WEBVTT

00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:02.790
Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley

00:00:02.790 --> 00:00:04.950
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

00:00:04.950 --> 00:00:07.290
who want to dig deep into what is going on in

00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.289
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:12.230
Sarah Pavin. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

00:00:12.230 --> 00:00:15.250
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

00:00:15.250 --> 00:00:18.269
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:20.289
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:23.269
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

00:00:23.269 --> 00:00:26.210
guy. Overseas Pro Leagues have started their

00:00:26.210 --> 00:00:29.769
regular season. Stay tuned for some updates on

00:00:29.769 --> 00:00:33.130
that. Just, we're fresh. Okay, we just had some

00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:36.210
preseason stuff. So once things get moving, we

00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:39.109
will give some updates with that. And we'll keep

00:00:39.109 --> 00:00:41.030
you up to date on if there are going to be good

00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:42.850
matches you should watch and things like that.

00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:44.869
And we'll figure out how to mix in a little international

00:00:44.869 --> 00:00:47.450
flavor for everyone. We were asked how to watch

00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:50.520
the league. So just as a reminder. the italian

00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:52.979
japanese and polish leagues are all on volleyball

00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:57.460
tv which has a subscription and i read that the

00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:00.179
turkish league you can watch on youtube if you

00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:02.880
have a vpn that is how you can check some of

00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:04.879
those out champions league won't start for a

00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.480
little while but we'll keep you posted when it

00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.099
does ncaa conference play continued so we had

00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:13.879
a ton of engagement and questions this week we

00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.640
love to see how passionate our listeners and

00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:18.599
viewers are about their favorite players and

00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:20.739
teams there were several interesting results

00:01:20.739 --> 00:01:23.620
we're gonna dive into a couple in particular

00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:27.079
that we found extra interesting shall we say

00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:41.760
so let's get started so before we get into the

00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.250
weekly highlights I want to acknowledge that

00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:49.409
I may have had the take that went sour the fastest

00:01:49.409 --> 00:01:53.510
last episode. I predicted Stanford was going

00:01:53.510 --> 00:01:56.109
to win the conference as they were losing to

00:01:56.109 --> 00:01:58.769
Louisville at home. Now I will say Pitt also

00:01:58.769 --> 00:02:01.489
lost, which we'll talk about. Which he also threw

00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:05.129
out Pitt will lose to a medium team. So I'm just

00:02:05.129 --> 00:02:07.209
saying Stanford still has a chance to finish

00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:09.710
top. The loss to Louisville doesn't help their

00:02:09.710 --> 00:02:13.409
cause. No. And I appreciate all of the engagement

00:02:13.409 --> 00:02:15.469
letting me know that my take didn't age well.

00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:19.270
Fair. Acknowledged. But it was a good game. So

00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:21.469
things stayed pretty steady this week from a

00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:24.449
rankings perspective in the NCAA. We saw Minnesota

00:02:24.449 --> 00:02:28.430
drop to 14 from 10. They're having a rough go.

00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:31.550
They are dealing with a lot of injuries. And

00:02:31.550 --> 00:02:34.169
we'll talk about this whole situation a bit later.

00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:41.469
Miami rose to 18 from 22. USC dropped to 22 from

00:02:41.469 --> 00:02:45.729
17. Missouri dropped to 25 from 21. And we saw

00:02:45.729 --> 00:02:48.650
a couple new additions to the top 25 this week

00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:55.889
with Indiana and Colorado joining at 20 and 24,

00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.349
respectively. Well -deserved for those two teams.

00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:02.979
We also had a few noteworthy or maybe more unexpected

00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:06.360
results this week. We saw Texas and Tennessee

00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:10.780
go five. Not to take anything away from Tennessee,

00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:14.300
but Texas has been like rolling and like number

00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:16.520
two in the country. So I'm not sure I expected

00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.620
that to go five. No, I didn't either. We saw

00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.300
UCLA beat both Minnesota and USC three straight.

00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:27.419
I was a little surprised. I watched. the UCLA

00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:31.360
-USC game. It was interesting. I don't think

00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.039
we're going to cover that one this week, but

00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.520
USC looked a little young. I was going to say,

00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.120
didn't all look good. Yeah, they're super physical.

00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:41.840
I thought they made mistakes. Down the road,

00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:43.539
I thought they struggled to pass. I like their

00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:45.659
middles, though. Yeah, exactly. Their left side

00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:48.879
struggled a little bit. And in fairness, UCLA's

00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.699
left side played very well. Which they really

00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:54.599
need them to. Yes. And we saw PK on the right

00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.219
side. She's back. Yeah, it didn't go well. Yeah,

00:03:57.300 --> 00:03:59.400
I'm very curious about those decisions. That's

00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:01.319
not a long -term solution there, in my opinion.

00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:04.840
Yeah. Arizona took down Baylor in three. We also

00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:07.800
watched that one. Yeah, I wasn't... expecting

00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:10.580
that one either Baylor did not look at their

00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.599
physical they have some very good players but

00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:14.919
they are not taking care of the details around

00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:18.600
the ball and Arizona just kept pushing so a good

00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:20.579
win for Arizona that conference the left side

00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:23.259
also played really well for Arizona that match

00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.540
true true Florida beat Missouri in four Missouri

00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:28.160
is going through it they're going to drop out

00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.879
of the rankings they cannot put it together gone

00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:35.170
steadily downward over the last few weeks Indiana

00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:39.850
got beaten by Michigan State three straight welcome

00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:42.529
to the top 25 but then you go lose to Michigan

00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:45.189
State I mean Michigan State has been making a

00:04:45.189 --> 00:04:48.230
push they've been playing better they are on

00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:50.529
the rise I think teams need to take them seriously

00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.959
There are two other big upsets that I'm sure

00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:54.339
you're wondering why we haven't brought them

00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:56.420
up yet. Those are the two matches we're going

00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:59.819
to talk about this week. So obviously those were

00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:03.019
Penn State versus Wisconsin and Pitt versus Miami.

00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.879
Those were kind of the like what we'll call weekly

00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.420
highlights. So that was like the weekly rundown

00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:13.079
of what has been happening in the NCAA. Let's

00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:16.500
take a look at Penn State versus Wisconsin. I

00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:19.519
think, you know, after Izzy Stark's departure.

00:05:20.329 --> 00:05:22.370
And kind of the trajectory that Penn State has

00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:26.089
been on. The absolute shellacking they took from

00:05:26.089 --> 00:05:29.889
Nebraska last week. I personally did not expect

00:05:29.889 --> 00:05:32.649
much from this match. You mean Wisconsin 3 -0?

00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:35.629
I was expecting Wisconsin to handle this one

00:05:35.629 --> 00:05:40.209
in a pretty straightforward manner. Agreed. Agreed.

00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:44.189
I thought they were well set up to defend Kennedy

00:05:44.189 --> 00:05:47.300
Martin and make Penn State... the rest of Penn

00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:49.620
State beat them. What about them made you think

00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:51.720
that they were set up to defend Kennedy Martin?

00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:53.579
I mean, they're big. They're a good blocking

00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:56.560
team. They're not big like they have been. No,

00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:58.519
they're not. And their blocking stats have gone

00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:01.769
down the drain. compared to what we're used to

00:06:01.769 --> 00:06:04.750
seeing. Fair, but they're still Mimi Collier

00:06:04.750 --> 00:06:07.430
and Carter Booth, or... I mean, Mimi Collier

00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:09.490
is a good blocker. Carter Booth's a good blocker.

00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:13.189
They're not Anna Smrek -Retke big with Sarah

00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:16.509
Franklin, but they're still big. And given that

00:06:16.509 --> 00:06:19.870
Penn State offense has generally been one -dimensional

00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:22.209
this last little while... I figured it would

00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:24.689
be all about shutting her down. I think Furbringer's

00:06:24.689 --> 00:06:26.810
a pretty good digger, so I figured... Who didn't

00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:29.490
play. Right. In general, looking at that lineup,

00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:33.490
they defend that angle ball pretty well. I thought

00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:35.129
it was going to be a rough night for Penn State.

00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:37.250
A lot of nights have been rough for Penn State.

00:06:37.389 --> 00:06:39.329
Let's not kid ourselves. But Kennedy Martin's

00:06:39.329 --> 00:06:42.350
been showing up time and time again. Just, she

00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:44.600
hasn't been enough. And she's played really,

00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:45.939
really well. And this is, I mean, this is going

00:06:45.939 --> 00:06:47.519
to lead into something we talk about later, but

00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.100
it was going to generally come down to Mimi Collier

00:06:51.100 --> 00:06:54.240
plus plus against Kennedy Martin against Kennedy

00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.639
Martin. Basically. So I know we're going to have

00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.920
people be like, well, Charlie Furbringer didn't

00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.860
play and Penn State has had time to get used

00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:05.939
to their new setter. Well, I know Wisconsin fans

00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.459
are going to chime in and be like, we didn't

00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:10.480
have Charlie Furbringer and Penn State has had

00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.579
time to get used to their new setter. Fair. But

00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:16.660
it's not like Penn State hasn't gone through

00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:19.279
their own set of injuries, and I would argue

00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:21.420
that losing Izzy Stark is probably a little bit

00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:23.980
bigger than losing Charlie Furbringer. They're

00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:26.379
both very close, but your starting setter is

00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:28.360
your starting setter. I understand that. But

00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:31.220
did Charlie Furbringer being on the bench make

00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:34.300
Wisconsin's passing fall apart? I don't think

00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:37.139
so. Yeah. Because they made that poor girl, that

00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:40.660
freshman setter, run around like a marathon runner,

00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:45.220
okay? That was the biggest thing that I noticed

00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:49.379
in that match. You would think that you bring

00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.889
in a setter who hasn't played. who is your backup

00:07:52.889 --> 00:07:55.910
setter, you are dialed into making that player's

00:07:55.910 --> 00:07:58.389
life as easy as possible, so the only thing they

00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:00.550
have to do is set. That needs to be the focus.

