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 volleyball player,

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international volleyball coach, and the show's

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resident stat guy. Happy New Year, everybody.

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Hope everybody had a really happy and safe holiday

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season. Relaxed a little bit, spent time with

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friends and family. You know, we took the week

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off. It was very nice to have a break, spend

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time with everyone. So we're back. We're ready

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to take on 2026, which is crazy to think about,

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but here we are. The NCAA season ended with a

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lot of excitement, but winter means pro leagues

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and NCAA men's volleyball. So that is going to

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be our focus here for the next several months.

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And Champions League. Pro leagues. Okay. Well,

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for those people who maybe aren't as familiar,

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there's pro leagues and Champions Leagues, which

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is fun. There we go. And of course, we need to

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talk about the transfer portal situation because

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we know that we never fully escape NCAA women's

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volleyball. Let's be honest. No matter what.

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Sarah's holiday was spent looking at the transfer

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portal and being excited about all the things

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that were happening. So she's ready to get going.

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I will say our listeners were keeping me up to

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date, okay? The number of informants I have now,

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you guys are scouring social media and sending

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me all the... all the juice. So I love it. You

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know, I love it. As I said, NCAA women's volleyball

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never goes away, but we are excited to be back

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and get talking some volleyball with all of you

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guys. So let's get started. Okay. It's been the

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holiday season. So Not so much weekly highlights

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this week as we wanted to do a little bit of

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a let's bring everybody up to date on a few things

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that have been happening. So if you have been

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around and were here in winter season last year,

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when we talk about pro overseas, we tend to focus

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mostly on Italy and Turkey. We are open to discussing

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more, so if you want us to check things out,

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let us know. But just to do a little recap of

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what has been happening, in the Italian League,

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Quintino, Perugia, and Verona are all at the

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top on the men's side. They all have the same

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number of wins. The only thing differentiating

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them is the points and the set wins. So those

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three are real tight. You love to see a tight

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race. Love to see a tight race. They're in the

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second. So everybody plays everybody away and

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at home. They are in the second phase already.

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So that is exciting stuff. On the women's side,

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Corneliano's in the lead. After dropping. As

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always. Well, as always, but they don't seem

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as unflappable this year. They lost the Italian

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Cup. They lost. And they didn't win Club World

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either. Yes, and they actually just dropped their

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last match against Milano in the league. So that

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is like... There's some chinks in the armor there.

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There are some chinks. We've talked about this

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in the last couple episodes, but there are some

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chinks in the Conigliano armor. But despite all

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that, they are still in first place. They are

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followed closely by Scandici and Novara. Scandici,

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if you remember, won. the Club World Championships,

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beat Corneliano. Novara also took a match off

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of Corneliano in the semifinals of the league

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last year. So the usual suspects are around.

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Milano's actually in fifth place. They lost Alessia

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Oro, if you remember, to Fenerbahce. Jamie Miner,

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for all our American listeners, is playing for

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that team. So that is kind of what's going on

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in Italy. In Turkey, Vakifbank and Fenerbahce

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are like... Pretty decently ahead of everybody

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right now. Azazibashi not doing so hot. The new

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team Zarin, I believe, is currently in third.

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They bought their way into Champions League by

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making themselves the title sponsor of Champions

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League. So they have a new team and they got

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a berth into Champions League right away. That's

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a whole thing. I mean, if you're going to do

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it, you might as well go big. You think it's

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fair to buy your way into Champions League? I

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think sports at the end of the day is all about

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money. There's only one team who can do it. And

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if you're serious, I totally understand from

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ownership's point of view. I feel like Champions

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League is elite, though. I don't disagree. I'm

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not saying I entirely agree with it. But if you

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want to expand the sport and you want teams,

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you want new people to put money. into the sport

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and start new teams, you have to have a way to

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draw people in. If you're going to drop money

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to host the event, you get one berth into the

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tournament. It doesn't water it down. It doesn't,

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I don't think. Are they hosting the event? We

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don't know. However, the title sponsor, like

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they're putting the money in to do it. Again,

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I don't think you should be able to just anybody

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buy in, but if you're going to sponsor the event

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and you're starting a team, there needs to be

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a carrot to putting money in. And I think this

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is, I'm okay with this personally. It bothers

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me. Champions League got started at the end of

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November. So we're still in the pool play phase.

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As you may know or not, there are five pools

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of four teams. For women, the Italian and Turkish

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teams are dominating as per usual. They're number

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one and two and probably in all the pools, except

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pool E really confuses me. I'm not sure what's

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going on there. There's not an Italian or Turkish

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team in that pool. There's like a German team,

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a French team, maybe Serbian. Don't quote me

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on that. Pool E, what is up? Anyway, somebody

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tell me about that. And there is more variety

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on the med side. Italy, Turkey, Germany, France,

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Belgium all have a couple teams each. It is a

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mixed bag. It's not. as cut and dry as the women's

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side so we did get a question about the european

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leagues that i answered online but i want to

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answer it here because i feel like more people

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probably have this question this listener was

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watching the italian league and noticed that

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there were only four foreign players on the court

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what you see is different leagues have different

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quotas or limits of the number of foreigners

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that can be on the court. So I believe in the

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Turkish league, only two in Italy for, you know,

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China one, no two, I believe. And so it's different

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from country to country, but those rules are

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out the window in champions league. So you will

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see teams like Turkish teams will load up on

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very strong international players. Won't be able

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to address. half of them for the Turkish league,

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but they play all of them in Champions League.

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That is why you see the discrepancy. That's why

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you might see some foreign players on the bench

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or really good players that you think should

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be on the court that aren't and things like that.

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Just kind of wanted to throw that out there here.

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And just for clarification, it's on the court

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at any time. You could sub the foreign players

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in and out. They can be on the bench. You can

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only have two playing at any time. In Turkey,

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for example. Exactly. That is like the roundup

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for a couple leagues overseas for Champions League.

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If you want to jump in and start watching the

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season. On the men's NCAA side, the ABCA preseason

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poll came out on December 23rd. The top five

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are UCLA, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Pepperdine,

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and USC. Some games haven't played. The NCAA

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site does a really bad job of updating anybody

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on NCAA men's schedules because the schedule

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is not up anywhere. And I'm not going to lie,

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I didn't really feel like going around and digging

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all over the place. So NCAA men's is on. Check

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it out. It will be playing this week as well.

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But the NCAA, not as on it as compared to the

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women's side. A little discrepancy with... Just

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a little. Yeah. Which is disappointing, but we'll

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do our best to bring you the best men's games

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that you should be watching as the season goes

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on. That is what has been happening over break.

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What to look out for. Volleyball TV from the

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FFVB has good stuff. Hero Volley for Champions

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League. There's a whole bunch of options, so

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check it out. And yeah, then you can be in the

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know when we're talking about it more. All right,

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let's do a dive into some of the transfer portal

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mayhem that has been happening. And I feel like

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mayhem is the best way to describe it because

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every single year I am more shocked or stunned

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than I was the year before at what is going on.

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It's wild. Like we obviously can't dive into

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every single thing because it is literally crazy.

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Are we talking about 100 plus transfers? A hundred?

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Adam, we're talking thousands. Seriously? Yes.

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See, Transyl Portal is Sarah's domain. I don't

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really pay attention to it. Hundreds. That's

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incredible. Amateur over here, everybody. No,

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like wild stuff. So I put together a list of

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some of the more notable transfers. Okay. It's

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longer than I want it to be, but here are the

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ones that jumped out at me. Okay, I guess we

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need to start. Izzy Stark is going to pit. Wow.

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I thought it was going to be Texas for sure.

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It wasn't super on my radar. And I'm like, well,

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her and Olivia Babcock will have one year together.

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That was my thing, too. Like Brie Kelly's gone.

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I feel like the other pieces aren't really there.

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So I'm like, why would you choose Pitt? I'm curious

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who else is going to go to Pitt now. Is that

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the first domino? And now you're going to get

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a couple other players or is she going to go

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for one year and transfer out again? I, this

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move to me again is a little, I have question

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marks around it as well. I will say the notorious

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boyfriend that all of this sort of was revolving

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around also has it as Pittsburgh as his location.

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No idea if it's correlated or whatever, but.

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I found it interesting. Another thing is, will

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Penn State sign off on her medical red shirt

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to give her her sophomore season back, or is

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she going to go in as a junior? I think if Penn

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State has to do it, I think there's bad blood

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there. Oh, if I'm Penn State, I'm saying forget

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about it. You left us high and dry. You committed

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to play for us this season, and you screwed us

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over. Like, goodbye. Well, and it's not a medical

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reason that she's not playing. Well, technically.

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If it's mental health, that is technically a...

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A medical reason. It's not an injury per se.

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Yeah, I doubt that the Penn State staff see it

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as a mental health issue. That would be my guess.

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We will see. Question mark on if she'll be a

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junior or sophomore. But that was the one that

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we've been wondering about forever. She is heading

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to Pitt. What was your second most notable transfer?

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Oh, gosh. Let me just look at my list here. Aiden

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Ames left Texas to go to Creighton. I'm not shocked.

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Texas just decided that middle wasn't an important

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position. They do not set the middle. Offensively,

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if I was a middle, I would not want to play there

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either. And I don't know what the offensive,

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we'll call it a coordinator, head coach, or whoever's

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running that. You have to run the middle. They

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don't really set the middle. In her case, I understand

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her wanting to leave. Alexis Stuckey went to

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Penn State. This is a big one for me. Who else

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went to Penn State? Ryla Jones from Pitt. Penn

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State. You know who else went to Penn State?

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Whitney Launstein from Texas. Penn State made

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out pretty well in the portal this year. Ryla

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Jones is interesting to me because, yes, she

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lost her starting spot, but Brie Kelly graduated,

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so I feel like she would have gotten it back.

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Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Again, you can't

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speak to the reasons that people are doing this.

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Of course, we don't know the reasons. I also

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feel like Pitt. didn't run the middle either.

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And who knows if that's going to change while

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Olivia is still there. If the offensive philosophy...

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Well, you got Izzy Stark now, so they will run

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the middle now. She knows how to run an offense.

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I agree with you, but again, there's no guarantee

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you spend a whole year not getting set. And if

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the messaging from the coach isn't run the middle,

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then why do you think that would change? And

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you might trust Izzy to do it, but maybe not.

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Okay, some other big ones. Suli Davis to SMU.

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I don't have a comment on this one. At least

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SMU is trying to recruit some younger players.

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Okay, another big transfer is Jayla Auguste from

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Florida to Wisconsin. We'll get to this later,

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but Wisconsin was hit by the portal bug. So what

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do you think about this transfer? I mean, apparently

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Wisconsin had a good recruiting class for freshmen.

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So I can't speak to that. But based on what they

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have left, so Grace Lopez potentially returning

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to right side, but then what, Grace Egan and

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West potentially on the left? They don't really

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have any point scores on the left right now.

00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.509
Well, they don't have any established studs.

00:13:52.590 --> 00:13:55.169
Exactly. I don't think Wisconsin started particularly

00:13:55.169 --> 00:13:57.879
well last year. They came on strong. I mean,

00:13:57.899 --> 00:13:59.779
they're in the Final Four, so... All of those

00:13:59.779 --> 00:14:02.600
players are talented, but none of them are proven.

00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.480
So it'll be interesting to see how that happens

00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:07.559
and then... I mean, they lost some big pieces.

00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:09.659
They did. But they lost some big pieces the year

00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:13.120
before, too. Because they lost Una Vajicic, too,

00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:16.399
who at the time of this recording has not committed

00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.639
anywhere. I find it interesting. I think especially

00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.759
with the Rhyla Jones departure, I thought Pitt

00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.200
could have been a good option for her. Like,

00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:28.279
I don't... I think Wisconsin, based on what they

00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.600
have coming in, will probably be fine. After

00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.100
Alexis Stuckey left, I think Florida is just

00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:39.419
not looking great. But yes, Reese Robbins from

00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.919
Louisville heading to TCU. I mean, the writing

00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.200
was on the wall for her. Blackshear took her

00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:48.379
spot real early in the season, and she will not

00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:51.879
play. Addie Horner, the backup setter at Wisconsin,

00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.649
heading to TCU. She's never going to play. She's

00:14:55.649 --> 00:14:58.149
a year behind Charlie. Yeah. Again, unless Charlie

00:14:58.149 --> 00:15:00.590
gets injured, Charlie's playing every game. She

00:15:00.590 --> 00:15:01.929
might not want to wait until her senior year

00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:05.769
to have a chance. Jalen Stout, who is a standout

00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:09.710
at Coastal Carolina, she's heading to Tennessee.

00:15:10.289 --> 00:15:14.110
Now, mid -major, but she has been dominant for

00:15:14.110 --> 00:15:17.750
Coastal Carolina throughout her career. So she's

00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:19.750
heading to Tennessee. What year is she in? She's

00:15:19.750 --> 00:15:21.929
going to be a senior. I mean, just as we're talking

00:15:21.929 --> 00:15:24.350
about the portal, I think you and I, Neither

00:15:24.350 --> 00:15:29.049
of us are huge fans. But this, to me, is a situation

00:15:29.049 --> 00:15:32.950
that I can respect. You stayed somewhere for

00:15:32.950 --> 00:15:37.490
three years. You became very good. I don't know

00:15:37.490 --> 00:15:39.590
if she started there. I don't know a ton about

00:15:39.590 --> 00:15:43.769
her. Fair. But it looks from the outside like

00:15:43.769 --> 00:15:48.129
you worked, you got better, you kind of outgrew

00:15:48.129 --> 00:15:50.070
where you were competing, and you want to finish

00:15:50.070 --> 00:15:55.220
against good competition. Personally, I think

00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:57.799
this is an okay use of the transfer portal. Because

00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.259
again, volleyball is a sport where you don't

00:16:00.259 --> 00:16:04.200
hit your prime until 28, 30. So there's a lot

00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.720
of development that happens. And maybe she wasn't

00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.700
good enough to play at a really good school when

00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:11.340
she was 18. But she worked hard. She kept going.

00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.440
I like that an athlete like that can get an opportunity.

00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:18.320
Personal opinion, but I'm okay with this type

00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.289
of transfer. To run through a couple more, Marina

00:16:21.289 --> 00:16:23.210
Crown over the setter for Missouri is heading

00:16:23.210 --> 00:16:27.330
to Oregon. Natalie Ring, the star attacker for

00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:31.929
Marquette, is heading to Texas A &M. Ooh, interesting.

00:16:32.809 --> 00:16:36.190
Jovana Zelenovic, the Serbian right side for

00:16:36.190 --> 00:16:40.370
Kansas, is heading to Miami. Is she the 6 '7"?

00:16:40.370 --> 00:16:45.309
Mm -hmm. Okay. Morgan Geert, the star player

00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:48.519
for Notre Dame. Is heading to Kentucky. She had

00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.379
a very good season. She had a very good season

00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:53.279
on a not so good team. Yeah. There's that. The

00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.399
Hudson replacement. Her and DeLay will be on

00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.919
the left side now. Looks like that could be the

00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:03.019
story there. The one that made me laugh out loud.

00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.440
Kind of embarrassed. Fringing to the max. Alex

00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:12.940
Bauer. Setter for BYU. Is leaving BYU for BYU.

00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.029
Oh. And the post that she made on social media

00:17:17.029 --> 00:17:20.690
that someone shared with me was like, I am so

00:17:20.690 --> 00:17:26.710
happy to announce my commitment to BYU. And it's

00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:28.390
just like, girl, just don't even say anything.

00:17:28.829 --> 00:17:33.250
Did she leave before the coach left? I think

00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:34.930
she entered the portal right when they lost.

00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:40.470
And then I think when the coach resigned or stepped

00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:44.059
away or whatever happened there, came back. But

00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:46.480
don't make a post about it. Like it's so cringy.

00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.240
You got to pretend that doesn't happen. Like

00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.720
just bury your head and like keep a low profile

00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.779
at that point. I'm so curious what's happening

00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:56.799
at BYU because they have underperformed. We talked

00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.660
about the coach leaving. And then all of a sudden

00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:03.220
she's gone. Well I actually did MPSF media days

00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:07.599
for men. Yeah. And her brother was there with

00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.009
BYU. At the beginning of their statement, the

00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:13.789
guy that I was working with made a comment or,

00:18:13.809 --> 00:18:15.930
like, said, oh, you're in a volleyball family?

