WEBVTT

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Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. I don't know about you, but it kind of felt...

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A bit like Volleyball Overload this week. It

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felt hectic. I didn't know what to watch. And

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then I thought games that were on Roku would

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be a findable post -match. And there were a couple

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I wanted to watch that I couldn't. Tune in next

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month for those. Yeah. So it was a little bit

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of mayhem. What is Victory Plus? No clue. Yeah.

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Free streaming app you can download on your smart

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TV. Okay. How many do we need here? A bunch.

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Anyway. Both pro leagues kicked off. My volley

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fantasy team killed me. I'm not doing too bad.

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I ended up 51st after week one. I don't even

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want to talk about it. I'm less. I'm in the lower

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half. Well, let's go. So shout out to everybody

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who signed up. We got 220 teams. Not enough,

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everybody. Not enough. Let's go. You can still

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join. Shout out to NoDiggity, who's in first

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place after week one. Dez in second place. And

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GoBills, squeaked one out. Currently sitting

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in third. We're from near Buffalo, so we can

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appreciate that. Yeah, that happened. We will

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dig a little bit more into the volley fantasy

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league in a little bit. But NCAA men's was happening.

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It was like all over the map. But then I think

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probably the biggest thing that happened this

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week wasn't even any matches. Of course, it revolves

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around NCAA women because it always does. We

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can't escape it. the infamous Kelly Sheffield

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interview. We are going to dive into that. Don't

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you worry. And of course, we're very excited

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to talk about volleyball with you all. So let's

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get started. All right. As we mentioned, there

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were so many games this week in so many different

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leagues. We had Champions League, Overseas Leagues,

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all the American Pro Leagues. Yes, I said all

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the American Pro Leagues. NCAA men. So too much

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to keep track of, you guys. It's hard. And for

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the sake of not making the episodes 10 hours

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long, we have to pick and choose. So NCAA men,

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noteworthy results. Okay, are you ready? I'm

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ready. Lewis beat Stanford 3 -0. I'm a little

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shocked by that result. I thought the Stanford

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boys would have learned a few lessons from last

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year. I mean, Lewis is nothing to scoff at. I'm

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not surprised they lost just 3 -0. And you know

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what else is really bothering me? The NCAA website

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now does have the schedule up. Took them long

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enough, but they don't have the rankings next

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to the teams. You know, on the women's season,

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they have like all the rankings. Listen, it's

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coming. It's coming. Give me the rankings next

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to the scores. Okay. Thank you. We can do that

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next. So that happened. And then Loyola Chicago

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beat Hawaii 3 -1 in Hawaii. That's shocking.

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Hawaii did win the first match of that series

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3 -0, but still. You would think that even if

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Hawaii was playing a few of its non -starters.

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Well, you're playing in Hawaii. That is like

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leaning so heavily in their favor. That's worth

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several points right there. Agreed. You probably

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shouldn't have lost that one. No, that might

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mess up the rankings. Mix them up a little bit.

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Yeah, but there's 12 teams now in the playoffs.

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So that's a huge positive. 12 teams make the

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tournament. So people might be able to have one

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little slip and still make it. Theirs is over

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now. No more slips. No more slips for Hawaii.

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They wasted it a little too early. But those

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were the major noteworthy results in MLV. The

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team that we picked to be last started off the

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season by beating Atlanta. That would be Columbus.

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I actually thought Columbus looked pretty good

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watching them play. Way better than I expected.

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I was pleasantly surprised. Forget everything

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we said in the preview episode. I mean, and that's

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exactly what it is. It's a preview. You have

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no idea how the players are going to gel. You

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know we love a prediction. Congrats to Columbus

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for starting the season off on a high note. Yes.

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Absolutely love Salt Lake v. Houston 3 -0. We

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thought Salt Lake would be better. We did think

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Salt Lake was going to make some improvements.

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And we know how much love loves their five setters.

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We've had three in the opening week. We had Austin

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over Nebraska in five, Nebraska over Houston

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in five, and Austin over Atlanta in five. Wowie.

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Here's my thing. is the volleyball in general

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and we watched mostly american pro leagues this

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week it was sloppy with lots of runs you saw

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lots of runs yes lots of six point swings one

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way and then the other blown leads shootouts

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where one team wins 25 17 that loses 25 17 i

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mean in fairness It's the first week of the season.

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Setters are still getting to know their hitters.

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You brought in your young college players, lots

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of who started already. I know, but it's still,

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it's not unexpected that things aren't going

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to be polished this week. But that being said,

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the point swings were a little surprising at

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how consistent they showed up in those matches.

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So those are the highlights for the week. Just

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a little taster of what was going on. Champions

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League did have a round in their pool play. But

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as I said, we're going to be jumping all over

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the place this winter. So this is what our focus

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was this week. So we're going to dive into some

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of the matches we watched a little bit later

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in the episode. Continuing on the love note.

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Probably the last highlight of the week is Jordan

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Larson announced her retirement at the end of

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the season. Yeah, this will be her last season

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competing. She has had the greatest career in

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American volleyball history, I would say. Yeah,

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I think that's pretty undisputable. Four Olympic

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medals, including gold in Tokyo. Just... 16 years

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professionally for some of the top teams in the

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world, a founding athlete of love, now an owner

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of Love Nebraska. There's not a lot that she

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hasn't done. So undoubtedly a very emotional

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season for her as she kind of does her farewell

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tour around the country, which I think she absolutely

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deserves. And I think it'll be a great way for

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her to say goodbye to the sport. in her home

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country yeah so that is very big news the sport

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is end of an era end of an era everybody go watch

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her while you can because one of the best so

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in the interest of keeping these episodes under

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two hours we didn't do the love season preview

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that being said we're queued up we're gonna do

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it today that will allow us to kind of see what's

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going on in the season so here we go let's dive

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in we'll just start alphabetically So we'll go

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with Atlanta, who won the regular season last

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year. And then... Did they really? Yes. Oh, dang.

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And then I believe they lost in the semifinals

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of the one weekend playoff. Yes. And they had

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a ton of roster turnover this year. So they have

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seven new players, and they lost six players.

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Players that they lost of note would be... Danielle

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Coutinho. I think she played quite a bit for

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them. I believe she's in Japan this year. Correct.

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And the rest of the players that left were players

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around the edges that were filling out the roster.

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And Kelsey Cook, who is pregnant. She's on the

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injury reserve list, which Love has one of those

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now. Which is handy. An undisclosed reason. Except

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she's posting on social media. Ludicrous. But

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I didn't consider her gone because she was pregnant.

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But, yes, for all intents and purposes, she will

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not be playing. A whole bunch of additions. Miroslava

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Paskova coming in, outside hitter. We have Ella

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Mae Powell, who will be setting. She's been in

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France, and she's from Washington originally.

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Carly DeHog from Austin. Ivani Montano, an opposite

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from Colombia, who has played in Italy. Played

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for one of your previous clubs in Casal Maggiore.

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Don't remind me. Jess Robinson, middle blocker

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who originally played at Michigan. Julia San

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Giacomo is an outside hitter. And Eva Hudson

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is their young up -and -comer on the left side.

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What are your thoughts about the players coming

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in? Who do you think is going to make a difference?

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First of all, we know we kind of did this in

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the summer. This is just a quick recap for those

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of you who maybe missed that summer episode.

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Okay, so yes. Just a quick repeat. I think Eva

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Hudson is on a good team if she wants to play,

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considering Kelsey Cook will not be playing.

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So she does have a chance, I think, to play.

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Ella Mae Powell was on the national team this

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past summer. Will she beat out Rachel Fairbanks?

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That's going to be a healthy competition, I think.

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I lean towards Fairbanks, but it's a good backup

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option. I didn't like Atlanta last year. I was

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like, they are going to be so bad. And then they

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were like, you know nothing. We won the league.

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So what do I know about Atlanta? Maybe these

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are great additions. Well, I think the opposite

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position. Grubbs is back. Grubbs is back. She

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played the majority of the season until she got

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hurt. And that's when Coutinho stepped in. Yeah.

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We've got Mackenzie Adams is back. They're returning.

