WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. Again, there wasn't much volleyball being

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played this week, but... Things are about to

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kick off and get spicy. So NCAA women's season

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has been getting going with inter -squad scrimmages,

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alumni matches, exhibition games, things like

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that. But games are going to start to count soon

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as teams begin their official preseason competitions.

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We also have women's world championships starting

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up. So get ready to start watching. A ton of

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volleyball again. We took a little break. We

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rested our eyeballs. Got some sleep. Get ready

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to kick it into high gear again, okay? So we're

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excited to do some little previews on both the

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NCAA and World Championship side. So let's get

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started. First things first, we finished up Women's

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U21 World Championships this week. I think the

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biggest news, other than, you know, the medalists,

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is that Vietnam, who we were talking about last

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week... They had some surprise results for sure.

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...got disqualified. So last week, we were kind

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of confused because they... We're at the top

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of Pool A. Came out of nowhere. And Pool A wasn't

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that strong. Pool A was not strong, but I was

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also like, am I missing something? Has Vietnam

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been building this program secretly? Where did

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this team come from? Turns out a couple days

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after we posted our episode, asking those questions,

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people also had their own questions. And a couple

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players on the Vietnamese team had to undergo

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genetic testing. I think, obviously, it was assumed

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or suspected that a couple of their athletes

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were not biological females. And I believe that

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was proven to be correct. Yeah, we didn't get

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any official statements that that was the case.

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The statement that came out of the FIVB was that

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Vietnam had ineligible players. They had violated

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Article 12 .2 of the competition regulations.

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And, of course, I looked that up. And it was

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just an article concerning player eligibility.

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So you can look at that two ways. One is they

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were not the correct age. But given the fact

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that there was genetic testing that was done,

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you know, it's a safe assumption. The FIVB refused

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to comment further, understandably. So that happened.

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But aside from that little... Snafu. Snafu. Great

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word. We had Italy take home gold, Japan silver,

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Brazil bronze. As we talked about the perennial...

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podium contenders, these three teams were all

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in the discussion. And no surprise that they're

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all countries that have very established pro

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leagues where their young players are getting

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a chance to play alongside pros in professional

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organizations. So, I mean, Italy's having a good

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run. Italy is like world domination here. They're

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like men's, women's, youth, let's do it. But

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in the semis, Italy beat Brazil three straight.

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Japan beat Bulgaria three straight. Both matches

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were not even close. Also, shout out to Bulgaria.

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I feel like they've really invested in their

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youth programs lately because their U19 women

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won Worlds. And then their U21 women were in

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the semis. So they're making some moves. Let's

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not sleep on Bulgaria, okay, in the future. In

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the bronze, Brazil beat Bulgaria in four. And

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then in the gold medal match, Italy beat Japan

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in five. So good matches at the finals. I don't

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think any surprises other than Bulgaria, who

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you shouted out. And congrats to Italy. Italy

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is having a great 2025. On the women's side,

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it's been extending for a while, but it's been

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a good summer for the Italian Volleyball Federation.

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Let's just say that. Time to go out and collect

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some new sponsorship for the quad. Following

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up on our PVF slash MLV discussion last week,

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we have seen lots of movement. We saw Atlanta

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and San Diego making some big moves. Indy has

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added some solid athletes. We saw Dallas. The

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new expansion team, they had some players officially

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sign. So obviously there was a lot of player

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signings that happened this past week, but I

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kind of like pulled some of the highlights. Okay,

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so if I'm missing your player, I'm sorry, but

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these are the ones that jumped out to me. We

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had Natalia Valentine Anderson and Kaitlyn Hoard

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leave Omaha for Dallas. We also saw Celia Cullen

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and Sofia Maldonado -Diaz sign with Dallas. So

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Celia Cullen played for SMU, which is in the

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Dallas area. Interesting. I'm curious if her

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or Valentin Anderson will get the starting setter

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job. So that will be interesting. Marley Monserez,

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Kayla Caffey, Monserez from Atlanta, Caffey from

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Omaha, I played with in my first couple years

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of pro. We were both little babies on the team

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together. And Taylor Sambothi, who left Love,

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are all going to San Diego. But Akoshevich was

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a bit of a surprise to me, and then I was thinking

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about it a lot harder, and her husband actually

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has connections in San Diego and lived there

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for a while. So I was like, while it seems random,

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she's Serbian, played for the Serbian national

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team for a long time, has been playing in Poland,

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all over the place. She's in her late 30s. So

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I was surprised to see that she was coming to

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the U .S. I mean, San Diego is also not a tough

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place to live. It's nice. Especially when your

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husband has lived there and has connections and

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stuff. So that's happening out for San Diego.

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And then Indy picked up Cameron Hanna and Elise

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McGee, who is going by her married name now,

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but was the opposite for Baylor in the NCAA last

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season. So on the note with the MLV. there were

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a lot of comments about the last episode saying,

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you know, why are you guys hating on the merger?

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Like let's all be pro women's volleyball, you

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know, volleyball revolves around Nebraska in

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the U S you know, and all of those things are

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somewhat true. And by no means are we hating

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on bringing more money to women's volleyball.

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That is not the case at all. It's for me personally,

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more about, how it's done there's division and

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then there's confusion and then there's coming

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back and having it run one way for me looking

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at some of the rules that have happened you have

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an increased salary cap very good for the game

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you want to see more money there but there's

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also no minimum salary so teams don't have to

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spend if they don't want to right which i think

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is important which we're still not super clear

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on that so don't like right quote us on that

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but from from what we've heard and what we understand

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and then minimum salaries for players are either

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decreasing or going away which again heard but

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not confirmed i feel like there is a minimum

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but again i don't know what the number is so

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so not it's not just about bringing more money

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to the game, which is important, but it's about

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everybody being able to grow simultaneously and

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work as a cohesive team to provide a good product

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that's stable long -term. We'll see if these

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decisions help with that. And if they do, great.

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I'm just a little skeptical to start. Well, when

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you're starting something new, you need the interest

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to be there. You need the excitement to be there,

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the back and forth, like who's going to win,

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blah, blah, blah. I also think it's worth saying

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that I think it does a disservice to women's

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sport, the discussion, whatever, if all you want

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is positive commentary. I think speaking about

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a game, speaking about leagues, raising awareness,

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talking about it, that is part of growing the

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sport. But I think insisting on constant positive

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feedback doesn't help anybody either. Because

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there needs to be, you know, some kind of critique

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and criticism in order to grow and improve. So

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I kind of disagree with the people who say that

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we're hating on women's sport because we're not

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being positive all the time. We'll see. Again,

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you have the same thing. Love had came out. There

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were some things that we disagreed with. We'll

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see if they make changes. PVF had a great product

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that they put on the floor last year in terms

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of viewership and engagement and hopefully...

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that stays and they can continue to raise the

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profile. We'll see. So based on the new signings

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and stuff that we saw happen this week, we saw

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some players leave Omaha. Obviously, they kept

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their top four athletes or so. But we saw a lot

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of commentary about how with this movement, the

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league is looking a lot more balanced and less

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in Omaha's favor. Fair, amazing, great. I was,

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however... informed of a loophole in the salary

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negotiation. So this loophole that nobody is

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talking about, again, we talked about the $1

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.2 million salary cap. This loophole allows teams

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to include sponsorship money in their salary

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negotiations, which won't count towards the $1

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.2 million cap. So again, I feel like for a team

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like Omaha, who is stacked with sponsors because

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of the attention the sport gets in that state,

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they are putting themselves ahead yet again because

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now they can bargain and negotiate with players,

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including some of that sponsorship surplus they

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might have. Say what you want about the players

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leaving, moving, whatever. That's great, yeah.

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But this loophole allows teams, namely Omaha,

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who I know has a ton of sponsorship money, to

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bargain even more and add depth to their roster

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in the lower paying positions. And I think I'm

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a little bit more okay with this because you

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see this happen in a lot of leagues. That are

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established. And so this is the conversation.

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is, you know, you look at other professional

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leagues and this happens, teams have different

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benefits, no tax states, you know, more sponsorship

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dollars, opportunities for other players, and

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generally it will balance out. What I'm curious

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to see is... are the other owners outside of

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those big market or that big market, are they

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willing to invest in their team the same way

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so that you have at least some competition? You're

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always going to have some teams that are better,

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some teams that are worse, but is it going to

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be one team at the top and then everybody else

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playing for second long term? There's some parity

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that's happened so far in the league, but what

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does that look like down the road when there's

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that much of a... discrepancy with spending.

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That's what I'm curious to see long term. For

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this year, I don't think it's going to be a huge

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issue, but when we start talking about the health

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of the league in five years, that's where I'm

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curious to see where it goes. So just a couple

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things to touch on this week, things to think

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about, some results. Again, congrats to Italy

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on winning the U21 Women's World Championships.

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So let's dive in to the meat. of the episode

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here so we're going to start out with a bit of

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a women's world championship preview to the extent

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that we can slash predictions of how we think

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things are going to play out so as we said last

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week the 14 person rosters for world championships

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are not officially due until august 21st which

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is thursday competition starts on friday we have

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had about 10 teams that I could find submit their

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final rosters. Most of these teams are, you know,

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the ones that don't have a huge pool of athletes.

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So, I mean, it was easy to pick the 14. So the

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teams that we do know their roster so far are

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Sweden. Of course, noteworthy players are Isabel

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and Anna Haak. And if you're familiar with NCAA

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volleyball, Maya Tabron. who played for SMU last

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year. Those are the big names on that team. France

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is sending a very similar roster to VNL. Serbia,

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very similar to what we saw in week three of

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VNL. Netherlands, same thing. Bulgaria, same

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thing. Again, as I said, these are the teams

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whose depth of talent. isn't huge so we kind

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of saw them show what they had during vnl uh

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vazileva elisa vazileva for bulgaria who goes

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by a ton of sievich now she is not on the roster

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but she also missed the last week of vnl so not

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sure they're italy virtually the same but they

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they were Stacked for almost all of VNL. Obviously,

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Alice Degradi is injured. So we're seeing Loveth

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Omorui replacing her. And then Anna Gray, who

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is playing middle blocker for VNL. She was on

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the bench, obviously. Sartori and Akrari are

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attending in her spot. Poland, again, very similar.

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However, Grabka. who was setting for them. I

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think she was coming in off the bench sometimes,

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but mostly the backup setter. She is not attending.

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She has been replaced by Kovalevska. But again,

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essentially the same. China, the same. So the

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only two that have posted their 14 that are like

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slightly different or like maybe worth talking

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about are Turkey and USA. Well, let's get into

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it. Turkey has added Eda Erdem, the legendary

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middle blocker. And we saw Simge is not on the

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list for libero. Okay, so we had a discussion

00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:51.980
a few weeks ago about the two liberos for Turkey.

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There's a blonde. There's a brunette. Both are

00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.200
like, which one's better? So the brunette, Simge,

00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:03.340
she is not on the list, which is interesting.

00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.340
They're bringing five outside hitters instead

00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:13.679
of their young opposite who stepped in now and

00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:19.179
then for Vargas. I mean, I like what Turkey has

00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:22.120
done. I think they're a better team overall.

00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:26.399
Now, first, Erdem, we talked about this ad nauseum

00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.830
about V &L in terms of Turkey's kind of... mental

00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:32.029
instability on the court, how they fluctuate

00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:35.350
up and down. There wasn't really a true leader

00:16:35.350 --> 00:16:37.610
who could kind of come in and settle things down.

00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:42.429
And Airdem will do that. She has a presence,

00:16:42.649 --> 00:16:45.090
and I know she's getting towards the end of her

00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:48.049
career, but she has a presence that will kind

00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:52.169
of get everybody in line, I think. So while she

00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:54.490
obviously brings experience and she will perform,

00:16:54.690 --> 00:16:59.220
but I think more importantly, She is going to

00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:02.799
help everybody else on the team stay even keeled,

00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:06.799
manage their emotions, find a level of consistency

00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.539
that I think they were lacking in VNL. So I think

00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:13.380
that's a very smart addition to the team. I actually

00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.799
like bringing five outsides. I think that they're

00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:18.220
pretty set in the other positions. You know,

00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:20.400
unless there's an injury that happens, you don't

00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:21.960
have anybody who's going to push those other

00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:25.539
players out of their spots. Left side is where...

00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:28.359
It was like a revolving door during VNL. Right.

00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:32.700
And so, you know, if the Erdem effect does not

00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:35.700
help the left sides having one other option and

00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:38.859
trying to figure out who is going to play well

00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:43.099
on that day, you have one more choice. If something

00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:46.759
happens to Vargas, injury or, you know, whatever,

00:17:46.980 --> 00:17:49.519
Karakur can always go play on the right side.

