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 beat. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. It is the greatest time of year. Agreed.

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If you're an NCAA volleyball fan. This week delivered.

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Some surprises, some wild stuff. Some bracket

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busters. You think you understand what's going

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on, and then the universe says, no, you don't.

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Very exciting time. Lots of messages. Adam's

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bracket is up and running. We got the whole works.

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People are engaged. You'll love to see it. Obviously,

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the next few weeks are going to be focused on

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the NCAA volleyball tournament. And because people

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have been asking, the winter will be more focused

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on men's NCAA and professional volleyball with

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a bit more Europe mixed in because we have had

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a lot of requests for European pro volleyball.

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So a lot of stuff coming down the pipeline. Until

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Christmas, we got to see the NCAA season out.

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We are very excited to talk about what has been

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going on this week. So let's get started. There

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wasn't much to talk about in the weekly highlights.

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So we are jumping right in to... the conference

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awards that were announced this week we are going

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to talk about the power four conferences because

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that is predominantly what we watch and predominantly

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what we focus on do you have any thoughts right

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off the bat i do have thoughts right off the

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bat i'm confused when they say conference team

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awards a team generally denoting six people seven

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if you include libero and our award lists are

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double digits it's outrageous there shouldn't

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be 15 first team 25 first team in my opinion

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it diminishes the quality of the award you should

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give out seven period first team make it meaningful

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ladies and gentlemen keep in mind adam is new

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ncaa volleyball all american lists have never

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even been six players we can break this down

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conference by conference my point stands is that

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there's too many people getting awards it waters

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down i don't disagree with you there are too

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many people getting awards period like i said

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a couple weeks ago this setter of the year defensive

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player of the year you know we don't need that

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just give me player of the year give me freshman

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of the year and let's call it a campaign. We

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don't need to break it down by position. You're

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either the best player in the conference, the

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best newcomer in a conference, or you're not.

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And after that, like, we don't need to give an

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award for everybody, okay? First team, sometimes

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it gets a little wacky. I think, you know, more

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than seven makes sense to me. Like, I don't think

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it just needs to be capped at seven, but we can

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disagree on that. We'll start with the ACC. Let's

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see how many awards they gave out. First team,

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15, due to a tie in voting. Outrageous. So I'm

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guessing they typically give 14, which is the

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number of first -team All -Americans there are.

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I can get behind this number. Here's how I would

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do it if I were to pick. I would go one person

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of each position. You have to pick one outside,

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one center, one middle, one libero, one opposite,

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so that you get positions represented. So you

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get five. And then you can pick the next five

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best players to put on the list. 10 max. Because

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there's a lot of teams. There's a lot of conferences.

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I get it. But 10 max. Any more than that just

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seems wild to me. Let me just run through the

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names real fast. We don't need to dive super

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deep into this. Just let me know any surprises,

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any question marks. Okay. First team All -ACC.

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Nialis Cabello, Chloe Chacon, Kira Cressy. Louisville.

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Heredia Colon and Rodriguez, Miami. Safi Hampton,

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North Carolina. Morgan Girt. No idea if that's

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how you say it. Notre Dame. Babcock, Bree Kelly,

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Brooke Mosher from Pitt. Avery Carlson and Malaya

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Jones from SMU. Lizzie Andrews, Spencer Etzler,

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and Elia Rubin from Stanford. I think there's

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three setters on that list. I think there's four

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setters on that list. Cabello, Rodriguez, Mosher,

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Carlson. Okay, four setters. My question is,

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if you're going to pick a Stanford freshman to

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put on the first team, why the heck are you picking

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Etzler? Erica Sayre did really well. Logan Parks

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did really well. I understand Parks is also a

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setter, so maybe that is what pushed her to second

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team. Who the heck knows? But of all of... You're

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picking the libero of all the Stanford freshmen

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you could pick. I just look at this and I think...

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Babcock is in an air of her own. She shouldn't

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be included in this list. This is how Adam gets

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around the 15 person limit. Just take her off

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the list. Does Safi Hampton, does she belong

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on the list with Olivia Babcock? I have no idea.

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I don't know. That's my point. Do any of these

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people belong on the list with Olivia Babcock?

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No. So what is it? Just a one person award now?

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No, I get that. But my point is, I think this

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is a little watered down. Who do you think were

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the best two setters on that list? I would probably

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say Cabello and Carlson. Yeah, that's fair. That's

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who I would agree with. I don't know how they

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pick these. But I'm like, what makes you pick

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Chloe Chacon over Peyton Peterson when Peterson

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was the highest scorer on the team for Louisville

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all season? Yeah, those are the things. We're

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going name recognition here at this point because

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Chloe Chacon, to me, didn't have a better season

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than Brooke Mosher. Should she be on it? I don't

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think so. I don't think so either. Everybody

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else, I think you could make a case. I think

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I could get behind everybody else. That's how

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we see it, okay? I think the best two players

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who had outstanding seasons for me, though, would

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be Heredia Colon and Olivia Babcock. I think

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those were the two standout seasons. Excellent

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seasons. Ruben had a great season. Yeah, that's

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fair. Malia Jones had a great season. You know

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what? I can get behind all these people. My question

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marks are Chacoin. I don't know enough about

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Hampton. Don't know enough about Gert and Etzler.

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Those are my question marks from that list. Sure.

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Okay, major awards for the ACC. Player of the

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Year, Olivia Babcock. Yes. Defensive Player of

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the Year, Bree Kelly. Setter of the Year, Avery

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Carlson. Freshman of the Year, Kalissa Blackshear

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from Louisville. And Coach of the Year, Kevin

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Hambly from Stanford. Olivia Babcock, yes. Coach

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of the Year, yes. Freshman of the Year, I'm a

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little surprised she got it. to be honest. Well,

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my thing is you have a freshman on the first

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team ACC in Edsler. Blackshear's not on the first

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team. So if you're going to give a freshman first

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team, how is she not freshman of the year? How

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do they pick these? Is this a vote from the coaches

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in the ACC? And do the teams have to nominate

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who can be eligible? I don't know. I don't know

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how that part works. If somebody knows, tell

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me, because some of this feels political to me.

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I feel like, Coaches put certain players forward.

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So that would explain. And then they are voted

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upon. But don't quote me on that. I really have

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no idea. Well, because if that's the case, then

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that's why you get a Chacon over a Peterson.

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My question mark, freshman of the year. She should

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be a first. There shouldn't be a freshman on

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the first team all ACC list if you're going to

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give it to her. I'm obviously player of the year.

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Yes, I can get behind the setter of the year.

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I can get coach of the year 100%. He had like

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freshmen. Everybody thought that they were going

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to tank. I'm fine with all of these except my

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question mark as freshman of the year. I don't

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know who else I would give defensive player to

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the year. Bree Kelly's a good blocker. Maybe

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Cressy, but... I mean, Louisville was like leading

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the country almost in blocks per set. Yeah. So

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that would be the other person that I would say

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maybe should have gotten a nod there. I don't

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think any of the Liberos were standout in that

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division. No, the only Libero that made the first

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team list is the Sanford one. Yeah. No. Brie

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Kelly or Cressy. That's fair. Yeah. I could have

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taken it either way, but yeah, I only have one

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question mark with this one too. Okay. Let's

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move on to the big tent. I'm boycotting this

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out of principle because there are 25 first team

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all conference, whatever they're calling them.

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That's ridiculous. Like it's basically like if

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you start for your team, congratulations, you're

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going to get a first team honor at the end of

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the season. That's four full teams. That's ridiculous.

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You were mad about 15 people. It doesn't mean

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anything. 25 people. 25 on the first team, 17

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on the second team, and then they give out sportsmanship

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awards. What does that mean? I don't even know

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who these people are. You step on the court,

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you get an award. This has become a participation

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award. If you're on the team, congratulations,

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we will find an award for you. Unbelievable.

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How many were there when you played? It was too

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long ago. Nobody can remember, me included. Maybe

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12? I don't remember because I was always on

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the list. Not 25, let me tell you. You know what?

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I don't even want to go through this list. No,

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no, we won't go. It's ridiculous. Give me, off

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the top of your head, your top 7 to 10 players

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in the Big Ten. Oh, yikes. Kennedy Martin. Yeah.

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Mimi Collier. Yeah. Bergen Riley. Andy Jackson.

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You're going to put Waller on that list? Yeah,

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she did a good job. Kenna Wallard. Are you putting

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Harper Murray on the list? She probably should

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be on the list. Charlie Furbringer. Julia Hansen.

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Julia Hansen did a good job this year. Honestly,

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I liked Alana Clemente. I don't know if she's

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in that conversation yet. She's who I would have

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given freshman of the year to, which I think

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she did win. I mean, Rebecca Alec had a great

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season. Okay, that's enough. Let's keep it at

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that. First team, there. Done. Simple, easy peasy.

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I'm not even going to go through, like I said,

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I'm not going through this list because it's

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just basically taking attendance at an elementary

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school. Big 10 postseason honors, the major ones.

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Player of the Year, Bergen Riley. Setter of the

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Year, Bergen Riley. Libero, Jillian Grimes from

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Penn State. Freshman of the Year, Alana Clemente

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from Oregon. And Coach of the Year, Danny Busboom

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Kelly. I don't have any issues with any of that.

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I have an issue with the Libero of the Year.

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This is another case that is like name recognition.

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Lola Schumacher crushed the digs per set statistical

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category in the Big Ten. Nobody was even close

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to Lola Schumacher defensively in the Big Ten,

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and I think you're just giving it to Jillian

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Grimes because... Because nobody paid attention

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to what UCLA was doing? Maybe. Yeah, I mean,

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Penn State finished one place above UCLA. With

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a tied record. I don't agree with that one, but

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the rest of them... Yes, I think going undefeated

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from a coaching standpoint needs to be recognized.

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I think we've talked about this before. I think

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it could have gone to a few people. Dave Shundell

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and Steve Aird. I can get behind the rest. To

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keep your team motivated and the way that they

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went about not even dropping sets, Danny had

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that team humming. It's impressive. I can get

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behind that. Yeah, I mean, you go undefeated,

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you have to recognize it. That is the Big Ten.

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Okay, let's dive into the SEC. More reasonable

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than the Big Ten. Similar to ACC. 16 players

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on the first team. Do you want to go over them

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all? Almost seems like they gave one to each

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team. Texas A &M got more than anybody. Texas

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only got two, and Kentucky only got three. I'm

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confused. Yeah, I don't understand. You're giving

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first team... To Kari Spears. Let me ask you

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this. Give me your top six in this conference.

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Eva Hudson, Brooklyn Delay, Tori Stafford. Agreed

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on all three of those. Honestly, I would say

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Kendall Storrs, Afena Kosakpala, and Jayla Auguste.

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I wouldn't even give it to Lednicki. There's

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a hot take for you. Come at me. And again, I

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think like Kari Spears started really well, but

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I don't think she finished well enough down the

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stretch. to be included in that. I mean, again,

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she was impressive at the beginning. Totally

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agree, but she kind of fell off. I don't, I'm

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not loving these lists that we're seeing today.

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They seem like they don't want to offend anybody.

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Lauren Dreeves, Auburn, Jayla Gust, Florida,

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Brianna Monecki, Georgia, Delay Hudson, O 'Brien,

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Kentucky, Journey Robinson from LSU, Alexis Shelton,

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Oklahoma, Caroline Kerr and Hayden Kubik from

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Tennessee. Kari Spears, Tori Stafford from Texas,

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Kossak Paula, Lednicki, Stowers, and Wack from

00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:12.029
Texas A &M. I would give it to Vanderwall over

00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:15.370
Spears for Texas. I would too, down the stretch.