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A good number of players who played most of the

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time. So basically we're looking for a replacement

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for Kelsey Cook. Correct. And then these players

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are just filling in around the edges. Exactly.

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I still think Atlanta is going to be quite good.

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And Coutinho is the only note where they lost.

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Yes. Okay. Somebody may step up. We'll see what

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happens with Eva Hudson. They're going to lose

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some ball control with Cook. So that will be,

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you know, can they replace? that ball control

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and does their style change if their ball control

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is not up to par. So that's what I see happening

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with Atlanta. With Austin, four players in, four

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players out. They lost Gennari, who was an outside

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hitter from Italy. They lost Sage Kahana -Torres.

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They lost Chiaka Ogbagu and Anna Hawk. They lost

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some good players. Starting setter, starting

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middle, starting left side. Coming in. Maddie

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Banks, who played for Omaha last year. Bella

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Bergmark, who's a middle blocker, played in Puerto

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Rico and France. Brie O 'Reilly, Canadian center.

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More importantly, she played for Texas, so...

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Yes, okay. Fair enough. And Maddalena Jerzyk,

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Polish middle, who has played eight years pro

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in Poland. What are your thoughts on Austin?

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They ended up tied for last with five wins. Won

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the league. And then won the playoffs. Jury's

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out on... And that was our big knock. Well, one

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of our big knocks against Love last year is that

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it didn't even matter. Like, why play the regular

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season? Everybody makes playoffs, and then the

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last place team wins. There you go. One, I think

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both last place teams win the final. Correct.

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I think Austin and Omaha both had five wins after

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the regular season. Yeah, it was crazy. Austin,

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I feel like they got an upgrade in the center

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position. Bree O 'Reilly is... Very good. Yeah.

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Canadian national team setter, as you said. They're

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getting a downgrade in the middle. I mean, Jurczyk

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is good. She plays for the Polish national team,

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but she's not a Gbagu. Agreed. And then I think

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they are neutral -ish slash maybe improving a

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little bit on the left side with Banks replacing

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Hawk. Austin will be interesting. Which team?

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We watched them play a little bit. It'll be curious

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to see how they gel. I think Brie O 'Reilly will

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try and run. But Jurczyk wasn't even playing.

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Yeah. It was Bergmark and Ajo Neal. But anyway,

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we can dive into that later. Yeah. I'm most curious

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with Austin to see, did they have one good weekend?

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Oh, and they acquired Eric Sullivan, the national

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team head coach. Taye Beneath Park is coaching

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there. Pretty sure they just signed another coach

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that's on the USA roster. So they are making

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Austin national team central. I'm stopping there,

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everybody. Thoughts about that, we'll talk about

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it on another episode. That is Austin, and we

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will see what they are. I give them four weeks.

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All right, let's look at Houston. Second in the

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regular season with 10 wins last year. Lost to

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Austin in the semifinal. They lost two players

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in Christina Bauer and Anna Pogany, and they

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added... Justine Wong -Orantes, who is also out

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for an undisclosed injury, but is pregnant. Did

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you see how bad he struggled to wing? Have you

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never winged in your life? I did that on purpose.

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That was supposed to be like an animated wink,

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wink, nudge, nudge. I could only see one eye,

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but it looked like both eyes were moving. No,

00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.360
that was intentional. They added Lauren Briseño

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at the libero position. They also added Maya

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Sands. So they added three liberos to this team.

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Fantastic. They also added Jasmine White, who

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is a middle blocker, played for Canada. She's

00:14:11.710 --> 00:14:15.029
on the national team. And Logan Lednicki, coming

00:14:15.029 --> 00:14:18.070
off her stellar season, is also playing there

00:14:18.070 --> 00:14:22.509
as their rookie add -on. What are your thoughts?

00:14:23.169 --> 00:14:25.429
I mean, they're downgraded at the Libero, in

00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:27.769
my opinion. Assuming Justine's not playing. If

00:14:27.769 --> 00:14:29.850
Justine was playing, then they'd be upgrading.

00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:32.730
Correct. But, I mean, Rosenio was on the VNL

00:14:32.730 --> 00:14:36.370
roster. Yeah, but she's not Pogany. Like, Pogany's...

00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.820
German national team starter. Yeah, she was very

00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:45.279
good. I'll say downgrade Libero. I will say upgrade

00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:49.059
middle. Bauer was at the end of her career. She

00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:52.980
was on the bench. Jazz White is not playing a

00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:58.159
ton for Canada, but she's good. I'm just confused.

00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.539
Why are you doubling up all these positions?

00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.980
Why are you signing a libero out of college when

00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:09.080
you already have two. Granted, okay, one's not

00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.419
playing, whatever. And you have an opposite in

00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:14.639
Logan Lednicki. What is she going to sit on the

00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:16.679
bench behind Jordan Thompson? That's exactly

00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.740
what she's going to do. Why are you staying to

00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.200
just sit on the bench? I guarantee you she could

00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.639
have found something overseas. Totally. Anyway,

00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.700
that's not the question. This is kind of a wash

00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:33.599
for me. Madison was a bit of a yard sale. They

00:15:33.599 --> 00:15:40.220
lost nine players and they added nine players.

00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:44.299
And there's some really interesting names on

00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:48.700
this list. They added Andre Sorokite, who I'm

00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:53.860
assuming you played against or know. Yes, I've

00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:56.620
played against her since I was like 22. So she's

00:15:56.620 --> 00:15:59.600
37. So she's at the end of her career, played

00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.620
in Italy for a long time, was on the national

00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:05.559
team. Rebecca Alec is the rookie going in there.

00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:08.159
They added, and this to me is the biggest pickup,

00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.159
Gong, the opposite from China, who is, in my

00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.620
opinion, outstanding. I really liked her in VNL.

00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:19.840
They added Argentina Ung, and then Anna Pogany

00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.840
is playing there. Anna Hawk is here. Andrea Mitrovic,

00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.600
who is a Canadian national team left side, is

00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:30.120
here. Callie Schwarzenbach is coming as well.

00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.700
And then the whole team just left the whole team.

00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:38.299
They had a lot of foreign players who I don't

00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:40.860
think are playing anywhere in love again this

00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.720
year. And then, you know, Taylor Sambuthi went

00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:47.159
and is playing MLB. My one knock about all of

00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.820
this is that we have no clarity on who chose

00:16:50.820 --> 00:16:53.299
to leave, who didn't have their contracts renewed,

00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:58.299
why they made player switches. For me, half the

00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:01.179
fun of. sports is watching what management does

00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:03.019
in terms of roster construction and things like

00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:05.240
this and we just have no no insight into what

00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.240
happened so it's just straight Sarah Franklin

00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.059
went to Italy Annie Schumacher just said she

00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:12.299
wasn't playing this year yeah so there's that

00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:16.359
and both like you said MLV and Yaniska I think

00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:21.380
retired okay but then the rest I have no idea

00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:26.819
yeah so tons of turnover and key positions so

00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:29.599
I actually like the roster better this year than

00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:32.420
last year. I think Alec will be able to do something

00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.539
right away. I think they upgraded in the opposite

00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:39.200
position. Some people might disagree, but I think

00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.519
so. Yeah, I think they upgraded the opposite

00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.299
position. Who do you think, Pogany or Wang for

00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:46.299
Libero? Do you think that's a wash? Wang didn't

00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:50.279
have a stellar season, so I think Pogany is probably

00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:53.720
going to do a bit better. Mitrovic, for me, is

00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:58.380
hit and miss. Sometimes she's... Very good. Sometimes

00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:02.119
she was awful in VNL this year. I'm curious to

00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:04.680
see how she does in the pro league here. What

00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.440
are your thoughts on Halle Schwarzenbach being

00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.660
here? I mean, she played for Osasco in Brazil

00:18:10.660 --> 00:18:14.599
last year. This roster, I think, overall is a

00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.660
bit better, but I didn't love Madison last season.