00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:18.250
Like, your sister recently stepped away from

00:18:18.250 --> 00:18:21.730
BYU. And his face when he said that, I was like,

00:18:21.849 --> 00:18:27.809
oh, dang. He did not look... Yeah, anyway. I

00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:29.730
mean, you don't know what happened, but that

00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:32.309
program has underperformed for a couple years

00:18:32.309 --> 00:18:34.690
now based on the potential skill they had. Well,

00:18:34.710 --> 00:18:37.799
they were picked as... Big 12 preseason champions.

00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:41.380
Yeah. So, I mean, at some point, there's accountability

00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:44.640
with performance. And Heredia Colon did that

00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:46.880
last year with Miami. She left for a semester,

00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:50.099
went to Florida, then came back. Yeah. Anyway,

00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:54.720
those are the biggest eyebrow raisers, individual

00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.099
ones that I came across. Let's go over some programs

00:18:58.099 --> 00:19:02.119
that were hit real hard. Okay. Topping the list.

00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:09.049
St. Mary's lost 10. To the portal. That's two

00:19:09.049 --> 00:19:12.210
full rosters. On a basketball team, maybe. I

00:19:12.210 --> 00:19:14.789
mean, it's almost 12. If you discount the libero.

00:19:14.809 --> 00:19:18.269
I'm saying you almost, you've lost your starting

00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:20.309
six. You need six people on the court, Adam.

00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.730
I know. Two full rosters. You're two people short

00:19:23.730 --> 00:19:27.190
of two. My bad. I was being. My point was. Minus

00:19:27.190 --> 00:19:30.170
a libero. You basically lost your starting squad

00:19:30.170 --> 00:19:33.109
and your practice squad. Essentially. That's

00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:36.259
tough. Let's start from scratch here. You don't

00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:38.119
have a team anymore. Well, and the crazy thing

00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:41.079
is, is that that head coach in Tyler Hildebrand

00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:44.700
is a national team coach, national team athlete,

00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.539
like very accomplished. So I don't know who knows

00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:50.140
what's going on there, but that's a lot of players.

00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:54.920
In the mid -major space, Syracuse lost nine,

00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.940
Southern Utah lost seven, San Francisco lost

00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:02.509
seven. That's tough. That's a lot of athletes.

00:20:02.750 --> 00:20:05.089
And again, this is not to graduation. Like this

00:20:05.089 --> 00:20:07.069
is not athletes lost total. This is athletes

00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:09.809
lost solely to the portal. And these numbers

00:20:09.809 --> 00:20:11.690
could have changed by the time of this recording

00:20:11.690 --> 00:20:15.069
based on the research. This is what has happened.

00:20:15.490 --> 00:20:18.190
If we look at the power for conferences, Tennessee

00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:23.430
lost eight to the portal. Not even like there

00:20:23.430 --> 00:20:25.930
were some good players that they had that graduated.

00:20:26.069 --> 00:20:31.779
Yeah. Eight. Kansas lost seven. So Zelenovich

00:20:31.779 --> 00:20:34.380
was the main name there, but Lebon, who was an

00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:37.299
outside for them, and they had a starting middle

00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:41.240
that also left their setter left to shoot for

00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.359
her grad year. So they've lost at least four

00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:49.319
starters. Do you think that the way they lost

00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.539
to Nebraska filters in to that decision at all?

00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.619
No, I don't think they had any expectation of

00:20:56.619 --> 00:21:00.609
beating Nebraska. But it's weird. That that was

00:21:00.609 --> 00:21:03.490
Ulmer's first season there. And now everyone's

00:21:03.490 --> 00:21:06.829
leaving. Fair. I don't think they had an expectation

00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:09.589
of beating Nebraska. But my question was more

00:21:09.589 --> 00:21:12.430
around in the way that they lost. In the attitude.

00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:15.230
That kind of looked like on the floor and on

00:21:15.230 --> 00:21:17.609
the coaching staff. It looked like they had.

00:21:17.829 --> 00:21:21.430
There's being realistic. No, I'm sorry. You don't

00:21:21.430 --> 00:21:23.730
leave a program because you lose a match that

00:21:23.730 --> 00:21:27.329
you're probably not going to win anyway. I'm

00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:29.680
wondering if it's a culture thing. That was kind

00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.559
of what I was getting at. But, I mean, it's tough.

00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:34.599
You have a new coach come in. You were settled

00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:36.359
in. They have a different way of doing things,

00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.460
maybe different expectations. We'll see how they

00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:43.660
do. But that's a lot of loss. Wisconsin lost

00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:47.680
six. And then on top of that, they lost Collier,

00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:52.700
Andrew, and Booth to graduation. Those are big

00:21:52.700 --> 00:21:55.599
losses. Yeah. But again, we kind of talked about

00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.740
this. Wisconsin, they'll always have talent.

00:21:58.170 --> 00:21:59.809
They'll always have people who want to go there.

00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:03.730
Is Wisconsin becoming the new Texas? Maybe. Because

00:22:03.730 --> 00:22:07.349
let me tell you, Texas lost two to the portal

00:22:07.349 --> 00:22:09.230
and they haven't picked anybody up from it yet,

00:22:09.289 --> 00:22:12.910
which is unheard of. Everybody. Okay. Well, they

00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:14.950
had some very good freshmen, though. So here's

00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:17.269
what I think is going on a little bit with the

00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:21.630
portal. I think coaches don't need to have the

00:22:21.630 --> 00:22:24.829
same transparency with athletes in terms of.

00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.880
Hey, you're going to play. Here's your when you

00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:30.819
could expect to kind of get a starting spot and

00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:32.380
those kind of things because the athletes can

00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:34.460
just leave. So it's like, why am I going to if

00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:36.319
you're not going to start for me this year? You

00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:37.660
know, if you're training, if you're doing this,

00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.319
that's fine. If you leave, I'm not happy about

00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.119
it, but I can always bring somebody in. I think

00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.400
you're starting to see athletes frustrated with

00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:47.660
not knowing when they're going to play or what

00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:49.339
the avenue to playing is. Well, I don't think

00:22:49.339 --> 00:22:52.980
anybody's entitled to play. No, but. I think

00:22:52.980 --> 00:22:58.039
you need to understand if there's like a seniority

00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:02.380
priority or if there's a meritocracy. And that's

00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:06.619
kind of what I was getting at. The coaches, when

00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:09.740
you couldn't have transfers, it benefited you

00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:13.059
to keep your athletes happy because you couldn't

00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:15.319
just bring in new players. So if you go, hey,

00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:17.220
you're going to come in your freshman year. We

00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:19.799
have somebody graduating in two years. Here's

00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:22.559
your path to playing. If I'm thinking about it

00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:24.319
from a coaching standpoint and where I'm putting

00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.019
my effort, I'm working at that relationship because

00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:31.740
I know I need you in year three and four. The

00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:33.900
coaches no longer need you. What they need now

00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:36.720
is their stars to be happy, they need their boosters

00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.740
to be giving money, and they need to manage the

00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:43.299
top six like more of a franchise. And I think

00:23:43.299 --> 00:23:46.599
you're seeing those middle players, those third

00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:49.940
and fourth position players unhappy with... What's

00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:52.140
happening? Because they're not getting any attention.

00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:55.720
This, this is all starting the whole season and

00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:57.339
he's leaving. Yeah. I mean, you're obviously

00:23:57.339 --> 00:23:59.039
going to have, maybe she thinks they're going

00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:01.660
to be no good. Very generally, but like the names

00:24:01.660 --> 00:24:03.799
that we all went through were big players for

00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:05.680
their team for the most part. A hundred percent.

00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:07.579
But if we're talking about thousands of athletes

00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:09.759
leaving, you know, we highlighted the big ones,

00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:12.180
but my guess is that there's a lot of people

00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:14.779
who just, the set are leaving for Wisconsin.

00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:17.779
Like you're never going to play. And I think

00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:19.460
that that is happening, especially when people

00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:22.019
come in and go, hey, they just brought in somebody

00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:24.000
my age or a year ahead of me. Especially because

00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:27.339
the setter who had committed to Pitt as a freshman

00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:31.500
decommitted when Izzy Stark signed there, and

00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:34.359
then she committed to Wisconsin. So there's just

00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:37.920
this domino effect. That's one example, but it

00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:40.460
just happens across the board. And again, there's

00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:42.380
no consequence to you leaving as an athlete,

00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.019
right? It doesn't matter. Again, this is broken

00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:51.099
in my opinion, but I think there's a lot of that

00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:52.980
when we have people looking at when am I going

00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:56.400
to get to play. And finally, Pitt, Penn State,

00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:00.420
UCLA, and Missouri all lost five. So those were

00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:03.460
the programs that were hit the hardest so far.

00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.700
Now, I titled these ones Sneaky Scoopers. I like

00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:13.680
that. So far, Oklahoma's picked up six. Wow.

00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:19.140
Yes. Houston has picked up five. Florida picked

00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:22.099
up four, but they also lost four to the portal.

00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:27.079
So I feel like that is okay. Yeah. A lot of these

00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:30.160
situations I'm looking at going, is this a chicken

00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:33.640
or egg situation? No, because you can see how

00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:35.960
many they picked up and lost. Like the Oklahoma

00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.839
one is heavily leaning towards picking up versus

00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:41.720
loss. Okay. Houston heavily leaning to picking

00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.059
up versus loss. Florida was an even. What about

00:25:45.059 --> 00:25:47.339
Penn State? You have programs hit hard, but they

00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:49.519
also brought in a ton of... Penn State lost five,

00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:52.339
but they've picked up three. And they picked

00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:57.519
up big players. Which one happened first? Can

00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:00.039
you tell? Did the five players leave? Well, the

00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:02.000
five players who left, I had never heard of them

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.660
before. So they may have looked at the people

00:26:04.660 --> 00:26:06.259
who they brought in and go, wow, we're never

00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:08.569
going to play. Washington State, Loyola Chicago,

00:26:08.910 --> 00:26:11.630
St. John's, and Idaho all picked up four, heavily

00:26:11.630 --> 00:26:14.150
leaning towards the pickup. And then, of course,

00:26:14.309 --> 00:26:17.630
it's not a transfer portal window if SMU hasn't

00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:19.569
picked up everybody, so they've picked up four

00:26:19.569 --> 00:26:23.150
as well. Anyone notable? Well, Suli Davis. Sure.

00:26:23.250 --> 00:26:25.789
I'm pretty sure Ava Serafa, the backup setter

00:26:25.789 --> 00:26:28.049
for Kentucky, is going there too. And then they

00:26:28.049 --> 00:26:30.009
are picking up a girl who played really well

00:26:30.009 --> 00:26:35.299
for Ole Miss and somebody else. I mean, the head

00:26:35.299 --> 00:26:37.700
coach there. But they also lost Kennedy Rogers,

00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:40.460
who stepped in when Jaden Living's got injured,

00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:44.200
the freshman. So she's gone. So I think as soon

00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:46.359
as Suli Davis signed, she's like, well, it'll

00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:48.140
be Living's and Davis on the left side. I'm done.

00:26:48.859 --> 00:26:51.079
Now, I mean, the head coach, she's already come

00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:53.700
out and said, we are trying to create a platform

00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:56.380
for athletes to make their own money. Like, she's

00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:58.720
leaning into the NIL, which you can't fault her

00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:00.660
for. Yeah, there was this huge thing on ESPNW

00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:02.619
on Instagram the other day with her talking about

00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:04.539
it. Yeah. I mean, again, those are the rules.

00:27:04.660 --> 00:27:07.099
You can't necessarily falter for them. Do I agree

00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:08.400
with it? But it just sucks because, like, I feel

00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.279
like you legit finally recruited a player in

00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.539
Kennedy Rogers who was a freshman. And, like,

00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:15.619
she came in, she stepped up for you, and you're

00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:18.779
just going to, like, sign somebody off the portal

00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:20.740
who can replace her. Like, that's messed up to

00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:23.920
me. I think loyalty and keeping athletes on your

00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:27.180
team is going to end up paying dividends. I think

00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:29.980
you're going to start to see these things, middle

00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:32.440
connections, learning how to play with each other.

00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:35.519
facing adversity. I think the teams who managed

00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:38.259
to do that, we've swung in one direction right

00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:40.460
now, but I think you're going to start to see

00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:43.900
it come back from a results perspective. Oh,

00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:45.680
well, I already talked about it a little, but

00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:48.880
this is one of the first years that Texas hasn't

00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:55.059
lost a huge number and picked up big. I mean,

00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.960
there's still time. And Nebraska has picked up

00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:01.519
none, lost none. Which I think will bode well

00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:05.049
for them. Kentucky lost the Rafa and Baltimore.

00:28:05.670 --> 00:28:08.190
They've obviously picked up Garrett. I'm just

00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:10.109
going through some of the top teams right now.

00:28:10.150 --> 00:28:13.170
A &M has picked up a few. Well, they lost Natalie

00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:16.269
ring as we talked about, but they lost nine seniors.

00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:19.690
But you have to think that he's recruited freshmen

00:28:19.690 --> 00:28:22.430
to replace them. I understand he doesn't want

00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:24.670
to start with just a freshman squad. He wants

00:28:24.670 --> 00:28:26.869
some experience. I get it. He strikes me as the

00:28:26.869 --> 00:28:29.549
type of person who would try to recruit character.

00:28:29.849 --> 00:28:31.750
I don't think he'll bring in six. I think he'll

00:28:31.750 --> 00:28:35.450
bring in two or three who he thinks will fit

00:28:35.450 --> 00:28:38.049
into what they're building. Yeah, he has signed

00:28:38.049 --> 00:28:41.730
a few already. And while we're talking about

00:28:41.730 --> 00:28:43.990
him, just quickly, there were a couple comments

00:28:43.990 --> 00:28:46.950
on the last episode about us. talking about the

00:28:46.950 --> 00:28:49.329
coach of the year award and thinking that we

00:28:49.329 --> 00:28:53.450
said, this actually came up like five or six

00:28:53.450 --> 00:28:55.809
times because we were talking about, you know,

00:28:55.829 --> 00:28:59.009
A &M won it because they did so well. I'm just

00:28:59.009 --> 00:29:00.930
going to say, I don't think people listen very

00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:03.190
closely to things that we say before jumping

00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:05.730
to their conclusions or I've learned doing this,

00:29:05.750 --> 00:29:07.650
that people hear what they want to hear. That's

00:29:07.650 --> 00:29:09.970
fair. I just wanted to clarify, we were talking

00:29:09.970 --> 00:29:13.569
about how the awards were handed out, are generally

00:29:13.569 --> 00:29:17.130
handed out, not. Who deserved it? Oh, I 100 %

00:29:17.130 --> 00:29:19.829
think if Texas A &M hadn't made the Final Four,

00:29:19.910 --> 00:29:21.650
he wouldn't have won Coach of the Year, and I

00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:23.569
will stand by that. Yeah, I agree with you. But

00:29:23.569 --> 00:29:25.730
that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve it or didn't

00:29:25.730 --> 00:29:27.869
do a good job. We never said he doesn't deserve

00:29:27.869 --> 00:29:30.369
it. Just throwing it out there, I think Jamie

00:29:30.369 --> 00:29:33.170
has done a great job, but I think that generally

00:29:33.170 --> 00:29:36.069
the results matter when it comes to handing out

00:29:36.069 --> 00:29:38.410
those awards specifically. 100%. And I'm pretty

00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:41.990
sure somebody also looked up in the time since

00:29:41.990 --> 00:29:45.880
1982. The player who has been named national

00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:49.460
player of the year has made the final four in

00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:52.799
all but three circumstances. One went to one

00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:54.920
of the Odin sisters who, if you have followed

00:29:54.920 --> 00:29:58.700
volleyball, they were dominant. One went to Stacey

00:29:58.700 --> 00:30:01.460
Gordon who shared it with a gun and Amani in

00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:04.660
2004, who did make the final four, but you, they

00:30:04.660 --> 00:30:07.500
needed to give Stacey Gordon a nod to her career

00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:10.539
because she was like getting seven. and a half

00:30:10.539 --> 00:30:13.099
kills a set for her whole career. And finally

00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:15.160
in her senior season, they're like, okay, we

00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:16.900
need to acknowledge this. And then there was

00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:20.859
one more. So. Lots of people who deserve things,

00:30:20.940 --> 00:30:23.880
but you do have to get the results. In my opinion,

00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:27.119
going back to the transfer portal, the two teams

00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:32.140
that have won the portal so far are Creighton

00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:35.880
and Penn State. We talked about Penn State. They

00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:38.299
picked up Alexis Stuckey, Ryla Jones, and Whitney

00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:46.220
Lonstein. So adding them to Kennedy Martin, to

00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:50.640
Mendelsohn, I think Penn State is a phoenix,

00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:54.859
you know, rising from the ashes. And then Creighton

00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.940
picked up Katie Dalton, who was the setter for

00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:59.480
Kansas, Aiden Ames, and Trinity Shed series,

00:30:59.619 --> 00:31:03.980
who came in for Una Vajic numerous times in the

00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.230
NCAA tournament from Wisconsin. I mean, we know

00:31:07.230 --> 00:31:09.589
her personally, but I think she's going to have

00:31:09.589 --> 00:31:13.930
a good year. She's a phenomenal athlete. I'll

00:31:13.930 --> 00:31:15.829
be curious to see. Canadian National High Jump

00:31:15.829 --> 00:31:18.490
Champion. She could be an Olympian in, sorry,

00:31:18.490 --> 00:31:20.490
not high jump, in long jump. Yeah. All right.