00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:50.839
So you have options. Where she's comfortable.

00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:55.500
Exactly. So I think I like their moves. as a

00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:57.440
team, I think they will be better than they were

00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:59.539
in VNO. The only thing that confuses me is why

00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:03.240
leave Simge at home to bring Jatkin. You have

00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:06.640
two really strong liberos. Unless there's an

00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.980
injury situation or something happened, I'm confused

00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:12.440
about that, but I do really like their other

00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:14.059
decisions. I think they make a lot of sense.

00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:21.359
Yeah, agreed. USA is the second team that I think

00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:26.430
they made some changes. listed Maddie Skinner

00:18:26.430 --> 00:18:29.130
as an opposite. Yeah, it took enough time. They

00:18:29.130 --> 00:18:33.230
were like, okay, we'll admit that she's an opposite

00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:38.650
here. And they added Franti and Ogbagu, who we

00:18:38.650 --> 00:18:43.730
didn't see during VNL. So their right sides are

00:18:43.730 --> 00:18:47.410
Steph Samity, Maddie Skinner. Their left sides

00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:52.549
are Avery Skinner, Franti, Logan Eggleston, Franklin.

00:18:53.549 --> 00:18:57.230
And then their middles are Ogbagu, Retke, Ijeed,

00:18:57.230 --> 00:19:00.829
Jimmerson. Same liberos as we've seen. Poulter,

00:19:01.069 --> 00:19:06.609
Kahina Torres setting. But, yeah, the new faces

00:19:06.609 --> 00:19:10.250
are Franti and Ogbagu. Are you surprised that

00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:13.930
nobody else came? I was a little surprised. Me

00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:16.549
too. I thought we might see Jordan Thompson.

00:19:16.849 --> 00:19:22.160
The thing is, they're going back to love. Which

00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:23.680
doesn't, they don't even start their preseason

00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.920
until November. Like, Aguago and Franti are playing

00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.980
overseas. As soon as World Championships end,

00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:33.700
these players need to be, like, in good form

00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:36.779
for their pro teams. I think the fact that, like,

00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:40.180
a Wongarantes and a Thompson and Cook and whatever

00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:43.319
are playing and have a few months left to get

00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:47.180
into shape and hang out, I guess, before preseason

00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:49.200
starts, maybe they don't feel the same sense

00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.599
of urgency. Fair. I was surprised, though. I

00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:54.279
was thinking they were going to add a little

00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.099
more firepower to their roster. Four worlds,

00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:58.799
I thought it would be a little more of a priority.

00:19:59.099 --> 00:20:01.039
I like that Maddie Skinner's finally at opposite.

00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:03.779
Or at least that they finally admitted to themselves

00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:05.880
that they're only going to use her at opposite.

00:20:06.220 --> 00:20:09.000
Yeah, and I think that that makes sense. I like

00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:13.220
adding Obagu. I hope that... They continue to

00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:15.039
run their middles. They're going to need that.

00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.319
Move Redke to M2. Let Ogbagu run that slide.

00:20:18.619 --> 00:20:22.339
I think that will be an upgrade. Two great blockers

00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:26.880
in the middle, though. IG'd solid backup. Jimmerson

00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.819
did fine in the couple matches she played in

00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:32.759
VNL. I think Franti will stabilize the ball control

00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.420
a little bit. I think that was a really smart

00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:40.049
add to kind of sure up. Some of the deficiencies

00:20:40.049 --> 00:20:43.390
that they had in VNL. So I'm not sure how much

00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:46.230
they moved the needle, but the moves make sense.

00:20:46.490 --> 00:20:49.769
Yeah. So I like that for the USA. World championships

00:20:49.769 --> 00:20:54.549
are interesting. I personally am never a fan

00:20:54.549 --> 00:20:57.890
of how the FIVB runs their world championships

00:20:57.890 --> 00:21:01.849
and stuff and how far in advance they announce

00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:05.789
the pools. I think. The pools were announced

00:21:05.789 --> 00:21:08.309
before VNL even started. So I think that these

00:21:08.309 --> 00:21:10.769
rankings and how the numbers were pulled and

00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:13.049
stuff is not really indicative of how the season

00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:15.089
has gone and how teams are currently playing.

00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:19.630
So we have some interesting pools. And the other

00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:23.170
thing that really grinds my gears is that they

00:21:23.170 --> 00:21:27.470
give the host country the number one seed. What's

00:21:27.470 --> 00:21:33.450
pool A in Worlds here? Pool A has Thailand, Sweden.

00:21:35.029 --> 00:21:38.970
Netherlands, and I want to say maybe Egypt. Like,

00:21:38.970 --> 00:21:43.130
are you kidding me right now? That's, it's just

00:21:43.130 --> 00:21:47.430
not, it's not a good look. It's terrible. Like,

00:21:47.430 --> 00:21:50.710
Netherlands was awful during VNL. Thailand almost

00:21:50.710 --> 00:21:52.869
got relegated. And then obviously Sweden and

00:21:52.869 --> 00:21:55.029
Egypt weren't even in it. And like two of those

00:21:55.029 --> 00:21:56.730
teams are going to move on to playoffs. Are you

00:21:56.730 --> 00:22:01.490
joking me? I like the way they do it in beach

00:22:01.490 --> 00:22:03.640
volleyball. I agree. So in beach volleyball,

00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:08.700
if you are the host country and you are like,

00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:12.839
okay, for example, there's eight pools in world

00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:15.480
championships. So as the host country, if you

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:19.119
are ranked in the top eight, you get the one

00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:23.480
seed. Okay. Totally fine. If you are ranked outside

00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:26.299
or below the top eight, you take the eight seed,

00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:31.220
which I think makes so much more sense because.

00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.200
Thailand being the one seed completely messes

00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.039
up this bracket. Well, you have the top three

00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:40.160
teams from VNL all on the same side of the bracket.

00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:44.660
Which I understand part of it is due to rankings

00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:48.279
going in, blah, blah, blah. But this should not

00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.660
be the case. This should not be the case. It's

00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:54.660
not representative. You're not going to get the

00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:58.799
final that you should. Yeah. I think Thailand

00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.339
should have gone in as the eighth seed. What

00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:05.519
do I know? What do I know? Okay. Adam did some

00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.920
digging. So essentially what's happening is the

00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:11.279
pools are matched up. You have two pools that

00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:13.619
are going to play for the quarterfinals. So for

00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:18.579
example, if pool A and H are matched up, A1 will

00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:24.059
play H2 and A2 will play H1. So eight pools,

00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:27.599
two teams make it out? Correct. And so that's

00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.220
how your kind of half of the bracket works. So

00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:32.660
when I looked at the different pools, and we

00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:34.440
won't go through all of the different combinations,

00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:39.119
but what I think is going to happen is quarterfinal

00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.240
one, I think is going to be Serbia versus Japan.

00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:46.210
Now, Japan. Coming from the same pool. Yes. So

00:23:46.210 --> 00:23:48.950
Japan and Serbia, I believe, are in pool H together.

00:23:49.509 --> 00:23:52.490
They're going to cross over against pool A. And

00:23:52.490 --> 00:23:54.049
I think both of those teams are going to win.

00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:55.789
So you're going to see them play in pool play

00:23:55.789 --> 00:24:00.390
and then play in quarterfinal one. Quarterfinal

00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:05.650
two, I have USA versus Turkey coming in on that

00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:08.599
side. Who would they... Who would they potentially

00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:13.039
match up with? So you have D1 versus E2 and E1

00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:17.640
versus D2 in the round of 16. So in pool D, I

00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:20.299
think you're going to see USA finish top of that

00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:23.019
pool. They also have Czech, Argentina, and Slovenia.

00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.839
I think Czech played really well in VNL. I think

00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:30.000
it'll be between them and Argentina. for the

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.460
second place. And then in Pool E, you have Turkey

00:24:33.460 --> 00:24:36.400
versus Canada, Bulgaria, and Spain. So I think

00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.579
USA and Turkey are both going to finish top of

00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:40.400
their pools, and I think they win their crossover

00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.519
match pretty handily. I think that USA beats

00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:46.039
both Canada and Bulgaria, and I think Turkey

00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:48.559
beats either Czech or Argentina. So I think you'll

00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.640
see that in the quarterfinal. I think Turkey

00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.200
wins that match. Turkey versus USA? Yeah. Yeah,

00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:00.299
me too. So on side one of the bracket, I have

00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:04.440
Japan and Turkey in the semi. I think with the

00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:07.200
upgrades that Turkey has made, I think that Turkey

00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:08.740
will be in the final. So you think Japan is going

00:25:08.740 --> 00:25:10.980
to beat Serbia in the quarter? Yeah, and I think

00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.460
Turkey will end up beating Japan. I mean, I think

00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:17.200
it depends which Tiana Boscovich shows up. We

00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.339
three of you know she was not good, but she was

00:25:19.339 --> 00:25:24.480
also injured. Yeah, I still think Japan is the

00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.940
better team. and I think they can defend well

00:25:28.940 --> 00:25:31.160
enough. Boscovich is going to score her points,

00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:33.299
but I think with the service pressure. They need

00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.720
her hitting at a system. Yeah, so I think Japan

00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.799
takes that one, and I think they lose to Turkey.

00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:41.599
So that's my prediction on that side. Would Japan

00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:46.480
beat Turkey in the NL? They did, and I like the

00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:49.160
changes that Turkey made. I think it's going

00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:51.319
to be a good game. I think Turkey is going to

00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:54.369
come out on top this time. Dang, okay. Okay,

00:25:54.410 --> 00:25:57.329
so now we flip to the other side of the bracket.

00:25:57.430 --> 00:26:00.269
So for this one, in your round of 16, you have

00:26:00.269 --> 00:26:05.230
Pool B versus Pool G. So Pool B, you have Italy,

00:26:05.450 --> 00:26:08.049
Belgium, Cuba, Slovakia. I mean, Italy's going

00:26:08.049 --> 00:26:11.289
to win first in that pool, hands down, I think.

00:26:11.329 --> 00:26:15.730
In Pool G, we have Poland, Germany, Kenya, and

00:26:15.730 --> 00:26:19.789
Vietnam, maybe. We'll see if they're allowed

00:26:19.789 --> 00:26:22.589
to play or not. See if those U21 girls were allowed

00:26:22.589 --> 00:26:25.349
on the senior team. So, I mean, for me, I think

00:26:25.349 --> 00:26:27.569
both Italy and Poland are coming out of those

00:26:27.569 --> 00:26:30.369
matches pretty handily, regardless of who they

00:26:30.369 --> 00:26:33.049
play. I mean, Italy -Germany could be decent,

00:26:33.150 --> 00:26:37.609
but Italy's way better. So, Italy -Poland in

00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:39.970
that quarterfinal three. I think Italy ends up

00:26:39.970 --> 00:26:43.930
winning that. And then in... The last quarterfinal,

00:26:43.990 --> 00:26:48.009
you have Pool C and Pool F. So in Pool C, you

00:26:48.009 --> 00:26:51.410
have Brazil, Puerto Rico, France, and Greece,

00:26:51.529 --> 00:26:53.990
which is actually a relatively tough pool, top

00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:56.130
to bottom, I would say. I think Brazil, France

00:26:56.130 --> 00:26:58.109
are coming out of that one. Yeah, I would agree

00:26:58.109 --> 00:27:00.349
with you. And then in Pool F, we have China,

00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:02.829
Dominican, Colombia, and Mexico. I think China

00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:05.490
comes out on top with that one. I think probably

00:27:05.490 --> 00:27:08.130
Dominican comes out too in that. But I think

00:27:08.130 --> 00:27:10.690
Brazil beats Dominican, and I think China beats

00:27:10.690 --> 00:27:13.829
France. So you're going to have a Brazil -China

00:27:13.829 --> 00:27:15.769
quarterfinal. I think Brazil is going to win.

00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:19.410
I think that semifinal of Italy -Brazil is going

00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:22.190
to be the match to win the tournament. I think

00:27:22.190 --> 00:27:24.369
whoever wins that semifinal. That breaks my heart

00:27:24.369 --> 00:27:28.109
that this is how it goes. Like Italy, Poland,

00:27:28.349 --> 00:27:31.450
Brazil, China on one side of the bracket. Like

00:27:31.450 --> 00:27:36.369
this is ridiculous. So I will give the edge to

00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:38.609
Italy. I think Anna -Christina being out is a

00:27:38.609 --> 00:27:41.369
huge loss. For Brazil. Except you didn't want

00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:44.150
to put her up. I knew that was coming. Let's

00:27:44.150 --> 00:27:46.289
go back to last week's episode, top five players.

