WEBVTT

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Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. Talked about it last week. The greatest

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week of the year in NCAA women's volleyball was

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this past week. We have a lot to talk about,

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okay, as far as those matches go. Might get a

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little messy. Might get a little messy. People

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might be a little upset with us, but what else

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is new? We're just keeping it consistent here,

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people. But we have a lot of thoughts, and I'm

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just telling you right off the hop here, you

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might not like them. So buckle up, get ready.

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That was your warning. Don't say I didn't tell

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you. But because this episode is going to be

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lengthy with the amount of chit chat we've got

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going on, we are foregoing the listener questions

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this week. They keep them coming because we will

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address a bunch of them next week once the final

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four. is over. There were a lot of matches to

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watch this week. There was a lot of volleyball

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to consume. Too many. Okay. I'm brain dead right

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now. So here we go. We are very excited. We hope

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you are too. Let's get started. NCAA heavy but

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we do have to mention that the women's club world

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championships finished up on Sunday just a little

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recap we didn't watch any of the matches because

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as Adam said too much college volleyball to watch

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so if you did watch these matches and have some

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thoughts let us know because we would love to

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know what things were looking like okay so just

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the highlights The Italians were pretty dominant

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in pool play. So the pool standings were in pool

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A, Scandici, Osasco, the club from Lima, Peru,

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and then the team from Kazakhstan finished fourth.

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Pretty predictable. Pool B, Corneliano was in

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first. Praia Clube from Brazil second Orlando

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third and the Egyptian club fourth I think that

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pretty much played out as expected basically

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the top two from each school advanced to the

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semifinals they didn't play out anything below

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that so overall Orlando finished fifth which

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given the strength of some of these teams or

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the lack thereof that's exactly where given the

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teams that went they were supposed to finish

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yeah I figured them and Lima would be this 5

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-6, and then the Egyptian and Kazakh standing

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teams would be at the bottom. It would have been

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interesting for them to play each other. I would

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have been curious what the Orlando -Peru match

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looked like, but we'll never know. Then, because

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it was just the top two, Scandici played Praia

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Klubi, crushed them in three. Conigliano played

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Osasco, beat them in four. So in the bronze,

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Osasco beat Praia Klubi 3 -0. And then in the

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final, Scandici beat Conigliano in four. The

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dynasty is cracking a little bit here. I was

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going to say, are we crowning a new champion?

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Well, they dropped. Who did they lose to? Novara?

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Earlier in the. Yeah, I don't know off the top

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of my head, but yes. Or no, they lost to Milano.

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That was their first loss in a championship match.

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eight years or something in Italy. Don't quote

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me on that. So they lost a title match to Milano

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earlier this season. Now they drop a championship

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match to Scandici. I mean, the Italian League

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and Champions League. We'll see where those end

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up because those are the ones that matter. Yes,

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those are the ones that matter, quote unquote,

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but they brought back pretty much all of their

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starters. from last season, I want to say, their

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roster looked very similar. And then, of course,

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for those who aren't aware, Scandici, we've got

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Sarah Franklin, Avery Skinner, we've got Antropova,

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obviously, we've got the German middle. So we've

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got a lot of well -known names, and to the American

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fans, a lot of... that are known there as well.

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I'm going to try and watch that final at some

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point this week, so maybe we can just talk about

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it a little bit next week. We'll see what happens.

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But that's the big question mark. What's happening

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to the dynasty over in Panigliano? All good things

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come to an end eventually. All right, let's dive

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into some NCAA. As we talked about in our last

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episode this past week, regionals week. is our

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favorite time of NCAA volleyball. People are

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grinding to get to that final four. We are just

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going to run through the round of 16 matches

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and just, you know, hit the highlights, hit our

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thoughts, and then we'll dive in a little deeper

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into the round of eight matches. Let's just work

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through the bracket kind of top to bottom the

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way it's displayed. We'll start with Nebraska

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-Kansas. Nebraska winning 3 -0 with scores of

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12, 11, and 12 for Kansas. Thoughts? I felt bad

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for Kansas. It was so bad. It was so lopsided.

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And the thing is, Kansas didn't even play poorly.

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Really? They didn't do anything. No, I know.

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You could just tell that they came in. With absolutely

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no belief that they were going to beat Nebraska.

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No. And they played like it. It was real bad.

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Yeah, their hitters would swing and it was touch,

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recycle. They're not good enough to compete with

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Nebraska. They don't have the athletes. I think

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the game could have been. I don't think they

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would have won. I think the game could have been

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better had they had just an ounce of belief in

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themselves. It's a hard place to be in. got as

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far as they could have. They knew they were going

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to run into Nebraska. I didn't think they were

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sloppy. It didn't look like they were unprepared.

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It just looked like they weren't as good and

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they knew it. Regardless, that game was incredibly

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boring. Oh yeah, it was not a good game to watch

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unless you were a Nebraska fan. No, I am a Nebraska

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fan for obvious reasons. I was like, this is

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awful. But you're a volleyball fan and a Nebraska

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fan. That's kind of what I'm saying. It's fun

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to win, but there's nothing. Nebraska has yet

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to be tested in this bracket, so we'll see what

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ends up happening, but they just kicked them.

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Let's talk about Texas A &M -Louisville. Texas

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A &M almost coughed up the match. They managed

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to pull off a reverse sweep. What were your initial

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impressions of that match? I think it should

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have been over in three. Texas A &M building

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up huge leads in both of the first two sets and

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then coughing them up after 20. Like they kept

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getting stuck in this one rotation. They could

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not get out of it. I think in the first set they

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were up like 17 -12 and lost. And then the second

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set they were up 23 -18 or something wild. Lost.

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And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me right

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now. The thing is though, this might be a hot

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take and people might be mad. Logan Lednicki

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is not nearly as dominant as I would expect her

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to be, given all the hype around her and things

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like that. She was not dominant by any means,

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and they didn't even go to her down the stretch

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a lot of the time. No, and it seems to me that

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she's lost a little bit of her range, that she's

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just swinging straight with her shoulders. Now,

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that's not to say that she doesn't hit the ball

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down the line or she doesn't hit. sharper angles,

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but it's always with her shoulders. There's no

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risk. There's no, it doesn't look super creative

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or deceptive. She just trying to muscle it through.

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That's what it looked like. She hits good angles

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when they're obviously available to her or if

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the situation lines itself up to hit a sharp

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angle, she doesn't create those angles. Like

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you were saying on her own. I didn't think that

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Louisville looked particularly good. Texas A

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&M had a good strategy. They took Cressy out

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of rhythm for a bunch of the match. They out

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-blocked Louisville, which is generally Louisville's

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strength. I thought Dan Meske got out -coached

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in that match, and I didn't think they were able...

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We saw this a couple times this weekend, actually.

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They didn't adjust. I didn't think Cressy...

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Adam's game plan was way better. Totally. Way

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better. It was, like, clear what their game plan

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was. I think down the stretch, Kosokpala, her

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blocking destroyed them, and Perkins... Stower

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scored well offensively. Stower scored when she

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needed to, had stretches where she struggled,

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but put it down. And, Nikki, I'm sorry, but for

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being as highly touted as you are and for being

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the quote -unquote go -to player of your team.

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She wasn't. She's not the reason they won that

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match. No, and this isn't the first time I've

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thought that this season. They have not relied

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on her. as much as like Olivia Babcock or Kennedy

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Martin are relied on. And I'm not saying that

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that is the standard you want to set for your

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team, but... But that's your role. That's how

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she's been defined as a player. And I thought

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it was everybody else around her who stepped

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up. I have to admit, I was very impressed with

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Texas A &M's fight. It's really tough when you

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know you should have won sets one and two. You

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had leads, you gave them up. And then you still

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come back and you grind it out. And on the other

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side, I didn't think Kara Cressy was a factor

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in that match. Both middles were not a factor.

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Blocking, she made some big blocks, but offensively,

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neither middle for Louisville did much. And I'm

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a Cabello fan. I like her. I didn't think she

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set well except to the left side. It looked like

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the moment got to them that they weren't ready

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to compete in that. And the thing is, they got

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lucky and they end up losing another five setter.

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They didn't. Know how to win. The five -set curse

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for Louisville. The five -set curse for Louisville.

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As soon as I went five, Adam was like, bye -bye,

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Louisville. Your record in five is not good.

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Not good. And again, Cressy is your go -to hitter.

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They've set that up all year, and she wasn't

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able to do that. And they don't have the pieces

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to score and win those games when they want to.

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I think it's a huge missed opportunity. I thought

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Metzke got outcoached. I thought A &M was more

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prepared. A &M's a little barrel, though. down

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those stretches at the end of sets one and two.

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I was like, girl, could you stop getting aced?

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She was like, what is your deal? And the fact

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that they kept her in, I would have been like,

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we're hiding the libero and serve receive. This

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is awful. You have to tell me you have another

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person who can step in. And I was like, let,

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let Nikki pass for God's sake. Like this is bad.

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Their libero was the worst player. They won in

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spite of her. And she coughed up leads. The one

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thing I will say is Texas A &M needs to find.

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a solution to their tough rotations when Ledecky's

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in the back row. They need to still be able to

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score. You would think that she would be the

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solution. She should be, but they either have

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to find a way to get her going or something because

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when they play Nebraska, if they can't get out

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of that rotation, Nebraska's going to score multiple

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points against them in those rotations consistently.

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This was a fun match to watch. Just because you

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saw Texas A &M crumble in the first two sets.

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I'm so glad they held on, honestly, for the health

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of my bracket. Because some of the other games

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we're about to talk to, they messed me up to

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the point that there's no hope for me. Well,

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yeah, mine too. But I will say Texas A &M was

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the better team all match. They just had a couple

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flips. They basically won five sets. Minus a

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rotation in set one and a rotation in set two.

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Yeah. Agreed. It was a good match to watch. It

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was one of the better round of 16 matches I thought

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there was. And it was curious to kind of see

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the back and forth and who crumbled and what

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they did. But that was a fun match. All right.

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Let's talk about a bracket buster in Purdue over

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SMU in four. What did you say? 18 % of brackets.

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13%. 13 % of people in our bracket picked Purdue

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to win this game. Correct. And Purdue squeaking

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it out 29 -27 in the fourth set. I haven't been

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an SMU fan for a long time, but give me your

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thoughts on the match. You alluded to being outcoached.

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For me, this is the other match that I think...

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There was a huge coaching discrepancy. I think.

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The biggest one. Shondell completely outcoached

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Sam Erger. Give him the wizard hat. Because he.

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His. The craziest thing is like it was very obvious

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what they were doing. Everybody. You don't even

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have to be a volleyball junkie to understand

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what the heck was going on here. And SMU just

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did not adjust at all. So this is something I

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actually, I wanted to talk about because I'm

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not sure a lot of people, there's a lot of things

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that happened here and you could see Sam Erder

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getting frustrated on the bench that her team

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wasn't picking up tips. Purdue did two things.

00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:25.860
They served short, almost all match, trying to

00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:27.940
bring the passers in and disrupt their routes.

00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:30.559
And once they made the adjustment on servancy,

00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.799
which was completely obvious, they drove them

00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.519
back. They yin -yanged them all match to perfection.

00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:40.399
Or yo -yo. Correct. The second thing is they

00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:44.240
tipped the ball to precision to the open spots.

00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.100
And when the adjustments did come, they were

00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.940
able to see that and put the ball deep to the

00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:54.779
perimeter. SMU was on the defensive that whole

00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:57.820
match trying to catch up to what Purdue was trying

00:14:57.820 --> 00:14:59.980
to do. I know people look at this match and go,

00:15:00.059 --> 00:15:03.500
hey, why can't SMU just adjust and pick up those

00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:05.519
tips? Like, I don't understand why those balls

00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.879
keep falling. And I'll tell you, I have the same

00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.340
question, honestly, like get beaten by something

00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:14.580
like two times before you flip and make an adjustment.

00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.559
Okay. But here's, here's the thing that you have

00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:20.940
to understand. You can't, it's really difficult

00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:23.240
for teams to just make adjustments when you don't

00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:26.799
practice it. It was clear that SMU has not done

00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:29.759
tip defense all year. Even when they moved all

00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.360
their players in, they didn't know who was taking

00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.279
the ball. They didn't know whose responsibility

00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.019
it was. They didn't know how to work out of it

00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.659
on the rare occasion they did get a tip. They

00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:42.299
don't practice this. They have not, I can tell

00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:44.639
you just watching them, they didn't understand

00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:47.279
their responsibilities. And that comes from a

00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.779
season long of preparation. There's no way that

00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:51.580
Shondell's athletes can just go, hey, we're just

00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:53.460
going to tip here all the time without having

00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:57.080
practiced it. You could tell that they look at

00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:59.559
defenses and they make decisions. That's a skill

00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.679
they worked on all year. It doesn't happen just

00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:04.679
in one or two matches of preparation. And that

00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:07.539
to me was a key difference in how the teams were

00:16:07.539 --> 00:16:10.340
prepared to play a match like this. That was

00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:12.659
my biggest takeaway. I think that was very well

00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:16.500
said. So, but. I will go back to what I said.

00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:18.440
If you're getting beaten two or three times,

00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:20.899
you're one of the top NCAA teams in the country.

00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.779
As an athlete on that team, if your coach tells

00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:27.980
you get the tip, get the tip. Do you know what

00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:31.220
I mean? You're not a junior high school player

00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:34.279
here. You're playing for one of the top programs

00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:36.960
in the country. Dig the tip. And I understand

00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:39.059
it comes down to what you're saying. I get that.

00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:43.200
I completely agree with what you said. But it's

00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.179
also like you are a, Good volleyball player.

00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:49.120
You are high level volleyball athletes. You need

00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.779
to be able to do this. Okay. But we've talked

00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.299
about this with SMU and it comes back to it.

00:16:56.179 --> 00:17:00.759
Culture, consistency with the program. They haven't

00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:02.799
had a chance to do that. They've been a revolving

00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.359
door of players. And when push comes to shove

00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.980
and you need to do something, those things matter.

