Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor volleyball player,
international volleyball coach, and the show's
resident stat guy. Happy New Year, everybody.
Hope everybody had a really happy and safe holiday
season. Relaxed a little bit, spent time with
friends and family. You know, we took the week
off. It was very nice to have a break, spend
time with everyone. So we're back. We're ready
to take on 2026, which is crazy to think about,
but here we are. The NCAA season ended with a
lot of excitement, but winter means pro leagues
and NCAA men's volleyball. So that is going to
be our focus here for the next several months.
And Champions League. Pro leagues. Okay. Well,
for those people who maybe aren't as familiar,
there's pro leagues and Champions Leagues, which
is fun. There we go. And of course, we need to
talk about the transfer portal situation because
we know that we never fully escape NCAA women's
volleyball. Let's be honest. No matter what.
Sarah's holiday was spent looking at the transfer
portal and being excited about all the things
that were happening. So she's ready to get going.
I will say our listeners were keeping me up to
date, okay? The number of informants I have now,
you guys are scouring social media and sending
me all the... all the juice. So I love it. You
know, I love it. As I said, NCAA women's volleyball
never goes away, but we are excited to be back
and get talking some volleyball with all of you
guys. So let's get started. Okay. It's been the
holiday season. So Not so much weekly highlights
this week as we wanted to do a little bit of
a let's bring everybody up to date on a few things
that have been happening. So if you have been
around and were here in winter season last year,
when we talk about pro overseas, we tend to focus
mostly on Italy and Turkey. We are open to discussing
more, so if you want us to check things out,
let us know. But just to do a little recap of
what has been happening, in the Italian League,
Quintino, Perugia, and Verona are all at the
top on the men's side. They all have the same
number of wins. The only thing differentiating
them is the points and the set wins. So those
three are real tight. You love to see a tight
race. Love to see a tight race. They're in the
second. So everybody plays everybody away and
at home. They are in the second phase already.
So that is exciting stuff. On the women's side,
Corneliano's in the lead. After dropping. As
always. Well, as always, but they don't seem
as unflappable this year. They lost the Italian
Cup. They lost. And they didn't win Club World
either. Yes, and they actually just dropped their
last match against Milano in the league. So that
is like... There's some chinks in the armor there.
There are some chinks. We've talked about this
in the last couple episodes, but there are some
chinks in the Conigliano armor. But despite all
that, they are still in first place. They are
followed closely by Scandici and Novara. Scandici,
if you remember, won. the Club World Championships,
beat Corneliano. Novara also took a match off
of Corneliano in the semifinals of the league
last year. So the usual suspects are around.
Milano's actually in fifth place. They lost Alessia
Oro, if you remember, to Fenerbahce. Jamie Miner,
for all our American listeners, is playing for
that team. So that is kind of what's going on
in Italy. In Turkey, Vakifbank and Fenerbahce
are like... Pretty decently ahead of everybody
right now. Azazibashi not doing so hot. The new
team Zarin, I believe, is currently in third.
They bought their way into Champions League by
making themselves the title sponsor of Champions
League. So they have a new team and they got
a berth into Champions League right away. That's
a whole thing. I mean, if you're going to do
it, you might as well go big. You think it's
fair to buy your way into Champions League? I
think sports at the end of the day is all about
money. There's only one team who can do it. And
if you're serious, I totally understand from
ownership's point of view. I feel like Champions
League is elite, though. I don't disagree. I'm
not saying I entirely agree with it. But if you
want to expand the sport and you want teams,
you want new people to put money. into the sport
and start new teams, you have to have a way to
draw people in. If you're going to drop money
to host the event, you get one berth into the
tournament. It doesn't water it down. It doesn't,
I don't think. Are they hosting the event? We
don't know. However, the title sponsor, like
they're putting the money in to do it. Again,
I don't think you should be able to just anybody
buy in, but if you're going to sponsor the event
and you're starting a team, there needs to be
a carrot to putting money in. And I think this
is, I'm okay with this personally. It bothers
me. Champions League got started at the end of
November. So we're still in the pool play phase.
As you may know or not, there are five pools
of four teams. For women, the Italian and Turkish
teams are dominating as per usual. They're number
one and two and probably in all the pools, except
pool E really confuses me. I'm not sure what's
going on there. There's not an Italian or Turkish
team in that pool. There's like a German team,
a French team, maybe Serbian. Don't quote me
on that. Pool E, what is up? Anyway, somebody
tell me about that. And there is more variety
on the med side. Italy, Turkey, Germany, France,
Belgium all have a couple teams each. It is a
mixed bag. It's not. as cut and dry as the women's
side so we did get a question about the european
leagues that i answered online but i want to
answer it here because i feel like more people
probably have this question this listener was
watching the italian league and noticed that
there were only four foreign players on the court
what you see is different leagues have different
quotas or limits of the number of foreigners
that can be on the court. So I believe in the
Turkish league, only two in Italy for, you know,
China one, no two, I believe. And so it's different
from country to country, but those rules are
out the window in champions league. So you will
see teams like Turkish teams will load up on
very strong international players. Won't be able
to address. half of them for the Turkish league,
but they play all of them in Champions League.
That is why you see the discrepancy. That's why
you might see some foreign players on the bench
or really good players that you think should
be on the court that aren't and things like that.
Just kind of wanted to throw that out there here.
And just for clarification, it's on the court
at any time. You could sub the foreign players
in and out. They can be on the bench. You can
only have two playing at any time. In Turkey,
for example. Exactly. That is like the roundup
for a couple leagues overseas for Champions League.
If you want to jump in and start watching the
season. On the men's NCAA side, the ABCA preseason
poll came out on December 23rd. The top five
are UCLA, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Pepperdine,
and USC. Some games haven't played. The NCAA
site does a really bad job of updating anybody
on NCAA men's schedules because the schedule
is not up anywhere. And I'm not going to lie,
I didn't really feel like going around and digging
all over the place. So NCAA men's is on. Check
it out. It will be playing this week as well.
But the NCAA, not as on it as compared to the
women's side. A little discrepancy with... Just
a little. Yeah. Which is disappointing, but we'll
do our best to bring you the best men's games
that you should be watching as the season goes
on. That is what has been happening over break.
What to look out for. Volleyball TV from the
FFVB has good stuff. Hero Volley for Champions
League. There's a whole bunch of options, so
check it out. And yeah, then you can be in the
know when we're talking about it more. All right,
let's do a dive into some of the transfer portal
mayhem that has been happening. And I feel like
mayhem is the best way to describe it because
every single year I am more shocked or stunned
than I was the year before at what is going on.
It's wild. Like we obviously can't dive into
every single thing because it is literally crazy.
Are we talking about 100 plus transfers? A hundred?
Adam, we're talking thousands. Seriously? Yes.
See, Transyl Portal is Sarah's domain. I don't
really pay attention to it. Hundreds. That's
incredible. Amateur over here, everybody. No,
like wild stuff. So I put together a list of
some of the more notable transfers. Okay. It's
longer than I want it to be, but here are the
ones that jumped out at me. Okay, I guess we
need to start. Izzy Stark is going to pit. Wow.
I thought it was going to be Texas for sure.
It wasn't super on my radar. And I'm like, well,
her and Olivia Babcock will have one year together.
That was my thing, too. Like Brie Kelly's gone.
I feel like the other pieces aren't really there.
So I'm like, why would you choose Pitt? I'm curious
who else is going to go to Pitt now. Is that
the first domino? And now you're going to get
a couple other players or is she going to go
for one year and transfer out again? I, this
move to me again is a little, I have question
marks around it as well. I will say the notorious
boyfriend that all of this sort of was revolving
around also has it as Pittsburgh as his location.
No idea if it's correlated or whatever, but.
I found it interesting. Another thing is, will
Penn State sign off on her medical red shirt
to give her her sophomore season back, or is
she going to go in as a junior? I think if Penn
State has to do it, I think there's bad blood
there. Oh, if I'm Penn State, I'm saying forget
about it. You left us high and dry. You committed
to play for us this season, and you screwed us
over. Like, goodbye. Well, and it's not a medical
reason that she's not playing. Well, technically.
If it's mental health, that is technically a...
A medical reason. It's not an injury per se.
Yeah, I doubt that the Penn State staff see it
as a mental health issue. That would be my guess.
We will see. Question mark on if she'll be a
junior or sophomore. But that was the one that
we've been wondering about forever. She is heading
to Pitt. What was your second most notable transfer?
Oh, gosh. Let me just look at my list here. Aiden
Ames left Texas to go to Creighton. I'm not shocked.
Texas just decided that middle wasn't an important
position. They do not set the middle. Offensively,
if I was a middle, I would not want to play there
either. And I don't know what the offensive,
we'll call it a coordinator, head coach, or whoever's
running that. You have to run the middle. They
don't really set the middle. In her case, I understand
her wanting to leave. Alexis Stuckey went to
Penn State. This is a big one for me. Who else
went to Penn State? Ryla Jones from Pitt. Penn
State. You know who else went to Penn State?
