happening

00:23:53.849 --> 00:23:55.849
in the free agency signings that just started.

00:23:56.109 --> 00:23:58.690
And pay your staff whatever you want, bring in

00:23:58.690 --> 00:24:02.140
good coaches, do that, but I hope... that all

00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.839
of the other owners and managers are willing

00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:07.940
to spend at least close to that cap so that the

00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:11.279
teams can be equal. The league will not survive

00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:15.599
if Omaha goes whatever and O just because they

00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.279
can afford to buy better players. That's not

00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:21.539
good for the league. Omaha, this whole thing,

00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:25.940
it just smells of Omaha just trying to take over.

00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:31.930
And then this play with... coach cook with bringing

00:24:31.930 --> 00:24:35.970
a national team coach with the players that they've

00:24:35.970 --> 00:24:40.230
brought on it's just and i'm fine i hope that

00:24:40.230 --> 00:24:42.990
it's like a decently even playing field but like

00:24:42.990 --> 00:24:46.470
everything is just like omaha is trying to take

00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:49.269
over and that won't be fun for anybody and viewers

00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:52.779
will get bored yes I'm fine with wanting to bring

00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.519
in John Cook to set a culture. I'm fine with

00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:57.720
bringing in high -level coaches to make sure

00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.380
that your athletes are getting training, all

00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:03.039
of that. But everybody within reason, and I know

00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:06.500
other leagues have big spenders like the Yankees

00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:08.599
and then teams who don't spend like Tampa Bay

00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:10.839
or whatever. I get that that's a dynamic of ownership.

00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:13.619
But when you're starting here and the salaries

00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:16.619
aren't super high or the salary cap, you need

00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:19.500
some parity. You need the games to mean something.

00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.819
Major League Baseball. Right. You're not the

00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:25.039
NBA. Pretty close. One letter off. One letter

00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:30.079
off. Google it. But I, yeah, I hope it's not

00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.299
a runaway. Let's take a deep breath. And free

00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.640
agency has happened. Is currently happening.

00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:40.660
So we have a bit of movement here already. So

00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:43.279
number one, Alicia Glass Childress, who played

00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.380
for Vegas, set for Vegas. She is now the head

00:25:46.380 --> 00:25:48.750
coach of San Diego Mojo. She does have a background

00:25:48.750 --> 00:25:50.670
in coaching. She assisted with Stanford for a

00:25:50.670 --> 00:25:53.970
while. So she was probably ready to be done.

00:25:54.329 --> 00:25:56.710
I like that pickup for San Diego. I think she'll

00:25:56.710 --> 00:25:58.430
do a good job. And Kaiba Hanif, who was the head

00:25:58.430 --> 00:25:59.769
coach, is now with the U .S. Women's National

00:25:59.769 --> 00:26:03.009
Team. So there was some movement there. But we've

00:26:03.009 --> 00:26:06.349
had a bunch of signings. The signing period opened

00:26:06.349 --> 00:26:10.250
on Thursday. So here are the names of people

00:26:10.250 --> 00:26:14.490
who have moved. So Omaha has picked up Morgan

00:26:14.490 --> 00:26:17.480
Hentz, Sydney Hilly, and Merritt Beeson. Top

00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:21.380
setter from PVF last year, top libero. I don't

00:26:21.380 --> 00:26:23.619
personally think Merritt had a good season at

00:26:23.619 --> 00:26:29.339
all, but she is well -liked in Nebraska. So those

00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:31.660
are their moves. You can already see it happening.

00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:35.619
The two skilled positions, as Adam calls them,

00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:39.519
have arguably the best players in the league.

00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.279
Yeah, and I mean, if you want to win, they're

00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:44.880
good pickups. I'm on the fence with how Merritt

00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.230
Beeson will play. but they definitely got better.

00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:50.049
Orlando has picked up Charity Looper from Vegas.

00:26:50.450 --> 00:26:53.849
That's a good pickup. Atlanta has picked up Raven

00:26:53.849 --> 00:26:56.829
Colvin from Grand Rapids and Lexi Almodovar,

00:26:56.910 --> 00:27:00.210
who was a star at Dayton and then went right

00:27:00.210 --> 00:27:04.970
to Turkey. Indy, very similar team to last year.

00:27:05.130 --> 00:27:08.410
Honestly, Orlando brought back their heavy hitters

00:27:08.410 --> 00:27:12.390
too. Mia Tuoniga was added to Indy. I'm not sure

00:27:12.390 --> 00:27:14.289
she's going to move the needle. She's not replacing

00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:17.549
Sydney Hilly, let me tell you. And then Grand

00:27:17.549 --> 00:27:21.150
Rapids brought in Lauren Jardine Clark and Sage

00:27:21.150 --> 00:27:25.109
Kahana Torres. I like that pickup for them. Yeah,

00:27:25.130 --> 00:27:28.450
it's a great pickup for them. But, like, can

00:27:28.450 --> 00:27:30.589
we dive deeper here? Maybe we'll talk about this

00:27:30.589 --> 00:27:34.369
in the next segment. Because, I'm sorry, what?

00:27:34.650 --> 00:27:39.480
I got some questions. So we did see a lot of

00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:41.859
people go back to their team. Atlanta has a lot

00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:45.160
that went back. Corey Lewis, Leah Edmond. Indy,

00:27:45.180 --> 00:27:47.420
like I said, almost the entire starting lineup

00:27:47.420 --> 00:27:52.160
minus Sydney Hilly. Omaha made upgrades. Grand

00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:54.220
Rapids definitely made an upgrade in the setter

00:27:54.220 --> 00:27:56.940
position. That's where we're at so far. This

00:27:56.940 --> 00:28:01.039
process will continue. But that was the news

00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:04.759
that had my jaw on the floor this week. Rebrand.

00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:07.359
Random merger. Four months before the league

00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:10.019
starts. No, we don't. All right, moving on to

00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:14.579
love. We had the season two rosters announced

00:28:14.579 --> 00:28:17.059
this week. I know there have been a lot of questions

00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:22.319
about who is coming, who is leaving. How are

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.279
the teams even going to be constructed for season

00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:27.420
two? Are players going to move? Are they going

00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:29.660
to stay where they were at? Well, we have the

00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:33.890
answers. But first off... Do not call Love Omaha

00:28:33.890 --> 00:28:37.109
Love Omaha anymore. Okay? It's Love Nebraska.

00:28:37.690 --> 00:28:40.509
Got to be a little more inclusive. Okay. Well,

00:28:40.589 --> 00:28:42.390
and also they probably wanted to get away from

00:28:42.390 --> 00:28:45.789
the Supernova Omaha and make it a little bit

00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:49.690
different. Fair. Can't say I blame them. And

00:28:49.690 --> 00:28:56.069
Jordan Larson is the new co -owner of Love Nebraska.

00:28:56.750 --> 00:29:02.900
Is it coincidental perhaps? That one day after

00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:05.299
Jordan Larson was named the co -owner of Love

00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:07.960
Nebraska, John Cook was named the co -owner of

00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:12.319
Omaha Supernovas. Probably not. But, I mean,

00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:15.380
both of them. These leagues are fighting over

00:29:15.380 --> 00:29:18.759
the state. Let's pick two people who have had

00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:21.319
a huge impact on volleyball and the sport and

00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:24.220
just use their names against each other. That's

00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:28.200
what it seems like to me. Yeah, but it's not

00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:33.690
a bad thing. You want people to follow. Nebraska

00:29:33.690 --> 00:29:38.029
volleyball gets a ton of fans paying attention.

00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:41.930
You need, as a pro league, for those fans to

00:29:41.930 --> 00:29:44.990
pay attention post -collegiately and get involved

00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:48.009
in the sport to help it grow. And Jordan and

00:29:48.009 --> 00:29:52.890
John will hopefully do that. At least I have

00:29:52.890 --> 00:29:54.769
to assume that that's the thought process around

00:29:54.769 --> 00:30:00.269
that. So we'll see if doing that... Brings eyeballs,

00:30:00.509 --> 00:30:03.589
brings people, puts butts in the seats. When

00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:07.190
I saw the news about Jordan, maybe it was naive

00:30:07.190 --> 00:30:12.789
of me to think that she was done playing. Surprise,

00:30:13.130 --> 00:30:17.730
she's on the roster. Okay, so do you think that's

00:30:17.730 --> 00:30:20.230
a conflict of interest? I personally don't. Really?

00:30:20.309 --> 00:30:22.789
Yeah, I don't really have an issue with it. The

00:30:22.789 --> 00:30:27.849
person paying you, the owner of your team, is

00:30:27.849 --> 00:30:31.079
also... playing for you as if you're the coach.

00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:33.720
Yeah, but you do see this in sport. Jarmer Jager

00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:36.019
is currently doing that. He's playing for a hockey

00:30:36.019 --> 00:30:39.000
team that he owns in the Czech Republic. You

00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:41.859
have, you know, how many different athletes are

00:30:41.859 --> 00:30:44.640
Tom Brady's not playing anymore, but he's part

00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.980
owner. He's announcing like you. You want to

00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:51.000
keep keyword is not playing anymore. I understand,

00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:55.039
but they love the game. They want to be involved.

00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:59.029
Jordan's not going to play forever. She might

00:30:59.029 --> 00:31:01.029
be on the bench as a mentor, she might play,

00:31:01.210 --> 00:31:04.970
but she's supporting an organization that is

00:31:04.970 --> 00:31:06.910
trying to grow the game and she's saying, I want

00:31:06.910 --> 00:31:12.329
to be involved. So I think for the growth of

00:31:12.329 --> 00:31:15.609
the game and for her as a person, especially

00:31:15.609 --> 00:31:18.450
in Nebraska, I understand it and I don't think

00:31:18.450 --> 00:31:25.410
it's a huge issue. Okay, okay. Fine, fair. That's

00:31:25.410 --> 00:31:27.630
just what I was thinking. It's kind of weird.

00:31:28.029 --> 00:31:31.329
You like black and white, though. I like clear

00:31:31.329 --> 00:31:35.329
delineation of roles and responsibilities, yes.