00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:11.869
And I think between those two things, the preparation

00:17:11.869 --> 00:17:15.150
and just the... They shut down. They made Malaya

00:17:15.150 --> 00:17:17.609
Jones frustrated too. Totally. And that's what

00:17:17.609 --> 00:17:19.730
Purdue does. They dig the ball. They put it back

00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:22.569
over. They force you to beat them. They force

00:17:22.569 --> 00:17:25.769
you into making mistakes. And Malaya Jones, they

00:17:25.769 --> 00:17:28.920
made her work. all night. They tipped the ball

00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:32.140
to her. They made her play. They got block touches.

00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:35.839
They recycled it. Their game plan, and I have

00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.599
to give Shondell a ton of credit. It was intentional.

00:17:38.900 --> 00:17:42.160
His athlete's ability to stick to the script

00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:46.279
all match long and not waver, that match for

00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.420
me makes Dave Shondell coach of the year against

00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:52.339
everybody. That just shows how much his athletes

00:17:52.339 --> 00:17:55.640
trust him. Correct. If your coach tells you,

00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.759
You are like, if you have a, I'm assuming the

00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:01.039
conversation was, if you feel like you can score,

00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:04.720
take a big swing. If you are in like, you must

00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.759
tip here. The amount of trust it takes to just

00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.000
do that. That says a lot. Coach of the year performance

00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.099
in my mind. I think at the end of the day for

00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:16.779
me, SMU had the better athletes. They probably

00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:20.920
should have won, but Purdue was more of a team

00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:23.259
and they stuck to their identity and they frustrated

00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:30.220
SMU. And I just kept smiling, thinking about

00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:32.880
what the game plan was and how well it was executed.

00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.680
Congrats to Purdue. That's what a season. And

00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:39.000
I kind of love that people left and it was so

00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.859
unexpected and like he was going to quit and

00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:45.960
like the, but how the team rallied and sort of

00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:49.480
like had that FU mentality all season. Like you

00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:51.839
think you're going to leave for greener pastures.

00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.400
Let's, we're going to prove you wrong. Like,

00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.859
I just love that. Totally. Totally. Congrats

00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:01.339
to Purdue and Dave Shandell. That was a master

00:19:01.339 --> 00:19:05.140
class in a team performance. Let's talk about

00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:07.980
Minnesota Pitt. This was a game we had on in

00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:09.779
the background, but I don't think we fully watched.

00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:11.880
Yeah, full disclosure, this is the one I paid

00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.400
the least attention to. Pitt 1 -3, 16 -23 -22.

00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:21.319
Blair Bayless and... Olivia Babcock scored the

00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:23.640
majority of the points. Pitt was never afraid

00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:26.339
of losing that match. Let's just call it what

00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:29.839
it is. I thought the Minnesota freshmen played

00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.380
and got experience, and the first set was rough,

00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:36.779
but they didn't look out of their depth in the

00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:39.259
second and third. Minnesota is a team that I

00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:43.660
think did better than expected after all of the

00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:45.460
injuries. They got their young players really

00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:48.960
good experience. They're going to be able to

00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:50.920
build on this. They went as far as they could

00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:52.380
go. Yeah. If you'd asked me at the beginning

00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:54.140
of the season or when all these injuries took

00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:55.960
place, if I thought Minnesota would make it this

00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.380
far, that would be a hard no. Yeah. So I think

00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:02.660
they did well. Exceeded expectations. Yeah. At

00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:04.160
the end of the day, they couldn't stop Babcock.

00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.759
But plain and simple. And anybody, though? Well,

00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:10.259
we will find out. But this one was pretty cut

00:20:10.259 --> 00:20:13.799
and dry, in my opinion. Speaking of cut and dry

00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:17.579
matches. Are you referring to Kentucky Cal Poly?

00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:22.480
I might be. 18, 19, and 7. There were a couple

00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.140
people who were disappointed in how Kentucky

00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:27.619
handled themselves. They thought they were kind

00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:29.960
of making fun of Cal Poly or being disrespectful.

00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.779
Who said that? I saw a couple comments online

00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:36.720
about it. Do you feel that that was the case?

00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:38.640
I think what these people were referring to were

00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.259
some people laughing after blocks and things

00:20:41.259 --> 00:20:45.559
like that. Kentucky plays with a certain amount

00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:50.640
of swagger. Let's call a spade a spade. Cal Poly

00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.759
does not belong. I don't know if I got that impression

00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.000
watching Kentucky. You know who does give me

00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.180
that impression sometimes? Eva Hudson. Yes. But

00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:02.579
she doesn't just do that against Cal Poly. She

00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:05.240
does that against everybody. Yes. Like if a ball

00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:08.099
like lands close to the line and she lets it

00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:12.160
go, she like stares at it for like three seconds.

00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:14.019
It's a little over the top. Or like she will

00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:17.900
do things. That for me are unnecessary, but I

00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:20.400
don't, I watching that didn't get that impression

00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:22.900
personally. I didn't think anything of it at

00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:26.079
the time either. I mean, let's again, Cal Poly

00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.460
greatly overperformed even making the tournament.

00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:34.440
I think in the first two sets, they, they played

00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:39.220
well. Totally. Like given their personnel, I

00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:44.279
think they did a good job. Kentucky is just better.

00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:46.980
And bigger. And then you saw the wheels fall

00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:50.400
off in set three. But I think in sets one and

00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:54.980
two, it was respectable. The scores, yes, not

00:21:54.980 --> 00:21:57.839
close. But I think, you know, they were fighting.

00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:00.579
They were making good serves. They clearly had

00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:02.960
a game plan. They had a game plan. Their outsides

00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.460
were making intentional swings. I thought they

00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:09.859
did what they could. But it just, it was not

00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:13.349
a good matchup for them. No. And I mean. Kentucky's

00:22:13.349 --> 00:22:15.730
not really a good matchup for anybody, quite

00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:19.910
frankly. And so, yeah, again, I think this is

00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:21.650
one of those situations where Cal Poly got great

00:22:21.650 --> 00:22:24.910
experience. This is a journey that every single

00:22:24.910 --> 00:22:27.509
person on that team will remember. The highlight

00:22:27.509 --> 00:22:30.250
of their season, they performed to the best of

00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:31.509
their... The highlight, honestly, of a lot of

00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:34.269
their college careers. 100%. What else is Kentucky

00:22:34.269 --> 00:22:35.809
supposed to do? You can only beat the people

00:22:35.809 --> 00:22:38.190
in front of you, and that's what they did to

00:22:38.190 --> 00:22:40.970
move on. This was a match I think we were both

00:22:40.970 --> 00:22:43.900
looking forward to. Creighton beats Arizona State

00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:48.779
3 -1. Creighton winning 26 -24, then losing 25

00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:55.059
-19, and then winning 13 -18. What did you see

00:22:55.059 --> 00:22:57.960
and what were your impressions? Honestly, I thought

00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.880
Creighton was going to take this match. While

00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.559
their conference schedule might not be the strongest,

00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:10.609
I honestly just don't think Arizona... State

00:23:10.609 --> 00:23:15.609
had the pieces to go further than this. Glover

00:23:15.609 --> 00:23:20.430
is solid. He's very good. But the other parts

00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:24.970
of that team, they don't stand out to me. And

00:23:24.970 --> 00:23:28.569
we saw the Big 12 was an absolute dumpster fire

00:23:28.569 --> 00:23:31.809
this year. The Big 12 was about consistency,

00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:35.549
and that is the bread and butter of Arizona State.

00:23:35.769 --> 00:23:39.869
But they don't do anything. Spectacular. Glover

00:23:39.869 --> 00:23:43.630
makes some great swings. I think she's very good.

00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:47.990
But their middles are, for me, fine. Their left

00:23:47.990 --> 00:23:49.750
sides, I couldn't even tell you their names.

00:23:50.029 --> 00:23:53.970
Their libero, not it for me. I didn't think their

00:23:53.970 --> 00:23:56.089
setter played particularly well in that match

00:23:56.089 --> 00:24:01.109
either. Ava Martin is consistent. She is solid.

00:24:01.390 --> 00:24:05.750
Their middle, Kiera Reinhardt, very good. A lot

00:24:05.750 --> 00:24:08.900
of... what would probably be role players on

00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:13.859
a Texas, a Nebraska type program, but they are

00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:18.279
consistent and they make good choices. And honestly,

00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:20.259
this match went about the way I thought it would.

00:24:20.339 --> 00:24:23.720
Yeah, me too. Arizona's a team that you need

00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.759
to beat. And Creighton came out and beat them.

00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:27.640
They were able to score when they needed to.

00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:29.740
Arizona struggled when Glover wasn't on the court.

00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:31.619
She only plays three rotations in the front row.

00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.259
And then who is going to score? They were getting

00:24:34.259 --> 00:24:36.039
touches on the block, transition opportunities.

00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:38.579
I mean, I think Glover, I think they should have

00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:40.779
Glover hitting out of the back row. Totally agree

00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:43.640
with that. Like she is your most consistent scorer.

00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:46.599
Don't they run like a 6 -2 sometimes? Yeah. I

00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:49.380
think she needs to play six rotations personally.

00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.640
Would you say that that is an acceptable season

00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:55.529
for them? Did they overachieve? Did they underachieve?

00:24:55.549 --> 00:24:58.289
Did they end up? I was never a huge Arizona State

00:24:58.289 --> 00:25:00.789
fan all season. So when they kept getting voted

00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:04.769
in the top 10, I was like scratching my head

00:25:04.769 --> 00:25:08.589
all season long. And even them getting a two

00:25:08.589 --> 00:25:11.250
seed, I thought was generous. I think that that

00:25:11.250 --> 00:25:14.410
is exactly where they should be. Okay. I think

00:25:14.410 --> 00:25:16.890
maybe the match I was most looking forward to

00:25:16.890 --> 00:25:21.069
was Wisconsin Stanford. I thought Stanford was

00:25:21.069 --> 00:25:22.849
going to win this one. I had Stanford going to

00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:25.309
the final four, so that pretty much tells you

00:25:25.309 --> 00:25:28.950
the health of my bracket. Wowee. And let me just

00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:31.809
say, they should have won set three. They gave

00:25:31.809 --> 00:25:35.990
away four free ball opportunities. No free ball.

00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:39.829
A couple over passes that they hit right back

00:25:39.829 --> 00:25:42.390
at the defender. Literally a couple free ball

00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:45.480
opportunities that landed. and then got aced

00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.619
three times after being up 18 -15. Like, Stanford

00:25:48.619 --> 00:25:51.079
had no business losing that third set, and then

00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:53.619
once they did, it was like, oh dear. Yeah, that

00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:56.720
third set in this match was completely pivotal

00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.279
in order to... You were up 18 -15. Yeah. You

00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.579
got two overpasses, two free balls that you messed

00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:05.980
up, and got aced three times? Like, goodbye.

00:26:06.420 --> 00:26:09.579
What are you doing? I was pulling my hair out

00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:12.279
watching this. Well, and I think... For me, you

00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:14.539
know, one of the players that we've spoken highly

00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:18.180
of this year is Elliot Rubin. She did not have

00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:22.539
a good match, in my opinion. I can't really tell

00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:24.759
you anybody on Stanford that I was like, wow,

00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:27.859
I thought Blashov did a good job. Nobody stood

00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:31.220
out for me on Stanford. Yeah, Elliot Rubin went

00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:36.079
15 kills on 35 sets with six errors. So she was

00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:39.259
fine. But for me, it was... the timing of those

00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:41.839
errors and the opportunities that she didn't

00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:43.400
take care of. There were passes where she got

00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:45.480
aced. I think she missed one of the overpasses.

00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:48.680
You know, she had a couple swings and where she's

00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:52.779
generally been automatic, she was not. Well,

00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:54.740
at the end of set four, they fed her the ball,

00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:58.740
which they should have. Absolutely. And she could

00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:01.480
not put it away. And you could just see how devastated

00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:04.650
she was at the end. I mean, granted. This was

00:27:04.650 --> 00:27:07.549
Logan Parks' first match in the NCAA tournament

00:27:07.549 --> 00:27:10.130
as a freshman. I thought she did pretty well.

00:27:10.509 --> 00:27:13.230
Like she wasn't standing out to me as being bad.

00:27:13.589 --> 00:27:15.769
Yeah, I don't think she was the reason they lost.

00:27:16.089 --> 00:27:18.170
No. You know, I thought Charlie Furbringer played

00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:21.690
very well. So you beat me to it, but I was going

00:27:21.690 --> 00:27:25.269
to say I'm going to make my pick right now. Charlie

00:27:25.269 --> 00:27:26.970
Furbringer will be the best setter in the NCAA

00:27:26.970 --> 00:27:29.670
next year. That's my take. She did a very good

00:27:29.670 --> 00:27:33.880
job. I mean, Mimi Collier, same thing. You know

00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:39.880
who has played better for me is Vajicic. And

00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:43.799
I've been talking not great about her all season,

00:27:43.859 --> 00:27:47.559
but I will say she's stepped up. You can only

00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:50.000
talk about what's in front of you. And she has

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:51.960
struggled this year. And we talked about that

00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:54.920
other left side position was going to be the

00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:58.150
key for Wisconsin to be successful. And she has

00:27:58.150 --> 00:28:00.650
stepped up her game to her credit. I thought

00:28:00.650 --> 00:28:02.630
Verbringer did a good job of getting Carter Booth

00:28:02.630 --> 00:28:04.869
in, especially in transition. Her and Booth have

00:28:04.869 --> 00:28:08.109
a really good connection. Yeah. I think. Charlie's

00:28:08.109 --> 00:28:13.029
ability to understand who needs to get the ball

00:28:13.029 --> 00:28:16.869
in different situations and read defensively

00:28:16.869 --> 00:28:21.210
what people are keying on is maybe the best I've

00:28:21.210 --> 00:28:24.309
seen at this college level this year. And I think

00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:27.099
she's going to keep getting better. she's a very

00:28:27.099 --> 00:28:29.480
good piece to build a team around. And if they

00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:31.380
continue to have success, it will be because

00:28:31.380 --> 00:28:33.299
of her, I think. And Mimi. I mean, Mimi is a

00:28:33.299 --> 00:28:36.099
staple, but. And she's graduating, but. Yeah.

00:28:36.180 --> 00:28:37.839
Well, I mean, in the tournament, like if they

00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.119
make it. Yeah. Big Charlie fan. Shout out to

00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:45.559
Trinity. Chad Ceres from my hometown. Played

00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:49.619
for my club. Played for Big Paul, my dad. She

00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:53.259
got in against North Carolina and against Stanford.