00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:18.690
I don't think I would keep Wack on there. She

00:13:18.690 --> 00:13:21.110
led the country in assists per set, so that probably

00:13:21.110 --> 00:13:24.230
helped her a lot. I just don't love how they

00:13:24.230 --> 00:13:26.909
go about doing this. It doesn't make any... sense

00:13:26.909 --> 00:13:30.090
to me if you're gonna put some comparison of

00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:33.629
positions or how are you picking who who is it

00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:35.789
who has the most impact is it who has the most

00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:38.590
stats did you why did you get four from a and

00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:41.129
m like they finished the regular season second

00:13:41.129 --> 00:13:43.730
and then lost in the semis how do you justify

00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:47.200
four players from that team Two from Kentucky

00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.559
and Texas. No, three from Kentucky. That doesn't

00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:51.899
add up to me. Yeah. All right. Well, the SEC

00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:54.159
mixes things up a little bit here. I kind of

00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:55.399
like this actually. With their big awards. So,

00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.139
Player of the Year, Eva Hudson. Fair. Earned.

00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.779
Libero of the Year, Maya Sands from Missouri.

00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:02.220
What do you think about that? I feel like the

00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:05.200
SEC probably has the best liberos out of any

00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.379
conference. Agreed. I think Molly Tuzzo plays

00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:10.399
good defense. We all know what I think about

00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.179
her setting. And I think Emma Halter had a pretty

00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:16.159
good year as well. She did. Better than last

00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.700
year. I didn't watch Missouri play a ton. She

00:14:20.700 --> 00:14:25.460
was good last year. Those three would be fighting

00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:27.899
for that spot for me. But then we've also got

00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.500
a newcomer of the year in Eva Hudson. Shocker.

00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.580
Freshman of the year. Cassie O 'Brien from Kentucky.

00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:37.820
Fair. A scholar athlete of the year. Jackie Moore

00:14:37.820 --> 00:14:41.019
from Vanderbilt. And coach of the year was Craig

00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.159
Skinner from Kentucky. I agree with that as well.

00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.100
His team is playing well. Why do we need a newcomer?

00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.100
I mean, in this case, it's Eva gets both. I don't

00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:50.620
mind having the newcomer. I kind of like that.

00:14:50.659 --> 00:14:52.879
If you come to the conference, if it's with all

00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.580
the transfer portals, if you come and make an

00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:57.580
impact, I'm okay with that. I will say for Cassie

00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:00.259
O 'Brien. No setter of the year in this conference.

00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:02.559
They do have a libero though. I was going to

00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.419
say, I thought Cassie. struggled at the beginning

00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:07.860
of the year she was a kind of a one -trick pony

00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:10.879
and just setting the left sides but to her credit

00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.200
and to the credit of Craig Skinner and their

00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:16.759
staff she has run a much more balanced offense

00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.000
leading into the tournament which is good to

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.200
see I think she's improved a ton so I can get

00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.450
behind that I have no issues with any of these

00:15:24.450 --> 00:15:27.649
picks. Okay, let's wrap this up with the Big

00:15:27.649 --> 00:15:30.970
12. Their first team had 18 people on it. Big

00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:33.850
12 main awards. Player of the Year, Noemi Glover

00:15:33.850 --> 00:15:36.509
from Arizona State. I thought she was outstanding

00:15:36.509 --> 00:15:39.090
this year. She was fun to watch. She performed.

00:15:39.409 --> 00:15:41.610
A little adversity with injury at the beginning

00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:43.990
of the season. No, she was good. And Arizona

00:15:43.990 --> 00:15:46.110
State was pretty dominant. I agree with that.

00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:48.330
So I'm fine with this. Libero of the Year, Rachel

00:15:48.330 --> 00:15:51.789
Van Gorp, Iowa State. Setter of the Year, Morgan

00:15:51.789 --> 00:15:55.450
Brandt. Iowa State. Freshman of the year, Suli

00:15:55.450 --> 00:15:59.190
Davis from BYU. Coach of the year, J .J. Van

00:15:59.190 --> 00:16:01.610
Neal from Arizona State. And scholar athlete

00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:04.250
of the year, Ava Armour, Central Florida. You

00:16:04.250 --> 00:16:07.909
know what? I like that as academic institutions,

00:16:08.090 --> 00:16:10.409
in air quotes for sports, that they're still

00:16:10.409 --> 00:16:12.769
giving out a scholar award. That's nice. They

00:16:12.769 --> 00:16:15.409
don't even talk about the majors of these athletes

00:16:15.409 --> 00:16:18.110
anymore. I don't think they have any. I watched

00:16:18.110 --> 00:16:20.860
Iowa State play in the tournament. A couple of

00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:22.759
their matches. Other than that, I didn't see

00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:25.159
them play much during the season, but I liked

00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:27.460
a couple of their pieces. I can get behind. I

00:16:27.460 --> 00:16:29.299
thought the setter did a decent job. I thought

00:16:29.299 --> 00:16:31.879
the libero played well in a couple of their matches.

00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:33.820
I mean, they only played two that I watched,

00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:36.399
but if you asked me who was the best setter in

00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:38.419
that conference, I'm not sure anybody. I can

00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:40.480
get behind player of the year, freshman of the

00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.779
year, coach of the year. If you look at the first

00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.600
team list for the four conferences and you were

00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.580
to put a roster together. For each conference,

00:16:49.899 --> 00:16:52.279
who do you think would win? Dropping this question?

00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.340
I'm dropping it. I was thinking about it. I was

00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:56.059
looking at these lists. I think Big 12 would

00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.220
be at the bottom. Yeah, Big 12 is at the bottom.

00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:01.980
Because like Big 10, you've got like a Bergen

00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:06.819
-Riley, Kennedy -Martin, Mimi Collier, Andy Jackson,

00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:12.839
and Rebecca Al - Big 10 could be solid. ACC would

00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.859
be Avery Carlson, Olivia Babcock. Brie Kelly.

00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:22.500
Brie Kelly, Keira Cressy. And then the left sides

00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:26.579
would be... That's where they would struggle.

00:17:26.859 --> 00:17:29.200
Elia Rubin. They would not struggle with Elia.

00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.250
Dude, these would be good. And then... SEC would

00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:36.710
be... Well, you'd have... Like Cassie O 'Brien

00:17:36.710 --> 00:17:39.670
with... The left sides in the SEC, who do you

00:17:39.670 --> 00:17:42.430
pick? Tori Stafford and Eva Hudson? Yeah. Delay

00:17:42.430 --> 00:17:45.630
is your third option. And then you'd have a good

00:17:45.630 --> 00:17:47.690
libero in the SEC. But you wouldn't have a right

00:17:47.690 --> 00:17:51.829
side. Lednicki, who I took off of the first team

00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:56.269
list. Goodbye. The middles, Kossak, Paula, and...

00:17:57.170 --> 00:18:00.549
Jayla Auguste? Yeah. Dude, let's put a conference

00:18:00.549 --> 00:18:02.750
match together. Just take the Big 12 out of it.

00:18:02.890 --> 00:18:04.769
Yeah, that would be, I think that would be interesting.

00:18:04.930 --> 00:18:06.589
I'm curious what other people think. I think

00:18:06.589 --> 00:18:09.809
this is an interesting exercise. Post your lists

00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:11.970
on YouTube. I'm curious to see. We're just kind

00:18:11.970 --> 00:18:13.829
of throwing this out here without much thought.

00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:15.829
Adam just completely caught me unaware with that

00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:18.089
question. I was just thinking about it. It's

00:18:18.089 --> 00:18:20.329
an interesting question. Catch yourself on the

00:18:20.329 --> 00:18:22.329
back for that one. Anyway, let us know what you

00:18:22.329 --> 00:18:26.000
think. Okay, those are the major awards. For

00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.380
the Power 4 conferences. Honestly, though, I

00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:32.039
said what I said. Player of the Year, Freshman

00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:33.400
of the Year, Coach of the Year. Let's cap it

00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.700
at that. I don't need all the other stuff. 10

00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:38.279
to 12 athletes max, first team. 10 to 12 max,

00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:40.759
please. Nobody wants to make a hard decision.

00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.220
Make the hard decision. Make it worth something.

00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.579
These awards should mean something. You know

00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:49.500
what? If you're giving it out to everybody, who

00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:51.720
cares? You fielded six teams in the Big Ten.

00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.559
Half. Half of the people got awards. Yeah, stop

00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.910
it. Outrageous. Just stop it. So, yeah, let us

00:18:57.910 --> 00:18:59.490
know what you think. People are probably going

00:18:59.490 --> 00:19:02.730
to be like, stop it. There should be 50 people

00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:05.910
on the list. I don't know. I think people are

00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:07.529
going to agree with us. I don't think you should

00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:10.450
hand it cheapens the awards. I think it for sure

00:19:10.450 --> 00:19:13.069
cheapens the award. It means nothing. Anyway,

00:19:13.190 --> 00:19:14.730
let us know what you think. Do you agree with

00:19:14.730 --> 00:19:17.369
us? Do you disagree with us? We know you guys

00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:20.269
aren't shy of letting us know. Okay, let's dive

00:19:20.269 --> 00:19:24.170
in to rounds one and two of the NCAA tournament.

00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:28.049
Obviously, there's a ton of matches. Yeah, we

00:19:28.049 --> 00:19:31.049
are going to hit the highlights, the bracket

00:19:31.049 --> 00:19:33.930
busters, the things people want to talk about.

00:19:34.029 --> 00:19:38.750
I want to say over 300 people joined Adam's bracket

00:19:38.750 --> 00:19:41.369
challenge that he built. I'm pretty excited about

00:19:41.369 --> 00:19:45.130
it. It's fun. I apologize that the results aren't

00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:47.450
updated in real time. So for everybody who was

00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:49.549
refreshing their bracket after matches finished

00:19:49.549 --> 00:19:51.869
and it didn't work, my apologies. It was me.

00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:54.779
That was me. We'll build that in for next time

00:19:54.779 --> 00:19:57.319
along with one suggestion of a chat option so

00:19:57.319 --> 00:19:59.279
we can trash talk each other, which I'll get

00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:04.200
behind. I am like begging. The set modifier is

00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:07.940
really... Oh, it's fun. It's got me just hoping

00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:11.339
that teams just squeak out a set. A team will

00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:13.279
roll the first two sets and I'm like, no, they

00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.220
have to win in four. This team better get it

00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:17.640
together. Like the North Carolina -Wisconsin

00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.019
game. I'm like, you guys, come on, get it together.

00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:22.660
They almost did. But anyway, great job, Adam.

00:20:23.180 --> 00:20:26.980
Great job to everybody who signed up. Appreciate

00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:29.559
all the feedback that I got about that. So thank

00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:31.960
you. And if anybody has any other ideas, hit

00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:34.380
us up. I'm happy to incorporate them for next

00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:39.500
time. So let's go through round one. The marquee

00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:43.279
match that messed everybody up was Tennessee

00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:47.500
getting upset by Utah State. I don't think a

00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:49.799
lot of people saw that coming. Although I sure

00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:53.380
didn't. I thought Tennessee had. Plenty of opportunities

00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:56.779
to put that game away, and they just couldn't

00:20:56.779 --> 00:20:59.700
make it happen. It was super frustrating to watch.

00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.579
I was upset. Utah State played great defense

00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:05.200
in that match, and they kept the rallies going.

00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.859
Utah State had won like 21 matches in a row leading

00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:12.980
into that. So my bad, not doing my research on

00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:15.099
that team, but I would have picked Tennessee

00:21:15.099 --> 00:21:18.259
anyway. No, I did. I went back and looked at...