00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.299
Agreed. And they were up and down, and they played

00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:23.660
better at the end, but I don't think they won

00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:26.019
at the beginning. barely at all they went on

00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:28.579
a streak where they lost like 87 matches in a

00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:32.180
row yeah the middle pair of i'm assuming it's

00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.519
going to be alec and schwarzenbach maybe bia

00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:36.960
stayed didn't she she did stay do you think she

00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.920
starts over well and then anna hall had a baby

00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:43.539
in like september but was saying that she was

00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:46.059
going to be back so i don't know yeah it'll be

00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:49.559
interesting to see what madison a puts on the

00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:52.079
floor and how they look all right let's look

00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:55.450
at omaha Finished last in the league last year

00:18:55.450 --> 00:18:58.930
with five wins, but second in the playoff, as

00:18:58.930 --> 00:19:01.690
we mentioned, losing in the finals. So they lost

00:19:01.690 --> 00:19:06.609
six players. Justine left. Both the Stiveren

00:19:06.609 --> 00:19:09.430
sisters left. They're playing beach now, I believe.

00:19:09.910 --> 00:19:14.089
Sammy Francis is in Japan. Chimaka Wokolo is

00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:16.250
also gone. And then Maddie Kubik -Banks switched

00:19:16.250 --> 00:19:20.549
teams. In is Iga Vazilevska. In is Anne Buies,

00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:23.750
who's a 34 -year -old. Dutch national team player

00:19:23.750 --> 00:19:28.450
Carol from Brazil is here. Alexis Hart, who is

00:19:28.450 --> 00:19:31.490
played in Germany from Minnesota originally,

00:19:31.650 --> 00:19:33.950
outside hitter. And then Julia Hansen is the

00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:37.930
outside hitter playing here as the rookie. Thoughts?

00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:39.509
I definitely think they got better in the middle.

00:19:39.769 --> 00:19:42.509
I think Carol is currently injured, but she'll

00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:45.529
be their best middle. Better. I mean, Carol,

00:19:45.710 --> 00:19:48.930
yeah, she's good. I think they got worse overall.

00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:51.799
I mean, Jaylee Winters and Jordan Larson are

00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:53.980
the outsides. Everyone knows how I feel about

00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:56.599
Jaylee Winters. But the pickups that they made,

00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:02.259
I'm like, I don't know. They couldn't score points

00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:05.240
last year. Jordan pushed that team to have a

00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:07.420
really good weekend. And she was outstanding.

00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:11.039
I'm not sure she's going to do that for a whole

00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.140
season. And I don't think they added enough pieces.

00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:16.119
Yes, they might be better in the middle. They

00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:18.380
have the ball control to run the middle, but

00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:20.160
I still think they're going to struggle to score

00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.960
points. I think they're closer to the five -win

00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.359
team, season team, than they are to the second

00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.640
-place playoff team. I think Jordan willed that

00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.559
team to have a good weekend, and I'm not sure

00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.259
she's going to be able to do that for a whole

00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.559
season. Well, I think everything's going to be

00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:37.059
the same because the only reason they brought

00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:38.980
Sammy Francis in is because Herrera got injured

00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:42.390
last season. So she's back. Paquero is there,

00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:45.470
so sure. Yeah, better in the middle. But then

00:20:45.470 --> 00:20:49.650
you lose your 6 -2 opposite who was coming. Like,

00:20:49.670 --> 00:20:53.029
Stevens was the opposite coming in with Gabby

00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:55.269
Blossom. Yeah. But then everybody else is the

00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:58.609
same. Yeah. And they did really bad last year

00:20:58.609 --> 00:21:01.269
until the end, like you said. So for me, this

00:21:01.269 --> 00:21:06.289
is a meh, meh offseason movement. Yeah, and I

00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:08.470
don't think they're going to have a great regular

00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:11.869
season. And then finally, we have Salt Lake,

00:21:11.930 --> 00:21:14.490
who finished fourth with seven wins. They lost

00:21:14.490 --> 00:21:16.849
in the quarterfinals to Austin. I didn't mind

00:21:16.849 --> 00:21:20.710
watching this team. I thought it was an entertaining

00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:21.869
team to watch. I didn't like their left sides.

00:21:22.109 --> 00:21:24.069
Fair. I think as a team, I enjoyed watching them.

00:21:24.109 --> 00:21:26.450
It was what I was going for. And their decision

00:21:26.450 --> 00:21:28.529
of who they played in the middle was really head

00:21:28.529 --> 00:21:31.130
-scratcher. Well, that still might be a head

00:21:31.130 --> 00:21:33.599
-scratcher. Their team is mostly the same. They

00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.019
had two players out, three players in. If Anacost

00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:38.079
Paula is playing here as the middle blocker,

00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:40.440
she's the rookie coming in. I hope she plays.

00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:44.519
They added Alexa Gray. Hold on. So they have

00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.839
Haley Washington, Serena Gray, and Tori Dixon.

00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:50.980
Haley Washington was injured a bunch and didn't

00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:55.380
play a ton. So we'll see where that ends up.

00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:58.799
Yeah, I think Anacost Paula needs to play. 100

00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.420
% she needs to play. And if she doesn't... I

00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:04.140
don't know what they're doing. Alexa Gray comes

00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:07.519
on the outside. Another Canadian national team.

00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.240
She's very good. She will make them better. And

00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.960
Maddie Bug is there as the setter. She'll be

00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:17.640
the backup for Jordan. They lost Tamaki Matsu,

00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.380
who was the Japanese libero. And they lost Miller.

00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.279
I believe she retired. I personally think this

00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.240
team gets a huge upgrade with... These players,

00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:29.369
massive upgrade. Yeah, they are... difference

00:22:29.369 --> 00:22:31.650
makers, in my opinion. Considering that I didn't

00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:34.009
love their left side situation, Alexa Gray is

00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:37.309
going to upgrade that big time. I liked Salt

00:22:37.309 --> 00:22:39.269
Lake, like you said, except for a couple, like

00:22:39.269 --> 00:22:41.269
I think the second middle, I had a few questions

00:22:41.269 --> 00:22:43.910
about, and they could get better on the outside.

00:22:44.069 --> 00:22:48.190
But to me, if I'm a GM, these are the moves that

00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:51.309
make my team much better. So I would look for

00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:53.509
Salt Lake to be much more competitive this year.

00:22:54.269 --> 00:22:58.119
So those are the... team kind of changes and

00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:00.420
highlights going into the season. Who is your

00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:04.180
prediction of best and worst? Do you think regular

00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:06.259
season? We're not going to talk about weekend

00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:10.960
tournaments. Best. I hate to say it. I'm probably

00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.940
going to say Austin. Okay. Like they upgraded

00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:20.440
in the center position. I thought, which is critical.

00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:23.640
Like that can be game changing to have an upgrade

00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:27.400
in the setting role. And they're, like, coming

00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:29.500
off of winning the league last year and not a

00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:32.539
lot of on -court changes aside from that. Like,

00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.500
I hate to say it, but, yeah. I think Austin.

00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.559
And then worst, Madison or Omaha. Yeah, I would

00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.339
say I think Atlanta or Austin will win the league

00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:45.779
again this year. And I think Omaha will probably

00:23:45.779 --> 00:23:49.599
finish last again. Yeah, so those are our early

00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:52.799
preseason predictions. We'll see what comes of

00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:56.130
that league. But you forgot. One thing we're

00:23:56.130 --> 00:23:59.509
excited about is the format change. No longer

00:23:59.509 --> 00:24:03.210
a headliner match and a weekend with love match.

00:24:03.450 --> 00:24:07.349
It seems like they are all just playing one match

00:24:07.349 --> 00:24:11.710
at a location, traveling around, I think. So

00:24:11.710 --> 00:24:16.029
this is, I appreciate this change. I'm fine with,

00:24:16.170 --> 00:24:18.970
I mean, this is obviously a new endeavor. They're

00:24:18.970 --> 00:24:21.730
trying to make things work. They tried something

00:24:21.730 --> 00:24:23.970
in the first year. It didn't work very well.

00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:29.579
According to us. Well. I mean, clearly it didn't

00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:31.700
work well. Good. They made a change that we didn't

00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:34.619
like. If they decided to change it, it wasn't

00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:36.440
working. And I think that a lot of people felt

00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:39.380
the same way. It just didn't have a professional.

00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:41.480
It was real hard to watch by the end of the season.