Whitney Launstein from Texas. Penn State made
out pretty well in the portal this year. Ryla
Jones is interesting to me because, yes, she
lost her starting spot, but Brie Kelly graduated,
so I feel like she would have gotten it back.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Again, you can't
speak to the reasons that people are doing this.
Of course, we don't know the reasons. I also
feel like Pitt. didn't run the middle either.
And who knows if that's going to change while
Olivia is still there. If the offensive philosophy...
Well, you got Izzy Stark now, so they will run
the middle now. She knows how to run an offense.
I agree with you, but again, there's no guarantee
you spend a whole year not getting set. And if
the messaging from the coach isn't run the middle,
then why do you think that would change? And
you might trust Izzy to do it, but maybe not.
Okay, some other big ones. Suli Davis to SMU.
I don't have a comment on this one. At least
SMU is trying to recruit some younger players.
Okay, another big transfer is Jayla Auguste from
Florida to Wisconsin. We'll get to this later,
but Wisconsin was hit by the portal bug. So what
do you think about this transfer? I mean, apparently
Wisconsin had a good recruiting class for freshmen.
So I can't speak to that. But based on what they
have left, so Grace Lopez potentially returning
to right side, but then what, Grace Egan and
West potentially on the left? They don't really
have any point scores on the left right now.
Well, they don't have any established studs.
Exactly. I don't think Wisconsin started particularly
well last year. They came on strong. I mean,
they're in the Final Four, so... All of those
players are talented, but none of them are proven.
So it'll be interesting to see how that happens
and then... I mean, they lost some big pieces.
They did. But they lost some big pieces the year
before, too. Because they lost Una Vajicic, too,
who at the time of this recording has not committed
anywhere. I find it interesting. I think especially
with the Rhyla Jones departure, I thought Pitt
could have been a good option for her. Like,
I don't... I think Wisconsin, based on what they
have coming in, will probably be fine. After
Alexis Stuckey left, I think Florida is just
not looking great. But yes, Reese Robbins from
Louisville heading to TCU. I mean, the writing
was on the wall for her. Blackshear took her
spot real early in the season, and she will not
play. Addie Horner, the backup setter at Wisconsin,
heading to TCU. She's never going to play. She's
a year behind Charlie. Yeah. Again, unless Charlie
gets injured, Charlie's playing every game. She
might not want to wait until her senior year
to have a chance. Jalen Stout, who is a standout
at Coastal Carolina, she's heading to Tennessee.
Now, mid -major, but she has been dominant for
Coastal Carolina throughout her career. So she's
heading to Tennessee. What year is she in? She's
going to be a senior. I mean, just as we're talking
about the portal, I think you and I, Neither
of us are huge fans. But this, to me, is a situation
that I can respect. You stayed somewhere for
three years. You became very good. I don't know
if she started there. I don't know a ton about
her. Fair. But it looks from the outside like
you worked, you got better, you kind of outgrew
where you were competing, and you want to finish
against good competition. Personally, I think
this is an okay use of the transfer portal. Because
again, volleyball is a sport where you don't
hit your prime until 28, 30. So there's a lot
of development that happens. And maybe she wasn't
good enough to play at a really good school when
she was 18. But she worked hard. She kept going.
I like that an athlete like that can get an opportunity.
Personal opinion, but I'm okay with this type
of transfer. To run through a couple more, Marina
Crown over the setter for Missouri is heading
to Oregon. Natalie Ring, the star attacker for
Marquette, is heading to Texas A &M. Ooh, interesting.
Jovana Zelenovic, the Serbian right side for
Kansas, is heading to Miami. Is she the 6 '7"?
Mm -hmm. Okay. Morgan Geert, the star player
for Notre Dame. Is heading to Kentucky. She had
a very good season. She had a very good season
on a not so good team. Yeah. There's that. The
Hudson replacement. Her and DeLay will be on
the left side now. Looks like that could be the
story there. The one that made me laugh out loud.
Kind of embarrassed. Fringing to the max. Alex
Bauer. Setter for BYU. Is leaving BYU for BYU.
Oh. And the post that she made on social media
that someone shared with me was like, I am so
happy to announce my commitment to BYU. And it's
just like, girl, just don't even say anything.
Did she leave before the coach left? I think
she entered the portal right when they lost.
And then I think when the coach resigned or stepped
away or whatever happened there, came back. But
don't make a post about it. Like it's so cringy.
You got to pretend that doesn't happen. Like
just bury your head and like keep a low profile
at that point. I'm so curious what's happening
at BYU because they have underperformed. We talked
about the coach leaving. And then all of a sudden
she's gone. Well I actually did MPSF media days
for men. Yeah. And her brother was there with
BYU. At the beginning of their statement, the
guy that I was working with made a comment or,
like, said, oh, you're in a volleyball family?
Like, your sister recently stepped away from
BYU. And his face when he said that, I was like,
oh, dang. He did not look... Yeah, anyway. I
mean, you don't know what happened, but that
program has underperformed for a couple years
now based on the potential skill they had. Well,
they were picked as... Big 12 preseason champions.
Yeah. So, I mean, at some point, there's accountability
with performance. And Heredia Colon did that
last year with Miami. She left for a semester,
went to Florida, then came back. Yeah. Anyway,
those are the biggest eyebrow raisers, individual
ones that I came across. Let's go over some programs
that were hit real hard. Okay. Topping the list.
St. Mary's lost 10. To the portal. That's two
full rosters. On a basketball team, maybe. I
mean, it's almost 12. If you discount the libero.
I'm saying you almost, you've lost your starting
six. You need six people on the court, Adam.
I know. Two full rosters. You're two people short
of two. My bad. I was being. My point was. Minus
a libero. You basically lost your starting squad
and your practice squad. Essentially. That's
tough. Let's start from scratch here. You don't
have a team anymore. Well, and the crazy thing
is, is that that head coach in Tyler Hildebrand
is a national team coach, national team athlete,
like very accomplished. So I don't know who knows
what's going on there, but that's a lot of players.
In the mid -major space, Syracuse lost nine,
Southern Utah lost seven, San Francisco lost
seven. That's tough. That's a lot of athletes.
And again, this is not to graduation. Like this
is not athletes lost total. This is athletes
lost solely to the portal. And these numbers
could have changed by the time of this recording
based on the research. This is what has happened.
If we look at the power for conferences, Tennessee
lost eight to the portal. Not even like there
were some good players that they had that graduated.
Yeah. Eight. Kansas lost seven. So Zelenovich
was the main name there, but Lebon, who was an
outside for them, and they had a starting middle
that also left their setter left to shoot for
her grad year. So they've lost at least four
starters. Do you think that the way they lost
to Nebraska filters in to that decision at all?
No, I don't think they had any expectation of
beating Nebraska. But it's weird. That that was
Ulmer's first season there. And now everyone's
leaving. Fair. I don't think they had an expectation
of beating Nebraska. But my question was more
around in the way that they lost. In the attitude.
That kind of looked like on the floor and on
the coaching staff. It looked like they had.
There's being realistic. No, I'm sorry. You don't
leave a program because you lose a match that
you're probably not going to win anyway. I'm
wondering if it's a culture thing. That was kind
of what I was getting at. But, I mean, it's tough.
You have a new coach come in. You were settled
in. They have a different way of doing things,
maybe different expectations. We'll see how they
do. But that's a lot of loss. Wisconsin lost
six. And then on top of that, they lost Collier,
Andrew, and Booth to graduation. Those are big
losses. Yeah. But again, we kind of talked about
this. Wisconsin, they'll always have talent.
They'll always have people who want to go there.
Is Wisconsin becoming the new Texas? Maybe. Because
let me tell you, Texas lost two to the portal
and they haven't picked anybody up from it yet,
which is unheard of. Everybody. Okay. Well, they
had some very good freshmen, though. So here's
what I think is going on a little bit with the
portal. I think coaches don't need to have the
same transparency with athletes in terms of.
Hey, you're going to play. Here's your when you
could expect to kind of get a starting spot and
those kind of things because the athletes can
just leave. So it's like, why am I going to if
you're not going to start for me this year? You
know, if you're training, if you're doing this,
that's fine. If you leave, I'm not happy about
it, but I can always bring somebody in. I think
you're starting to see athletes frustrated with
not knowing when they're going to play or what
the avenue to playing is. Well, I don't think
anybody's entitled to play. No, but. I think
you need to understand if there's like a seniority
priority or if there's a meritocracy. And that's
kind of what I was getting at. The coaches, when
you couldn't have transfers, it benefited you
to keep your athletes happy because you couldn't
just bring in new players. So if you go, hey,
you're going to come in your freshman year. We
have somebody graduating in two years. Here's
your path to playing. If I'm thinking about it
from a coaching standpoint and where I'm putting
my effort, I'm working at that relationship because
I know I need you in year three and four. The
coaches no longer need you. What they need now
is their stars to be happy, they need their boosters
to be giving money, and they need to manage the
top six like more of a franchise. And I think
you're seeing those middle players, those third
and fourth position players unhappy with... What's
happening? Because they're not getting any attention.