00:08:00.689 --> 00:08:02.870
I actually thought this was Sheffield's biggest

00:08:02.870 --> 00:08:06.189
mistake of the match, was not subbing in more

00:08:06.189 --> 00:08:10.910
DSs or not finding a change to improve the passing.

00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:13.189
I still think Wisconsin should have won this

00:08:13.189 --> 00:08:15.769
match. I understand Charlie's hurt. I understand

00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:19.329
you lose your centerpiece and everybody's a little

00:08:19.329 --> 00:08:21.189
bit out of rhythm. But I just think they're a

00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.610
better team than Penn State is. They have more

00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:25.430
pieces. They should have been able to win this

00:08:25.430 --> 00:08:29.310
match, in my opinion. Oh, 100%. Yeah. And they

00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:32.070
did sub in some DSs. They saw Warren come in

00:08:32.070 --> 00:08:35.809
as a DS. But the thing for me is Collier was

00:08:35.809 --> 00:08:38.769
terrible. Not good. Again, part of that is she

00:08:38.769 --> 00:08:42.820
was getting set from everywhere. and you're not

00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:43.639
in rhythm. What do you think Kennedy Martin's

00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.379
been doing all season? Penn State's not a good

00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:48.720
passing team. They haven't been passing well.

00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:51.139
She's had to hit out of system all season long,

00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.159
and she's been scoring just fine. Mimi Collier,

00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.419
you're the go -to hitter. You need to score out

00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:59.620
of system. At one point, in the third set, I

00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:01.480
think she was hitting zero. Well, she had two

00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:03.740
kills in the first set to Kennedy Martin's 10.

00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:05.759
Kennedy Martin had 10 points in the first set.

00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:09.240
They just didn't look prepared. to shut her down

00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.899
well okay kennedy martin was hitting over top

00:09:11.899 --> 00:09:14.620
of the block i understand that kennedy martin

00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:17.419
is very good she's going to score points but

00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:20.799
i they didn't look prepared to stop her at all

00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.440
it was pretty bad kennedy martin is very clearly

00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.860
a thumb up hitter so if she's hitting on the

00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:28.759
right side thumb up she's taking the ball cross

00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:32.220
court towards zone one yes okay she hit some

00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:35.220
balls over the block 100 if a player does that

00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:38.090
wow she was doing it consistently though so i

00:09:38.090 --> 00:09:40.230
did expect an adjustment but if somebody's doing

00:09:40.230 --> 00:09:44.139
that Okay, fine. But here's the other thing that

00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:46.080
I saw. She's got a little bit, I don't want to

00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.100
call it a weird arm swing, but she's one of the

00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:52.000
few players collegiately who really uses her

00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.179
wrists and brings the ball across her body. So

00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:56.860
you said thumb up, which is accurate, but she

00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:59.159
also kind of opens her shoulders a little bit

00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:01.519
and then comes back across her body. And the

00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.139
number of times I saw defenders on the cross

00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.860
-court side of the court stepping to their left

00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:09.100
because they saw the shoulders open and then

00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:11.789
the ball being beaten to their... right because

00:10:11.789 --> 00:10:15.610
she's snapping across her body. To me, that's

00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:17.889
a lack of preparation. You should have had somebody

00:10:17.889 --> 00:10:20.889
hitting those balls. You need to understand what

00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:23.110
that hitter is doing to you. You can't be caught

00:10:23.110 --> 00:10:25.789
moving the wrong direction. That's a lack of

00:10:25.789 --> 00:10:27.389
preparation. Well, even if you didn't prepare,

00:10:27.669 --> 00:10:30.929
you have 78 people on your bench. Somebody needs

00:10:30.929 --> 00:10:33.690
to identify what's happening and be like, it's

00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:36.370
an illusion. Her shoulders are going to go, but

00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:39.350
you need to trust your positioning and stay because

00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:42.289
the act, A, she's bringing it back, but the act

00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:44.769
of snapping the wrist across is dragging the

00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:48.149
ball more to the right. So somebody needed to

00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:51.009
say that because it was painful watching these

00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:53.129
defenders just continually get beaten by the

00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:55.370
same shot. You know where she's going to go.

00:10:55.490 --> 00:10:58.169
You know she wants to go thumb up. Even if she's

00:10:58.169 --> 00:11:00.090
hitting over the block, get your position six,

00:11:00.129 --> 00:11:02.250
like hanging out a little bit shaded that way.

00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:05.259
to try to counteract something. Make her beat

00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:07.659
you down the line. Yeah, make her beat you down

00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:10.320
the line. 100%. When you have a player like that,

00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:13.379
you want to set up your defense, your block defense,

00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:15.879
in a way that makes them want to do what they

00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:17.820
don't want to do. And then if they're still going

00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:20.539
to score, good for her. I truly believe she probably

00:11:20.539 --> 00:11:23.360
still would have scored. But at least you're

00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.120
making an adjustment. Yeah, you can't let a great

00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.059
hitter beat you with what they're comfortable

00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:30.360
with. You have to make them beat you with what

00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:32.950
they're uncomfortable with. I don't think they

00:11:32.950 --> 00:11:36.269
did that. I thought that was just poor from Wisconsin

00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:38.850
from a preparation standpoint. I thought number

00:11:38.850 --> 00:11:41.409
one should have been taken off the floor. She

00:11:41.409 --> 00:11:44.230
was not very good. She didn't score and she didn't

00:11:44.230 --> 00:11:47.789
pass. I didn't love their serving strategy. It

00:11:47.789 --> 00:11:50.309
didn't work for me. No, it was incredibly disappointing

00:11:50.309 --> 00:11:53.210
to watch. And I'm going to go back to it because,

00:11:53.250 --> 00:11:56.870
you know, I have to. Mimi Collier was so bad.

00:11:56.950 --> 00:12:00.470
Yeah. So bad. And I understand players have bad

00:12:00.470 --> 00:12:04.279
games, whatever. But we talked about this. What

00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:07.919
happens when your best players don't show up?

00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:10.139
We brought this up about Mimi Collier, and I

00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.179
think I said she's not it for me a few weeks

00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:15.519
ago, maybe. I'm not going to let this one game

00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.059
determine her season. Everybody has bad games.

00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:22.259
But my question is, for Kelly Sheffield, what

00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.220
are you doing? You're seeing your star hitter,

00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:26.360
the player that you're literally depending on

00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:30.730
most matches. struggling so much lined up against

00:12:30.730 --> 00:12:34.110
Kennedy Martin who as a thumb up hitter isn't

00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:35.870
really hitting in the direction of her block

00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:37.789
anyway and I understand Mimi Collier is a good

00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:39.669
blocker she's probably your best option as an

00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:41.990
outside to block Kennedy Martin but she's not

00:12:41.990 --> 00:12:44.320
hitting that angle She's hitting over top of

00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.440
your middle. So why not reverse your rotation

00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.100
or flip your rotation to get her hitting against

00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:52.419
your setter and try to get some rhythm going?

00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:54.899
Like he didn't make any changes. He didn't flip

00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:58.360
the rotation, sub Vajicic out. She's doing nothing

00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.340
for you. Make a change. Yeah, I didn't understand

00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:05.129
that from a... coaching standpoint, from a strategy

00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:06.570
standpoint. It just didn't make sense to me.

00:13:06.629 --> 00:13:08.070
If players aren't playing well, take them off

00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:10.649
the court. Make an adjustment. That was incredibly

00:13:10.649 --> 00:13:14.370
disappointing. Now, on the flip side, we said

00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:17.149
Penn State needs to have a response to what's

00:13:17.149 --> 00:13:19.990
been going on. They can either wallow in self

00:13:19.990 --> 00:13:22.990
-pity that they're set or left and this and that

00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:26.330
and they can't pass, or they can decide as a

00:13:26.330 --> 00:13:28.169
group that they're going to show up and they're

00:13:28.169 --> 00:13:29.909
not going to let these things define them as

00:13:29.909 --> 00:13:32.429
a team. And they did that. You have to give them

00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:35.419
credit. They are still not very good at the things

00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:37.120
they need to work on. They passed better. But

00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.940
they were better, right? Mendelsohn got some

00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:42.559
sets. They ran a little bit of metal. Kennedy

00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.860
Martin was outstanding. She played a very, very

00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:49.120
good game. She was unstoppable. But there were

00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.100
other pieces around there that did a good job

00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:53.539
as well. Jura Vicious scored some points. Emmy

00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:56.120
Selman is still not it for me. Agreed. I'm not

00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.679
really sure what she did. But Jura Vicious scored

00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:03.100
some points. She brought energy, which I think

00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:05.700
is important because she's the type of player

00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:08.200
who wears her emotions on her face, and you can

00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.500
tell when she's unhappy. Yeah, and they were

00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:13.299
a little better defensively. Yes. You could see

00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:16.549
Jillian Grimes kind of like running. the back

00:14:16.549 --> 00:14:19.450
row, which she needs to be assertive and do that

00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:21.830
because Juravich isn't. I mean, they're bringing

00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:25.309
Ava in for Selman in the back row, but they need

00:14:25.309 --> 00:14:28.529
her to kind of take control back there. And I

00:14:28.529 --> 00:14:30.750
think their setter did a pretty good job. Better.

00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:33.309
I don't think you could have asked for a better

00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:35.730
response given the situation and where they were

00:14:35.730 --> 00:14:38.409
coming from. While I didn't love Wisconsin's

00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:40.529
game, I think you have to give credit to Penn

00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:42.990
State for what they put on the floor in that

00:14:42.990 --> 00:14:45.580
situation. And I did. I will say it again. Did

00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:50.159
enjoy watching kind of the dynamic and the attitude

00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.139
from Penn State. Even the way that Katie Schumacher

00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:56.000
-Cauley was engaging with the girls on the court.