00:31:20.549 --> 00:31:26.849
So anyway, yes. So, so far, in my opinion, Creighton

00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:29.069
and Penn State are winning the transfer portal

00:31:29.069 --> 00:31:32.650
so far. That is just like the tip of the iceberg

00:31:32.650 --> 00:31:35.190
of what is happening in there. It is insane.

00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:38.980
For all of you who are asking for us to talk

00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:42.960
about it, that is what is happening and our takes

00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:48.319
so far. With the start of the American Pro Leagues

00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:51.460
this week, we are going to spend the next couple

00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:56.619
of weeks doing some season previews for both

00:31:56.619 --> 00:32:00.519
MLV and Love. This week, we are going to talk

00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:05.529
about MLV. Because we have a very exciting partnership

00:32:05.529 --> 00:32:12.569
for the MLV season with Volley. V -O -L -L -I.

00:32:12.849 --> 00:32:19.430
V -O -L -L -I. It is a new fantasy app. So you

00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:22.490
guys know that Sarah and I played fantasy for

00:32:22.490 --> 00:32:26.269
NCAA and then ran a bracket, which will get updated

00:32:26.269 --> 00:32:29.089
and posted before next episode. But we had a

00:32:29.089 --> 00:32:31.980
ton of fun. Doing that this year. And we have

00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:35.380
a ton of questions about it. Correct. We're so

00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:39.240
excited to partner with these guys who built

00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:42.039
this app. We've started our own league for volley

00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:45.079
talk on the app. We're going to post all of the

00:32:45.079 --> 00:32:48.200
links to both getting the app and joining our

00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:50.539
league in the show notes, wherever you're watching.

00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.240
But for those of you who have a great memory,

00:32:54.339 --> 00:33:00.339
go to play volley. dot com slash volley talk

00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:02.839
as adam said we'll post them in the show notes

00:33:02.839 --> 00:33:06.319
in the description boxes wherever you're listening

00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:10.619
or watching from but head to that link if you

00:33:10.619 --> 00:33:12.400
have the app it'll take you right to our join

00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:15.220
page and if you don't have the app download it

00:33:15.220 --> 00:33:18.720
ios or android and get in on the action because

00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:22.640
we've had a lot of good stuff going on with this

00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:25.390
community and we want to continue it A couple

00:33:25.390 --> 00:33:27.630
highlights that I've come across so far, and

00:33:27.630 --> 00:33:28.910
I'm going to learn as we go because it's got

00:33:28.910 --> 00:33:31.509
an interesting system. First, make sure you have

00:33:31.509 --> 00:33:34.170
your team built by Wednesday. I believe it closes

00:33:34.170 --> 00:33:37.450
for the first week. So you gain points weekly.

00:33:37.809 --> 00:33:42.079
You have a cap system based off. players value,

00:33:42.460 --> 00:33:45.700
which is calculated weekly based off their performance,

00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:48.000
which I think is really fascinating. So you have

00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:49.819
a team, you have starters, you have a bench player,

00:33:49.900 --> 00:33:51.640
you have a salary cap you have to work with,

00:33:51.660 --> 00:33:54.420
and that comes and goes week to week. You can

00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:57.640
sign one to three week contracts. Those values

00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:01.160
go up and down. It seems. Super intense, which

00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:04.380
I'm so excited about. They have a great explanation

00:34:04.380 --> 00:34:06.740
in the app. So go in, look at it, read the rules.

00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:09.420
But we're excited to see you guys on the app.

00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.260
And I think this is going to add a ton of viewability

00:34:12.260 --> 00:34:15.539
to the MLV season, at least for me. And I think

00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:17.880
it'll be really fun to watch. So I'm so excited.

00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:20.719
They've done a great job with this app and it

00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:23.940
should be a fun year. And there's a lot of other

00:34:23.940 --> 00:34:28.780
interesting aspects. to the app. We will dive

00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:31.699
into more of those as the season progresses,

00:34:31.900 --> 00:34:34.460
but we wanted to put it out there because we

00:34:34.460 --> 00:34:36.480
want you guys to sign up. I think it would be

00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.199
a really cool competition to go head -to -head

00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:43.420
with you guys after the NCAA bracket fiasco with

00:34:43.420 --> 00:34:47.139
it just exploding. I need to get back on track.

00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:49.420
I think we all need to get back on track because

00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:52.360
I don't think anybody... A few people didn't

00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:55.369
pick Nebraska or Kentucky. I said didn't expect

00:34:55.369 --> 00:34:59.510
Texas A &M to win. Yeah, fair. And Adam's AI

00:34:59.510 --> 00:35:03.030
just crapped out. So we are going to finish that

00:35:03.030 --> 00:35:05.730
and let you know who the winners are. It's requiring

00:35:05.730 --> 00:35:10.690
a little manual updating on my end. We haven't

00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:12.429
forgotten. We're not just sore losers who are

00:35:12.429 --> 00:35:15.349
like, well, this is over. We didn't win. We promise

00:35:15.349 --> 00:35:17.650
it is being figured out. My AI bot is a sore

00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:21.130
loser. That's what it is. So yeah, head to playvolley

00:35:21.130 --> 00:35:26.090
.com slash volleytalk. That's playvolley .com

00:35:26.090 --> 00:35:30.070
slash volleytalk to join our team. So on that

00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:34.309
note, let's take a look at the MLV teams for

00:35:34.309 --> 00:35:39.530
this year. Look at some roster changes and highlight

00:35:39.530 --> 00:35:41.690
some of the players that are coming in, some

00:35:41.690 --> 00:35:43.070
of the changes, and who we think are going to

00:35:43.070 --> 00:35:47.599
be good. We did dive into... the trades and stuff

00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:51.079
and the free agency period when it was going

00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:55.340
on. But we're just going to do a little refresher

00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:59.179
here and then talk about our predictions because

00:35:59.179 --> 00:36:01.820
we love a prediction. Okay. So the way I want

00:36:01.820 --> 00:36:03.739
to structure this is I'm going to highlight the

00:36:03.739 --> 00:36:06.000
players from each team who played the most last

00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:08.199
year. So the most important players, and then

00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:11.920
we'll highlight some of the athletes that are

00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:14.019
coming into those teams this year and where some

00:36:14.019 --> 00:36:15.750
of the differences are. So we're going to do

00:36:15.750 --> 00:36:18.230
this alphabetically. So for the Atlanta vibe,

00:36:18.530 --> 00:36:22.489
last year, their main players, Leah Edmond, Morgan

00:36:22.489 --> 00:36:27.210
Hentz, Corey Lewis, Tia Timmer, Aiko Jones, and

00:36:27.210 --> 00:36:29.010
Merritt Beeson. I can read Adam's writing better

00:36:29.010 --> 00:36:31.829
than him. He's also got Marley Monserez. And

00:36:31.829 --> 00:36:34.010
I will let you know, he jumped over that name

00:36:34.010 --> 00:36:37.210
because he had no clue what he wrote. And I'm

00:36:37.210 --> 00:36:42.269
like, cool. So Atlanta was busy this year. picking

00:36:42.269 --> 00:36:46.469
up new players. So they, for 2026, Leah Edmond

00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:48.610
is coming back, but then they added Ava Martin

00:36:48.610 --> 00:36:51.690
and Pia Timmer is also coming back on the outside.

00:36:51.869 --> 00:36:55.050
So one new player to that outside core. They

00:36:55.050 --> 00:36:58.690
have Avery Carlson coming into set from SMU.

00:36:58.929 --> 00:37:01.329
Corey Lewis is back in the middle, but they also

00:37:01.329 --> 00:37:05.150
added Raven Colvin, which is an interesting addition

00:37:05.150 --> 00:37:09.690
in my opinion. They brought in Ellie McKissick

00:37:09.690 --> 00:37:14.010
from Florida as a libero, and Iko Jones and Anna

00:37:14.010 --> 00:37:17.650
Dixon are the opposites. What are your thoughts

00:37:17.650 --> 00:37:20.550
on the new roster? And I will mention that Atlanta

00:37:20.550 --> 00:37:23.949
finished second last year in league play. I mean,

00:37:23.969 --> 00:37:26.510
I think losing, hence, is going to hurt them.

00:37:26.829 --> 00:37:32.210
Agreed. Colvin didn't play much at all last season.

00:37:32.269 --> 00:37:35.809
I believe she was with Grand Rapids. He was not

00:37:35.809 --> 00:37:40.269
used much at all. I like, if you listened last

00:37:40.269 --> 00:37:43.769
season to MLB, I was not a monster as fan. I

00:37:43.769 --> 00:37:46.690
like that. They brought in Carlson. I'm kind

00:37:46.690 --> 00:37:49.489
of feeling like that's a wash. I think they improved

00:37:49.489 --> 00:37:53.510
question mark around the libero fair. I think

00:37:53.510 --> 00:37:57.309
they get better at setting. So I like that piece.

00:37:57.389 --> 00:37:59.369
And I think that's important. I think they're

00:37:59.369 --> 00:38:01.989
thin at the middle. If they have an injury, that's

00:38:01.989 --> 00:38:03.929
going to hurt them. They don't have a lot of

00:38:03.929 --> 00:38:06.989
depth there. And I think they don't really have

00:38:06.989 --> 00:38:08.989
a true point score. I think they're going to

00:38:08.989 --> 00:38:11.429
be a good team. Leah Edmond, I think people would

00:38:11.429 --> 00:38:15.829
argue that. Okay, that's fair. I'm just going

00:38:15.829 --> 00:38:18.409
to, I'm disagreeing with you on that. I think

00:38:18.409 --> 00:38:23.929
for MLV, Leah Edmond is as point score -ish as

00:38:23.929 --> 00:38:27.150
you get. What about Iko Jones and Anna Dixon

00:38:27.150 --> 00:38:29.690
on the opposite? Like I said, I didn't love their

00:38:29.690 --> 00:38:31.670
opposite situation last year, and I think it's

00:38:31.670 --> 00:38:34.559
a wash. Okay, so let's say you have one true

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.239
point scorer. I'm not sure that's going to be

00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:39.800
enough. Ava Martin can score points. Tia Timmer

00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:44.199
didn't do poorly. She did fine last year. I think

00:38:44.199 --> 00:38:46.760
they're skilled. I think they have good players.

00:38:46.980 --> 00:38:50.019
I'm not sure. It comes back to the same discussion

00:38:50.019 --> 00:38:52.199
we had at NCAA. Who is going to get the ball

00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:54.019
when you need to? And let's see if Leah Edmond

00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:56.199
can do that this year. Yeah, I think they're

00:38:56.199 --> 00:39:00.239
going to be fine. Like I said, I'm the libero

00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:02.989
thing. They're losing. Big time. I don't think

00:39:02.989 --> 00:39:04.349
they're going to finish second. I think they'll

00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:06.809
probably be third or fourth. I need to hear the

00:39:06.809 --> 00:39:10.230
final rundown, and then I'll give my final prediction.

00:39:10.550 --> 00:39:16.010
Okay. Let's look at Columbus Fury. They played...

00:39:16.010 --> 00:39:17.210
I'm not going to go through the list of them.

00:39:17.269 --> 00:39:19.630
They had so many people who played a whole bunch

00:39:19.630 --> 00:39:22.789
of time. They didn't finish. They didn't do well.

00:39:22.969 --> 00:39:24.889
They didn't do well, and it looked like they

00:39:24.889 --> 00:39:28.730
were always searching for... That lineup that

00:39:28.730 --> 00:39:30.869
was going to work for them. So they finished

00:39:30.869 --> 00:39:33.650
last in the league. They have a whole new team

00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:36.469
minus three players. Full yard sale on the roster.

00:39:36.829 --> 00:39:40.769
Here are a couple of the names that I think will

00:39:40.769 --> 00:39:42.190
be interesting and people who will see playing

00:39:42.190 --> 00:39:46.489
time. So they brought in Akasha Anderson from

00:39:46.489 --> 00:39:49.789
Purdue. She's a 6 '3 outside hitter. Bringing

00:39:49.789 --> 00:39:53.570
in Jalen Hodge outside from Arizona. They're

00:39:53.570 --> 00:39:57.010
bringing in Audrey Pack to set. They got Flo

00:39:57.010 --> 00:40:00.250
Marie Heredia Colon from Miami on the outside,

00:40:00.369 --> 00:40:02.829
which is a huge pickup. And then they also got

00:40:02.829 --> 00:40:06.090
Reagan Pittman Nelson in the middle, who was

00:40:06.090 --> 00:40:08.369
originally at Minnesota but played in MLB for

00:40:08.369 --> 00:40:09.489
the last couple years. I'm not loving any of

00:40:09.489 --> 00:40:12.130
those pickups except Colon. What do you think

00:40:12.130 --> 00:40:15.829
of Audrey Pack? Is she going to help them elevate

00:40:15.829 --> 00:40:18.730
past where they were? I don't think so. Okay,

00:40:18.769 --> 00:40:20.889
and then their players coming back are Abby Walker

00:40:20.889 --> 00:40:24.380
in the middle. Raina Terry on the outside and

00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:27.619
Megan Lush on the outside. Okay, so I can get

00:40:27.619 --> 00:40:32.119
behind Lush and Terry and Cologne, but all of

00:40:32.119 --> 00:40:34.320
them are outsides. I'm wondering if one of the

00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:36.480
outsides is going to have to go play opposite.

00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:40.320
Possibly Cologne. I mean, she swings. She hits

00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:43.000
really well out of the back row. Yeah. Pittman's

00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:45.739
a decent blocker. She's not great offensively.

00:40:45.860 --> 00:40:48.219
I still think they're going to be bottom of the

00:40:48.219 --> 00:40:48.960
league. Yeah, I don't think they're going to.

00:40:49.099 --> 00:40:52.699
Based on what I'm seeing so far. Atlanta's one.

00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:56.679
They are two. Of two. The Dallas Pulse. Brand

00:40:56.679 --> 00:40:59.380
new team. New team. No roster from last year.

00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:01.539
And I might as well throw it in now. Vegas is

00:41:01.539 --> 00:41:05.900
not a team this year in MLB. But our girl Shane

00:41:05.900 --> 00:41:08.900
and Windsor is coaching Dallas. You know our

00:41:08.900 --> 00:41:11.619
thoughts about everything that went down with

00:41:11.619 --> 00:41:14.679
the Canadian national team. She was the Canadian

00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:18.380
national team head coach before what I think

00:41:18.380 --> 00:41:23.280
happened was outed. But she is coaching Dallas,

00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:25.840
so we're excited about that. She does a phenomenal

00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:28.940
job. Right off the bat, she's worth points in

00:41:28.940 --> 00:41:32.880
my book. Yes, so hit me with the squad. So on

00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:35.659
the outside, they have Kaylee Cox, Western Kentucky.

00:41:35.860 --> 00:41:40.019
They have Jelly Sear from Arizona State. I know

00:41:40.019 --> 00:41:41.639
some of these played MLB, but I'm just saying

00:41:41.639 --> 00:41:44.159
where they're from originally. They have Sofia

00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:46.539
Maldonado -Diaz, who played at Louisville, and

00:41:46.539 --> 00:41:49.519
Isabel Martin at Florida. Thoughts on the outside

00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:53.800
hitting core? Not loving it. Okay. Do you have

00:41:53.800 --> 00:41:56.480
any thoughts other than not loving it? I mean,

00:41:56.500 --> 00:41:59.860
I think their strongest... I'm not familiar with

00:41:59.860 --> 00:42:04.239
Cox from Western Kentucky, so forgive me. But

00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:07.099
Maldonado -Diaz is the strongest attacker in

00:42:07.099 --> 00:42:10.260
that group for me, from what I know. And compared

00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:13.280
to the others, she's not a Cologne. She's not

00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:17.800
a Leah Edmond. No, a little undersized. We saw

00:42:17.800 --> 00:42:20.940
at least collegiately couldn't score when the

00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:22.840
chips were down. She played right side collegiately.