This, this is all starting the whole season and
he's leaving. Yeah. I mean, you're obviously
going to have, maybe she thinks they're going
to be no good. Very generally, but like the names
that we all went through were big players for
their team for the most part. A hundred percent.
But if we're talking about thousands of athletes
leaving, you know, we highlighted the big ones,
but my guess is that there's a lot of people
who just, the set are leaving for Wisconsin.
Like you're never going to play. And I think
that that is happening, especially when people
come in and go, hey, they just brought in somebody
my age or a year ahead of me. Especially because
the setter who had committed to Pitt as a freshman
decommitted when Izzy Stark signed there, and
then she committed to Wisconsin. So there's just
this domino effect. That's one example, but it
just happens across the board. And again, there's
no consequence to you leaving as an athlete,
right? It doesn't matter. Again, this is broken
in my opinion, but I think there's a lot of that
when we have people looking at when am I going
to get to play. And finally, Pitt, Penn State,
UCLA, and Missouri all lost five. So those were
the programs that were hit the hardest so far.
Now, I titled these ones Sneaky Scoopers. I like
that. So far, Oklahoma's picked up six. Wow.
Yes. Houston has picked up five. Florida picked
up four, but they also lost four to the portal.
So I feel like that is okay. Yeah. A lot of these
situations I'm looking at going, is this a chicken
or egg situation? No, because you can see how
many they picked up and lost. Like the Oklahoma
one is heavily leaning towards picking up versus
loss. Okay. Houston heavily leaning to picking
up versus loss. Florida was an even. What about
Penn State? You have programs hit hard, but they
also brought in a ton of... Penn State lost five,
but they've picked up three. And they picked
up big players. Which one happened first? Can
you tell? Did the five players leave? Well, the
five players who left, I had never heard of them
before. So they may have looked at the people
who they brought in and go, wow, we're never
going to play. Washington State, Loyola Chicago,
St. John's, and Idaho all picked up four, heavily
leaning towards the pickup. And then, of course,
it's not a transfer portal window if SMU hasn't
picked up everybody, so they've picked up four
as well. Anyone notable? Well, Suli Davis. Sure.
I'm pretty sure Ava Serafa, the backup setter
for Kentucky, is going there too. And then they
are picking up a girl who played really well
for Ole Miss and somebody else. I mean, the head
coach there. But they also lost Kennedy Rogers,
who stepped in when Jaden Living's got injured,
the freshman. So she's gone. So I think as soon
as Suli Davis signed, she's like, well, it'll
be Living's and Davis on the left side. I'm done.
Now, I mean, the head coach, she's already come
out and said, we are trying to create a platform
for athletes to make their own money. Like, she's
leaning into the NIL, which you can't fault her
for. Yeah, there was this huge thing on ESPNW
on Instagram the other day with her talking about
it. Yeah. I mean, again, those are the rules.
You can't necessarily falter for them. Do I agree
with it? But it just sucks because, like, I feel
like you legit finally recruited a player in
Kennedy Rogers who was a freshman. And, like,
she came in, she stepped up for you, and you're
just going to, like, sign somebody off the portal
who can replace her. Like, that's messed up to
me. I think loyalty and keeping athletes on your
team is going to end up paying dividends. I think
you're going to start to see these things, middle
connections, learning how to play with each other.
facing adversity. I think the teams who managed
to do that, we've swung in one direction right
now, but I think you're going to start to see
it come back from a results perspective. Oh,
well, I already talked about it a little, but
this is one of the first years that Texas hasn't
lost a huge number and picked up big. I mean,
there's still time. And Nebraska has picked up
none, lost none. Which I think will bode well
for them. Kentucky lost the Rafa and Baltimore.
They've obviously picked up Garrett. I'm just
going through some of the top teams right now.
A &M has picked up a few. Well, they lost Natalie
ring as we talked about, but they lost nine seniors.
But you have to think that he's recruited freshmen
to replace them. I understand he doesn't want
to start with just a freshman squad. He wants
some experience. I get it. He strikes me as the
type of person who would try to recruit character.
I don't think he'll bring in six. I think he'll
bring in two or three who he thinks will fit
into what they're building. Yeah, he has signed
a few already. And while we're talking about
him, just quickly, there were a couple comments
on the last episode about us. talking about the
coach of the year award and thinking that we
said, this actually came up like five or six
times because we were talking about, you know,
A &M won it because they did so well. I'm just
going to say, I don't think people listen very
closely to things that we say before jumping
to their conclusions or I've learned doing this,
that people hear what they want to hear. That's
fair. I just wanted to clarify, we were talking
about how the awards were handed out, are generally
handed out, not. Who deserved it? Oh, I 100 %
think if Texas A &M hadn't made the Final Four,
he wouldn't have won Coach of the Year, and I
will stand by that. Yeah, I agree with you. But
that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve it or didn't
do a good job. We never said he doesn't deserve
it. Just throwing it out there, I think Jamie
has done a great job, but I think that generally
the results matter when it comes to handing out
those awards specifically. 100%. And I'm pretty
sure somebody also looked up in the time since
1982. The player who has been named national
player of the year has made the final four in
all but three circumstances. One went to one
of the Odin sisters who, if you have followed
volleyball, they were dominant. One went to Stacey
Gordon who shared it with a gun and Amani in
2004, who did make the final four, but you, they
needed to give Stacey Gordon a nod to her career
because she was like getting seven. and a half
kills a set for her whole career. And finally
in her senior season, they're like, okay, we
need to acknowledge this. And then there was
one more. So. Lots of people who deserve things,
but you do have to get the results. In my opinion,
going back to the transfer portal, the two teams
that have won the portal so far are Creighton
and Penn State. We talked about Penn State. They
picked up Alexis Stuckey, Ryla Jones, and Whitney
Lonstein. So adding them to Kennedy Martin, to
Mendelsohn, I think Penn State is a phoenix,
you know, rising from the ashes. And then Creighton
picked up Katie Dalton, who was the setter for
Kansas, Aiden Ames, and Trinity Shed series,
who came in for Una Vajic numerous times in the
NCAA tournament from Wisconsin. I mean, we know
her personally, but I think she's going to have
a good year. She's a phenomenal athlete. I'll
be curious to see. Canadian National High Jump
Champion. She could be an Olympian in, sorry,
not high jump, in long jump. Yeah. All right.
So anyway, yes. So, so far, in my opinion, Creighton
and Penn State are winning the transfer portal
so far. That is just like the tip of the iceberg
of what is happening in there. It is insane.
For all of you who are asking for us to talk
about it, that is what is happening and our takes
so far. With the start of the American Pro Leagues
this week, we are going to spend the next couple
of weeks doing some season previews for both
MLV and Love. This week, we are going to talk
about MLV. Because we have a very exciting partnership
for the MLV season with Volley. V -O -L -L -I.
V -O -L -L -I. It is a new fantasy app. So you
guys know that Sarah and I played fantasy for
NCAA and then ran a bracket, which will get updated
and posted before next episode. But we had a
ton of fun. Doing that this year. And we have
a ton of questions about it. Correct. We're so
excited to partner with these guys who built
this app. We've started our own league for volley
talk on the app. We're going to post all of the
links to both getting the app and joining our
league in the show notes, wherever you're watching.
But for those of you who have a great memory,
go to play volley. dot com slash volley talk
as adam said we'll post them in the show notes
in the description boxes wherever you're listening
or watching from but head to that link if you
have the app it'll take you right to our join
page and if you don't have the app download it
ios or android and get in on the action because
we've had a lot of good stuff going on with this
community and we want to continue it A couple
highlights that I've come across so far, and
I'm going to learn as we go because it's got
an interesting system. First, make sure you have
your team built by Wednesday. I believe it closes
for the first week. So you gain points weekly.
You have a cap system based off. players value,
which is calculated weekly based off their performance,
which I think is really fascinating. So you have
a team, you have starters, you have a bench player,
you have a salary cap you have to work with,
and that comes and goes week to week. You can
sign one to three week contracts. Those values
go up and down. It seems. Super intense, which
I'm so excited about. They have a great explanation
in the app. So go in, look at it, read the rules.
But we're excited to see you guys on the app.
And I think this is going to add a ton of viewability
to the MLV season, at least for me. And I think
it'll be really fun to watch. So I'm so excited.