00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.960
You know, how the girls were interacting together.

00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:03.240
I thought that that was a huge positive for the

00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.940
team. And they definitely looked... like they

00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:09.679
were in it together. Kennedy Martin is the show.

00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:12.419
She's the franchise. She'll need to continue

00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:15.080
to be the franchise, but she was very engaged

00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.620
as well. But as disappointed as I was in Wisconsin,

00:15:19.059 --> 00:15:24.480
that match, I was equally happy for and with

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.259
Penn State. I will say I saw Furbringer raise

00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.759
both hands while she was on the bench, so I think

00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:33.059
that's a good sign. I don't know what the injury

00:15:33.059 --> 00:15:35.480
report on her is. I said, what, has her dislocated

00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.100
her shoulder or something? No, I watched the

00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:39.820
play and thought it was a shoulder dislocation.

00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:41.240
That was just kind of from watching. If she raises

00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:43.019
both hands, that's... Yeah, because she was in

00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.539
a sling after the match, so I don't think it's

00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:47.480
a shoulder dislocation because her hand was above

00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:49.580
her head, so hopefully that means she's coming

00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.559
back because it's clear that they need her. They

00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.450
need to pass. I don't care who you are. If you're

00:15:55.450 --> 00:15:57.929
setting every ball from 25 feet off the net,

00:15:58.070 --> 00:15:59.909
what are you going to do? I will say Furbringer

00:15:59.909 --> 00:16:02.610
runs a better tempo off the net than this new

00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.669
girl. And Collier likes hitting that set. The

00:16:04.669 --> 00:16:07.549
Collier -Furbringer connection running tempo

00:16:07.549 --> 00:16:10.860
from different places. suits her well and gets

00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:14.179
her in rhythm okay so we'll see we have a ton

00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:15.940
of listener questions so i want to incorporate

00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:19.000
some into what we're discussing today so one

00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:21.460
that i think is relevant to this discussion is

00:16:21.460 --> 00:16:23.419
do you think it would be a good move for kennedy

00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:26.159
martin to finish out the year at penn state and

00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.940
jump straight into the pros instead of taking

00:16:28.940 --> 00:16:31.919
a fourth year obviously education is a major

00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.100
part of the process but if there was a world

00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:37.220
for kennedy to graduate and go play pro would

00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:39.759
that be a good move for her Given how much money

00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.000
she's making from NIL, I would say stick it out.

00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:47.159
There's no reason to rush going to pro. The only

00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:51.600
consideration would be if the USA staff is telling

00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.559
her, you have a potential to start in the 2028

00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.279
Olympics, but you need to get some international

00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:59.299
experience. Here is where you can play. We found

00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:02.559
you a contract. The 2028 Olympics in the US,

00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.900
in LA, with her as the right side, would be the

00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:08.420
only reason. I would go play pro. Otherwise,

00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:11.059
you make your hundreds of thousands of dollars

00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:12.779
playing collegiate. You finish your education.

00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:15.519
She has a bright future ahead of her if she chooses

00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:18.559
to play pro. And there's no rush. Well, given

00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.140
how much we've heard she's making at Penn State,

00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:26.079
do you think the draw of potentially starting

00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:30.039
in LA Olympics is even worth giving that up?

00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:33.000
Because I don't think her earning potential as

00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:36.920
a pro is... what she's making now, personally,

00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:39.839
based on my experience? If it was me, I might

00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:41.619
think, well, I can play one more year and make

00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:43.839
that money and still have a shot at 2028. Like

00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.960
those two things are not usually exclusive. Hypothetically,

00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.640
if it's one or the other, what would you do?

00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.640
That's a lot of money. She is not making that

00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:56.200
money in her first five years as a pro. Absolutely

00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:59.819
not. That's a tough question. If I was guaranteed

00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:03.839
the starting spot, In the Olympics. I might take

00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:05.200
the Olympics, but I don't think you can. It's

00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.960
against the whole nature of sport. You can't

00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.240
guarantee somebody a spot. Well, that money is

00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.619
guaranteed. That match was the Kennedy Martin

00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:14.539
show. It was a great show to watch, honestly.

00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:18.319
I love to see it. Wisconsin. Yeah, we'll see

00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:21.289
with the Furbringer injury. brings and how long

00:18:21.289 --> 00:18:22.650
the backup set will be in. And Grace Egan, but

00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:24.650
I will say Maddie Quest did a good job coming

00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:26.509
in on the right side for Egan. I really like

00:18:26.509 --> 00:18:28.750
her. She did a good job. I don't think that was

00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:31.250
a huge step down. Like, that definitely wasn't

00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:32.769
the reason they didn't win the match. No, no.

00:18:33.069 --> 00:18:35.130
And a freshman, so that's good. Yeah. Bright

00:18:35.130 --> 00:18:39.390
future for her. Yeah. All right. Another highly

00:18:39.390 --> 00:18:42.369
anticipated match, which I got lots of messages

00:18:42.369 --> 00:18:47.710
about this one, was Pitt versus Miami. Pitt dominated

00:18:47.710 --> 00:18:52.579
or... handily won the first two sets only to

00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:59.900
be reverse swept oh the reverse sweep yeah okay

00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:05.259
wow pitches looked they went from looking like

00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:10.160
solid to just completely out of it they could

00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:13.420
not get anything to work after set two which

00:19:13.420 --> 00:19:17.339
is interesting because originally when you think

00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:19.299
about going to play at miami For those of you

00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:21.000
who aren't familiar with the venue, it's a high

00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.339
school gym with a low ceiling. It looks like

00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:26.799
a high school gym to me. And so there's definitely

00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:31.000
the way you pass, the way you play defense. You're

00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:35.039
100 % cognizant of how low the ceiling is. So

00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.579
normally when you see teams go in there, they

00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:40.619
struggle in the first set, calibrate and figure

00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:43.049
out. what adjustments they have to see. And I

00:19:43.049 --> 00:19:44.789
will say visually it makes a difference when

00:19:44.789 --> 00:19:46.450
there's not as much space and it feels a little

00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.529
bit tighter, especially from a serving standpoint.

00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:52.609
Okay, as an aside, as an athlete, I preferred

00:19:52.609 --> 00:19:58.289
the tighter, more intimate gyms as a spin server.

00:19:58.630 --> 00:20:01.509
Playing in a basketball arena as a spin server,

00:20:01.609 --> 00:20:05.980
the depth and everything was such a trip. So

00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:08.400
I personally prefer to play in those environments,

00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:10.799
but we've seen a lot of matches over the last

00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:14.000
couple years played at Miami, and we are seeing

00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:19.039
balls ricochet off that roof like a pinball machine.

00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:22.400
And serves going into the back wall. Wow, it's

00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.420
insane. The highlight of the match has to be

00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:30.799
Adedia Colon. She was outstanding. She put...

00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:33.599
Miami on her back and won that match literally

00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.440
carried the team I have to read you these stats

00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.380
because they're they're outrageous yeah so she

00:20:40.380 --> 00:20:44.859
set a program record she took 73 swings in that

00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:51.099
match okay five sets 38 kills and hit 342 38

00:20:51.099 --> 00:20:55.140
for 73 is unbelievable but this is that's not

00:20:55.140 --> 00:20:57.599
the unbelievable part How many points did she

00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:59.599
have total? She had to have over 40. 40 and a

00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:03.859
half points. Dang. Okay. The next closest person

00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:10.559
took 20 swings. The next closest attacker had

00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:14.980
six kills. And only one other person from her

00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:18.140
team had over 10 points. And that was Wilson

00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:21.200
because she had a bunch of blocks at 11 .5. She

00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:23.779
won the match single -handedly. It was outrageous

00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:26.079
to watch. So this is another question. This is

00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.019
similar to the Kennedy -Martin discussion. Pitt

00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:32.700
could not stop this girl. No. It was wild. And

00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:35.259
you knew she was getting the ball. It was wild.

00:21:35.900 --> 00:21:39.279
It reminded me of watching a men's game. You

00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.660
know how we talk about there are some times where

00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:43.920
a guy just goes off and you can't touch them?

00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:48.339
She was that player. She was so much fun to watch

00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:50.579
in that match. And the setter was like, I don't

00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:52.519
care where anyone else is. I'm just going to

00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:53.880
set you the ball and we're going to see what

00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.130
happens. We want to win this game. We're not

00:21:56.130 --> 00:21:58.910
hiding anything. We're not trying to trick you.

00:21:59.569 --> 00:22:01.710
So do you know where I think that came from?

00:22:02.170 --> 00:22:04.970
So their assistant coach, he's a Brazilian opposite.

00:22:05.130 --> 00:22:07.490
His name is Leandro Vissoto. He was on that team

00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:09.450
that I worked with with Bruno, and he only ever

00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:11.250
wanted to be set. He didn't want anybody else

00:22:11.250 --> 00:22:13.470
to be set. I guarantee you he was standing on

00:22:13.470 --> 00:22:15.710
the sidelines going, set that girl. Just set

00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:20.029
her every single ball. Honestly, if a player

00:22:20.029 --> 00:22:21.910
is playing like that, seriously, give them every

00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:24.390
ball. But Pitt, what were you doing? Now, in

00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:28.589
fairness, Babcock was also very good. We saw

00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:32.349
some Babcock swagger in that game, and I kind

00:22:32.349 --> 00:22:36.109
of loved it because it doesn't often come out.

00:22:36.670 --> 00:22:41.450
The crowd was wild. Yes, it was. They were chippy.