00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.539
She was in the 6 -2 for Louisville on the right

00:42:25.539 --> 00:42:28.860
side. Yeah, but she still wasn't scoring. Like

00:42:28.860 --> 00:42:30.539
she wasn't a main point scorer for them. So what

00:42:30.539 --> 00:42:33.139
about passing and stuff? Yeah. I think she was

00:42:33.139 --> 00:42:37.059
a decent all -around player. On the opposite,

00:42:37.179 --> 00:42:40.489
they have Malaya Jones. So I think that's a really

00:42:40.489 --> 00:42:42.849
good player. In the middle, they have Caitlin

00:42:42.849 --> 00:42:45.449
Hoard, who played at both Penn State and Nebraska.

00:42:45.909 --> 00:42:50.349
They have Carson Bacon from Oregon. They have

00:42:50.349 --> 00:42:53.570
Lane Van Buskirk, who played at Pitt, but she's

00:42:53.570 --> 00:42:55.670
Canadian. So she has experience with... Did you

00:42:55.670 --> 00:42:58.110
see how excited he got when he said that? ...Windsor

00:42:58.110 --> 00:43:01.650
on the national team. But she's Canadian. My

00:43:01.650 --> 00:43:04.090
point was she has a connection with the coach.

00:43:04.760 --> 00:43:09.019
They have Natalie Valentina Anderson as the setter,

00:43:09.019 --> 00:43:12.599
along with Celia Cullen, who played at SMU, and

00:43:12.599 --> 00:43:17.199
Kendall White and Kylie Murr as their liberos.

00:43:17.800 --> 00:43:20.480
Thoughts on the expansion team? I like their

00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:23.840
opposites. Kind of stops there. I mean, Valentina

00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:26.519
Anderson started setting for Omaha last year,

00:43:26.679 --> 00:43:30.780
and then maybe for the whole year. Kaelin Horde

00:43:30.780 --> 00:43:35.630
came from Omaha. You know, the experience in

00:43:35.630 --> 00:43:37.469
the setting position is big. The opposite is

00:43:37.469 --> 00:43:40.130
good. Kylie Murr was starting for a team last

00:43:40.130 --> 00:43:44.710
year. Where would I put them in the teams we've

00:43:44.710 --> 00:43:51.110
heard so far? Third? Do you think they're ahead

00:43:51.110 --> 00:43:53.550
of Columbus? I think they'll be better than Columbus.

00:43:54.750 --> 00:43:57.670
They might not start that way, but... I'm not

00:43:57.670 --> 00:43:59.829
loving this. Atlanta's the best team that we've

00:43:59.829 --> 00:44:06.110
heard so far. Yeah, agreed. This roster, it's

00:44:06.110 --> 00:44:08.309
going to be tough point scoring, I think. But

00:44:08.309 --> 00:44:11.010
you do, like, Jellix here is a good ball control

00:44:11.010 --> 00:44:14.489
player. This team's going to pass well. I think

00:44:14.489 --> 00:44:16.969
they'll focus on trying to run the middle and

00:44:16.969 --> 00:44:18.909
score points there to open up the outside hitters.

00:44:19.010 --> 00:44:21.590
I know Shannon's kind of philosophy on that,

00:44:21.670 --> 00:44:24.389
so we'll see if they can pull that together.

00:44:24.489 --> 00:44:27.130
This team doesn't jump off the page for me, though.

00:44:27.909 --> 00:44:33.000
Okay, let's look at Grand Rapid Rise. So they

00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:36.019
finished fifth overall. They have a whole bunch

00:44:36.019 --> 00:44:39.280
of returning players in Carly Snyder on the outside,

00:44:39.639 --> 00:44:43.840
Elena Ogilvie as a libero, Paige Briggs as an

00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:46.119
outside hitter, Cameron Turner as the setter,

00:44:46.139 --> 00:44:49.300
and Alyssa Jensen as a middle. So they have some

00:44:49.300 --> 00:44:51.860
familiarity with their players coming back. So

00:44:51.860 --> 00:44:55.639
they have an international player coming in.

00:44:57.000 --> 00:44:58.900
I'm not great with names as it's been pointed

00:44:58.900 --> 00:45:00.679
out many times. So I'm going to butcher this

00:45:00.679 --> 00:45:04.059
one and I apologize ahead of time. Ramat Alhassan.

00:45:04.460 --> 00:45:07.659
She played five years in Italy A1, but she hasn't

00:45:07.659 --> 00:45:11.739
played in two years. So she's coming in. She's

00:45:11.739 --> 00:45:14.539
an experienced player. We'll see where she's

00:45:14.539 --> 00:45:16.059
at from a volleyball standpoint after taking

00:45:16.059 --> 00:45:18.480
that much time off. But that's an interesting

00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:21.119
addition that may pay dividends. They have an

00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:24.480
outside hitter coming in from who played at Indiana.

00:45:25.340 --> 00:45:28.090
Candela Alonso. So she's going to play opposite.

00:45:28.230 --> 00:45:32.349
They brought in Sage Kahana Torres as the setter.

00:45:32.590 --> 00:45:36.170
So I think that that will, I'm curious who's

00:45:36.170 --> 00:45:39.369
going to set her or Cameron Turner. I think Sage

00:45:39.369 --> 00:45:43.050
will. That's a possibility. And then on the opposite

00:45:43.050 --> 00:45:45.230
side, they also brought in a foreign player,

00:45:45.429 --> 00:45:49.730
Elizabeth Image from Romania. She has a ton of

00:45:49.730 --> 00:45:52.130
experience as well. And they have Lauren Jardine

00:45:52.130 --> 00:45:54.909
coming in. So there's going to be some competition.

00:45:55.110 --> 00:45:58.369
They brought in some veterans from overseas who

00:45:58.369 --> 00:45:59.989
played in other leagues, which I think will be

00:45:59.989 --> 00:46:03.090
good for the culture, at least like understanding

00:46:03.090 --> 00:46:06.070
what it should look like. I think that's important

00:46:06.070 --> 00:46:08.630
in this league as they get established and figure

00:46:08.630 --> 00:46:11.489
that out. So I really like the moves that they've

00:46:11.489 --> 00:46:14.730
made. I thought that Grand Rapids was an interesting

00:46:14.730 --> 00:46:17.619
team last year where they had. Some games they

00:46:17.619 --> 00:46:19.739
looked really good, but then there was some inconsistency.

00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:21.300
I thought they got better as the season went

00:46:21.300 --> 00:46:24.960
on. So I think they're going to be more competitive

00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:27.300
this year than they were last year. I mean, bringing

00:46:27.300 --> 00:46:32.159
in Kahina Torres is good. Jardim did some good

00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:34.260
things when she was given a chance last season.

00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:37.960
You spoke about the experience. I'm going to

00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:39.820
say of the teams we've heard, I'm going to put

00:46:39.820 --> 00:46:42.780
them second. I think that that's fair on paper.

00:46:42.840 --> 00:46:45.659
I like where they're at. For me, they don't really

00:46:45.659 --> 00:46:49.659
have any, like, standouts, but they have a bunch

00:46:49.659 --> 00:46:52.920
of, like, solid players. They could be a good

00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:56.320
team. So I think... Like, I don't really see

00:46:56.320 --> 00:46:59.619
anybody, like, topping the stats charts. No.

00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:02.360
But I think, like, when they put it all together,

00:47:02.460 --> 00:47:04.980
they could be decent. Yeah. Looking at Indie

00:47:04.980 --> 00:47:08.539
Ignite, my favorite team, personally. Because

00:47:08.539 --> 00:47:12.159
he likes Elena Scott. I like Anna DeBeer as well.

00:47:12.670 --> 00:47:15.210
He likes the Louisville girls. I like that team.

00:47:15.289 --> 00:47:18.070
They finished fourth last year. So returning

00:47:18.070 --> 00:47:22.369
for them is Elena Scott, Zani Thieler, Lydia

00:47:22.369 --> 00:47:25.889
Martin, Leketor, Member Mena, also coming back

00:47:25.889 --> 00:47:27.730
along with Ana Debir, even though Ana didn't

00:47:27.730 --> 00:47:31.210
play a ton last season. So they have some very

00:47:31.210 --> 00:47:33.750
good players who performed well coming back,

00:47:33.809 --> 00:47:36.690
which is a good start. And then they've added

00:47:36.690 --> 00:47:42.340
Alexandra Boteset from Italy. So she's in the

00:47:42.340 --> 00:47:44.699
middle. Kara Cressy is coming in the middle.

00:47:45.340 --> 00:47:49.360
Emma Halter is playing for this team. Maybe she'll

00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:51.699
set. Maybe she'll play libero. Who knows? She's

00:47:51.699 --> 00:47:55.159
got great hands. They have Cameron Hanna, Taylor

00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:58.579
Lanphair coming in. They also have Mia Tuoniga

00:47:58.579 --> 00:48:01.719
coming in as well. I actually think this is one

00:48:01.719 --> 00:48:04.940
of the deepest teams. This team is really deep

00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:07.119
and I really like them, but I'm not loving the

00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:09.320
setting situation. Well, their setters are small.

00:48:10.110 --> 00:48:14.250
and not super physical. So that is where I see

00:48:14.250 --> 00:48:17.969
their potential issue being. So we'll see how

00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:21.349
they manage to kind of overcome that, what defensive

00:48:21.349 --> 00:48:25.809
systems they play, if they face really good big

00:48:25.809 --> 00:48:28.670
left sides. They don't really have an option.

00:48:29.590 --> 00:48:31.989
There's not enough subs to play a true 6 -2,

00:48:32.070 --> 00:48:35.150
but they could run... somewhat of a 6 -2 for

00:48:35.150 --> 00:48:38.469
a few rotations. I really like this roster. I

00:48:38.469 --> 00:48:40.510
do too. Do you like them better than Atlanta?

00:48:41.510 --> 00:48:45.329
I think for me, this is a number one. This is

00:48:45.329 --> 00:48:48.030
the number one team that we've seen so far. Yeah,

00:48:48.030 --> 00:48:49.030
I was just quickly trying to run through the

00:48:49.030 --> 00:48:54.269
Atlanta roster again. This team is like you said,

00:48:54.369 --> 00:48:57.869
really deep. They have a lot of players. The

00:48:57.869 --> 00:49:00.269
only question mark to me though was the setting.

00:49:01.010 --> 00:49:05.039
Agreed. You know our thoughts on that. A great

00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:07.159
setter can really elevate, and a not -so -great

00:49:07.159 --> 00:49:09.320
setter can really bring a good team down. Yeah,

00:49:09.440 --> 00:49:11.039
I mean, it's true. They have options, though,

00:49:11.079 --> 00:49:12.099
so hopefully they're going to be able to find

00:49:12.099 --> 00:49:14.239
somebody who connects with the hitters. I like

00:49:14.239 --> 00:49:16.440
this team. I think this is a very good team.

00:49:16.480 --> 00:49:17.820
I think they're going to be a lot of fun to watch.

00:49:18.099 --> 00:49:22.320
The Omaha Supernovas, I'm not going to say anything

00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:27.659
else, they pretty much had a full roster reconstruction.

00:49:28.500 --> 00:49:30.519
I definitely think Omaha spent the most money

00:49:30.519 --> 00:49:33.130
on their roster. I have more money than anything,

00:49:33.289 --> 00:49:36.769
I think. Yes. Stang, obviously, Brooke Nunneviller,

00:49:36.889 --> 00:49:39.989
who was incredibly good last season, and Reagan

00:49:39.989 --> 00:49:43.349
Cooper. So they are both staying, and pretty

00:49:43.349 --> 00:49:46.429
much everybody else has been kicked to the curb

00:49:46.429 --> 00:49:48.849
from last year. That's what happens. What about

00:49:48.849 --> 00:49:51.309
Landot? I think Landot is still on the team.

00:49:51.449 --> 00:49:54.190
But Landot didn't play a ton last year. So from

00:49:54.190 --> 00:49:57.170
the people who played the most sets, those are

00:49:57.170 --> 00:49:59.400
the two that are returning. So we're going to

00:49:59.400 --> 00:50:01.659
run through this really quickly. In the setting

00:50:01.659 --> 00:50:04.599
position, they have Sydney Hilly and Brooke Mosher.

00:50:04.840 --> 00:50:08.139
So that's a very good duo, in my opinion. They

00:50:08.139 --> 00:50:11.800
have a lot of options at opposite. None of them

00:50:11.800 --> 00:50:13.599
very good, in my opinion. Why do you have so

00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:15.960
many opposites? So they have Ali Shek, they have

00:50:15.960 --> 00:50:17.920
Merritt Beeson, and they have Emily Lawndot.

00:50:18.239 --> 00:50:19.980
I'm kind of thinking they're just going to try

00:50:19.980 --> 00:50:22.400
and figure out who's going to step up and play.

00:50:22.500 --> 00:50:26.780
I don't love any of those selections. But again,

00:50:26.860 --> 00:50:29.119
they have options. They picked up Morgan Hentz,

00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:32.360
so I like that. As a libero, I think she'll do

00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:35.900
a good job there. And then they also picked up

00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:39.019
Nora Siss as an outside to add to that collection.

00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:41.900
So they'll be pretty strong on the left side.

00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:45.840
What, with Brooke Nenoville and Nora Siss? Yeah.

00:50:46.400 --> 00:50:50.079
And they also have Reagan Cooper. So between

00:50:50.079 --> 00:50:54.099
the three of them, I think that's a decent outside

00:50:54.099 --> 00:50:56.579
core comparatively. And then in the middle, they

00:50:56.579 --> 00:51:00.579
have Kiara Reinhardt, Toyona Onobonjo, and Layla

00:51:00.579 --> 00:51:03.440
Blackwell. No, you don't love it? No, I'm not

00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:05.599
loving this roster. Okay, give me your thoughts.

00:51:05.820 --> 00:51:08.019
I like the Sutter situation. I like the Libero

00:51:08.019 --> 00:51:12.079
situation. Nunaviller was very good last season.

00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:15.800
But other than that, I'm not loving it. What

00:51:15.800 --> 00:51:18.900
about Toyosi Onobonjo? She didn't even play last

00:51:18.900 --> 00:51:20.659
year. You don't think she's going to be good

00:51:20.659 --> 00:51:23.670
this year? Well, I don't know. I'm just... Okay.

00:51:23.750 --> 00:51:26.489
I'm going on instinct here. I'm hearing this

00:51:26.489 --> 00:51:29.230
and I'm just saying what my heart is feeling.

00:51:29.630 --> 00:51:35.269
Okay. So I'm going to put them third of the teams

00:51:35.269 --> 00:51:38.369
we've heard so far. Well, wait. How would you

00:51:38.369 --> 00:51:40.889
compare them to Grand Rapids? I think they'll

00:51:40.889 --> 00:51:44.250
be more consistent than Grand Rapids. I don't

00:51:44.250 --> 00:51:46.909
think they're going to run away with the league

00:51:46.909 --> 00:51:49.869
the way they did last year, regular season -wise.

00:51:50.550 --> 00:51:54.190
No. I'm debating whether to put them or Grand

00:51:54.190 --> 00:51:57.269
Rapids ahead of each other. Yeah, I think that's

00:51:57.269 --> 00:51:59.949
where they slot for me. It seems like they picked

00:51:59.949 --> 00:52:02.369
a lot of players who would be well -known in

00:52:02.369 --> 00:52:06.150
Nebraska. Some of them were fan choices versus

00:52:06.150 --> 00:52:09.630
volleyball choices, at least for some of these.