00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:58.650
So, yeah. Any other thoughts about Stanford before

00:28:58.650 --> 00:29:01.670
we move on? They just didn't look like the team

00:29:01.670 --> 00:29:04.250
that I saw at the end of ACC play. And do you

00:29:04.250 --> 00:29:08.369
think is that nerves? Is it inexperience? I don't

00:29:08.369 --> 00:29:10.930
know. I was so disappointed with their serve

00:29:10.930 --> 00:29:13.369
receive. I don't know what it was. They just

00:29:13.369 --> 00:29:17.349
looked flat to me. Well, they definitely started

00:29:17.349 --> 00:29:20.190
incredibly slow in that match, and they fought

00:29:20.190 --> 00:29:25.200
back. It looked to me like the moment. got to

00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:27.579
them a little bit. They were a little bit tighter

00:29:27.579 --> 00:29:30.220
from a hitting perspective than I think they

00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:33.380
were in the ACC. When your season's on the line,

00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:37.400
when it's win or go home, it's a little bit different,

00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:40.180
especially if you haven't played in that atmosphere.

00:29:40.380 --> 00:29:42.400
And playing the ACC championship, you know you're

00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.700
going to the tournament, right? It's a different,

00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:46.779
it's big. See, that's interesting you say that

00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:49.359
because my mindset whenever NCAA tournament time

00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:53.319
came along, it was like, you're going for it.

00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:55.960
Who cares about errors? You are being fearless.

00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:00.759
You are taking every point you can. It is do

00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:04.680
or die here. Like nothing matters. You are like

00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:07.759
going for it. Well, I mean, that's why you're

00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:09.380
the competitor that you are and you've had the

00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:12.220
career that you had. I think that that is not

00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:13.859
everybody's mindset. And I think you have to

00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:17.220
learn to compete like that. And I, it looked

00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:21.099
hesitant compared to the ACC final for me. Okay.

00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:25.160
Let's talk last match of that round. Texas -Indiana.

00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:31.640
Texas with the sweep. 20 -22 -22. What did you

00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:35.839
see? What did you think? My first impression

00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.160
watching that match was that Texas was incredibly

00:30:39.160 --> 00:30:43.140
prepared for their quick offense outside. You

00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:45.720
saw them move their pin blockers a step outside

00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:48.329
so that they weren't late. They could work. from

00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.470
the outside to the inside of the court, and they

00:30:50.470 --> 00:30:52.529
challenged Indiana to beat them up the middle.

00:30:53.069 --> 00:30:55.690
And they got a whole bunch of blocks and good

00:30:55.690 --> 00:30:58.329
touches because of it. And because of the speed

00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:01.769
that Indiana runs, their hitters don't always

00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:03.970
have a ton of options. So when the block is solid,

00:31:04.029 --> 00:31:07.170
it makes it really tough. I really liked Texas'

00:31:07.349 --> 00:31:09.750
game plan against them. I thought they executed

00:31:09.750 --> 00:31:12.069
it well, and Indiana didn't really have any adjustments.

00:31:12.470 --> 00:31:14.869
I honestly expected this to be a better match

00:31:14.869 --> 00:31:17.579
than it was. I thought Indiana was going to push

00:31:17.579 --> 00:31:22.460
it to four at least. But Texas looked, like you

00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:25.519
said, just very prepared. I thought Tori Stafford

00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:29.480
was outstanding. Unconscious she was good. Outstanding.

00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.039
And Whitney Lonstein played really well. Like

00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:36.380
for having played so minimally all season, I

00:31:36.380 --> 00:31:38.500
thought she came in and did a really good job.

00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:41.380
They were just better. I think this is the furthest

00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:46.109
Indiana's ever been. Great season for them. We

00:31:46.109 --> 00:31:48.769
talked about Steve Aird being, you know, potentially

00:31:48.769 --> 00:31:51.430
coach of the year with what they've done. The

00:31:51.430 --> 00:31:54.910
problem with their offense is if people are prepared

00:31:54.910 --> 00:31:57.329
for it and ready to block and they make adjustments,

00:31:57.509 --> 00:31:59.609
you also have to be able to adjust. And I think

00:31:59.609 --> 00:32:02.569
they worked so hard to find that speed and find

00:32:02.569 --> 00:32:06.349
that rhythm that they didn't have an adjustment

00:32:06.349 --> 00:32:08.170
when that's what Texas did to them. Like they

00:32:08.170 --> 00:32:10.930
didn't have the firepower to beat them up the

00:32:10.930 --> 00:32:13.009
middle and force them to readjust. They just

00:32:13.009 --> 00:32:16.450
kept trying to... run what had made them successful

00:32:16.450 --> 00:32:19.710
all year, which, again, it happens. What they

00:32:19.710 --> 00:32:23.029
do is very challenging to execute. Yeah, they

00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:25.549
were just unprepared to make the adjustments

00:32:25.549 --> 00:32:27.410
based on what Texas was doing, and I thought

00:32:27.410 --> 00:32:29.970
that they executed a flawless game plan. These

00:32:29.970 --> 00:32:32.650
three seeds, baby. If you were a two seed, that

00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:35.250
was the curse of the tournament this year. And

00:32:35.250 --> 00:32:39.250
let me tell you, Purdue upsetting SMU and Wisconsin

00:32:39.250 --> 00:32:42.970
beating Stanford really, really messed me up.

00:32:43.450 --> 00:32:47.109
You and everybody else. Well, I don't know. You

00:32:47.109 --> 00:32:49.950
stayed pretty solid after the round of 16. Like,

00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:52.769
you stayed pretty much close to where you were.

00:32:52.869 --> 00:32:56.549
I plummeted. And we picked the same team. You

00:32:56.549 --> 00:32:58.049
only saved yourself because you got, like, a

00:32:58.049 --> 00:32:59.710
set score better than me. Yeah, I got a couple

00:32:59.710 --> 00:33:02.789
set scores. My pick of Stanford over Wisconsin

00:33:02.789 --> 00:33:05.730
is going to end up really royally screwing me.

00:33:05.769 --> 00:33:08.089
Man, oh, man. Yeah, overall, I thought the round

00:33:08.089 --> 00:33:11.299
was a little blah. To be honest. Yeah, not the

00:33:11.299 --> 00:33:12.940
best. A lot of the matches. And the games that

00:33:12.940 --> 00:33:16.359
I had really high hopes for didn't execute. Yeah.

00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:18.619
I'm talking about Wisconsin -Stanford, you guys.

00:33:18.779 --> 00:33:22.059
I thought the SMU -Purdue game was fun. Yeah,

00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.480
a couple of those were shellackings. But it'll

00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:27.519
be, what I'm most curious about is those young

00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:29.880
teams that had experience. What does that do

00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:32.039
for them next year? Yeah, let's get our crystal

00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:35.200
ball out and just see what happens next. All

00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:37.460
right, coming up next, round of eight. All right,

00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:41.690
we are going to... dive into the match and the

00:33:41.690 --> 00:33:45.509
upset that everybody is talking about. We're

00:33:45.509 --> 00:33:46.869
just going to get this one out of the way first

00:33:46.869 --> 00:33:49.930
because this is probably the one that people

00:33:49.930 --> 00:33:54.289
want to hear about most. Okay, how... Can you

00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:59.170
guess what match it was? How do you want to do

00:33:59.170 --> 00:34:01.170
this? Because there are conversations about the

00:34:01.170 --> 00:34:03.410
game. There are conversations about the team

00:34:03.410 --> 00:34:05.950
in general, how it happened. Do you want to focus

00:34:05.950 --> 00:34:09.230
on Nebraska and then go to Texas or... How do

00:34:09.230 --> 00:34:11.849
you want to do this? This is raw. We are recording

00:34:11.849 --> 00:34:14.309
this pretty much right after we watched the match.

00:34:14.429 --> 00:34:16.670
So we haven't really had a chance to talk about

00:34:16.670 --> 00:34:19.070
it or think about it. This is going to be the

00:34:19.070 --> 00:34:21.909
raw, unfiltered take. I think we just kind of

00:34:21.909 --> 00:34:25.670
go how we're feeling like from the beginning.

00:34:26.090 --> 00:34:28.050
I have something I need to say right off the

00:34:28.050 --> 00:34:32.469
hop. Go for it. You guys know I played for Nebraska.

00:34:33.090 --> 00:34:37.710
You know I want them to do well. You also know.

00:34:38.889 --> 00:34:44.730
I never cheer for an underdog. Ever. Okay? And

00:34:44.730 --> 00:34:47.869
I picked Nebraska to make the final. So there

00:34:47.869 --> 00:34:51.530
were a lot of things that were like, I'm cheering

00:34:51.530 --> 00:34:54.429
for Nebraska. You know what I mean? Very early

00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:57.829
in the set, or in the match, I changed my mind.

00:34:57.949 --> 00:35:01.030
I was like, you know what? Sacrifice my bracket.

00:35:01.909 --> 00:35:05.230
Sacrifice my feelings about underdogs winning.

00:35:06.190 --> 00:35:09.030
Sacrifice it all. I wanted Texas A &M to win.

00:35:09.230 --> 00:35:16.769
Why? I just... I was not... I was very off -put

00:35:16.769 --> 00:35:25.489
by the attitude on the court from Nebraska. Two

00:35:25.489 --> 00:35:28.010
players in particular. Harper Murray and Andy

00:35:28.010 --> 00:35:31.230
Jackson. Very early on, it was like not even

00:35:31.230 --> 00:35:34.800
celebrating with teammates. swaggering around

00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.300
the court like you think you're way better than

00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:41.820
this team. It just didn't seem like a team cohesive

00:35:41.820 --> 00:35:45.900
what I have come to expect from regional final

00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:51.599
type moment. It was very much the impression

00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:54.340
I was getting watching the match early was very

00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:58.000
much we deserve to go to the final four. I'm

00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:01.969
a star. Especially after The way the match started.

00:36:02.190 --> 00:36:05.349
Because I think they were up 10 -3. In set one.

00:36:05.969 --> 00:36:11.750
And you could see. They believed. And I think

00:36:11.750 --> 00:36:13.889
staff included. That they were going to win this

00:36:13.889 --> 00:36:16.389
match in three. And that Texas A &M was going

00:36:16.389 --> 00:36:18.409
to roll over. After they kicked them in the teeth.

00:36:18.449 --> 00:36:20.469
At the beginning of that set. Like as soon as

00:36:20.469 --> 00:36:23.150
a Fennec Cossack Paula. Went back to serve. And

00:36:23.150 --> 00:36:25.349
started turning points. And making it a set.

00:36:25.550 --> 00:36:29.989
I started cheering for A &M. Because I hated.

00:36:30.590 --> 00:36:34.190
So deeply how it was like Harper Murray would

00:36:34.190 --> 00:36:37.510
score a point and just like go walk by herself,

00:36:37.590 --> 00:36:39.969
like over to the scores table. You know what

00:36:39.969 --> 00:36:43.670
I mean? I'm like, this is not the college regional

00:36:43.670 --> 00:36:48.690
final team feel that it should be. And it just

00:36:48.690 --> 00:36:52.670
disgusted me. And so then I went against everything

00:36:52.670 --> 00:36:59.239
of like me and I wanted A &M to like win. This

00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:02.500
kind of played out exactly how we talked about

00:37:02.500 --> 00:37:05.079
beating Nebraska. Why don't you hit the highlights

00:37:05.079 --> 00:37:07.780
of what we have said of how to beat Nebraska?

00:37:08.219 --> 00:37:11.059
In my mind, the game plan against Nebraska was

00:37:11.059 --> 00:37:13.099
always find a way to neutralize their middles

00:37:13.099 --> 00:37:16.559
and make their outsides beat you. Rebecca Alec

00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:19.579
played very well. Rebecca Alec played very well

00:37:19.579 --> 00:37:21.960
in the third set moving forward. I thought she

00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:25.929
was a little invisible. In the first two sets.

00:37:26.110 --> 00:37:29.869
She is maybe my favorite player. After that match.

00:37:30.070 --> 00:37:36.030
I have so much. Respect. For how she conducted

00:37:36.030 --> 00:37:40.909
herself. For how she rose. A few lingering stare

00:37:40.909 --> 00:37:43.909
downs. And I'm fine with that. I don't mind.

00:37:44.030 --> 00:37:46.469
I mean, I'm fine. She cheers with her team. You

00:37:46.469 --> 00:37:49.090
see her on the bench cheering for points. She

00:37:49.090 --> 00:37:51.750
came out and was fired up and was making plays.

00:37:52.130 --> 00:37:54.750
She's got some swagger, and she'll let you know

00:37:54.750 --> 00:37:57.650
it. But she's a team girl. She's a team girl,

00:37:57.710 --> 00:38:00.789
A. But if you're going to do that, you need to

00:38:00.789 --> 00:38:04.190
perform. And in my opinion, she was the best

00:38:04.190 --> 00:38:06.849
Nebraska player out there, and she was, quite

00:38:06.849 --> 00:38:10.190
frankly, the only one who performed. Adriano

00:38:10.190 --> 00:38:13.219
did better than she has. I mean, the bar was

00:38:13.219 --> 00:38:16.900
low. Yeah, that's fine. She was neither here

00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:18.760
nor there. She made some plays. She got some

00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:21.619
kills. They didn't win or lose because of her.

00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:26.960
Now, I've talked about this before. And I've

00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:29.840
had so many people come at me about Harper -Murray's

00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:33.139
stats and how good she is. And I don't disagree

00:38:33.139 --> 00:38:35.500
with that. But there was one situation in particular

00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:37.539
that we talked about where she struggles. And

00:38:37.539 --> 00:38:39.840
I statted this during this match. I statted.

00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:44.840
How she swung against two -man blocks. And Texas

00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:49.000
A &M chased Andy Jackson from the match. They

00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:52.039
had a freshman come in and play. And quite frankly,

00:38:52.059 --> 00:38:54.360
the freshman was fantastic. I thought she did

00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:56.119
a really good job. Way better than Jackson. But

00:38:56.119 --> 00:38:59.539
hold on. Before you get on your keyboard and

00:38:59.539 --> 00:39:02.059
start going crazy, like, look at the stats. Harper

00:39:02.059 --> 00:39:05.139
Murray had 24 kills. Listen, I don't care. Okay?