00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:43.400
I'm like, I feel like this is, I'm watching,

00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:46.119
it's a groundhog day. Yeah. I will say kudos

00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:49.599
to Love for making an adjustment there. I think

00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.819
it's a positive one. Now, you know, we'll just

00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:57.470
wait and see. If the presentation and my pet

00:24:57.470 --> 00:24:59.309
peeve of the announcing and the best players

00:24:59.309 --> 00:25:01.690
in the world always being there has been addressed

00:25:01.690 --> 00:25:05.769
or not. Jerry's out. We'll find out. The piece

00:25:05.769 --> 00:25:08.329
of volleyball content that is breaking the internet

00:25:08.329 --> 00:25:14.970
this past week. I cannot tell you how many messages

00:25:14.970 --> 00:25:20.509
and emails and you name it. I got about the Kelly

00:25:20.509 --> 00:25:25.150
Sheffield podcast. YouTube, everything, the comments

00:25:25.150 --> 00:25:27.529
and people wanted to know what our thoughts would

00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:30.450
be. Triple digits. Totally. Okay. Thank you to

00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:33.990
every single one of you who sent it to me because

00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:36.670
that just proves how invested you guys are. So

00:25:36.670 --> 00:25:39.490
we appreciate it. I think there's two conversations

00:25:39.490 --> 00:25:41.329
to be had here. No, but first of all, if you

00:25:41.329 --> 00:25:44.109
haven't listened to it or watched it, you have

00:25:44.109 --> 00:25:47.650
no idea what I'm talking about. I have it linked

00:25:47.650 --> 00:25:50.890
in the description box or the show notes below.

00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:55.099
So if you haven't listened to the podcast yet,

00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:59.480
go do that and then come back here. So I think

00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:02.660
there's two conversations to be had here. One

00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:07.420
is the portal as a whole and some of the issues

00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:10.900
that Sheffield raised. The second piece is a

00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:13.720
little more specific to Wisconsin and some of

00:26:13.720 --> 00:26:16.240
the things that he said regarding the transfer

00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:18.990
portal. Correct. I do appreciate how candid he

00:26:18.990 --> 00:26:23.210
was. I appreciate that he kind of let his guard

00:26:23.210 --> 00:26:27.690
down, I guess, because these coaches are all

00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:30.109
like professional. Not that this wasn't professional,

00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:32.450
but like there are parts that weren't. But like

00:26:32.450 --> 00:26:36.490
they're trained to respond in a certain way,

00:26:36.609 --> 00:26:40.430
to be so PC, to dance around the hard questions.

00:26:40.490 --> 00:26:44.910
I do really appreciate him just laying it out

00:26:44.910 --> 00:26:48.700
there. I agree. And I liked listening to him.

00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.059
And for the most part, I like a lot of media

00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:53.779
that he does. But don't kid yourself. There was

00:26:53.779 --> 00:26:56.299
a narrative out there that he wanted to be in

00:26:56.299 --> 00:27:00.480
control of. 100%. 100%. Let's start the conversation

00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:06.059
taking everything he said at face value and talk

00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:11.079
about the role agents are currently playing in

00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:18.039
college sports. Okay. Let's do it. I'm feeling

00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:20.160
a lot of feelings about it. What are you thinking?

00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:23.759
I think that it's important for players to have

00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.079
representation because now that there's money

00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:31.180
involved in other things, these athletes have

00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:34.160
very little experience navigating a contract,

00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:36.640
knowing what their value is, and I'm all for

00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:41.059
players getting what they can. Totally on board

00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:43.200
for that. And I think it makes a ton of sense.

00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:46.559
So I do think there is a place for agents in

00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.640
the game. You guys know I don't love NIL. We

00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.960
know that. I can look at my own personal experience.

00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:54.619
I am my worst negotiator. I understand myself

00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:59.599
all the time. My feelings about NIL aside, given

00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:04.500
that it is here and it is the reality, I think

00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:07.839
that people need individuals to negotiate on

00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:11.529
their behalf. Because I'm like you. I hate talking

00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:14.809
money with people. I hate being like, this is

00:28:14.809 --> 00:28:16.470
what you should pay me. Your agent earned you

00:28:16.470 --> 00:28:18.170
way more money than you would ever make on your

00:28:18.170 --> 00:28:21.670
own. Like, me? I'm like, I'll just do it for

00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:23.289
free. It's fine. No, people need this. The number

00:28:23.289 --> 00:28:25.390
of times Sarah will ask me, hey, should I invoice

00:28:25.390 --> 00:28:27.789
this person for that? As in, she just wasn't

00:28:27.789 --> 00:28:29.829
going to charge anybody for doing things. Anyway,

00:28:29.890 --> 00:28:32.470
moving on. They are a necessary part of the NIL

00:28:32.470 --> 00:28:35.230
economy. I think we're agreed in that regard.

00:28:35.569 --> 00:28:39.349
My issue comes with... Unaligned incentives.

00:28:40.089 --> 00:28:44.009
Look at Adam just throwing out these terms. Well,

00:28:44.130 --> 00:28:47.549
I think Sheffield's point to the agents make

00:28:47.549 --> 00:28:50.369
money every time they sign a contract is completely

00:28:50.369 --> 00:28:54.410
true. And getting 15 % good for the agent, they're

00:28:54.410 --> 00:28:56.670
ripping that kid off. Okay, just for context,

00:28:56.970 --> 00:28:59.809
he said that Lauren Carlini's agent takes 5%.

00:28:59.809 --> 00:29:04.829
I will say when I played, my agency was a very

00:29:04.829 --> 00:29:10.839
reputable Italian agency. They took 8 % of all

00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:13.539
of my contracts, but they negotiated that with

00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:18.240
the club on the side. So I did not have to pay

00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:22.140
that. Whatever my salary was, was mine. And then

00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:26.259
the club had to pay the agency on top of that.

00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:32.740
8%. 5%. Anything 5 % to 10 % is... reasonable

00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:35.619
three to five i mean i think like nba salaries

00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:38.339
so it depends on the size of the contracts to

00:29:38.339 --> 00:29:40.240
make it worthwhile and so on and so forth you

00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:42.099
feel like the athletes may be getting taken advantage

00:29:42.099 --> 00:29:44.660
of a little bit there so like 15 is it's high

00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:46.980
is crazy and if that and it's coming out of the

00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:51.039
athlete's pocket so you are preying on young

00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:56.660
men and women and you have no integrity It seems

00:29:56.660 --> 00:30:00.319
that this particular agent he was talking about

00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:03.039
has no integrity. Again, assuming what he said

00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.619
is true. Assuming what he said is true. Yeah,

00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:08.940
you want these kids to transfer. And if you see

00:30:08.940 --> 00:30:11.579
kids who are like not playing or on the bench

00:30:11.579 --> 00:30:13.700
and you're like knocking on their door being

00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:16.279
like, hey, want to transfer? That is a complete

00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:19.700
lack of integrity. But if you're an agent trying

00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:21.259
to make money, that's exactly what you would

00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:23.480
do. I would go down the list. If I was an agent

00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.339
and if I was in this agent's shoes. No, I would

00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:26.900
not be able to. I wouldn't be able to do that.

00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.019
I understand. And I would never do this. But

00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:33.119
I'm just saying to make money, that's 100 % what

00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:36.440
you do. And again, these kids, for the most part,

00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:39.319
lack experience in doing these things. So you

00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:42.119
come in and I can definitely see how this works.

00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:43.920
You put a bug in their ear. You've got this.

00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:46.640
Hey, I've got a deal for you. You know, all of

00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.559
that. There needs to be, you should need to go

00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:52.599
through a process as an agent. And I don't know

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:55.579
if you do, but to get certified, there needs

00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:58.099
to be guidelines around when you can do those

00:30:58.099 --> 00:30:59.720
things. Well, you're seeing certain players in

00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:01.759
other sports, and he highlighted football, transferring

00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:05.019
every single year. I mean, we talked about what

00:31:05.019 --> 00:31:07.640
we would do to fix the transfer portal last episode.

00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:11.019
And this is one of the things. The agents, it's

00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:14.119
in their best interest for the athletes to move.

00:31:14.619 --> 00:31:17.359
which is not generally in the athlete's best

00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.400
interest. Again, I don't know how you police

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.099
it. The NIL has opened a wild, wild west here.