00:27:46.490 --> 00:27:50.869
You didn't want to pick her. I think Italy edges

00:27:50.869 --> 00:27:52.769
Brazil in this one, and then I think they beat

00:27:52.769 --> 00:27:56.170
Turkey. So I have Italy for winning again. I

00:27:56.170 --> 00:27:59.809
am just unwell at the discrepancy in these two

00:27:59.809 --> 00:28:04.029
sides of the bracket. Yeah. This is why I hate

00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:07.690
that they pick these pools so early. Do you disagree

00:28:07.690 --> 00:28:10.769
with any of my thoughts? I don't disagree. I

00:28:10.769 --> 00:28:14.470
think the China -France game has the potential

00:28:14.470 --> 00:28:16.869
to be better than you're letting on. I think

00:28:16.869 --> 00:28:20.410
the Brazil -China match has the potential to

00:28:20.410 --> 00:28:23.690
be better than you're letting on. I'm not saying

00:28:23.690 --> 00:28:25.529
that you're wrong. I agree with your final result.

00:28:25.670 --> 00:28:28.990
But I'm like, maybe something spicy will happen.

00:28:29.009 --> 00:28:30.890
There's always a chance that something spicy.

00:28:31.069 --> 00:28:33.730
You're playing one match to go on. So you think

00:28:33.730 --> 00:28:36.269
Italy -Turkey in the final? I think Italy -Turkey

00:28:36.269 --> 00:28:41.269
in the final. Oh, baby. I'll go, just to be different

00:28:41.269 --> 00:28:44.190
from you, I'll go Italy -Japan. I mean, I would

00:28:44.190 --> 00:28:47.150
say that is the match that I'm kind of the least

00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:52.190
sure about. Japan -Turkey? Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay,

00:28:52.329 --> 00:28:54.349
heard it here first. Adam's predictions of how

00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:57.789
world championships will shake out. I'm sure

00:28:57.789 --> 00:28:59.349
you guys have a lot of thoughts. I'm sure you

00:28:59.349 --> 00:29:02.190
have a lot of opinions on this. Can't wait to

00:29:02.190 --> 00:29:05.269
hear them. Take a look at the rundown, the breakdown,

00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:07.230
and let us know who you think are going to be

00:29:07.230 --> 00:29:11.000
in the final. Moving on to the NCAA preseason.

00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:18.000
Oh, boy. On August 6th, the ABCA announced their

00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:24.839
rankings, their preseason rankings. So there's

00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:27.079
so much that we could potentially talk about

00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:29.220
here. But we're going to go through the top 10.

00:29:30.429 --> 00:29:34.670
So Nebraska went in, preseason voted number one.

00:29:34.769 --> 00:29:38.690
They were given 40 votes overall by the ABCA

00:29:38.690 --> 00:29:41.269
committee. Penn State came in number two with

00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:44.650
21 votes. Those two were the only ones who got

00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:49.009
votes. Okay, so we got Nebraska, then Penn State,

00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:56.390
Pitt, Louisville, Texas, Stanford at six, Kentucky,

00:29:56.710 --> 00:30:03.279
Wisconsin. Texas A &M and SMU. We, Adam, took

00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:07.920
a look. I say we. It was Adam. Took a look at

00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.980
all of these top 10 teams. Did a little analysis

00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:15.720
on who left the program, whether by graduation,

00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:19.420
transfer, whatever. Who they have coming in.

00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:23.440
And we have a few thoughts. With a new portal,

00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:25.799
there's always lots of movement. Lots of freshmen

00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:29.599
coming in. lots of people leaving. So I don't

00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:31.400
want to spend two hours going over all of the

00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:33.400
roster changes, but for the top 10 programs,

00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:35.880
I want to go over, I want to highlight who's

00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:39.019
coming in. We'll highlight some of the major

00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:41.180
pieces that left, and then we can talk about

00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:44.819
whether we think that their team is better or

00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:47.460
worse than last year, and then maybe conclude

00:30:47.460 --> 00:30:49.660
with a, do we agree with the top 10 ranking?

00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:52.660
Okay. Okay, so let's start with Nebraska. And

00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:55.319
we'll start with which athletes are no longer

00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:57.480
part of the program. We're not going to go over

00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.460
every single one. We're talking like we're going

00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:02.480
to hit the highlights here. Yeah, so out for

00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.440
Nebraska, you have Lexi Rodriguez. You have Kennedy

00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.859
Orr. You have Merritt Beeson and Lindsey Krause.

00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:13.819
So you lost some starters there. I don't think

00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:17.259
they lost. You lost one and a half starters.

00:31:18.399 --> 00:31:21.039
Fair. And one and a half, I mean, Rodriguez and

00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.519
Beeson because Beeson disappeared. Yes. And Krause

00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:26.579
was coming off the bench most of the time there.

00:31:26.779 --> 00:31:30.579
She started the season and then, yeah. So they

00:31:30.579 --> 00:31:32.579
have some very good replacements for Alexi Rodriguez.

00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:34.700
So I don't think that drop off is going to be

00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:37.299
massive. And they brought in some really good

00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:39.980
freshmen. So I think they're going to be just

00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:44.970
fine. They have seven freshmen. coming in one

00:31:44.970 --> 00:31:47.069
of those is an international player she's an

00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:50.609
opposite from italy virginia adriano i think

00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:53.450
she's going to be very good they have three freshmen

00:31:53.450 --> 00:31:57.869
on the under armor watch list for all americans

00:31:57.869 --> 00:32:00.630
all americans and again you don't without putting

00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:02.289
eyes on these kids you don't know how good they're

00:32:02.289 --> 00:32:04.490
going to be and there's all kinds of polls and

00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:07.579
rankings for freshmen so we're not going to highlight

00:32:07.579 --> 00:32:10.180
everyone but three off that list and I think

00:32:10.180 --> 00:32:12.400
they had 28 athletes total so they got some really

00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:14.779
good recruits coming in and they have Ali Shek

00:32:14.779 --> 00:32:19.039
who came in from Baylor so I actually think they're

00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.400
going to be better this year than they were last

00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:23.660
year. Well, they definitely upgraded on the right

00:32:23.660 --> 00:32:26.759
side with Adriano and Sigler. A little bit of

00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:29.099
controversy going on of who's going to play.

00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:31.460
Whatever. We'll see how that breaks down. But

00:32:31.460 --> 00:32:33.019
they also brought in the Gatorade National Player

00:32:33.019 --> 00:32:34.819
of the Year in Campbell Flynn, who's a setter.

00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:38.500
So, again, I know you guys have watched the alumni

00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:40.420
match. I know you've watched the red -white scrimmage.

00:32:40.500 --> 00:32:43.220
I know you've watched a lot of stuff. I wouldn't

00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:47.400
be—I haven't, so lay off me if I'm wrong. I wouldn't

00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:49.619
be shocked if they run a 6 -2 with these two

00:32:49.619 --> 00:32:52.279
opposites and these two really good setters.

00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:55.319
So you think Campbell Flynn will attack? No,

00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:56.900
I think they're going to have Campbell Flynn

00:32:56.900 --> 00:32:58.720
and Bergen -Riley setting, and they're going

00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.700
to have Adriano and Sigler on the right side

00:33:00.700 --> 00:33:04.960
and just run a completely flop 6 -2. I mean,

00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:08.140
I don't see a huge drop -off from last year.

00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:11.440
Honestly, with Olivia Mouch and Laney Choboy,

00:33:11.640 --> 00:33:14.079
I know Lexi Rodriguez is a fan favorite. I know

00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:17.680
she was very good, but you're not. The drop -off

00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:20.000
isn't as big as people think it is. So I think

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:22.940
that Nebraska got much better. Yeah, I would

00:33:22.940 --> 00:33:25.259
agree. What do you think? Is there going to be

00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:27.160
a coach bump? Is there going to be transition?

00:33:27.640 --> 00:33:30.319
Do you think there's going to, does that make

00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:32.440
a difference at all in your mind? I think they'll

00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:35.339
be okay. Let's go to Penn State, number two.

00:33:35.579 --> 00:33:40.880
And they lost. Everybody. Yes. Painful to look

00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:43.720
at this on paper. So out are Taylor Trammell,

00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:48.009
Cameron Hanna. Jess Merzik, and Quinn Menger.

00:33:48.309 --> 00:33:50.890
Among others, but those are the big ones. Yeah.

00:33:51.349 --> 00:33:55.470
You've got a whole outside core to replace on

00:33:55.470 --> 00:33:59.569
this team. So coming in, you have five freshmen,

00:33:59.789 --> 00:34:03.630
good players, but I wouldn't say standouts from

00:34:03.630 --> 00:34:05.910
what I could see on the list. So they're going

00:34:05.910 --> 00:34:08.849
to make a difference kind of down the road, but

00:34:08.849 --> 00:34:11.250
maybe not impact players right away. Now you

00:34:11.250 --> 00:34:14.250
did bring in two really good players in Kennedy

00:34:14.250 --> 00:34:16.849
Martin. who will play on the right side, and

00:34:16.849 --> 00:34:20.510
Emmy Selman. From Ohio State. From Ohio State.

00:34:20.670 --> 00:34:26.789
So you have two players coming in. I really liked

00:34:26.789 --> 00:34:29.789
Emmy Selman at Ohio State. I think she has a

00:34:29.789 --> 00:34:31.969
good future ahead of her. Kennedy Martin, obviously

00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:34.670
very good. But I'm not sure. I think they're

00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:37.239
taking a step back here. I mean, Emmy Selman

00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:40.380
has potential, but was she amazing last year?

00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:42.719
No, I think she definitely needs to improve.

00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:47.059
I think offensively, could Kennedy Martin match

00:34:47.059 --> 00:34:50.360
Jess Merzik offensively? I think we could definitely

00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:53.300
make an argument for that. Emmy Selman, Cameron

00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:56.119
Hanna, we'll see how Selman has developed over

00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.900
the summer and over the offseason, but you're

00:34:58.900 --> 00:35:01.880
losing a really good middle. Not sure how that's

00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:04.159
going to look. My instinct is that they took

00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:07.360
a little step back. I was a little surprised

00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:09.840
to see them at two. I'm surprised that they got

00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:13.320
a third of the votes for first. The Kennedy -Martin

00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:15.800
move? The Kennedy -Martin put them in the conversation

00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:20.460
for sure. I think there's going to be some issues

00:35:20.460 --> 00:35:23.239
around the ball. That's where they're going to

00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:27.099
take their step back. So we'll see. I mean, they

00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:29.619
still have Izzy Stark's setting, which I think

00:35:29.619 --> 00:35:31.869
is also... she's probably going to be one of

00:35:31.869 --> 00:35:33.030
the best setters. But what are you going to do?

00:35:33.070 --> 00:35:35.269
Are you going to move Caroline Jurevicius over?

00:35:35.530 --> 00:35:37.429
Because you lost both of your left sides. You

00:35:37.429 --> 00:35:40.070
replaced one with Selman. Are you going to bring

00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:43.449
a bench player? Are you going to slide Jurevicius

00:35:43.449 --> 00:35:46.030
over? Because let me tell you, Kennedy Martin's

00:35:46.030 --> 00:35:49.130
starting on the right side. Correct. Or like

00:35:49.130 --> 00:35:52.590
a fresh, what is happening here? Yeah. So I think

00:35:52.590 --> 00:35:58.170
ball control and putting Izzy Stark in a position

00:35:58.170 --> 00:36:01.679
where she can be successful. might be a little

00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:03.380
bit of an issue, at least at the start before

00:36:03.380 --> 00:36:04.500
they get second. Well, they weren't great at

00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:06.460
passing last year. Like, Mirzik is not a great

00:36:06.460 --> 00:36:08.619
passer. Yeah, she got you out of trouble, though.

00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:10.780
Well, that's the thing. Kennedy Martin needs

00:36:10.780 --> 00:36:12.760
to be able to score, like, out of system. Yeah.

00:36:13.539 --> 00:36:17.260
So I'm curious to see what decisions they make

00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:20.139
on the outside and what the ball control looks

00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:23.500
like. All right, let's look at Pitt, who also...