00:39:05.219 --> 00:39:08.380
Because anybody can have 24 kills when you're

00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:11.550
hitting against one block. Okay, and let's think

00:39:11.550 --> 00:39:13.909
about when she got most of those kills. One -on

00:39:13.909 --> 00:39:16.250
-one out of the back row. And then guess what?

00:39:16.309 --> 00:39:18.150
When it mattered, she was one -on -one out of

00:39:18.150 --> 00:39:22.030
the back row and was making errors. So yes, I

00:39:22.030 --> 00:39:25.929
don't care. What are the stats of Harper -Murray

00:39:25.929 --> 00:39:28.769
hitting against a double block? So if we look

00:39:28.769 --> 00:39:32.929
at Harper -Murray against a double block during

00:39:32.929 --> 00:39:36.530
that match, she had 30 total attempts. She had

00:39:36.530 --> 00:39:39.510
10 kills and 8 errors, including times that she

00:39:39.510 --> 00:39:43.610
was blocked. And I will say, in the second and

00:39:43.610 --> 00:39:49.050
third set, she was better against the double

00:39:49.050 --> 00:39:52.110
block, but she was non -existent in the first,

00:39:52.190 --> 00:39:55.710
fourth, and fifth sets against the double block.

00:39:55.889 --> 00:39:58.690
They needed somebody on the outside who was going

00:39:58.690 --> 00:40:00.809
to be able to score points against the solid

00:40:00.809 --> 00:40:03.429
block. I don't think Adriano is that player yet.

00:40:03.489 --> 00:40:05.840
I think she will be. What was that hitting percentage?

00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:09.619
It was 067. How many balls did she tip? She either

00:40:09.619 --> 00:40:13.119
tipped or roll swung on 14 of those balls. Half.

00:40:13.900 --> 00:40:17.440
Everybody. Okay. We actually might know what

00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.559
we're talking about here. I'm just saying. And

00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:22.920
this to me was, this was the story of the match.

00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:25.059
This was all season. This is her whole career.

00:40:25.300 --> 00:40:29.360
And because they're in system so frequently and

00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:32.039
their middles are so dominant. All the outside

00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:34.239
hitters get one -on -ones, but that wasn't going

00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:37.679
to be the case for the entirety of the tournament.

00:40:37.860 --> 00:40:41.260
And when it came down to it, Nebraska couldn't

00:40:41.260 --> 00:40:43.639
score in those situations. And their passing

00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:45.420
wasn't good in the first two sets, and it got

00:40:45.420 --> 00:40:48.320
better after that. Choboy was terrible in the

00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:50.940
first set, but to her credit, her passing improved

00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:54.340
after set one. Yeah, and I thought that everybody

00:40:54.340 --> 00:40:57.960
continued to get better as the match went on,

00:40:58.059 --> 00:41:01.519
except for... Harper Murray and Andy Jackson.

00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:05.320
She wasn't so swaggy and smug either as the match

00:41:05.320 --> 00:41:08.699
continued. She started to look a little... Pouty.

00:41:08.780 --> 00:41:12.860
Pouty. You know, Andy Jackson kept getting opportunity

00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:17.099
after opportunity to find her game. They started

00:41:17.099 --> 00:41:19.960
her every single set. She was given opportunity

00:41:19.960 --> 00:41:23.980
after opportunity to find her rhythm, and she

00:41:23.980 --> 00:41:26.760
didn't. No. She was chased from the match every

00:41:26.760 --> 00:41:30.199
single set. And we received some messages about,

00:41:30.260 --> 00:41:32.460
how dare she be taken off, blah, blah, blah.

00:41:32.539 --> 00:41:33.940
She's the best hitter in the country. No, she

00:41:33.940 --> 00:41:37.099
wasn't. She was terrible. And she deserved to

00:41:37.099 --> 00:41:39.500
be taken off. And honestly, she got more opportunities

00:41:39.500 --> 00:41:42.179
to stay in than she deserved. Nobody is entitled

00:41:42.179 --> 00:41:44.840
to be on the court. And you know what? I think

00:41:44.840 --> 00:41:46.159
Harper Murray should have been taken out of the

00:41:46.159 --> 00:41:49.920
front row sometimes too. But she wasn't. I also

00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:52.000
didn't think that Nebraska served particularly

00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.769
well. I don't think it's their strength. It hasn't

00:41:54.769 --> 00:41:56.329
been their strength. They don't make errors,

00:41:56.570 --> 00:41:59.309
but they're not an aggressive serving team. From

00:41:59.309 --> 00:42:02.650
the coaching standpoint, I had a few things that

00:42:02.650 --> 00:42:04.710
I kind of thought of. One, towards the end of

00:42:04.710 --> 00:42:07.710
the match, Dani looked like she was a deer in

00:42:07.710 --> 00:42:09.429
headlights. They panned to her with a camera.

00:42:09.489 --> 00:42:12.389
And it's one shot. I get that. But she looked

00:42:12.389 --> 00:42:15.269
in disbelief as to what was happening. I didn't

00:42:15.269 --> 00:42:16.989
think they did a good job defending Lednicki

00:42:16.989 --> 00:42:19.769
or Stowers. The things that the hitters were

00:42:19.769 --> 00:42:23.130
trying to do. They gave them very obvious from

00:42:23.130 --> 00:42:26.769
set one. Like let Nikki scores in the sharp angle.

00:42:26.829 --> 00:42:30.590
Nikki hits 90 % of the balls to the same spot.

00:42:30.829 --> 00:42:34.730
Double up at the angle. You guys even like block

00:42:34.730 --> 00:42:37.250
the line on her and give her the angle and double

00:42:37.250 --> 00:42:40.510
it up. Like do something. Leave her a truckload

00:42:40.510 --> 00:42:42.550
of line. That's the only shot she was hitting.

00:42:42.710 --> 00:42:45.710
Yeah. No adjustments. And then for stores, they

00:42:45.710 --> 00:42:49.250
were giving her so much line. From a blocking

00:42:49.250 --> 00:42:51.789
standpoint, and she was just tipping the ball

00:42:51.789 --> 00:42:54.510
down in front of the defender. Which, as we talked

00:42:54.510 --> 00:42:57.929
about in our defensive class, if the line is

00:42:57.929 --> 00:43:00.949
left open, position one needs to dig the hard

00:43:00.949 --> 00:43:02.389
-driven ball unless you want to take it in the

00:43:02.389 --> 00:43:05.190
face. Totally makes sense. But when she's tipping

00:43:05.190 --> 00:43:08.489
the ball straight down the line, shut down the

00:43:08.489 --> 00:43:10.929
line. Like, switch your defensive position. She's

00:43:10.929 --> 00:43:13.530
6 '5". If she's in front of her, she's not going

00:43:13.530 --> 00:43:16.199
to score on that tip. And make her do something.

00:43:16.260 --> 00:43:19.159
I didn't think they made adjustments on the two

00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:23.480
major hitters. And to Texas A &M's credit, Nebraska's

00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:25.820
strength is up the middle of the court. And Texas's

00:43:25.820 --> 00:43:29.139
middles were better. Oh, baby. Okay. We need

00:43:29.139 --> 00:43:31.280
to talk about Texas A &M. They deserve credit.

00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:35.539
100%. Yes, Nebraska, we said what we had to say.

00:43:37.179 --> 00:43:41.099
Those middles were outstanding. Outstanding.

00:43:41.280 --> 00:43:44.159
Now, you know who? wasn't outstanding for Texas

00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:46.619
A &M was their setter who tried real hard to

00:43:46.619 --> 00:43:50.320
give that match away. They up 19 -14 in the fourth

00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:55.360
set and you go and lose that? You guys. Kendall

00:43:55.360 --> 00:43:58.480
Storrs started the match on fire. She was unconscious.

00:43:59.219 --> 00:44:03.039
She started slowing down. You are telling me,

00:44:03.139 --> 00:44:07.320
Maddie Wack, that you are going to continually

00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:09.860
set Storrs who is having trouble scoring when

00:44:09.860 --> 00:44:12.699
Lednicki is in the front row with her? Why are

00:44:12.699 --> 00:44:16.340
you not giving the ball to Logan one time? Well,

00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:18.880
the other thing is she totally stopped running

00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:20.360
the middles in the third and fourth set. They

00:44:20.360 --> 00:44:23.099
were so effective in the first two sets. Your

00:44:23.099 --> 00:44:25.860
middles are so good. It was like all of a sudden

00:44:25.860 --> 00:44:28.380
she saw Stowers just hammering the ball and she's

00:44:28.380 --> 00:44:29.599
like, okay, that's the only person I'm going

00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:34.139
to set. You're up 19 -14 in the fourth set. You

00:44:34.139 --> 00:44:35.800
know what you do? You run the middle three times

00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:39.300
to keep Nebraska honest about that because you've

00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:41.989
got points to give. Jorge. Just set the ball

00:44:41.989 --> 00:44:46.369
back once. She literally set every single ball

00:44:46.369 --> 00:44:49.510
to Stowers. I was like, this is a joke. If Texas

00:44:49.510 --> 00:44:51.690
A &M would have lost that match, I would have

00:44:51.690 --> 00:44:53.949
pretty much sat here and said, that's on the

00:44:53.949 --> 00:44:57.449
setter. That it was the decision -making, any

00:44:57.449 --> 00:45:00.769
kind of thought. And I thought she started setting

00:45:00.769 --> 00:45:02.809
the match really well in terms of balancing the

00:45:02.809 --> 00:45:05.329
offense. It completely went out the window. One

00:45:05.329 --> 00:45:07.469
other thing I wanted to say going back to Nebraska

00:45:07.469 --> 00:45:10.579
that this reminded me of was... I thought Bergen

00:45:10.579 --> 00:45:13.679
-Riley did an outstanding job at the beginning

00:45:13.679 --> 00:45:16.440
of the match, messing with what their strengths

00:45:16.440 --> 00:45:18.199
were. She didn't go to the middle. She went to

00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:21.139
the outside. She established them. She made Texas

00:45:21.139 --> 00:45:24.019
A &M think about a couple different things because

00:45:24.019 --> 00:45:26.320
they normally run the middle, and she had set

00:45:26.320 --> 00:45:28.219
outside so much. I thought her decision -making,

00:45:28.300 --> 00:45:30.000
specifically in the first set, was very good.

00:45:30.219 --> 00:45:32.820
I mean, yeah, she's a good setter for sure, but

00:45:32.820 --> 00:45:36.119
when you're... Left side's not scoring. And then

00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:38.880
your main middle is also not scoring. It's like,

00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:41.940
now what? Yeah. And okay. So my question is,

00:45:42.079 --> 00:45:45.519
why did they continually insist on running Jackson

00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:47.880
behind the setter when she was clearing the net

00:45:47.880 --> 00:45:50.940
by a whole like centimeter and getting blocked

00:45:50.940 --> 00:45:54.699
or getting huge touches or getting dug? Like

00:45:54.699 --> 00:45:57.159
they didn't try to mix up her route at all. And

00:45:57.159 --> 00:46:00.920
you could have thrown the back row attack. On

00:46:00.920 --> 00:46:03.079
the right side for a couple rotations to mix

00:46:03.079 --> 00:46:04.920
it up because Andy Jackson is capable of hitting

00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:06.800
in front of the setter really well. Well, not

00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:09.679
only that, they did run like a 61, a modified

00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:13.059
short back set, and she scored. Like you could

00:46:13.059 --> 00:46:16.519
have done other things. And we talked about this

00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:19.019
going in was that Nebraska hasn't had to make

00:46:19.019 --> 00:46:21.340
any adjustments all year because they've just

00:46:21.340 --> 00:46:23.659
been so dominant against everybody they played.

00:46:23.699 --> 00:46:26.199
And when they needed to make adjustments, and

00:46:26.199 --> 00:46:28.000
I don't know whether it was coaching staff or

00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:31.340
players. But they weren't capable, or at least

00:46:31.340 --> 00:46:33.219
they didn't, in my opinion, from what I could

00:46:33.219 --> 00:46:36.380
see. Before you tell me, oh, Bergen -Riley was

00:46:36.380 --> 00:46:39.400
sick. If you can play the match, you can play

00:46:39.400 --> 00:46:42.360
the match. If you can set a slide, you can set

00:46:42.360 --> 00:46:44.780
a quick in front of the setter. So I don't want

00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:47.280
to hear that excuse. Well, listen, Bergen -Riley

00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:49.360
is not the reason they lost that match. She was

00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:52.539
fine. No. Totally fine. And even if she wasn't

00:46:52.539 --> 00:46:55.050
fine, she played fine. Yeah. Again, I don't think

00:46:55.050 --> 00:46:57.630
we're giving Texas A &M enough credit. I think...

00:46:57.630 --> 00:46:59.170
Well, I was going to go back there. This is just,

00:46:59.190 --> 00:47:02.409
like, so... I don't think anybody saw this coming.

00:47:02.809 --> 00:47:06.170
So, yes, talking about what Nebraska did wrong

00:47:06.170 --> 00:47:09.670
is, like, the easiest place to start. But I,

00:47:09.989 --> 00:47:13.449
like we said, Texas A &M, if they had run their

00:47:13.449 --> 00:47:15.130
middles more, I think the game would have been

00:47:15.130 --> 00:47:19.070
over in four, for sure. Kostikpala, outstanding

00:47:19.070 --> 00:47:25.019
serve. Literally the best blocker. In the world.

00:47:25.539 --> 00:47:29.260
According to her coach. And is so good offensively.

00:47:29.300 --> 00:47:31.860
And add to that Morgan Perkins offensive ability.

00:47:32.199 --> 00:47:35.079
Like, these middles are so good. Under the radar.

00:47:35.300 --> 00:47:38.400
And the libero was much improved from Friday,

00:47:38.559 --> 00:47:41.860
I thought. Like, Nebraska tried serving her every

00:47:41.860 --> 00:47:44.840
ball, and I think she did a lot better than she

00:47:44.840 --> 00:47:47.880
did in the match on Friday. Honestly, this is

00:47:47.880 --> 00:47:49.619
the second match in a row that they've gone to

00:47:49.619 --> 00:47:52.519
five, but they've been the better team for the

00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:55.559
whole match. Again, they had no business going

00:47:55.559 --> 00:47:57.500
five with Louisville and they had no business

00:47:57.500 --> 00:47:59.659
going five in Nebraska. They were the better

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:01.679
team in both of those matches, in my opinion.