00:21:18.410 --> 00:21:20.549
all of the team's records before I made my picks.

00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:22.950
And yeah, they beat a ton of teams, but they

00:21:22.950 --> 00:21:25.549
didn't have a ton of wins of note, which is why

00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:27.369
I thought Tennessee having better competition

00:21:27.369 --> 00:21:28.869
leading into the tournament would be able to

00:21:28.869 --> 00:21:30.869
pull it out. Now, Utah had a couple athletes

00:21:30.869 --> 00:21:34.349
who were pretty long who played well. That girl

00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:36.809
running that slide had a fast arm. Very fast

00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:40.470
arm. Utah had some good players. They were pretty

00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:42.670
fundamentally sound. I thought their setter did

00:21:42.670 --> 00:21:44.869
a good job delivering the ball. They surprised

00:21:44.869 --> 00:21:46.809
me. And obviously, they surprised Tennessee.

00:21:47.390 --> 00:21:50.190
And I think they surprised every single person

00:21:50.190 --> 00:21:52.849
in our bracket. They pushed Arizona State in

00:21:52.849 --> 00:21:54.789
the second round. Well, no. After day one, not

00:21:54.789 --> 00:21:57.089
one person in our challenge had a perfect bracket

00:21:57.089 --> 00:22:00.369
anymore. I think that match messed up everybody.

00:22:00.549 --> 00:22:02.549
You know what messed me up real bad and I'm not

00:22:02.549 --> 00:22:05.569
over it? BYU Cal Poly. Because you know what?

00:22:05.670 --> 00:22:10.710
I said in our preview episode, hey, I think BYU

00:22:10.710 --> 00:22:13.559
could potentially lose to Cal Poly. They lost

00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:16.339
to Loyola Chicago last year. I second -guessed

00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:19.140
myself. I said that, and I second -guessed myself,

00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:21.519
and I was like, you know what? There's no way.

00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:23.380
There's no way they're going to do this twice

00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:26.220
in a row. So I picked them to beat Cal Poly,

00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:30.000
and I am not over that. I'm not over it. Do you

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.519
think that's a fireable offense? 100%. That's

00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.779
two years in a row. There is no reason this team

00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:40.059
should be losing first -round NCAA tournament

00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:42.960
two years in a row. Especially when they have

00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.819
the personnel. And one of the BYU fans sent us

00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:47.200
that question a couple weeks ago being like,

00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:50.460
something's wrong with this team. Like, why do

00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:52.940
they not win when they're so good? They don't.

00:22:52.940 --> 00:22:57.019
Their fundamentals are awful. They don't set

00:22:57.019 --> 00:22:59.559
each other well out of system. They make a ton

00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:03.640
of errors. They're inconsistent from the baseline.

00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:05.900
But then they have matches that they're so good.

00:23:06.349 --> 00:23:08.589
They literally looked like they could not play

00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:11.289
volleyball in that match. It's a preparation

00:23:11.289 --> 00:23:14.650
and mentality thing for me, I think. When they

00:23:14.650 --> 00:23:16.650
think they should win matches versus when they

00:23:16.650 --> 00:23:20.230
don't think they have a chance. And just executing

00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:25.789
skills at a base level. You called games in the

00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:29.809
Big West. You saw Cal Poly play. Well, that's

00:23:29.809 --> 00:23:33.529
why I didn't think you would lose to them. And

00:23:33.529 --> 00:23:36.680
granted, they played well. And they had a good

00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:38.500
winning stretch coming in. They were feeling

00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:41.279
good about themselves. No pressure. All of that.

00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.119
But BYU, if I was the AD there after those two

00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:48.160
years and those two performances with the athletes

00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:52.519
they have. Bye. Bye. Gone. I think so. You know

00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:54.339
what else I can't let slide? They're little.

00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:59.160
Going down with that injury. Crying on the floor.

00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:03.400
Gets carried off the floor. Yeah. You get carried.

00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.660
Notches off the floor, out of the arena. You

00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:10.299
go back to the locker room, NHL style. Gets stitched

00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:12.859
up. I thought she was done for good. I thought

00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:16.279
it was like career -ending injury. You're okay?

00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:20.819
No. This girl comes back literally two plays

00:24:20.819 --> 00:24:24.119
later. And is jumping. That was wild. That's

00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:26.559
all right. You're on the ground sobbing. You

00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.140
get carried off the court and then you're back

00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:32.079
jumping two plays later. I can't get over that

00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:35.400
either. But that to me is a microcosm of how

00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.779
the team functions. Adam, searching for deeper

00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.779
meanings. But really, this happens. It's the

00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:43.980
end of the world. It's all over. Oh, wait. No,

00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:47.920
I'm okay. We can keep going. That's what it looks

00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:50.299
like. Sometimes there's an out -of -system set

00:24:50.299 --> 00:24:52.500
and the person who's setting the ball looks surprised

00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:54.549
that that's their job. Or that's what they're

00:24:54.549 --> 00:24:57.329
doing. Yeah, it looked very disorganized. And

00:24:57.329 --> 00:24:59.950
she should be the one setting the tone for that

00:24:59.950 --> 00:25:03.250
team. Things are not looking good at BYU. That's

00:25:03.250 --> 00:25:05.849
two in a row. You know what other first -round

00:25:05.849 --> 00:25:07.849
match messed me up? I should have had Faith and

00:25:07.849 --> 00:25:11.130
Marquette. I thought Western Kentucky was going

00:25:11.130 --> 00:25:13.509
to be sneaky because they're usually pretty sneaky.

00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:15.589
You don't hear much about them. They fly under

00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:17.569
the radar, but they're usually good to get a

00:25:17.569 --> 00:25:19.829
win in the tournament. So I was like, you know

00:25:19.829 --> 00:25:23.599
what? They're going to do it. That pick. Put

00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.380
me ahead of you. That pick is going to be the

00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:28.819
one that comes back to bite me. That one in BYU,

00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:32.160
if I had gone with like, A, if I hadn't tried

00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:34.039
to be so sneaky with Western Kentucky, that's

00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:36.079
one thing. But if I had gone with my gut on BYU,

00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:39.559
those two are going to be the end of me. Marquette

00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:41.500
played really well in the tournament too. Yes,

00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:43.240
they're actually really good. They're a very

00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.400
good team. They played a pretty heavy preseason

00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:48.279
schedule, which is why I ended up picking them.

00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:51.279
in terms of who they competed with. I liked watching

00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.779
them play. I thought their fundamentals were

00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.880
actually very good when I watched them. They

00:25:55.880 --> 00:25:59.819
don't have the horses, per se, as the other teams,

00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:02.920
but from a pure volleyball standpoint, I was

00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:04.839
very impressed. Big mistake by me. Do you know

00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:08.259
who had me sweating the most? Which game killed

00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:12.400
me? It was my favorite team, UCLA, going five

00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:15.880
with Georgia Tech. I picked five. In that one.

00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:21.220
Because UCLA, classic example. They really excel

00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.740
against teams that they're not supposed to beat,

00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:26.759
a .k .a. pushing Kentucky to four. 30 -28 in

00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:29.789
two sets. And going five with Georgia Tech. They

00:26:29.789 --> 00:26:32.329
do not show up against teams that they quote

00:26:32.329 --> 00:26:36.630
unquote should beat. I was like, classic. So

00:26:36.630 --> 00:26:39.509
that was a sweating one, but it got me that point

00:26:39.509 --> 00:26:41.950
modifier. So I was happy about that. And I think

00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:43.589
the other one that people struggled with was

00:26:43.589 --> 00:26:47.509
the UNI Utah game. I actually, I had picked Utah

00:26:47.509 --> 00:26:49.269
on that one. Well, and Creighton going five with

00:26:49.269 --> 00:26:51.819
Northern Colorado. Are you kidding me? Oh, yeah.

00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:53.819
I didn't watch that one, but I saw the numbers

00:26:53.819 --> 00:26:55.180
after. I was like, oof, that would have hurt

00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:57.380
me because I had Creighton playing Arizona State.

00:26:57.779 --> 00:27:00.619
Yes. I have Creighton beating Arizona State.

00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:02.880
And after these two matches that they just played,

00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:05.619
I'm like, that was probably an error of judgment

00:27:05.619 --> 00:27:08.900
on my part. I think everything else in the first

00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:11.720
round was relatively straightforward. Definitely

00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.500
a couple matches that a lot of people were on

00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:17.839
the fence about and picked both ways. Well, when

00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:19.859
it's the eight seed, because technically that's

00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:22.200
like an 8 -9, like those ones can kind of go

00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.119
either way. So those ones are tricky. What's

00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.799
interesting watching those teams, some of them

00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:30.660
stack their preseason so early so that their

00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:34.220
record is just ridiculous. Like they don't lose

00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:35.980
because they beat everybody. And then some of

00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:39.099
those teams actually work to play legitimate

00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:41.980
teams and legitimate matches. Like BYU's preseason?

00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:44.140
I found it interesting doing a little research

00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:47.529
on how coaches structured their... Again, I had

00:27:47.529 --> 00:27:50.650
this pointed out. It's not preseason. It's pre

00:27:50.650 --> 00:27:54.009
-conference play. Tomato, tomato, everyone. Yeah.

00:27:54.069 --> 00:27:57.710
Okay. You know what I mean. Round two. I had

00:27:57.710 --> 00:28:00.750
faith in Miami. So did I. I thought they were

00:28:00.750 --> 00:28:05.410
going to ride that one player. Well, that was.

00:28:05.509 --> 00:28:09.569
Till Nebraska. That was my mentality as well.

00:28:09.750 --> 00:28:13.089
Kansas doesn't have a horse. And I thought that.

00:28:13.130 --> 00:28:15.769
I was like, this one player. in Heredia Cologne

00:28:15.769 --> 00:28:21.170
can totally beat Kansas. No, it could not. Kansas

00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:25.150
had an outstanding game plan to slow her down.

00:28:25.230 --> 00:28:27.170
They took her to the ground. They took her to

00:28:27.170 --> 00:28:30.210
the ground. Which no team had been successful

00:28:30.210 --> 00:28:33.250
at so far this season that we have seen. And

00:28:33.250 --> 00:28:35.930
they blocked her. I mean, they stuck with the

00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:38.410
game plan that we talked about for Babcock where

00:28:38.410 --> 00:28:41.450
we're just going to send two blockers out in

00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:45.380
her face all the time. And, I mean, she was swinging

00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:46.920
and swinging, and they were getting touches.

00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:49.640
To her credit, she just kept going. She knew

00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:51.559
that if the team was going to win, she needed

00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:53.539
to just keep swinging, and she could not let

00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:59.480
up. She got blocked very aggressively many times.

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:03.279
Kansas was disciplined with their strategy, with

00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:05.480
their serving, with their blocking. I was impressed.

00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:07.720
Watching that match, I was like, man, they were

00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:10.819
very prepared. I was impressed with their serving.

00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:16.220
Yes. And how they were able to just completely

00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:18.460
take her to the ground and take her out of some

00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:22.740
options. And I'm disappointed that Miami didn't

00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:26.180
see this coming and that they didn't have an

00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:29.500
alternative or an alternate strategy to shift

00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:32.980
to at least try and throw Kansas off. Miami didn't

00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:35.279
make any changes. They just kept setting her

00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.180
the ball over and over and over again and were

00:29:37.180 --> 00:29:38.640
hoping for a different result. Well, we tuned

00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:42.519
in. Well, I tuned in after Miami was down 0 -2.