00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:39.250
I think you see this a lot in these leagues that

00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:43.390
are up and coming. Maybe not always owner -player,

00:31:43.710 --> 00:31:47.269
but owner -coach. Lots of situations like that.

00:31:47.390 --> 00:31:49.730
This will only be a thing for one or two years,

00:31:49.809 --> 00:31:52.670
I would guess, and then she'll settle into an

00:31:52.670 --> 00:31:56.430
owner role. So that was the news, aside from

00:31:56.430 --> 00:32:00.069
the rosters. Hit me with the roster updates.

00:32:00.309 --> 00:32:05.650
Let's get into who joined the teams and who left

00:32:05.650 --> 00:32:11.630
the teams. So, for Nebraska, coming in, we've

00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:14.390
got Karol, the middle blocker from Brazil, and

00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:18.490
Boice, outside hitter, Netherlands. Wazielewska,

00:32:18.670 --> 00:32:24.809
she is Polish. She is coming from Atlanta. And

00:32:24.809 --> 00:32:29.750
Alexis Hart, who... Played collegiately, went

00:32:29.750 --> 00:32:34.589
overseas, came back. Leaving Nebraska, Justine

00:32:34.589 --> 00:32:39.250
Wong -Arantes heading to Houston. The Stiverin

00:32:39.250 --> 00:32:42.789
sisters, neither of whom has signed anywhere.

00:32:42.890 --> 00:32:44.829
We don't know where either one of them are going.

00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:49.029
Maddie Kubik is out, heading to Austin. Sammy

00:32:49.029 --> 00:32:53.609
Francis is out, heading to Japan. And Nwokolo,

00:32:53.930 --> 00:32:58.460
nobody knows where she's going yet. Do you think

00:32:58.460 --> 00:33:01.359
this team is better or worse on paper than they

00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:03.920
were last year? Well, Lexi Rodriguez is going

00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:06.640
to get to play, which will make Nebraska fans

00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:11.259
happy. I heard there was not nice things being

00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:14.480
said to Justine for playing over her, which...

00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:17.779
Tough, because she's very good. Better than Lexi.

00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:20.900
Yeah, Justine is better than Lexi. Hate to say

00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:22.859
it. There's a reason she was playing instead

00:33:22.859 --> 00:33:28.420
of her. And she has... Olympic medals. That is

00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:31.380
insane to me. Yeah. That people would hate on

00:33:31.380 --> 00:33:35.079
Justine so much for playing over her. But Lexi

00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:38.960
has Caitlin Clark vibes to her. I don't care.

00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:40.660
I understand what you're saying. I understand

00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:45.960
what you're saying. But her fans don't care about

00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:47.819
who is better. They just want to see Lexi play.

00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:50.559
That's what this is about. Then go somewhere

00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:56.210
else. Anyway. Maddie Kubik was their... At the

00:33:56.210 --> 00:33:59.210
end of the season, their best scorer. Yep. Losing

00:33:59.210 --> 00:34:02.349
her, do I think Ann Boyce is a decent replacement?

00:34:03.390 --> 00:34:09.210
I think it could be close. I give the edge to

00:34:09.210 --> 00:34:12.409
Maddie, though. Yeah? Yeah. I mean, Kettle is

00:34:12.409 --> 00:34:18.949
better than Sammy, but you're losing Lauren Stiverns,

00:34:18.949 --> 00:34:21.889
too. Yeah. That's tough. But Stiverns was kind

00:34:21.889 --> 00:34:24.650
of in a weird... Are you an opposite? Are you

00:34:24.650 --> 00:34:28.090
a middle? Because they had that injury. They

00:34:28.090 --> 00:34:31.349
had a lot of weird stuff going on. But the players

00:34:31.349 --> 00:34:32.929
that we didn't mention are still coming back.

00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:35.429
So Drevniak is coming back. They're still going

00:34:35.429 --> 00:34:39.889
to have the Dutch setter. Gabby Blossom is going

00:34:39.889 --> 00:34:43.969
to be setting. Jaylee Winters is back. You guys

00:34:43.969 --> 00:34:47.500
know I wasn't a fan. I feel like they're just

00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:49.380
a wash. They're going to be the same. I agree.

00:34:49.579 --> 00:34:52.440
On a personal level, I think Sammy Francis going

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:55.199
to Japan is good for her development. I like

00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:57.340
that move for her personally in terms of her

00:34:57.340 --> 00:35:00.579
potential international career. She'll learn

00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:02.420
a ton there. The game is different. She'll definitely

00:35:02.420 --> 00:35:04.900
become a better blocker. So I like that move

00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:08.599
for her. Okay, let's move on to Austin. Coming

00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:11.900
in, we've got Bergmark. Shocker, she played for

00:35:11.900 --> 00:35:16.469
Texas. Jurczyk. She was a middle blocker for

00:35:16.469 --> 00:35:19.750
Poland in the VNL. Maddie Kubik, as I said, coming

00:35:19.750 --> 00:35:22.070
from Omaha. And Brie O 'Reilly, the setter from

00:35:22.070 --> 00:35:26.670
the Canadian national team. Leaving, Sage Kahina

00:35:26.670 --> 00:35:31.590
Torres went to MLV. Let's look at the setter

00:35:31.590 --> 00:35:33.489
comparison. Who do you like better, Brie O 'Reilly?

00:35:33.789 --> 00:35:38.030
Brie. So upgrade. Upgrade. Yeah. Harley Lloyd

00:35:38.030 --> 00:35:41.590
is coming back. Anna Hawk, who played outside,

00:35:41.809 --> 00:35:45.000
is heading to Madison. But Gennari went back

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.059
to Italy and Ogbogu is heading to Turkey. Good

00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:52.179
for her. I'm very happy for her. Yes, good move.

00:35:52.420 --> 00:35:55.159
I think Kubik and Hawk are kind of a wash. Maybe

00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:57.260
Kubik is a little better. They're upgrading in

00:35:57.260 --> 00:36:00.980
the setter position, losing out. Well, no, Ogbogu

00:36:00.980 --> 00:36:02.880
is better than both of those middles. I agree.

00:36:03.059 --> 00:36:08.360
For sure. Sage leaving Austin begs a lot of...

00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:11.480
A ton of questions. You've got your national

00:36:11.480 --> 00:36:13.980
team coach who is traveling you to all these

00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:19.139
tournaments coming to Austin to coach. Love is

00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:23.920
the higher level in the U .S. currently. Like,

00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:28.099
I have heard some rumors that things went a little

00:36:28.099 --> 00:36:31.739
sour between Sage and the Austin organization.

00:36:32.139 --> 00:36:36.760
No details past that, but I'm like... I'm curious

00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:39.579
if that's organizational or at the coaching level

00:36:39.579 --> 00:36:44.860
or like what exactly the deal is there. I don't

00:36:44.860 --> 00:36:46.760
know if we'll ever get that information, but

00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:51.679
this is a tough blow for her career, in my opinion.

00:36:52.739 --> 00:36:56.659
Yeah, especially because this all came. so late

00:36:56.659 --> 00:36:58.980
like i feel like she could have made a push to

00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:01.159
go overseas or something if she wasn't going

00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:03.780
to play for austin yeah and now you're playing

00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:06.420
for pv like you're taking a step down in level

00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:09.980
at a critical time in your career critical time

00:37:09.980 --> 00:37:11.880
in your career because you are the one that is

00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:14.500
picked as like the backup setter for all these

00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:16.800
international events this summer you would be

00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:20.340
better off to try and get a backup contract in

00:37:20.340 --> 00:37:25.030
italy or turkey and just Go, you know what? It's

00:37:25.030 --> 00:37:27.309
unfortunate it didn't work out in Austin, but

00:37:27.309 --> 00:37:30.510
this is what I need to do. I would not be surprised

00:37:30.510 --> 00:37:34.550
if she left in January. Like before the season

00:37:34.550 --> 00:37:38.909
started? Yeah. You know, take a, see what's out

00:37:38.909 --> 00:37:42.050
there, go. I mean, she has to think about her

00:37:42.050 --> 00:37:44.849
career, especially if things in love didn't go

00:37:44.849 --> 00:37:46.750
well. You don't know whether you're going to

00:37:46.750 --> 00:37:49.670
get back there. You're probably not going to

00:37:49.670 --> 00:37:53.800
get national team looks playing PVF. It's. That's

00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:56.519
a tough situation for her, especially if it wasn't

00:37:56.519 --> 00:37:59.059
really her decision. Like if she chose to leave

00:37:59.059 --> 00:38:01.320
because things weren't good, so be it. But if

00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:04.280
she was forced out for whatever reason, that's

00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.619
tough. Okay, Atlanta coming in. We've got Pascova

00:38:07.619 --> 00:38:13.079
from Bulgaria, Julia San Giacomo, Ella Mae Powell,

00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:16.800
and then we've got Robinson Montano from Colombia

00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:20.679
in Dahog. Leaving, Marta Bekas went back to Italy.

00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:22.800
Danielle Coutinho is going to play in Japan.

00:38:23.699 --> 00:38:26.360
Rivero is going to play in Italy. Gia Day is

00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:30.019
also going to Japan. Hanaline is going to Turkey.

00:38:31.320 --> 00:38:34.559
Vazilevska went to Omaha. And Maddie Bug went

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.079
to Salt Lake City. This team is totally different.

00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.099
I don't even know where to start or what to think

00:38:40.099 --> 00:38:41.400
about all of these changes. I don't think they

00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:45.380
really lost. I feel like their movement happened

00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:50.559
in their bench. Kelsey Cook is still back. Mackenzie

00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:55.800
Adams, Rachel Fairbanks, Tessa Grubbs, Jimmerson.

00:38:56.500 --> 00:39:00.880
Like your core group is still there. So for me,

00:39:00.900 --> 00:39:04.159
this was just like bench. Yeah, I'm curious if

00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:06.139
they couldn't keep those players. I mean, you're

00:39:06.139 --> 00:39:09.880
losing people who maybe didn't play all the time,

00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:12.519
but had an impact. Like we saw Maddie Bug play.