00:36:24.090 --> 00:36:27.809
lost a ton of players out is valeria vasquez

00:36:27.809 --> 00:36:32.869
gomez out is cat flood tory stafford rachel fairbanks

00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:36.329
emmy clicker they lost a few other seniors and

00:36:36.329 --> 00:36:38.710
players as well but that's i mean you're turning

00:36:38.710 --> 00:36:41.969
over almost a roster there you have your middles

00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:45.760
and right side yes so they have Four freshmen

00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:49.079
coming in. Again, none of them on kind of that

00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:53.519
top list. So I'm not sure those freshmen are

00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:57.219
stepping in and taking a spot right away. You

00:36:57.219 --> 00:36:59.219
have Sophia Gregoire coming in as an outside

00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:02.719
hitter from Oregon. And Brooke Mosher, who's

00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:05.619
a setter from Illinois. But I just don't, like,

00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:07.699
who's replacing Tori Stafford? Who's setting

00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:10.619
for you over Rachel Fairbanks? Stafford is a

00:37:10.619 --> 00:37:14.019
massive hole to fill. Fairbanks is a massive

00:37:14.019 --> 00:37:18.579
hole to fill. Klicka was very good. Yeah, I don't.

00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:22.739
I see them taking a step back. I think they're

00:37:22.739 --> 00:37:24.599
taking a bigger step back than Penn State. I

00:37:24.599 --> 00:37:27.840
would agree with you. There was a swagger to

00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:30.440
Pitt with some of their players last year. Well,

00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:32.500
I still got those swaggy girls back. Like Bree

00:37:32.500 --> 00:37:36.960
Kelly, their middles had some swagger, and I

00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:39.460
loved it. Olivia Babcock, Player of the Year

00:37:39.460 --> 00:37:45.539
for a reason. An even bigger load. Yeah. Hopefully.

00:37:45.940 --> 00:37:48.559
And what does their setting look like? How do

00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:50.480
you replace Rachel Fairbanks? That's the big

00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:54.260
question mark for me. So we'll see what Pitt

00:37:54.260 --> 00:37:56.900
does and how their offense looks without Fairbanks.

00:37:57.139 --> 00:38:00.980
All right, moving on to Louisville. Also turning

00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:04.920
over pretty much their whole roster. Out is Charity

00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:10.030
Looper. Ellie Glock, Sophia Maldonado, PK, Anna

00:38:10.030 --> 00:38:13.309
DeBeer, Elena Scott. Like, you lost. Their whole

00:38:13.309 --> 00:38:15.789
roster. Talk about losing. All the starters.

00:38:16.170 --> 00:38:20.170
Yeah, your identity. That's crazy. So they have

00:38:20.170 --> 00:38:24.630
four freshmen coming in. One Under Armour kind

00:38:24.630 --> 00:38:27.929
of announced player. Yeah, Chloe Meester has

00:38:27.929 --> 00:38:29.869
some hype around her. And then they have a middle

00:38:29.869 --> 00:38:33.150
blocker, Kalissa, who's coming in. And she's

00:38:33.150 --> 00:38:36.130
got... kind of an aura around her as well. So

00:38:36.130 --> 00:38:38.809
she could potentially be good. Now they do have

00:38:38.809 --> 00:38:42.369
Chloe Chacon coming in from Purdue. So I think

00:38:42.369 --> 00:38:45.309
that's a good addition for them. And they have

00:38:45.309 --> 00:38:48.309
Molly Wilson coming in from Washington, which

00:38:48.309 --> 00:38:52.630
is... In the setting position? Yeah. So we'll

00:38:52.630 --> 00:38:56.610
see. But I don't... I mean, you have two outsides.

00:38:56.610 --> 00:39:00.090
If you want to start Meester, Meester Chacon

00:39:00.090 --> 00:39:04.480
could be your two outsides. Are we at the same

00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:09.860
level as a looper DeBeer? I don't know how fast

00:39:09.860 --> 00:39:14.699
Meester will adjust. Chacoin, you can see similarities

00:39:14.699 --> 00:39:17.179
between Chacoin and those outsides that Louisville

00:39:17.179 --> 00:39:21.820
had last year. But you're missing Pique. I'm

00:39:21.820 --> 00:39:25.320
going to guess we're going to see a 5 -1 with

00:39:25.320 --> 00:39:27.400
Cabello this year. And last year they ran the

00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:32.760
6 -2. Losing Maldonado Diaz. Is huge. Do I think

00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:35.679
Reese Robbins is the answer on the right side?

00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:37.980
Maybe in the front row. I don't know how effective

00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:41.480
she'll be in the back row. No, I'm not sure for

00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:43.679
a whole season if she's the focal point. I'm

00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:47.239
not convinced. Well, to me, the bigger miss is

00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:50.500
you've lost the fabric of this team. With Elena

00:39:50.500 --> 00:39:54.579
Scott and Anna DeBeer leaving, your coach leaving,

00:39:54.780 --> 00:39:58.460
there's going to be... kind of a hole in terms

00:39:58.460 --> 00:40:01.219
of that leadership and so it'll be interesting

00:40:01.219 --> 00:40:05.260
to see what the identity of that team is coming

00:40:05.260 --> 00:40:08.360
out of those changes honestly though i don't

00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:10.659
hate this i mean i don't think that they've taken

00:40:10.659 --> 00:40:13.719
as much of a dip as penn state or pit i agree

00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:19.519
i agree but you again they were gritty they were

00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:23.539
fun to watch i feel like louisville has never

00:40:24.400 --> 00:40:28.159
they don't necessarily draw in the blue chip

00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:32.420
players. They draw in the players who are solid,

00:40:32.980 --> 00:40:38.380
but they build a solid culture and identity around

00:40:38.380 --> 00:40:45.539
the 1B recruits. So yeah, I agree with you that

00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:49.000
missing those two players who are a foundation

00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:52.809
of that culture is... Well, the intangible things

00:40:52.809 --> 00:40:55.130
are what are in question for Louisville for me.

00:40:55.250 --> 00:40:58.050
Yeah, and I'm curious to see, you know, you lose

00:40:58.050 --> 00:41:00.449
your head coach in Danny. Like, how much of that

00:41:00.449 --> 00:41:03.329
was driven by her? Do you lose that? You're obviously

00:41:03.329 --> 00:41:05.510
going to have, again, maybe a different outlook,

00:41:05.610 --> 00:41:08.769
a different focus with a new coach there. Yeah,

00:41:09.349 --> 00:41:13.070
I think they can still be very good. I'm curious

00:41:13.070 --> 00:41:15.550
to see what the style of play looks like and

00:41:15.550 --> 00:41:18.619
if it changes. All right, so let's look at Texas.

00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:20.260
You'll have to forgive me. I'm going to need

00:41:20.260 --> 00:41:22.739
to scroll up and down my sheet for this one.

00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:30.760
We had a ton of players leave Texas. So I'm not

00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:32.400
going to go over them all, but the big ones out

00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:35.840
are Madison Skinner. Out is Reagan Rutherford.

00:41:35.860 --> 00:41:39.920
Out is Mariana Singletary. Keone Akana, out.

00:41:40.059 --> 00:41:45.159
Jenna Wennis, out. Avery Carlson, out. That's

00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:47.539
a lot of players, and there's still a whole bunch

00:41:47.539 --> 00:41:51.179
that we didn't mention. Now, that being said,

00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:54.900
Texas had a serious pull in the recruiting class

00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:57.820
this year. They always do. So does Nebraska.

00:41:58.239 --> 00:41:59.860
They have the benefit of, you know, the ones

00:41:59.860 --> 00:42:01.280
who turn out, they'll keep and they'll be very

00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:02.500
good, and the other ones will leave because they

00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:05.380
want to play. But they pulled in five freshmen

00:42:05.380 --> 00:42:10.519
this year. Four of them are on the... Under Armour

00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:13.300
list, and they're very, very good. So they've

00:42:13.300 --> 00:42:16.900
got an outside hitter, a middle blocker, a libero

00:42:16.900 --> 00:42:19.559
DS, and another outside hitter coming in. They

00:42:19.559 --> 00:42:22.159
have a libero coming in from Serbia, who's a

00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:24.559
junior. They also pulled Torrey Stafford, who

00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:26.780
was the biggest off -season acquisition from

00:42:26.780 --> 00:42:30.980
Pitt. So, I mean, Texas is always going to have

00:42:30.980 --> 00:42:36.320
stud athletes. They come, they go, they're always

00:42:36.320 --> 00:42:39.440
going to be physical. I'm curious. You lose Maddie

00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:43.340
Skinner. Do you have somebody who's that good?

00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:48.699
Tori Stafford? Better passer. Yep, that's fair.

00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:51.940
They'll probably run a 5 -1 this year. Well,

00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:54.260
Alice Wendell better be better than she was last

00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:56.860
year, or this is not going to be good. That is

00:42:56.860 --> 00:43:00.199
probably, you know, I'm assuming that out of

00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:01.539
all of the players they brought in, they're going

00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:03.880
to find some people who settle in and play the

00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:06.559
style well. They lost a lot, though. They lost

00:43:06.559 --> 00:43:09.079
their two starting outsides, their starting right

00:43:09.079 --> 00:43:11.820
side, one of two because they ran that 6 -2 for

00:43:11.820 --> 00:43:15.320
a while. One of two opposites, one of their two

00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:19.639
middles, like one of their two setters from that

00:43:19.639 --> 00:43:24.380
6 -2. So Tori Stafford steps in. Okay, are you

00:43:24.380 --> 00:43:27.820
going to – Devin Kahawai, is she your answer

00:43:27.820 --> 00:43:30.539
for the whole season? And then, I mean, you brought

00:43:30.539 --> 00:43:35.679
in a top -recruited middle. If it breaks down,

00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:37.679
it breaks down at the setting. I thought Texas

00:43:37.679 --> 00:43:41.860
looked rough last year, honestly. So I'm not,

00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:44.440
even though they did lose a big chunk of their

00:43:44.440 --> 00:43:48.579
starting lineup, I'm not as worried about them

00:43:48.579 --> 00:43:52.800
as I am about Pitt. Yeah, they've got enough

00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:56.659
talent that it'll figure itself out. But the

00:43:56.659 --> 00:43:59.389
question mark will be. I think how far they go

00:43:59.389 --> 00:44:01.010
is going to be based on how their setting is.

00:44:01.070 --> 00:44:03.650
I feel like this is another wash situation similar

00:44:03.650 --> 00:44:07.230
to Louisville. All right, let's move on to Stanford.

00:44:07.530 --> 00:44:10.809
A couple big losses here. Out is Kami Miner,

00:44:10.849 --> 00:44:15.789
Elena Ogilvie, and Sammy Francis. Francis and

00:44:15.789 --> 00:44:20.869
Miner are massive hits. Yes. They also have a

00:44:20.869 --> 00:44:22.929
pretty spectacular recruiting class. So they

00:44:22.929 --> 00:44:26.639
did well. They got six freshmen coming in. Three

00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:30.599
of them Under Armour -recognized players in a

00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:34.139
libero, a middle, and then an opposite setter.

00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:38.639
They also have Logan Tushar, who I believe played

00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:40.760
beach for them last year as a freshman, who's

00:44:40.760 --> 00:44:44.400
coming to play indoor as a setter. It's obviously

00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:48.059
clear they don't have a one -to -one replacement

00:44:48.059 --> 00:44:52.840
for Kami Miner. So I think... I think Stanford's

00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:54.860
going to be fine, but I think it's going to take

00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:58.059
them a while to figure out who's going to set

00:44:58.059 --> 00:45:01.219
for them. So I can see them dropping early as

00:45:01.219 --> 00:45:03.239
they rotate through setters and try and figure

00:45:03.239 --> 00:45:06.139
out who's going to play there. And then I think

00:45:06.139 --> 00:45:08.420
they'll be good come tournament time. Again,

00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:12.059
you are missing Sammy Francis, who I think is

00:45:12.059 --> 00:45:14.539
really good. So you're going to need to find

00:45:14.539 --> 00:45:17.519
an answer for that. But again, they have some

00:45:17.519 --> 00:45:20.360
good players coming in. We'll see who kind of

00:45:20.360 --> 00:45:23.579
steps up. Again, I think early drop as they figure

00:45:23.579 --> 00:45:25.739
it out, but I think they'll hit the tournament

00:45:25.739 --> 00:45:29.679
in stride. Moving to Kentucky, and I actually,

00:45:29.739 --> 00:45:32.599
I like their offseason, to be honest. Out is

00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:37.159
Megan Wilson, Emma Grom, and Erin Lamb. And in

00:45:37.159 --> 00:45:41.559
is three freshmen. Again, all of these players

00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:44.659
are good, but nobody like tier one, I don't believe.