00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:45.799
Heredia Colon did not start well. Well, and I

00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:47.420
don't think their right side or left side started

00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:49.440
well either because by the time I started watching,

00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:50.880
I was like, these players haven't played all

00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:55.079
season. Yeah, it was not great for Miami. I thought

00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:57.599
they should have. With a player like that, you

00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:59.779
should have been able to win, I think. You had

00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:02.559
one player that you were relying on the whole

00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:06.960
season. Kansas has more pieces. They needed to

00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:09.380
take the Kentucky approach where they, yes, you

00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:11.099
have those players, but we're working to get

00:30:11.099 --> 00:30:12.519
everybody else. But let's work on everybody else.

00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:17.700
Yeah. So that one messed me up. I was worried

00:30:17.700 --> 00:30:20.559
that Texas A &M was not going to pull it out

00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:24.440
against TCU because I had them going relatively

00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:30.140
far. And I will give TCU credit. They played

00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:32.180
better than I had seen them play in the second

00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:36.259
half of the season. Their setter's still... and

00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:38.839
set some real bad balls that were head scratches.

00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:40.839
If you are a scorekeeper at one of their games,

00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:45.240
watch out. I actually, I didn't think that Texas

00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.660
A &M and TCU match was a good volleyball game.

00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:52.099
There were. Lednicki wasn't. No, she was swinging

00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:55.680
straight, but just free balls, bad tips, bad,

00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.980
the number of sets that went over the net on

00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:02.759
both sides, out of system, miss serves. It was.

00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:06.500
Net violations. It was messy. It just wasn't

00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:10.680
a good game. Texas A &M pulled it out, but yeah,

00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:14.440
it was ugly. I didn't enjoy watching that game

00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:17.839
from a volleyball standpoint. No, not great.

00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:20.279
What were your thoughts on Marquette -Louisville?

00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:22.680
I thought they served really well. I thought

00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:25.799
Louisville struggled to pass, which again, Cressy

00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:28.240
couldn't get the ball. I didn't think Cressy

00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:32.740
started very well. Marquette was... They had

00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:36.559
a good game plan. Finally stopped Blackshear

00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:39.759
on that meter ball in the middle. She did score

00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:41.839
on one, though. She scored on one, but finally

00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:43.359
she got blocked on one. I was like, thank you.

00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:46.420
Somebody finally paid attention. But to her credit,

00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:50.140
and I know she's taken some shrapnel from us,

00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:55.380
Chloe Chacon played really, really well. And

00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:58.160
Marquette could not. They were so focused on

00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:04.660
Cressy. seam in the middle and she was taking

00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:06.880
it and moving the ball around well she was the

00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:09.599
reason they won I didn't think Cressy had a great

00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.339
match they didn't start blocking very well and

00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:15.200
then they started to to find a rhythm and build

00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:18.559
back in but they were they were in danger they

00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.259
managed the fifth set well but Marquette gave

00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:25.519
them a match and again I was impressed with Marquette's

00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:28.579
volleyball skill with how they handled the match

00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:32.049
how they served what their game plan was, very

00:32:32.049 --> 00:32:34.829
well coached, very disciplined. Marquette was

00:32:34.829 --> 00:32:38.150
good, and I think Louisville, they weren't lucky,

00:32:38.250 --> 00:32:40.589
but that was maybe the best match I've seen Chacoin

00:32:40.589 --> 00:32:44.329
play, and they were lucky that she had that match

00:32:44.329 --> 00:32:47.650
against this team. Well, now we've got two teams

00:32:47.650 --> 00:32:50.529
that are not looking great, in my opinion, playing

00:32:50.529 --> 00:32:54.750
each other, Louisville and Texas A &M. I'm curious

00:32:54.750 --> 00:32:55.970
what that match is going to be like. I think

00:32:55.970 --> 00:32:57.630
I picked Texas A &M to win that one. No, did

00:32:57.630 --> 00:33:00.450
I? No, we'll see. Another team that wasn't looking

00:33:00.450 --> 00:33:04.849
as crisp as I was hoping, because I have them

00:33:04.849 --> 00:33:07.930
going pretty far, was Stanford. And they were

00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:09.869
playing at home. And I think it's worth mentioning

00:33:09.869 --> 00:33:12.589
Logan Parks did not dress for either match. I

00:33:12.589 --> 00:33:15.069
hope she's okay. They need her. Save my bracket

00:33:15.069 --> 00:33:17.750
and come back next week, please. I hope she'll

00:33:17.750 --> 00:33:20.069
be back. Because I had them beating Wisconsin

00:33:20.069 --> 00:33:24.410
as well. So we will see what happens with that.

00:33:24.589 --> 00:33:27.089
I think they'll be fine. They've got a couple

00:33:27.089 --> 00:33:30.519
freshmen. They were missing parks. They got a

00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:33.480
little bit of experience. I think they'll be

00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:35.539
okay. I think they're going to play well against

00:33:35.539 --> 00:33:39.359
Wisconsin. That's one of the matches I think

00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:43.839
is going to be very entertaining next week. I

00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:46.819
hope so. But I'm worried that Stanford's not

00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:49.160
going to step up. I trust Hanley to have that

00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:52.700
team ready to go. This is the thing about...

00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:55.529
The first round. There's so much volleyball going

00:33:55.529 --> 00:33:59.309
on. It's very exciting, but you don't see a lot

00:33:59.309 --> 00:34:02.769
of these teams. And anytime you have teams with

00:34:02.769 --> 00:34:05.630
expectations of beating teams that aren't in

00:34:05.630 --> 00:34:08.369
the power for conferences, and then you have

00:34:08.369 --> 00:34:11.630
teams that are good but have no expectations

00:34:11.630 --> 00:34:14.610
and they're just playing free. Like a Marquette

00:34:14.610 --> 00:34:17.030
versus Louisville situation. Totally. They're

00:34:17.030 --> 00:34:19.449
a good team. They know how to play volleyball,

00:34:19.670 --> 00:34:21.889
but do they fully expect to beat Louisville?

00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.840
Probably not. Those are very dangerous games.

00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:29.900
Very dangerous games. So you definitely see some

00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:33.619
of that top teams having to work through the

00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:37.059
expectation of winning, maybe not being as familiar

00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:40.139
with those teams as you have before. I watched

00:34:40.139 --> 00:34:41.820
Utah and they had a couple athletes. I was like,

00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:44.360
man, that's a really good player. What are they

00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:47.690
doing at Utah? Do you know what I mean? No, that's

00:34:47.690 --> 00:34:50.329
a good point. It's kind of counterintuitive.

00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:53.469
And I've spoken about this before of how hard

00:34:53.469 --> 00:34:57.469
it is to play just random teams. The volleyball,

00:34:57.630 --> 00:35:01.889
while on paper the matches next week should be

00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:05.690
more difficult, I think in a sense they are easier

00:35:05.690 --> 00:35:12.150
because the teams are all of a similar ranking

00:35:12.150 --> 00:35:19.500
-ish, similar like. on paper skill set. And it's

00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.780
the type of preparation and you've seen each

00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:24.380
other play before that it's not a shock to the

00:35:24.380 --> 00:35:27.860
system. Totally. So while it's harder, it's also

00:35:27.860 --> 00:35:32.800
easier. It should be a higher level and a cleaner

00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:35.059
volleyball because the preparation and expectation

00:35:35.059 --> 00:35:38.380
will be in line with what they're used to. Can

00:35:38.380 --> 00:35:42.059
we just talk about the last match for me that

00:35:42.059 --> 00:35:45.599
was just a jaw dropper? I have two on my slate,

00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:50.860
but go ahead. Cal Poly USC. Oh, boy. Oh, dear.

00:35:51.099 --> 00:35:57.119
Oh, dear. Cal Poly had the weekend of their lives.

00:35:57.260 --> 00:36:01.119
And they, again, to their credit, they played

00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:04.420
incredibly well. Watching Cal Poly, it was like

00:36:04.420 --> 00:36:07.599
old school college, you know? It looked like...

00:36:07.739 --> 00:36:10.960
They were all so excited. They were a team. They

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.239
were just playing for each other. No NIL money.

00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.980
No. Yeah. They were playing for each other for

00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:21.800
the joy of the sport. It was just like the olden

00:36:21.800 --> 00:36:26.219
day pure NCAA volleyball from their attitude

00:36:26.219 --> 00:36:28.699
and demeanor and stuff like that, which I thought

00:36:28.699 --> 00:36:33.400
was great. What was your take on USC's performance?

00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:37.559
Well, I think both BYU and USC underestimated

00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:41.719
them. And both teams looked like they thought

00:36:41.719 --> 00:36:44.559
they were going to roll through them. I agree.

00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:46.760
And this is what we talk about all the time.

00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:49.579
It's like you need to treat every opponent the

00:36:49.579 --> 00:36:52.159
exact same with the same amount of respect. You

00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:54.940
need to prepare the exact same. Your conversations

00:36:54.940 --> 00:36:59.360
need to be like the same as far as, you know,

00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:02.179
how you speak about them and like how good they

00:37:02.179 --> 00:37:05.849
are. That is something I'm always so curious

00:37:05.849 --> 00:37:09.570
about what the staff was like leading into those

00:37:09.570 --> 00:37:14.469
matches. Because the staff talk, right? You talk

00:37:14.469 --> 00:37:18.769
about the opponents. You do this. And the athletes

00:37:18.769 --> 00:37:21.730
know. They can tell what you're saying. They

00:37:21.730 --> 00:37:24.630
understand and read your body language. I'm just

00:37:24.630 --> 00:37:27.869
always so fascinated about how the staffs approach

00:37:27.869 --> 00:37:30.429
them. Do they know? Were they happy that BYU

00:37:30.429 --> 00:37:32.869
lost? And you have to remember they're both from

00:37:32.869 --> 00:37:36.150
California. Guaranteed USC looks at Cal Poly

00:37:36.150 --> 00:37:40.150
as like the little sister or the secondary California

00:37:40.150 --> 00:37:45.449
division. Like that is built into how they would

00:37:45.449 --> 00:37:49.250
have looked at that match. And yeah, you gotta,

00:37:49.349 --> 00:37:53.210
you cannot do that. USC blew a golden opportunity

00:37:53.210 --> 00:37:55.750
to get great experience for their young players

00:37:55.750 --> 00:37:58.210
and their young team. They're going to kick themselves

00:37:58.210 --> 00:38:01.239
for that one. They were not good. it almost looked

00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:03.079
like when the mistakes happened, they were just

00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:05.539
like shaking them off as in they were too cool

00:38:05.539 --> 00:38:08.699
for this match. That's kind of the vibe. When

00:38:08.699 --> 00:38:12.199
the match ended, I expected more shock and emotion

00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:14.739
from them. They just walked off the court. They

00:38:14.739 --> 00:38:17.619
just walked off the court. Yeah. I was like stunned.

00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:21.579
Yeah. The last thing that popped into my head

00:38:21.579 --> 00:38:23.519
or that I thought was worth mentioning was that

00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:26.360
Creighton, I was expecting more from and they

00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:28.519
did not look good. I didn't think they looked

00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:31.619
good either. If they show up, Next week and play

00:38:31.619 --> 00:38:36.199
the way they did Arizona State, who is very consistent,

00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:40.659
very strategic, very steady, is going to kick

00:38:40.659 --> 00:38:43.719
them in the teeth. So I'm curious to see. And

00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:47.079
I mean, we've talked about this personally. I

00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:49.320
think this is a huge byproduct of having zero

00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:51.539
competition in conference. I mean, Marquette's

00:38:51.539 --> 00:38:53.639
in their conference. Great. You get one. You

00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:58.139
get one good match, right? Again. I think Creighton

00:38:58.139 --> 00:39:00.699
is good enough to compete in one of those top

00:39:00.699 --> 00:39:02.480
four conferences. Unfortunately, they don't get

00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:07.199
to, but I think it's so hard to stay focused

00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:10.599
and sharp when you're just winning. Well, and

00:39:10.599 --> 00:39:14.659
now they're playing out of Omaha. Correct. Like

00:39:14.659 --> 00:39:17.420
you're not going to have your massive fan base,

00:39:17.579 --> 00:39:21.139
like kind of boosting you along next weekend.