00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:45.069
There was a little bit of flair on the other

00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:47.349
side. You got two players from the Dominican

00:22:47.349 --> 00:22:50.670
national team swaggering about that court, and

00:22:50.670 --> 00:22:55.230
that's just the Dominican style. Take it or leave

00:22:55.230 --> 00:22:57.829
it. But you saw Olivia make some kills and be

00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:02.349
like, don't even say a word. Well, she had 52

00:23:02.349 --> 00:23:05.849
attempts, had 30 kills. She hit 519 on the match.

00:23:05.990 --> 00:23:09.190
You can't ask anything else of her. She was very

00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:12.529
good. You couldn't expect anything else. Brie

00:23:12.529 --> 00:23:15.950
Kelly, 18 attempts, hit zero. Unacceptable. Well,

00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:18.190
here's the – okay, we talked about this while

00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:22.109
we were watching it. Pitt's passing was rough.

00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:25.789
And Olivia was doing a really good job. The thing

00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:28.029
is, is it became way too predictable when they

00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:30.009
did pass a good ball. They went to the middle.

00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:32.950
exclusively. The middle for Miami played blocked

00:23:32.950 --> 00:23:36.250
very well. At which point the Miami middle just

00:23:36.250 --> 00:23:39.150
committed and was getting blocked. I think that

00:23:39.150 --> 00:23:43.190
was Wilson. Yeah, that was the issue is Pitt's

00:23:43.190 --> 00:23:45.690
passing was pulling everything off the net and

00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:47.690
it was just too predictable when things went

00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:49.750
well. And I understand the setter's perspective.

00:23:49.930 --> 00:23:52.789
It's like, okay, I'm exclusively feeding Babcock.

00:23:53.009 --> 00:23:55.230
I need to try to get the middles involved or

00:23:55.230 --> 00:23:57.589
something. I understand why she was doing what

00:23:57.589 --> 00:24:00.000
she was doing, but the passers just completely

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.720
sewered everything. The stats for the match were

00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.240
very close. Miami had eight aces, Pitt had six,

00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:09.900
Miami had 9 .5 blocks, Pitt had 13, so they won

00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.259
that. Miami outdug them 47 to 40, so it was close

00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:15.640
over five sets, but Gallon was the difference

00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:17.920
maker. Down the stretch in sets three, four,

00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:21.599
and five, she was just unstoppable. Pitt could

00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.039
not make adjustments to stop her. Dan Fisher

00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.279
was getting really frustrated. on the other side

00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:30.400
of the court. He was chipping at the refs. He

00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.579
was back and forth. You don't see that from him

00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:36.079
very often. So I don't know whether he was frustrated

00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.240
with the calls, but I didn't think the reffing

00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:42.579
was bad. I didn't think it was bad. The announcers

00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:46.700
for the Miami games are hardcore Hurricane homers.

00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:51.519
100%. They were accusing him so many times of

00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:54.259
trying to kill the momentum, of doing this, and

00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:57.990
kind of like making his... responses to certain

00:24:57.990 --> 00:25:03.450
plays seem almost malicious. in how he was responding.

00:25:03.569 --> 00:25:06.390
And I personally didn't get that vibe. Me either.

00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:09.509
I just thought that he was frustrated. I don't

00:25:09.509 --> 00:25:13.690
think he was necessarily trying to stall or hold

00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.549
things up. I just think he was... Well, I'm wondering

00:25:16.549 --> 00:25:19.289
if he was frustrated with his team's execution.

00:25:19.690 --> 00:25:21.910
I couldn't tell where the frustration was coming

00:25:21.910 --> 00:25:24.650
from, but I don't see him like that very often.

00:25:24.789 --> 00:25:27.589
When I'm thinking about that match... I cannot

00:25:27.589 --> 00:25:30.609
remember Pitt's left sides at all. I don't remember

00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:33.750
anything that they did, except the Dutch girl

00:25:33.750 --> 00:25:37.269
getting aced at 13 -0. Yeah, so the Dutch girl

00:25:37.269 --> 00:25:39.029
didn't play very well. Bayless had 30 attempts.

00:25:39.130 --> 00:25:43.430
She hit 200. Like, she was fine. But she wasn't

00:25:43.430 --> 00:25:46.450
a factor. And so when your left sides aren't

00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:48.450
a factor, and the passing is struggling, and

00:25:48.450 --> 00:25:51.190
your middle's hitting zero, it was Babcock versus

00:25:51.190 --> 00:25:53.549
Colon, and Colon won in the end. That's what

00:25:53.549 --> 00:25:55.390
happened. They could not pull that match out.

00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:58.640
in Miami on the road. And I mean, they lost 13

00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.299
-15 in the fifth set. Like, it was close, but

00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:04.920
man, what a show. What a show. Well, and I think

00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.259
the environment made it more exciting. Oh, absolutely.

00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:10.619
So one of the questions that was sent in is,

00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.180
where's the best setting you've ever played?

00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:17.539
And then this, just to expand, watching the Pitt

00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:19.660
versus Miami game, a big thing that stood out

00:26:19.660 --> 00:26:23.829
was the atmosphere. Granted, I hope it's a moment

00:26:23.829 --> 00:26:25.789
for Miami to realize they shouldn't be putting

00:26:25.789 --> 00:26:27.670
that kind of product in a middle school gym.

00:26:28.230 --> 00:26:31.650
Yes, fair. But it got me thinking that those

00:26:31.650 --> 00:26:33.569
type of environments could be more electric than

00:26:33.569 --> 00:26:36.789
in a large arena. I'm curious on your thoughts

00:26:36.789 --> 00:26:39.089
of the best location and what makes an overall

00:26:39.089 --> 00:26:44.470
great gym atmosphere. Okay. When you're not playing

00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:49.490
at home, my favorite place to play is with fans

00:26:49.490 --> 00:26:53.140
who are close to the court. who are against you

00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:57.839
but funny there's a line for fans that you can

00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:00.500
cross very easily but when you go into somebody

00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:03.619
else's barn and the fans are kind of up in your

00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:06.940
grill and it's clever There's a little bit of

00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:08.799
back and forth. Like you kind of look at them

00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:11.559
and they know. It can be so much fun and it can

00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:14.099
fuel the game. Those were my favorite matches

00:27:14.099 --> 00:27:16.000
to play. So when I was thinking about my college

00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.720
experience, what you just described are the two

00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:22.119
locations outside of away games that came to

00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:25.240
mind. Is it was exactly that? Well, one of them

00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:26.799
was that and one of them the fans were kind of

00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.319
mean. The Coliseum at Nebraska was great. It

00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:33.220
was very intimate. But as an away player, Missouri.

00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:36.940
was exactly what you described. It was in a basketball

00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:41.680
arena, though, and those fans were funny. They're

00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.359
heckling you, but it's funny. Yeah, you can't

00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:47.400
help but kind of admire the stuff they come up

00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:51.519
with. Fans that put the work in. Yeah, exactly.

00:27:51.819 --> 00:27:54.339
Do your homework. But then Texas was another

00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:56.539
one, but those fans were like legit mean because

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:59.160
at the time it was like Nebraska and Texas were

00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:03.420
always going back and forth. But I will say as

00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:09.519
a pro, my favorite place to play was in, or the

00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.480
match that comes to mind was in Brazil, the final.

00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:16.359
In Medellin? No, in Sao Paulo when we played

00:28:16.359 --> 00:28:19.920
against Osasco, there were 10 ,000 people. We

00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:21.819
were playing like technically, it was technically

00:28:21.819 --> 00:28:24.160
a neutral location, but it wasn't. It was like

00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.180
basically a home game for the other team. That

00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:31.019
was insane. That was a good match. And when you

00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:33.940
have the environment that Miami was able to create

00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:38.900
in on a larger scale, it is just like goosebump

00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:41.759
inducing. And then you make, of course, I could

00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.720
never help myself. You make a play, and then

00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.819
you can't help but turn to the crowd and, like,

00:28:46.819 --> 00:28:49.480
say something. Oh, yeah. That's the kind of player

00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:52.440
I was. I don't, you know, it's not for everybody.

00:28:52.700 --> 00:28:54.400
That's the kind of person you are, and I'm going

00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:57.579
to caveat it to player. And you're going to say,

00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:01.160
like, what was that? Say it again. Yeah. That's

00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:03.500
the best. I love antagonizing a hostile crowd.

00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:06.779
It's always nice to win in those environments.

00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:11.019
Oh, even better. But there's another question.

00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:13.599
It's clear that Babcock has strong potential

00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:15.619
to make the transition to international and the

00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:18.180
national team well. What does she need to do

00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:20.680
over her final two years to set herself up for

00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:23.420
that transition? Oh, good question. I will give

00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:26.559
her credit. Her defense has improved tremendously

00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.759
since last season. So I think her stint with

00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:32.740
the national team probably helped that and playing

00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:35.740
at a higher level over the summer. So I will

00:29:35.740 --> 00:29:38.710
say her defense has improved a lot. I think two

00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:41.490
things come to mind. One is just her blocking.

00:29:41.609 --> 00:29:44.069
She's going to face better, smarter hitters.

00:29:44.369 --> 00:29:47.230
She's going to have to figure out hand positioning.

00:29:47.710 --> 00:29:49.750
She's going to have more responsibilities in

00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:53.349
terms of helping with middles and pipes and just

00:29:53.349 --> 00:29:56.230
more complex blocking schemes. Being able to

00:29:56.230 --> 00:29:59.009
kind of figure that piece out and then just processing.