00:39:12.699 --> 00:39:15.699
We saw Coutinho play. You had players coming

00:39:15.699 --> 00:39:20.019
in. Your team dynamics and atmosphere at practice,

00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:23.380
it seems like a lot of turnover. You're right,

00:39:23.460 --> 00:39:25.860
it's not necessarily starters, but it definitely

00:39:25.860 --> 00:39:29.079
changes the feel of the team, in my opinion.

00:39:29.460 --> 00:39:33.199
Well, that one was massive. Like, tons of movement.

00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:37.400
Do I think it'll affect their output significantly?

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:43.039
Not really. No. Salt Lake is bringing in Alexa

00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:47.739
Gray and Maddie Bug. And they are losing Morgan

00:39:47.739 --> 00:39:51.300
Miller, who retired, and Matsui, who was the

00:39:51.300 --> 00:39:54.539
backup setter to Poulter. She went back to Japan.

00:39:55.539 --> 00:39:58.679
I think upgrade for Salt Lake. Alexa Gray is

00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:01.440
a big pickup for them. Yeah, agreed. She's going

00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:05.079
to be a difference maker. And Matsui and Bug

00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:07.260
both are going to play behind Poulter anyway.

00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:12.440
Correct. Neutral. Yeah, but Alexa Gray is big.

00:40:13.409 --> 00:40:15.809
Really big pick up for them because their outsides,

00:40:15.809 --> 00:40:18.929
they kind of struggled, I thought. They had Ronnie

00:40:18.929 --> 00:40:21.389
Jones -Perry. They had Danny Drews. I think Alexa

00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:24.489
Gray will take Danny Drew's spot. Yeah, they

00:40:24.489 --> 00:40:27.010
didn't have enough firepower on the wings, and

00:40:27.010 --> 00:40:29.809
Alexa Gray, as long as she's healthy, will give

00:40:29.809 --> 00:40:33.869
you that. So it's a good addition, and I think

00:40:33.869 --> 00:40:36.710
she'll connect well with Poulter. Well, and Gray

00:40:36.710 --> 00:40:40.090
played at BYU, so it's not shocking they sent

00:40:40.090 --> 00:40:42.679
her to Salt Lake City. Yeah. Houston, as I said,

00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:45.880
is bringing in Justine Wong -Arantes, Jazz White

00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:49.820
from Canada, and Lauren Briseño, who played for

00:40:49.820 --> 00:40:52.380
Baylor, was an alternate on the U .S. team this

00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:55.940
summer. Leaving, Christina Bauer, she retired.

00:40:56.500 --> 00:41:00.559
Alves, the backup libero, is pregnant. And Pogani,

00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:04.000
the German libero, is heading to Madison. I think

00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:07.260
those are upgrades. Yeah, like Justine Wong -Arantes

00:41:07.260 --> 00:41:10.250
is probably the best libero in the country. One

00:41:10.250 --> 00:41:12.489
of the best in the world, I think. And I don't

00:41:12.489 --> 00:41:15.690
say that lightly. We say that every time. I can't

00:41:15.690 --> 00:41:18.110
help myself. Upgrade in the libero position,

00:41:18.329 --> 00:41:22.409
upgrade in the middle. I thought Pogani was good.

00:41:22.710 --> 00:41:24.849
The other two players other than Pogani were

00:41:24.849 --> 00:41:29.210
coming off the bench predominantly. So Jazz White,

00:41:29.469 --> 00:41:33.889
you have two good libero options and Jazz White

00:41:33.889 --> 00:41:36.960
in the middle. They're an upgrade for me. Yeah,

00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:40.079
I agree. I like those moves for Houston. And

00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:42.780
finally, we've got Madison. This is another team

00:41:42.780 --> 00:41:44.840
with a ton of movement, which, as we remember,

00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:48.320
Madison struggled real hard early on in the season.

00:41:48.340 --> 00:41:51.099
Not the best. Last year. So they're bringing

00:41:51.099 --> 00:41:54.840
in Gong, the opposite slash captain for China.

00:41:55.019 --> 00:41:59.280
They're bringing in Indre Sorokaite from Italy.

00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:03.619
She's a little older. Argentina Ong. played for

00:42:03.619 --> 00:42:06.519
Arizona State, finished up her season at Scandici

00:42:06.519 --> 00:42:11.099
last year. Mitrovic, Canadian outside. Callie

00:42:11.099 --> 00:42:13.420
Schwarzenbach played in Nebraska, was just in

00:42:13.420 --> 00:42:17.179
Brazil. Legros, Pogani, as I said, from Houston.

00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:22.360
And Hawk, who was coming from Austin. That is,

00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:26.019
there are some big names in there. They are having

00:42:26.019 --> 00:42:29.059
a full, like, wipe the slate clean. Because they

00:42:29.059 --> 00:42:31.449
are, sorry. No, go ahead. Well, because they're

00:42:31.449 --> 00:42:34.929
losing Annie Drews, who's not playing this year

00:42:34.929 --> 00:42:38.849
at all. Daley Santana, nobody knows where she's

00:42:38.849 --> 00:42:42.309
going. Janiska, retired. Sarah Franklin's heading

00:42:42.309 --> 00:42:46.250
to Italy. They're also losing Felix Sambothi,

00:42:46.269 --> 00:42:51.090
Rager, and the Chinese libero, Wang. Nobody knows

00:42:51.090 --> 00:42:54.530
where any of those four players are going. We're

00:42:54.530 --> 00:42:56.190
not talking about replacing bench players here.

00:42:56.250 --> 00:42:59.730
We are talking about a fundamental... in the

00:42:59.730 --> 00:43:02.030
team fabric here. Well, you're losing starting

00:43:02.030 --> 00:43:05.230
right side, starting left side. Janiska started

00:43:05.230 --> 00:43:07.070
on the left side towards the end of the season.

00:43:07.269 --> 00:43:09.090
Sambothe was a middle, starting middle at the

00:43:09.090 --> 00:43:11.449
beginning of the season. Wong was your starting

00:43:11.449 --> 00:43:16.510
libero. You've got Anna Hall, who is giving birth,

00:43:16.570 --> 00:43:20.710
like, in the next month, who is going to try

00:43:20.710 --> 00:43:24.369
to come back in time for the season. Like, kind

00:43:24.369 --> 00:43:27.550
of... Not a lot of time. Madison's in a complete

00:43:27.550 --> 00:43:31.690
rebuild. Yeah. But they brought in some legitimate

00:43:31.690 --> 00:43:34.369
players. I really like Gong. I thought she had

00:43:34.369 --> 00:43:37.090
a good VNL. Gong is a good VNL. That's a massive

00:43:37.090 --> 00:43:40.590
pickup. I mean, Argentina Ung is pretty good

00:43:40.590 --> 00:43:43.230
as well. She's not going to play in front of

00:43:43.230 --> 00:43:45.730
Lauren Carlini, but yeah. But you have another

00:43:45.730 --> 00:43:52.860
option there. Pogani, she did fine. As a libero,

00:43:52.860 --> 00:43:55.159
like, I think she's a decent replacement for

00:43:55.159 --> 00:44:00.460
Wong. And then Hawk, Mitrovic, Sotokaita, you

00:44:00.460 --> 00:44:03.039
can, like, mix them around. None of them is Franklin.

00:44:03.800 --> 00:44:06.579
No, but, like, a Yaniska discussion, perhaps.

00:44:07.800 --> 00:44:13.420
But I will say, Franklin going to Italy, thank

00:44:13.420 --> 00:44:19.119
you. Thank you, really. Like, good decision for

00:44:19.119 --> 00:44:23.789
her. You know, she played relatively well in

00:44:23.789 --> 00:44:27.170
VNL, and I think this is massive for her personally,

00:44:27.269 --> 00:44:30.329
but also massive for the USA national team. So

00:44:30.329 --> 00:44:33.190
do you want to see her stay in the U .S., help

00:44:33.190 --> 00:44:34.949
the league? Yes, but I think she made the right

00:44:34.949 --> 00:44:38.030
decision for where she wants to go and for, you

00:44:38.030 --> 00:44:41.269
know, the 2028 Olympics. So I was happy to see

00:44:41.269 --> 00:44:43.610
that. So for all of you who are wondering what

00:44:43.610 --> 00:44:45.849
the heck was happening in Love this year, those

00:44:45.849 --> 00:44:49.860
are all the ins and outs. I'm a little disappointed

00:44:49.860 --> 00:44:52.860
that more young athletes didn't make the choice

00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:57.599
to explore other options. We see Sammy Francis

00:44:57.599 --> 00:45:02.760
doing it. We see, I mean, Ogbagu has already

00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:04.659
played overseas, but I'm glad that she's going

00:45:04.659 --> 00:45:08.820
back. Katina's older, so she, yeah, that's not

00:45:08.820 --> 00:45:13.219
shocking to me. But of the young athletes...

00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:16.039
Only Franklin and Sammy Francis are leaving.

00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:21.000
I'm very curious to see, over the next three

00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:25.039
years, how these decisions play out. What the

00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:27.239
consequences are. It will be very interesting.

00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:31.659
Very interesting. Overall, in terms of foreign

00:45:31.659 --> 00:45:34.179
players leaving, other players going overseas,

00:45:34.300 --> 00:45:36.099
who they brought in, do you think that the league

00:45:36.099 --> 00:45:39.480
got significantly stronger? Stayed the same?

00:45:40.090 --> 00:45:43.590
Not quite as much talent. Where's your head at?

00:45:44.070 --> 00:45:47.789
Maybe the league got a little bit stronger. We're

00:45:47.789 --> 00:45:50.869
not talking, like, leaps and bounds by any means.