00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:23.559
Yeah. I'm very curious to see what product they

00:39:23.559 --> 00:39:27.289
put on the floor. So those were the, highlights

00:39:27.289 --> 00:39:31.230
from where we're sitting and the matches that

00:39:31.230 --> 00:39:36.730
really busted up our brackets. I'm upset. There's

00:39:36.730 --> 00:39:38.369
a couple that I'm just not going to get over.

00:39:38.949 --> 00:39:41.849
It's tough stuff. But yeah, those are the ones.

00:39:41.929 --> 00:39:43.769
We watched a ton of volleyball this weekend.

00:39:44.050 --> 00:39:46.730
I was a little annoyed that on Saturday all of

00:39:46.730 --> 00:39:48.630
the games were kind of at the same time. Yeah,

00:39:48.630 --> 00:39:50.750
what are you doing? We were flipping. I wanted

00:39:50.750 --> 00:39:53.630
to start watching volleyball at 9 a .m. and finish

00:39:53.630 --> 00:39:57.159
watching at 8 p .m. That was my goal. Like, give

00:39:57.159 --> 00:39:59.360
Adam what he wants, okay? Come on. But no, lots

00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:01.619
of games overlapped, which was unfortunate. Another

00:40:01.619 --> 00:40:05.059
reason that Stanford should have hosted in the

00:40:05.059 --> 00:40:06.739
Pacific time zone would have made that a little

00:40:06.739 --> 00:40:08.500
easier. Right? You could have just moved across

00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:12.619
the country. Okay. One thing I wanted to do really

00:40:12.619 --> 00:40:16.320
quickly is obviously we have a bunch of matches

00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:20.000
coming up. I wanted to run over one thing, kind

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:22.480
of the key insight for each team if they were

00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.909
to win their next round. Next round or make the

00:40:25.909 --> 00:40:27.809
final four? No, no, their next round. Okay, got

00:40:27.809 --> 00:40:31.869
it. So, you know, Nebraska has to do this to

00:40:31.869 --> 00:40:34.110
beat Kansas. Kansas has to do this to beat Nebraska.

00:40:34.170 --> 00:40:37.329
Just one thing, one highlight of if that would

00:40:37.329 --> 00:40:39.630
happen. Now, the Nebraska -Kansas example might

00:40:39.630 --> 00:40:41.170
be a bad one. I don't think Kansas is going to

00:40:41.170 --> 00:40:44.289
win. But for some of the other ones, what would

00:40:44.289 --> 00:40:46.809
be your kind of key focus if they're going to

00:40:46.809 --> 00:40:49.349
come out on top? So let's start with the Nebraska

00:40:49.349 --> 00:40:51.969
-Kansas match. What do you think Nebraska has

00:40:51.969 --> 00:40:55.599
to do to beat Kansas? pass well to run the middle.

00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:58.820
I would agree. I was going to say show up, but...

00:40:58.820 --> 00:41:01.760
That too. What do you think Kansas would have

00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:06.300
to do to upset Nebraska? They will have to execute

00:41:06.300 --> 00:41:09.559
a serving strategy the way they did against Miami.

00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:14.519
Looking at Texas A &M and Louisville, what is

00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:17.840
the key for Texas A &M? Lednicki's going to have

00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:20.440
to score some points. I think for Louisville...

00:41:20.750 --> 00:41:22.789
They're going to have to get Cressy the ball,

00:41:22.869 --> 00:41:24.849
and she is going to have to be a focal point.

00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:26.969
I think the chances of Chacoin having a night

00:41:26.969 --> 00:41:30.670
the way she did is probably unlikely, and Blackshear

00:41:30.670 --> 00:41:32.829
needs to score some points as well. Okay, what

00:41:32.829 --> 00:41:35.710
about for SMU? I think for SMU, they have to

00:41:35.710 --> 00:41:38.449
limit their errors. Purdue is a team that makes

00:41:38.449 --> 00:41:41.369
you beat them. I think SMU is much more physical.

00:41:41.710 --> 00:41:44.309
They have to score and keep their errors low,

00:41:44.489 --> 00:41:47.250
in my opinion. And then I think for Purdue, they

00:41:47.250 --> 00:41:49.369
need to extend rallies. They want to make...

00:41:49.550 --> 00:41:52.309
the hitters for SMU frustrated, keep them going,

00:41:52.409 --> 00:41:54.489
force them into making shots they're uncomfortable

00:41:54.489 --> 00:41:57.389
with. And I think, again, they're trying to force

00:41:57.389 --> 00:42:01.170
SMU into making mistakes. What do you think for

00:42:01.170 --> 00:42:04.530
Minnesota against Pitt? Pitt's block causes people

00:42:04.530 --> 00:42:07.469
a lot of problems, especially when teams are

00:42:07.469 --> 00:42:11.030
forced to set the left side. So they're going

00:42:11.030 --> 00:42:14.570
to have to run a balanced offense and put their

00:42:14.570 --> 00:42:18.090
setter in a position to set three hitters. And

00:42:18.090 --> 00:42:21.269
then for Pitt, I mean, Olivia Babcock can take

00:42:21.269 --> 00:42:23.849
over matches by herself, but if the going gets

00:42:23.849 --> 00:42:26.909
tough, we're going to have to see Bayless and

00:42:26.909 --> 00:42:30.829
Pazell limit their errors and be efficient. Looking

00:42:30.829 --> 00:42:34.969
at the Cal Poly and Kentucky match, I think Kentucky

00:42:34.969 --> 00:42:37.269
just needs to pass and run the middle at least

00:42:37.269 --> 00:42:41.159
a little bit. And for Cal Poly... They're going

00:42:41.159 --> 00:42:43.480
to need to try and take out either that front

00:42:43.480 --> 00:42:45.679
court left side or the pipe ball so that they

00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:47.739
can focus their block in on one of those two

00:42:47.739 --> 00:42:50.199
major hitters. You want to try and make the middles

00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:55.360
and right sides beat you for Cal Poly. What do

00:42:55.360 --> 00:42:57.039
you think about Arizona State and Creighton?

00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:01.059
I think Arizona State needs to do their best

00:43:01.059 --> 00:43:03.780
to neutralize Ava Martin and make somebody else

00:43:03.780 --> 00:43:06.239
score. What do you think about for Creighton?

00:43:06.989 --> 00:43:08.730
For Creighton, I think they need to apply service

00:43:08.730 --> 00:43:11.489
pressure. Arizona State is generally a pretty

00:43:11.489 --> 00:43:14.250
balanced team. If they can keep them out of system,

00:43:14.530 --> 00:43:18.130
I think they have a good chance. Two matches

00:43:18.130 --> 00:43:21.530
left. What is your analysis of the Wisconsin

00:43:21.530 --> 00:43:24.590
-Stanford match? For Stanford, I think Logan

00:43:24.590 --> 00:43:27.250
Parks needs to be back, but somebody did bring

00:43:27.250 --> 00:43:30.489
up having your first NCAA tournament match as

00:43:30.489 --> 00:43:33.210
a freshman be in the Sweet 16 against Wisconsin

00:43:33.210 --> 00:43:39.380
is a big ask. how that will go period yeah but

00:43:39.380 --> 00:43:43.239
regardless that would be my answer is just have

00:43:43.239 --> 00:43:46.380
Logan Parks back so they can get back to the

00:43:46.380 --> 00:43:48.440
rhythm they've been in all season yeah I think

00:43:48.440 --> 00:43:51.559
these two teams are actually quite even I I'm

00:43:51.559 --> 00:43:54.079
going to say I think it's going to come down

00:43:54.079 --> 00:43:57.139
to who sets a better match between the two setters

00:43:57.139 --> 00:43:59.400
because they all they both have weapons and who

00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:02.199
serves better those are I think those are going

00:44:02.199 --> 00:44:03.539
to be keys. I think, honestly, I think Wisconsin

00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:05.539
will win the setting battle. Stanford serves

00:44:05.539 --> 00:44:08.579
super aggressive. They miss a ton of serves.

00:44:09.099 --> 00:44:12.500
Will the pressure they're putting on Wisconsin

00:44:12.500 --> 00:44:15.380
outweigh the errors they make, though? Yeah.

00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:19.860
And then Texas -Indiana, I think that Texas needs

00:44:19.860 --> 00:44:22.239
to have solid blocks up on the Indiana hitters.

00:44:22.280 --> 00:44:25.480
They run speed, and they try and create holes

00:44:25.480 --> 00:44:28.739
in the block. The blockers need to be disciplined.

00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:30.719
They need to have a plan for if they don't get

00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:33.920
closed and how that defense works together against

00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:35.960
the hitters in that regard. I think that'll be

00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:38.519
the key for Texas. And then I think Indiana needs

00:44:38.519 --> 00:44:41.480
to pass, and they need to be in system. If they're

00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:44.559
not controlling the ball, they don't have a chance

00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:46.420
because they're not as physical as Texas. So

00:44:46.420 --> 00:44:48.239
they're going to have to have good ball control

00:44:48.239 --> 00:44:51.860
and rely on their fast offense. So those are

00:44:51.860 --> 00:44:53.320
the things that we think will need to happen

00:44:53.320 --> 00:44:55.440
for those different teams to win. Something to

00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:58.000
think about and we'll see if any of those come

00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:02.260
true. Okay, we are going to be following the

00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:05.639
brackets as always. I think I refresh my page

00:45:05.639 --> 00:45:08.460
after every game and I'm like, Adam, why isn't

00:45:08.460 --> 00:45:13.190
this updating? Get up there and fix it. But it's

00:45:13.190 --> 00:45:15.570
been so much fun to follow along, engage with

00:45:15.570 --> 00:45:19.210
you guys on YouTube, on Instagram about what's

00:45:19.210 --> 00:45:21.989
happening. So let us know the matches that surprised

00:45:21.989 --> 00:45:24.750
you the most and the ones that you're most looking

00:45:24.750 --> 00:45:27.510
forward to this coming week because regionals

00:45:27.510 --> 00:45:31.809
weekend is the best. I think this might be my

00:45:31.809 --> 00:45:35.269
favorite weekend of the whole tournament. You've

00:45:35.269 --> 00:45:39.130
got lots of games still going on. Lots of people

00:45:39.130 --> 00:45:42.150
fighting to get to the final four. The volleyball

00:45:42.150 --> 00:45:44.469
should be at a really high level in general.

00:45:44.610 --> 00:45:47.690
Teams that are there expect to be there. I'm

00:45:47.690 --> 00:45:50.530
pumped. Regional. This might be a hot take, but

00:45:50.530 --> 00:45:54.590
regionals weekend in some senses is more exciting

00:45:54.590 --> 00:45:57.130
than final four weekend because there's just

00:45:57.130 --> 00:46:01.050
like something so magical about like making that

00:46:01.050 --> 00:46:03.469
push to the final four. You know what I mean?

00:46:03.530 --> 00:46:08.159
Yes. And so these teams like a lot of. teams,

00:46:08.179 --> 00:46:13.380
the final four is like the pinnacle. And I mean,

00:46:13.380 --> 00:46:16.079
there are obviously teams who are like, no, it's

00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:20.260
national championship or bust. I totally get

00:46:20.260 --> 00:46:24.079
it. But it's just like the herd overcoming the

00:46:24.079 --> 00:46:27.079
hurdle of making the final four is like such

00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:30.320
a benchmark that the regional weekend is just

00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:32.980
like so charged. You know what I mean? Yeah.