00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:02.519
the speed and the caliber of the athletes on

00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:04.079
the other side in terms of when you're attacking

00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:06.579
right those middle blockers are coming they're

00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:08.880
either closing late or they're there the defenders

00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:10.859
are a little bit better so moving the ball around

00:30:10.859 --> 00:30:13.220
with her wrist and not just being more physical

00:30:13.220 --> 00:30:15.380
that's what i was gonna than her opponents those

00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:17.460
will be and i think she's capable of doing that

00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:19.759
she's just gonna need somebody to go hey here's

00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:21.559
how you're gonna have to score at this next level

00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:24.220
yeah because right now she's like she jumps well

00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:28.039
she's big she's physical She can just overpower

00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:30.359
a lot of teams, but at the next level she's going

00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:33.500
to have to use that and incorporate a little

00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:37.779
more creativity as far as wrist movement. finding

00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:40.799
the block, knowing when to incorporate a good

00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:43.920
off speed, things like that. And I want to see

00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.920
her spin serving internationally. It is, as we

00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:48.700
talked about in the summer, it's much harder

00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:50.839
to spin serve the international ball than the

00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:53.960
NCAA ball. But I think if she can get a handle

00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:56.119
on that, it'll just make her like that much more

00:30:56.119 --> 00:31:00.400
versatile. Before we hop into more listener questions,

00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:02.319
there was one other match, and we're not going

00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:03.680
to talk about this, but I want to highlight something

00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:05.779
because it's going to come up later when we discuss

00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:09.339
it. So Kentucky beat Texas A &M 3 -1. Texas A

00:31:09.339 --> 00:31:11.920
&M won the first set 25 -21, and then they lost

00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:18.480
22 -15 and 25 -27. Now, I just want to highlight...

00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:21.900
Texas A &M kind of moves with Lednicki right

00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:24.000
so they won the first set Lednicki had seven

00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.039
kills they lost the second set even though Lednicki

00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:30.180
had nine kills and then she had three and two

00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:32.960
just keep that in mind we're going to talk about

00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:35.599
this later later on in the episode again highlighting

00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.859
a star player on a team and what is required

00:31:38.859 --> 00:31:42.420
to win and what happens when that production

00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:44.960
isn't there. But Kentucky continues to look good

00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.140
and beat strong opponents. So we kind of alluded

00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:50.700
to this at the beginning of the episode. We have

00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:53.880
gotten a lot of questions pertaining to the Minnesota

00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.619
situation and the number of injuries that they

00:31:57.619 --> 00:32:01.299
have succumbed to as the seasons progress. I

00:32:01.299 --> 00:32:03.940
feel like... Across the board, there's been a

00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:06.660
lot of injuries. Sage Damro just went down. We

00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:09.500
saw Glover have to miss a few weeks with, I'm

00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:11.339
assuming it was a concussion, but she also had

00:32:11.339 --> 00:32:15.059
crutches, so I don't know. Furbringer. Furbringer,

00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:19.240
Egan. We're just seeing this across the board.

00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.940
A lot of people are wondering what's up, first

00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:25.980
of all. So a question we received was... As a

00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:28.960
player, how do you handle a situation like this

00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:32.200
with the Minnesota situation like Julia Hansen?

00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:36.019
She is having to carry a huge load and end her

00:32:36.019 --> 00:32:38.220
career in a way that she didn't expect to with

00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:42.460
a bunch of young freshmen playing. People who

00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:45.220
weren't anticipating having to play. And then

00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:47.799
as a coach, how do you approach the season moving

00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:51.480
forward? You can't give up. But how do you mentally

00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:54.099
prepare your team for what is going to end up

00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:57.519
being a more developmental year than anyone anticipated?

00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:00.579
Yikes. So if you're not familiar, Minnesota,

00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:05.390
I think they've lost. at least four, if not more,

00:33:05.490 --> 00:33:08.930
of their projected starters over the course of

00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:12.029
the season to injury. So now we're seeing freshmen,

00:33:12.349 --> 00:33:15.670
developmental players have to come in. We're

00:33:15.670 --> 00:33:17.809
seeing players who are going to be bench players

00:33:17.809 --> 00:33:21.690
starting. Injuries wiped out Minnesota, pretty

00:33:21.690 --> 00:33:25.210
much. From a coaching standpoint, you can't write

00:33:25.210 --> 00:33:27.809
off the season. You have to look at the team

00:33:27.809 --> 00:33:32.069
and go, injuries happen. It's why we have 18

00:33:32.069 --> 00:33:35.029
players on the roster, and everybody who is in

00:33:35.029 --> 00:33:37.390
this program is here because they deserve to

00:33:37.390 --> 00:33:40.809
be here. We are still going to expect to win,

00:33:40.950 --> 00:33:43.809
and you have to make sure from a coaching standpoint

00:33:43.809 --> 00:33:48.710
that the preparation, the environment, the level

00:33:48.710 --> 00:33:53.099
of expectation is... still high I think yeah

00:33:53.099 --> 00:33:55.000
for sure has to stay consistent because all of

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:56.740
a sudden if it changes you're giving the messaging

00:33:56.740 --> 00:33:58.460
to the other players that you don't believe in

00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:01.799
them 100 % for me when you have developmental

00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:04.680
players in a position where it's going to be

00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:06.359
really hard to be successful because you're playing

00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:09.380
against other teams you start to talk about decision

00:34:09.380 --> 00:34:12.320
making more than you talk about results right

00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:14.460
so when you're watching video with the team you

00:34:14.460 --> 00:34:17.400
go hey that was the right decision that was a

00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:19.780
great shot you just missed so if you're seeing

00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:21.639
the block and you're swinging for hands and you

00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:24.679
miss great if you see that the angle swing is

00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:26.380
open and you hit it a foot out of bounds hey

00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:28.460
great swing that's what we're trying to do so

00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:31.969
you start teaching your athletes like this decision

00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:34.210
making is what you want and then as the touches

00:34:34.210 --> 00:34:36.769
come the execution will come on top of that personally

00:34:36.769 --> 00:34:38.869
I believe that you should always be talking about

00:34:38.869 --> 00:34:41.389
these kind of things process -based versus result

00:34:41.389 --> 00:34:44.070
-based but I think especially with young players

00:34:44.070 --> 00:34:45.730
where you're not going to get the results you

00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:48.530
want in a situation like this it's even more

00:34:48.530 --> 00:34:50.670
important to highlight from a team perspective

00:34:50.670 --> 00:34:54.070
and then as a player like that's tough you know

00:34:54.070 --> 00:34:56.829
you're in your senior season it's already an

00:34:56.829 --> 00:35:00.320
emotional time and there's so much floating around

00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:04.139
that experience of being a senior and your future

00:35:04.139 --> 00:35:06.300
being a little uncertain, perhaps. What choice

00:35:06.300 --> 00:35:08.320
do you have other than to keep moving forward?

00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.360
This is your chance to step up even more as a

00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:16.260
leader. Your role gets magnified even more. Yeah,

00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:18.099
it's disappointing, but like you were saying,

00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:22.119
you can't just give up. You have to own it. And

00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:25.159
like anything, you have to play the cards you're

00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:28.690
dealt. I mean, you have to think. I'm going to

00:35:28.690 --> 00:35:31.130
leave the program in a better place, right? You

00:35:31.130 --> 00:35:33.610
have your freshmen who are there. If those freshmen

00:35:33.610 --> 00:35:36.110
are going to be successful down the road, you

00:35:36.110 --> 00:35:38.190
want them to think, this is what Julia taught

00:35:38.190 --> 00:35:40.050
me. This is what you left for the program. That

00:35:40.050 --> 00:35:43.210
way you can stay engaged. It helps you manage

00:35:43.210 --> 00:35:46.269
your frustration, hopefully. Because again, like

00:35:46.269 --> 00:35:48.510
you said, what else can you do? So when I see

00:35:48.510 --> 00:35:52.550
teams just decimated by injuries, The first thing

00:35:52.550 --> 00:35:54.550
that comes to mind for me is that there's an

00:35:54.550 --> 00:35:56.170
issue with the strength and conditioning program.

00:35:56.369 --> 00:36:01.090
That's what I jump to when I see multiple injuries

00:36:01.090 --> 00:36:03.409
on the same team. Obviously, like concussions

00:36:03.409 --> 00:36:05.630
and stuff like that, there are certain things

00:36:05.630 --> 00:36:08.250
that just don't fall into that category. But

00:36:08.250 --> 00:36:12.730
I do really think that with the load that these

00:36:12.730 --> 00:36:16.630
athletes have to deal with, the strength and

00:36:16.630 --> 00:36:21.429
conditioning component needs to be as... important

00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:25.230
as the on -court stuff I 100 % agree with you

00:36:25.230 --> 00:36:26.809
you look like you're thinking something well

00:36:26.809 --> 00:36:30.409
I have a few caveats to that one is the sport

00:36:30.409 --> 00:36:33.210
is becoming so dynamic you step on somebody's

00:36:33.210 --> 00:36:37.269
toe and roll your ankle or take a bad move and

00:36:37.269 --> 00:36:38.909
blow your knee out sometimes there's nothing

00:36:38.909 --> 00:36:43.269
you can do about those things now sometimes but

00:36:43.269 --> 00:36:45.429
I do think that there are circumstances when

00:36:45.429 --> 00:36:48.409
even when things like that happen there's it

00:36:48.409 --> 00:36:52.159
is avoidable sure load in terms of fatigue when

00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:54.179
you're practicing, you know, how much stability

00:36:54.179 --> 00:36:56.440
work you're doing. But also load and stuff like

00:36:56.440 --> 00:36:59.880
that plays into your mental state. And so I think

00:36:59.880 --> 00:37:01.480
strength and conditioning is a huge component,

00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:04.500
but I also think your mental headspace contributes

00:37:04.500 --> 00:37:08.050
to... injury or lack thereof as well. We don't

00:37:08.050 --> 00:37:10.889
know what the injuries for Minnesota are. I'm

00:37:10.889 --> 00:37:13.630
not speaking just about Minnesota. I'm speaking

00:37:13.630 --> 00:37:16.170
about injuries across the board in general. I'm

00:37:16.170 --> 00:37:18.250
highlighting Minnesota because they have been

00:37:18.250 --> 00:37:20.889
decimated by them completely. One other thing

00:37:20.889 --> 00:37:23.670
league -wide, because you mentioned having injuries

00:37:23.670 --> 00:37:25.780
there, is I think a lot of younger players are

00:37:25.780 --> 00:37:27.420
coming in and playing in the NCAA because we're

00:37:27.420 --> 00:37:29.599
seeing a lot more seniors graduate. Like you

00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:31.539
said, there's more load on these athletes who

00:37:31.539 --> 00:37:33.400
maybe haven't had the years of strength conditioning

00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:35.679
at the university level, so they're not quite

00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:38.300
ready for that. Could also be a contributing

00:37:38.300 --> 00:37:42.929
factor. The NCAA is definitely pushing and giving

00:37:42.929 --> 00:37:47.010
a more professional feel. Back in the day, you

00:37:47.010 --> 00:37:49.369
used to actually hear about what the athletes

00:37:49.369 --> 00:37:51.289
were majoring in and what they were studying.