They've done a great job with this app and it
should be a fun year. And there's a lot of other
interesting aspects. to the app. We will dive
into more of those as the season progresses,
but we wanted to put it out there because we
want you guys to sign up. I think it would be
a really cool competition to go head -to -head
with you guys after the NCAA bracket fiasco with
it just exploding. I need to get back on track.
I think we all need to get back on track because
I don't think anybody... A few people didn't
pick Nebraska or Kentucky. I said didn't expect
Texas A &M to win. Yeah, fair. And Adam's AI
just crapped out. So we are going to finish that
and let you know who the winners are. It's requiring
a little manual updating on my end. We haven't
forgotten. We're not just sore losers who are
like, well, this is over. We didn't win. We promise
it is being figured out. My AI bot is a sore
loser. That's what it is. So yeah, head to playvolley
.com slash volleytalk. That's playvolley .com
slash volleytalk to join our team. So on that
note, let's take a look at the MLV teams for
this year. Look at some roster changes and highlight
some of the players that are coming in, some
of the changes, and who we think are going to
be good. We did dive into... the trades and stuff
and the free agency period when it was going
on. But we're just going to do a little refresher
here and then talk about our predictions because
we love a prediction. Okay. So the way I want
to structure this is I'm going to highlight the
players from each team who played the most last
year. So the most important players, and then
we'll highlight some of the athletes that are
coming into those teams this year and where some
of the differences are. So we're going to do
this alphabetically. So for the Atlanta vibe,
last year, their main players, Leah Edmond, Morgan
Hentz, Corey Lewis, Tia Timmer, Aiko Jones, and
Merritt Beeson. I can read Adam's writing better
than him. He's also got Marley Monserez. And
I will let you know, he jumped over that name
because he had no clue what he wrote. And I'm
like, cool. So Atlanta was busy this year. picking
up new players. So they, for 2026, Leah Edmond
is coming back, but then they added Ava Martin
and Pia Timmer is also coming back on the outside.
So one new player to that outside core. They
have Avery Carlson coming into set from SMU.
Corey Lewis is back in the middle, but they also
added Raven Colvin, which is an interesting addition
in my opinion. They brought in Ellie McKissick
from Florida as a libero, and Iko Jones and Anna
Dixon are the opposites. What are your thoughts
on the new roster? And I will mention that Atlanta
finished second last year in league play. I mean,
I think losing, hence, is going to hurt them.
Agreed. Colvin didn't play much at all last season.
I believe she was with Grand Rapids. He was not
used much at all. I like, if you listened last
season to MLB, I was not a monster as fan. I
like that. They brought in Carlson. I'm kind
of feeling like that's a wash. I think they improved
question mark around the libero fair. I think
they get better at setting. So I like that piece.
And I think that's important. I think they're
thin at the middle. If they have an injury, that's
going to hurt them. They don't have a lot of
depth there. And I think they don't really have
a true point score. I think they're going to
be a good team. Leah Edmond, I think people would
argue that. Okay, that's fair. I'm just going
to, I'm disagreeing with you on that. I think
for MLV, Leah Edmond is as point score -ish as
you get. What about Iko Jones and Anna Dixon
on the opposite? Like I said, I didn't love their
opposite situation last year, and I think it's
a wash. Okay, so let's say you have one true
point scorer. I'm not sure that's going to be
enough. Ava Martin can score points. Tia Timmer
didn't do poorly. She did fine last year. I think
they're skilled. I think they have good players.
I'm not sure. It comes back to the same discussion
we had at NCAA. Who is going to get the ball
when you need to? And let's see if Leah Edmond
can do that this year. Yeah, I think they're
going to be fine. Like I said, I'm the libero
thing. They're losing. Big time. I don't think
they're going to finish second. I think they'll
probably be third or fourth. I need to hear the
final rundown, and then I'll give my final prediction.
Okay. Let's look at Columbus Fury. They played...
I'm not going to go through the list of them.
They had so many people who played a whole bunch
of time. They didn't finish. They didn't do well.
They didn't do well, and it looked like they
were always searching for... That lineup that
was going to work for them. So they finished
last in the league. They have a whole new team
minus three players. Full yard sale on the roster.
Here are a couple of the names that I think will
be interesting and people who will see playing
time. So they brought in Akasha Anderson from
Purdue. She's a 6 '3 outside hitter. Bringing
in Jalen Hodge outside from Arizona. They're
bringing in Audrey Pack to set. They got Flo
Marie Heredia Colon from Miami on the outside,
which is a huge pickup. And then they also got
Reagan Pittman Nelson in the middle, who was
originally at Minnesota but played in MLB for
the last couple years. I'm not loving any of
those pickups except Colon. What do you think
of Audrey Pack? Is she going to help them elevate
past where they were? I don't think so. Okay,
and then their players coming back are Abby Walker
in the middle. Raina Terry on the outside and
Megan Lush on the outside. Okay, so I can get
behind Lush and Terry and Cologne, but all of
them are outsides. I'm wondering if one of the
outsides is going to have to go play opposite.
Possibly Cologne. I mean, she swings. She hits
really well out of the back row. Yeah. Pittman's
a decent blocker. She's not great offensively.
I still think they're going to be bottom of the
league. Yeah, I don't think they're going to.
Based on what I'm seeing so far. Atlanta's one.
They are two. Of two. The Dallas Pulse. Brand
new team. New team. No roster from last year.
And I might as well throw it in now. Vegas is
not a team this year in MLB. But our girl Shane
and Windsor is coaching Dallas. You know our
thoughts about everything that went down with
the Canadian national team. She was the Canadian
national team head coach before what I think
happened was outed. But she is coaching Dallas,
so we're excited about that. She does a phenomenal
job. Right off the bat, she's worth points in
my book. Yes, so hit me with the squad. So on
the outside, they have Kaylee Cox, Western Kentucky.
They have Jelly Sear from Arizona State. I know
some of these played MLB, but I'm just saying
where they're from originally. They have Sofia
Maldonado -Diaz, who played at Louisville, and
Isabel Martin at Florida. Thoughts on the outside
hitting core? Not loving it. Okay. Do you have
any thoughts other than not loving it? I mean,
I think their strongest... I'm not familiar with
Cox from Western Kentucky, so forgive me. But
Maldonado -Diaz is the strongest attacker in
that group for me, from what I know. And compared
to the others, she's not a Cologne. She's not
a Leah Edmond. No, a little undersized. We saw
at least collegiately couldn't score when the
chips were down. She played right side collegiately.
She was in the 6 -2 for Louisville on the right
side. Yeah, but she still wasn't scoring. Like
she wasn't a main point scorer for them. So what
about passing and stuff? Yeah. I think she was
a decent all -around player. On the opposite,
they have Malaya Jones. So I think that's a really
good player. In the middle, they have Caitlin
Hoard, who played at both Penn State and Nebraska.
They have Carson Bacon from Oregon. They have
Lane Van Buskirk, who played at Pitt, but she's
Canadian. So she has experience with... Did you
see how excited he got when he said that? ...Windsor
on the national team. But she's Canadian. My
point was she has a connection with the coach.
They have Natalie Valentina Anderson as the setter,
along with Celia Cullen, who played at SMU, and
Kendall White and Kylie Murr as their liberos.
Thoughts on the expansion team? I like their
opposites. Kind of stops there. I mean, Valentina
Anderson started setting for Omaha last year,
and then maybe for the whole year. Kaelin Horde
came from Omaha. You know, the experience in
the setting position is big. The opposite is
good. Kylie Murr was starting for a team last
year. Where would I put them in the teams we've
heard so far? Third? Do you think they're ahead
of Columbus? I think they'll be better than Columbus.
They might not start that way, but... I'm not
loving this. Atlanta's the best team that we've
heard so far. Yeah, agreed. This roster, it's
going to be tough point scoring, I think. But
you do, like, Jellix here is a good ball control
player. This team's going to pass well. I think
they'll focus on trying to run the middle and
score points there to open up the outside hitters.
I know Shannon's kind of philosophy on that,
so we'll see if they can pull that together.
This team doesn't jump off the page for me, though.
Okay, let's look at Grand Rapid Rise. So they
finished fifth overall. They have a whole bunch
of returning players in Carly Snyder on the outside,
Elena Ogilvie as a libero, Paige Briggs as an
outside hitter, Cameron Turner as the setter,
and Alyssa Jensen as a middle. So they have some
familiarity with their players coming back. So
they have an international player coming in.
I'm not great with names as it's been pointed
out many times. So I'm going to butcher this
one and I apologize ahead of time. Ramat Alhassan.
She played five years in Italy A1, but she hasn't
played in two years. So she's coming in. She's
an experienced player. We'll see where she's
at from a volleyball standpoint after taking
that much time off. But that's an interesting
addition that may pay dividends. They have an
outside hitter coming in from who played at Indiana.
Candela Alonso. So she's going to play opposite.
They brought in Sage Kahana Torres as the setter.