00:45:50.909 --> 00:45:56.389
I think the league got slightly stronger. I would

00:45:56.389 --> 00:45:58.010
agree with that. I think you had a couple players

00:45:58.010 --> 00:46:01.389
choose to come to love who... could have gotten

00:46:01.389 --> 00:46:04.289
contracts overseas, like Alexa Gray has played

00:46:04.289 --> 00:46:06.849
in good leagues. Her coming here. Cattle. His

00:46:06.849 --> 00:46:10.510
big cattle coming. Gong coming. So there were

00:46:10.510 --> 00:46:17.010
a couple big draws. I think it's interesting.

00:46:17.190 --> 00:46:19.750
Alexa Gray's closer to home, so there's that

00:46:19.750 --> 00:46:21.989
draw. I'm not sure that was necessarily a volleyball

00:46:21.989 --> 00:46:26.590
decision. Cattle wants to be closer to her partner.

00:46:26.929 --> 00:46:31.119
You know, Gong. The Gong one for me is big because

00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:35.300
that's a player who could go probably anywhere

00:46:35.300 --> 00:46:38.599
she wants to country -wise and has chosen to

00:46:38.599 --> 00:46:40.460
come to the U .S. and doesn't have any reason

00:46:40.460 --> 00:46:43.840
to other than volleyball. You need to start seeing

00:46:43.840 --> 00:46:46.840
more decisions like that from good players, so

00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:49.059
I think it's a good start. Which teams are going

00:46:49.059 --> 00:46:51.019
to make the biggest jump? Which ones are going

00:46:51.019 --> 00:46:56.639
to take the biggest drop? Oh, I think Salt Lake

00:46:56.639 --> 00:46:59.590
is going to be significantly better. And they

00:46:59.590 --> 00:47:02.530
brought in the least, they made the least changes.

00:47:02.809 --> 00:47:08.070
But I think, I think the changes they made address

00:47:08.070 --> 00:47:11.150
their core issues. So that one is interesting

00:47:11.150 --> 00:47:15.670
for me. Madison, I just, it's a blender. I don't

00:47:15.670 --> 00:47:17.090
know what's coming out the other side. So that

00:47:17.090 --> 00:47:19.989
one's hard. It's hard. It's hard to check. I

00:47:19.989 --> 00:47:22.110
think everybody else kind of stayed the same.

00:47:22.530 --> 00:47:25.469
I think Austin got better as well. With their

00:47:25.469 --> 00:47:29.239
setter, but they're missing Ogbogus. Really good.

00:47:29.420 --> 00:47:32.460
She is, but I think having a good setter with

00:47:32.460 --> 00:47:35.019
some of the pieces they have will make a difference.

00:47:35.659 --> 00:47:39.480
So, yeah, that's my gut instinct. There we go.

00:47:39.539 --> 00:47:41.739
We got a little ways to go before the American

00:47:41.739 --> 00:47:44.739
League start up, but we had some big moves happen

00:47:44.739 --> 00:47:47.079
in both of them this week, so we needed to address

00:47:47.079 --> 00:47:51.300
them. But let us know your thoughts on how you're

00:47:51.300 --> 00:47:53.840
feeling regarding both of these things and the

00:47:53.840 --> 00:47:58.239
new roster announcements for Love Season 2. Okay,

00:47:58.300 --> 00:48:02.539
it is time for the toughest question. This question

00:48:02.539 --> 00:48:05.980
was submitted, I want to say, at least a couple

00:48:05.980 --> 00:48:08.219
months ago. This person probably thinks I've

00:48:08.219 --> 00:48:10.920
been avoiding them. I haven't been avoiding them.

00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:14.239
I've been avoiding the question. I never felt

00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:17.079
ready. I still don't feel ready to answer this

00:48:17.079 --> 00:48:20.059
question. I feel like this is going to stir up

00:48:20.059 --> 00:48:23.619
a ton of conversation, a ton of disagreement.

00:48:24.099 --> 00:48:27.000
But you know what? That's what we're here for.

00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:30.039
That's what we're here for. Why not? So the question

00:48:30.039 --> 00:48:34.480
was, can you and Adam rank the top five players

00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:39.880
on the women's side for each position? No. It's

00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:43.860
too hard. But we tried. And I think I put more

00:48:43.860 --> 00:48:46.980
than five in each position because I struggled

00:48:46.980 --> 00:48:55.210
with this a lot. So let's just see. And let's

00:48:55.210 --> 00:48:57.449
like, I know everybody has their favorite players.

00:48:57.909 --> 00:49:00.070
Let's have a cordial conversation. Let's have

00:49:00.070 --> 00:49:02.110
a cordial conversation about this, you guys.

00:49:02.150 --> 00:49:05.110
No need to get nasty. No need to throw hands

00:49:05.110 --> 00:49:10.309
here. I for sure miss people. So let's just dive

00:49:10.309 --> 00:49:14.090
in. So just to clarify, Sarah and I have not

00:49:14.090 --> 00:49:16.329
compared lists. Except he's like staring at my

00:49:16.329 --> 00:49:18.010
computer screen right now. I have not looked

00:49:18.010 --> 00:49:19.989
at your list. I wrote mine down beforehand. I

00:49:19.989 --> 00:49:23.250
will not change them. but I'm curious to see

00:49:23.250 --> 00:49:25.869
how much overlap we have. And for me personally,

00:49:25.989 --> 00:49:29.909
I stuck to players who were in the VNL. I did

00:49:29.909 --> 00:49:32.909
not. Yeah, so there might be a little overlap

00:49:32.909 --> 00:49:36.750
there, which we can discuss. But yeah, let's

00:49:36.750 --> 00:49:39.190
dive in and see what happens. What do I do in

00:49:39.190 --> 00:49:42.070
the instances that I have more than five? You

00:49:42.070 --> 00:49:47.769
cheated. We'll just see what happens. What position

00:49:47.769 --> 00:49:49.510
do you want to start with? Let's start with setters.

00:49:50.190 --> 00:49:53.429
That was my least favorite category. Really?

00:49:53.750 --> 00:49:56.510
Yeah. Okay. I had two off the top who I just

00:49:56.510 --> 00:49:57.989
thought were much better than everybody else.

00:49:58.150 --> 00:50:01.809
So my top two were Oro and Zhang. I thought they

00:50:01.809 --> 00:50:04.210
were the best two. The Chinese 16 -year -old?

00:50:04.289 --> 00:50:06.670
I thought she was phenomenal. I loved everything

00:50:06.670 --> 00:50:10.250
about what she was doing. Oh, dang. Do I think

00:50:10.250 --> 00:50:12.550
that she is like a top five setter in the whole

00:50:12.550 --> 00:50:16.030
world right now? She's not on my list. Oro is

00:50:16.030 --> 00:50:19.110
on my list. How is she not? She was unbelievable.

00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:24.780
We saw her crack hard. One match. In the final

00:50:24.780 --> 00:50:27.440
eight. As soon as they got to the final eight,

00:50:27.579 --> 00:50:32.539
she crumbled. So for me, she needs to develop

00:50:32.539 --> 00:50:37.619
a little more. But she has a huge ceiling. I

00:50:37.619 --> 00:50:40.440
had Oro as my number one. Okay, cool. I didn't

00:50:40.440 --> 00:50:43.599
rank them. I didn't either. Don't expect us to

00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:45.099
rank them. It was hard enough just coming up

00:50:45.099 --> 00:50:47.440
with five names, okay? When I looked at the setter

00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:50.460
category, Oro and Zhang were my top. too i was

00:50:50.460 --> 00:50:52.400
like they're phenomenal if i'm building a team

00:50:52.400 --> 00:50:55.440
i'm picking oral but like i think i had to put

00:50:55.440 --> 00:50:57.019
zhang on my list because i just thought what

00:50:57.019 --> 00:51:01.239
she did at 16 over four weeks i i understand

00:51:01.239 --> 00:51:04.260
she had a rough go in one match but i'm not gonna

00:51:04.260 --> 00:51:06.739
deny that she had a great four weeks do i think

00:51:06.739 --> 00:51:08.599
she's at the level of the setters that i have

00:51:08.599 --> 00:51:11.900
on my list no okay who else do you have this

00:51:11.900 --> 00:51:14.420
might be controversial because she is maybe a

00:51:14.420 --> 00:51:18.989
little over the hill now maya onyanovich She

00:51:18.989 --> 00:51:21.989
set for Serbia forever, set for Scandici this

00:51:21.989 --> 00:51:25.150
past season. She's in her 40s now. I understand

00:51:25.150 --> 00:51:28.929
she has passed her prime, but I cannot deny the

00:51:28.929 --> 00:51:33.789
fact that she can still deliver a ball. Okay?

00:51:34.130 --> 00:51:38.849
So I had her. I had Volosh. Yeah. You cannot

00:51:38.849 --> 00:51:44.010
deny what she has done for Conigliano. And I

00:51:44.010 --> 00:51:46.110
understand that Poland was successful without

00:51:46.110 --> 00:51:51.110
her, this VNL, but you can't deny how good she

00:51:51.110 --> 00:51:53.650
has been. Do I love her location all the time?

00:51:54.010 --> 00:52:00.329
No, but she wins a lot. Yeah, so I didn't have

00:52:00.329 --> 00:52:02.409
either of those on my list, but I looked mostly

00:52:02.409 --> 00:52:05.389
at VNL rosters. So I will agree with you that

00:52:05.389 --> 00:52:07.789
those two players have an incredible pedigree,

00:52:07.809 --> 00:52:12.719
and yes. Those two are great choices. You can't

00:52:12.719 --> 00:52:13.800
go wrong with those. Who else was on your list?