00:52:09.710 --> 00:52:11.570
But we'll see what happens with that. Well, Sidney

00:52:11.570 --> 00:52:13.949
Hilli played for Omaha in season one. I mean,

00:52:13.969 --> 00:52:17.690
again, I like those. Their first and second contact

00:52:17.690 --> 00:52:20.420
is going to be very good. And then we'll see

00:52:20.420 --> 00:52:23.360
from there what happens. Well, oftentimes that

00:52:23.360 --> 00:52:26.760
is enough. Well, and that's where I think they

00:52:26.760 --> 00:52:28.900
might have an edge. So they've got those two

00:52:28.900 --> 00:52:30.820
positions down pat. And then they have a bunch

00:52:30.820 --> 00:52:33.840
of options. Again, whether the coach is willing

00:52:33.840 --> 00:52:35.639
to make substitutions, figure out who's going

00:52:35.639 --> 00:52:37.440
to play. We'll see how they manage that. But

00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:40.739
contacts one and two will be pretty good. Orlando

00:52:40.739 --> 00:52:44.019
Valkyrie finished third last year. But won the

00:52:44.019 --> 00:52:45.980
whole league. But won the whole league. So they're

00:52:45.980 --> 00:52:49.519
bringing most of their starters back. So coming

00:52:49.519 --> 00:52:52.579
back, Brittany Abercrombie, Kaz Brown is coming

00:52:52.579 --> 00:52:54.800
back. Natalie Foster's coming back. Courtney

00:52:54.800 --> 00:52:57.820
Schwan is coming back. Their setter Pornpon is

00:52:57.820 --> 00:53:01.460
coming back. Emmy Klicka also coming back. Added

00:53:01.460 --> 00:53:04.780
to the roster, Charity Looper on the outside,

00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:08.000
Hannah Maddox on the outside, and Naya Shemay

00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:12.079
as an opposite coming from Grand Rapids. What

00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:15.840
are your thoughts on their additions? I mean,

00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:18.440
they obviously... Peaked at the right time. They

00:53:18.440 --> 00:53:20.860
had a good finish to the season. I kind of like

00:53:20.860 --> 00:53:23.800
that they kept their roster almost intact. I

00:53:23.800 --> 00:53:24.860
do too. I mean, if you're winning. I mean, they

00:53:24.860 --> 00:53:28.159
won. They had a little dip. They were a little

00:53:28.159 --> 00:53:30.440
up and down a little bit last year, but then,

00:53:30.480 --> 00:53:32.519
like you said, really hit their stride when it

00:53:32.519 --> 00:53:34.960
mattered. Everything rode on Abercrombie. I was

00:53:34.960 --> 00:53:36.599
going to say, if I remember correctly, Abercrombie

00:53:36.599 --> 00:53:38.199
struggled at the beginning of the season a little

00:53:38.199 --> 00:53:39.840
bit. No, she did really well at the beginning,

00:53:39.900 --> 00:53:42.039
had a lull in the middle, and then came back.

00:53:42.219 --> 00:53:44.860
So their success was directly correlated to her.

00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:47.659
Hannah Maddox is an interesting addition for

00:53:47.659 --> 00:53:51.579
me. She's either really hot or really cold. There's

00:53:51.579 --> 00:53:54.880
no in -between, so I'm curious how they utilize

00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:57.380
her. It's an interesting pickup because you already

00:53:57.380 --> 00:54:01.079
have a couple good outsides, so you don't need

00:54:01.079 --> 00:54:04.619
to use her, but you could bring her in. I like

00:54:04.619 --> 00:54:08.360
this roster better than Omaha's, honestly. I

00:54:08.360 --> 00:54:12.659
do as well. I'm curious what's going to happen.

00:54:13.519 --> 00:54:16.420
Can Nia Shemay potentially go to the outside?

00:54:16.539 --> 00:54:18.360
Is she only an opposite? Like you're not going

00:54:18.360 --> 00:54:21.079
to play in front of Abercrombie probably, so

00:54:21.079 --> 00:54:22.960
are you going to be a backup? Because I think

00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:25.820
she's decent. It'll be interesting to see what

00:54:25.820 --> 00:54:28.079
they do with some of their pieces. I thought

00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:31.159
last year their second outside, like Courtney

00:54:31.159 --> 00:54:35.300
Schwan, was a decent passer, but they couldn't

00:54:35.300 --> 00:54:37.920
score particularly well. So I think they've added

00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:41.000
a little more offensive ability on the left side

00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:44.099
of the court. We'll see. how that comes with

00:54:44.099 --> 00:54:47.500
the ball control. Hornpun is a small setter,

00:54:47.519 --> 00:54:49.179
so they're going to have to deal with that again.

00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:52.559
But I like the way she delivers the ball. I like

00:54:52.559 --> 00:54:54.159
their team. I think they're going to be one of

00:54:54.159 --> 00:54:56.199
the best teams in the league again. Yeah, me

00:54:56.199 --> 00:55:00.260
too. They seem to be operating as a franchise,

00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:03.260
like did well, kept their players. Like you saw

00:55:03.260 --> 00:55:05.780
a whole bunch of rosters completely turned over

00:55:05.780 --> 00:55:07.659
and expansion teams. So there's some stability

00:55:07.659 --> 00:55:10.380
here, which I think bodes well, especially given

00:55:10.380 --> 00:55:14.329
that they won. And finally, we have San Diego,

00:55:14.429 --> 00:55:16.849
who finished sixth in the league. They're returning

00:55:16.849 --> 00:55:21.909
three players in. Shira Venegas is the libero.

00:55:22.829 --> 00:55:26.369
Kendra Delke is an outside hitter. Maya Tabron

00:55:26.369 --> 00:55:29.030
as an outside hitter, also coming back. And then

00:55:29.030 --> 00:55:31.449
they're bringing in a whole bunch of players.

00:55:31.550 --> 00:55:34.949
Again, kind of a huge roster makeover. And we're

00:55:34.949 --> 00:55:36.670
not going to go over everybody, but probably

00:55:36.670 --> 00:55:39.780
pretty close. Jillian Grimes coming in as the

00:55:39.780 --> 00:55:42.219
libero, so I like that pickup. They brought in

00:55:42.219 --> 00:55:45.099
two liberos and they kept their starting libero.

00:55:45.119 --> 00:55:47.880
Yeah, there's going to be a lot of... Well, I

00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:51.579
think this libero is 6 -2. I think she can play

00:55:51.579 --> 00:55:55.900
outside. We'll see what happens with that. Possibly

00:55:55.900 --> 00:55:58.500
some options there. On the outside, they're also

00:55:58.500 --> 00:56:02.320
bringing in Allison Jacobs, Grace Loberg, and

00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:06.239
Aiden Kubik. Don't know if I love any of those

00:56:06.239 --> 00:56:09.559
options. I mean, they're all fine. Yeah. You're

00:56:09.559 --> 00:56:11.000
going to have lots of opportunity. These aren't

00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:14.139
franchise outsides. No. But they're fine. But

00:56:14.139 --> 00:56:16.219
you'll have these, all of these players will

00:56:16.219 --> 00:56:18.780
have an opportunity to fight for a spot and to

00:56:18.780 --> 00:56:21.960
kind of make the jump to the next level. So they

00:56:21.960 --> 00:56:24.619
brought in five middles, which is wild. Where

00:56:24.619 --> 00:56:26.579
are they getting this money or are they not paying

00:56:26.579 --> 00:56:29.639
anybody? I don't know. Kayla Caffey coming in,

00:56:29.800 --> 00:56:33.179
Taylor Sambuthi coming in, who played at Love.

00:56:33.739 --> 00:56:37.760
last year. Maren Grote coming in and then two

00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:41.880
other middles. So they have five. I have no idea

00:56:41.880 --> 00:56:43.699
looking at this who's going to end up playing.

00:56:44.099 --> 00:56:47.739
Roster decisions will be very interesting with

00:56:47.739 --> 00:56:52.199
this team. They have three opposites. Morgan

00:56:52.199 --> 00:56:57.440
Lewis, Ashley Cosimo and Jovana Bracocevic. She's

00:56:57.440 --> 00:57:00.739
obviously Serbian. She's 37. She's played with

00:57:00.739 --> 00:57:02.320
her. Yeah. I was going to say Sarah's played

00:57:02.320 --> 00:57:04.900
with her. So again, like three opposites for

00:57:04.900 --> 00:57:07.579
one spot. We'll see what happens. They brought

00:57:07.579 --> 00:57:09.179
in a veteran president. I mean, she played all

00:57:09.179 --> 00:57:10.880
over the world. She's played in some good leagues

00:57:10.880 --> 00:57:13.300
as well. How, what are your expectations of her

00:57:13.300 --> 00:57:15.880
coming here? I think she'll be fine. I think

00:57:15.880 --> 00:57:17.460
she'll probably be the starter at the beginning

00:57:17.460 --> 00:57:21.130
at least. And then see what happens. And then

00:57:21.130 --> 00:57:23.650
they also brought in, they have three setters

00:57:23.650 --> 00:57:25.210
coming in. This is insane. This is literally

00:57:25.210 --> 00:57:27.550
insane. August Rasky. Most people volunteering

00:57:27.550 --> 00:57:33.409
to play. August Rasky, Marley Monserez, and Carly

00:57:33.409 --> 00:57:37.599
Graham. This roster. Messy. This is the spaghetti

00:57:37.599 --> 00:57:39.599
roster. We're going to throw a whole bunch of

00:57:39.599 --> 00:57:41.500
cooked spaghetti at the fridge and see what sticks.

00:57:41.739 --> 00:57:44.119
I thought it was the wall, but Adam throws it

00:57:44.119 --> 00:57:46.539
at the fridge. Wall, fridge. The fridge is easier

00:57:46.539 --> 00:57:48.599
to wipe down. Get that stainless steel cleaner

00:57:48.599 --> 00:57:52.320
out. They're just spick and span. There doesn't

00:57:52.320 --> 00:57:56.800
seem to be a plan here. It is aggregate as many

00:57:56.800 --> 00:57:58.199
players as we can and we'll see what's going

00:57:58.199 --> 00:57:59.760
on. I'm not loving this. I don't like this at

00:57:59.760 --> 00:58:04.159
all. I think there's maybe... Are you putting

00:58:04.159 --> 00:58:07.179
them above or below Dallas? Below Dallas. I love

00:58:07.179 --> 00:58:10.300
a plan. This does not seem like a small plan.

00:58:10.300 --> 00:58:14.300
This does not seem well thought out. Again, it

00:58:14.300 --> 00:58:16.900
just makes me think they took the best players

00:58:16.900 --> 00:58:19.400
they think they could get and didn't have any

00:58:19.400 --> 00:58:22.260
roster construction or how are players going

00:58:22.260 --> 00:58:23.820
to fit with other players. They need to join

00:58:23.820 --> 00:58:26.760
our Play Volley Fantasy League so that they can

00:58:26.760 --> 00:58:30.519
learn some budgeting. Yeah. Don't love the roster.

00:58:30.619 --> 00:58:33.760
I would expect them to probably be at the bottom

00:58:33.760 --> 00:58:36.360
of the league again. Based on what we've heard,

00:58:36.440 --> 00:58:42.360
our rankings are Atlanta or Indy Atlanta, Orlando,

00:58:42.800 --> 00:58:48.239
Omaha, Grand Rapids, and then Dallas, San Diego.

00:58:48.880 --> 00:58:51.420
Yeah, something like that. I think Omaha will

00:58:51.420 --> 00:58:53.900
probably be a little higher than that. They'll

00:58:53.900 --> 00:58:56.340
probably finish third in the regular season.

00:58:56.500 --> 00:58:59.280
We'll see. But yeah, something like that I think

00:58:59.280 --> 00:59:02.800
makes a lot of sense. Well, feel free to take

00:59:02.800 --> 00:59:05.559
some of our notes into consideration when you're

00:59:05.559 --> 00:59:09.500
building your fantasy team. Or maybe we're trying

00:59:09.500 --> 00:59:12.119
to sabotage you. None of this is good information.

00:59:13.280 --> 00:59:16.719
We just sacrificed this entire segment just to

00:59:16.719 --> 00:59:19.039
beat you in the fantasy league. But given my

00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:21.400
track record, it looks like you all will be.

00:59:21.480 --> 00:59:23.400
As you're building your teams, I would just recommend

00:59:23.400 --> 00:59:26.260
you to read how the salary cap works because

00:59:26.260 --> 00:59:29.119
it fluctuates based off player performance and

00:59:29.119 --> 00:59:31.880
contract length. It's a very interesting mechanism.

00:59:32.019 --> 00:59:35.519
But if you haven't played fantasy before, it

00:59:35.519 --> 00:59:37.480
might be a little unique. Feel free to shoot

00:59:37.480 --> 00:59:39.900
us some questions. If you have any, send them

00:59:39.900 --> 00:59:42.119
to me, not to Sarah. I'll answer them for you.

00:59:42.139 --> 00:59:44.360
And then we can go from there. But I think it's

00:59:44.360 --> 00:59:45.219
going to be a lot of fun. Wait, why shouldn't

00:59:45.219 --> 00:59:47.780
they write me? Well, we had a half hour conversation

00:59:47.780 --> 00:59:50.980
about this today as I was trying to explain how

00:59:50.980 --> 00:59:53.659
it worked. So Sarah's never really played a fantasy

00:59:53.659 --> 00:59:57.219
like this. Have you? Yes. Now I know what Adam's

00:59:57.219 --> 01:00:00.179
doing when he says he's taking care of the baby.

01:00:00.400 --> 01:00:03.699
I'm just kidding. She's sleeping. I'm doing my

01:00:03.699 --> 01:00:06.360
fantasy picks. Well, you guys, you're guaranteed

01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:10.739
to be one person. It is me. So that is our preview

01:00:10.739 --> 01:00:14.420
for MLV. As we said, we're going to dive into

01:00:14.420 --> 01:00:17.980
Love next week. But both leagues do start this

01:00:17.980 --> 01:00:19.519
week. We're going to dive into that a little

01:00:19.519 --> 01:00:22.480
bit later. So hopefully you guys will enjoy the

01:00:22.480 --> 01:00:25.380
kickoff of those matches this week. All right,

01:00:25.480 --> 01:00:27.900
everybody, it's time for listener questions.

01:00:28.139 --> 01:00:32.550
We have got quite the lineup this week. Most

01:00:32.550 --> 01:00:34.670
are quite relevant to what we've talked about

01:00:34.670 --> 01:00:37.750
today. So question one, I'd love to know your

01:00:37.750 --> 01:00:40.070
opinions on the love team formats that greatly

01:00:40.070 --> 01:00:42.809
mirror college squads and the pros and cons of

01:00:42.809 --> 01:00:45.369
keeping that system moving forward into future

01:00:45.369 --> 01:00:48.590
seasons. This person said, personally, I'm not

01:00:48.590 --> 01:00:52.210
a fan of having primarily a Nebraska slash Texas

01:00:52.210 --> 01:00:54.389
heavy squad. I think it hurts the pro mentality

01:00:54.389 --> 01:00:57.170
and growth when you keep all these college athletes

01:00:57.170 --> 01:01:00.969
on the same team. Agree with the sentiment long

01:01:00.969 --> 01:01:05.119
term. But I also think it's a smart strategy

01:01:05.119 --> 01:01:09.440
in the short term because there have been several

01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:12.679
iterations or attempts at creating pro volleyball

01:01:12.679 --> 01:01:15.480
in the U .S. and all of them have failed. Now,

01:01:15.500 --> 01:01:18.000
what hasn't failed is the women's college game,

01:01:18.119 --> 01:01:21.960
which is more fascinating, lots of fans, lots

01:01:21.960 --> 01:01:26.539
of interest. So I think... By leveraging those

01:01:26.539 --> 01:01:29.460
players who have fan bases already as they come

01:01:29.460 --> 01:01:32.360
out of college and switch them into pro, it helps

01:01:32.360 --> 01:01:35.159
build the fan base and the knowledge and people

01:01:35.159 --> 01:01:38.440
want to watch those players. I think you'll see

01:01:38.440 --> 01:01:42.119
a transition out of this as the leagues become

01:01:42.119 --> 01:01:45.980
better known and build their own fan bases. But

01:01:45.980 --> 01:01:48.500
at the beginning, I actually think it's a smart

01:01:48.500 --> 01:01:52.619
play to try and get people interested. in volleyball

01:01:52.619 --> 01:01:56.280
outside of the NCAA. Yeah, I mean, I totally

01:01:56.280 --> 01:01:59.940
understand that. I also agree with this person

01:01:59.940 --> 01:02:02.920
in that I'm not a fan of really seeing that.

01:02:03.420 --> 01:02:07.599
I do think it takes away from the professional

01:02:07.599 --> 01:02:10.019
atmosphere, the professional mentality that this

01:02:10.019 --> 01:02:13.519
person was referring to. So I do see both sides.