00:48:01.900 --> 00:48:03.960
What were your thoughts on Lydnicki in this match?

00:48:04.260 --> 00:48:06.860
You know what? To her credit, she scored when

00:48:06.860 --> 00:48:08.559
everybody knew where the ball was going and they

00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:10.739
needed to put the game away. When I thought I

00:48:10.739 --> 00:48:14.460
knew where the ball was going, I didn't. Like

00:48:14.460 --> 00:48:17.440
in set four, in the second half of the set. That

00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:19.750
wasn't her match. They're going to need her to

00:48:19.750 --> 00:48:21.750
come up with a great performance down the road.

00:48:21.869 --> 00:48:25.869
But that match for me was about Stowers and the

00:48:25.869 --> 00:48:28.610
two middles. I thought they were outstanding.

00:48:28.829 --> 00:48:30.949
I mean, again, Lednicki scored her points. She

00:48:30.949 --> 00:48:33.989
was fine, but she wasn't the reason they won,

00:48:34.070 --> 00:48:36.769
you know, minus the last kill. I love they put

00:48:36.769 --> 00:48:40.289
together two outstanding game plans all over

00:48:40.289 --> 00:48:44.190
this weekend. And as a team, they did really

00:48:44.190 --> 00:48:46.769
well. I'll stand by what I said about Lednicki,

00:48:46.869 --> 00:48:49.820
I think. I expect more from her, honestly. I

00:48:49.820 --> 00:48:53.579
don't think Whack likes to set back. I think

00:48:53.579 --> 00:48:55.659
she's very uncomfortable with the back set. I

00:48:55.659 --> 00:48:58.000
agree. There is no other explanation to me as

00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:00.139
why she makes the decisions she does. Anytime

00:49:00.139 --> 00:49:02.860
she has to move off the net, I think it's a very

00:49:02.860 --> 00:49:06.320
uncomfortable set for her. And that is potentially

00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:09.219
going to be an issue next week. That could kill

00:49:09.219 --> 00:49:11.460
them. Yeah, agreed. In the final four. It almost

00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:14.260
killed them in this round. Yeah, we'll see what

00:49:14.260 --> 00:49:17.539
happens with that. What did you think of the

00:49:17.539 --> 00:49:19.880
press conference? Hold on. Before we get to the

00:49:19.880 --> 00:49:23.320
press conference, I want to talk about set four.

00:49:23.440 --> 00:49:28.320
So set four got to 37 -35. And this is a prime

00:49:28.320 --> 00:49:31.940
example of why you need to train all of your

00:49:31.940 --> 00:49:34.480
athletes to do all of the skills. Because once

00:49:34.480 --> 00:49:37.380
they couldn't sub people on and off the floor

00:49:37.380 --> 00:49:41.320
anymore, the game was ugly. It became the grossest

00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:44.590
volleyball. People looking terrified to serve.

00:49:44.849 --> 00:49:48.550
People not even being able to hit a serve. Free

00:49:48.550 --> 00:49:52.170
balls coming in and out. Holy moly, it was gross.

00:49:52.429 --> 00:49:54.530
I'm like, everybody, this is why we train everybody

00:49:54.530 --> 00:49:57.710
to do all those skills, okay? And I thought that

00:49:57.710 --> 00:50:00.489
that actually played into Texas A &M's favor

00:50:00.489 --> 00:50:03.550
because you have, you know, Nebraska does a lot

00:50:03.550 --> 00:50:05.230
of subbing in terms of bringing their DSs in.

00:50:05.289 --> 00:50:07.769
So does Texas A &M, but their players were, I

00:50:07.769 --> 00:50:10.110
think, a little more prepared for that, it seemed

00:50:10.110 --> 00:50:13.420
like anyway. I ripped on Nebraska a whole bunch.

00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:17.820
To their credit, they went down 0 -2. Their backs,

00:50:17.900 --> 00:50:19.179
for all intents and purposes, they were about

00:50:19.179 --> 00:50:22.539
to lose in four. They found a way. They came

00:50:22.539 --> 00:50:26.980
back after set two. They had gotten it together,

00:50:27.159 --> 00:50:30.239
played very well, won 25 -19 or something in

00:50:30.239 --> 00:50:33.320
the third. Backs against the wall, season almost

00:50:33.320 --> 00:50:36.760
done. They found a way to win set four. There

00:50:36.760 --> 00:50:38.719
were obviously a lot of factors involved in that,

00:50:38.820 --> 00:50:41.380
but I think it goes... We need to acknowledge

00:50:41.380 --> 00:50:43.559
the fact that they did not back down and they

00:50:43.559 --> 00:50:46.280
kept fighting and trying to like find ways to

00:50:46.280 --> 00:50:49.380
ship away. Sure. But they were down in set four

00:50:49.380 --> 00:50:52.239
and five, you know, in those situations. So you,

00:50:52.300 --> 00:50:54.519
I mean, it's great that you can fight in those

00:50:54.519 --> 00:50:57.219
situations, but you can't put yourself in those

00:50:57.219 --> 00:50:59.440
places continually and expect to come out. You

00:50:59.440 --> 00:51:01.360
know what I mean? I felt like I needed to like

00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:03.500
balance it out just a little bit because I could

00:51:03.500 --> 00:51:06.119
have just left it where I left it. Like, let

00:51:06.119 --> 00:51:08.829
me. Try to be a little bit nice. Now the press

00:51:08.829 --> 00:51:11.010
conference. I have some thoughts. Yeah, me too.

00:51:11.150 --> 00:51:13.949
They're not going to be favorable ones. And I'm

00:51:13.949 --> 00:51:15.170
going to take some flack. So I'm going to say

00:51:15.170 --> 00:51:17.670
this ahead of time. I don't know any of these

00:51:17.670 --> 00:51:21.070
players personally. So these opinions are based

00:51:21.070 --> 00:51:24.590
solely on media that has been put out there that

00:51:24.590 --> 00:51:27.190
I have watched. And for all of you who are about

00:51:27.190 --> 00:51:29.769
to be like, Sarah, you hate Nebraska. I went

00:51:29.769 --> 00:51:33.409
there. You guys. Okay. If anybody loves Nebraska,

00:51:33.710 --> 00:51:37.599
it's me. Okay, I love Nebraska. I just think

00:51:37.599 --> 00:51:41.400
it's worth being real and not being clouded by

00:51:41.400 --> 00:51:44.260
your love of a program. I will start with the

00:51:44.260 --> 00:51:46.679
positive. And I said this when we started the

00:51:46.679 --> 00:51:51.260
segment. Rebecca Alec earned so many points in

00:51:51.260 --> 00:51:55.380
my book. She's a senior. I thought she led by

00:51:55.380 --> 00:51:58.239
example. She was the person who came out there

00:51:58.239 --> 00:52:01.119
cheering for her teammates and backing it up

00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:05.400
with an outstanding. performance I am heartbroken

00:52:05.400 --> 00:52:09.920
that her season ended this way as as a senior

00:52:09.920 --> 00:52:13.039
but I hope that when she has a chance to reflect

00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:17.880
she can look at that match and say I left absolutely

00:52:17.880 --> 00:52:19.280
everything out on the floor because that was

00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:20.780
the impression that I got watching that match

00:52:20.780 --> 00:52:22.920
so you know what kudos to her I'm sure she's

00:52:22.920 --> 00:52:25.159
not going to see this but and she's real yep

00:52:25.159 --> 00:52:27.760
totally like I understand everybody's processes

00:52:27.760 --> 00:52:31.760
losses differently and she had no shame in just

00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:37.940
being so and openly brokenhearted. And I think

00:52:37.940 --> 00:52:40.420
I have a lot of respect for that. I don't know

00:52:40.420 --> 00:52:42.460
the condition of Bergen -Riley. Apparently she

00:52:42.460 --> 00:52:44.739
was sick. I have a ton of respect for showing

00:52:44.739 --> 00:52:46.579
up when you're sick and playing. I don't think

00:52:46.579 --> 00:52:49.079
that she was the reason that they weren't successful.

00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:51.519
I quite frankly, without looking at her based

00:52:51.519 --> 00:52:53.519
on her play alone, would not have been able to

00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:56.420
tell that she was not feeling herself. To listen

00:52:56.420 --> 00:52:59.199
to Dani talk about that in the press conference

00:52:59.199 --> 00:53:02.780
about how hard done by they were with this week.

00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:07.900
It falls flat for me. You are good enough or

00:53:07.900 --> 00:53:11.599
the issues that you had were not Bergen Riley

00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:13.840
issues. Well, then they alluded to the fact that

00:53:13.840 --> 00:53:16.920
like Allie check or whatever, stepping on a ball

00:53:16.920 --> 00:53:19.699
was another huge issue for them. Like this girl

00:53:19.699 --> 00:53:22.900
barely plays. No, that's you can't hang your

00:53:22.900 --> 00:53:25.000
hat on those two things. Talk about how your

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:27.739
bench could win the big 10. Like this sounded

00:53:27.739 --> 00:53:30.340
like a lot of excuses to me personally. Yeah.

00:53:30.440 --> 00:53:35.070
And the last one. And I will fully admit that

00:53:35.070 --> 00:53:38.190
my opinion is slightly jaded because I was watching

00:53:38.190 --> 00:53:40.469
some content and interviews and things before

00:53:40.469 --> 00:53:43.550
we watched that match. Shout out to the person

00:53:43.550 --> 00:53:46.489
who sent me this video. If you are going to go

00:53:46.489 --> 00:53:50.949
on media that will be consumed and refer to yourself

00:53:50.949 --> 00:53:56.210
as an icon in the sport, you had best show up.

00:53:56.309 --> 00:53:58.789
Or have done something. And be a stud. And you

00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:02.539
know what? For me, your numbers are... don't

00:54:02.539 --> 00:54:05.360
count in that it's about the performance that

00:54:05.360 --> 00:54:08.679
you put on the floor in the big moments and I

00:54:08.679 --> 00:54:11.000
understand that I'm literally cringing inside

00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:14.519
right now I can't you know I understand that

00:54:14.519 --> 00:54:16.280
these are young women and they're navigating

00:54:16.280 --> 00:54:20.000
their way through these challenging situations

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.000
my impression of Harper Murray is that she's

00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:28.940
always trying to say the right thing and that

00:54:28.940 --> 00:54:34.639
she doesn't know who she is as an athlete yet.

00:54:34.900 --> 00:54:37.980
I think that there's so much pressure at Nebraska

00:54:37.980 --> 00:54:41.619
and I think that she goes from interview to interview

00:54:41.619 --> 00:54:44.739
to interview and is trying to please everybody

00:54:44.739 --> 00:54:50.139
and what I saw today and you can kind of see

00:54:50.139 --> 00:54:53.500
this in the past is that she plays for herself

00:54:53.500 --> 00:54:56.880
but she wants to be a good teammate but she doesn't

00:54:56.880 --> 00:54:59.440
hate losing. The way that you worded it earlier

00:54:59.440 --> 00:55:04.300
was It appears that she likes the attention that

00:55:04.300 --> 00:55:06.480
comes with being a Nebraska volleyball player,

00:55:06.619 --> 00:55:10.320
but she doesn't hate losing. Yes. I said it much

00:55:10.320 --> 00:55:14.219
better before. We're about to get just incinerated.

00:55:14.239 --> 00:55:17.980
But I'm sorry. This is a pattern now. You build

00:55:17.980 --> 00:55:21.980
a team that has that team first philosophy and

00:55:21.980 --> 00:55:25.219
you're good all the time. You are going to come

00:55:25.219 --> 00:55:28.079
up against adversity and you either step up and

00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:30.909
you don't. And in my opinion. She's the player

00:55:30.909 --> 00:55:33.570
who needed to step up. If she would have been

00:55:33.570 --> 00:55:36.130
able to score out of system, they would have

00:55:36.130 --> 00:55:38.550
won that match. That's how I see it. Yes, Andy

00:55:38.550 --> 00:55:40.090
Jackson could have played better, but you know

00:55:40.090 --> 00:55:42.449
what? Her replacement came in and did fine. That

00:55:42.449 --> 00:55:46.230
match was about scoring against a two -man block

00:55:46.230 --> 00:55:48.590
in different situations, and it wasn't just attacking.

00:55:48.809 --> 00:55:51.570
She got aced. She did a couple other things that

00:55:51.570 --> 00:55:55.670
she was giving up points. We have seen her not

00:55:55.670 --> 00:55:59.900
rise to the occasion. And you can tell that she

00:55:59.900 --> 00:56:03.440
tries to play it off nonchalantly on the court,

00:56:03.519 --> 00:56:06.659
and that eats at you. She just hasn't proven,

00:56:06.800 --> 00:56:08.940
at least to me, that she's a big game player,

00:56:09.099 --> 00:56:12.980
that she can rise to the occasion and lead her

00:56:12.980 --> 00:56:15.699
team to victory. Rebecca Alec is that player.

00:56:16.719 --> 00:56:19.039
Unfortunately, you need somebody on the pins

00:56:19.039 --> 00:56:20.300
to do it. I thought it was Andy Jackson, honestly,

00:56:20.519 --> 00:56:22.780
but she disappeared. And I understand that players

00:56:22.780 --> 00:56:26.369
have bad games. I get it. But she almost looked

00:56:26.369 --> 00:56:29.690
relieved to be on the bench. I have only been

00:56:29.690 --> 00:56:32.130
to Nebraska once, and it was for your Hall of

00:56:32.130 --> 00:56:35.190
Fame induction, and I was blown away at the attention

00:56:35.190 --> 00:56:37.730
and the media and everything that happens in

00:56:37.730 --> 00:56:40.570
Nebraska. I am fully aware of the pressures that

00:56:40.570 --> 00:56:42.710
come. But when you go there, you know what you're

00:56:42.710 --> 00:56:46.389
getting into. With the attention, with the notoriety,

00:56:46.489 --> 00:56:49.710
with the fame, with the NIL deals, with this,

00:56:49.730 --> 00:56:52.630
with that, with your platform comes pressure.