00:37:51.349 --> 00:37:53.329
Nobody cares anymore. It's like, this is a professional

00:37:53.329 --> 00:37:55.469
sport. Hello. Are they studying? Yeah, what?

00:37:55.610 --> 00:37:59.289
If this is the vibe that's continuing, and I'm

00:37:59.289 --> 00:38:01.630
an advocate for this even when the NIL wasn't

00:38:01.630 --> 00:38:04.829
a thing, you need to prioritize your strength

00:38:04.829 --> 00:38:07.150
and conditioning in the offseason. So for volleyball,

00:38:07.269 --> 00:38:09.380
that's the winter and the summer. summer you

00:38:09.380 --> 00:38:11.739
need to stay during the summer that is what a

00:38:11.739 --> 00:38:14.639
professional athlete does you take care of your

00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:17.539
body and prepare your body to the best of your

00:38:17.539 --> 00:38:20.320
ability when you're in the off season so that

00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:22.099
you can make it through a whole season without

00:38:22.099 --> 00:38:24.119
getting injured you need to stay for the summer

00:38:24.119 --> 00:38:26.579
so another thing that I saw about the injuries

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:30.500
it's being said online that playing on the teraflex

00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:34.059
is a cause of injury I don't have anything to

00:38:34.059 --> 00:38:36.500
say to that. You play on the floor. Teraflex?

00:38:36.739 --> 00:38:39.860
What? Come on. Show me the data. I can't get

00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:42.539
behind that. I don't think it makes a huge difference.

00:38:42.739 --> 00:38:44.980
Personally, I've played on both. Seems like a

00:38:44.980 --> 00:38:47.079
conspiracy theory to me. If anybody thinks that

00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:49.079
that's a thing, can somebody explain to us why

00:38:49.079 --> 00:38:51.219
that would be a thing? If they're putting the

00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:53.119
Teraflex straight over concrete? Because I just

00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:55.159
kind of think it's ludicrous. Like, yeah, if

00:38:55.159 --> 00:38:56.619
you're doing it like a club volleyball tournament

00:38:56.619 --> 00:38:59.079
where it's that plastic court over concrete,

00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:02.849
absolutely, that sucks. But Teraflex is being

00:39:02.849 --> 00:39:05.130
laid over a wooden floor. I don't think that's

00:39:05.130 --> 00:39:07.570
a contributing factor. So, I mean, I think that

00:39:07.570 --> 00:39:10.190
there are potentially lots of factors for injuries.

00:39:10.909 --> 00:39:13.989
Strength and conditioning being one. Bad year

00:39:13.989 --> 00:39:17.090
with freak accidents being another one. Young

00:39:17.090 --> 00:39:19.510
athletes who can't handle the load. There's lots

00:39:19.510 --> 00:39:22.349
of different reasons why that could be a thing.

00:39:22.530 --> 00:39:24.409
Hopefully, we get through the rest of conference

00:39:24.409 --> 00:39:26.389
play without too many more injuries. We're going

00:39:26.389 --> 00:39:29.469
to play a game. And it's going to be a volleyball

00:39:29.469 --> 00:39:34.650
version of Would You Rather. Okay. Okay. So here's

00:39:34.650 --> 00:39:38.250
the premise of this game. We watched a lot of

00:39:38.250 --> 00:39:42.510
the highest profile players lose this past week.

00:39:42.650 --> 00:39:46.090
It got me to thinking, which of the teams around

00:39:46.090 --> 00:39:50.750
these marquee players would you prefer to choose?

00:39:50.829 --> 00:39:53.130
Which parts do you think are better? I'm going

00:39:53.130 --> 00:39:57.070
to read you the players, and I have five of them.

00:39:57.639 --> 00:39:59.739
And then we're going to go through and you're

00:39:59.739 --> 00:40:02.599
going to pick, like, would you rather have this

00:40:02.599 --> 00:40:04.840
team's left sides? And give me your top two.

00:40:04.900 --> 00:40:07.280
Would you rather have this team's middles? Here

00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:08.940
are the five players. I'm going to give you their

00:40:08.940 --> 00:40:10.880
stats just to go through. The player who scores

00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:14.519
the most points per set is Herrera Colón at 6

00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:18.230
.25 % She's number one. Number two is Mimi Collier

00:40:18.230 --> 00:40:21.389
at Wisconsin, scoring six points per set. Then

00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:24.269
you have Kennedy Martin at number four, scoring

00:40:24.269 --> 00:40:28.730
5 .77. Olivia Babcock at number eight, scoring

00:40:28.730 --> 00:40:32.550
5 .39. And we have to include Logan Lednicki.

00:40:32.750 --> 00:40:36.829
She's only scoring 4 .44, and she's number 65

00:40:36.829 --> 00:40:39.269
on the list, but she fits this profile of player

00:40:39.269 --> 00:40:42.789
that we're talking about. Out of those five teams,

00:40:43.070 --> 00:40:47.610
which set of left sides? would you choose? Collier

00:40:47.610 --> 00:40:50.869
is a left side. Let's go other outside hitters.

00:40:50.909 --> 00:40:52.789
So most of them are right sides, so we're going

00:40:52.789 --> 00:40:55.230
to go left sides. For Collier, we'll go left

00:40:55.230 --> 00:40:56.789
side, other left side, and right side. Which

00:40:56.789 --> 00:40:58.849
outside hitting core, outside of that player,

00:40:58.969 --> 00:41:01.409
would you choose? I guess I'd probably pick Pitt.

00:41:01.869 --> 00:41:04.269
It was between Pitt and Wisconsin for me. For

00:41:04.269 --> 00:41:08.630
Pitt, we would have Moritz, who I believe is

00:41:08.630 --> 00:41:12.500
the Netherlands girl, and Blair Bayless. And

00:41:12.500 --> 00:41:15.500
at Wisconsin, we would have, because you're looking

00:41:15.500 --> 00:41:17.500
at the outside, so it would be either Egan or

00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:21.760
Quest and Vajicic. I think I would go Pitt. I

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:23.599
think I like their left sides better. There's

00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:27.559
a little bit better ball control, and I think

00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:31.420
they can score better than the other ones. So

00:41:31.420 --> 00:41:33.519
that would be my pick. What about in the middle?

00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:37.920
I'd probably pick Pitt again. I might go Wisconsin.

00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:41.559
Oh, man. Again, it comes down to those two teams

00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:45.659
again. Dahlia Wilson is very good at Miami, but

00:41:45.659 --> 00:41:48.500
Logan Wiley is kind of, she's a decent blocker,

00:41:48.500 --> 00:41:51.400
but not really a factor. They're fine, but I

00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:54.699
think the other combos are better. Yeah, I agree.

00:41:55.019 --> 00:41:57.420
I think I end up with Wisconsin. I lean Wisconsin

00:41:57.420 --> 00:42:00.460
on this one. And then from a setter standpoint,

00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:05.480
who would you? Setting? I would probably say

00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:08.980
Wisconsin or Miami. I actually really like Rodriguez

00:42:08.980 --> 00:42:12.079
as a setter. Oh, those were my choices too. I

00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:14.280
really liked watching Rodriguez. I think she

00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:17.000
tries to force the middle in unconventional situations,

00:42:17.380 --> 00:42:20.179
which I liked. Obviously in the match, we watched

00:42:20.179 --> 00:42:24.260
Miami play. She set Kalon a ton. I do like that

00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:28.119
she does unconventional things, like a fake attack

00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:30.239
to set. Sometimes she tries to do a little too

00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:34.599
much, but I do like her. All right, it is time

00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:38.820
for some listener questions. Question one is,

00:42:38.880 --> 00:42:41.679
what are your thoughts on Ali Baton Horse Beach

00:42:41.679 --> 00:42:45.840
debut? I'll have you guys know, I have not watched

00:42:45.840 --> 00:42:48.719
beach volleyball since I stopped playing. This

00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:52.559
made me dive back in. I didn't want to, but I'm

00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:55.280
doing this for you guys. So we watched two matches.

00:42:55.559 --> 00:42:57.460
I have a couple of initial thoughts and then

00:42:57.460 --> 00:42:59.840
we can talk about Ali in general. I think very

00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:02.719
few indoor players have... successfully made

00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:04.719
the transition to the beach so I think this is

00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:09.440
a huge endeavor for her and by successful we

00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:12.980
mean like world class yeah like anybody can go

00:43:12.980 --> 00:43:15.659
play an AVP yeah but chance at competing for

00:43:15.659 --> 00:43:17.079
the Olympics because that's what Sarah Hughes

00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:19.659
is trying to do she wants to be in the conversation

00:43:19.659 --> 00:43:23.469
at the Olympics I think this is a huge undertaking.