01:02:14.159 --> 01:02:19.219
My feeling sides with this person who asked the

01:02:19.219 --> 01:02:23.340
question, but... for growing the the league etc

01:02:23.340 --> 01:02:26.780
i agree and understand with what you're saying

01:02:26.780 --> 01:02:30.159
question two since we're in international club

01:02:30.159 --> 01:02:32.739
season what are your top club teams that you're

01:02:32.739 --> 01:02:36.599
excited to see with the new updated rosters what

01:02:36.599 --> 01:02:38.280
are teams that you think will make a deep run

01:02:38.280 --> 01:02:41.139
in champions league or their own home league

01:02:41.139 --> 01:02:44.059
and which teams do you think did a downgrade

01:02:44.059 --> 01:02:47.179
there's a ton in this question and i think we'll

01:02:47.179 --> 01:02:50.889
get into it a little deeper as we watch Some

01:02:50.889 --> 01:02:53.349
of the teams start to play. Yeah, I mean, full

01:02:53.349 --> 01:02:56.269
disclosure, I have not, with NCAA season, I haven't

01:02:56.269 --> 01:02:59.809
been able to really lock in on the pro season

01:02:59.809 --> 01:03:03.449
yet. I'll tell you, there's a couple storylines

01:03:03.449 --> 01:03:05.610
I'm interested in following. Conigliano losing

01:03:05.610 --> 01:03:09.849
early in the season, I find fascinating. Not

01:03:09.849 --> 01:03:13.690
even early, just like throughout. Yes, but they

01:03:13.690 --> 01:03:16.369
lost the cup. Early in the season. They lost

01:03:16.369 --> 01:03:18.610
the Cup early, but then Club Worlds and this

01:03:18.610 --> 01:03:21.889
latest loss to Milano was like mid -season. Yes.

01:03:21.929 --> 01:03:25.510
So for me, that's a fascinating storyline because

01:03:25.510 --> 01:03:27.710
they have mostly the same team back. Virtually

01:03:27.710 --> 01:03:31.070
the same team back. So, you know, I always find

01:03:31.070 --> 01:03:32.630
it interesting of what's going on there. Did

01:03:32.630 --> 01:03:34.309
the other teams get better? Is there a little

01:03:34.309 --> 01:03:37.130
apathy that set in? So that's something I'll

01:03:37.130 --> 01:03:40.809
be watching. I really watched pro men's for the

01:03:40.809 --> 01:03:44.760
first time for real last season. And I really

01:03:44.760 --> 01:03:47.199
enjoyed a lot of that. So I'm looking forward

01:03:47.199 --> 01:03:49.980
to getting to know a few more of the men's Italian

01:03:49.980 --> 01:03:52.320
teams, but also some of the Polish teams. They

01:03:52.320 --> 01:03:54.599
were a ton of fun to watch. I really liked watching

01:03:54.599 --> 01:03:57.280
the men's Polish national team. So watching some

01:03:57.280 --> 01:04:00.579
of those players on their pro teams is something

01:04:00.579 --> 01:04:04.099
I'm looking forward to. Watching Fenerbahce last

01:04:04.099 --> 01:04:07.179
season, my biggest knock on them was their setting.

01:04:07.239 --> 01:04:12.039
So bringing Alessia Oro in, I am... Very curious

01:04:12.039 --> 01:04:14.420
to see how they have evolved in her connection

01:04:14.420 --> 01:04:21.440
with Vargas. And Fedor Oteva, to be honest. Vacavbank

01:04:21.440 --> 01:04:26.679
is always interesting. I'm curious to watch Boscovich.

01:04:26.719 --> 01:04:30.900
Like, might be a hot take, but, like, has she

01:04:30.900 --> 01:04:34.079
peaked already? Like, is she on the decline?

01:04:34.739 --> 01:04:37.920
I'm very curious, because... club season last

01:04:37.920 --> 01:04:42.400
year, international season this summer. Wasn't

01:04:42.400 --> 01:04:46.199
her best. There's that. So I think Fenerbahce

01:04:46.199 --> 01:04:48.719
made an upgrade. I expected big things from Corneliano

01:04:48.719 --> 01:04:51.480
because they were virtually the same. Novara

01:04:51.480 --> 01:04:53.900
came on strong at the end of last season, so

01:04:53.900 --> 01:04:56.019
I was curious about them. I was interested to

01:04:56.019 --> 01:04:59.300
see how Kami Miner stepped into Milano and how

01:04:59.300 --> 01:05:02.380
they were doing losing Silla to Galatasaray and

01:05:02.380 --> 01:05:09.329
Oro. And they also lost... to Vacavbank too,

01:05:09.510 --> 01:05:13.389
I believe. So they had some big changes. Yeah,

01:05:13.449 --> 01:05:16.170
Scandici bringing Avery Skinner over there. They

01:05:16.170 --> 01:05:18.809
lost Carol. Like there was a lot of interesting

01:05:18.809 --> 01:05:23.190
movement. I know in Woods, things kind of went

01:05:23.190 --> 01:05:25.909
down with one team there because there's two

01:05:25.909 --> 01:05:29.070
Champions League teams in Woods. So that was

01:05:29.070 --> 01:05:32.250
really interesting to me. There was a lot, but

01:05:32.250 --> 01:05:34.989
I will say I was expecting big things from Fenerbahce.

01:05:35.639 --> 01:05:41.280
In Corneliano, I expected the decline from Milano.

01:05:41.679 --> 01:05:44.800
On the men's side, Trentino Perugia, I always

01:05:44.800 --> 01:05:48.280
enjoy watching them. I love watching, as you

01:05:48.280 --> 01:05:51.639
were saying, Zawierce from the Polish side. I

01:05:51.639 --> 01:05:54.360
do want to get more into the Japanese league

01:05:54.360 --> 01:05:56.960
this year. Oh, good call, good call. I think

01:05:56.960 --> 01:05:58.719
there's lots of good stuff happening there, and

01:05:58.719 --> 01:06:02.519
they show the Japanese league on VBTV. Lots to

01:06:02.519 --> 01:06:04.480
get into. But this was a very good question.

01:06:04.800 --> 01:06:06.599
Question three, how do you think the transfer

01:06:06.599 --> 01:06:09.679
portal could be improved? Given the complexities

01:06:09.679 --> 01:06:12.739
introduced by NIL, perfection is unlikely, but

01:06:12.739 --> 01:06:15.639
what rational steps could be taken to reward

01:06:15.639 --> 01:06:19.239
loyalty? And I have lots of questions about the

01:06:19.239 --> 01:06:21.500
transfer portal. Somebody was saying, do you

01:06:21.500 --> 01:06:25.039
think there should be a cap on how many players

01:06:25.039 --> 01:06:27.659
you can take from the portal to help coaches,

01:06:27.880 --> 01:06:30.559
like force coaches to actually develop players?

01:06:30.800 --> 01:06:34.090
So, yeah, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah,

01:06:34.130 --> 01:06:37.190
I have a couple thoughts. Now, first and foremost,

01:06:37.510 --> 01:06:40.150
this should be about the athletes. So I think

01:06:40.150 --> 01:06:41.530
you have to keep that in mind. I think it's really

01:06:41.530 --> 01:06:43.329
easy to go, okay, you can't transfer, you can't

01:06:43.329 --> 01:06:45.550
do this. But you have to remember NIL came about

01:06:45.550 --> 01:06:47.690
because the schools were making so much money,

01:06:47.750 --> 01:06:49.710
not specifically in volleyball, although some

01:06:49.710 --> 01:06:52.409
programs were, but football and basketball, and

01:06:52.409 --> 01:06:55.030
there having to be freedom for athletes to not

01:06:55.030 --> 01:06:58.670
be taken advantage of, which I'm all for. Specifically...

01:06:59.230 --> 01:07:01.190
For women's volleyball. And I think it would

01:07:01.190 --> 01:07:04.269
actually benefit lots of sports. To have different

01:07:04.269 --> 01:07:07.949
transfer rules. For different sports. Given roster

01:07:07.949 --> 01:07:11.789
sizes. Given roster sizes. Given the amount of

01:07:11.789 --> 01:07:13.570
money in different sports. And things like that.

01:07:13.690 --> 01:07:17.170
I don't think there's a one size fits all solution.

01:07:17.349 --> 01:07:20.309
So specifically. We're talking volleyball. Yes.

01:07:20.570 --> 01:07:23.269
Specifically for volleyball. I think a couple

01:07:23.269 --> 01:07:27.190
things. I think you should be able to get. One

01:07:27.190 --> 01:07:32.070
transfer per four years. An athlete. Per athlete.

01:07:32.650 --> 01:07:36.030
The people who are going to three or four programs,

01:07:36.269 --> 01:07:39.849
stop it. I think if you want to transfer more

01:07:39.849 --> 01:07:42.130
than once, you should have to sit out a season.

01:07:42.530 --> 01:07:46.289
That, again, my personal opinion. And I think

01:07:46.289 --> 01:07:49.610
that schools should only be able to pick up two

01:07:49.610 --> 01:07:53.449
or three transfer players per year. I think it

01:07:53.449 --> 01:07:55.190
should be very similar to the foreigner rule.

01:07:55.840 --> 01:07:58.219
And I think that. Well, cause like everybody

01:07:58.219 --> 01:08:01.980
has a knock on athletes and I am one of them

01:08:01.980 --> 01:08:05.039
for having no loyalty. Coaches have no loyalty

01:08:05.039 --> 01:08:08.320
either though. No, true. Very, very few of them.

01:08:08.360 --> 01:08:10.920
And I will go back to the Kennedy Rogers discussion

01:08:10.920 --> 01:08:13.920
bringing in, like she did a really good job for

01:08:13.920 --> 01:08:16.140
all intents and purposes, probably earned herself

01:08:16.140 --> 01:08:18.560
a starting spot for the next year gone because

01:08:18.560 --> 01:08:22.100
Sully Davis came in. Yeah. So. I think those

01:08:22.100 --> 01:08:26.100
two things would be very helpful. Or it would

01:08:26.100 --> 01:08:28.020
at least make people think. You see athletes

01:08:28.020 --> 01:08:29.500
enter the portal and then come back to their

01:08:29.500 --> 01:08:33.800
own school. Come on. That's ridiculous. It would

01:08:33.800 --> 01:08:37.340
be nice to see coaches and athletes think through

01:08:37.340 --> 01:08:39.640
the moves they have to do so that they benefit

01:08:39.640 --> 01:08:41.920
everybody. I definitely think there needs to

01:08:41.920 --> 01:08:47.560
be consequences. A transfer should be a huge

01:08:47.560 --> 01:08:50.779
deal. Yes. I think like you're literally picking

01:08:50.779 --> 01:08:54.220
up your life. You're moving somewhere new. You

01:08:54.220 --> 01:08:57.300
are like changing academic institutions, which

01:08:57.300 --> 01:09:00.619
transferring credits, not always easy. Teammate.

01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:03.699
There's so many aspects that are a huge deal.

01:09:04.560 --> 01:09:07.359
So I think that there should, you should really

01:09:07.359 --> 01:09:10.439
have to think about it hard. And I think there

01:09:10.439 --> 01:09:12.340
should be two other caveats. One, if your coach

01:09:12.340 --> 01:09:14.380
leaves, I think you should be allowed to leave

01:09:14.380 --> 01:09:17.420
penalty free because I think. A lot of people

01:09:17.420 --> 01:09:19.600
go places to play for a specific coach. So if

01:09:19.600 --> 01:09:21.979
that happens, that would be kind of like a free

01:09:21.979 --> 01:09:25.340
pass. And then I think when it comes to the money

01:09:25.340 --> 01:09:29.220
aspect, there should be a cap on how much money

01:09:29.220 --> 01:09:31.520
you can make the first year you're out of school,

01:09:31.720 --> 01:09:34.140
the second year you're out of school, and the

01:09:34.140 --> 01:09:35.640
third year you're out of school. Out of school?

01:09:36.039 --> 01:09:38.960
No, like if you, the first year you're at an

01:09:38.960 --> 01:09:40.779
institution. Out of school. I thought you said

01:09:40.779 --> 01:09:42.880
out of school. I was like, whoa. The first year

01:09:42.880 --> 01:09:44.979
you're out of school, you can make X amount.

01:09:46.670 --> 01:09:49.810
you it bumps up the longer you're there to reward

01:09:49.810 --> 01:09:53.289
staying at a program i think well how is texas

01:09:53.289 --> 01:09:55.390
gonna get any i'm just kidding you guys know

01:09:55.390 --> 01:09:58.409
texas catches strays for me all the time relax

01:09:58.409 --> 01:10:01.289
okay i'm kidding so like how are some of these

01:10:01.289 --> 01:10:03.430
schools gonna even get athletes then if they

01:10:03.430 --> 01:10:06.569
can't waive the dollars no i'm not saying they

01:10:06.569 --> 01:10:08.310
can't waive the dollars they can still but i'm

01:10:08.310 --> 01:10:11.770
saying that you there should be financial incentives

01:10:11.770 --> 01:10:14.310
for staying at a school i think that would be

01:10:14.310 --> 01:10:17.300
also interesting Question four, do you think

01:10:17.300 --> 01:10:19.180
athletes are doing themselves a disservice by

01:10:19.180 --> 01:10:21.260
playing in the Italian and other pro leagues

01:10:21.260 --> 01:10:24.199
in general and then coming back to play in Love

01:10:24.199 --> 01:10:29.739
or the PVF? I've gotten a lot of these types

01:10:29.739 --> 01:10:32.939
of questions, and a lot of them, I'll say the

01:10:32.939 --> 01:10:35.359
majority of them, revolve around Amber Eyed Jeed.

01:10:36.079 --> 01:10:38.180
So for those of you who aren't familiar, Amber

01:10:38.180 --> 01:10:42.600
Eyed Jeed played for Novara in Italy. For the

01:10:42.600 --> 01:10:46.699
first chunk of the season and then left to come

01:10:46.699 --> 01:10:50.779
back to play pro in love. And she was doing really

01:10:50.779 --> 01:10:55.380
well. She was making a big impact, making a name

01:10:55.380 --> 01:10:57.279
for herself in the Italian league and then up

01:10:57.279 --> 01:11:00.699
and packed it up and came back to, I think she

01:11:00.699 --> 01:11:04.220
was in Houston or is back in Houston. She is

01:11:04.220 --> 01:11:06.500
the reference point for a lot of these questions.

01:11:07.079 --> 01:11:10.529
And then it goes to. does this hurt their development

01:11:10.529 --> 01:11:13.329
and potential future on the national team? And

01:11:13.329 --> 01:11:15.689
then I ask, I'm like, I can think we can expand

01:11:15.689 --> 01:11:17.350
that to say, does you think, do you think that

01:11:17.350 --> 01:11:21.010
it hurts their chances of taking a serious contract

01:11:21.010 --> 01:11:23.250
somewhere later? I'll start with the last thing

01:11:23.250 --> 01:11:25.670
you asked. Yes, if you get labeled as a person

01:11:25.670 --> 01:11:28.029
who just bails on their team. No, I'm pretty

01:11:28.029 --> 01:11:30.869
sure she signed her contract with Novara for

01:11:30.869 --> 01:11:33.189
only part of this, for like half the season.

01:11:33.449 --> 01:11:37.090
Okay, then no. If you start breaking contracts,

01:11:37.369 --> 01:11:39.430
that's an issue for getting future contracts.

01:11:39.590 --> 01:11:41.609
But if you signed knowing that you were going

01:11:41.609 --> 01:11:44.390
to do that, totally legit. I feel like it's got

01:11:44.390 --> 01:11:46.949
to be hard, though, to sign those kind of contracts.

01:11:47.600 --> 01:11:50.039
When the market opens in January, you see a lot

01:11:50.039 --> 01:11:53.000
of players come to help teams finish their season.

01:11:53.140 --> 01:11:56.479
You don't often see teams be like, yeah, you

01:11:56.479 --> 01:11:59.159
can help start our season. Do you know what I

01:11:59.159 --> 01:12:00.939
mean? I'm surprised that the team would have

01:12:00.939 --> 01:12:02.640
signed that contract, but to each their own.