00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:48.360
Coming in is Eva Hudson from Purdue, Lizzie Carr

00:45:48.360 --> 00:45:52.500
from Purdue, and coming in is Molly Berevowitz

00:45:52.500 --> 00:45:56.679
from Marquette, who's a DS. I think you're getting

00:45:56.679 --> 00:46:01.280
an upgrade off of Lam from Eva Hudson. Again,

00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:03.699
it's like the setters, the senior setters that

00:46:03.699 --> 00:46:10.119
graduate are leaving holes. Like, are you going

00:46:10.119 --> 00:46:14.699
to find a solid replacement for Grom? I think

00:46:14.699 --> 00:46:17.239
they are going to be completely fine, but that

00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:19.980
is my question for them. Yeah, and obviously

00:46:19.980 --> 00:46:22.679
you have setters who are training in practice.

00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:24.880
They know your systems, but you're touching the

00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:28.000
ball every rally. And how consistent are you

00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:29.880
going to be? What are you going to do after 20?

00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:33.119
You have to show me what's going to happen for

00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:35.059
those players. So, I mean, they're not the only

00:46:35.059 --> 00:46:36.880
ones in that situation, and we'll see how the

00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:42.559
replacements look. Okay. This. This is maybe

00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:46.320
a tire fire. I'm not even sure where to start

00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:49.760
here. Okay, let's go down the list of players

00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:53.539
who have left Wisconsin. I think it's easier

00:46:53.539 --> 00:46:56.619
to say whose state. Well, you know what? I took

00:46:56.619 --> 00:46:58.340
the time to write down all the names, so I'm

00:46:58.340 --> 00:47:01.280
going to read them off. Players of note. Sage

00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:05.460
Damero, out. CeCe Crawford, out. Devin Robinson,

00:47:05.699 --> 00:47:10.539
out. Sarah Franklin, out. Anna Smrek, out. Gulce

00:47:10.539 --> 00:47:16.280
Guchtikin, out. Julia Orzel, out. Layla Schumacher,

00:47:16.460 --> 00:47:19.519
out. I mean, you've turned over. This is just

00:47:19.519 --> 00:47:23.579
wild. Them and SMU and Texas just turn style.

00:47:23.699 --> 00:47:26.760
You lost your entire roster of players who you

00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:30.679
even use, except for Charlie Furbringer and Carter

00:47:30.679 --> 00:47:32.719
Booth. They have five freshmen coming in. Two

00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:35.280
of them are Under Armour athletes. Another one

00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:38.480
was number 17 on the prep volleyball list. So,

00:47:38.500 --> 00:47:42.400
again. Wisconsin never lacks for talent and physical

00:47:42.400 --> 00:47:44.659
athletes. They're a good enough program that

00:47:44.659 --> 00:47:48.280
they can bring people in. They also have Mimi

00:47:48.280 --> 00:47:50.980
Collier coming in from Oregon. You have Alicia

00:47:50.980 --> 00:47:53.380
Andrew coming in from Baylor. You have Grace

00:47:53.380 --> 00:47:55.579
Lopez coming in from Miami. Who's injured and

00:47:55.579 --> 00:47:57.800
won't play. Yeah, so that doesn't help you this

00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:01.300
year. Grace Egan from Ohio State. So I think

00:48:01.300 --> 00:48:03.800
they were really counting on Grace Lopez being

00:48:03.800 --> 00:48:06.000
able to play. That was a big pickup, so that's

00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:07.719
going to hurt them now. Well, they're looking

00:48:07.719 --> 00:48:10.300
at Mimi Collier to be Sarah Franklin's replacement,

00:48:10.539 --> 00:48:16.340
for sure. And Egan to be Orzel. You're replacing

00:48:16.340 --> 00:48:21.219
a lot of high -level players with players you're

00:48:21.219 --> 00:48:25.599
not sure can be those. And we'll see. I mean,

00:48:25.619 --> 00:48:27.880
they're pretty confident in their DS. They sent

00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:31.400
Lola Schumacher away to play this girl. So they're

00:48:31.400 --> 00:48:35.099
pretty confident that their DS is it. I mean,

00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:39.280
they had DS issues last year with concussions

00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:45.840
and injuries and swapping. Passing. I don't know

00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:47.760
what's going to happen here. This might be the

00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:51.400
biggest question mark for me. All my thing is,

00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:54.280
did you develop any of your bench players? Because

00:48:54.280 --> 00:49:03.900
you were starting almost all seniors. I think

00:49:03.900 --> 00:49:07.139
Wisconsin is going to struggle this year. I think

00:49:07.139 --> 00:49:11.940
massive downgrade. They got way worse. I totally

00:49:11.940 --> 00:49:13.980
agree. There's only one team we've gone over

00:49:13.980 --> 00:49:16.340
so far that I'm like, they've gotten better.

00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:20.340
We have some neutrals. We have some way worse,

00:49:20.559 --> 00:49:22.639
but only one. Okay, but we have to go through

00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:25.420
two more. Yeah, we'll talk about that at the

00:49:25.420 --> 00:49:29.880
end. So Texas A &M, next one on the list. They

00:49:29.880 --> 00:49:32.599
didn't lose a ton of players. Out is Ita Lapoyo.

00:49:32.820 --> 00:49:35.139
She was an opposite, a registered sophomore.

00:49:35.500 --> 00:49:38.320
Molly Brown, middle blocker, also out. They lost

00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:40.619
a couple other players who didn't generally play.

00:49:40.840 --> 00:49:44.679
So not massive losses for the program. They have

00:49:44.679 --> 00:49:48.559
five freshmen. coming in, and Kendall Stowers

00:49:48.559 --> 00:49:53.639
from Baylor. They're freshmen, not, you know,

00:49:53.639 --> 00:49:58.079
again, top tier, but good players. I'm calling

00:49:58.079 --> 00:50:00.699
this a wash. Yeah, they didn't lose a ton. You

00:50:00.699 --> 00:50:02.980
kept your stars. Maybe a couple of your freshmen

00:50:02.980 --> 00:50:06.780
hit, you know, later on in the season. So totally

00:50:06.780 --> 00:50:10.179
fine for them. And then I didn't know where to

00:50:10.179 --> 00:50:13.780
go with SMU. I didn't feel like. They only have

00:50:13.780 --> 00:50:16.000
three players. Literally the same situation as

00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:18.300
Wisconsin where their whole roster was seniors

00:50:18.300 --> 00:50:22.179
and they left. Yeah. So I think they have, you

00:50:22.179 --> 00:50:25.840
know, we gave SMU a hard time last year for only

00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:28.920
bringing in seniors. I think they have like six

00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:31.420
freshmen. coming in this year. So it looks like

00:50:31.420 --> 00:50:33.420
they're starting to build maybe some of their

00:50:33.420 --> 00:50:35.360
own. Well, they got Avery Carlson from Texas.

00:50:35.599 --> 00:50:37.800
They did get Avery Carlson from Texas. The only

00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:40.599
players returning. And some USC girls. Yes. So

00:50:40.599 --> 00:50:42.340
they did bring in some transfers. So the freshmen

00:50:42.340 --> 00:50:44.079
don't necessarily have to start right away. Shocker.

00:50:44.139 --> 00:50:46.400
That's what SMU does. Right. They bring in transfers.

00:50:46.699 --> 00:50:49.460
But the only three players who are back are Casey

00:50:49.460 --> 00:50:53.360
Batenhorst, Natalia Newsome, and Gentry Lamiard.

00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:56.019
So the only one that really did anything was

00:50:56.019 --> 00:50:58.380
Batenhorst, and she came in mostly as a serving

00:50:58.380 --> 00:51:01.409
sub. So you're seeing a brand new role. I don't

00:51:01.409 --> 00:51:03.510
even know how to look at this team. I don't know

00:51:03.510 --> 00:51:06.630
how they got ranked top 10. I mean, I feel like

00:51:06.630 --> 00:51:11.090
a lot of these rankings are based on last year's

00:51:11.090 --> 00:51:14.070
past performance. Yeah, when you lose your entire

00:51:14.070 --> 00:51:18.969
roster, how are you in the top 10? I mean, a

00:51:18.969 --> 00:51:21.789
lot of these programs are still going to be competitive

00:51:21.789 --> 00:51:25.550
because they have good athletes that are here,

00:51:25.650 --> 00:51:29.219
that come in, that have replacements. Nobody

00:51:29.219 --> 00:51:31.800
else is taking huge jumps. You're still going

00:51:31.800 --> 00:51:35.300
to be competitive, I think. Where are your biggest

00:51:35.300 --> 00:51:38.260
misses in the top 10? Who do you think is going

00:51:38.260 --> 00:51:39.860
to drop? Where do you think that's going to go?

00:51:40.519 --> 00:51:43.900
Okay, so I said this a couple minutes ago. The

00:51:43.900 --> 00:51:46.960
only team that I think really did an upgrade

00:51:46.960 --> 00:51:51.139
was Nebraska. Come at me. Tell me that it's because

00:51:51.139 --> 00:51:53.699
I went to Nebraska. It's not. I'm pretty objective.

00:51:55.000 --> 00:52:00.719
I think. The teams that I think stayed neutral

00:52:00.719 --> 00:52:05.280
or awash with the potential to improve as their

00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:09.579
young players gain experience are Louisville,

00:52:09.699 --> 00:52:15.840
Texas, Stanford, Kentucky, A &M, neutrals. And

00:52:15.840 --> 00:52:17.760
the ones that I think are going to take a bit

00:52:17.760 --> 00:52:19.840
of a hit, I think Penn State fans are going to

00:52:19.840 --> 00:52:23.860
be mad at me. But Penn State, Pitt, Wisconsin,

00:52:24.159 --> 00:52:28.599
and SMU. I agree with Nebraska being number one.

00:52:28.619 --> 00:52:31.039
I think their pickups far outweighed what they

00:52:31.039 --> 00:52:35.099
lost. I probably would have put Louisville a

00:52:35.099 --> 00:52:37.619
little higher because some of the players they

00:52:37.619 --> 00:52:41.039
brought in have experience and the committee

00:52:41.039 --> 00:52:44.519
knows them. Probably would have put Kentucky

00:52:44.519 --> 00:52:48.000
a little bit higher. I would have dropped Pitt

00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:50.679
below three and I would have dropped Wisconsin.

00:52:51.219 --> 00:52:54.699
I'm not convinced. Yeah, what do you think? Yeah,

00:52:54.739 --> 00:52:57.239
I think Penn State stayed at two in my opinion

00:52:57.239 --> 00:52:58.820
because they picked up Kennedy Martin. I think

00:52:58.820 --> 00:52:59.940
next to Troy Stafford, she was the biggest. I

00:52:59.940 --> 00:53:01.679
don't think they should be two. I think Louisville

00:53:01.679 --> 00:53:03.639
deserves to be two. No, I'm saying I think that's

00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:05.599
why she was still there. I mean, Kennedy Martin

00:53:05.599 --> 00:53:08.780
is a fantastic player. I really like her. But

00:53:08.780 --> 00:53:11.219
again, you're moving to a new conference. You

00:53:11.219 --> 00:53:13.960
have generally bigger athletes here. I'm curious

00:53:13.960 --> 00:53:17.360
to see how that goes for her. You lost your outside

00:53:17.360 --> 00:53:20.019
core, you know, so I'm curious how the passing

00:53:20.019 --> 00:53:23.320
is going to go. Can I see them? Getting there

00:53:23.320 --> 00:53:27.179
and being a top team, absolutely. But I think

00:53:27.179 --> 00:53:28.460
they're going to have to settle in. But as a

00:53:28.460 --> 00:53:31.260
preseason ranking. Yeah, I agree. You know, I

00:53:31.260 --> 00:53:34.860
think Stanford is going to drop out of the top

00:53:34.860 --> 00:53:37.619
10 in the preseason. And then I think they'll

00:53:37.619 --> 00:53:40.559
work their way back in as the season goes. I

00:53:40.559 --> 00:53:42.119
think replacing Kami Miner is going to be really

00:53:42.119 --> 00:53:44.699
tough for them. I don't think Wisconsin and SMU,

00:53:44.800 --> 00:53:47.380
again, the teams with that much turnover, they're

00:53:47.380 --> 00:53:49.239
going to drop. They're going to lose games. But

00:53:49.239 --> 00:53:52.179
not like a Texas turnover. Like, Texas turnover

00:53:52.179 --> 00:53:54.920
is like, let's just lose half of our players

00:53:54.920 --> 00:53:57.760
and bring in everybody else. Yeah, but Texas

00:53:57.760 --> 00:54:00.440
pulls different. No, that's what I'm saying.