00:52:14.019 --> 00:52:17.840
I thought, based off VNL, I really liked the

00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:20.360
Japanese setter, Seki. She's good. I thought

00:52:20.360 --> 00:52:24.139
she did a phenomenal job. I like her decision

00:52:24.139 --> 00:52:28.159
-making. I like how she runs her offense. There's

00:52:28.159 --> 00:52:29.940
a lot of complexity around that. I think she

00:52:29.940 --> 00:52:32.239
makes good decisions. I know we talked about

00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:35.099
her not running the middle enough, but I also

00:52:35.099 --> 00:52:38.460
think there's a little bit of a player gap. Personnel

00:52:38.460 --> 00:52:41.400
issue. Yeah. But she still ran the pipe over

00:52:41.400 --> 00:52:44.239
top of it to hold the court. So I thought overall,

00:52:44.440 --> 00:52:47.420
I really liked everything about her decision

00:52:47.420 --> 00:52:49.980
making, her delivery, her location. So I thought

00:52:49.980 --> 00:52:53.800
she was very good. I also had Macris. I thought

00:52:53.800 --> 00:52:57.380
she did a pretty good job for Brazil. Her and

00:52:57.380 --> 00:53:00.900
Roberta are still splitting time. I thought she

00:53:00.900 --> 00:53:03.699
played better than Roberta over the course of

00:53:03.699 --> 00:53:07.900
the VNL. So I liked her as well. And then I was

00:53:07.900 --> 00:53:12.079
grasping for straws. For my fifth one, I had

00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:14.420
Poulter. It doesn't look great for the U .S.

00:53:14.420 --> 00:53:17.300
right now. I don't think a lot of her teammates

00:53:17.300 --> 00:53:20.840
can hit her fast sets, but I think she's got

00:53:20.840 --> 00:53:25.039
a good serve. She brings a lot of athleticism

00:53:25.039 --> 00:53:27.960
to her team. I think the speed at which she runs,

00:53:28.039 --> 00:53:32.199
her offense is really good. So, yeah, maybe not

00:53:32.199 --> 00:53:35.019
based solely on this V &L, but given the setters

00:53:35.019 --> 00:53:38.699
who were playing there, I had her as well. I

00:53:38.699 --> 00:53:42.139
actually had Micah Hancock over Poulter, which

00:53:42.139 --> 00:53:47.800
might cause some trouble, but I think her overall

00:53:47.800 --> 00:53:50.719
game is just better than Poulter's. Yes, Poulter

00:53:50.719 --> 00:53:54.780
runs a fast offense, but I like Hancock's hands.

00:53:54.920 --> 00:53:56.900
I think she's a better server. I think she's

00:53:56.900 --> 00:53:59.079
a better defender. I think she's a better blocker.

00:54:00.079 --> 00:54:02.519
Hancock was on the list for me, and then I agree

00:54:02.519 --> 00:54:07.949
with Seki as well. Okay. Okay, outside hitters.

00:54:08.190 --> 00:54:10.389
Okay. I have seven on my list, so I don't know

00:54:10.389 --> 00:54:12.409
what I'm going to do. All right. Let me give

00:54:12.409 --> 00:54:15.670
you my five, and you tell me who I missed or

00:54:15.670 --> 00:54:21.670
what you think. Okay. Gabi. Same. Woo MJ. So,

00:54:21.730 --> 00:54:27.909
yeah. Ishikawa. I didn't have her. Bergman and

00:54:27.909 --> 00:54:35.739
Degrotti. What? Dude, no. Okay. Okay, who do

00:54:35.739 --> 00:54:40.519
you got? Gabi. Yeah. I had Woo MJ. Even though

00:54:40.519 --> 00:54:43.199
she's really young, a girl can hit some angles,

00:54:43.400 --> 00:54:47.000
okay? Yeah. Anna Christina. You like her over

00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:50.480
Bergman? Yes. Okay. Bergman had a much better

00:54:50.480 --> 00:54:52.699
V &L. I know she got hurt, but stats -wise, she

00:54:52.699 --> 00:54:54.739
was much better. Okay. Passing and attacking.

00:54:54.780 --> 00:54:58.780
Okay. I literally, I don't care about the stats.

00:54:58.980 --> 00:55:01.840
Anna Christina's a difference maker. Okay. I

00:55:01.840 --> 00:55:08.170
have one. That might cause some eye rolls. Fedorovseva.

00:55:10.030 --> 00:55:13.110
She's real young. She's like 21. She plays left

00:55:13.110 --> 00:55:15.909
side for Fenerbahce. She's Russian. She's unbelievable.

00:55:17.329 --> 00:55:21.570
She's so good. Again, I didn't go outside of

00:55:21.570 --> 00:55:25.579
who was competing. She was phenomenal in Champions

00:55:25.579 --> 00:55:28.980
League. It's a good pick. I think she's outstanding.

00:55:29.340 --> 00:55:32.840
And then I was on the fence between Miriam Silla

00:55:32.840 --> 00:55:36.719
and Zhu Ting. Because Silla... Zhu Ting's not

00:55:36.719 --> 00:55:40.920
getting off the ground so much anymore. Silla

00:55:40.920 --> 00:55:44.300
makes more hitting errors, but is arguably a

00:55:44.300 --> 00:55:48.400
better passer. But my four that I was like, I

00:55:48.400 --> 00:55:51.059
feel okay about this, were Gabi, Anna -Christina,

00:55:51.219 --> 00:55:55.320
Fedorov -Seva. Wu, and then like Zhu Ting and

00:55:55.320 --> 00:55:58.300
Scylla was like. I don't think you can compare

00:55:58.300 --> 00:56:02.219
Anna Christina and Bergman. Fair. Anna Christina

00:56:02.219 --> 00:56:04.420
is the kind of player that you like build a team

00:56:04.420 --> 00:56:07.739
around. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to disagree

00:56:07.739 --> 00:56:10.559
with you. I like the way Bergman played. I like

00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:13.119
the way Bergman plays. Do I think she's Anna

00:56:13.119 --> 00:56:16.199
Christina? No. Okay. The other person I did think

00:56:16.199 --> 00:56:20.960
of was the French player. Cazotte? Yeah, I thought

00:56:20.960 --> 00:56:24.179
she played. She was good. Well, but. She was

00:56:24.179 --> 00:56:26.340
good, and I had her on my long list, but I don't

00:56:26.340 --> 00:56:27.860
think she's as good as the other players. Yeah,

00:56:27.880 --> 00:56:30.099
that was kind of if I needed to throw somebody

00:56:30.099 --> 00:56:34.960
out there. Who do you have for middles? In no

00:56:34.960 --> 00:56:36.639
particular order, because I'm going to hear about

00:56:36.639 --> 00:56:41.480
this, but Farr, Danezy, Julia, Gunish, and Cornelic.

00:56:41.800 --> 00:56:46.639
I had a long list for middles. I had Ogbagu on

00:56:46.639 --> 00:56:50.719
my list. Who is she replacing from that list

00:56:50.719 --> 00:56:54.239
of five, though? I mean, she's a very good blocker.

00:56:54.320 --> 00:56:59.320
I also had Kortajic, but I don't think she's

00:56:59.320 --> 00:57:00.900
quite at that level. She's a good blocker, but

00:57:00.900 --> 00:57:03.500
not quite there. I thought my middle choices

00:57:03.500 --> 00:57:05.780
were pretty solid. I mean, Kornelic's a good

00:57:05.780 --> 00:57:09.400
blocker. I think Ogbagu could be in the discussion

00:57:09.400 --> 00:57:14.000
with any of these, honestly. I don't think she's

00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:16.300
as offensive as some of the other middles. I

00:57:16.300 --> 00:57:18.559
don't know. I wouldn't take her over Fardanezi,

00:57:18.659 --> 00:57:21.150
Julia, or Gunish, though. I mean, I had all those

00:57:21.150 --> 00:57:27.150
people on my list. Opposites? Hawk, Iganu, Antropova,

00:57:27.449 --> 00:57:31.309
Boscovich, and Vargas. I had all those. I had

00:57:31.309 --> 00:57:34.289
Van Rijk as an honorable mention. Because, like,

00:57:34.329 --> 00:57:38.909
Boscovich didn't really impress me in V &L. But,

00:57:39.130 --> 00:57:43.230
yeah. She only played. One week. Yeah. I mean.

00:57:43.809 --> 00:57:46.869
And she was injured. Yeah. But she has to be

00:57:46.869 --> 00:57:48.869
on the list. But those five we agree on. Yeah.

00:57:48.889 --> 00:57:55.329
Okay. Liberos? I had Dejanero. I thought Jelen

00:57:55.329 --> 00:57:57.289
from France played really well. She is good.

00:57:58.409 --> 00:58:02.269
I had, I can't, the Polish Libero. I didn't have

00:58:02.269 --> 00:58:04.730
her. I can't pronounce her name. I'm not even

00:58:04.730 --> 00:58:07.710
going to try. And then I had, those were kind

00:58:07.710 --> 00:58:09.969
of my top three. And then Marcel from Brazil

00:58:09.969 --> 00:58:13.630
and Pogany from Germany. Pogany. Well, we were

00:58:13.630 --> 00:58:15.889
all over the place because I only had one the

00:58:15.889 --> 00:58:18.409
same as you. Okay. I mean, I will say, yeah.

00:58:18.880 --> 00:58:21.659
I didn't pay as close attention to the Liberos,

00:58:21.659 --> 00:58:24.420
probably as I should have, during V &L. I think

00:58:24.420 --> 00:58:29.820
my Libero list was my weakest effort. Adam's

00:58:29.820 --> 00:58:31.960
brain was burnt out by the time he got to the

00:58:31.960 --> 00:58:36.820
Libero list, so he just passed out. On my list,

00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:42.000
I had Dajunaro, Fukudomi, and Kojima, both Japanese

00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:46.219
Liberos. I had Justine Wong -Arantes and I had

00:58:46.219 --> 00:58:50.260
Brenda Castillo from Dominican Republic. I definitely,

00:58:50.380 --> 00:58:53.679
yes, Justine is, that's totally fair. She definitely

00:58:53.679 --> 00:58:55.460
should be on that list. That was a huge oversight

00:58:55.460 --> 00:58:59.719
on my part. I'm sure you guys are up in arms

00:58:59.719 --> 00:59:02.440
about some of these decisions, but let's have

00:59:02.440 --> 00:59:06.800
a conversation about it. Lay off my libero list.