01:12:03.380 --> 01:12:06.819
A couple of the other questions you asked I think

01:12:06.819 --> 01:12:11.180
are worth talking about. I still think that the

01:12:11.180 --> 01:12:14.279
Italian and the Turkish leagues playing against

01:12:14.279 --> 01:12:18.949
really good competition. consistently matters

01:12:18.949 --> 01:12:23.789
for improvement. I also think that learning a

01:12:23.789 --> 01:12:26.529
new style and a new system and stepping out of

01:12:26.529 --> 01:12:28.869
your comfort zone is also incredibly important

01:12:28.869 --> 01:12:34.109
for development. So both of those things, I think,

01:12:34.130 --> 01:12:36.970
allows athletes to prepare for the international

01:12:36.970 --> 01:12:42.090
game better than playing in Love or MLV right

01:12:42.090 --> 01:12:45.829
now. Obviously, the goal is to improve the quality

01:12:45.829 --> 01:12:49.090
of the league. But as of right now, the Italian

01:12:49.090 --> 01:12:50.670
and the Turkish leagues are better. You're getting

01:12:50.670 --> 01:12:53.909
better competition. The rosters are deeper. If

01:12:53.909 --> 01:12:56.029
you're playing with some of those top teams,

01:12:56.170 --> 01:12:58.609
you're going to get better, period. So from a

01:12:58.609 --> 01:13:01.210
developmental standpoint, yes, I think it's tough.

01:13:01.970 --> 01:13:04.550
From a personal standpoint, and you can speak

01:13:04.550 --> 01:13:07.890
to this, it's hard to go overseas and play for

01:13:07.890 --> 01:13:10.010
eight or nine months by yourself. It's not...

01:13:10.699 --> 01:13:14.300
a great lifestyle you know obviously there are

01:13:14.300 --> 01:13:15.979
some great things it's definitely not for everybody

01:13:15.979 --> 01:13:19.460
yeah so i think there's a huge draw on a personal

01:13:19.460 --> 01:13:22.340
level to play in the u .s and to be part of growing

01:13:22.340 --> 01:13:25.659
the game here those two things are currently

01:13:25.659 --> 01:13:28.460
mutually exclusive well i will also say we don't

01:13:28.460 --> 01:13:31.659
know how long a contract ig signed for like she

01:13:31.659 --> 01:13:34.800
may have signed a two -year contract with love

01:13:34.800 --> 01:13:38.000
i would be curious to see if this is a pattern

01:13:38.000 --> 01:13:42.060
that continues with her she may not have had

01:13:42.060 --> 01:13:44.300
a choice this year and was like I want to go

01:13:44.300 --> 01:13:48.319
overseas but I'm stuck for another year in love

01:13:48.319 --> 01:13:51.800
like I need to like I'm gonna put myself out

01:13:51.800 --> 01:13:54.460
there and like at least do what I can yeah if

01:13:54.460 --> 01:13:57.600
this does become a pattern though I completely

01:13:57.600 --> 01:14:01.260
I agree with what you're saying I think if you

01:14:01.260 --> 01:14:06.340
have legit national team aspirations gold medal

01:14:06.340 --> 01:14:09.960
aspirations want to be one of the best players

01:14:09.960 --> 01:14:13.739
in the world aspirations, you need to go to a

01:14:13.739 --> 01:14:17.000
top league. And as we've talked about right now,

01:14:17.000 --> 01:14:19.020
the domestic leagues in the U .S. just aren't

01:14:19.020 --> 01:14:23.239
that. I just look at following your career and

01:14:23.239 --> 01:14:25.699
watching you play in some of those atmospheres

01:14:25.699 --> 01:14:28.720
and how much better you got even in your late

01:14:28.720 --> 01:14:33.079
20s, early 30s. Yeah. And it makes a difference.

01:14:33.720 --> 01:14:36.079
And you look at the U .S. teams that were successful

01:14:36.079 --> 01:14:39.699
internationally over the past two decades. And

01:14:39.699 --> 01:14:41.220
I know there wasn't a league here. I know it's

01:14:41.220 --> 01:14:43.239
not apples to apples, but they all competed in

01:14:43.239 --> 01:14:46.840
the best leagues in the world. It is hard. There's

01:14:46.840 --> 01:14:49.920
no denying that. You have to decide how bad you

01:14:49.920 --> 01:14:52.979
want it. And your lifespan as an athlete is so

01:14:52.979 --> 01:14:55.460
short. When things would be tough overseas, I

01:14:55.460 --> 01:14:57.600
would literally, if I had like, I don't know,

01:14:57.640 --> 01:14:59.579
four months left on my contract, I'd be like,

01:14:59.680 --> 01:15:01.739
I can do anything for four months. You can do

01:15:01.739 --> 01:15:04.199
anything for four months. Excellence isn't easy,

01:15:04.319 --> 01:15:07.420
and it's not always comfortable. Okay, question

01:15:07.420 --> 01:15:10.500
five. How strong are the top volleyball clubs

01:15:10.500 --> 01:15:13.399
compared to national teams? Take Conigliano,

01:15:13.539 --> 01:15:16.279
arguably the best team in the world. Is Conigliano

01:15:16.279 --> 01:15:19.539
on par with or even stronger than some national

01:15:19.539 --> 01:15:23.239
teams? This person says yes, but how strong are

01:15:23.239 --> 01:15:26.560
they really? Would Conigliano compete with Turkey,

01:15:26.739 --> 01:15:29.939
Brazil, Italy? Same question, but for the best

01:15:29.939 --> 01:15:34.130
male clubs. Perugia, Zaxa, Trento. And they compete

01:15:34.130 --> 01:15:37.850
with top national teams. Yes. You're bringing

01:15:37.850 --> 01:15:40.350
in the best players from all of the countries.

01:15:40.729 --> 01:15:43.489
Now, there might be some iterations of some of

01:15:43.489 --> 01:15:45.649
these teams. Let's take Corneliano. Well, okay.

01:15:45.710 --> 01:15:47.989
But the other question is, are these players

01:15:47.989 --> 01:15:50.449
then playing? Like, do you have Gabi on both

01:15:50.449 --> 01:15:53.670
teams? Yeah. Is Gabi on Corneliano and Brazil?

01:15:54.130 --> 01:15:57.409
Yes. I'm saying yes. Okay. Okay. So let's take

01:15:57.409 --> 01:16:02.640
Corneliano. You've got... Volosh, who would be

01:16:02.640 --> 01:16:06.220
starting setter for Poland. Gabi, starting left

01:16:06.220 --> 01:16:10.300
side for Brazil. Zhu Ting, who would be starting

01:16:10.300 --> 01:16:14.560
for China. So far, all top national teams. Then

01:16:14.560 --> 01:16:17.840
we've got Sarah Farr starting for Italy. Kirikella,

01:16:18.000 --> 01:16:22.619
okay, not so much, but she has been in the national

01:16:22.619 --> 01:16:25.579
team pipeline. De Janeiro, best libero in the

01:16:25.579 --> 01:16:28.819
world. And Isabel Hawk, who could start as a

01:16:28.819 --> 01:16:30.739
right side for the majority of countries in the

01:16:30.739 --> 01:16:34.000
world. They legitimately, I think, would beat

01:16:34.000 --> 01:16:37.020
national teams. Yeah, totally. Okay, looking

01:16:37.020 --> 01:16:39.840
at national teams, I feel like they could beat

01:16:39.840 --> 01:16:44.539
the majority. I think one that they might have

01:16:44.539 --> 01:16:48.279
trouble with is Italy. I think the Conigliano

01:16:48.279 --> 01:16:50.960
left sides are better than the Italian left sides.

01:16:51.500 --> 01:16:55.729
But, you know, Seraphar, the wash. I think Danezi

01:16:55.729 --> 01:17:00.649
is better than Kirikella. You could make an argument

01:17:00.649 --> 01:17:03.270
that potentially Hawk and Egonu would cancel

01:17:03.270 --> 01:17:05.670
each other out. What was the question? I said

01:17:05.670 --> 01:17:07.329
you could make an argument. Yes, okay, you can

01:17:07.329 --> 01:17:09.989
make an argument. And I think Oro's better than

01:17:09.989 --> 01:17:14.689
Volosh. Yeah, agreed. And Dajunaro cancels herself

01:17:14.689 --> 01:17:18.289
out, although she's retired. So Konoyama would

01:17:18.289 --> 01:17:22.149
get the edge now, perhaps. It's an interesting

01:17:22.149 --> 01:17:23.270
question. The other thing to think about too

01:17:23.270 --> 01:17:25.609
is that these pro teams train together more than

01:17:25.609 --> 01:17:27.850
the national teams do. Exactly. Totally. Nine

01:17:27.850 --> 01:17:30.390
months versus like three or four. Yeah. It's

01:17:30.390 --> 01:17:34.510
an interesting debate. And I do think probably

01:17:34.510 --> 01:17:37.310
most top teams. Do you think they could beat

01:17:37.310 --> 01:17:39.729
the Brazilians? I think the big thing with the

01:17:39.729 --> 01:17:42.550
Brazilians is the setting. Oh, I think Volos

01:17:42.550 --> 01:17:45.149
would beat their setter. I think Hawk is better

01:17:45.149 --> 01:17:47.859
than their right side. I think. The setting in

01:17:47.859 --> 01:17:50.180
the right side would be the difference maker.

01:17:50.359 --> 01:17:54.199
It'd be close in the middle. Gabi's a wash. And

01:17:54.199 --> 01:17:57.539
then you have Anna Christina. Yeah. I think they

01:17:57.539 --> 01:17:59.880
would lose that match on the right side of the

01:17:59.880 --> 01:18:02.279
court. Interesting question. I love that question.

01:18:02.300 --> 01:18:05.739
But that's the thing is like you have these teams

01:18:05.739 --> 01:18:07.680
that are the best in the world, men's and women's

01:18:07.680 --> 01:18:11.300
side, who have the budgets to handpick stars

01:18:11.300 --> 01:18:14.750
from the national teams. Yeah. Even when you're

01:18:14.750 --> 01:18:16.489
looking at the men's side, I think it's like

01:18:16.489 --> 01:18:21.770
a similar discussion. Completely. Is the best

01:18:21.770 --> 01:18:24.590
club teams in the world beat national teams,

01:18:24.750 --> 01:18:28.569
period. Yeah, you have a much bigger athlete

01:18:28.569 --> 01:18:31.609
pool to pull from, assuming you have the pocketbook.

01:18:31.909 --> 01:18:35.609
And the best teams do. Okay, question six. I

01:18:35.609 --> 01:18:37.949
was wondering if you guys could discuss similar

01:18:37.949 --> 01:18:42.149
to the scouting report discussion that we had.

01:18:42.720 --> 01:18:46.819
in a few episodes ago why conigliano is beyond

01:18:46.819 --> 01:18:51.300
successful and is a dynasty caliber team i understand

01:18:51.300 --> 01:18:53.380
they have some of the best players in each position

01:18:53.380 --> 01:18:57.239
but so do other top programs i feel as though

01:18:57.239 --> 01:18:59.880
santorelli the coach is one of the premier coaches

01:18:59.880 --> 01:19:03.779
in the world you could talk about this question

01:19:03.779 --> 01:19:07.279
for hours and probably one of my favorite things

01:19:07.279 --> 01:19:09.119
to do is sit and have beers and talk about things

01:19:09.119 --> 01:19:13.930
like this quite frankly I think when you look

01:19:13.930 --> 01:19:17.510
at teams like this, in any sport, it comes down

01:19:17.510 --> 01:19:22.470
to the expectation the coaches set for the team.

01:19:22.630 --> 01:19:25.390
You watch the best coaches in the world, and

01:19:25.390 --> 01:19:27.350
it doesn't matter if you're practicing against

01:19:27.350 --> 01:19:31.449
your JV team or you're practicing to play in

01:19:31.449 --> 01:19:35.170
the finals. They approach training and performance

01:19:35.170 --> 01:19:43.140
the same way all the time. forces you to be excellent

01:19:43.140 --> 01:19:47.020
and to learn to be excellent and to be excellent

01:19:47.020 --> 01:19:50.720
when you don't feel good all the time. And that,

01:19:50.840 --> 01:19:53.520
in my opinion, is what leads to consistency.

01:19:53.779 --> 01:19:59.020
And it comes down to everybody on the team filling

01:19:59.020 --> 01:20:02.079
a role and understanding they can step in and

01:20:02.079 --> 01:20:03.840
play. Gabi has a bad game. It doesn't happen

01:20:03.840 --> 01:20:06.100
often. I'm just using this as an example. That

01:20:06.100 --> 01:20:09.279
next person has been training to play. The coach

01:20:09.279 --> 01:20:12.300
has enabled them. Step in and be consistent.

01:20:12.479 --> 01:20:14.359
And that's what it takes. And when I've been

01:20:14.359 --> 01:20:17.279
in gyms of top coaches, Bernard Genio, national

01:20:17.279 --> 01:20:20.859
team coaches, it's the expectation when you show

01:20:20.859 --> 01:20:24.119
up that you are striving to be great all the

01:20:24.119 --> 01:20:26.619
time. And it's really hard to do over long periods

01:20:26.619 --> 01:20:28.340
of time. But I would say that's what he does

01:20:28.340 --> 01:20:32.760
incredibly well. I agree with you to an extent.

01:20:34.319 --> 01:20:37.859
I think, you know, if we look at the part of

01:20:37.859 --> 01:20:40.649
the question, that's like. Yes, Corneliano has

01:20:40.649 --> 01:20:44.409
top world -class athletes. So do other programs.

01:20:44.489 --> 01:20:50.430
I think in the pro sphere, nobody has necessarily

01:20:50.430 --> 01:20:53.609
an alliance or an allegiance to a specific team.

01:20:54.010 --> 01:20:55.949
You know, there are different reasons why people

01:20:55.949 --> 01:20:58.609
go different places, but money plays a big role.

01:20:58.850 --> 01:21:02.930
So there's not really that allegiance. Everybody's

01:21:02.930 --> 01:21:05.810
looking out for themselves. The thing about the

01:21:05.810 --> 01:21:10.149
pro level as opposed to... the college level

01:21:10.149 --> 01:21:16.470
or whatever is the power dynamic, the coach and

01:21:16.470 --> 01:21:19.369
the players are on the same level in the pro

01:21:19.369 --> 01:21:27.109
world because the organizations kind of control

01:21:27.109 --> 01:21:30.229
everything. And so the coaches and the players

01:21:30.229 --> 01:21:34.069
both have to answer to the organization. And

01:21:34.069 --> 01:21:38.000
so I think that being on the same level, it creates

01:21:38.000 --> 01:21:41.460
a very interesting dynamic. So building on what

01:21:41.460 --> 01:21:45.159
Adam said, I think the dynamic that Santorelli

01:21:45.159 --> 01:21:48.800
has probably been able to cultivate in bridging

01:21:48.800 --> 01:21:52.119
the gap between being technically on equal footing

01:21:52.119 --> 01:21:56.199
to his players, but managing that relationship,

01:21:56.260 --> 01:22:00.180
I think is probably different than some other

01:22:00.180 --> 01:22:03.489
programs. The other thing is like at the pro

01:22:03.489 --> 01:22:06.029
level, you're looking at the intangibles. And

01:22:06.029 --> 01:22:09.609
I think you don't see a lot of pro teams that

01:22:09.609 --> 01:22:12.369
are like super close. Like you're there to do

01:22:12.369 --> 01:22:16.789
a job. So it's just like how have they been able

01:22:16.789 --> 01:22:20.529
to create that culture, as you said, but also

01:22:20.529 --> 01:22:28.880
that dynamic of respect. but wanting to win and

01:22:28.880 --> 01:22:32.840
not seeing it just as a paycheck. I think those

01:22:32.840 --> 01:22:38.199
intangible things kind of set the world -class

01:22:38.199 --> 01:22:41.479
teams or teams comprised of world -class players

01:22:41.479 --> 01:22:46.699
apart from each other. Question seven. If MLV

01:22:46.699 --> 01:22:49.319
draftees don't take their offers and aren't going

01:22:49.319 --> 01:22:52.760
to League One, where do they usually end up?

01:22:52.979 --> 01:22:55.560
I mean, it totally depends on how good they are.

01:22:56.590 --> 01:23:00.210
It depends on if they had deals in place already

01:23:00.210 --> 01:23:03.550
for other leagues because it could be late. But

01:23:03.550 --> 01:23:05.609
where do they end up? They usually go to Europe

01:23:05.609 --> 01:23:10.510
or South America or Puerto Rico if they want

01:23:10.510 --> 01:23:13.550
to continue playing. Some of them might not continue

01:23:13.550 --> 01:23:16.109
playing and just go to grad school, go get a

01:23:16.109 --> 01:23:19.869
job, whatever. But I would say the ones that

01:23:19.869 --> 01:23:22.609
don't take their offers for MLV and don't go

01:23:22.609 --> 01:23:25.939
to League One, you will see them. play potentially

01:23:25.939 --> 01:23:33.260
in France or Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Greece.