00:54:00.699 --> 00:54:03.019
It's a different type of turnover. Like, Wisconsin

00:54:03.019 --> 00:54:05.019
and SMU lost players, and you're like, well,

00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:07.980
now what? Yes. But Texas is like, okay, I can

00:54:07.980 --> 00:54:11.619
see the vision here. Yeah. And did you lose Maddie

00:54:11.619 --> 00:54:13.599
Skinner? Yes. Are you going to find another Maddie

00:54:13.599 --> 00:54:17.179
Skinner? No, but you're going to have, it's kind

00:54:17.179 --> 00:54:18.920
of like the Lexi Rodriguez drop -off. You have

00:54:18.920 --> 00:54:22.500
enough athletes where you're going to, yes, maybe

00:54:22.500 --> 00:54:25.539
you lose two or three points a set, but you have

00:54:25.539 --> 00:54:27.840
other people who are stepping up and maybe able

00:54:27.840 --> 00:54:31.380
to do that. So those would be kind of my initial

00:54:31.380 --> 00:54:34.260
thoughts looking at that list. So just quickly,

00:54:34.380 --> 00:54:38.389
we'll touch on this. If you are curious about

00:54:38.389 --> 00:54:42.730
how some of these top -ranked teams look early

00:54:42.730 --> 00:54:46.329
on, AVCA First Serve, which is like the highlight

00:54:46.329 --> 00:54:50.110
preseason opening event, is happening this weekend.

00:54:50.550 --> 00:54:54.429
We have doubleheaders every night, Friday, Saturday,

00:54:54.570 --> 00:54:58.349
Sunday, Monday. So good. Lincoln, Nebraska is

00:54:58.349 --> 00:55:01.210
hosting Friday through Sunday, and then the Monday

00:55:01.210 --> 00:55:05.019
matches are in South Dakota. Why? Beats me. So

00:55:05.019 --> 00:55:08.219
the teams that are participating in this tournament

00:55:08.219 --> 00:55:12.579
are Nebraska, Pitt, Penn State, Florida, Stanford,

00:55:12.900 --> 00:55:17.739
Kansas, Creighton, Minnesota, Texas A &M, and

00:55:17.739 --> 00:55:21.900
Vanderbilt. Who are you most curious to see?

00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:26.219
Like right off the bat, new roster. Pick three,

00:55:26.320 --> 00:55:28.400
because I know who I want to see. Pick three?

00:55:29.159 --> 00:55:33.599
I'm very curious to see... Pitt, Penn State,

00:55:33.679 --> 00:55:35.920
Stanford. Those are yours? Those are my three.

00:55:36.360 --> 00:55:39.280
Okay, so basically what we've got here is we've

00:55:39.280 --> 00:55:41.800
got a little bit of a cross -section from the

00:55:41.800 --> 00:55:44.360
top four conferences. We've got three from the

00:55:44.360 --> 00:55:47.079
Big Ten. We've got, I believe, three from the

00:55:47.079 --> 00:55:54.340
ACC, two SEC, one Big 12, one Big East. I think

00:55:54.340 --> 00:55:56.440
that's what it is. So you're probably like, why

00:55:56.440 --> 00:55:59.079
the heck is Vanderbilt in this tournament? Vanderbilt

00:55:59.079 --> 00:56:01.760
is reinstating their volleyball program. This

00:56:01.760 --> 00:56:04.340
is the first year that they are kicking things

00:56:04.340 --> 00:56:09.420
off again. So I think the NCAA kind of wanted

00:56:09.420 --> 00:56:13.539
to highlight them. And then we've got several

00:56:13.539 --> 00:56:15.840
teams that we talked about from the top 10. So

00:56:15.840 --> 00:56:19.079
basically most teams in that four -day span are

00:56:19.079 --> 00:56:22.010
going to be playing two matches. And then we've

00:56:22.010 --> 00:56:24.510
got Creighton, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, and Texas

00:56:24.510 --> 00:56:26.030
A &M. They're only going to be playing once.

00:56:26.230 --> 00:56:29.289
So it really is a showcase. It's not a tournament.

00:56:30.269 --> 00:56:35.690
But they did pit some of the top teams just in

00:56:35.690 --> 00:56:38.150
a group against each other. I think they tried

00:56:38.150 --> 00:56:42.170
to keep it a little balanced so that from a rankings

00:56:42.170 --> 00:56:45.250
perspective, the top teams, they don't want to

00:56:45.250 --> 00:56:49.449
weaken their schedule. So these teams are always

00:56:49.449 --> 00:56:51.769
thinking about these things. Different combinations

00:56:51.769 --> 00:56:55.530
of matches. It really is a showcase. So that

00:56:55.530 --> 00:56:58.610
is going to be happening this weekend to kick

00:56:58.610 --> 00:57:05.369
off NCAA preseason. All right. Those were our

00:57:05.369 --> 00:57:09.250
previews for what is upcoming at the end of this

00:57:09.250 --> 00:57:13.639
week. I am looking forward to a lot of... opinions

00:57:13.639 --> 00:57:17.739
and thoughts about teams for those of you whose

00:57:17.739 --> 00:57:20.260
favorite teams we talked about and you guys obviously

00:57:20.260 --> 00:57:23.199
know more intimately than we do so let's hear

00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:25.260
what your thoughts are about what moves your

00:57:25.260 --> 00:57:28.659
teams have made it's time to dig into some listener

00:57:28.659 --> 00:57:30.619
questions i think we've got some good ones this

00:57:30.619 --> 00:57:34.380
week again so question one You've mentioned a

00:57:34.380 --> 00:57:36.880
couple times how you don't think USA slash NCAA

00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:39.079
does a good job preparing our athletes for the

00:57:39.079 --> 00:57:41.739
international game, and that specifically our

00:57:41.739 --> 00:57:44.019
young athletes don't compare to those of other

00:57:44.019 --> 00:57:46.920
countries. Overall, I understand and agree with

00:57:46.920 --> 00:57:50.179
your reasoning, but then I see our U19, U21 teams

00:57:50.179 --> 00:57:53.460
being very successful, and it seems to me that

00:57:53.460 --> 00:57:56.639
we do match up well with other countries and

00:57:56.639 --> 00:58:00.179
their athletes at the same age. Okay, I understand

00:58:00.179 --> 00:58:03.079
what you're saying. U19 women this summer came

00:58:03.079 --> 00:58:08.460
second. U21 women came ninth. And I think this

00:58:08.460 --> 00:58:11.460
is where you see, in this age range, is where

00:58:11.460 --> 00:58:15.400
you see the discrepancy. So, I mean, the U .S.

00:58:15.400 --> 00:58:18.079
is a massive country population -wise when it

00:58:18.079 --> 00:58:20.559
comes to volleyball -playing nations in general.

00:58:20.840 --> 00:58:24.539
And specifically on the women's side, the number

00:58:24.539 --> 00:58:26.699
of youth playing the sport is incredible. It's

00:58:26.699 --> 00:58:30.800
fantastic. It's competitive. You have lots of

00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:35.500
good coaches. There's lots of big physical athletes

00:58:35.500 --> 00:58:38.079
based purely on the number of athletes who are

00:58:38.079 --> 00:58:41.079
playing the sport. So you can generally bring

00:58:41.079 --> 00:58:44.420
together very talented girls who are competing

00:58:44.420 --> 00:58:48.340
at a pretty high level with the top teams in

00:58:48.340 --> 00:58:50.719
high school. And the Europeans, while they do

00:58:50.719 --> 00:58:53.099
train with pro teams in high school, they do

00:58:53.099 --> 00:58:56.360
play their age group as an aside as well. Correct.

00:58:58.039 --> 00:59:02.239
I think, you know, U17 and U19, where those athletes

00:59:02.239 --> 00:59:04.219
are going through high school and playing club,

00:59:04.320 --> 00:59:06.480
it's competitive because you have a huge groundswell.

00:59:06.619 --> 00:59:08.940
They're playing all the time and they compete

00:59:08.940 --> 00:59:13.719
a lot at that age group. So they're able to kind

00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:18.019
of keep up in that age range. For me, it's when

00:59:18.019 --> 00:59:20.519
the athletes go off to college at kind of that

00:59:20.519 --> 00:59:22.860
19 age range. So these athletes go to college,

00:59:23.059 --> 00:59:26.460
keep playing with. players of similar talent,

00:59:26.559 --> 00:59:29.059
and the top players from the other countries

00:59:29.059 --> 00:59:31.619
go and train with pros. So then you have two

00:59:31.619 --> 00:59:35.699
years of being in a professional, well, from

00:59:35.699 --> 00:59:39.940
19 to 21. So of being in that kind of professional

00:59:39.940 --> 00:59:41.780
environment. And I think that's where you see

00:59:41.780 --> 00:59:44.860
the gap kind of start to happen at the top, top

00:59:44.860 --> 00:59:47.679
level of players. Well, the Europeans are continuing

00:59:47.679 --> 00:59:50.460
to train their full game because they're continuing

00:59:50.460 --> 00:59:52.840
to play with international rules. They have to

00:59:52.840 --> 00:59:55.500
develop a full skill set. The kids who go to

00:59:55.500 --> 00:59:58.619
college, they do what they're required to do,

00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:02.320
and they stop training half of the skills that

01:00:02.320 --> 01:00:04.920
they need for international volleyball, aside

01:00:04.920 --> 01:00:07.960
from the odd six rotation outside, which there

01:00:07.960 --> 01:00:12.760
aren't many anymore in the NCAA. So yeah, that's

01:00:12.760 --> 01:00:14.599
where you kind of see the things break off in

01:00:14.599 --> 01:00:20.940
how the two prioritize their skills, and the

01:00:20.940 --> 01:00:24.019
college programs want to win, and that's that.

01:00:24.619 --> 01:00:26.860
So again, I think that's where you see more of

01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:31.019
the deviation and less in the U17, U19. Again,

01:00:31.099 --> 01:00:33.699
sheer volume of kids who are playing and physicalness

01:00:33.699 --> 01:00:36.360
of the U .S. athletes keeps you competitive to

01:00:36.360 --> 01:00:39.139
that range, I think. Question two, I'd love to

01:00:39.139 --> 01:00:40.940
hear your thoughts on the Canadian National Team

01:00:40.940 --> 01:00:43.059
youth programs and what you think of their summer

01:00:43.059 --> 01:00:45.980
performances and whether Canada is progressing.

01:00:47.200 --> 01:00:49.579
Personally, I'm concerned that the pipeline requires

01:00:49.579 --> 01:00:52.159
families to be able to spend many thousands of

01:00:52.159 --> 01:00:54.360
dollars a year, leaving more qualified athletes

01:00:54.360 --> 01:00:57.719
with better potential out of the mix. Don't get

01:00:57.719 --> 01:01:05.679
me started. Oh, boy. Oh, my gosh. Okay. I don't

01:01:05.679 --> 01:01:08.880
know what the American system is. I don't know

01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:11.280
if the American national team youth programs

01:01:11.280 --> 01:01:16.150
require parents to pay. Somebody tell me. Obviously,

01:01:16.150 --> 01:01:19.329
I'm Canadian, so I'm familiar with the Canadian

01:01:19.329 --> 01:01:22.829
national team programs. First of all, the performance

01:01:22.829 --> 01:01:27.530
of these youth teams was embarrassing. Embarrassing.

01:01:27.869 --> 01:01:33.010
Okay. It is unacceptable. The future is not looking

01:01:33.010 --> 01:01:37.420
good. Well, except... that we send some athletes

01:01:37.420 --> 01:01:40.079
to play in the states except we send our athletes

01:01:40.079 --> 01:01:41.980
to play in the states to get trained and then

01:01:41.980 --> 01:01:44.239
let's and let's clarify we're talking about women's

01:01:44.239 --> 01:01:46.780
because on the men's side they are competitive

01:01:46.780 --> 01:01:50.699
not in youth though i was thinking the men's

01:01:50.699 --> 01:01:54.599
youth teams too did real bad well i internationally

01:01:54.599 --> 01:01:58.860
and on the kind of college comparison okay so

01:01:58.860 --> 01:02:02.159
the canadian system pretty much if you are identified

01:02:02.159 --> 01:02:07.050
as a top athlete If you want to go to the full

01:02:07.050 --> 01:02:10.530
-time training center, you are dropping thousands

01:02:10.530 --> 01:02:14.070
of dollars to be able to do that. If you're identified

01:02:14.070 --> 01:02:17.130
as youth national team, junior national team,

01:02:17.250 --> 01:02:22.050
same thing. You have to pay a lot of money to

01:02:22.050 --> 01:02:26.329
be able to play for these teams, which I think

01:02:26.329 --> 01:02:32.389
is absolutely ludicrous. I don't think that that

01:02:32.389 --> 01:02:35.320
should be the case. I know that there are a lot

01:02:35.320 --> 01:02:37.820
of club volleyball programs who subsidize the

01:02:37.820 --> 01:02:40.039
cost for some of their athletes who can't afford

01:02:40.039 --> 01:02:41.960
it, but I know that that's not the case across

01:02:41.960 --> 01:02:47.219
the board. But I'm going to sound like a huge

01:02:47.219 --> 01:02:49.619
jerk, which you guys are like, we already know.