So I think that that will, I'm curious who's
going to set her or Cameron Turner. I think Sage
will. That's a possibility. And then on the opposite
side, they also brought in a foreign player,
Elizabeth Image from Romania. She has a ton of
experience as well. And they have Lauren Jardine
coming in. So there's going to be some competition.
They brought in some veterans from overseas who
played in other leagues, which I think will be
good for the culture, at least like understanding
what it should look like. I think that's important
in this league as they get established and figure
that out. So I really like the moves that they've
made. I thought that Grand Rapids was an interesting
team last year where they had. Some games they
looked really good, but then there was some inconsistency.
I thought they got better as the season went
on. So I think they're going to be more competitive
this year than they were last year. I mean, bringing
in Kahina Torres is good. Jardim did some good
things when she was given a chance last season.
You spoke about the experience. I'm going to
say of the teams we've heard, I'm going to put
them second. I think that that's fair on paper.
I like where they're at. For me, they don't really
have any, like, standouts, but they have a bunch
of, like, solid players. They could be a good
team. So I think... Like, I don't really see
anybody, like, topping the stats charts. No.
But I think, like, when they put it all together,
they could be decent. Yeah. Looking at Indie
Ignite, my favorite team, personally. Because
he likes Elena Scott. I like Anna DeBeer as well.
He likes the Louisville girls. I like that team.
They finished fourth last year. So returning
for them is Elena Scott, Zani Thieler, Lydia
Martin, Leketor, Member Mena, also coming back
along with Ana Debir, even though Ana didn't
play a ton last season. So they have some very
good players who performed well coming back,
which is a good start. And then they've added
Alexandra Boteset from Italy. So she's in the
middle. Kara Cressy is coming in the middle.
Emma Halter is playing for this team. Maybe she'll
set. Maybe she'll play libero. Who knows? She's
got great hands. They have Cameron Hanna, Taylor
Lanphair coming in. They also have Mia Tuoniga
coming in as well. I actually think this is one
of the deepest teams. This team is really deep
and I really like them, but I'm not loving the
setting situation. Well, their setters are small.
and not super physical. So that is where I see
their potential issue being. So we'll see how
they manage to kind of overcome that, what defensive
systems they play, if they face really good big
left sides. They don't really have an option.
There's not enough subs to play a true 6 -2,
but they could run... somewhat of a 6 -2 for
a few rotations. I really like this roster. I
do too. Do you like them better than Atlanta?
I think for me, this is a number one. This is
the number one team that we've seen so far. Yeah,
I was just quickly trying to run through the
Atlanta roster again. This team is like you said,
really deep. They have a lot of players. The
only question mark to me though was the setting.
Agreed. You know our thoughts on that. A great
setter can really elevate, and a not -so -great
setter can really bring a good team down. Yeah,
I mean, it's true. They have options, though,
so hopefully they're going to be able to find
somebody who connects with the hitters. I like
this team. I think this is a very good team.
I think they're going to be a lot of fun to watch.
The Omaha Supernovas, I'm not going to say anything
else, they pretty much had a full roster reconstruction.
I definitely think Omaha spent the most money
on their roster. I have more money than anything,
I think. Yes. Stang, obviously, Brooke Nunneviller,
who was incredibly good last season, and Reagan
Cooper. So they are both staying, and pretty
much everybody else has been kicked to the curb
from last year. That's what happens. What about
Landot? I think Landot is still on the team.
But Landot didn't play a ton last year. So from
the people who played the most sets, those are
the two that are returning. So we're going to
run through this really quickly. In the setting
position, they have Sydney Hilly and Brooke Mosher.
So that's a very good duo, in my opinion. They
have a lot of options at opposite. None of them
very good, in my opinion. Why do you have so
many opposites? So they have Ali Shek, they have
Merritt Beeson, and they have Emily Lawndot.
I'm kind of thinking they're just going to try
and figure out who's going to step up and play.
I don't love any of those selections. But again,
they have options. They picked up Morgan Hentz,
so I like that. As a libero, I think she'll do
a good job there. And then they also picked up
Nora Siss as an outside to add to that collection.
So they'll be pretty strong on the left side.
What, with Brooke Nenoville and Nora Siss? Yeah.
And they also have Reagan Cooper. So between
the three of them, I think that's a decent outside
core comparatively. And then in the middle, they
have Kiara Reinhardt, Toyona Onobonjo, and Layla
Blackwell. No, you don't love it? No, I'm not
loving this roster. Okay, give me your thoughts.
I like the Sutter situation. I like the Libero
situation. Nunaviller was very good last season.
But other than that, I'm not loving it. What
about Toyosi Onobonjo? She didn't even play last
year. You don't think she's going to be good
this year? Well, I don't know. I'm just... Okay.
I'm going on instinct here. I'm hearing this
and I'm just saying what my heart is feeling.
Okay. So I'm going to put them third of the teams
we've heard so far. Well, wait. How would you
compare them to Grand Rapids? I think they'll
be more consistent than Grand Rapids. I don't
think they're going to run away with the league
the way they did last year, regular season -wise.
No. I'm debating whether to put them or Grand
Rapids ahead of each other. Yeah, I think that's
where they slot for me. It seems like they picked
a lot of players who would be well -known in
Nebraska. Some of them were fan choices versus
volleyball choices, at least for some of these.
But we'll see what happens with that. Well, Sidney
Hilli played for Omaha in season one. I mean,
again, I like those. Their first and second contact
is going to be very good. And then we'll see
from there what happens. Well, oftentimes that
is enough. Well, and that's where I think they
might have an edge. So they've got those two
positions down pat. And then they have a bunch
of options. Again, whether the coach is willing
to make substitutions, figure out who's going
to play. We'll see how they manage that. But
contacts one and two will be pretty good. Orlando
Valkyrie finished third last year. But won the
whole league. But won the whole league. So they're
bringing most of their starters back. So coming
back, Brittany Abercrombie, Kaz Brown is coming
back. Natalie Foster's coming back. Courtney
Schwan is coming back. Their setter Pornpon is
coming back. Emmy Klicka also coming back. Added
to the roster, Charity Looper on the outside,
Hannah Maddox on the outside, and Naya Shemay
as an opposite coming from Grand Rapids. What
are your thoughts on their additions? I mean,
they obviously... Peaked at the right time. They
had a good finish to the season. I kind of like
that they kept their roster almost intact. I
do too. I mean, if you're winning. I mean, they
won. They had a little dip. They were a little
up and down a little bit last year, but then,
like you said, really hit their stride when it
mattered. Everything rode on Abercrombie. I was
going to say, if I remember correctly, Abercrombie
struggled at the beginning of the season a little
bit. No, she did really well at the beginning,
had a lull in the middle, and then came back.
So their success was directly correlated to her.
Hannah Maddox is an interesting addition for
me. She's either really hot or really cold. There's
no in -between, so I'm curious how they utilize
her. It's an interesting pickup because you already
have a couple good outsides, so you don't need
to use her, but you could bring her in. I like
this roster better than Omaha's, honestly. I
do as well. I'm curious what's going to happen.
Can Nia Shemay potentially go to the outside?
Is she only an opposite? Like you're not going
to play in front of Abercrombie probably, so
are you going to be a backup? Because I think
she's decent. It'll be interesting to see what
they do with some of their pieces. I thought
last year their second outside, like Courtney
Schwan, was a decent passer, but they couldn't
score particularly well. So I think they've added
a little more offensive ability on the left side
of the court. We'll see. how that comes with
the ball control. Hornpun is a small setter,
so they're going to have to deal with that again.
But I like the way she delivers the ball. I like
their team. I think they're going to be one of
the best teams in the league again. Yeah, me
too. They seem to be operating as a franchise,
like did well, kept their players. Like you saw
a whole bunch of rosters completely turned over
and expansion teams. So there's some stability
here, which I think bodes well, especially given
that they won. And finally, we have San Diego,
who finished sixth in the league. They're returning
three players in. Shira Venegas is the libero.
Kendra Delke is an outside hitter. Maya Tabron
as an outside hitter, also coming back. And then
they're bringing in a whole bunch of players.
Again, kind of a huge roster makeover. And we're
not going to go over everybody, but probably
pretty close. Jillian Grimes coming in as the
libero, so I like that pickup. They brought in
two liberos and they kept their starting libero.
Yeah, there's going to be a lot of... Well, I
think this libero is 6 -2. I think she can play
outside. We'll see what happens with that. Possibly
some options there. On the outside, they're also
bringing in Allison Jacobs, Grace Loberg, and
Aiden Kubik. Don't know if I love any of those
options. I mean, they're all fine. Yeah. You're
going to have lots of opportunity. These aren't
franchise outsides. No. But they're fine. But
you'll have these, all of these players will
have an opportunity to fight for a spot and to
kind of make the jump to the next level. So they
brought in five middles, which is wild. Where
are they getting this money or are they not paying
anybody? I don't know. Kayla Caffey coming in,
Taylor Sambuthi coming in, who played at Love.
last year. Maren Grote coming in and then two
other middles. So they have five. I have no idea
looking at this who's going to end up playing.