00:43:23.489 --> 00:43:25.550
And I know you'll talk Alex Kleinman, but she

00:43:25.550 --> 00:43:27.349
grew up playing beach in California. So I don't

00:43:27.349 --> 00:43:29.389
consider that the same thing. She wasn't starting

00:43:29.389 --> 00:43:31.789
from ground zero, which I don't believe Baton

00:43:31.789 --> 00:43:33.969
Horse has a ton of experience. So she's starting

00:43:33.969 --> 00:43:36.050
from the ground up. Well, she played beach in

00:43:36.050 --> 00:43:41.409
Nebraska. I don't think that counts. Watching

00:43:41.409 --> 00:43:45.010
her play, she did all of the things a skilled

00:43:45.010 --> 00:43:47.309
indoor volleyball player who is more physical

00:43:47.309 --> 00:43:49.530
than the people she's playing should do well,

00:43:49.610 --> 00:43:53.309
in my opinion. but I thought she did the beach

00:43:53.309 --> 00:43:56.710
-specific things not very well. She was honestly

00:43:56.710 --> 00:43:58.969
better than I thought she would be. I had very

00:43:58.969 --> 00:44:02.150
low expectations, so she did much better than

00:44:02.150 --> 00:44:04.690
I thought she would. Her hand, I was impressed

00:44:04.690 --> 00:44:07.599
that she was hand -setting. Yep. That was nice.

00:44:08.019 --> 00:44:10.119
I liked her decision making and how aggressive

00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:12.860
she was at the net she was going on to. Sarah

00:44:12.860 --> 00:44:16.579
Hughes was passing very well and basically teeing

00:44:16.579 --> 00:44:19.480
her up to just unload on balls. So I think that's

00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:21.940
more Sarah Hughes. Yeah, but you still have to

00:44:21.940 --> 00:44:24.500
have the instinct to do it. Yeah, so she was

00:44:24.500 --> 00:44:27.039
hitting on two great. When she was put in a good

00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:29.039
position to score, she was doing a really good

00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:31.599
job. Her bump setting, her transition setting,

00:44:31.739 --> 00:44:36.039
they need a lot of work. They are almost unhittable.

00:44:36.570 --> 00:44:40.809
And she was not moving her feet in the way that

00:44:40.809 --> 00:44:44.869
she needs to in the sand. Correct. On serve -receive.

00:44:45.510 --> 00:44:48.050
She was definitely approaching to the ball where

00:44:48.050 --> 00:44:50.570
she wanted the set to be and often got caught

00:44:50.570 --> 00:44:52.949
with the ball flying over her left shoulder.

00:44:53.389 --> 00:44:57.789
So she needs to learn for sure. She has some

00:44:57.789 --> 00:45:01.269
things to work on, but I would say overall she

00:45:01.269 --> 00:45:03.409
was better than I thought she would be. The other

00:45:03.409 --> 00:45:06.059
thing I will say is watching her pass. She is

00:45:06.059 --> 00:45:08.760
not opening her hips. She's getting jammed by

00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:12.789
the ball. She's not moving her feet. on the serve

00:45:12.789 --> 00:45:14.869
receive. I listened to the announcers talk about

00:45:14.869 --> 00:45:18.170
how good she was in her debut and the one thing

00:45:18.170 --> 00:45:20.489
I want to point out is and I think this is very

00:45:20.489 --> 00:45:22.550
applicable on the beach is it's really hard to

00:45:22.550 --> 00:45:24.289
play against someone when you have zero video.

00:45:24.469 --> 00:45:26.809
Oh my gosh I hated playing against people that

00:45:26.809 --> 00:45:30.230
I didn't know. I fully expect them to take a

00:45:30.230 --> 00:45:32.369
dip after a few tournaments where people can

00:45:32.369 --> 00:45:34.110
watch Allie because you still have a lot of people

00:45:34.110 --> 00:45:35.849
serving Sarah because they knew what they were

00:45:35.849 --> 00:45:38.590
going to get. I expect them to take a dip before

00:45:38.590 --> 00:45:41.190
they get better. Question two what are your thoughts

00:45:41.190 --> 00:45:44.530
on Stanford freshman Logan Parks, Erica Sayre,

00:45:44.650 --> 00:45:48.150
Spencer Etzler. I think Erica Sayre is really

00:45:48.150 --> 00:45:50.449
good. I'm so upset we didn't get her for our

00:45:50.449 --> 00:45:55.449
fantasy team. Yep, I would agree. She is going

00:45:55.449 --> 00:45:58.389
to be outstanding, I think. I mean, I think Etzler's

00:45:58.389 --> 00:46:01.230
fine. She does her job, but she doesn't like

00:46:01.230 --> 00:46:05.630
stand out to me. And I think Logan Parks is good.

00:46:05.789 --> 00:46:09.469
When they switched to her running a 5 -1, I think

00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:12.059
things started looking... better for Stanford.

00:46:12.619 --> 00:46:15.239
I like the offense she runs. I think she's got

00:46:15.239 --> 00:46:18.440
really good hands. But if I was to rank the Stanford

00:46:18.440 --> 00:46:22.219
freshman, it would be Sayre, Parks, Etzler. But

00:46:22.219 --> 00:46:24.800
we are a little curious about how Stanford would

00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:27.400
do this year with such a young team. And I think

00:46:27.400 --> 00:46:30.300
that the future looks bright for them. Well,

00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:33.199
I was going to say that's a really good core.

00:46:33.929 --> 00:46:36.750
To build around. Yeah. You've got a libero, a

00:46:36.750 --> 00:46:40.190
setter, and a middle all the same age. They've

00:46:40.190 --> 00:46:41.789
come in together. Just need some outsides. Yeah.

00:46:41.829 --> 00:46:43.989
I mean, if you're looking at starting a program,

00:46:44.230 --> 00:46:46.849
those are three pieces that if they get to play

00:46:46.849 --> 00:46:49.190
right away are going to be very good for four

00:46:49.190 --> 00:46:51.869
years, I think. Question three. Maybe, maybe

00:46:51.869 --> 00:46:54.030
not a hot take. Do you think there's a chance

00:46:54.030 --> 00:46:55.829
that Nebraska can make it through the Big Ten

00:46:55.829 --> 00:46:59.829
without dropping a set? No. No. They will drop

00:46:59.829 --> 00:47:02.179
a set. Yeah. The competition is too good. You

00:47:02.179 --> 00:47:04.900
have to be too clean all year long. Everybody

00:47:04.900 --> 00:47:07.119
wants a piece of Nebraska. So you're generally

00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:10.280
getting people's best. Like look at the set that

00:47:10.280 --> 00:47:12.659
they just played against Purdue. I mean, Purdue

00:47:12.659 --> 00:47:14.659
came in and had a really good first set. It was

00:47:14.659 --> 00:47:18.579
close. And then, you know, nobody can kind of

00:47:18.579 --> 00:47:20.500
keep up with the balance that they have. But

00:47:20.500 --> 00:47:22.579
you get people's best at the beginning. So I

00:47:22.579 --> 00:47:26.360
don't think so. I will be stunned if they don't

00:47:26.360 --> 00:47:29.599
drop a set. Question four. Do you think that

00:47:29.599 --> 00:47:32.079
higher ranked colleges and universities no longer

00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:34.860
want to recruit undersized hitters with higher

00:47:34.860 --> 00:47:37.780
level skill sets than their taller counterparts

00:47:37.780 --> 00:47:40.260
because of the freedom of movement introduced

00:47:40.260 --> 00:47:43.099
by the transfer portal? This obviously allows

00:47:43.099 --> 00:47:46.739
top schools to recruit tall projects out of high

00:47:46.739 --> 00:47:49.199
school and then pivot to those smaller, highly

00:47:49.199 --> 00:47:51.559
skilled players via the transfer portal once

00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:53.920
they've seen them prove themselves at smaller

00:47:53.920 --> 00:47:58.050
or weaker schools. I mean, I think that's definitely

00:47:58.050 --> 00:48:00.829
part of it. You take a flyer on a big player

00:48:00.829 --> 00:48:03.869
because you can't teach height and you can't

00:48:03.869 --> 00:48:06.150
teach how high somebody jumps for the most part.

00:48:06.250 --> 00:48:08.170
You don't want anybody else to have that player,

00:48:08.230 --> 00:48:10.670
and then she turns into a four -time first -team

00:48:10.670 --> 00:48:13.050
All -American. And if not, you can always go

00:48:13.050 --> 00:48:14.869
to the portal. You know, everybody wants to play

00:48:14.869 --> 00:48:17.010
for your program. I mean, I think that that take

00:48:17.010 --> 00:48:20.550
makes a ton of sense. I don't love that mentality,

00:48:20.849 --> 00:48:23.409
but I think, I mean, if I was in a coach's shoes

00:48:23.409 --> 00:48:26.070
and I saw a girl who was 6 '4 and touched 10

00:48:26.070 --> 00:48:28.610
'8", I'd be like, yeah, let's see what you can

00:48:28.610 --> 00:48:31.070
do. I believe that I can develop you. I think

00:48:31.070 --> 00:48:34.769
another thing to think about too is that because

00:48:34.769 --> 00:48:40.030
of the nature of how teams play, the undersized...