00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:25.319
Those kids getting bad advice, and I'm not saying

00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:27.740
it's always bad, but it's tough. And I don't

00:31:27.740 --> 00:31:30.299
know how you fix it, but it's not, it's ugly.

00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:34.079
It's gross to me, honestly. And the fact that

00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:41.009
these adults are just using... Young people to

00:31:41.009 --> 00:31:43.750
further their own financial gain. When at the

00:31:43.750 --> 00:31:46.049
end of the day, this should be about an education.

00:31:46.150 --> 00:31:49.069
I know it's not anymore. And when he was asked

00:31:49.069 --> 00:31:53.309
about that, he literally laughed. And then the

00:31:53.309 --> 00:31:56.490
guy was like, is this even about, do kids even

00:31:56.490 --> 00:31:58.549
get an education anymore? He laughed, but then

00:31:58.549 --> 00:32:01.430
gave like a PC answer after that, like fixed

00:32:01.430 --> 00:32:03.789
it. But I'm like, okay, that says it all. Thank

00:32:03.789 --> 00:32:05.910
you so much. He laughed and threw football under

00:32:05.910 --> 00:32:08.289
the bus and didn't talk about it. He said enough.

00:32:08.470 --> 00:32:12.519
Totally. If that is true, it's disgusting to

00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.660
me. And I'm seeing it. I was sent an Instagram

00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:21.660
for a European agency that specializes in scholarships.

00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:25.140
The number of European players, I know there's

00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:27.859
a ton of everyone, but like European players

00:32:27.859 --> 00:32:31.200
are transferring a ton. This one agency had like

00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:34.720
all of the Kansas foreign players. Shocker, they're

00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:39.099
all transferring. It's just. I am so disturbed

00:32:39.099 --> 00:32:43.279
by it, really. Yeah, it should not happen this

00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:46.500
way. And there should be, to me, it's up to the

00:32:46.500 --> 00:32:49.980
NCAA and the universities to protect these kids,

00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:52.240
to protect their athletes. Because right now,

00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:54.940
in this situation, they're being preyed upon.

00:32:55.140 --> 00:33:00.319
And they're being given bad information. That's

00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:04.140
how I see it. Let's get into the Wisconsin -specific

00:33:04.140 --> 00:33:08.859
piece of this. This is the part that I'm meaning.

00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:11.539
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle

00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:13.880
somewhere of something. Sure. So I think there's

00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.960
a couple things. I think you need to look at

00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.339
pattern of behavior to set a bit of a historical

00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:24.279
context. And for the most part, I think Wisconsin

00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:28.210
loses quite a few players to the portal. Can

00:33:28.210 --> 00:33:29.869
somebody pull up the numbers for us on this?

00:33:29.990 --> 00:33:32.910
We didn't do the research, but this year, as

00:33:32.910 --> 00:33:36.869
we know, it was six. Last year, they lost pretty

00:33:36.869 --> 00:33:41.490
much all their DSs as well. Yeah, I think it

00:33:41.490 --> 00:33:45.289
was five or six athletes. There's going to be

00:33:45.289 --> 00:33:49.329
the case where athletes show up. They think they're

00:33:49.329 --> 00:33:51.849
going to be able to earn a starting spot. You

00:33:51.849 --> 00:33:54.329
know, it doesn't happen. They don't play. They

00:33:54.329 --> 00:33:57.289
want to play. They transfer out. I totally get

00:33:57.289 --> 00:33:59.470
that narrative. And the better the program, the

00:33:59.470 --> 00:34:02.589
higher the chances are that that happens. I think

00:34:02.589 --> 00:34:07.190
some of the things I heard Sheffield say in terms

00:34:07.190 --> 00:34:12.349
of roles with players, pathways to playing time,

00:34:12.570 --> 00:34:15.789
those kind of things, those conversations are

00:34:15.789 --> 00:34:18.710
important and hard to have. And nobody's in the

00:34:18.710 --> 00:34:22.309
room, but... I doubt the players feel that way,

00:34:22.389 --> 00:34:24.650
that they have a clear expectation of what's

00:34:24.650 --> 00:34:27.929
going to happen if they're leaving kind of en

00:34:27.929 --> 00:34:30.429
masse like that. Again, we're not in the room.

00:34:30.510 --> 00:34:33.170
We don't know what those conversations are. But

00:34:33.170 --> 00:34:36.710
I think that that is one of those situations

00:34:36.710 --> 00:34:40.170
where what the coaching staff believes and what

00:34:40.170 --> 00:34:43.449
the athletes kind of hear or believe, neither

00:34:43.449 --> 00:34:46.170
of those are accurate. And the truth lies somewhere

00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:49.219
in the middle. So that would be, or, you know,

00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:51.639
these are really young people who are trying

00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.460
to have these very difficult conversations with

00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:58.920
an older man or people of authority. Maybe they

00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:00.800
aren't comfortable telling you the real reason

00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:04.280
they're leaving. True. You know, maybe they are,

00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:08.239
don't feel comfortable giving you the real reason

00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:12.559
and are trying to say something safe. You know,

00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:14.920
you never know. I'm just saying like being an

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:21.920
18, 19 year old. talking to a 50 -year -old man,

00:35:22.219 --> 00:35:26.539
like, it can be scary. And I mean, I think all

00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:30.699
of the transfers kind of make sense, except for

00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:34.460
Una. This is where... He threw her under the

00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:39.019
bus real hard. Yeah, and I have a hard time believing

00:35:39.019 --> 00:35:42.780
everything that was said. Just from the sheer

00:35:42.780 --> 00:35:46.199
fact of Una was playing, she was playing well,

00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:48.809
That one doesn't make sense to me. There was

00:35:48.809 --> 00:35:51.929
something happening behind the scenes that made

00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:56.070
her want to go somewhere else. And I don't think

00:35:56.070 --> 00:35:58.489
it was purely because somebody got in her ear

00:35:58.489 --> 00:36:00.869
and said, you should leave. You're going to be

00:36:00.869 --> 00:36:03.690
a DS. I'm sorry. If somebody who's not involved

00:36:03.690 --> 00:36:06.110
in the program at all is like, this is what's

00:36:06.110 --> 00:36:08.670
going to happen to you. Come on now. They have

00:36:08.670 --> 00:36:12.389
no idea. Yeah, that line, it just, it smelled

00:36:12.389 --> 00:36:15.119
a little bit to me. There's something else kind

00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:17.239
of happening behind the scenes there, unless

00:36:17.239 --> 00:36:20.800
she got offered just two, three times the amount

00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:23.380
of money she was making at Wisconsin. And I think

00:36:23.380 --> 00:36:25.539
Wisconsin has money for players. That, to me,

00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:28.440
was a little bit interesting. What did you think

00:36:28.440 --> 00:36:31.360
of what he had to say about timing of the transfer

00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:33.820
portal and how people who make the Final Four

00:36:33.820 --> 00:36:37.260
just are at a disadvantage? Well, first of all,

00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:39.369
it was boo -hoo, you're in the Final Four. I

00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:41.309
know. I was kind of like, no, yeah, too bad.

00:36:41.389 --> 00:36:44.150
Except you signed Jayla Auguste, which is a huge

00:36:44.150 --> 00:36:46.449
pickup. You're telling me that you didn't know

00:36:46.449 --> 00:36:48.349
that was happening? Yeah. Until you were done

00:36:48.349 --> 00:36:53.110
the final four. There's no way that he wasn't

00:36:53.110 --> 00:36:56.789
looking at the portal and knew what was going

00:36:56.789 --> 00:37:00.909
on. He's got coaches that are scouting, that

00:37:00.909 --> 00:37:03.670
are running practices. You got Charlie's mom

00:37:03.670 --> 00:37:08.739
sending you updates. That was also weird. I need

00:37:08.739 --> 00:37:12.400
to check where Ava Travis played club. If she

00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:15.980
did not play for Mizuno Long Beach, what the

00:37:15.980 --> 00:37:18.360
heck is Charlie's mom doing sending him these

00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:20.260
messages? She's the Western Scouts. She's on

00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:22.179
the payroll. No, stop it. When he said that,

00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:25.000
I was like, that's a conflict of interest. I'm

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.980
sorry. I mean, if I'm honest, if our daughter

00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:29.340
was playing on a team and there was an athlete

00:37:29.340 --> 00:37:30.460
that would make... I 100 % would not do that.