00:46:33.019 --> 00:46:37.809
To go from, if you go into the final four, Your

00:46:37.809 --> 00:46:41.610
program is legit. It's an amazing season. And

00:46:41.610 --> 00:46:43.289
then everybody in the Final Four, unless you

00:46:43.289 --> 00:46:47.349
win, is just kind of meh. There's so much excitement

00:46:47.349 --> 00:46:49.489
to qualify for the Final Four that there's two

00:46:49.489 --> 00:46:51.929
rounds. You're working through it. Everybody

00:46:51.929 --> 00:46:54.670
still has a chance. When you get to the Final

00:46:54.670 --> 00:46:58.239
Four, I almost feel like there's a relief. that

00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:00.760
comes from making it because it's such a big

00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:04.760
goal. It's such a standard for so many programs.

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:06.820
And again, I know we'll talk about Nebraska,

00:47:07.059 --> 00:47:10.719
you know, win or bust. And then your four teams

00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:12.980
get there and one team wins. Like it doesn't

00:47:12.980 --> 00:47:16.079
matter if you make it to the final four unless

00:47:16.079 --> 00:47:18.960
you win. But making it to the final four is a

00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:21.840
huge accomplishment for the program. That's kind

00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:23.699
of what I was trying to articulate. Loved having

00:47:23.699 --> 00:47:26.289
you guys in on the bracket. Like Sarah said,

00:47:26.349 --> 00:47:28.429
we loved all the comments and following along.

00:47:28.550 --> 00:47:31.010
Keep sending us messages. We're watching tons

00:47:31.010 --> 00:47:34.070
of volleyball. And we'll do a little bracket

00:47:34.070 --> 00:47:37.630
update for the users next week once we've got

00:47:37.630 --> 00:47:41.590
all the results in. But I think currently I'm

00:47:41.590 --> 00:47:45.690
sitting at 15 and Sarah's at 21. So we'll make

00:47:45.690 --> 00:47:48.469
a push here. I'm telling you, it's at Western

00:47:48.469 --> 00:47:51.989
Kentucky. A massive error by me. And it's not

00:47:51.989 --> 00:47:54.630
trusting myself with BYU. I'm never going to

00:47:54.630 --> 00:47:56.409
forget this. If you had gotten those two matches

00:47:56.409 --> 00:47:57.630
right, I think you'd be in the lead. I would

00:47:57.630 --> 00:47:59.650
100 % be in the lead. Because you know what?

00:47:59.670 --> 00:48:02.389
I nailed a bunch of set scores too. Gotta get

00:48:02.389 --> 00:48:06.130
those modifiers. I mean, I can't catch up. I'm

00:48:06.130 --> 00:48:09.969
upset. Question one. I believe we have had a

00:48:09.969 --> 00:48:12.349
question very similar to this in the past. But

00:48:12.349 --> 00:48:14.949
I've had a couple more people ask me this in

00:48:14.949 --> 00:48:17.690
recent weeks. So let's just address it. again

00:48:17.690 --> 00:48:19.849
and if we haven't addressed it then I'm just

00:48:19.849 --> 00:48:23.849
wrong but basically the question is why is it

00:48:23.849 --> 00:48:27.949
that the setter is faces the left side of the

00:48:27.949 --> 00:48:30.389
court they're asking do you think it's because

00:48:30.389 --> 00:48:33.750
the majority of hitters are right -handed and

00:48:33.750 --> 00:48:38.329
that's just like how things developed and there

00:48:38.329 --> 00:48:41.269
aren't a ton of left -handed setters so they're

00:48:41.269 --> 00:48:45.510
like offensively it's not super conducive to

00:48:45.510 --> 00:48:47.849
success by putting the setter on the right side

00:48:47.849 --> 00:48:51.829
of the court? And would it even be feasible to

00:48:51.829 --> 00:48:54.150
put the setter on the left side of the court

00:48:54.150 --> 00:48:58.309
facing the right? Yeah, I mean, I can't speak

00:48:58.309 --> 00:49:01.690
to how the game developed. I'm assuming it has

00:49:01.690 --> 00:49:04.590
mostly to do with keeping as many right -handed

00:49:04.590 --> 00:49:07.730
hitters in front of the setter as possible, probably

00:49:07.730 --> 00:49:10.690
specifically the middle. right having to having

00:49:10.690 --> 00:49:12.530
a left -handed middle and having to push the

00:49:12.530 --> 00:49:14.090
set when you're running quicks and other things

00:49:14.090 --> 00:49:19.170
make it more challenging um that would be my

00:49:19.170 --> 00:49:21.250
guess you have the odd left -handed player so

00:49:21.250 --> 00:49:23.690
perfectly then you have an opposite somebody

00:49:23.690 --> 00:49:26.690
who's also hand is closer to the setter and everything

00:49:26.690 --> 00:49:29.550
was developed for right -handed people at that

00:49:29.550 --> 00:49:32.369
point in time anyway so it just made sense that

00:49:32.369 --> 00:49:34.309
your attackers were in front of you and close

00:49:34.309 --> 00:49:37.340
right -handedness to the location of the setter.

00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:39.159
That's, that's my guess. I don't know about for

00:49:39.159 --> 00:49:43.840
sure. I will say in college, a few times we had,

00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:48.940
if a team had a really big left side hitter and

00:49:48.940 --> 00:49:51.880
our setter was in the front row, the odd time

00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:54.519
we would have her block on the left side and

00:49:54.519 --> 00:49:56.539
run the offense from the left side of the court.

00:49:56.760 --> 00:49:59.460
Yeah, it's, it's definitely possible. There's

00:49:59.460 --> 00:50:02.599
nothing that says you can't do it. It's just

00:50:02.599 --> 00:50:06.409
vision wise from the hitters. it makes more sense

00:50:06.409 --> 00:50:08.570
with the majority of people being right -handed.

00:50:08.869 --> 00:50:10.769
But really, whatever gives you the advantage.

00:50:11.849 --> 00:50:15.309
All right, question two. Although DBK is the

00:50:15.309 --> 00:50:17.269
Big Ten Coach of the Year, many people continue

00:50:17.269 --> 00:50:20.210
to say that she's just riding John Cook's coattails.

00:50:20.289 --> 00:50:22.690
Can you explain why that's bullshit? In other

00:50:22.690 --> 00:50:25.889
words, what does she do differently? I mean,

00:50:26.030 --> 00:50:29.309
yes, the athletes that are in the program were

00:50:29.309 --> 00:50:32.210
recruited by John Cook. But John didn't have

00:50:32.210 --> 00:50:34.360
a... Perfect season last year. John never had

00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:36.920
a perfect season with this group. I mean, the

00:50:36.920 --> 00:50:38.800
same could have been said about him into the

00:50:38.800 --> 00:50:42.199
year 2000 when he went undefeated and won the

00:50:42.199 --> 00:50:44.579
national championship. What does she do differently?

00:50:44.960 --> 00:50:47.420
I mean, we're not there in the day to day, but

00:50:47.420 --> 00:50:52.739
given observing the athletes, I think a, she

00:50:52.739 --> 00:50:55.760
can relate to them on an athlete level. She's

00:50:55.760 --> 00:50:59.639
been there. She's done that. She is female. I

00:50:59.639 --> 00:51:03.489
think. seeing the interactions and stuff it seems

00:51:03.489 --> 00:51:07.130
a lot more I don't know just they're not on an

00:51:07.130 --> 00:51:10.650
even even playing field but there's a little

00:51:10.650 --> 00:51:14.570
but it's closer yes I would I would agree with

00:51:14.570 --> 00:51:16.610
that I think the way she's able to relate to

00:51:16.610 --> 00:51:20.690
her players is different for the reasons I just

00:51:20.690 --> 00:51:25.230
said I also she subs more players in and out

00:51:25.230 --> 00:51:27.949
I think she's done a really good job and again

00:51:27.949 --> 00:51:31.940
this is observational analysis, but I think she's

00:51:31.940 --> 00:51:34.420
done a good job of creating accountability for

00:51:34.420 --> 00:51:37.699
the most part with the team in terms of there's

00:51:37.699 --> 00:51:39.360
people that can come in and out. She's obviously

00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:42.460
willing to do that. She sat Bergen Riley, you

00:51:42.460 --> 00:51:45.179
know, albeit briefly, but when she wasn't playing

00:51:45.179 --> 00:51:48.460
well, the athletes look prepared to compete for

00:51:48.460 --> 00:51:51.000
the majority of the time against all opponents.

00:51:51.380 --> 00:51:55.139
So I think her preparation. Is probably different

00:51:55.139 --> 00:51:57.739
than John's not good or bad, just different.

00:51:57.800 --> 00:51:59.960
And the athletes are responding like they've

00:51:59.960 --> 00:52:03.139
been ready to go for every match all year. You

00:52:03.139 --> 00:52:05.739
can't take that away from her. And I would say.

00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:09.579
Managing a program like Nebraska where you have

00:52:09.579 --> 00:52:12.099
so many top athletes that could be starters at

00:52:12.099 --> 00:52:15.460
other programs is very difficult. And year after

00:52:15.460 --> 00:52:18.659
year, we do see players from Nebraska enter the

00:52:18.659 --> 00:52:22.510
portal. I am curious if we will see any players

00:52:22.510 --> 00:52:25.409
enter the portal this year or if she has done

00:52:25.409 --> 00:52:30.349
a good enough job at making everybody feel important

00:52:30.349 --> 00:52:35.289
in their role and happy. Yeah, it'll be interesting.

00:52:35.469 --> 00:52:38.449
So we'll see what happens there. Okay, question

00:52:38.449 --> 00:52:42.210
three. How do you feel about having co -champions

00:52:42.210 --> 00:52:45.889
in conferences? And an example that was given

00:52:45.889 --> 00:52:50.280
was the D2GNAC conference had... Four co -champions

00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:52.800
this year. I mean, it's what you get if you don't

00:52:52.800 --> 00:52:54.480
have a conference tournament at the end of the

00:52:54.480 --> 00:52:57.980
season. No, I see. I disagree with that. Sometimes

00:52:57.980 --> 00:53:01.519
it is the case. But what if you play twice and

00:53:01.519 --> 00:53:04.519
you split? And what if you go the same sets?

00:53:04.760 --> 00:53:07.179
You know what I mean? There are instances where

00:53:07.179 --> 00:53:11.320
there is a tie. Fine, but you can put in three

00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:15.849
or four tie -break procedures that matter. Four

00:53:15.849 --> 00:53:18.809
is extreme. Yes. That statistically you are probably

00:53:18.809 --> 00:53:25.409
never going to hit. So for me, I like the tie

00:53:25.409 --> 00:53:28.710
break procedure because it forces you to be ready

00:53:28.710 --> 00:53:31.030
to go and to play all the time. It's not just

00:53:31.030 --> 00:53:32.690
wins and losses. It's about how you compete.

00:53:32.849 --> 00:53:35.670
It's about how you win. It's about if you're

00:53:35.670 --> 00:53:38.369
having an off day, can you take a set? I personally

00:53:38.369 --> 00:53:40.710
think it should be one, two, three, four, all

00:53:40.710 --> 00:53:44.119
the way down. I don't like ties. I want to see

00:53:44.119 --> 00:53:45.820
a winner. No, I don't like ties either, and I

00:53:45.820 --> 00:53:48.460
don't want my previous statement to be interpreted

00:53:48.460 --> 00:53:51.719
as like, yeah, great idea. No. Do I want to share

00:53:51.719 --> 00:53:53.980
a title with somebody? Absolutely not. Do I want

00:53:53.980 --> 00:53:56.159
to share it with three other teams? Extra no.