Roster decisions will be very interesting with
this team. They have three opposites. Morgan
Lewis, Ashley Cosimo and Jovana Bracocevic. She's
obviously Serbian. She's 37. She's played with
her. Yeah. I was going to say Sarah's played
with her. So again, like three opposites for
one spot. We'll see what happens. They brought
in a veteran president. I mean, she played all
over the world. She's played in some good leagues
as well. How, what are your expectations of her
coming here? I think she'll be fine. I think
she'll probably be the starter at the beginning
at least. And then see what happens. And then
they also brought in, they have three setters
coming in. This is insane. This is literally
insane. August Rasky. Most people volunteering
to play. August Rasky, Marley Monserez, and Carly
Graham. This roster. Messy. This is the spaghetti
roster. We're going to throw a whole bunch of
cooked spaghetti at the fridge and see what sticks.
I thought it was the wall, but Adam throws it
at the fridge. Wall, fridge. The fridge is easier
to wipe down. Get that stainless steel cleaner
out. They're just spick and span. There doesn't
seem to be a plan here. It is aggregate as many
players as we can and we'll see what's going
on. I'm not loving this. I don't like this at
all. I think there's maybe... Are you putting
them above or below Dallas? Below Dallas. I love
a plan. This does not seem like a small plan.
This does not seem well thought out. Again, it
just makes me think they took the best players
they think they could get and didn't have any
roster construction or how are players going
to fit with other players. They need to join
our Play Volley Fantasy League so that they can
learn some budgeting. Yeah. Don't love the roster.
I would expect them to probably be at the bottom
of the league again. Based on what we've heard,
our rankings are Atlanta or Indy Atlanta, Orlando,
Omaha, Grand Rapids, and then Dallas, San Diego.
Yeah, something like that. I think Omaha will
probably be a little higher than that. They'll
probably finish third in the regular season.
We'll see. But yeah, something like that I think
makes a lot of sense. Well, feel free to take
some of our notes into consideration when you're
building your fantasy team. Or maybe we're trying
to sabotage you. None of this is good information.
We just sacrificed this entire segment just to
beat you in the fantasy league. But given my
track record, it looks like you all will be.
As you're building your teams, I would just recommend
you to read how the salary cap works because
it fluctuates based off player performance and
contract length. It's a very interesting mechanism.
But if you haven't played fantasy before, it
might be a little unique. Feel free to shoot
us some questions. If you have any, send them
to me, not to Sarah. I'll answer them for you.
And then we can go from there. But I think it's
going to be a lot of fun. Wait, why shouldn't
they write me? Well, we had a half hour conversation
about this today as I was trying to explain how
it worked. So Sarah's never really played a fantasy
like this. Have you? Yes. Now I know what Adam's
doing when he says he's taking care of the baby.
I'm just kidding. She's sleeping. I'm doing my
fantasy picks. Well, you guys, you're guaranteed
to be one person. It is me. So that is our preview
for MLV. As we said, we're going to dive into
Love next week. But both leagues do start this
week. We're going to dive into that a little
bit later. So hopefully you guys will enjoy the
kickoff of those matches this week. All right,
everybody, it's time for listener questions.
We have got quite the lineup this week. Most
are quite relevant to what we've talked about
today. So question one, I'd love to know your
opinions on the love team formats that greatly
mirror college squads and the pros and cons of
keeping that system moving forward into future
seasons. This person said, personally, I'm not
a fan of having primarily a Nebraska slash Texas
heavy squad. I think it hurts the pro mentality
and growth when you keep all these college athletes
on the same team. Agree with the sentiment long
term. But I also think it's a smart strategy
in the short term because there have been several
iterations or attempts at creating pro volleyball
in the U .S. and all of them have failed. Now,
what hasn't failed is the women's college game,
which is more fascinating, lots of fans, lots
of interest. So I think... By leveraging those
players who have fan bases already as they come
out of college and switch them into pro, it helps
build the fan base and the knowledge and people
want to watch those players. I think you'll see
a transition out of this as the leagues become
better known and build their own fan bases. But
at the beginning, I actually think it's a smart
play to try and get people interested. in volleyball
outside of the NCAA. Yeah, I mean, I totally
understand that. I also agree with this person
in that I'm not a fan of really seeing that.
I do think it takes away from the professional
atmosphere, the professional mentality that this
person was referring to. So I do see both sides.
My feeling sides with this person who asked the
question, but... for growing the the league etc
i agree and understand with what you're saying
question two since we're in international club
season what are your top club teams that you're
excited to see with the new updated rosters what
are teams that you think will make a deep run
in champions league or their own home league
and which teams do you think did a downgrade
there's a ton in this question and i think we'll
get into it a little deeper as we watch Some
of the teams start to play. Yeah, I mean, full
disclosure, I have not, with NCAA season, I haven't
been able to really lock in on the pro season
yet. I'll tell you, there's a couple storylines
I'm interested in following. Conigliano losing
early in the season, I find fascinating. Not
even early, just like throughout. Yes, but they
lost the cup. Early in the season. They lost
the Cup early, but then Club Worlds and this
latest loss to Milano was like mid -season. Yes.
So for me, that's a fascinating storyline because
they have mostly the same team back. Virtually
the same team back. So, you know, I always find
it interesting of what's going on there. Did
the other teams get better? Is there a little
apathy that set in? So that's something I'll
be watching. I really watched pro men's for the
first time for real last season. And I really
enjoyed a lot of that. So I'm looking forward
to getting to know a few more of the men's Italian
teams, but also some of the Polish teams. They
were a ton of fun to watch. I really liked watching
the men's Polish national team. So watching some
of those players on their pro teams is something
I'm looking forward to. Watching Fenerbahce last
season, my biggest knock on them was their setting.
So bringing Alessia Oro in, I am... Very curious
to see how they have evolved in her connection
with Vargas. And Fedor Oteva, to be honest. Vacavbank
is always interesting. I'm curious to watch Boscovich.
Like, might be a hot take, but, like, has she
peaked already? Like, is she on the decline?
I'm very curious, because... club season last
year, international season this summer. Wasn't
her best. There's that. So I think Fenerbahce
made an upgrade. I expected big things from Corneliano
because they were virtually the same. Novara
came on strong at the end of last season, so
I was curious about them. I was interested to
see how Kami Miner stepped into Milano and how
they were doing losing Silla to Galatasaray and
Oro. And they also lost... to Vacavbank too,
I believe. So they had some big changes. Yeah,
Scandici bringing Avery Skinner over there. They
lost Carol. Like there was a lot of interesting
movement. I know in Woods, things kind of went
down with one team there because there's two
Champions League teams in Woods. So that was
really interesting to me. There was a lot, but
I will say I was expecting big things from Fenerbahce.
In Corneliano, I expected the decline from Milano.
On the men's side, Trentino Perugia, I always
enjoy watching them. I love watching, as you
were saying, Zawierce from the Polish side. I
do want to get more into the Japanese league
this year. Oh, good call, good call. I think
there's lots of good stuff happening there, and
they show the Japanese league on VBTV. Lots to
get into. But this was a very good question.
Question three, how do you think the transfer
portal could be improved? Given the complexities
introduced by NIL, perfection is unlikely, but
what rational steps could be taken to reward
loyalty? And I have lots of questions about the
transfer portal. Somebody was saying, do you
think there should be a cap on how many players
you can take from the portal to help coaches,
like force coaches to actually develop players?
So, yeah, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah,
I have a couple thoughts. Now, first and foremost,
this should be about the athletes. So I think
you have to keep that in mind. I think it's really
easy to go, okay, you can't transfer, you can't
do this. But you have to remember NIL came about
because the schools were making so much money,
not specifically in volleyball, although some
programs were, but football and basketball, and
there having to be freedom for athletes to not
be taken advantage of, which I'm all for. Specifically...
For women's volleyball. And I think it would
actually benefit lots of sports. To have different
transfer rules. For different sports. Given roster
sizes. Given roster sizes. Given the amount of
money in different sports. And things like that.
I don't think there's a one size fits all solution.
So specifically. We're talking volleyball. Yes.
Specifically for volleyball. I think a couple
things. I think you should be able to get. One
transfer per four years. An athlete. Per athlete.
The people who are going to three or four programs,
stop it. I think if you want to transfer more
than once, you should have to sit out a season.
That, again, my personal opinion. And I think
that schools should only be able to pick up two
or three transfer players per year. I think it
should be very similar to the foreigner rule.
And I think that. Well, cause like everybody
has a knock on athletes and I am one of them
for having no loyalty. Coaches have no loyalty
either though. No, true. Very, very few of them.