00:37:30.980 --> 00:37:35.719
No. That is her life. That is her... You wouldn't

00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:37.360
tell a coach, hey, I think this play would be

00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:39.239
good for your team. You're a better person than

00:37:39.239 --> 00:37:42.559
I am. How do you ever think that that is your

00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:46.559
place to tell your kid's college coach, hey,

00:37:46.679 --> 00:37:48.860
check out this girl from the transfer portal?

00:37:49.059 --> 00:37:51.500
Never. I mean, she runs. My kid goes there. She

00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:55.039
runs a club. I am supporting her. I am like doing

00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:57.840
what I need to do to support her. And I am hands

00:37:57.840 --> 00:38:01.239
off. That is it. You would seriously do that?

00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:04.019
If I knew club volleyball. No, you wouldn't because

00:38:04.019 --> 00:38:07.829
I wouldn't let you do that. She wasn't a club

00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:10.989
volleyball player, Adam. She played for UC San

00:38:10.989 --> 00:38:12.929
Diego. I understand that. I'm assuming that Joy

00:38:12.929 --> 00:38:15.030
knows her. So I'm saying if she did not play

00:38:15.030 --> 00:38:18.750
for that club, there is no reason for it. Anyway,

00:38:18.889 --> 00:38:22.489
I digress. Yeah, so the timing piece on picking

00:38:22.489 --> 00:38:25.690
up players is, you know. I didn't believe that

00:38:25.690 --> 00:38:28.030
for a second. The timing piece about players

00:38:28.030 --> 00:38:30.889
leaving is the tough piece, right? If you need

00:38:30.889 --> 00:38:33.269
to enter the portal and you're trying to have

00:38:33.269 --> 00:38:37.130
those conversations. During preparation. And

00:38:37.130 --> 00:38:39.849
I did agree. I did agree with what he said about,

00:38:39.889 --> 00:38:43.730
you know, a Texas player he alluded to right

00:38:43.730 --> 00:38:46.349
after they lost announced that she was entering

00:38:46.349 --> 00:38:48.329
the portal. And he was saying, like, you need

00:38:48.329 --> 00:38:50.110
to be where your feet are. You need to be in

00:38:50.110 --> 00:38:52.110
the moment and do your job, have that integrity.

00:38:52.230 --> 00:38:55.429
I completely agree with that. For sure. Totally.

00:38:55.469 --> 00:38:58.309
So for those players who are vacating their team

00:38:58.309 --> 00:39:02.360
and you're preparing to play. How do you stay

00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:05.599
focused? You're 18, 19, 20. That's not professional.

00:39:05.800 --> 00:39:07.940
If you want to make money like a professional,

00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:12.179
then you need to be professional and do your

00:39:12.179 --> 00:39:15.559
job in that way and go about that process the

00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:18.699
right way. Yeah. That part I totally agree with.

00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:20.260
And then the other thing I thought was interesting

00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:24.880
was the athletes going to compliance first instead

00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:29.210
of having a conversation. I can imagine. if I'm

00:39:29.210 --> 00:39:31.170
a young athlete and I've never done this before

00:39:31.170 --> 00:39:34.329
and I'm I have an agent the other thing that

00:39:34.329 --> 00:39:36.250
I think is would be curious to know and I don't

00:39:36.250 --> 00:39:38.130
know this for sure is the timing of the agent

00:39:38.130 --> 00:39:41.010
picking up these players were they was he with

00:39:41.010 --> 00:39:43.929
them before was it really two weeks before the

00:39:43.929 --> 00:39:46.570
season ended that piece would be I'm curious

00:39:46.570 --> 00:39:48.869
how long they were with this person yeah I would

00:39:48.869 --> 00:39:51.170
be curious to know that as well because also

00:39:51.170 --> 00:39:54.070
if you're poaching athletes like at the end of

00:39:54.070 --> 00:39:57.110
the season you need to be professional too to

00:39:57.110 --> 00:40:00.539
be like These girls need to focus on playing

00:40:00.539 --> 00:40:02.840
and winning a national championship. I will approach

00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:05.599
them later. If you are talking to athletes to

00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:09.400
try to acquire them as a client while they are

00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:12.460
still competing, you have no integrity. Yeah,

00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:15.980
that's totally shady, like super shady. But I

00:40:15.980 --> 00:40:17.780
can see as a young athlete, you have an agent

00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:19.920
who goes, hey, here's the protocol, like talk

00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:22.280
to compliance, do that. You know, you get the

00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:25.619
ball rolling. Obviously, the right approach is

00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:27.619
to talk to your coach about it first, and hopefully

00:40:27.619 --> 00:40:30.860
you're having those dialogues. But I can see

00:40:30.860 --> 00:40:33.340
how that would happen from an athlete's standpoint

00:40:33.340 --> 00:40:35.139
if that's the advice you're getting. So again,

00:40:35.179 --> 00:40:37.159
it comes down to the integrity of who's giving

00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:39.300
you advice and what you're listening to. If that

00:40:39.300 --> 00:40:41.519
many people did go to compliance all with the

00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:42.699
same agent, then I think it's a failure. You

00:40:42.699 --> 00:40:44.179
made it sound like it was only two or something.

00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:49.659
As a coach, to find out that way would hurt on

00:40:49.659 --> 00:40:51.440
a personal level. No, that would bother me too.

00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:54.880
I could appreciate that. But again, I think we

00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:58.059
come down to expectations of athletes. There

00:40:58.059 --> 00:41:00.300
being a disconnect there and people wanting to

00:41:00.300 --> 00:41:03.460
either A, make more money or B, play. And again,

00:41:03.539 --> 00:41:07.840
I think the transfer portal doesn't always incentivize

00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:12.679
coaches to give a ton of time to, you know, players

00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:16.159
nine through 18. So I think that that probably

00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:18.699
lines up somewhere in the middle of those stories.

00:41:19.239 --> 00:41:22.179
Regardless. I enjoyed listening to it. I did

00:41:22.179 --> 00:41:24.400
too. When he started going off, I was like, oh

00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:27.920
my gosh, keep it coming. I love this. I can appreciate

00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:31.280
anybody who's willing to have an honest conversation

00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:35.239
about a topic at hand. So kudos to him for going

00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:38.099
out and putting that out there because it's,

00:41:38.099 --> 00:41:40.219
you know, it's something worth talking about

00:41:40.219 --> 00:41:41.880
and it's something that's broken and needs to

00:41:41.880 --> 00:41:45.340
be addressed. And thanks to all of you who brought

00:41:45.340 --> 00:41:47.440
it to our attention. Yeah. Really enjoyed it.

00:41:49.050 --> 00:41:52.269
Okay. We mentioned that there was a lot of volleyball

00:41:52.269 --> 00:41:56.949
going on this week. So what did you watch? I

00:41:56.949 --> 00:42:00.610
watched the Atlanta Columbus game, which again,

00:42:00.690 --> 00:42:05.610
I was thoroughly surprised at how Columbus played.

00:42:06.170 --> 00:42:09.590
I, you know what? I don't really want to dive

00:42:09.590 --> 00:42:12.829
into specifics of teams yet because I think we

00:42:12.829 --> 00:42:15.949
need to give them a little time to breathe. Kind

00:42:15.949 --> 00:42:18.809
of some overarching... Like a fine wine, baby.

00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:23.809
It's just too early to start picking things apart.

00:42:24.110 --> 00:42:28.690
So I will say that I thought Columbus did a much

00:42:28.690 --> 00:42:31.150
better job. I liked that they were running the

00:42:31.150 --> 00:42:33.369
middle. There was a lot of compete there. I thought

00:42:33.369 --> 00:42:36.110
they blocked well. They were prepared to play.

00:42:36.690 --> 00:42:40.599
So... Reina Terry was good. Regan Pittman brought

00:42:40.599 --> 00:42:43.960
that tood, which you know I love. I wasn't sure

00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:45.679
what was going to happen in that match. I thought

00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:48.460
there was the potential for it to be a 3 -0 Atlanta

00:42:48.460 --> 00:42:50.880
win. I like what they've done with their roster.