00:59:06.920 --> 00:59:08.719
I'll talk about it. Do you know how hard it is

00:59:08.719 --> 00:59:12.519
to think of all? the top players and then narrow

00:59:12.519 --> 00:59:16.940
them down. It is not an easy feat. Okay. So let

00:59:16.940 --> 00:59:20.000
us know who you would put, who you agree with,

00:59:20.019 --> 00:59:22.699
who you disagree with, because dang, this was

00:59:22.699 --> 00:59:26.800
a very hard question. Very hard. All right. It

00:59:26.800 --> 00:59:29.860
has been a fun day. A little different than usual.

00:59:30.570 --> 00:59:32.389
Yeah, it was nice to look at a couple of things

00:59:32.389 --> 00:59:35.889
and dive into some interesting questions in terms

00:59:35.889 --> 00:59:39.429
of rosters and players. Dive into the drama.

00:59:39.730 --> 00:59:42.110
Yeah. You know, just spice it up a little bit.

00:59:42.170 --> 00:59:46.110
But we do have listener questions today. So question

00:59:46.110 --> 00:59:50.070
one is, is there any reason Isabelle Hawk doesn't

00:59:50.070 --> 00:59:53.610
change her nationality to maybe play in VNL or

00:59:53.610 --> 00:59:56.650
the Olympics or bigger international competitions?

00:59:57.599 --> 01:00:00.099
It's just not that easy to change countries.

01:00:01.159 --> 01:00:03.119
I know if you're looking at Turkey, you probably

01:00:03.119 --> 01:00:06.559
think it is because they do have a lot of naturalized

01:00:06.559 --> 01:00:10.920
citizens. Yeah, but there's a fee to pay. You

01:00:10.920 --> 01:00:13.719
have to give up your own, not your citizenship,

01:00:13.880 --> 01:00:16.480
but kind of your identity with your country as

01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:19.340
a volleyball player, which I think doesn't sit

01:00:19.340 --> 01:00:22.440
super well with a lot of players. Well, I don't

01:00:22.440 --> 01:00:26.630
think the fee is an issue. The bigger issue is

01:00:26.630 --> 01:00:29.170
like if you do choose to change sport nationalities,

01:00:29.170 --> 01:00:34.190
you have to sit out for two years, which she's

01:00:34.190 --> 01:00:37.349
entering the prime of her career. Do you want

01:00:37.349 --> 01:00:42.070
to sit out for two seasons? And honestly, like

01:00:42.070 --> 01:00:44.349
she's gone from home so much. Like playing for

01:00:44.349 --> 01:00:47.050
Sweden is probably her chance to like connect

01:00:47.050 --> 01:00:51.199
with her sister, be with family. I think it's

01:00:51.199 --> 01:00:54.019
a huge decision to make to do that. Yeah, it's

01:00:54.019 --> 01:00:56.139
a massive, and for what payoff, right? You're

01:00:56.139 --> 01:00:58.199
still going to make a ton of money playing pro.

01:00:58.579 --> 01:01:00.619
You're not making your money from your national

01:01:00.619 --> 01:01:04.159
team. Well, and do you feel like, yes, you want

01:01:04.159 --> 01:01:08.280
to play, but there is a huge sense of pride for

01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:11.480
representing your country in these competitions.

01:01:11.480 --> 01:01:14.340
So going to play for another country just so

01:01:14.340 --> 01:01:19.219
you can play, it won't feel the same. Yes, obviously

01:01:19.219 --> 01:01:22.199
it's fun to win, but you have to go and she's

01:01:22.199 --> 01:01:25.559
very good. So she would probably play for maybe

01:01:25.559 --> 01:01:29.159
not Italy, but most other countries, you know,

01:01:29.159 --> 01:01:31.119
probably. But you still, again, you have to go

01:01:31.119 --> 01:01:32.760
through that process. You have to sit out. It's

01:01:32.760 --> 01:01:35.460
not a trivial thing. And if you think about it,

01:01:35.539 --> 01:01:38.840
a lot of the naturalized citizens we do see for

01:01:38.840 --> 01:01:42.400
different countries are of Cuban origin. Correct.

01:01:42.739 --> 01:01:47.550
Which the political. discussion comes into that.

01:01:47.590 --> 01:01:52.070
Not the case, okay, in Sweden. You see some marriages

01:01:52.070 --> 01:01:57.769
and becoming a citizen through marriage. So while

01:01:57.769 --> 01:02:02.030
it does happen and you do see certain athletes

01:02:02.030 --> 01:02:04.730
just completely make the switch, I don't know.

01:02:04.809 --> 01:02:07.329
It's really not that common. Yeah, and do you

01:02:07.329 --> 01:02:10.369
want to sit out? Yeah, because she's still competing

01:02:10.369 --> 01:02:13.650
for her country, just not at that level. Not

01:02:13.650 --> 01:02:15.869
everybody is blessed to be born in a country

01:02:15.869 --> 01:02:19.050
that is outstanding at volleyball. Case in point.

01:02:20.030 --> 01:02:21.730
Why do you think I switched to beach volleyball?

01:02:22.849 --> 01:02:25.929
When I think about my career, do I wonder what

01:02:25.929 --> 01:02:28.949
could have been if I played for a country that

01:02:28.949 --> 01:02:33.869
was performing really well at that time? 100%.

01:02:33.869 --> 01:02:35.949
Well, and there were discussions of you getting

01:02:35.949 --> 01:02:38.090
your U .S. citizenship after playing at Nebraska

01:02:38.090 --> 01:02:42.070
and you're Italian. You had legitimate pathways.

01:02:42.900 --> 01:02:46.579
Yeah, I am an Italian citizen. I went to school

01:02:46.579 --> 01:02:50.260
in the States. I was asked if I had citizenship

01:02:50.260 --> 01:02:53.420
to play for the U .S. But it's like, getting

01:02:53.420 --> 01:02:56.659
that exposure with your national team, yeah,

01:02:56.719 --> 01:02:59.059
it makes a difference. Isabel Hawk, she doesn't

01:02:59.059 --> 01:03:01.079
need to because she got exposed at such a young

01:03:01.079 --> 01:03:04.199
age at such a high level. Would it have been

01:03:04.199 --> 01:03:07.780
nice to have played for a country at the time

01:03:07.780 --> 01:03:12.960
that was better? better and able to go 100%,

01:03:12.960 --> 01:03:16.000
I wish that would have been the case. But yeah,

01:03:16.099 --> 01:03:19.900
that's why I played beach. Question two. You

01:03:19.900 --> 01:03:21.579
mentioned players are getting bigger and bigger

01:03:21.579 --> 01:03:24.420
as the years progress and more dynamic. However,

01:03:24.619 --> 01:03:27.219
the net height hasn't changed since the 60s.

01:03:27.300 --> 01:03:29.380
Do you think changing the net height to account

01:03:29.380 --> 01:03:32.159
for these changes should be considered? If so,

01:03:32.340 --> 01:03:34.719
how would it impact the game and what teams would

01:03:34.719 --> 01:03:38.139
benefit or be hurt by it the most? Well, first

01:03:38.139 --> 01:03:39.420
of all, I don't think you should change the net

01:03:39.420 --> 01:03:42.239
height. It's the same for everybody. I think

01:03:42.239 --> 01:03:46.000
the women's needs to go up. Really? Yes. I have

01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:47.960
thought that for a while. Why only the women's?

01:03:47.980 --> 01:03:52.420
I think the women's athletes have gotten significantly

01:03:52.420 --> 01:03:57.699
bigger overall. I even think when I was playing

01:03:57.699 --> 01:04:04.139
in college, I was the biggest by far at 6 '5".

01:04:04.139 --> 01:04:07.539
And now you're seeing... 6 '5", 6 '4", is like

01:04:07.539 --> 01:04:11.400
the norm. Yeah, but again, I guess I look at

01:04:11.400 --> 01:04:14.539
other sports. The basketball rim has not changed.

01:04:14.679 --> 01:04:18.219
In fact, it's the same for men and women. And

01:04:18.219 --> 01:04:23.679
the net height stays the same for all countries,

01:04:23.780 --> 01:04:27.239
all athletes. You can jump higher, but the block

01:04:27.239 --> 01:04:29.719
is bigger. The defenders are faster. I don't

01:04:29.719 --> 01:04:33.920
think... I guess I look at it as what exactly

01:04:33.920 --> 01:04:36.619
in the game is broken that you're trying to fix

01:04:36.619 --> 01:04:40.840
by moving the net up. We have tons of rallies

01:04:40.840 --> 01:04:43.099
on the women's side. In fact, it's probably not

01:04:43.099 --> 01:04:46.019
terminal enough. Being terminal decreases if

01:04:46.019 --> 01:04:48.639
you move the net height up. And then you have

01:04:48.639 --> 01:04:51.179
to think about the ramifications down at the

01:04:51.179 --> 01:04:53.559
levels other than just professionally because

01:04:53.559 --> 01:04:56.550
you don't really want... you know, your 16 year

01:04:56.550 --> 01:04:58.429
olds training on a net height. That's going to

01:04:58.429 --> 01:05:00.389
go up once you get to the national team. Like

01:05:00.389 --> 01:05:04.230
I, I just don't think that it does anything for

01:05:04.230 --> 01:05:05.789
the game. Well, I don't think it needs to go

01:05:05.789 --> 01:05:08.429
up by like six inches, but I think like a couple

01:05:08.429 --> 01:05:11.710
inches. Well, I, again, I would ask. And I would

01:05:11.710 --> 01:05:14.010
say that even for men too. But what does it do

01:05:14.010 --> 01:05:18.429
for the game? Like what, what are you? Yes, we're

01:05:18.429 --> 01:05:20.570
bigger, faster, stronger than we used to be,

01:05:20.630 --> 01:05:22.989
but I don't think there's anything wrong with

01:05:22.989 --> 01:05:25.110
the game right now that requires it to go up.