00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:56.059
And if you get to enjoy all of the perks of those

00:56:56.059 --> 00:57:00.420
things, you are expected to perform and to win.

00:57:00.559 --> 00:57:04.760
You are an 18, 19, 20 -year -old kid who is being

00:57:04.760 --> 00:57:09.059
held up on this incredible pedestal. And if you

00:57:09.059 --> 00:57:10.840
want the attention, you're going to get the scrutiny

00:57:10.840 --> 00:57:15.219
too. I will be curious, you know, Harper specifically,

00:57:15.519 --> 00:57:18.500
but the rest of those athletes, this is two years

00:57:18.500 --> 00:57:21.000
in a row. This is three years in a row. They

00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:23.530
couldn't figure it out. With John at the helm,

00:57:23.630 --> 00:57:25.230
right? Like they didn't make the adjustments.

00:57:25.929 --> 00:57:28.889
Now with Danny at the helm, after they have a

00:57:28.889 --> 00:57:30.869
chance to look at it and kind of figure it out,

00:57:30.929 --> 00:57:35.030
I'm curious to see, can they change their personalities

00:57:35.030 --> 00:57:39.130
or can they change their attitude towards pressure

00:57:39.130 --> 00:57:43.929
and big moments and a winning mentality after

00:57:43.929 --> 00:57:45.969
learning these lessons when you have so much

00:57:45.969 --> 00:57:47.550
success during the regular season? Don't get

00:57:47.550 --> 00:57:49.619
me wrong. They like to win. And they're good

00:57:49.619 --> 00:57:51.139
at winning. But there's a difference between

00:57:51.139 --> 00:57:54.000
doing that. But this is a pattern now. Yes. You

00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:57.860
are great all season and you continually come

00:57:57.860 --> 00:58:00.679
up short. Like what needs to change? Well, and

00:58:00.679 --> 00:58:04.320
this is very short. But you're not losing. There

00:58:04.320 --> 00:58:06.019
was no reason this team should not have been

00:58:06.019 --> 00:58:08.159
in the national championship match. They had

00:58:08.159 --> 00:58:11.679
on paper the best team to win. And I think that

00:58:11.679 --> 00:58:13.199
that was a fair expectation. I think the only

00:58:13.199 --> 00:58:15.119
team that would have given them a good match

00:58:15.119 --> 00:58:17.719
right now is Kentucky. I mean, what a match.

00:58:18.599 --> 00:58:21.199
I was on the edge of my seat. I can't even tell

00:58:21.199 --> 00:58:24.579
you what was going on with me in that match.

00:58:24.659 --> 00:58:28.400
I was furious. I was excited. I had goosebumps.

00:58:28.679 --> 00:58:31.559
I had chills. I was happy. I was sad. I was angry.

00:58:31.639 --> 00:58:35.619
It was not okay. It was. It was an outstanding

00:58:35.619 --> 00:58:38.960
volleyball game to watch. Yeah, we will see now

00:58:38.960 --> 00:58:43.349
what happens in the semifinal. And I'll say congrats

00:58:43.349 --> 00:58:45.909
to Texas A &M. I know we have a lot of Nebraska

00:58:45.909 --> 00:58:47.690
listeners. I know we focused a lot on Nebraska.

00:58:47.789 --> 00:58:51.570
We tried to give Nebraska or Texas A &M the credit

00:58:51.570 --> 00:58:54.010
they deserve. I'm sorry if you don't think it

00:58:54.010 --> 00:58:59.090
was enough, but very well done by A &M. We gave

00:58:59.090 --> 00:59:01.369
the players that played well their flowers. It's

00:59:01.369 --> 00:59:03.969
always easier to talk about the teams that don't

00:59:03.969 --> 00:59:07.730
do well or that fell short. But maybe we'll be

00:59:07.730 --> 00:59:09.630
talking about Texas A &M again for another week.

00:59:09.650 --> 00:59:13.650
So we'll see. Okay, let's talk Pitt -Purdue.

00:59:13.949 --> 00:59:19.010
Pitt wins in four. 25 -22, 25 -21, they lost

00:59:19.010 --> 00:59:22.849
25 -22, and then they won 25 -17. I don't think

00:59:22.849 --> 00:59:27.309
there was any chance that if Babcock played reasonably

00:59:27.309 --> 00:59:29.210
well in this match that Purdue was going to be

00:59:29.210 --> 00:59:31.610
able to match up with her. And quite frankly...

00:59:31.929 --> 00:59:33.829
their middles either. Again, we've talked about

00:59:33.829 --> 00:59:36.369
this. I'm a fan of Dave Shondell for Coach of

00:59:36.369 --> 00:59:39.349
the Year based on what he put together with the

00:59:39.349 --> 00:59:41.969
roster of athletes that he had left and given

00:59:41.969 --> 00:59:43.269
what was going on at the beginning of the year.

00:59:43.349 --> 00:59:47.510
But they just ran into a team with somebody they

00:59:47.510 --> 00:59:49.869
couldn't stop. I listened to Dave Shondell's

00:59:49.869 --> 00:59:52.630
mid -match interview and the reporter basically

00:59:52.630 --> 00:59:55.289
asked, like, what do you have to do to win a

00:59:55.289 --> 00:59:57.349
set to come back out here? And he said, listen.

00:59:57.820 --> 00:59:59.440
We need to get our blocking assignments back

00:59:59.440 --> 01:00:02.039
in. We need to do a couple things. At the end

01:00:02.039 --> 01:00:05.860
of the day, Olivia Babcock is really good, and

01:00:05.860 --> 01:00:09.599
she's playing really well. And basically conceding

01:00:09.599 --> 01:00:12.920
that in this situation, there's not a whole lot

01:00:12.920 --> 01:00:16.659
that we can do. And it wasn't defeatist because

01:00:16.659 --> 01:00:19.840
his team fought that whole match. The sets were

01:00:19.840 --> 01:00:23.599
close. And they won set three. And they came

01:00:23.599 --> 01:00:25.340
out, they made an adjustment, and they won set

01:00:25.340 --> 01:00:27.679
three. They just weren't going to beat Pitt if

01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:31.019
Pitt was playing well, and he knew it, and that's

01:00:31.019 --> 01:00:35.639
fine. They had an amazing season. I don't know

01:00:35.639 --> 01:00:37.400
if you have anything else you want to say about

01:00:37.400 --> 01:00:40.159
the match. Kenna Waller played really well. I

01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:42.460
thought their one middle, Dior, played well.

01:00:43.059 --> 01:00:46.280
Very defensive -minded. They had their assignments.

01:00:46.519 --> 01:00:49.659
They served well. They did everything they could

01:00:49.659 --> 01:00:51.820
do, and they made Pitt beat them, and Pitt beat

01:00:51.820 --> 01:00:54.260
them. I mean, I think Kenna Waller is legit.

01:00:55.150 --> 01:00:59.909
I think what she did this season and just her

01:00:59.909 --> 01:01:02.610
fearlessness and, you know, when the game is

01:01:02.610 --> 01:01:04.389
on the line, she keeps taking swings. Like, I

01:01:04.389 --> 01:01:07.809
think she played well and in the whole regional

01:01:07.809 --> 01:01:10.530
played really well. I appreciate what Shondell

01:01:10.530 --> 01:01:12.849
said about Babcock because it's not very often

01:01:12.849 --> 01:01:16.130
that you'll have a coach that's able to be honest

01:01:16.130 --> 01:01:20.010
about another player's ability. And he straight

01:01:20.010 --> 01:01:22.780
up was like. Yeah, Olivia Babcock is just too

01:01:22.780 --> 01:01:25.519
good for us. There are athletes out there that

01:01:25.519 --> 01:01:28.239
are like that, but it's so hard to get a coach

01:01:28.239 --> 01:01:31.360
to actually admit it. And so I had so much respect

01:01:31.360 --> 01:01:35.280
for that. And it's true. Like if Olivia Babcock

01:01:35.280 --> 01:01:38.059
is on and they are able to get her the ball,

01:01:38.119 --> 01:01:41.219
like you're probably not going to win unless

01:01:41.219 --> 01:01:44.880
you have an equal number of pieces that are able

01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:47.489
to score as well. I mean, I think given the beginning,

01:01:47.630 --> 01:01:50.690
where they were with him almost quitting and

01:01:50.690 --> 01:01:52.570
stuff, and I know I mentioned this earlier, this

01:01:52.570 --> 01:01:58.210
was a huge season. Absolutely. And the fact that

01:01:58.210 --> 01:02:00.909
they were able to come back after set two, fight,

01:02:01.090 --> 01:02:05.530
grind out, oh, set three, win, says a lot about

01:02:05.530 --> 01:02:10.730
their character and their mentality. But they

01:02:10.730 --> 01:02:14.019
aren't a final four team. I actually think this

01:02:14.019 --> 01:02:16.139
was the best they finished in program history.

01:02:16.340 --> 01:02:19.139
How satisfied do you think Shondell is that he

01:02:19.139 --> 01:02:21.440
finished better than Louisville where Chacoin

01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:25.119
went? Yeah. And better than Minnesota where Meyer

01:02:25.119 --> 01:02:28.179
went? Yeah, I think. I think he is probably taking

01:02:28.179 --> 01:02:31.199
a lot of satisfaction in that. Well, and the

01:02:31.199 --> 01:02:34.000
athletes who were left behind. What a season

01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:37.039
for them. And again, like you said, they came

01:02:37.039 --> 01:02:38.840
out and made adjustments in set three. They didn't

01:02:38.840 --> 01:02:41.940
give up. The athletes executed. That. Purdue

01:02:41.940 --> 01:02:45.119
is a team through and through. And in my opinion,

01:02:45.159 --> 01:02:47.480
like the essence of college sport. I mean, there's

01:02:47.480 --> 01:02:49.420
not a ton to say. I mean, the Nebraska Texas

01:02:49.420 --> 01:02:51.539
A &M game was the game that has a ton to talk

01:02:51.539 --> 01:02:54.900
about. These other three, like not as much. So

01:02:54.900 --> 01:02:59.659
what about Kentucky Creighton? I mean, Kentucky

01:02:59.659 --> 01:03:04.639
won in three, 19, 13, and 18. I don't think Creighton

01:03:04.639 --> 01:03:08.639
ever believed they had a chance to win this match.

01:03:08.840 --> 01:03:13.300
The athletes or their coach, Quite frankly. I

01:03:13.300 --> 01:03:17.039
don't know if I got that impression. I just,

01:03:17.159 --> 01:03:20.880
it was so one -sided. I honestly don't remember

01:03:20.880 --> 01:03:24.679
noticing Ava Martin at all. No. In the whole

01:03:24.679 --> 01:03:27.739
match. You know, I thought Jaya Johnson did pretty

01:03:27.739 --> 01:03:31.559
well, the Creighton opposite. But I remember

01:03:31.559 --> 01:03:33.480
saying to you partway through the match, like,

01:03:33.480 --> 01:03:36.019
I haven't noticed Ava Martin do anything. No.

01:03:36.079 --> 01:03:38.440
And that's the problem. In their middle either.

01:03:39.070 --> 01:03:42.190
Reinhardt. Yeah. Kentucky was in control of that

01:03:42.190 --> 01:03:45.590
match from start to finish. From the service

01:03:45.590 --> 01:03:49.489
line, passing -wise, block defense, transition.

01:03:50.150 --> 01:03:52.269
There was never any question that they were going

01:03:52.269 --> 01:03:54.550
to win that match. And you could kind of tell

01:03:54.550 --> 01:03:57.230
Creighton had no fight. I wouldn't be surprised

01:03:57.230 --> 01:04:01.670
if internally this was a benchmark or a goal

01:04:01.670 --> 01:04:03.130
that they were trying to shoot for. I mean, that's

01:04:03.130 --> 01:04:05.050
what they got last year. Yeah. I'm not saying

01:04:05.050 --> 01:04:07.900
they spoke that out loud to... the players or

01:04:07.900 --> 01:04:10.340
whatever. But I mean, if you make it this far

01:04:10.340 --> 01:04:13.219
and you're not from one of the big four conferences,

01:04:13.380 --> 01:04:17.460
it's a great accomplishment. I wish they would

01:04:17.460 --> 01:04:20.179
have fought a little. I wish. I just think Kentucky

01:04:20.179 --> 01:04:23.559
was better. And honestly, like the two left sides

01:04:23.559 --> 01:04:25.719
did what we've seen them do all season. But the

01:04:25.719 --> 01:04:28.099
impressive thing to me is how good Lizzie Carr

01:04:28.099 --> 01:04:31.059
has gotten as the season has progressed. Like

01:04:31.059 --> 01:04:36.369
she has become legit. I would agree with that.

01:04:36.429 --> 01:04:38.110
And I thought Molly, I know I've talked a lot

01:04:38.110 --> 01:04:40.849
about Molly Tozzo. Her bump sets were really

01:04:40.849 --> 01:04:45.030
good. Still doing that jump set, but whatever.

01:04:45.210 --> 01:04:48.510
And like, so as a libero, her past defense was

01:04:48.510 --> 01:04:52.550
solid. Her bump sets were really good. But like

01:04:52.550 --> 01:04:54.530
for me, the fact that Lizzie Carr has become

01:04:54.530 --> 01:04:57.590
as dominant as she has been recently, like. Huge

01:04:57.590 --> 01:05:01.170
for them. It's huge because now you have people

01:05:01.170 --> 01:05:03.670
coming at you from everywhere. Yeah. And which.