And I will go back to the Kennedy Rogers discussion
bringing in, like she did a really good job for
all intents and purposes, probably earned herself
a starting spot for the next year gone because
Sully Davis came in. Yeah. So. I think those
two things would be very helpful. Or it would
at least make people think. You see athletes
enter the portal and then come back to their
own school. Come on. That's ridiculous. It would
be nice to see coaches and athletes think through
the moves they have to do so that they benefit
everybody. I definitely think there needs to
be consequences. A transfer should be a huge
deal. Yes. I think like you're literally picking
up your life. You're moving somewhere new. You
are like changing academic institutions, which
transferring credits, not always easy. Teammate.
There's so many aspects that are a huge deal.
So I think that there should, you should really
have to think about it hard. And I think there
should be two other caveats. One, if your coach
leaves, I think you should be allowed to leave
penalty free because I think. A lot of people
go places to play for a specific coach. So if
that happens, that would be kind of like a free
pass. And then I think when it comes to the money
aspect, there should be a cap on how much money
you can make the first year you're out of school,
the second year you're out of school, and the
third year you're out of school. Out of school?
No, like if you, the first year you're at an
institution. Out of school. I thought you said
out of school. I was like, whoa. The first year
you're out of school, you can make X amount.
you it bumps up the longer you're there to reward
staying at a program i think well how is texas
gonna get any i'm just kidding you guys know
texas catches strays for me all the time relax
okay i'm kidding so like how are some of these
schools gonna even get athletes then if they
can't waive the dollars no i'm not saying they
can't waive the dollars they can still but i'm
saying that you there should be financial incentives
for staying at a school i think that would be
also interesting Question four, do you think
athletes are doing themselves a disservice by
playing in the Italian and other pro leagues
in general and then coming back to play in Love
or the PVF? I've gotten a lot of these types
of questions, and a lot of them, I'll say the
majority of them, revolve around Amber Eyed Jeed.
So for those of you who aren't familiar, Amber
Eyed Jeed played for Novara in Italy. For the
first chunk of the season and then left to come
back to play pro in love. And she was doing really
well. She was making a big impact, making a name
for herself in the Italian league and then up
and packed it up and came back to, I think she
was in Houston or is back in Houston. She is
the reference point for a lot of these questions.
And then it goes to. does this hurt their development
and potential future on the national team? And
then I ask, I'm like, I can think we can expand
that to say, does you think, do you think that
it hurts their chances of taking a serious contract
somewhere later? I'll start with the last thing
you asked. Yes, if you get labeled as a person
who just bails on their team. No, I'm pretty
sure she signed her contract with Novara for
only part of this, for like half the season.
Okay, then no. If you start breaking contracts,
that's an issue for getting future contracts.
But if you signed knowing that you were going
to do that, totally legit. I feel like it's got
to be hard, though, to sign those kind of contracts.
When the market opens in January, you see a lot
of players come to help teams finish their season.
You don't often see teams be like, yeah, you
can help start our season. Do you know what I
mean? I'm surprised that the team would have
signed that contract, but to each their own.
A couple of the other questions you asked I think
are worth talking about. I still think that the
Italian and the Turkish leagues playing against
really good competition. consistently matters
for improvement. I also think that learning a
new style and a new system and stepping out of
your comfort zone is also incredibly important
for development. So both of those things, I think,
allows athletes to prepare for the international
game better than playing in Love or MLV right
now. Obviously, the goal is to improve the quality
of the league. But as of right now, the Italian
and the Turkish leagues are better. You're getting
better competition. The rosters are deeper. If
you're playing with some of those top teams,
you're going to get better, period. So from a
developmental standpoint, yes, I think it's tough.
From a personal standpoint, and you can speak
to this, it's hard to go overseas and play for
eight or nine months by yourself. It's not...
a great lifestyle you know obviously there are
some great things it's definitely not for everybody
yeah so i think there's a huge draw on a personal
level to play in the u .s and to be part of growing
the game here those two things are currently
mutually exclusive well i will also say we don't
know how long a contract ig signed for like she
may have signed a two -year contract with love
i would be curious to see if this is a pattern
that continues with her she may not have had
a choice this year and was like I want to go
overseas but I'm stuck for another year in love
like I need to like I'm gonna put myself out
there and like at least do what I can yeah if
this does become a pattern though I completely
I agree with what you're saying I think if you
have legit national team aspirations gold medal
aspirations want to be one of the best players
in the world aspirations, you need to go to a
top league. And as we've talked about right now,
the domestic leagues in the U .S. just aren't
that. I just look at following your career and
watching you play in some of those atmospheres
and how much better you got even in your late
20s, early 30s. Yeah. And it makes a difference.
And you look at the U .S. teams that were successful
internationally over the past two decades. And
I know there wasn't a league here. I know it's
not apples to apples, but they all competed in
the best leagues in the world. It is hard. There's
no denying that. You have to decide how bad you
want it. And your lifespan as an athlete is so
short. When things would be tough overseas, I
would literally, if I had like, I don't know,
four months left on my contract, I'd be like,
I can do anything for four months. You can do
anything for four months. Excellence isn't easy,
and it's not always comfortable. Okay, question
five. How strong are the top volleyball clubs
compared to national teams? Take Conigliano,
arguably the best team in the world. Is Conigliano
on par with or even stronger than some national
teams? This person says yes, but how strong are
they really? Would Conigliano compete with Turkey,
Brazil, Italy? Same question, but for the best
male clubs. Perugia, Zaxa, Trento. And they compete
with top national teams. Yes. You're bringing
in the best players from all of the countries.
Now, there might be some iterations of some of
these teams. Let's take Corneliano. Well, okay.
But the other question is, are these players
then playing? Like, do you have Gabi on both
teams? Yeah. Is Gabi on Corneliano and Brazil?
Yes. I'm saying yes. Okay. Okay. So let's take
Corneliano. You've got... Volosh, who would be
starting setter for Poland. Gabi, starting left
side for Brazil. Zhu Ting, who would be starting
for China. So far, all top national teams. Then
we've got Sarah Farr starting for Italy. Kirikella,
okay, not so much, but she has been in the national
team pipeline. De Janeiro, best libero in the
world. And Isabel Hawk, who could start as a
right side for the majority of countries in the
world. They legitimately, I think, would beat
national teams. Yeah, totally. Okay, looking
at national teams, I feel like they could beat
the majority. I think one that they might have
trouble with is Italy. I think the Conigliano
left sides are better than the Italian left sides.
But, you know, Seraphar, the wash. I think Danezi
is better than Kirikella. You could make an argument
that potentially Hawk and Egonu would cancel
each other out. What was the question? I said
you could make an argument. Yes, okay, you can
make an argument. And I think Oro's better than
Volosh. Yeah, agreed. And Dajunaro cancels herself
out, although she's retired. So Konoyama would
get the edge now, perhaps. It's an interesting
question. The other thing to think about too
is that these pro teams train together more than
the national teams do. Exactly. Totally. Nine
months versus like three or four. Yeah. It's
an interesting debate. And I do think probably
most top teams. Do you think they could beat
the Brazilians? I think the big thing with the
Brazilians is the setting. Oh, I think Volos
would beat their setter. I think Hawk is better
than their right side. I think. The setting in
the right side would be the difference maker.
It'd be close in the middle. Gabi's a wash. And
then you have Anna Christina. Yeah. I think they
would lose that match on the right side of the
court. Interesting question. I love that question.
But that's the thing is like you have these teams
that are the best in the world, men's and women's
side, who have the budgets to handpick stars
from the national teams. Yeah. Even when you're
looking at the men's side, I think it's like
a similar discussion. Completely. Is the best
club teams in the world beat national teams,
period. Yeah, you have a much bigger athlete
pool to pull from, assuming you have the pocketbook.
And the best teams do. Okay, question six. I
was wondering if you guys could discuss similar
to the scouting report discussion that we had.
in a few episodes ago why conigliano is beyond
successful and is a dynasty caliber team i understand
they have some of the best players in each position
but so do other top programs i feel as though
santorelli the coach is one of the premier coaches
in the world you could talk about this question
for hours and probably one of my favorite things
to do is sit and have beers and talk about things
like this quite frankly I think when you look
at teams like this, in any sport, it comes down
to the expectation the coaches set for the team.
You watch the best coaches in the world, and
it doesn't matter if you're practicing against
your JV team or you're practicing to play in
the finals. They approach training and performance
the same way all the time. forces you to be excellent
and to learn to be excellent and to be excellent
when you don't feel good all the time. And that,
in my opinion, is what leads to consistency.
And it comes down to everybody on the team filling
a role and understanding they can step in and
play. Gabi has a bad game. It doesn't happen
often. I'm just using this as an example. That
next person has been training to play. The coach
has enabled them. Step in and be consistent.