00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:45.659
well -skilled attackers they're not going to

00:48:45.659 --> 00:48:49.699
be as good at attacking as the 6 -5 girl who

00:48:49.699 --> 00:48:54.199
touches 10 -8 and they're not going to be as

00:48:54.199 --> 00:48:56.380
good at ball control like service even defense

00:48:56.380 --> 00:49:02.320
as the 5 -2 libero ds So yes, they are very well

00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:05.960
skilled, but because of how many substitutions

00:49:05.960 --> 00:49:08.760
there are and how you can have your big girl

00:49:08.760 --> 00:49:11.400
in the front row and sub her out for a really

00:49:11.400 --> 00:49:14.260
skilled defensive player in the back row, I don't

00:49:14.260 --> 00:49:16.559
agree with this, but I think a lot of coaches

00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:22.059
see the six rotation well -skilled outside hitters

00:49:22.059 --> 00:49:27.460
as disposable. you almost because the ncaa system

00:49:27.460 --> 00:49:30.780
just allows that to happen have a really strong

00:49:30.780 --> 00:49:33.360
big offensive girl in the front row who can put

00:49:33.360 --> 00:49:35.820
up a huge block and jump out of the gym score

00:49:35.820 --> 00:49:38.960
all those points and then put a really good defensive

00:49:38.960 --> 00:49:40.619
player in in the back row and then you get the

00:49:40.619 --> 00:49:43.900
best of both worlds you almost need to be a fantastic

00:49:43.900 --> 00:49:47.519
marketer if you're a smaller skilled player who

00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:50.719
still wants to hit you you need to bring an intangible

00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:53.500
to the table that makes the coach go we need

00:49:53.500 --> 00:49:57.829
you even though, and I think that that's hard

00:49:57.829 --> 00:50:00.889
to do. But I think, like, internationally, you

00:50:00.889 --> 00:50:04.929
are seeing those type of players are well -suited

00:50:04.929 --> 00:50:08.210
to the international game because you can't hide

00:50:08.210 --> 00:50:12.630
behind 15 substitutions. So those players could

00:50:12.630 --> 00:50:16.630
have great international careers or professional

00:50:16.630 --> 00:50:20.309
careers, but with the way the system is designed.

00:50:21.070 --> 00:50:23.730
might not get a chance in the NCAA, which I,

00:50:23.809 --> 00:50:26.289
again, will reiterate, I do not agree with it,

00:50:26.349 --> 00:50:30.889
but it's how the system is created. Question

00:50:30.889 --> 00:50:34.190
five. I found the assessment by position between

00:50:34.190 --> 00:50:36.869
Texas and Nebraska very interesting. So if you

00:50:36.869 --> 00:50:39.369
missed that, go back to listener questions from

00:50:39.369 --> 00:50:42.309
the episode last week where we addressed this.

00:50:42.829 --> 00:50:45.590
So here's a question. Can a team win a national

00:50:45.590 --> 00:50:47.789
championship without a pin hitter who's almost

00:50:47.789 --> 00:50:51.130
an automatic kill machine? danny busboom kelly

00:50:51.130 --> 00:50:53.610
is preaching the sum of all our parts will prevail

00:50:53.610 --> 00:50:56.710
and she may be right but nebraska hasn't won

00:50:56.710 --> 00:50:59.449
since they last had a killer on the pin that

00:50:59.449 --> 00:51:01.170
everyone knew would get the ball but couldn't

00:51:01.170 --> 00:51:04.389
stop anyway i actually can't think of any team

00:51:04.389 --> 00:51:06.210
who has won at all without someone like that

00:51:06.210 --> 00:51:09.230
on the pin nebraska has come close several times

00:51:09.230 --> 00:51:11.829
with the sum of all our parts will prevail mentality

00:51:11.829 --> 00:51:14.889
but they haven't done it can this be the year

00:51:16.079 --> 00:51:18.280
I think this is a great question. I mean, it

00:51:18.280 --> 00:51:20.179
always helps to have a weapon on the pins that

00:51:20.179 --> 00:51:21.960
can score you points. It's the hardest thing

00:51:21.960 --> 00:51:23.619
to do in the game. And if you've got somebody

00:51:23.619 --> 00:51:26.900
who's automatic, it just goes such a long way.

00:51:27.039 --> 00:51:29.900
Is it possible to win where the sum is greater

00:51:29.900 --> 00:51:33.219
than the parts? Absolutely. The thing is, you

00:51:33.219 --> 00:51:36.639
need more of those parts to have good games at

00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:40.139
the same time. I think that's where you're going

00:51:40.139 --> 00:51:42.280
to see whether Nebraska can do that. And quite

00:51:42.280 --> 00:51:45.199
frankly, Texas, because both of them. don't have

00:51:45.199 --> 00:51:47.219
the quote -unquote superstar, but they're better

00:51:47.219 --> 00:51:49.639
teams. But I don't think she's the same as Olivia

00:51:49.639 --> 00:51:51.460
Babcock. She's not the same as Kennedy Martin.

00:51:51.739 --> 00:51:56.940
Yes, it's possible, but you need more better

00:51:56.940 --> 00:51:59.940
contributions from your parts when it matters.

00:52:00.039 --> 00:52:02.980
You don't just have that outlet. And I think

00:52:02.980 --> 00:52:05.239
it puts more pressure on the setter to make good

00:52:05.239 --> 00:52:07.059
decisions because you don't just have an outlet.

00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:09.679
This has been my criticism of Nebraska for the

00:52:09.679 --> 00:52:12.940
last little while. is they have been so preoccupied

00:52:12.940 --> 00:52:16.980
at not having a quote -unquote star that I think

00:52:16.980 --> 00:52:19.300
it has hurt them. Who cares if you have a star?

00:52:19.440 --> 00:52:22.579
Who cares if you have, like, a player that stands

00:52:22.579 --> 00:52:26.940
out and shines, is picked out individually as

00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:30.599
being a great player? I think they have gotten

00:52:30.599 --> 00:52:34.719
so wrapped up in not having that that it has

00:52:34.719 --> 00:52:36.559
hurt them, ultimately. Do you think that's a

00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:39.809
John thing or a Danny thing, or both? I mean,

00:52:39.829 --> 00:52:43.349
I think it definitely was a John thing. Nobody's

00:52:43.349 --> 00:52:46.510
bigger than the program. Exactly. And I think

00:52:46.510 --> 00:52:49.690
that it is possible for certain athletes to be

00:52:49.690 --> 00:52:52.449
both. I think it's possible for athletes to be

00:52:52.449 --> 00:52:56.969
ambitious and have a superstar mentality while

00:52:56.969 --> 00:53:00.050
still prioritizing the team's success. It is

00:53:00.050 --> 00:53:03.789
definitely possible. And I think Nebraska needs

00:53:03.789 --> 00:53:06.849
a player like that that they haven't had for

00:53:06.849 --> 00:53:11.099
quite a while. But we'll see. We'll see if they

00:53:11.099 --> 00:53:14.300
can do it. All right. Baby has had enough. So

00:53:14.300 --> 00:53:17.059
I am finishing this episode solo, everybody.

00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:21.159
She's been a trooper, but enough's enough. You

00:53:21.159 --> 00:53:23.820
know what I mean? She's the boss. Looking forward,

00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:26.440
first of all, the questions that we've been getting

00:53:26.440 --> 00:53:29.480
for NCAA and stuff have been outstanding. It

00:53:29.480 --> 00:53:33.099
is so hard to pick like a handful every episode,

00:53:33.179 --> 00:53:35.039
which is why I'm trying to incorporate them into

00:53:35.039 --> 00:53:38.349
the discussion. sections that we're covering

00:53:38.349 --> 00:53:41.309
so keep them coming i'm trying to get to them

00:53:41.309 --> 00:53:43.710
all but you guys are very good so thank you so

00:53:43.710 --> 00:53:48.170
much looking forward the acc has got some killer

00:53:48.170 --> 00:53:51.710
matchups this week so definitely check out a

00:53:51.710 --> 00:53:54.769
bunch of these matches thursday 7 p .m eastern

00:53:54.769 --> 00:53:58.289
we've got purdue versus indiana the battle of

00:53:58.289 --> 00:54:00.909
indiana okay indiana hasn't been in the top 25

00:54:00.909 --> 00:54:04.559
for a while So we'll see what happens there.

00:54:04.659 --> 00:54:07.820
Thursday at 8 p .m., we've got BYU versus Arizona

00:54:07.820 --> 00:54:11.239
State. And then, as I just mentioned, the ACC

00:54:11.239 --> 00:54:15.239
showdown happens. So Friday, 7 p .m. Eastern,

00:54:15.500 --> 00:54:18.840
SMU versus Louisville. Louisville's got quite

00:54:18.840 --> 00:54:21.699
the weekend because on Sunday at 1 p .m. Eastern,

00:54:21.800 --> 00:54:25.800
they're facing Pitt. And Sunday at 4, we've got

00:54:25.800 --> 00:54:29.050
Stanford versus Miami. And Miami has gained some

00:54:29.050 --> 00:54:31.030
momentum. I think they're playing better. So

00:54:31.030 --> 00:54:32.750
it'll be really interesting to see them play

00:54:32.750 --> 00:54:36.590
against a young Stanford team. Watch all or a

00:54:36.590 --> 00:54:39.849
combination of those matches. I didn't pick any

00:54:39.849 --> 00:54:43.309
SEC ones this week because the ACC is too good

00:54:43.309 --> 00:54:46.670
with what they've got going on. So hopefully

00:54:46.670 --> 00:54:48.030
you'll be able to watch some of those because

00:54:48.030 --> 00:54:50.400
we're going to be checking them out too. That

00:54:50.400 --> 00:54:52.840
concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

00:54:52.980 --> 00:54:54.880
There's always something shaking in the volleyball

00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:57.300
world and we hope you enjoyed this little fix.

00:54:57.460 --> 00:54:59.300
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss

00:54:59.300 --> 00:55:01.619
any updates and we'd be so grateful if you'd

00:55:01.619 --> 00:55:04.599
leave us a five -star review. You can also find

00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:07.360
us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore podcast.

00:55:07.820 --> 00:55:09.900
If you have a topic you'd like us to discuss,

00:55:10.139 --> 00:55:12.800
be sure to reach out on Instagram or at info

00:55:12.800 --> 00:55:16.579
at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining

00:55:16.579 --> 00:55:19.849
us and we'll be back next week. you