01:05:25.389 --> 01:05:30.730
If you were to move it up, you would hurt the

01:05:30.730 --> 01:05:35.449
smaller -sized countries. Your Japans, your South

01:05:35.449 --> 01:05:39.550
Koreas, some of those countries. But think of

01:05:39.550 --> 01:05:42.769
how dominant South Korea was in women's volleyball

01:05:42.769 --> 01:05:46.519
back in the 70s. And I guarantee you the average

01:05:46.519 --> 01:05:48.920
height of the women was much smaller. Yeah, maybe.

01:05:49.079 --> 01:05:52.019
I don't know. Again, answering the question in

01:05:52.019 --> 01:05:54.280
terms of which countries, I think you hurt the

01:05:54.280 --> 01:05:57.039
smaller, in general, the smaller populations.

01:05:57.199 --> 01:05:59.199
But I don't, in my opinion, the net doesn't need

01:05:59.199 --> 01:06:00.599
to change. I don't think there's anything wrong

01:06:00.599 --> 01:06:01.880
with the game as it is. Maybe I'm just trying

01:06:01.880 --> 01:06:05.059
to be spicy. Question three, what's your opinion

01:06:05.059 --> 01:06:07.840
regarding Allie Batenhorst transitioning to beach?

01:06:08.059 --> 01:06:11.340
I thought this was a joke when this person submitted

01:06:11.340 --> 01:06:13.869
this question. I thought that it was like, oh,

01:06:13.889 --> 01:06:16.789
do you think she should play beach? Not like

01:06:16.789 --> 01:06:19.630
she is playing beach. And then I did some digging

01:06:19.630 --> 01:06:23.949
and I was like, wowee, okay. What do I think

01:06:23.949 --> 01:06:27.449
about this? I think it's going to be hard. Let

01:06:27.449 --> 01:06:31.170
me tell you, as an indoor player who made the

01:06:31.170 --> 01:06:35.130
transition to beach and thought that beach is

01:06:35.130 --> 01:06:43.010
just indoor outside, it's a process. There are

01:06:43.010 --> 01:06:47.849
very, very few indoor players who have become

01:06:47.849 --> 01:06:52.750
good beach players. And there's a reason. Yeah,

01:06:52.829 --> 01:06:55.130
I don't. I mean, she's playing with Sarah Hughes.

01:06:55.610 --> 01:07:01.190
Which is also shocking to me. Yeah, I mean, Sarah's

01:07:01.190 --> 01:07:04.550
expectations have to be to medal in LA. I want

01:07:04.550 --> 01:07:06.789
to know what her thought was in picking her up.

01:07:08.590 --> 01:07:11.150
I mean, do I think Ali has the potential to be

01:07:11.150 --> 01:07:14.090
decent? Sure. Do I think Ali is going to be a

01:07:14.090 --> 01:07:17.710
medalist in three years in L .A.? It's going

01:07:17.710 --> 01:07:21.599
to take longer than that if it happens. at all

01:07:21.599 --> 01:07:24.400
i how's your my thing is like how's your setting

01:07:24.400 --> 01:07:27.500
how's your passing can you move in the sand i've

01:07:27.500 --> 01:07:29.760
seen you attack indoor is that going to translate

01:07:29.760 --> 01:07:32.719
what about your blog there are so many pieces

01:07:32.719 --> 01:07:35.860
of her game that i kind of raised my eyebrows

01:07:35.860 --> 01:07:37.679
out when she was playing indoor that i'm like

01:07:37.679 --> 01:07:43.760
how are you gonna do this yeah i i don't want

01:07:43.760 --> 01:07:46.360
to say she can't i i think it's going to be a

01:07:46.360 --> 01:07:49.559
huge struggle i think it's is she's going to

01:07:49.559 --> 01:07:51.539
need to be patient and she's going to need to

01:07:51.539 --> 01:07:56.159
have some humility and it will get a lot worse

01:07:56.159 --> 01:08:00.400
before it might get better. I was shocked to

01:08:00.400 --> 01:08:02.860
see this. Yeah, and if we're talking about winning

01:08:02.860 --> 01:08:07.420
tournaments or being in L .A., I think that's

01:08:07.420 --> 01:08:12.119
a lofty goal. Question four, who from the U .S.

01:08:12.139 --> 01:08:14.940
2024 Olympic team can we expect to be back in

01:08:14.940 --> 01:08:18.979
the VNL slash Worlds mix next year versus who

01:08:18.979 --> 01:08:22.260
do you think will retire? So the World Championship

01:08:22.260 --> 01:08:29.159
long lists have been released. And of the 2024

01:08:29.159 --> 01:08:33.760
Olympic team, the players who are on both lists

01:08:33.760 --> 01:08:38.619
are Jordan Poulter, Avery Skinner. Morgan Hentz,

01:08:38.800 --> 01:08:42.880
Dana Redke, Ogbogu, and I don't know if Coutinho

01:08:42.880 --> 01:08:45.460
was on the list or not for the Olympics, was

01:08:45.460 --> 01:08:49.140
on the Olympic roster. So we're still missing

01:08:49.140 --> 01:08:53.159
the likes of the Justine Wong -Arantes. We're

01:08:53.159 --> 01:08:58.039
still missing Jordan Thompson, Kelsey Cook. I

01:08:58.039 --> 01:09:03.560
would give Justine Wong -Arantes and Jordan Thompson

01:09:03.560 --> 01:09:08.420
a relatively high probability Playing in 2028.

01:09:08.659 --> 01:09:13.119
I would expect them to be back, yeah. Who else,

01:09:13.140 --> 01:09:15.180
when you look at that list, are you like, yeah,

01:09:15.239 --> 01:09:17.680
probably? For some reason, I feel like Kelsey

01:09:17.680 --> 01:09:20.180
Cook would be back, but now I'm not sure. I feel

01:09:20.180 --> 01:09:23.180
like maybe Haley Washington is done. I'm wondering

01:09:23.180 --> 01:09:26.760
about Micah Hancock. We know Carlini's done.

01:09:27.020 --> 01:09:30.060
Jordan Larson, done with national team. Plummer,

01:09:30.279 --> 01:09:32.840
I think she'll be back. I think she'll be back

01:09:32.840 --> 01:09:35.140
as well. I mean, I can't say anything for sure.

01:09:35.760 --> 01:09:40.079
But when I'm looking at the team, I would be

01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:43.119
surprised if we don't see a return of Plummer,

01:09:43.199 --> 01:09:46.060
Thompson, and Juan Arantes. Yeah, and with Cook

01:09:46.060 --> 01:09:49.739
being maybe a 50 -50. But I would expect those

01:09:49.739 --> 01:09:52.819
other three to be there. Okay, our last question.

01:09:53.760 --> 01:09:58.939
I was curious about the 2012 -2013 season final.

01:09:59.380 --> 01:10:03.180
Ooh, this is for me. I played in Brazil that

01:10:03.180 --> 01:10:06.539
season for Rio. And when you guys were losing

01:10:06.539 --> 01:10:09.819
2 -0 to Osasco in front of their home crowd.

01:10:10.119 --> 01:10:12.460
Osasco was basically the core of the Brazilian

01:10:12.460 --> 01:10:15.420
Olympic gold medal team. What was that experience

01:10:15.420 --> 01:10:18.079
like for you? Also, that was the season when

01:10:18.079 --> 01:10:20.119
Gubby really started to get noticed. Did you

01:10:20.119 --> 01:10:22.180
have any idea back then that she'd become the

01:10:22.180 --> 01:10:25.340
superstar she is today? Okay, maybe a little

01:10:25.340 --> 01:10:28.529
story time history lesson. And I'm going to throw

01:10:28.529 --> 01:10:30.510
in here because somebody asked me, what is it

01:10:30.510 --> 01:10:32.489
like playing for Bernardinho? So we can loop

01:10:32.489 --> 01:10:36.250
this all into kind of one question. So I guess

01:10:36.250 --> 01:10:39.430
I don't talk a ton about my career on here. You

01:10:39.430 --> 01:10:42.710
don't talk about yourself ever. So I guess here

01:10:42.710 --> 01:10:45.470
we go. A little bit of history with Sarah. History

01:10:45.470 --> 01:10:51.609
with Sarah. So that season, Brazil had just won

01:10:51.609 --> 01:10:55.539
the gold medal at the Olympic Games. And I was

01:10:55.539 --> 01:10:58.859
going to play for Rio, who their opposite the

01:10:58.859 --> 01:11:03.119
previous season was Shayla. Legend. So all these

01:11:03.119 --> 01:11:04.779
people were like, who the heck is this Canadian

01:11:04.779 --> 01:11:07.699
girl? Does Canada even have a team? Who's this

01:11:07.699 --> 01:11:09.680
white girl who's playing in Rio? Which was the

01:11:09.680 --> 01:11:12.479
story of my life, because Canada's national team

01:11:12.479 --> 01:11:15.840
at the time was like... Garbage. Not good. So

01:11:15.840 --> 01:11:17.840
I was like, who is this person? She's never going

01:11:17.840 --> 01:11:19.659
to replace Shayla. This is a terrible choice.

01:11:19.739 --> 01:11:23.840
And I was like, fabulous. Here we go. So the

01:11:23.840 --> 01:11:31.060
Osasco team had Sheila, Thaisa, Adonisia, Fegaray.

01:11:33.800 --> 01:11:38.239
They were so good. Name any player from the Brazilian

01:11:38.239 --> 01:11:40.659
national team, and they were on that team. My

01:11:40.659 --> 01:11:44.760
team, however, had Fabi, the libero, Natalia,

01:11:44.899 --> 01:11:48.840
left side, and our setter was Fafau. Legend.

01:11:48.920 --> 01:11:51.779
Who is also a legend, but she was definitely.

01:11:52.769 --> 01:11:55.970
She was at the end of her career. She was on

01:11:55.970 --> 01:11:59.010
the half practice training regiment at that point.

01:11:59.210 --> 01:12:05.250
Yeah. Our middles were good. Giuselli, Valeschina.