And that's what it takes. And when I've been
in gyms of top coaches, Bernard Genio, national
team coaches, it's the expectation when you show
up that you are striving to be great all the
time. And it's really hard to do over long periods
of time. But I would say that's what he does
incredibly well. I agree with you to an extent.
I think, you know, if we look at the part of
the question, that's like. Yes, Corneliano has
top world -class athletes. So do other programs.
I think in the pro sphere, nobody has necessarily
an alliance or an allegiance to a specific team.
You know, there are different reasons why people
go different places, but money plays a big role.
So there's not really that allegiance. Everybody's
looking out for themselves. The thing about the
pro level as opposed to... the college level
or whatever is the power dynamic, the coach and
the players are on the same level in the pro
world because the organizations kind of control
everything. And so the coaches and the players
both have to answer to the organization. And
so I think that being on the same level, it creates
a very interesting dynamic. So building on what
Adam said, I think the dynamic that Santorelli
has probably been able to cultivate in bridging
the gap between being technically on equal footing
to his players, but managing that relationship,
I think is probably different than some other
programs. The other thing is like at the pro
level, you're looking at the intangibles. And
I think you don't see a lot of pro teams that
are like super close. Like you're there to do
a job. So it's just like how have they been able
to create that culture, as you said, but also
that dynamic of respect. but wanting to win and
not seeing it just as a paycheck. I think those
intangible things kind of set the world -class
teams or teams comprised of world -class players
apart from each other. Question seven. If MLV
draftees don't take their offers and aren't going
to League One, where do they usually end up?
I mean, it totally depends on how good they are.
It depends on if they had deals in place already
for other leagues because it could be late. But
where do they end up? They usually go to Europe
or South America or Puerto Rico if they want
to continue playing. Some of them might not continue
playing and just go to grad school, go get a
job, whatever. But I would say the ones that
don't take their offers for MLV and don't go
to League One, you will see them. play potentially
in France or Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Greece.
Those are common places that those athletes will
go. Puerto Rico. So yeah, that's where you'll
see them if they choose to continue playing.
Question eight. Among the more notable players,
who do you think should enter the transfer portal
because a change of scene might help them slash
be good for them? You know who entered my mind?
Sky Pierce from Nebraska. Do you know who the
first person I thought of? Who? Babcock. She
did cross my mind. I'm not going to lie. She
did cross my mind, but I almost felt like I couldn't
say it. Shocker, I know. Strictly to win. I don't
really know much about her, but she was Gatorade
Player of the Year. You go to Nebraska, you literally
never touch the court. I feel like a player of
that caliber should play. People's motivations
are different. Some people go to programs like
playing is not important to them, just being
a part of a winning program, whatever. Everybody's
motivations are different. But to see somebody
who apparently was that talented just... not
really get a chance to play. That's sad to me.
I have a couple other names that rattled around
my brain. Kennedy Martin before people ended
up going to Penn State. Before the resurgence.
So that would have been one. Naomi Glover pops
into mind. Arizona State wins, but they're not.
Glover did enter the transfer portal. She came
from Oregon. I mean, yes. We could have said
Cologne. She tried it. Came right back. I still
think at Arizona, I think she's good enough to
play on a better team. And then I don't want
to say this because I really like what Oregon
did this year. And I hope that they continue
to build. But Clemente had one heck of a season.
And I think Oregon was better than the record
showed. But if they're not, she could definitely
play somewhere. And it's like she signed originally
or she was committed to LMU and then followed
Kirsten there. I don't think, I think she flew
under a lot of people's radars. I think she did
too. I mean, there are a bunch. I think we saw
some that felt they needed to transfer, transfer.
But yeah, I'm just thinking like people who are
on the bench at their program that maybe, like
you can look at Nebraska, like aside from Sky
Pierce, you can look at like. The majority of
the Nebraska bench and say that. Yeah, a bunch
of people from Wisconsin. I think Trinity transferring
was good. Well, Wisconsin, they lost a bunch
of people. I think there's a ton of talented
players who were sitting on benches of really
good teams who just aren't going to get a shot.
But honestly, Babcock did cross my mind, too.
I was like, she is so good, and I don't think
she's ever going to win one. Watch them win next
year. This is a good question. Okay, our last
question for the day. I was wondering if you
guys could explain how European volleyball clubs
operate their business models to support their
youth or lower -level teams compared to the club
volleyball system in North America, where, at
least in the United States, the prices for youth
participation are high with no real grassroots
to professional system. Okay, I don't necessarily
know the ins and outs, so if we do have a European
listener out there that wants to expand on this
or if I get something wrong. Please let me know.
It's very similar to soccer. Yeah, it's similar.
If you know about the European soccer system
or even what we see in North America now for
soccer, it is similar. So you have the organization,
let's say there's an umbrella under one title
sponsor or title corporation that is sponsoring
a team. You have the top team, which let's take
in Italy, for example, you have your top team,
which plays in A1, the top league. You will often
then have a younger group of girls who are maybe,
you know, 18 to 22, not quite at the level of
the top team. And they'll maybe play in B, B2.
That sort of thing. And then you'll also have
teenagers who play in their group. And then you'll
have young, young kids. So all of these teams
are under the same name. So let's use Corneliano,
for example. like really little kids, and they
all operate under the same sponsor's name. They
are the club. And basically, they are, I don't
think they have to pay to play. I think the youth
might have to cover their expenses. They might
have to cover their expenses, but it's like.
The coaches are paid for by the club. Exactly.
All of those things. The organization as a whole
takes care of everybody. They train in the same
places at different times. They operate in their
own leagues, but they are a group organization.
I mean, it's similar to how you see. But you
see like the young kids, if they go to like learn
to play, maybe they have to pay. but it could
potentially also be a community program that
the club provides. And it creates like that automatic
pipeline where people stay in the system. Look,
it works the way a lot of the professional sports
in North America work, right? All the NHL teams,
I'm most familiar with hockey, have an AHL team.
A lot of them have grassroots programs. You look
at California, they have the mini Kings, they
have the... mini ducks and the san jose sharks
have a youth organization it you want to be a
part of the community because those are the people
who pay for your tickets to come so it benefits
you to be there and be engaged and provide those
services and you need talent identification you
want the game to be growing in your area so it
benefits the organization to help run all these
the other big difference i think is that you're
not stuck in an age group Like you are in North
America. If you're good, you go play with the
B2 team at 14. Like you could see a 16 -year
-old, yeah, go play with the team playing in
B2. And so it's about skill and potential, not
about age, which I think is one of the biggest
differences. But I also feel like in North America,
we're such a capitalistic society that it's always
about money. And you can see that love is like...
Kind of following that model, but I feel like
it's like the youth are paying for the pro, whereas
in Europe it's reversed. Well, again, it's different
because the sports have different profiles. That
doesn't happen in the major sports in North America
because there are money and owners and sponsors
involved. That's volleyball in Europe. They're
just trying to. Volleyball in North America has
to get to a point where it's worth somebody investing.
to have all of that infrastructure in place.
And in the meantime, they're trying to figure
out a way to make it float and make it a viable
career for the pros. Lots of great questions,
as always. Keep them coming. Our bank is full.
Our question bank is overflowing. Tried to knock
off a whole bunch of them today. Hopefully you
enjoyed that. And I always like reading your
questions. So like I said, keep them coming.
All right, so the looking forward section is
going to have a variety moving forward. So lots
of different things to watch, lots of things
to pay attention to. Champions League matches
are on Wednesday and Thursday, and that's on
Euro Volley TV. Men's and women's. Yeah, men's
and women's. I think the subscription is relatively
inexpensive. I want to say like 16 bucks for
three months or something. Yeah, if you are going
to watch Champions League and you want to do
that, well worth the investment. Looking at the
Italian league, we have Trentino playing Verona.
That's a one versus three in the league matchup.
That's Sunday at 11 a .m. Eastern. You can get
that on VBTV. And then Sunday at 10 a .m. Eastern,
we have Conigliano playing Chieri. That's an
Italian women's league. That's a one versus four
matchup. And that one should also be a pretty
good game. Looking at locally. Love has first
serve on Wednesday. That's on USA Network. And
Austin is hosting Nebraska. And then you can
catch matches Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
on Victory and ESPN Plus as well. So a lot of
the American volleyball in Love and MLV are kind
of all over the place on different networks.
So you're going to have to put a little effort
in to finding those. I'm hoping that the replays
will be posted on their YouTube channels. Not
sure how that's going to go with rights and things
like that. And then talking about MLV specifically,
first service on Thursday with Columbus playing
Atlanta. That's at 7 p .m. Eastern. That one
will actually be on YouTube, so that's good.
And then they have matches every day, Thursday
to Sunday as well. And as we mentioned, NCAA
men's volleyball is also happening, but the NCAA
is not. consolidated all the info yet so that
is on it'll be on ESPN plus but that concludes
this week's episode of volley talk there's always
something shaking in the volleyball world and
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