01:02:49.960 --> 01:02:54.780
But when I was that age and I was asked to play

01:02:54.780 --> 01:02:57.360
for these teams and then they were like, to my

01:02:57.360 --> 01:02:58.840
parents, they're like, oh, it's going to cost

01:02:58.840 --> 01:03:04.379
this much. My parents were like, nah. Seriously,

01:03:04.379 --> 01:03:07.440
they were like, absolutely not. We can train

01:03:07.440 --> 01:03:09.400
her at home if you want her to play. Like, she's

01:03:09.400 --> 01:03:13.679
not paying. Yeah, I mean. Which is maybe a power

01:03:13.679 --> 01:03:16.579
move. And like, is it kind of douchey? A hundred

01:03:16.579 --> 01:03:19.480
percent. But it's like the principle of it is,

01:03:19.480 --> 01:03:22.480
is like, if you want to grow a program, you need

01:03:22.480 --> 01:03:25.440
your top, top athletes to go. And you shouldn't

01:03:25.440 --> 01:03:27.440
be putting families that could potentially go

01:03:27.440 --> 01:03:30.000
into debt over this in order to make it happen.

01:03:30.360 --> 01:03:32.699
Because these families are the ones investing

01:03:32.699 --> 01:03:34.719
in your program. And then you're hoping to benefit

01:03:34.719 --> 01:03:37.840
from them and all of their money later on. Yeah.

01:03:38.679 --> 01:03:40.639
Can you tell that I'm passionate about this?

01:03:40.900 --> 01:03:43.809
Volleyball Canada has. Less funding than the

01:03:43.809 --> 01:03:47.070
U .S. program, for sure. I don't know how it

01:03:47.070 --> 01:03:48.869
works in the U .S. for youth, though. I don't

01:03:48.869 --> 01:03:50.929
know if the girls have to pay or not. That's

01:03:50.929 --> 01:03:54.050
fair. But to me, what it seems like is the youth

01:03:54.050 --> 01:03:58.130
programs are about trying to make money for either

01:03:58.130 --> 01:04:02.050
the provinces or the national teams. Because

01:04:02.050 --> 01:04:05.590
you have Ontario, for example, which is a province,

01:04:05.650 --> 01:04:07.570
for those of you who don't pay attention to Canadian

01:04:07.570 --> 01:04:11.179
sports, they run like 10 provincial teams. And

01:04:11.179 --> 01:04:13.599
everybody has to pay to be a part of them. No,

01:04:13.599 --> 01:04:15.760
the provincial teams don't even get me started.

01:04:15.920 --> 01:04:18.159
That is like you're not even bringing in the

01:04:18.159 --> 01:04:20.960
best athletes. It's like who wants to pay to

01:04:20.960 --> 01:04:22.800
be able to say that they are on the provincial

01:04:22.800 --> 01:04:25.360
team? It's a joke. And then as far as I'm aware,

01:04:25.500 --> 01:04:27.360
for a lot of the national teams, for the youth

01:04:27.360 --> 01:04:29.440
national teams, they show up for two weeks before

01:04:29.440 --> 01:04:32.239
they play. You know, you can't really train or

01:04:32.239 --> 01:04:35.199
develop skills in that time frame. There's no

01:04:35.199 --> 01:04:37.500
development. You go, however good you are when

01:04:37.500 --> 01:04:39.320
you show up, you go and play. Hopefully you get

01:04:39.320 --> 01:04:41.880
all the same page. Like it's not, there's no

01:04:41.880 --> 01:04:44.340
pipeline. They don't take it seriously. Yeah,

01:04:44.360 --> 01:04:46.800
it's, you know, and whether that's they don't

01:04:46.800 --> 01:04:48.940
have the resources, however else you do it, it's

01:04:48.940 --> 01:04:52.340
not, you're not getting better being in those

01:04:52.340 --> 01:04:55.679
environments. No. You have to invest in your

01:04:55.679 --> 01:04:57.699
own development, you know, with your club, with

01:04:57.699 --> 01:04:59.719
private lessons, you know, and those kind of

01:04:59.719 --> 01:05:03.710
things. It's honestly sad. It's like the families

01:05:03.710 --> 01:05:06.750
that can afford it, their kids then go off and

01:05:06.750 --> 01:05:09.030
say, I'm on the national team. And the ones who

01:05:09.030 --> 01:05:12.289
can't are left behind sometimes unless they're

01:05:12.289 --> 01:05:14.849
clubs or they have a community around them who

01:05:14.849 --> 01:05:16.570
are able to support them. But I think, yeah,

01:05:16.630 --> 01:05:20.309
the fact that these kids have to pay to be able

01:05:20.309 --> 01:05:23.010
to label themselves as elite is unacceptable.

01:05:23.960 --> 01:05:26.300
Question three, if the U .S. women make it to

01:05:26.300 --> 01:05:28.699
the quarters at World Championship but then get

01:05:28.699 --> 01:05:31.659
knocked out, is that a good showing or a bad

01:05:31.659 --> 01:05:35.099
showing for the USA? Is that our standard now?

01:05:36.039 --> 01:05:38.440
Well, they better make it to the quarterfinals.

01:05:38.699 --> 01:05:42.820
Given their pool and potential crossover, I think

01:05:42.820 --> 01:05:44.980
that is the bare minimum they need to aspire

01:05:44.980 --> 01:05:48.599
to. I wouldn't say that it's the standard for

01:05:48.599 --> 01:05:50.380
them now because they are still missing some

01:05:50.380 --> 01:05:53.980
players that have been successful. I think the

01:05:53.980 --> 01:05:57.579
standard in this Worlds in particular, given

01:05:57.579 --> 01:06:02.119
your roster, is more about how they play versus

01:06:02.119 --> 01:06:06.480
the result, to be honest. I think it's a lot

01:06:06.480 --> 01:06:10.320
of, you know, does Maddie Skinner step up being

01:06:10.320 --> 01:06:12.460
given kind of a full -time opposite role? How

01:06:12.460 --> 01:06:15.119
does she look at Worlds? How does Sarah Franklin

01:06:15.119 --> 01:06:17.539
look passing and playing in that tournament?

01:06:17.579 --> 01:06:20.079
I know they played VNL, but now you're starting

01:06:20.079 --> 01:06:24.750
to solidify your roster a little bit more. and

01:06:24.750 --> 01:06:28.010
what does that look like moving forward? So I

01:06:28.010 --> 01:06:30.969
think if those athletes have good performances,

01:06:31.130 --> 01:06:33.590
and then on top of that you look in system, you're

01:06:33.590 --> 01:06:37.369
in matches, you have the chance to win, I think

01:06:37.369 --> 01:06:39.409
they'll take that as a win. I think you need

01:06:39.409 --> 01:06:42.070
to play better than you played in VNL. I don't

01:06:42.070 --> 01:06:46.070
think right now they're particularly result -oriented

01:06:46.070 --> 01:06:49.940
or focused. But... If the players that we've

01:06:49.940 --> 01:06:52.619
discussed in past episodes are actually done

01:06:52.619 --> 01:06:55.760
with national team, I'm not sure that the future

01:06:55.760 --> 01:07:00.139
for USA is going to be very metal heavy. It'll

01:07:00.139 --> 01:07:03.300
be interesting. But the other piece of this is

01:07:03.300 --> 01:07:08.900
their bracket is wide open. They could make the

01:07:08.900 --> 01:07:12.079
final. You're talking about having to beat Turkey,

01:07:12.400 --> 01:07:18.099
Japan, Serbia. I don't think they're going to

01:07:18.099 --> 01:07:21.920
make the final. I think bare minimum they're

01:07:21.920 --> 01:07:25.559
in the quarters. 100%. If they don't make the

01:07:25.559 --> 01:07:29.239
quarters, that's a failure. Straight up. But

01:07:29.239 --> 01:07:32.260
if you're taking two, like if you look at a semifinal,

01:07:32.300 --> 01:07:34.860
two teams from the other side of the bracket

01:07:34.860 --> 01:07:38.019
are on the podium for sure. Absolutely. 100 %

01:07:38.019 --> 01:07:41.599
agree with that. I don't know. I think it all

01:07:41.599 --> 01:07:43.880
revolves around who is actually serious about

01:07:43.880 --> 01:07:45.639
coming back or not. Yeah, and we don't have that

01:07:45.639 --> 01:07:47.440
answer, and that's why I think it's going to

01:07:47.440 --> 01:07:50.360
be more process -focused for this Worlds versus

01:07:50.360 --> 01:07:52.539
results -focused. I just think other countries,

01:07:52.619 --> 01:07:56.360
honestly, are moving ahead. Question four. What

01:07:56.360 --> 01:07:58.039
do you think about the U .S. potentially running

01:07:58.039 --> 01:08:00.199
a two -libero system for the World Championship?

01:08:00.460 --> 01:08:02.760
I think Lexi's strength is usually her service

01:08:02.760 --> 01:08:07.039
-y versus Hens, who is a scrappier, faster -reacting

01:08:07.039 --> 01:08:10.179
player defensively. Oh, that's interesting. I

01:08:10.179 --> 01:08:14.699
don't mind that setup. The only thing that concerns

01:08:14.699 --> 01:08:17.479
me is Hentz's out -of -system setting hasn't

01:08:17.479 --> 01:08:19.399
been very good from what we've seen in the VNL.

01:08:19.539 --> 01:08:25.140
So is she making more digs that you get good

01:08:25.140 --> 01:08:27.939
transition opportunities out of versus putting

01:08:27.939 --> 01:08:31.720
hitters in a place where they can't score? And

01:08:31.720 --> 01:08:35.770
I don't have the numbers to validate that. Yet.

01:08:35.829 --> 01:08:37.850
I think that's a good point. If Hens can set,

01:08:38.050 --> 01:08:41.210
I like it. If she's costing you transition, good

01:08:41.210 --> 01:08:43.489
transition opportunities, I don't think it's

01:08:43.489 --> 01:08:46.609
worth it. I agree with that. Question five. Why

01:08:46.609 --> 01:08:48.689
does it seem like in the U .S. there's more love

01:08:48.689 --> 01:08:50.970
and appreciation for university volleyball than

01:08:50.970 --> 01:08:54.270
national teams? I'm not sure that's actually

01:08:54.270 --> 01:08:57.529
true. I think it's true. I mean, you obviously

01:08:57.529 --> 01:08:59.649
have some programs who have massive following.

01:08:59.970 --> 01:09:04.500
Listen to the frickin' VNL commentary. of the

01:09:04.500 --> 01:09:08.159
usa women's national team all these commentators

01:09:08.159 --> 01:09:10.819
are talking about oh she went to this school

01:09:10.819 --> 01:09:13.439
she did this at this school blah blah blah like

01:09:13.439 --> 01:09:15.960
even in the international competition you're

01:09:15.960 --> 01:09:18.239
tying it back to their college but that's because

01:09:18.239 --> 01:09:20.979
that's what they know they're not there's your

01:09:20.979 --> 01:09:24.939
answer you know there is there's a huge affiliation

01:09:24.939 --> 01:09:27.779
with where you went to school and being tied

01:09:27.779 --> 01:09:31.100
to those institutions as a sport franchise so

01:09:31.100 --> 01:09:34.079
you you pay attention to that no matter what.