01:23:34.119 --> 01:23:38.140
Those are common places that those athletes will

01:23:38.140 --> 01:23:41.720
go. Puerto Rico. So yeah, that's where you'll

01:23:41.720 --> 01:23:43.539
see them if they choose to continue playing.

01:23:43.859 --> 01:23:46.159
Question eight. Among the more notable players,

01:23:46.340 --> 01:23:49.020
who do you think should enter the transfer portal

01:23:49.020 --> 01:23:52.380
because a change of scene might help them slash

01:23:52.380 --> 01:23:56.659
be good for them? You know who entered my mind?

01:23:57.060 --> 01:24:00.060
Sky Pierce from Nebraska. Do you know who the

01:24:00.060 --> 01:24:03.640
first person I thought of? Who? Babcock. She

01:24:03.640 --> 01:24:06.520
did cross my mind. I'm not going to lie. She

01:24:06.520 --> 01:24:09.119
did cross my mind, but I almost felt like I couldn't

01:24:09.119 --> 01:24:16.000
say it. Shocker, I know. Strictly to win. I don't

01:24:16.000 --> 01:24:18.000
really know much about her, but she was Gatorade

01:24:18.000 --> 01:24:21.439
Player of the Year. You go to Nebraska, you literally

01:24:21.439 --> 01:24:23.880
never touch the court. I feel like a player of

01:24:23.880 --> 01:24:26.600
that caliber should play. People's motivations

01:24:26.600 --> 01:24:28.800
are different. Some people go to programs like

01:24:28.800 --> 01:24:31.220
playing is not important to them, just being

01:24:31.220 --> 01:24:34.479
a part of a winning program, whatever. Everybody's

01:24:34.479 --> 01:24:39.100
motivations are different. But to see somebody

01:24:39.100 --> 01:24:44.319
who apparently was that talented just... not

01:24:44.319 --> 01:24:46.760
really get a chance to play. That's sad to me.

01:24:48.199 --> 01:24:51.060
I have a couple other names that rattled around

01:24:51.060 --> 01:24:53.279
my brain. Kennedy Martin before people ended

01:24:53.279 --> 01:24:55.479
up going to Penn State. Before the resurgence.

01:24:55.779 --> 01:24:59.800
So that would have been one. Naomi Glover pops

01:24:59.800 --> 01:25:03.060
into mind. Arizona State wins, but they're not.

01:25:03.100 --> 01:25:05.500
Glover did enter the transfer portal. She came

01:25:05.500 --> 01:25:08.239
from Oregon. I mean, yes. We could have said

01:25:08.239 --> 01:25:13.029
Cologne. She tried it. Came right back. I still

01:25:13.029 --> 01:25:16.210
think at Arizona, I think she's good enough to

01:25:16.210 --> 01:25:20.010
play on a better team. And then I don't want

01:25:20.010 --> 01:25:21.829
to say this because I really like what Oregon

01:25:21.829 --> 01:25:25.250
did this year. And I hope that they continue

01:25:25.250 --> 01:25:29.590
to build. But Clemente had one heck of a season.

01:25:29.630 --> 01:25:32.449
And I think Oregon was better than the record

01:25:32.449 --> 01:25:36.050
showed. But if they're not, she could definitely

01:25:36.050 --> 01:25:39.640
play somewhere. And it's like she signed originally

01:25:39.640 --> 01:25:42.380
or she was committed to LMU and then followed

01:25:42.380 --> 01:25:45.020
Kirsten there. I don't think, I think she flew

01:25:45.020 --> 01:25:47.119
under a lot of people's radars. I think she did

01:25:47.119 --> 01:25:50.720
too. I mean, there are a bunch. I think we saw

01:25:50.720 --> 01:25:53.859
some that felt they needed to transfer, transfer.

01:25:54.800 --> 01:25:57.760
But yeah, I'm just thinking like people who are

01:25:57.760 --> 01:26:01.260
on the bench at their program that maybe, like

01:26:01.260 --> 01:26:03.659
you can look at Nebraska, like aside from Sky

01:26:03.659 --> 01:26:06.050
Pierce, you can look at like. The majority of

01:26:06.050 --> 01:26:08.569
the Nebraska bench and say that. Yeah, a bunch

01:26:08.569 --> 01:26:11.609
of people from Wisconsin. I think Trinity transferring

01:26:11.609 --> 01:26:15.430
was good. Well, Wisconsin, they lost a bunch

01:26:15.430 --> 01:26:18.489
of people. I think there's a ton of talented

01:26:18.489 --> 01:26:20.409
players who were sitting on benches of really

01:26:20.409 --> 01:26:23.609
good teams who just aren't going to get a shot.

01:26:23.670 --> 01:26:25.869
But honestly, Babcock did cross my mind, too.

01:26:26.569 --> 01:26:28.829
I was like, she is so good, and I don't think

01:26:28.829 --> 01:26:31.550
she's ever going to win one. Watch them win next

01:26:31.550 --> 01:26:36.300
year. This is a good question. Okay, our last

01:26:36.300 --> 01:26:39.039
question for the day. I was wondering if you

01:26:39.039 --> 01:26:40.760
guys could explain how European volleyball clubs

01:26:40.760 --> 01:26:43.060
operate their business models to support their

01:26:43.060 --> 01:26:46.260
youth or lower -level teams compared to the club

01:26:46.260 --> 01:26:48.840
volleyball system in North America, where, at

01:26:48.840 --> 01:26:51.100
least in the United States, the prices for youth

01:26:51.100 --> 01:26:53.699
participation are high with no real grassroots

01:26:53.699 --> 01:26:57.300
to professional system. Okay, I don't necessarily

01:26:57.300 --> 01:27:00.399
know the ins and outs, so if we do have a European

01:27:00.399 --> 01:27:02.539
listener out there that wants to expand on this

01:27:02.539 --> 01:27:05.180
or if I get something wrong. Please let me know.

01:27:05.380 --> 01:27:08.180
It's very similar to soccer. Yeah, it's similar.

01:27:08.239 --> 01:27:11.279
If you know about the European soccer system

01:27:11.279 --> 01:27:15.340
or even what we see in North America now for

01:27:15.340 --> 01:27:20.739
soccer, it is similar. So you have the organization,

01:27:21.039 --> 01:27:26.720
let's say there's an umbrella under one title

01:27:26.720 --> 01:27:30.279
sponsor or title corporation that is sponsoring

01:27:30.279 --> 01:27:35.729
a team. You have the top team, which let's take

01:27:35.729 --> 01:27:40.130
in Italy, for example, you have your top team,

01:27:40.170 --> 01:27:44.109
which plays in A1, the top league. You will often

01:27:44.109 --> 01:27:48.970
then have a younger group of girls who are maybe,

01:27:49.050 --> 01:27:53.649
you know, 18 to 22, not quite at the level of

01:27:53.649 --> 01:27:57.829
the top team. And they'll maybe play in B, B2.

01:27:59.310 --> 01:28:02.630
That sort of thing. And then you'll also have

01:28:02.630 --> 01:28:08.550
teenagers who play in their group. And then you'll

01:28:08.550 --> 01:28:12.750
have young, young kids. So all of these teams

01:28:12.750 --> 01:28:18.010
are under the same name. So let's use Corneliano,

01:28:18.029 --> 01:28:30.869
for example. like really little kids, and they

01:28:30.869 --> 01:28:35.750
all operate under the same sponsor's name. They

01:28:35.750 --> 01:28:42.470
are the club. And basically, they are, I don't

01:28:42.470 --> 01:28:46.289
think they have to pay to play. I think the youth

01:28:46.289 --> 01:28:48.470
might have to cover their expenses. They might

01:28:48.470 --> 01:28:50.250
have to cover their expenses, but it's like.

01:28:50.850 --> 01:28:53.510
The coaches are paid for by the club. Exactly.

01:28:53.729 --> 01:28:57.699
All of those things. The organization as a whole

01:28:57.699 --> 01:29:02.699
takes care of everybody. They train in the same

01:29:02.699 --> 01:29:08.340
places at different times. They operate in their

01:29:08.340 --> 01:29:13.340
own leagues, but they are a group organization.

01:29:14.100 --> 01:29:16.199
I mean, it's similar to how you see. But you

01:29:16.199 --> 01:29:19.539
see like the young kids, if they go to like learn

01:29:19.539 --> 01:29:22.750
to play, maybe they have to pay. but it could

01:29:22.750 --> 01:29:24.850
potentially also be a community program that

01:29:24.850 --> 01:29:30.270
the club provides. And it creates like that automatic

01:29:30.270 --> 01:29:34.329
pipeline where people stay in the system. Look,

01:29:34.369 --> 01:29:36.869
it works the way a lot of the professional sports

01:29:36.869 --> 01:29:39.770
in North America work, right? All the NHL teams,

01:29:39.890 --> 01:29:42.789
I'm most familiar with hockey, have an AHL team.

01:29:42.989 --> 01:29:45.529
A lot of them have grassroots programs. You look

01:29:45.529 --> 01:29:47.510
at California, they have the mini Kings, they

01:29:47.510 --> 01:29:51.130
have the... mini ducks and the san jose sharks

01:29:51.130 --> 01:29:54.630
have a youth organization it you want to be a

01:29:54.630 --> 01:29:56.449
part of the community because those are the people

01:29:56.449 --> 01:29:59.029
who pay for your tickets to come so it benefits

01:29:59.029 --> 01:30:02.949
you to be there and be engaged and provide those

01:30:02.949 --> 01:30:07.010
services and you need talent identification you

01:30:07.010 --> 01:30:09.729
want the game to be growing in your area so it

01:30:09.729 --> 01:30:12.909
benefits the organization to help run all these

01:30:12.909 --> 01:30:16.090
the other big difference i think is that you're

01:30:16.090 --> 01:30:18.859
not stuck in an age group Like you are in North

01:30:18.859 --> 01:30:22.159
America. If you're good, you go play with the

01:30:22.159 --> 01:30:24.319
B2 team at 14. Like you could see a 16 -year

01:30:24.319 --> 01:30:26.800
-old, yeah, go play with the team playing in

01:30:26.800 --> 01:30:31.500
B2. And so it's about skill and potential, not

01:30:31.500 --> 01:30:34.500
about age, which I think is one of the biggest

01:30:34.500 --> 01:30:37.279
differences. But I also feel like in North America,

01:30:37.359 --> 01:30:41.479
we're such a capitalistic society that it's always

01:30:41.479 --> 01:30:45.380
about money. And you can see that love is like...

01:30:45.640 --> 01:30:47.939
Kind of following that model, but I feel like

01:30:47.939 --> 01:30:53.380
it's like the youth are paying for the pro, whereas

01:30:53.380 --> 01:30:59.699
in Europe it's reversed. Well, again, it's different

01:30:59.699 --> 01:31:01.779
because the sports have different profiles. That

01:31:01.779 --> 01:31:04.279
doesn't happen in the major sports in North America

01:31:04.279 --> 01:31:06.859
because there are money and owners and sponsors

01:31:06.859 --> 01:31:09.619
involved. That's volleyball in Europe. They're

01:31:09.619 --> 01:31:12.100
just trying to. Volleyball in North America has

01:31:12.100 --> 01:31:14.859
to get to a point where it's worth somebody investing.

01:31:15.640 --> 01:31:17.539
to have all of that infrastructure in place.

01:31:17.680 --> 01:31:19.340
And in the meantime, they're trying to figure

01:31:19.340 --> 01:31:21.979
out a way to make it float and make it a viable

01:31:21.979 --> 01:31:24.840
career for the pros. Lots of great questions,

01:31:24.920 --> 01:31:29.359
as always. Keep them coming. Our bank is full.

01:31:29.800 --> 01:31:33.420
Our question bank is overflowing. Tried to knock

01:31:33.420 --> 01:31:36.239
off a whole bunch of them today. Hopefully you

01:31:36.239 --> 01:31:38.319
enjoyed that. And I always like reading your

01:31:38.319 --> 01:31:40.159
questions. So like I said, keep them coming.

01:31:40.760 --> 01:31:43.619
All right, so the looking forward section is

01:31:43.619 --> 01:31:48.060
going to have a variety moving forward. So lots

01:31:48.060 --> 01:31:49.659
of different things to watch, lots of things

01:31:49.659 --> 01:31:51.960
to pay attention to. Champions League matches

01:31:51.960 --> 01:31:54.439
are on Wednesday and Thursday, and that's on

01:31:54.439 --> 01:31:57.279
Euro Volley TV. Men's and women's. Yeah, men's

01:31:57.279 --> 01:31:59.560
and women's. I think the subscription is relatively

01:31:59.560 --> 01:32:02.359
inexpensive. I want to say like 16 bucks for

01:32:02.359 --> 01:32:05.199
three months or something. Yeah, if you are going

01:32:05.199 --> 01:32:06.779
to watch Champions League and you want to do

01:32:06.779 --> 01:32:10.279
that, well worth the investment. Looking at the

01:32:10.279 --> 01:32:13.140
Italian league, we have Trentino playing Verona.

01:32:13.180 --> 01:32:16.140
That's a one versus three in the league matchup.

01:32:16.140 --> 01:32:19.340
That's Sunday at 11 a .m. Eastern. You can get

01:32:19.340 --> 01:32:23.340
that on VBTV. And then Sunday at 10 a .m. Eastern,

01:32:23.420 --> 01:32:26.420
we have Conigliano playing Chieri. That's an

01:32:26.420 --> 01:32:29.199
Italian women's league. That's a one versus four

01:32:29.199 --> 01:32:32.439
matchup. And that one should also be a pretty

01:32:32.439 --> 01:32:38.699
good game. Looking at locally. Love has first

01:32:38.699 --> 01:32:41.079
serve on Wednesday. That's on USA Network. And

01:32:41.079 --> 01:32:43.680
Austin is hosting Nebraska. And then you can

01:32:43.680 --> 01:32:46.100
catch matches Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday

01:32:46.100 --> 01:32:51.039
on Victory and ESPN Plus as well. So a lot of

01:32:51.039 --> 01:32:54.680
the American volleyball in Love and MLV are kind

01:32:54.680 --> 01:32:56.460
of all over the place on different networks.

01:32:56.560 --> 01:32:58.359
So you're going to have to put a little effort

01:32:58.359 --> 01:33:02.659
in to finding those. I'm hoping that the replays

01:33:02.659 --> 01:33:05.850
will be posted on their YouTube channels. Not

01:33:05.850 --> 01:33:08.489
sure how that's going to go with rights and things

01:33:08.489 --> 01:33:11.289
like that. And then talking about MLV specifically,

01:33:11.710 --> 01:33:15.010
first service on Thursday with Columbus playing

01:33:15.010 --> 01:33:17.770
Atlanta. That's at 7 p .m. Eastern. That one

01:33:17.770 --> 01:33:19.609
will actually be on YouTube, so that's good.

01:33:19.770 --> 01:33:22.069
And then they have matches every day, Thursday

01:33:22.069 --> 01:33:25.770
to Sunday as well. And as we mentioned, NCAA

01:33:25.770 --> 01:33:28.449
men's volleyball is also happening, but the NCAA

01:33:28.449 --> 01:33:33.750
is not. consolidated all the info yet so that

01:33:33.750 --> 01:33:37.430
is on it'll be on ESPN plus but that concludes

01:33:37.430 --> 01:33:39.989
this week's episode of volley talk there's always

01:33:39.989 --> 01:33:41.789
something shaking in the volleyball world and

01:33:41.789 --> 01:33:44.710
we hope you enjoyed this little fix be sure to

01:33:44.710 --> 01:33:46.550
follow the show so you don't miss any updates

01:33:46.550 --> 01:33:48.869
and we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five

01:33:48.869 --> 01:33:51.069
-star review you can also find us on instagram

01:33:51.069 --> 01:33:54.340
at volley talk underscore podcast If you have

01:33:54.340 --> 01:33:56.319
a topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

01:33:56.319 --> 01:34:00.699
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin

01:34:00.699 --> 01:34:03.720
.com. Thanks so much for joining us and we'll

01:34:03.720 --> 01:34:05.659
be back next week. Bye.