00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:59.860
I think four co -champions is ludicrous. It's

00:53:59.860 --> 00:54:03.500
outrageous. It's like 25 first -team All -Americans

00:54:03.500 --> 00:54:05.920
or whatever we're doing here. It's all ridiculous.

00:54:06.519 --> 00:54:10.500
Yeah, and I agree. If you go far enough down

00:54:10.500 --> 00:54:14.760
the list, you will. hit a tiebreaker that works

00:54:14.760 --> 00:54:19.380
yes I don't love co -champions but I also don't

00:54:19.380 --> 00:54:22.179
really love the end of season conference championship

00:54:22.179 --> 00:54:24.719
too because the number of teams I get screwed

00:54:24.719 --> 00:54:27.699
over by that like have such a great season and

00:54:27.699 --> 00:54:31.659
then happen to drop a match to some team and

00:54:31.659 --> 00:54:34.440
I'll use the big west as an example UC Davis

00:54:34.440 --> 00:54:38.940
was crushing the big west all season okay I think

00:54:39.420 --> 00:54:42.099
They maybe dropped one game in conference all

00:54:42.099 --> 00:54:45.500
season. They were number one. Then they have

00:54:45.500 --> 00:54:48.320
to play the Big West tournament, and Cal Poly

00:54:48.320 --> 00:54:51.960
beats them. And now UC Davis has to sit here

00:54:51.960 --> 00:54:54.659
and watch Cal Poly go to the Sweet 16 when they

00:54:54.659 --> 00:54:56.619
literally dominated their conference all season.

00:54:56.780 --> 00:54:58.760
I know you guys could tell me, yeah, well, they

00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:00.219
should have shown up. If they were that good,

00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:02.420
they should have shown up. They're saying something

00:55:02.420 --> 00:55:05.079
to be consistent over like 18 to 20 matches in

00:55:05.079 --> 00:55:08.579
a season. Yeah, I agree. I like the consistency.

00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:12.599
I like when the regular season matters. It's

00:55:12.599 --> 00:55:15.519
not just top six and flip the coin. I think that

00:55:15.519 --> 00:55:18.960
consistency for me personally should be rewarded.

00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:21.659
I like how they do it in soccer. It's very similar.

00:55:21.800 --> 00:55:23.820
It's like the champion. They have a little bit

00:55:23.820 --> 00:55:26.440
of a playoff at some point, but you winning the

00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:29.460
regular season is generally. What soccer are

00:55:29.460 --> 00:55:30.900
you talking about? I'm like, do you even watch

00:55:30.900 --> 00:55:33.920
soccer? I don't watch a ton of soccer, but if

00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:36.739
I'm not mistaken, like winning the league and

00:55:36.739 --> 00:55:38.860
having the best league record. What league? The

00:55:38.860 --> 00:55:41.159
NCAA? No, like Champions League. Oh my gosh.

00:55:41.260 --> 00:55:42.760
I'm like this man. I've never seen him watch

00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:44.320
a soccer game in my life. You know what soccer

00:55:44.320 --> 00:55:46.400
we watch? Welcome to Wrexham. That's about it.

00:55:46.679 --> 00:55:50.440
I mean, that's English soccer. But my point was,

00:55:50.659 --> 00:55:54.159
I think the consistency in winning regular season

00:55:54.159 --> 00:55:56.530
should matter. And I agree. I think. The conference

00:55:56.530 --> 00:55:59.409
champions should be based off the regular season

00:55:59.409 --> 00:56:02.389
record. All right. Question four. What are your

00:56:02.389 --> 00:56:04.349
thoughts on small conference teams that make

00:56:04.349 --> 00:56:06.389
the tournament but get crushed in round one?

00:56:07.590 --> 00:56:09.469
Well, what do we want to put them against each

00:56:09.469 --> 00:56:12.150
other and let them make the sweet 16? Like, that

00:56:12.150 --> 00:56:14.670
would be ridiculous, too. So we like it sucks.

00:56:14.849 --> 00:56:18.269
I feel bad for them. But like, if you go to a

00:56:18.269 --> 00:56:20.869
mid, like some, a mid -major or small conference,

00:56:20.929 --> 00:56:23.550
I feel like making the tournament is such a huge

00:56:23.550 --> 00:56:25.590
accomplishment. Like they're under no illusion

00:56:25.590 --> 00:56:28.750
of what's going to happen here. But I think so

00:56:28.750 --> 00:56:31.489
like their benchmark, like if you're in a power

00:56:31.489 --> 00:56:33.690
four, your benchmark and your goal is to win

00:56:33.690 --> 00:56:35.389
a national championship or make a final four.

00:56:35.489 --> 00:56:37.670
Like if you go to a small conference school,

00:56:37.809 --> 00:56:41.269
your national championship equivalent is qualifying

00:56:41.269 --> 00:56:43.650
for the NCAA tournament. And you can tell by

00:56:43.650 --> 00:56:46.449
how they react when the selection show comes

00:56:46.449 --> 00:56:50.510
on. Yeah. And again, every once in a while, one

00:56:50.510 --> 00:56:53.030
of those teams gets an upset and gets to go.

00:56:53.090 --> 00:56:54.809
Like there's always a chance. Look at Cal Poly.

00:56:55.400 --> 00:56:58.400
I know that's not a small, small school. But

00:56:58.400 --> 00:57:00.820
a mid -major. But a mid -major who's going to

00:57:00.820 --> 00:57:05.300
the Sweet 16. It can happen and everybody is

00:57:05.300 --> 00:57:08.139
playing college sport and you should get a shot

00:57:08.139 --> 00:57:10.400
to compete whether you're going to be competitive

00:57:10.400 --> 00:57:13.940
or not. And I don't have any issue with that

00:57:13.940 --> 00:57:17.079
personally. I think it adds to bringing everybody

00:57:17.079 --> 00:57:18.739
together, volleyball players from across the

00:57:18.739 --> 00:57:21.280
country. And like, yeah, what's the alternative?

00:57:21.619 --> 00:57:23.960
Let them win a game? Like, that's not really...

00:57:24.460 --> 00:57:26.820
upholding the integrity of sport either yeah

00:57:26.820 --> 00:57:28.780
well i mean look at all look at the olympics

00:57:28.780 --> 00:57:30.980
right you have teams that get to go that are

00:57:30.980 --> 00:57:33.900
some people are happy to be at the olympics and

00:57:33.900 --> 00:57:35.780
some people are there to win and that's just

00:57:35.780 --> 00:57:38.639
the way sport works yeah i feel bad for them

00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:41.840
but what are you gonna do Question five. Do you

00:57:41.840 --> 00:57:44.179
think teams would benefit from having non -conference

00:57:44.179 --> 00:57:46.760
games in the middle of the season similar to

00:57:46.760 --> 00:57:49.760
NCAA basketball? I know UConn plays Tennessee,

00:57:50.019 --> 00:57:52.079
South Carolina around the middle of the season.

00:57:52.119 --> 00:57:54.219
When it comes to determining how a bracket shakes

00:57:54.219 --> 00:57:56.900
out, I think it could give a better picture for

00:57:56.900 --> 00:58:00.179
the postseason. I mean, you do see non -conference

00:58:00.179 --> 00:58:03.420
matchups midway through the season. Just like,

00:58:03.460 --> 00:58:06.239
for example, you saw Colorado play Northern Colorado.

00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:09.920
Yeah. Mid -season. It's not the same. Those are

00:58:09.920 --> 00:58:12.400
rivalry games, right? That they have penciled

00:58:12.400 --> 00:58:14.820
in every year. And like when I, back when I was

00:58:14.820 --> 00:58:16.820
in college, we would play Creighton in the middle

00:58:16.820 --> 00:58:18.980
of the season. Creighton was no good back then.

00:58:19.039 --> 00:58:21.300
And I know it's not like, hey, middle of the

00:58:21.300 --> 00:58:24.300
season, Nebraska plays Texas. I think it's really

00:58:24.300 --> 00:58:26.260
hard to do. I think there's a ton of games already.

00:58:26.780 --> 00:58:30.440
I think there's a couple cases where it would

00:58:30.440 --> 00:58:35.019
be beneficial. Like right now, Creighton. would

00:58:35.019 --> 00:58:37.179
benefit from being able to play a couple really

00:58:37.179 --> 00:58:41.340
good teams. Marquette. Marquette. There's a couple

00:58:41.340 --> 00:58:45.619
teams where they should be a quote -unquote power

00:58:45.619 --> 00:58:47.400
four team, but their school's not in that conference.

00:58:47.400 --> 00:58:50.039
Or maybe if you're like a bubble team for RPI,

00:58:50.059 --> 00:58:52.559
you have a chance to play a higher -ranked team

00:58:52.559 --> 00:58:54.619
to try to boost your RPI and give yourself a

00:58:54.619 --> 00:58:56.639
chance to get an at -large bid or something.

00:58:56.940 --> 00:58:59.159
Yeah, I think there would be some sort of mini,

00:58:59.260 --> 00:59:02.380
I don't want to call it a plan, but if you're

00:59:02.380 --> 00:59:08.010
ranked... 55 to 70, you get two matches against

00:59:08.010 --> 00:59:12.230
like a top 15 team, not necessarily a top 10

00:59:12.230 --> 00:59:14.230
or something along the lines. It could be interesting.

00:59:14.710 --> 00:59:17.570
I don't think it will ever happen. I just don't

00:59:17.570 --> 00:59:18.849
know how it happened because they're traveling

00:59:18.849 --> 00:59:20.989
so much and playing so much. And like, when do

00:59:20.989 --> 00:59:22.849
they go to school? And the conferences have gotten

00:59:22.849 --> 00:59:24.590
so large. Like if you're in the big 10, you're

00:59:24.590 --> 00:59:26.510
traveling across the country. Like you're playing

00:59:26.510 --> 00:59:29.130
professional sports at this point. But I do think

00:59:29.130 --> 00:59:31.389
it's an interesting concept, and I think if they

00:59:31.389 --> 00:59:34.110
could pull it off in a meaningful way, it would

00:59:34.110 --> 00:59:36.989
be interesting and valuable and beneficial for

00:59:36.989 --> 00:59:40.869
those teams. All right, question six. Given how

00:59:40.869 --> 00:59:43.150
Penn State's season has ended, I wanted to bring

00:59:43.150 --> 00:59:45.050
up the topic of Kennedy Martin again regarding

00:59:45.050 --> 00:59:47.469
transferring. Do you think if Izzy Stark were

00:59:47.469 --> 00:59:51.070
to go to Texas that Martin may go as well, provided

00:59:51.070 --> 00:59:54.110
that their relationship is okay? Could we potentially

00:59:54.110 --> 00:59:58.019
see a Texas lineup with Stark? Kennedy Martin,

00:59:58.239 --> 01:00:00.420
Kari Spears and Tori Stafford on the outside,

01:00:01.420 --> 01:00:04.139
Gary at Libero, and then Ames and Harvey in the

01:00:04.139 --> 01:00:06.599
middle. I don't think Kennedy Martin is going

01:00:06.599 --> 01:00:09.900
to go to Texas if she were to transfer. Something

01:00:09.900 --> 01:00:11.800
just tells me no. I've been surprised before,

01:00:11.920 --> 01:00:13.860
though. I can't speak for Kennedy Martin, but

01:00:13.860 --> 01:00:17.900
for me, if I came to a school thinking we were

01:00:17.900 --> 01:00:21.099
going to be competitive and my teammate did that,

01:00:21.219 --> 01:00:23.480
I would be a little sour. I probably wouldn't

01:00:23.480 --> 01:00:25.219
follow her anywhere. Yeah, I'm not sure I'm following

01:00:25.219 --> 01:00:28.199
her anywhere. So I don't think this is a realistic

01:00:28.199 --> 01:00:32.519
scenario. Okay, let's say it is. How do you think

01:00:32.519 --> 01:00:35.500
this team would do? Well, I have one other thought

01:00:35.500 --> 01:00:38.840
about this. I don't think Spears takes Vanderwall's

01:00:38.840 --> 01:00:40.260
spot on the left side. I was thinking that when

01:00:40.260 --> 01:00:42.519
I read this question. I'm like, do we think Spears

01:00:42.519 --> 01:00:44.739
would beat out Vanderwall on the left side? I'm

01:00:44.739 --> 01:00:47.559
not sure. I mean, this team would still be very

01:00:47.559 --> 01:00:51.039
good, but you're still hosed in the middle. Yeah,

01:00:51.079 --> 01:00:55.000
the middle. Like, Harvey might be, she's young,

01:00:55.039 --> 01:00:57.480
she might be getting better. But, like, Ames

01:00:57.480 --> 01:00:59.960
is not doing what I thought she would do in college,

01:01:00.039 --> 01:01:03.820
honestly. Yeah. But, I mean, they would be good.