01:09:34.180 --> 01:09:37.399
And on top of that, you don't get a ton of opportunity

01:09:37.399 --> 01:09:40.920
to watch international volleyball, Team USA,

01:09:41.239 --> 01:09:43.739
compete here live in the States. It's just not

01:09:43.739 --> 01:09:47.579
as in -your -face. And the pro leagues are so

01:09:47.579 --> 01:09:51.520
new. Yes. Versus in European countries and stuff,

01:09:51.579 --> 01:09:55.920
the pro leagues kind of are the focus, whereas

01:09:55.920 --> 01:09:58.720
in the U .S. for the longest time, all they've

01:09:58.720 --> 01:10:02.100
had to watch is NCAA. Yeah. I think you have

01:10:02.100 --> 01:10:04.739
probably a bigger aggregate base who follow the

01:10:04.739 --> 01:10:08.119
national teams than you do for any one college

01:10:08.119 --> 01:10:10.779
program, maybe other than Nebraska. So I think

01:10:10.779 --> 01:10:13.399
there is still quite a few people who follow

01:10:13.399 --> 01:10:16.539
the international game, who follow VNL, who follow

01:10:16.539 --> 01:10:18.579
Worlds. I'm not sure I agree with that. It's

01:10:18.579 --> 01:10:22.640
just not as much in your face. I'm not sure I

01:10:22.640 --> 01:10:25.859
agree. You have the true diehard volleyball fans

01:10:25.859 --> 01:10:29.729
who really follow international. National team

01:10:29.729 --> 01:10:33.689
stuff, but you have the casual. If you are a

01:10:33.689 --> 01:10:37.890
fan of just a school, you will casually follow

01:10:37.890 --> 01:10:41.609
volleyball. And those people who are following

01:10:41.609 --> 01:10:45.649
college volleyball because it is associated with

01:10:45.649 --> 01:10:49.149
a school that they either attended or have a

01:10:49.149 --> 01:10:52.310
tradition with, they're not watching international.

01:10:52.470 --> 01:10:55.550
Okay, let me ask you this. You survey 10 Nebraska

01:10:55.550 --> 01:10:59.479
volleyball fans. How many of those fans do you

01:10:59.479 --> 01:11:02.140
think can name eight international players on

01:11:02.140 --> 01:11:04.640
the national team and know kind of where U .S.

01:11:04.640 --> 01:11:07.500
stands? I think Nebraska volleyball fans follow

01:11:07.500 --> 01:11:11.159
Nebraska volleyball players. They'll be able

01:11:11.159 --> 01:11:13.800
to tell you Jordan Larson, Kelsey Cook, Justine

01:11:13.800 --> 01:11:17.060
Wong -Arantes, Lexi Rodriguez, and because they

01:11:17.060 --> 01:11:19.939
went to the school that they care about. But

01:11:19.939 --> 01:11:22.739
then by association, they're following the national

01:11:22.739 --> 01:11:26.640
team. No, you don't think so? No. I don't think

01:11:26.640 --> 01:11:28.479
you're giving the fans enough credit. I think

01:11:28.479 --> 01:11:30.539
there are some that are really into it, but I

01:11:30.539 --> 01:11:33.600
think there are some whose sole focus is on the

01:11:33.600 --> 01:11:36.159
school that they care about. And I really do

01:11:36.159 --> 01:11:40.500
think that it ties into the fact that that is

01:11:40.500 --> 01:11:45.020
visible and international volleyball is like

01:11:45.020 --> 01:11:49.800
an Olympic sport that has rarely been played

01:11:49.800 --> 01:11:53.060
in North America. The teams go away to play.

01:11:54.039 --> 01:11:56.739
I'm not hating on the fans. I'm just like...

01:11:56.739 --> 01:11:58.319
I mean, you would have a better feel for it than

01:11:58.319 --> 01:12:00.819
I would. But like in the pro leagues in Europe,

01:12:00.899 --> 01:12:02.939
they're bringing all the international players

01:12:02.939 --> 01:12:06.699
there. True. True. Who do you think has a better

01:12:06.699 --> 01:12:09.439
rivalry? Pitt and Louisville or Wisconsin and

01:12:09.439 --> 01:12:11.659
Nebraska? That was our next question. I wanted

01:12:11.659 --> 01:12:13.680
you to answer that one. I would say Wisconsin

01:12:13.680 --> 01:12:18.840
and Nebraska. Because I think Wisconsin and Nebraska,

01:12:19.180 --> 01:12:24.939
their fan bases are... much larger, just period.

01:12:25.199 --> 01:12:28.380
But I also think Nebraska and Wisconsin have

01:12:28.380 --> 01:12:32.920
been at the top longer. So there's just that

01:12:32.920 --> 01:12:36.380
history of the programs being successful, but

01:12:36.380 --> 01:12:42.739
also the number of eyeballs. There's so much

01:12:42.739 --> 01:12:45.739
going on in Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh, that

01:12:45.739 --> 01:12:49.159
the entire focus of the state is not on Pitt.

01:12:49.789 --> 01:12:54.689
Whereas like Nebraska is the focal point of that

01:12:54.689 --> 01:12:58.409
state. University of Wisconsin is a huge focal

01:12:58.409 --> 01:13:01.869
point of that state. Louisville is also in the

01:13:01.869 --> 01:13:04.770
same state as the University of Kentucky. So

01:13:04.770 --> 01:13:07.670
there's just like those inherent things that

01:13:07.670 --> 01:13:11.390
I think just make the Wisconsin -Nebraska rivalry

01:13:11.390 --> 01:13:14.489
like bigger. Question seven. I feel like this

01:13:14.489 --> 01:13:18.229
is a good one for you to answer. Your comment

01:13:18.229 --> 01:13:20.789
about Turkey being very inconsistent and volatile

01:13:20.789 --> 01:13:24.029
is 100 % correct. What should Turkey do to overcome

01:13:24.029 --> 01:13:27.229
this, both in the short term until World Championships

01:13:27.229 --> 01:13:31.630
and long term? So I think in the short term they've

01:13:31.630 --> 01:13:33.649
done it. Oh, sorry. They said that this could

01:13:33.649 --> 01:13:36.390
apply to not just Turkey, but any team that struggles

01:13:36.390 --> 01:13:39.470
with that. Yeah, I think in the short term they've

01:13:39.470 --> 01:13:42.149
done everything they can to try and overcome

01:13:42.149 --> 01:13:45.050
the issues they saw in VNL. Bringing Erdem back

01:13:45.050 --> 01:13:49.260
is... probably your quickest method to kind of

01:13:49.260 --> 01:13:52.060
balancing out what is happening there and hopefully

01:13:52.060 --> 01:13:54.619
she leans into that role and she can do that

01:13:54.619 --> 01:13:57.819
so i think that's a great quick fix and then

01:13:57.819 --> 01:13:59.739
bringing a couple other left sides because those

01:13:59.739 --> 01:14:02.699
are your volatile players in general and having

01:14:02.699 --> 01:14:04.659
options to kind of bring them in and out and

01:14:04.659 --> 01:14:06.640
try and find that combination that works in the

01:14:06.640 --> 01:14:09.859
short term i think is probably the only things

01:14:09.859 --> 01:14:14.119
you could do given the time frame long term It's

01:14:14.119 --> 01:14:17.140
athlete development. It's mental stability. Sports

01:14:17.140 --> 01:14:20.359
psychology. Yeah, all of those things in terms

01:14:20.359 --> 01:14:22.420
of how you're approaching that, how you manage

01:14:22.420 --> 01:14:27.840
mistakes, how your teammates are affected by

01:14:27.840 --> 01:14:32.260
the emotion on the court. Kara Kurt gets a lot

01:14:32.260 --> 01:14:37.000
of the blame for this because she's so emotional

01:14:37.000 --> 01:14:41.970
and emotive and expressive. If she was the only

01:14:41.970 --> 01:14:44.869
player going up and down, it wouldn't be as big

01:14:44.869 --> 01:14:48.689
of an issue. But they're all affected. So it's

01:14:48.689 --> 01:14:50.909
not only Karakurt who needs to kind of maybe

01:14:50.909 --> 01:14:52.949
make some adjustments in how she approaches those

01:14:52.949 --> 01:14:55.590
things, but also her teammates can prop her up

01:14:55.590 --> 01:14:58.609
and let her do her thing and find her own rhythm

01:14:58.609 --> 01:15:01.270
and still be able to perform themselves. So there's

01:15:01.270 --> 01:15:05.050
just some... maturation or emotional management

01:15:05.050 --> 01:15:08.390
I think that you kind of work on long term again

01:15:08.390 --> 01:15:11.409
with your sports psych or how you manage those

01:15:11.409 --> 01:15:13.930
inter -team dynamics. It's definitely not easy

01:15:13.930 --> 01:15:17.350
and it's not a straightforward solution. Thank

01:15:17.350 --> 01:15:19.750
you so much for everybody who submits questions.

01:15:19.989 --> 01:15:23.989
We have got so many on the roster here. Almost

01:15:23.989 --> 01:15:27.350
triple digits now. We are pulling several every

01:15:27.350 --> 01:15:30.850
week but we love them so please keep them coming.

01:15:31.369 --> 01:15:33.529
All right, so now that we have some more volleyball

01:15:33.529 --> 01:15:35.689
to watch, here are some of the things that you

01:15:35.689 --> 01:15:37.449
guys should be looking forward to this week.

01:15:37.829 --> 01:15:40.630
Men's U21 World Champs start this week in China.

01:15:40.909 --> 01:15:44.130
You can check that out on FIVB TV. Women's World

01:15:44.130 --> 01:15:47.270
Champs are starting on Friday. Sometimes these

01:15:47.270 --> 01:15:50.369
first round matchups can be a little lopsided.

01:15:51.229 --> 01:15:53.850
So here are some of the ones that we think will

01:15:53.850 --> 01:15:57.210
be good games. Friday, 6 a .m. Eastern, Netherlands

01:15:57.210 --> 01:16:00.800
versus Sweden should be pretty competitive. Saturday

01:16:00.800 --> 01:16:04.380
at 5 a .m. Eastern, Canada versus Bulgaria. That

01:16:04.380 --> 01:16:07.819
one could also be pretty good. We're still unsure

01:16:07.819 --> 01:16:11.180
of what the Canadian roster is going to be. So

01:16:11.180 --> 01:16:13.779
it'll be interesting to see who they send. I

01:16:13.779 --> 01:16:15.880
heard Kira Van Rijk did not travel for their

01:16:15.880 --> 01:16:19.340
pre -tournament stuff. Hopefully she's on a private

01:16:19.340 --> 01:16:21.220
jet on her way over. Get that girl over there.

01:16:21.680 --> 01:16:26.760
Sunday at 8 .30 a .m. Eastern, you have Brazil

01:16:26.760 --> 01:16:29.960
versus France. So we'll see how those teams look.

01:16:30.159 --> 01:16:33.840
And then locally, NCAA preseason is starting.

01:16:34.000 --> 01:16:36.539
If you want to watch any of the NCAA this week,

01:16:36.640 --> 01:16:40.960
you can tune in to the AVCA First Serve. Friday

01:16:40.960 --> 01:16:43.119
matches are on Fox, and those are starting at

01:16:43.119 --> 01:16:47.260
7 p .m. Eastern. Saturday, starting at 3 p .m.

01:16:47.260 --> 01:16:50.399
Eastern on Fox Sports 1. Sunday, starting at

01:16:50.399 --> 01:16:54.880
1 p .m. on ESPN. And Monday at 6 .30 p .m. Eastern

01:16:54.880 --> 01:16:58.119
on BTN. Just mixing it up to keep it very straightforward

01:16:58.119 --> 01:17:00.279
and easy for people to figure out. I hope you've

01:17:00.279 --> 01:17:03.180
got your comprehensive sports package dialed

01:17:03.180 --> 01:17:06.380
in if you want to watch that volleyball. Also,

01:17:06.460 --> 01:17:10.460
if a day should arise, maybe next Monday, maybe

01:17:10.460 --> 01:17:13.699
the Monday after, where you are waiting for a

01:17:13.699 --> 01:17:17.279
podcast to drop and it just doesn't, it is because

01:17:17.279 --> 01:17:19.180
I'm giving birth. Something else has dropped.

01:17:20.060 --> 01:17:27.510
Literally, out of my body. We are missing sometime

01:17:27.510 --> 01:17:32.750
a week somewhere around now. That is why. We

01:17:32.750 --> 01:17:36.550
will get back as soon as we can be. But yeah,

01:17:36.670 --> 01:17:39.850
we're just waiting at this point. Yeah, so just

01:17:39.850 --> 01:17:42.609
a heads up. That concludes this week's episode

01:17:42.609 --> 01:17:44.710
of Volley Talk. There's always something shaking

01:17:44.710 --> 01:17:46.590
in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed

01:17:46.590 --> 01:17:49.430
this little fix. Be sure to follow the show so

01:17:49.430 --> 01:17:51.489
you don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful

01:17:51.489 --> 01:17:54.310
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

01:17:54.310 --> 01:17:56.729
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

01:17:56.729 --> 01:17:59.609
podcast. If you have a topic that you'd like

01:17:59.609 --> 01:18:02.050
us to discuss, reach out to us on Instagram or

01:18:02.050 --> 01:18:05.590
at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for

01:18:05.590 --> 01:18:09.130
joining us and we'll be back next week. Maybe.