01:12:05.890 --> 01:12:10.970
So I played opposite. And then Logan Tom was

01:12:10.970 --> 01:12:17.289
our second outside. Gabi came to Rio. It was

01:12:17.289 --> 01:12:19.970
her first season kind of outside of her home

01:12:19.970 --> 01:12:24.529
state. Bernard Genio asked her to come, learn

01:12:24.529 --> 01:12:27.270
from Natalia, learn from Logan. She was really

01:12:27.270 --> 01:12:30.670
young, so she had no expectations of playing

01:12:30.670 --> 01:12:33.250
much. I think she was 16 at the time. No, no,

01:12:33.250 --> 01:12:37.029
she was 18. She was 18? Okay. So Logan actually

01:12:37.029 --> 01:12:41.550
got injured near the last third of the season,

01:12:41.609 --> 01:12:45.710
I would say. So Gabi unexpectedly had to step

01:12:45.710 --> 01:12:51.500
in and start starting. Yeah, we make it to the

01:12:51.500 --> 01:12:54.279
final. We're playing basically the gold medalists

01:12:54.279 --> 01:12:57.000
from London. We're down 2 -0. We're playing in

01:12:57.000 --> 01:13:00.300
Sao Paulo. Over 10 ,000 people there. It was

01:13:00.300 --> 01:13:04.100
incredible. Amazing to be in the stand. It was

01:13:04.100 --> 01:13:08.460
unbelievable. I can't even tell you what it was

01:13:08.460 --> 01:13:11.380
like other than like... You went off. When you're

01:13:11.380 --> 01:13:13.960
playing, you don't... Well, for me personally,

01:13:14.060 --> 01:13:16.140
I don't ever think I'm going to lose until the

01:13:16.140 --> 01:13:18.600
game's over. So I was like, yeah, you're down

01:13:18.600 --> 01:13:21.520
2 -0. You have to win three sets no matter what.

01:13:21.659 --> 01:13:25.100
Yeah, like you need to win three sets. And I

01:13:25.100 --> 01:13:30.659
remember so much of that match. I'm not going

01:13:30.659 --> 01:13:37.000
to lie. I did play well. But I think the game

01:13:37.000 --> 01:13:40.180
ended and I just sobbed because nobody expected

01:13:40.180 --> 01:13:44.600
us to win. All season it was like, who are you?

01:13:44.659 --> 01:13:48.050
You're not Shayla. fighting to prove myself the

01:13:48.050 --> 01:13:50.949
whole season, playing with these legends on my

01:13:50.949 --> 01:13:55.409
own team who I was learning from every day. I

01:13:55.409 --> 01:13:57.970
was like, Logan Tom was like my hero growing

01:13:57.970 --> 01:14:00.409
up and then playing on the same pro team as her.

01:14:00.489 --> 01:14:02.890
I was like shitting myself for the first like

01:14:02.890 --> 01:14:07.149
month. And so, yeah, I would just say overall

01:14:07.149 --> 01:14:10.810
it was like a very special season and that game

01:14:10.810 --> 01:14:14.899
in particular will go down as is. one of my favorite

01:14:14.899 --> 01:14:19.899
games I have played of all time. It was absolutely

01:14:19.899 --> 01:14:24.899
amazing. And playing for Bernardinho, I consider

01:14:24.899 --> 01:14:29.520
myself very lucky to have gotten to play for

01:14:29.520 --> 01:14:36.380
him. He obviously took a risk on me. I was young,

01:14:36.439 --> 01:14:39.180
and again, nobody had really seen me play internationally.

01:14:40.250 --> 01:14:42.630
because Canada wasn't really playing internationally.

01:14:43.409 --> 01:14:48.829
And he was the nicest man. I loved his training

01:14:48.829 --> 01:14:51.850
style. I loved the quantity of touches I got.

01:14:51.989 --> 01:14:55.229
I loved being in the gym and learning and his

01:14:55.229 --> 01:14:57.430
patience and the way he viewed the game and his

01:14:57.430 --> 01:15:01.550
tactical preparation. I loved it all. He flips

01:15:01.550 --> 01:15:05.869
a switch in games. The person you see in a match

01:15:05.869 --> 01:15:10.760
is not who he is for the rest of life. Including

01:15:10.760 --> 01:15:13.300
practice. Including practice. He is the nicest

01:15:13.300 --> 01:15:16.659
person, so calm, so level -headed during practice.

01:15:17.960 --> 01:15:22.260
But that's just part of what it comes with playing

01:15:22.260 --> 01:15:25.619
with him, for him, is he has expectations, he

01:15:25.619 --> 01:15:29.239
expects perfection, he truly believes that his

01:15:29.239 --> 01:15:33.319
team can win every single point. Even if the

01:15:33.319 --> 01:15:34.920
other team does something incredible, it's like,

01:15:34.939 --> 01:15:39.020
no, we could totally stop that. That's when the

01:15:39.020 --> 01:15:41.270
shirts rip. And that's when the shirts rip and

01:15:41.270 --> 01:15:44.550
everybody needs their like competitive outlet

01:15:44.550 --> 01:15:47.989
to flow and he's no different, but I learned

01:15:47.989 --> 01:15:51.609
so much from him and yeah, I don't know. I will

01:15:51.609 --> 01:15:54.489
say, so I was coaching in university when we

01:15:54.489 --> 01:15:57.449
got married and Brazil was one of the first places

01:15:57.449 --> 01:15:59.850
you played when we were traveling together. And,

01:15:59.850 --> 01:16:03.569
you know, Bernardinho is obviously a very busy,

01:16:03.710 --> 01:16:09.260
well -accomplished person. I would always go

01:16:09.260 --> 01:16:10.899
to practice and watch because I just love volleyball

01:16:10.899 --> 01:16:15.479
and I wanted to learn. He took time with me every

01:16:15.479 --> 01:16:17.659
day when I showed up at the gym. I could ask

01:16:17.659 --> 01:16:20.319
him questions while the girls were warming up.

01:16:20.619 --> 01:16:23.880
He was always so generous with his time and so

01:16:23.880 --> 01:16:26.939
thoughtful and willing to engage. He taught me

01:16:26.939 --> 01:16:29.380
about volleyball. He let me practice with the

01:16:29.380 --> 01:16:33.800
team. He didn't need to do any of those things.

01:16:34.180 --> 01:16:39.279
He's just incredibly... generous, and will take

01:16:39.279 --> 01:16:41.800
the time with anybody, and I can't speak more

01:16:41.800 --> 01:16:44.680
about him on a human level, for sure, regardless

01:16:44.680 --> 01:16:48.699
of the volleyball prowess he also has. Did I

01:16:48.699 --> 01:16:50.739
have any idea back then that Gabby would become

01:16:50.739 --> 01:16:53.100
the superstar she is today? I'm not surprised.

01:16:53.520 --> 01:17:00.140
She is so genuine. She worked so hard. She wanted

01:17:00.140 --> 01:17:04.819
to learn. No ego. And I feel like those athletes

01:17:04.819 --> 01:17:07.520
that have that mindset of just like learning

01:17:07.520 --> 01:17:11.779
and growing and having that humility, those are

01:17:11.779 --> 01:17:16.460
the ones that make it. And I'm not surprised

01:17:16.460 --> 01:17:20.239
at all that she has become what she is today.

01:17:20.300 --> 01:17:23.140
It's incredible. So we're still on a lull when

01:17:23.140 --> 01:17:25.920
it comes to finding actual volleyball for the

01:17:25.920 --> 01:17:28.859
next week at least. The Women's U21 World Championships

01:17:28.859 --> 01:17:31.300
continues to happen in Indonesia. You can find

01:17:31.300 --> 01:17:34.420
that on VBTV. They're streaming all of the matches.

01:17:34.500 --> 01:17:36.479
So if you need to scratch an itch, I would look

01:17:36.479 --> 01:17:40.420
there. Women's World Championships are starting

01:17:40.420 --> 01:17:43.420
on August 22nd. So if you have any questions,

01:17:43.600 --> 01:17:47.010
let us know. be kind of looking at that next

01:17:47.010 --> 01:17:49.810
week. Unfortunately, the rosters don't have to

01:17:49.810 --> 01:17:52.670
be released until the 21st, so we may or may

01:17:52.670 --> 01:17:56.050
not have some or any starting rosters, but we'll

01:17:56.050 --> 01:17:58.189
take a dive into that, some of the pools, what

01:17:58.189 --> 01:18:01.670
we think is going to happen next week. And then

01:18:01.670 --> 01:18:04.670
for those of us local on this continent, NCAA

01:18:04.670 --> 01:18:08.170
women's preseason matches are starting that same

01:18:08.170 --> 01:18:11.500
weekend. We'll see. some practices, maybe some

01:18:11.500 --> 01:18:13.899
red and white matches happening. Red and white

01:18:13.899 --> 01:18:15.920
matches are already happening. Yeah, so depending

01:18:15.920 --> 01:18:19.939
on where you are and what streaming services

01:18:19.939 --> 01:18:23.819
you have, there are some volleyball you can find.

01:18:23.939 --> 01:18:25.560
We'll dive into a bit of a season preview perhaps

01:18:25.560 --> 01:18:28.399
this week. We'll see how it goes. That's what's

01:18:28.399 --> 01:18:31.699
on the docket until next Sunday anyway. That

01:18:31.699 --> 01:18:34.020
concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

01:18:34.140 --> 01:18:35.779
There's always something shaking in the volleyball

01:18:35.779 --> 01:18:37.960
world, and we hope you enjoyed this little fix.

01:18:38.640 --> 01:18:40.319
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss

01:18:40.319 --> 01:18:42.460
any updates, and we'd be so grateful if you'd

01:18:42.460 --> 01:18:45.539
leave us a five -star review. You can also find

01:18:45.539 --> 01:18:48.460
us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore podcast.

01:18:49.199 --> 01:18:51.140
If you have a topic that you'd like us to discuss,

01:18:51.319 --> 01:18:53.340
be sure to reach out to us on Instagram or at

01:18:53.340 --> 01:18:56.979
info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining

01:18:56.979 --> 01:18:58.619
us, and we'll be back next week.