01:05:04.750 --> 01:05:07.469
We weren't huge Thigpen fans at the beginning

01:05:07.469 --> 01:05:10.030
of the season. The fact that they've got the

01:05:10.030 --> 01:05:12.630
middle running now and the left sides, Thigpen

01:05:12.630 --> 01:05:16.110
can swing against a one -man block all day. So

01:05:16.110 --> 01:05:21.250
as long as she's not a massive liability. She

01:05:21.250 --> 01:05:23.869
can score 10 points. Yeah, against a one -man

01:05:23.869 --> 01:05:26.429
block for sure. Yeah, she jumps. She's dynamic

01:05:26.429 --> 01:05:29.230
enough to do that. Okay, I want to go back and

01:05:29.230 --> 01:05:32.460
just kind of ask you about this. To me, I look

01:05:32.460 --> 01:05:34.139
at this match, and I think that Creighton and

01:05:34.139 --> 01:05:36.559
Purdue are in similar situations in the matches

01:05:36.559 --> 01:05:39.820
that they played. I just got a different feeling

01:05:39.820 --> 01:05:42.900
on the court from Purdue versus Creighton. I

01:05:42.900 --> 01:05:44.380
think that's where it was coming from. I watched

01:05:44.380 --> 01:05:47.019
Purdue play and fight and battle, and I didn't

01:05:47.019 --> 01:05:50.900
have that same sense of... Well, no, Creighton

01:05:50.900 --> 01:05:54.360
got rolled. Yeah. Plain and simple, they got

01:05:54.360 --> 01:05:56.800
rolled. That's what I was kind of alluding to.

01:05:56.920 --> 01:05:59.900
It felt different on the court. And I think that

01:05:59.900 --> 01:06:02.500
those were similar situations. And I actually

01:06:02.500 --> 01:06:04.500
think that Creighton had some better athletes

01:06:04.500 --> 01:06:06.820
than Purdue. Like Ava Martin, if you're looking

01:06:06.820 --> 01:06:08.920
at it, is probably better. But yeah, I mean,

01:06:08.960 --> 01:06:13.000
Kentucky is rolling. All of their pieces are

01:06:13.000 --> 01:06:16.920
playing well. They're looking real good. Real

01:06:16.920 --> 01:06:20.679
good. And now that Nebraska has lost, that's

01:06:20.679 --> 01:06:23.119
who I had in my final matchup. I think that they

01:06:23.119 --> 01:06:26.039
catapult to the top of team to beat. I think

01:06:26.039 --> 01:06:27.579
they have to be favored to win at this point.

01:06:28.030 --> 01:06:30.250
All right. And the last match we have to talk

01:06:30.250 --> 01:06:33.909
about is Wisconsin, Texas. I am so scared to

01:06:33.909 --> 01:06:36.150
even look at what my bracket is doing right now

01:06:36.150 --> 01:06:39.590
because it's on fire. It just, it got decimated

01:06:39.590 --> 01:06:41.949
this weekend. We normally start with the negative.

01:06:41.989 --> 01:06:43.750
So I'm going to start with the positive. Okay.

01:06:44.210 --> 01:06:46.690
Wisconsin. I thought you were going to be cheeky

01:06:46.690 --> 01:06:49.510
and say like, anyway, Sarah thought I was going

01:06:49.510 --> 01:06:51.230
to make a swindle comment is what she thought.

01:06:51.650 --> 01:06:56.110
Wisconsin has come together and they are playing.

01:06:56.860 --> 01:06:59.820
Like a true team. To her credit, Vajicic is playing

01:06:59.820 --> 01:07:04.239
really, really well. And for me, that was the

01:07:04.239 --> 01:07:07.159
big question mark. Was what is their P2 going

01:07:07.159 --> 01:07:09.300
to do? Both from a passing and from a scoring

01:07:09.300 --> 01:07:10.920
standpoint. I thought that was their weakness.

01:07:11.039 --> 01:07:13.900
But she has been very good. She was very good

01:07:13.900 --> 01:07:17.139
against Texas in this match. I thought. Parker

01:07:17.139 --> 01:07:20.500
Booth was really good. Mimi Collier was obviously

01:07:20.500 --> 01:07:25.449
good. Grace Egan. is scoring points. Charlie

01:07:25.449 --> 01:07:27.789
Furbringer, like I said before, I think is setting

01:07:27.789 --> 01:07:30.070
phenomenally well right now. She's got a really

01:07:30.070 --> 01:07:32.210
good feel on her opponents and on her own players.

01:07:32.849 --> 01:07:36.550
It's impressive to watch given they had some

01:07:36.550 --> 01:07:39.010
trouble in the middle of the season. You know,

01:07:39.030 --> 01:07:41.849
when Charlie got hurt, I didn't think Vajicic

01:07:41.849 --> 01:07:44.829
was playing particularly well. I've been impressed

01:07:44.829 --> 01:07:47.250
with how Sheffield has brought this team together.

01:07:47.510 --> 01:07:50.440
What was your impression? I mean, I think all

01:07:50.440 --> 01:07:53.400
four teams that are in the final four are playing

01:07:53.400 --> 01:07:58.000
like units together. What I'm seeing from the

01:07:58.000 --> 01:08:00.199
four teams that are on the court is just like,

01:08:00.260 --> 01:08:04.539
yeah, the essence of college sports. It's like

01:08:04.539 --> 01:08:07.900
the togetherness. And obviously, like, yeah,

01:08:07.960 --> 01:08:09.440
everybody loves each other when you're winning.

01:08:10.119 --> 01:08:12.360
But I just like I get the feeling that they're

01:08:12.360 --> 01:08:15.000
just like in it for each other. Do you know what

01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:18.699
I mean? Yeah, you get the it's a team. You listen

01:08:18.699 --> 01:08:20.699
to. And there's just like the straight compete

01:08:20.699 --> 01:08:23.420
factor. You know what I mean? Like Carter Booth

01:08:23.420 --> 01:08:25.979
hates to lose. Maybe call your hates to lose.

01:08:26.140 --> 01:08:29.079
You can just tell. Olivia Babcock is like willing

01:08:29.079 --> 01:08:31.840
her team to win matches. You see the Kentucky

01:08:31.840 --> 01:08:35.100
girls like Eva Hudson. Crazy. She's crazy. Crazy.

01:08:35.500 --> 01:08:37.739
In the best way. In the best way. Like she's

01:08:37.739 --> 01:08:40.359
so competitive and they are like in it. And then

01:08:40.359 --> 01:08:43.380
like Texas A &M, who would have thought like,

01:08:43.460 --> 01:08:45.779
you know what I mean? Like. The feeling on the

01:08:45.779 --> 01:08:47.880
court of the teams that have made it, I'm like

01:08:47.880 --> 01:08:50.600
all in. I think it's going to be a great weekend.

01:08:51.619 --> 01:08:57.560
Wisconsin is coming on way better. Like we have

01:08:57.560 --> 01:09:00.579
taken our fair amount of heat for not being Wisconsin

01:09:00.579 --> 01:09:04.180
fans, but they have gotten so much better and

01:09:04.180 --> 01:09:07.699
they are, they deserve to, they put together

01:09:07.699 --> 01:09:09.979
a great regional weekend and they broke down

01:09:09.979 --> 01:09:15.119
Texas's passing just surgically. To the point

01:09:15.119 --> 01:09:18.500
that it was like not a fun match to watch, really.

01:09:18.779 --> 01:09:21.039
I thought they played better than they did against

01:09:21.039 --> 01:09:24.279
Stanford. I will say, I made that comment about

01:09:24.279 --> 01:09:27.119
Coach Sheffield and the rotations the other week.

01:09:27.319 --> 01:09:31.000
He has done a good job getting his team as a

01:09:31.000 --> 01:09:33.399
unit, as a whole, including players coming off

01:09:33.399 --> 01:09:35.739
the bench to his credit. playing in a really

01:09:35.739 --> 01:09:37.619
good way. So their staff has done a really good

01:09:37.619 --> 01:09:40.539
job preparing them for this weekend. So I did

01:09:40.539 --> 01:09:42.199
want to acknowledge that because I thought it

01:09:42.199 --> 01:09:44.659
was well done game plan -wise, execution -wise,

01:09:44.899 --> 01:09:49.560
pieces -wise, decisions -wise. They had good

01:09:49.560 --> 01:09:52.340
plans this week. I thought Kari Spears did pretty

01:09:52.340 --> 01:09:55.439
well for Texas. Yeah. I didn't think Tori Stafford

01:09:55.439 --> 01:09:58.819
put up the numbers she needed to. What did you

01:09:58.819 --> 01:10:02.039
think of our girl, Swindle? When Emma Halter

01:10:02.039 --> 01:10:04.380
steps in to take some questionable balls, I'm

01:10:04.380 --> 01:10:07.420
like, Okay. Texas's middles were non -factors

01:10:07.420 --> 01:10:10.640
in that match. And that's, we talked about them

01:10:10.640 --> 01:10:13.800
needing to do that. You have your outside hitters.

01:10:13.819 --> 01:10:15.920
You have two freshmen. You got to make their

01:10:15.920 --> 01:10:18.779
lives as easy as possible. I like Vanderwall

01:10:18.779 --> 01:10:21.800
still. So do I. And I think she's going to be

01:10:21.800 --> 01:10:25.739
a star on that team for years to come. I like

01:10:25.739 --> 01:10:28.979
the combination of her and Spears. I think it's

01:10:28.979 --> 01:10:31.760
a really good. set to work around they need to

01:10:31.760 --> 01:10:34.079
get the middles figured out somehow i'm sorry

01:10:34.079 --> 01:10:37.680
eight names should not be scoring no points consistent

01:10:37.680 --> 01:10:41.119
like they need to get it together with the middles

01:10:41.119 --> 01:10:45.720
other than pit the other three teams who qualified

01:10:45.720 --> 01:10:48.079
for the regionals have all managed to make their

01:10:48.079 --> 01:10:50.119
middles a threat and i don't think that that's

01:10:50.119 --> 01:10:52.539
a coincidence that's a very good observation

01:10:52.539 --> 01:10:57.920
yes so but brie kelly is a threat if they pass

01:10:58.520 --> 01:11:01.020
Yeah, Bree Kelly can be a threat, but I think

01:11:01.020 --> 01:11:03.300
out of all four teams that are there, Pitt runs

01:11:03.300 --> 01:11:06.119
the middle the least. Fair, yeah. Texas just,

01:11:06.220 --> 01:11:09.819
there was some sloppy play. They didn't look

01:11:09.819 --> 01:11:12.579
like they had a great defensive game plan in

01:11:12.579 --> 01:11:16.659
place. Wisconsin managed to get tons of touches.

01:11:17.079 --> 01:11:20.779
They had solid blocks. They just, they beat them

01:11:20.779 --> 01:11:24.100
in every facet. Serving, passing, and blocking,

01:11:24.319 --> 01:11:27.359
I thought they were just better than Texas. Stafford

01:11:27.359 --> 01:11:30.199
needed to have a game, and she didn't. And they

01:11:30.199 --> 01:11:32.199
needed to pass, and they didn't. They were out

01:11:32.199 --> 01:11:34.680
of system a lot in that match, and they don't

01:11:34.680 --> 01:11:37.359
have the hitters yet. I think the other two can

01:11:37.359 --> 01:11:40.479
get there, the freshmen, but they're not able

01:11:40.479 --> 01:11:42.859
to carry an out -of -system match against a team

01:11:42.859 --> 01:11:45.680
like Wisconsin yet. How do you think Tori Stafford

01:11:45.680 --> 01:11:47.779
feels leaving Pitt, and they still make the Final

01:11:47.779 --> 01:11:50.560
Four, and she doesn't? Well, her bank account

01:11:50.560 --> 01:11:52.500
is happy, so I don't know if anything else matters.

01:11:52.699 --> 01:11:54.739
Do you think she left because they weren't winning?

01:11:55.020 --> 01:11:56.979
Do you think she was coming to Texas? No, they're

01:11:56.979 --> 01:11:58.699
making Final Four after Final Four. I don't know

01:11:58.699 --> 01:12:01.720
why. I don't want to speculate why she left Pitt.

01:12:01.939 --> 01:12:05.640
If it was me and I left a program and I finished

01:12:05.640 --> 01:12:09.460
worse than that program, I would be pissed. I

01:12:09.460 --> 01:12:11.699
mean, maybe. It gives a message like, yeah, we

01:12:11.699 --> 01:12:14.859
don't even need you. Yeah. Which is so satisfying

01:12:14.859 --> 01:12:18.300
for Pitt, probably. A hundred percent. It totally

01:12:18.300 --> 01:12:21.199
depends on why she went. If she wanted to be,

01:12:21.319 --> 01:12:23.840
if she wanted to make a ton of money, which is

01:12:23.840 --> 01:12:27.060
totally fair, then she doesn't care. If she wanted

01:12:27.060 --> 01:12:29.239
to be the show, she got her wish. She was the

01:12:29.239 --> 01:12:32.100
show. If she left to win a national championship.

01:12:32.699 --> 01:12:34.739
Not happening this year. Not happening this year.

01:12:35.260 --> 01:12:36.979
I think Texas is going to be really good in the

01:12:36.979 --> 01:12:40.659
future, but they did not have it against Wisconsin.

01:12:41.529 --> 01:12:44.810
All right, we are heading into the final four.

01:12:44.909 --> 01:12:48.649
So it begs the question, what are your predictions

01:12:48.649 --> 01:12:53.310
for the week? We've got Kentucky versus Wisconsin

01:12:53.310 --> 01:12:58.550
and Texas A &M versus Pitt. Seeing how good Wisconsin

01:12:58.550 --> 01:13:00.630
is playing right now, I think that match against

01:13:00.630 --> 01:13:03.670
Kentucky will be the match of the weekend. Yeah,

01:13:03.710 --> 01:13:06.810
I actually think it's going to come down to the

01:13:06.810 --> 01:13:12.109
setting. I think if O 'Brien... Can run a balanced

01:13:12.109 --> 01:13:16.609
offense. And get Lizzie Carr going. I think Kentucky

01:13:16.609 --> 01:13:23.869
will win. If it becomes a. Left side show. I

01:13:23.869 --> 01:13:27.029
don't know. I think it'll be very interesting.

01:13:27.210 --> 01:13:30.850
To see the two left sides. From either side of

01:13:30.850 --> 01:13:36.430
the net. Go at it. I think it'll be like. Is

01:13:36.430 --> 01:13:41.300
O 'Brien gonna. Just. go with the safe option

01:13:41.300 --> 01:13:43.920
and just go to the left sides all night long?