00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:54.119
I liked they looked prepared. Again, defensively,

00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:56.900
I thought they were sound. So I was pleasantly

00:42:56.900 --> 00:43:00.320
surprised with them. Atlanta was not as clean

00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:03.960
as I thought they were going to be. Their outsides

00:43:03.960 --> 00:43:09.239
were... They had Matty Wack. setting yeah rookie

00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:12.139
right off of that national championship they're

00:43:12.139 --> 00:43:14.460
like you know what you're gonna start and you

00:43:14.460 --> 00:43:20.199
know who they but mac pedraza so i like the maddie

00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:23.519
whack long term i think having watched her play

00:43:23.519 --> 00:43:27.139
extensively in the ncaa finals her decision making

00:43:27.139 --> 00:43:29.000
is good listen all of these young players coming

00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:30.980
in the game's going to be a little bit different

00:43:30.980 --> 00:43:32.760
it's going to be a little faster it's going to

00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:34.960
be The athletes are a little bit better. It's

00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:37.400
going to take some time, but her decision -making

00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:40.300
and as she gets to know her players, I think

00:43:40.300 --> 00:43:43.159
playing her is the right decision for them long

00:43:43.159 --> 00:43:44.460
-term. I think she's going to be really good.

00:43:44.739 --> 00:43:46.719
I don't love their right side situation, but

00:43:46.719 --> 00:43:49.579
that's just me. What would you do? I don't get

00:43:49.579 --> 00:43:53.300
a better right side. That's what I would do.

00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:56.159
Do they have anybody on the roster who you would

00:43:56.159 --> 00:43:58.909
put in that place? No, I think that was our question

00:43:58.909 --> 00:44:01.289
mark last week was their right side. Maddie can

00:44:01.289 --> 00:44:03.610
run the middle well though, so hopefully. We

00:44:03.610 --> 00:44:05.389
were saying the right side was, we thought the

00:44:05.389 --> 00:44:08.590
right side was her weakest set when we watched

00:44:08.590 --> 00:44:11.869
her in college. Agreed. So maybe she just won't

00:44:11.869 --> 00:44:14.170
ever set it. And they are missing Morgan Hintz.

00:44:14.590 --> 00:44:18.409
San Diego, Orlando. This match was just like

00:44:18.409 --> 00:44:22.610
blah to me. I don't know. The game, the MLV games

00:44:22.610 --> 00:44:26.570
we watched, I thought just seemed slow overall.

00:44:27.159 --> 00:44:32.340
I didn't have that impression necessarily. Absolutely

00:44:32.340 --> 00:44:35.579
not. Just like the reaction time on like setter

00:44:35.579 --> 00:44:39.400
dumps and decision making. And I remember distinctly

00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:43.059
Yovana Bakachevich for San Diego hitting down

00:44:43.059 --> 00:44:47.440
the line 17 times in a row, blowing up the defender.

00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:51.000
And I'm like, at what point are we going to make

00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:54.619
a change here? Yes. Fair. I mean, she's 6 '5",

00:44:54.619 --> 00:44:58.420
but she's also 37. So let's take a few inches

00:44:58.420 --> 00:45:03.780
off because age just does that. But like she's

00:45:03.780 --> 00:45:05.679
bearing the ball down the line. And I just like

00:45:05.679 --> 00:45:07.559
wasn't seeing adjustments from Orlando, even

00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:11.179
though they won the game. I was. Listen, here's

00:45:11.179 --> 00:45:13.659
the thing. We went from watching NCAA where they

00:45:13.659 --> 00:45:15.099
were at the end of the season and everything

00:45:15.099 --> 00:45:18.969
was crisp to this where coaches are. Figuring

00:45:18.969 --> 00:45:21.210
it out, you're focused on your own systems. You're

00:45:21.210 --> 00:45:24.090
not necessarily making adjustments. I don't disagree

00:45:24.090 --> 00:45:27.070
with your assessment. They need to make adjustments,

00:45:27.369 --> 00:45:31.309
but it will come. Overall, San Diego is not looking

00:45:31.309 --> 00:45:33.510
good. But we didn't think they would be good.

00:45:34.130 --> 00:45:36.710
That's one thing we were correct on last week

00:45:36.710 --> 00:45:38.909
so far. Maybe they'll make improvements. Well,

00:45:39.010 --> 00:45:43.590
I don't have high hopes for them this season.

00:45:43.809 --> 00:45:46.489
I don't love their setter. Yeah, I don't love

00:45:46.489 --> 00:45:49.619
their setter. They just, they didn't add anything.

00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:53.699
I feel like a bunch of teams got better and they

00:45:53.699 --> 00:45:57.480
didn't move the needle at all, in my opinion,

00:45:57.500 --> 00:46:00.480
in terms of adding players. And I just, I'm not

00:46:00.480 --> 00:46:02.840
sure they're going to get there in terms of adjustments,

00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:06.119
in terms of improving. I would just say I have

00:46:06.119 --> 00:46:10.360
the least confidence in them improving. Look

00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:12.059
at how Columbus has played now. Like they might

00:46:12.059 --> 00:46:14.940
finish last. Well, bold statement. Again, I said

00:46:14.940 --> 00:46:16.539
I wasn't going to say anything after one week.

00:46:17.179 --> 00:46:19.119
There it is. We can't help ourselves. Somebody

00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:23.239
did ask us what was the juice on Shannon Windsor

00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:26.119
that we alluded to last week. I don't know the

00:46:26.119 --> 00:46:29.500
inner workings and I don't want to speculate.

00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:34.380
Oh, we will. No. My thing is Canada's program

00:46:34.380 --> 00:46:37.480
was she was the women's national team coach.

00:46:37.579 --> 00:46:40.980
Their program was not very successful for a long

00:46:40.980 --> 00:46:46.969
time. And she came in and. worked so hard with

00:46:46.969 --> 00:46:50.489
those girls to almost get them to the olympics

00:46:50.489 --> 00:46:54.550
and that team got so much better under her and

00:46:54.550 --> 00:46:56.909
then the cycle after you've put in all that work

00:46:56.909 --> 00:47:01.269
where you're on the edge of making it you get

00:47:01.269 --> 00:47:04.969
rid of her and bring in somebody else that to

00:47:04.969 --> 00:47:07.670
me and they did real bad this year and they did

00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:10.889
real bad i just think that if you have given

00:47:10.889 --> 00:47:14.969
somebody four years to build a program and you

00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:17.530
see improvement and they've gotten there, to

00:47:17.530 --> 00:47:21.190
not let them finish that doesn't sit right for

00:47:21.190 --> 00:47:23.849
me. I understand a four -year cycle. I know how

00:47:23.849 --> 00:47:27.230
much work goes in to trying to bring a team to

00:47:27.230 --> 00:47:29.710
get to that goal. And again, I don't know the

00:47:29.710 --> 00:47:33.070
situation around it, but that to me, just it's

00:47:33.070 --> 00:47:35.650
not how a federation should operate, in my opinion.

00:47:35.730 --> 00:47:39.519
I feel awful and... I don't believe it was her

00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:41.360
choice to leave. I don't know if it was or not.

00:47:41.420 --> 00:47:45.699
My instinct is that it was not. Yeah. But I was

00:47:45.699 --> 00:47:47.739
excited for the Indy Dallas game too. You want

00:47:47.739 --> 00:47:49.739
to know why? Because two of my fantasy players

00:47:49.739 --> 00:47:53.800
on Volley were from Indy. And guess what? Anna

00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:56.679
DeBeer did me dirty and got me negative points.

00:47:57.340 --> 00:47:59.699
I hope you're hanging on to her because she'll

00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:04.119
get better. Done. Cut. She lost your money then.

00:48:04.739 --> 00:48:09.289
Yeah. Like I alluded to in the intro. I lost

00:48:09.289 --> 00:48:13.190
my budget for my team, went down in large part

00:48:13.190 --> 00:48:15.969
thanks to her. Should have made better picks.