01:01:04.059 --> 01:01:06.119
Can you imagine Tori Stafford, Izzy Stark, and

01:01:06.119 --> 01:01:08.260
Kennedy Martin on the same team? That would be

01:01:08.260 --> 01:01:09.159
pretty sick, though. There's a lot of firepower

01:01:09.159 --> 01:01:13.179
there. All right, question seven. Could you explain

01:01:13.179 --> 01:01:16.980
how it's possible to get drafted in the MLV if

01:01:16.980 --> 01:01:20.880
you are a love student athlete? And you have

01:01:20.880 --> 01:01:24.179
no intention of playing. Sometimes MLV might

01:01:24.179 --> 01:01:27.639
be uncertain if an athlete will play for them.

01:01:27.739 --> 01:01:31.679
And in those cases, like for example, an Eva

01:01:31.679 --> 01:01:35.860
Hudson case or a Koss Akpala case this year,

01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:39.139
there is a chance that a love team will pick

01:01:39.139 --> 01:01:43.079
them up, but they are drafted by MLV teams. So

01:01:43.079 --> 01:01:46.480
the team gets their rights. So should those athletes

01:01:46.480 --> 01:01:49.199
decide not to play love, not go overseas and

01:01:49.199 --> 01:01:51.960
want to play MLV, they have the rights to those

01:01:51.960 --> 01:01:55.679
players. So they can't compete against them.

01:01:55.980 --> 01:01:59.440
Do those rights exist in perpetuity? I think

01:01:59.440 --> 01:02:03.360
it's for two years. Okay. I know an example that

01:02:03.360 --> 01:02:06.000
was shared with me was for two, they have the

01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:08.719
rights for two years. Okay. So that's why you

01:02:08.719 --> 01:02:13.760
often see the love student athletes. get drafted

01:02:13.760 --> 01:02:17.659
by mlv so they're not you're not sure as a viewer

01:02:17.659 --> 01:02:19.920
where they're going to end up things are tied

01:02:19.920 --> 01:02:22.920
the loose ends are tied up no matter where they

01:02:22.920 --> 01:02:25.420
choose to go and it's not a bad strategy especially

01:02:25.420 --> 01:02:27.679
for athletes on the fringe because love is continually

01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.280
bringing in international athletes to try and

01:02:30.280 --> 01:02:32.639
improve the level so there might not be a spot

01:02:32.639 --> 01:02:35.179
from them even if you're a sponsored love athlete

01:02:35.179 --> 01:02:37.880
i mean take that nil money if you want like for

01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:41.059
sure take that nil money and then if they don't

01:02:41.059 --> 01:02:44.940
want you Go play MLB if you got drafted. But

01:02:44.940 --> 01:02:46.940
I'm pretty sure that's how it works. That makes

01:02:46.940 --> 01:02:50.719
sense. Okay, last question of the day. I'm curious

01:02:50.719 --> 01:02:53.460
about the role of coach versus assistant coach

01:02:53.460 --> 01:02:56.739
versus other key coaching staff roles. What are

01:02:56.739 --> 01:02:59.440
the typical work responsibilities for each role

01:02:59.440 --> 01:03:01.500
and what are the different relationships that

01:03:01.500 --> 01:03:03.900
a player can expect with each staff member they

01:03:03.900 --> 01:03:07.179
interface with? The comments made about Dan Meske's

01:03:07.179 --> 01:03:10.159
transition made me interested about this. Yeah,

01:03:10.179 --> 01:03:12.239
I mean, I can speak to my personal experience.

01:03:12.300 --> 01:03:14.159
It probably is a little bit different in the

01:03:14.159 --> 01:03:16.559
NCAA, so you can correct me if your experience

01:03:16.559 --> 01:03:21.539
is different. I think the head coach is responsible

01:03:21.539 --> 01:03:26.699
generally for setting the expectations and the

01:03:26.699 --> 01:03:29.679
direction of the team, so they would meet with

01:03:29.679 --> 01:03:31.619
their position coaches, which are generally the

01:03:31.619 --> 01:03:33.539
assistant coaches. This is what we need to work

01:03:33.539 --> 01:03:35.849
on. you know, what is your plan for the week,

01:03:36.010 --> 01:03:38.590
how all of that works. They're also pulling together

01:03:38.590 --> 01:03:42.530
the stats guys and generally doing the main game

01:03:42.530 --> 01:03:44.610
plan for the different matches that they're playing

01:03:44.610 --> 01:03:47.250
so that they're ready and prepared. So they're

01:03:47.250 --> 01:03:49.070
kind of guiding the other players and it depends

01:03:49.070 --> 01:03:50.769
on what the relationship with the assistant is.

01:03:50.829 --> 01:03:53.150
Some of them, they're probably mentoring. Some

01:03:53.150 --> 01:03:55.869
of them are there to actually run practice and

01:03:55.869 --> 01:03:59.030
be like. If you were a middle and you're a head

01:03:59.030 --> 01:04:00.989
coach, you probably bring in a setter coach or

01:04:00.989 --> 01:04:02.789
a passing coach because that's not your area

01:04:02.789 --> 01:04:05.510
of expertise. So you see the best coaches try

01:04:05.510 --> 01:04:07.630
and surround themselves with people of expertise

01:04:07.630 --> 01:04:09.949
in things that maybe they're not the best at.

01:04:10.070 --> 01:04:13.250
And then you have a recruiting coach as well

01:04:13.250 --> 01:04:16.230
who kind of brings up all of the potential people

01:04:16.230 --> 01:04:18.230
for the program. Was that how it was for you?

01:04:19.949 --> 01:04:23.010
Yeah. So the head coach is usually responsible

01:04:23.010 --> 01:04:31.300
for... All key decisions made in match or otherwise

01:04:31.300 --> 01:04:33.480
they're responsible for they're the face of the

01:04:33.480 --> 01:04:36.340
program. So any media responsibilities, if you're

01:04:36.340 --> 01:04:40.260
a mid -major, they tend to have to do the fundraising.

01:04:41.579 --> 01:04:44.340
If you don't have a director of operations, they

01:04:44.340 --> 01:04:47.719
do the travel and all the admin stuff. As you

01:04:47.719 --> 01:04:49.420
get to the bigger programs, there are director

01:04:49.420 --> 01:04:51.039
of operations that kind of take care of that

01:04:51.039 --> 01:04:53.340
for you. But like being the face of the program,

01:04:53.500 --> 01:04:55.989
it's like. You are doing media, you're making

01:04:55.989 --> 01:05:00.170
all the big decisions, and you are like closing

01:05:00.170 --> 01:05:03.989
the deals from a recruiting perspective. Assistants

01:05:03.989 --> 01:05:06.929
typically have closer relationships with the

01:05:06.929 --> 01:05:09.670
players, I would say. They tend to be more a

01:05:09.670 --> 01:05:14.989
closer level with the players, more fun, whereas

01:05:14.989 --> 01:05:18.789
the head coach tends to be more business. The

01:05:18.789 --> 01:05:22.440
assistants, yeah, definitely. All the coaches

01:05:22.440 --> 01:05:24.480
on my staff, associate head coach, head coach

01:05:24.480 --> 01:05:26.599
assistants, took different positions based on

01:05:26.599 --> 01:05:28.900
their expertise and trained them that way. Yeah,

01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:31.940
you typically see the assistants nowadays, at

01:05:31.940 --> 01:05:34.219
least, being the ones that are up and more vocal

01:05:34.219 --> 01:05:38.280
during matches. Maybe it's because the head coaches

01:05:38.280 --> 01:05:41.400
are sometimes older. And they take on more of

01:05:41.400 --> 01:05:44.420
the traveling roles for recruiting. You see the

01:05:44.420 --> 01:05:48.579
assistants kind of like... Make the initial identifications

01:05:48.579 --> 01:05:51.219
and then it kind of goes up the ladder that way.

01:05:51.880 --> 01:05:56.159
So and then graduate assistants or managers are

01:05:56.159 --> 01:05:59.699
usually not consulted about anything. They are

01:05:59.699 --> 01:06:02.500
just there and it's just like be an arm at practice.

01:06:02.539 --> 01:06:05.920
You are going to be this player and then you

01:06:05.920 --> 01:06:12.530
just play. So. Yeah, I would say the head coach

01:06:12.530 --> 01:06:15.630
often has a more impersonal relationship with

01:06:15.630 --> 01:06:17.769
the players. Assistant coach are closer on a

01:06:17.769 --> 01:06:20.630
personal level and then graduate assistants and

01:06:20.630 --> 01:06:22.349
stuff because they're around the same age are

01:06:22.349 --> 01:06:26.250
closer. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I

01:06:26.250 --> 01:06:28.969
answer the question, but obviously the matches

01:06:28.969 --> 01:06:32.590
to watch this week are everything NCAA. And there's

01:06:32.590 --> 01:06:34.550
Club World Championships for women. Club World

01:06:34.550 --> 01:06:36.489
Championships this week as well. You can catch

01:06:36.489 --> 01:06:39.230
that on VBTV. I believe the schedule was posted

01:06:39.230 --> 01:06:41.449
there as well. Check out the Orlando Valkyries

01:06:41.449 --> 01:06:45.070
for North America. We've got the usual suspects,

01:06:45.670 --> 01:06:49.650
Corneliano. We've got some Brazilian teams, China.

01:06:51.949 --> 01:06:54.269
And for all of those of you who are asking about

01:06:54.269 --> 01:06:56.909
if we're covering pro, I'll say it again. I said

01:06:56.909 --> 01:07:00.050
it at the top of the show. Pro and Europe and

01:07:00.050 --> 01:07:02.760
all of that. We'll be coming after NCAA. Regionals

01:07:02.760 --> 01:07:04.539
week, baby. It's going to be a good one. That

01:07:04.539 --> 01:07:06.840
concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

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There's always something shaking in the volleyball

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world, and we hope you enjoyed this little fix.

01:07:11.280 --> 01:07:12.980
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss

01:07:12.980 --> 01:07:15.079
any updates, and we'd be so grateful if you'd

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leave us a five -star review. You can also find

01:07:17.760 --> 01:07:20.360
us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore podcast.

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If there's a topic you'd like us to discuss,

01:07:22.960 --> 01:07:25.619
you can reach out on Instagram or at info at

01:07:25.619 --> 01:07:28.559
sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining us.

01:07:28.659 --> 01:07:29.860
We'll see you next week.