01:13:44.100 --> 01:13:48.300
Or like you said, will she run a balanced offense

01:13:48.300 --> 01:13:52.800
to open things up? If O 'Brien is unnoticeable,

01:13:52.840 --> 01:13:55.600
and what I mean by that is you can't tell she's

01:13:55.600 --> 01:13:59.880
panicking, I think Kentucky has the edge. But

01:13:59.880 --> 01:14:01.880
that's a big if because I know the game that

01:14:01.880 --> 01:14:05.479
Charlie's going to set. So I think it's going

01:14:05.479 --> 01:14:07.399
to be really close. I think it's going to come

01:14:07.399 --> 01:14:09.510
down to making a couple plays. And I think it

01:14:09.510 --> 01:14:12.029
will come down to Kentucky's ability to contain

01:14:12.029 --> 01:14:14.590
Mamie Collier. Well, we've got Collier who's

01:14:14.590 --> 01:14:16.229
going to be hitting against either O 'Brien or

01:14:16.229 --> 01:14:19.409
Thigpen. Maybe we'll see a daily entrance into

01:14:19.409 --> 01:14:21.170
the match. That's what I think is going to happen.

01:14:21.270 --> 01:14:23.289
I think they're going to have to find a way to

01:14:23.289 --> 01:14:25.090
slow her down. And I don't think either of those

01:14:25.090 --> 01:14:27.029
options are good. Like O 'Brien's not small,

01:14:27.210 --> 01:14:29.989
but she's not a tremendous blocker. And she's

01:14:29.989 --> 01:14:31.810
got a ton to think about trying to run the offense.

01:14:31.970 --> 01:14:35.949
So I'm leaning Kentucky just because I think

01:14:35.949 --> 01:14:39.529
the duo is better. But if Vajicic is playing

01:14:39.529 --> 01:14:43.109
well, this is a really close one to call. Okay,

01:14:43.130 --> 01:14:44.630
if you had to pick one right this second. Kentucky.

01:14:44.630 --> 01:14:47.970
Me too. Okay. What do you think about the other

01:14:47.970 --> 01:14:50.529
one? Ooh, I think if any team is going to cause

01:14:50.529 --> 01:14:54.829
Olivia Babcock trouble, it's Texas A &M's block.

01:14:55.310 --> 01:14:58.409
Olivia Babcock is an international caliber right

01:14:58.409 --> 01:15:02.310
side, but Jamie Morrison has seen a ton of international

01:15:02.310 --> 01:15:05.310
volleyball. I think Kossak Paula is an international

01:15:05.310 --> 01:15:08.800
caliber middle. I agree. And that to me is going

01:15:08.800 --> 01:15:10.859
to be the showdown. Is their libero going to

01:15:10.859 --> 01:15:13.399
be able to strap it on and dig some balls is

01:15:13.399 --> 01:15:17.300
the question. Yes. I trust Jamie to have a really

01:15:17.300 --> 01:15:20.039
good game plan to make Babcock uncomfortable.

01:15:20.659 --> 01:15:23.720
Can Kostak Paula take away what she needs to

01:15:23.720 --> 01:15:27.159
force Babcock into hitting something she's uncomfortable.

01:15:27.579 --> 01:15:31.359
And can pass well enough to get her balls that

01:15:31.359 --> 01:15:34.260
are hittable. True. Yeah. I mean, Texas A &M

01:15:34.260 --> 01:15:36.220
is serving really well. I think Texas A &M is

01:15:36.220 --> 01:15:40.750
more balanced. I think that if they can keep

01:15:40.750 --> 01:15:44.810
Olivia Babcock under 25 points, I think they'll

01:15:44.810 --> 01:15:51.649
win. And that's the big if. It's a massive if.

01:15:51.829 --> 01:15:54.029
I think they could just cause a lot of disruption

01:15:54.029 --> 01:15:56.689
from the service line. I think that as well.

01:15:56.829 --> 01:15:59.630
If the match ends and Olivia Babcock has 45 points

01:15:59.630 --> 01:16:01.229
and Pitt wins, I'm not going to be surprised.

01:16:01.850 --> 01:16:03.750
Okay, right off the hop, who are you picking?

01:16:03.989 --> 01:16:08.460
Pitt. I'm picking Texas A &M. I mean, we'll see.

01:16:08.680 --> 01:16:11.359
We'll see. It's going to be fun regardless. Okay.

01:16:11.439 --> 01:16:15.199
We are excited. Our brackets are burning in the

01:16:15.199 --> 01:16:17.840
trash can somewhere. So we're just out here to

01:16:17.840 --> 01:16:20.560
have a good time at this point. Okay. So we'll

01:16:20.560 --> 01:16:23.579
see what happens. Okay. Given who has made the

01:16:23.579 --> 01:16:27.600
final four, do your predictions for player of

01:16:27.600 --> 01:16:29.159
the year, coach of the year, or freshman of the

01:16:29.159 --> 01:16:33.609
year change now? Yes, I think Olivia Babcock

01:16:33.609 --> 01:16:35.449
will win Player of the Year now. I think it would

01:16:35.449 --> 01:16:38.770
have gone to Bergen -Riley if Nebraska had made

01:16:38.770 --> 01:16:42.130
the Final Four. I think Eva Hudson could be in

01:16:42.130 --> 01:16:44.369
the discussion. She could be in the discussion.

01:16:44.390 --> 01:16:46.850
Now I think Mimi Collier could be in the discussion.

01:16:47.529 --> 01:16:49.590
But now we're talking about, so the thing with

01:16:49.590 --> 01:16:53.270
Bergen -Riley was her team was hitting at such

01:16:53.270 --> 01:16:56.550
an efficient clip. You can't really compare Bergen

01:16:56.550 --> 01:17:00.460
to Babcock. No. So you just look at the body

01:17:00.460 --> 01:17:02.539
of work as a setter and go, this hasn't been

01:17:02.539 --> 01:17:04.359
done. It's unprecedented. The numbers are so

01:17:04.359 --> 01:17:07.939
good. We're going to give it to her. Not making

01:17:07.939 --> 01:17:12.340
the final four. Yeah, I think to get the set,

01:17:12.420 --> 01:17:15.279
they needed to do really, really well. But if

01:17:15.279 --> 01:17:17.460
you start comparing hitters to Olivia Babcock,

01:17:17.739 --> 01:17:20.039
everybody falls short. I mean, I think if we're

01:17:20.039 --> 01:17:22.779
looking straight at numbers, Olivia Babcock,

01:17:23.000 --> 01:17:28.069
wow. Mimi and Eva are... great players in their

01:17:28.069 --> 01:17:29.930
own right but there's more of a direct comparison

01:17:29.930 --> 01:17:33.270
and I'm sorry if you're picking a franchise player

01:17:33.270 --> 01:17:36.510
to choose like you're picking Babcock over both

01:17:36.510 --> 01:17:39.850
of those players I just don't see how you can

01:17:39.850 --> 01:17:42.569
give it to another hitter other than Olivia yeah

01:17:42.569 --> 01:17:44.710
I think not making the final four is going to

01:17:44.710 --> 01:17:47.989
kill Riley's chances personally coach of the

01:17:47.989 --> 01:17:51.109
year I think a case could be made for Shondell

01:17:51.109 --> 01:17:54.710
now that they made the elite eight I think Danny's

01:17:54.710 --> 01:17:58.640
out of the running Yeah. I think it probably

01:17:58.640 --> 01:18:02.739
goes to Craig Skinner. It could go to Jamie,

01:18:02.840 --> 01:18:06.619
though. It could go to Jamie, but they pulled

01:18:06.619 --> 01:18:10.659
off one massive upset. I mean, two if you want

01:18:10.659 --> 01:18:14.100
to talk about Louisville. My instinct is it'll

01:18:14.100 --> 01:18:16.300
go to Craig Skinner. That's my instinct as well.

01:18:16.340 --> 01:18:19.739
They've been good all year, ranked well. Yeah.

01:18:20.539 --> 01:18:22.920
They've won, what, 26 matches in a row now or

01:18:22.920 --> 01:18:25.420
something? Yeah. I mean, if I was picking the

01:18:25.420 --> 01:18:29.119
award, I would give it to Shondell just based

01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:32.840
off expectation versus outcome. Yes. I don't

01:18:32.840 --> 01:18:36.439
think it necessarily works that way, so probably

01:18:36.439 --> 01:18:38.640
Craig Skinner. I think Shondell deserves it,

01:18:38.680 --> 01:18:42.199
personally, for what he put together. Yeah. But

01:18:42.199 --> 01:18:44.180
given Kentucky's performance and consistency

01:18:44.180 --> 01:18:46.800
over the season and making the Final Four, I

01:18:46.800 --> 01:18:49.850
have a feeling it'll go to Skinner. Yeah. Originally,

01:18:49.850 --> 01:18:51.789
I thought Suli Davis was going to win freshman

01:18:51.789 --> 01:18:53.890
of the year, but I think losing first round took

01:18:53.890 --> 01:18:56.510
her out of it for me. I don't think she's going

01:18:56.510 --> 01:18:59.510
to get it anymore. I think it could go to Cassie

01:18:59.510 --> 01:19:05.029
O 'Brien. Yeah, maybe. Or I think it could go

01:19:05.029 --> 01:19:08.869
to Cassie O 'Brien, or I think you could make

01:19:08.869 --> 01:19:10.970
a case for Kari Spears. I don't think she deserves

01:19:10.970 --> 01:19:13.890
it because I think she took a big dip. So I'm

01:19:13.890 --> 01:19:16.250
going to say Cassie O 'Brien right now. Again,

01:19:16.329 --> 01:19:18.310
this is another one of those things where...

01:19:18.760 --> 01:19:20.859
where your team finishes is important. I think

01:19:20.859 --> 01:19:24.140
Alana Clemente, quite frankly, deserves to be

01:19:24.140 --> 01:19:27.020
in the conversation, but the team just did nothing.

01:19:27.140 --> 01:19:31.279
So she doesn't get to be quite frankly. I think

01:19:31.279 --> 01:19:34.340
Spears was the front runner. I agree. She took

01:19:34.340 --> 01:19:37.800
a dip. The thing, I don't think O 'Brien was

01:19:37.800 --> 01:19:42.000
the best freshman, but I think to lead an offense.

01:19:42.750 --> 01:19:45.409
into the final four as a freshman, that doesn't

01:19:45.409 --> 01:19:47.770
happen often. Very impressive. But what I was

01:19:47.770 --> 01:19:51.949
going to say was, I think she improved the most

01:19:51.949 --> 01:19:54.869
as an already good freshman. Like there were

01:19:54.869 --> 01:19:57.250
noticeable changes in how she ran her offense.

01:19:57.529 --> 01:20:02.109
The composure that she had in terms of, you know,

01:20:02.109 --> 01:20:04.670
having two weapons, but banning her game to run

01:20:04.670 --> 01:20:07.369
the middle and make different decisions. So I

01:20:07.369 --> 01:20:10.149
think she will probably win. That's my guess.

01:20:10.289 --> 01:20:13.039
I think you're right. So basically all of our

01:20:13.039 --> 01:20:17.239
predictions have changed. I do think that a lot

01:20:17.239 --> 01:20:21.119
of these awards, they do look at how well a team

01:20:21.119 --> 01:20:23.520
does. Yeah. I mean, unless you have somebody

01:20:23.520 --> 01:20:26.180
that's so incredibly dominant that you can't

01:20:26.180 --> 01:20:30.720
even deny it, but. Okay. So let me, let me ask

01:20:30.720 --> 01:20:34.539
you this. If you take out the, where a team needs

01:20:34.539 --> 01:20:36.859
to finish and you had a chance to pick a freshman

01:20:36.859 --> 01:20:40.050
to build a team around, who would you pick? I

01:20:40.050 --> 01:20:43.289
mean, Cassie O 'Brien is a setter, so that's

01:20:43.289 --> 01:20:47.289
a great start. I also really loved Alana Clemente.

01:20:47.649 --> 01:20:50.210
And honestly, Suli Davis did great things, but

01:20:50.210 --> 01:20:52.989
now she's leaving, so I think she has to prove

01:20:52.989 --> 01:20:56.569
herself again wherever she goes. So I will say

01:20:56.569 --> 01:20:59.970
Alana Clemente or Cassie O 'Brien. I was going

01:20:59.970 --> 01:21:03.149
to say Alana Clemente or Suli Davis. I thought

01:21:03.149 --> 01:21:06.960
she was good. Well, here we go. We'll find out

01:21:06.960 --> 01:21:09.819
the answers to all of these questions and more

01:21:09.819 --> 01:21:14.479
in a few days. So hit us up. Let us know your

01:21:14.479 --> 01:21:17.380
thoughts. I'm sure people are very opinionated

01:21:17.380 --> 01:21:19.420
about some of our thoughts about these matches,

01:21:19.500 --> 01:21:25.720
about our predictions moving forward. So give

01:21:25.720 --> 01:21:30.669
it to us. We're ready. So looking ahead. Obviously,

01:21:30.669 --> 01:21:34.050
we've got NCAA matches coming up this week. So

01:21:34.050 --> 01:21:38.569
semifinals are both on Thursday. And then we

01:21:38.569 --> 01:21:41.529
will have the finals on Sunday. I think all of

01:21:41.529 --> 01:21:43.170
those have the potential to be great matches.

01:21:43.229 --> 01:21:46.250
I'll definitely be tuning in. We also have men's

01:21:46.250 --> 01:21:49.350
Club World Championships starting this week.

01:21:49.670 --> 01:21:53.260
Those you can find on Volleyball TV. They'll

01:21:53.260 --> 01:21:56.220
be listed there. The matches are happening in

01:21:56.220 --> 01:21:58.539
Brazil, so the timeframes will actually work

01:21:58.539 --> 01:22:00.479
out to watch them live, but all of them will

01:22:00.479 --> 01:22:02.460
be recorded there so you can watch them at your

01:22:02.460 --> 01:22:04.779
leisure. That concludes this week's episode of

01:22:04.779 --> 01:22:06.560
Volley Talk. There's always something shaking

01:22:06.560 --> 01:22:08.439
in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed

01:22:08.439 --> 01:22:11.100
this little fix. Be sure to follow the show so

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if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

01:22:16.100 --> 01:22:18.659
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

01:22:18.659 --> 01:22:21.399
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01:22:21.399 --> 01:22:23.180
discuss, you can reach out to us on Instagram

01:22:23.180 --> 01:22:27.239
or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much

01:22:27.239 --> 01:22:29.399
for joining us and we'll be back next week.