00:48:16.190 --> 00:48:20.610
You know what? For the MLB season, the volley

00:48:20.610 --> 00:48:24.070
app for fantasy is going to keep me so engaged.

00:48:24.389 --> 00:48:26.989
I can already tell I'm so addicted, even though

00:48:26.989 --> 00:48:30.550
I'm doing so bad. I really love how the budget

00:48:30.550 --> 00:48:32.630
changes every week, even though Anna DeBeer screwed

00:48:32.630 --> 00:48:35.309
me over. But you know who helped me? Nunaviller

00:48:35.309 --> 00:48:39.139
and Morgan Hens. Yes. They were both very good.

00:48:39.360 --> 00:48:42.659
Epicrombie was... Lost me money. She lost you

00:48:42.659 --> 00:48:45.760
money? She should have lost you money too. I

00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:47.239
didn't think she did. Well, I had a couple other

00:48:47.239 --> 00:48:49.619
players who were, who gained me some cash. So

00:48:49.619 --> 00:48:53.239
that was positive. If you haven't joined yet,

00:48:53.300 --> 00:48:57.440
be sure to join. It's playvolley .com slash volley

00:48:57.440 --> 00:49:01.000
talk. The interesting thing is if you join late,

00:49:01.199 --> 00:49:04.480
you aren't penalized. You're given a score that

00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.929
is like the average. Of the week before. Yes.

00:49:08.050 --> 00:49:11.190
So you're going to jump in. And if it was this

00:49:11.190 --> 00:49:14.750
week, you'd be ahead of me by a long shot. Is

00:49:14.750 --> 00:49:17.449
she below the average? I'm way below the average.

00:49:18.230 --> 00:49:21.889
Join. There's a chat function. You were chatting

00:49:21.889 --> 00:49:23.789
with some people. I was jumping in the chat a

00:49:23.789 --> 00:49:26.250
little bit this week. It was fun to look at the

00:49:26.250 --> 00:49:29.309
stats. They do a good job of match stats and

00:49:29.309 --> 00:49:31.929
looking at comparisons. Even for this episode,

00:49:32.010 --> 00:49:34.489
I was using it to prep. So check it out. If you're

00:49:34.489 --> 00:49:37.099
a volleyball fan, it is. Probably one of the

00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:39.380
best things out there I've seen. Playvolley .com

00:49:39.380 --> 00:49:45.280
slash Volley Talk. Play V -O -L -L -I. Little

00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:49.019
twist. Dot com slash Volley Talk. Join our league.

00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:52.460
It's a lot of fun. Also, I'm hoping for big things

00:49:52.460 --> 00:49:55.179
this week. So everybody watch out. So we did

00:49:55.179 --> 00:49:57.579
watch Atlanta Austin on the love side of things,

00:49:57.699 --> 00:50:01.940
too. I like Brie O 'Reilly. Oh, she's going to

00:50:01.940 --> 00:50:03.519
make that team so good. But you know what I think?

00:50:04.139 --> 00:50:06.440
I think we are going to have the same assessment

00:50:06.440 --> 00:50:09.519
here. She is running a very nice offense, very

00:50:09.519 --> 00:50:13.539
fast. Her sets are on the money. But these athletes,

00:50:13.820 --> 00:50:16.480
same ones that we were talking about during VNL

00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:18.320
season, having trouble hitting Poulter's sets,

00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:21.519
are having difficulty. But you know who isn't

00:50:21.519 --> 00:50:23.400
having difficulty hitting Bria Riley's sets?

00:50:23.559 --> 00:50:26.260
The middles. They are rejoicing because they're

00:50:26.260 --> 00:50:32.119
actually getting set a lot. And good sets. She...

00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:35.760
was noticeably good in this match. And I know

00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:37.519
that Skinner scored a lot of points, but she

00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:39.780
did not look in rhythm. She tipped a ton of balls.

00:50:40.119 --> 00:50:42.599
So here's, I have a question. I don't know if

00:50:42.599 --> 00:50:45.460
Love cares about the national team, but I'm very

00:50:45.460 --> 00:50:50.340
curious. There seems to be a lot of coincidences.

00:50:50.360 --> 00:50:54.519
The national team coach is in Austin. Coincidence.

00:50:54.599 --> 00:50:58.079
They have a lot of players who I believe they

00:50:58.079 --> 00:51:01.239
think can make a difference in the next Olympics.

00:51:02.550 --> 00:51:05.570
Skinner, Eggleston. They brought in an international

00:51:05.570 --> 00:51:08.510
setter who runs a fast offense, I think, to try

00:51:08.510 --> 00:51:11.730
and help them get accustomed to running that

00:51:11.730 --> 00:51:15.570
style of offense. I know that Love has a holistic

00:51:15.570 --> 00:51:18.809
view, and I know those players were from Texas,

00:51:18.889 --> 00:51:22.889
but I can't help but wonder if this is all at

00:51:22.889 --> 00:51:26.409
least thought about to help with the national

00:51:26.409 --> 00:51:30.460
team program. I don't know. It crossed my mind

00:51:30.460 --> 00:51:34.380
watching that match. I'm not... I like their

00:51:34.380 --> 00:51:37.519
libero Inoue, the Japanese girl. She better play

00:51:37.519 --> 00:51:41.420
over Zoe Jarvis. Oh, Jarvis came in and was playing

00:51:41.420 --> 00:51:44.800
in Nebraska. I didn't watch much of that. But

00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:47.340
the parts I watched, she was playing. And came

00:51:47.340 --> 00:51:50.300
in as a serving sub today. But they need to stick

00:51:50.300 --> 00:51:52.179
with Inoue because I think she is really good.

00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:56.480
Outstanding. I think Bree pushes that team over

00:51:56.480 --> 00:52:00.789
the top to be the favorite. I really liked what

00:52:00.789 --> 00:52:04.130
she was doing. She runs a really good offense.

00:52:04.670 --> 00:52:07.030
Chiako Bagu is watching this year being like,

00:52:07.150 --> 00:52:10.070
well, geez, you didn't set me at all last season,

00:52:10.110 --> 00:52:13.670
you guys. I leave and look at this. She is literally

00:52:13.670 --> 00:52:16.269
setting these girls so often. I think it's great.

00:52:17.130 --> 00:52:20.869
If Eggleston and Skinner can figure out a fast

00:52:20.869 --> 00:52:24.070
offense, they're going to be next to unstoppable,

00:52:24.110 --> 00:52:26.789
I think. You know how we feel about good setters.

00:52:27.530 --> 00:52:30.989
What did you think of Atlanta? They seemed to

00:52:30.989 --> 00:52:34.769
really be searching for the left sides that would

00:52:34.769 --> 00:52:38.130
step up. I felt like they just kept subbing out

00:52:38.130 --> 00:52:40.789
every single left side trying to find something

00:52:40.789 --> 00:52:45.530
that would stick. Landed on Eva Hudson. I will

00:52:45.530 --> 00:52:50.369
say I thought the best player watching was Tia

00:52:50.369 --> 00:52:53.789
Jimerson. She had a good season last year too.

00:52:53.989 --> 00:52:56.250
She is coming on. She played well with the national

00:52:56.250 --> 00:53:00.750
team. She's here. She's been impressive and she's

00:53:00.750 --> 00:53:03.309
kept it going. And I think Fairbanks will run

00:53:03.309 --> 00:53:06.489
her quite a bit. Well, they had LMA Powell starting.

00:53:07.469 --> 00:53:10.730
Fairbanks came in on the 6 -2 sub with Montano.

00:53:10.909 --> 00:53:12.650
I think she's going to end up taking the spot.

00:53:12.909 --> 00:53:17.010
I was not loving Powell's setting. That continues

00:53:17.010 --> 00:53:20.949
from my V &L opinion. But I thought when Grubbs

00:53:20.949 --> 00:53:24.710
came in, did a good job. I thought Eva Hudson

00:53:24.710 --> 00:53:28.400
started out. a little deer in the headlights.

00:53:29.239 --> 00:53:32.539
She looked a little tentative. You know what?

00:53:32.639 --> 00:53:34.860
Like she had a lot of swagger and attitude and

00:53:34.860 --> 00:53:40.099
college deserved. She was the show. I do appreciate

00:53:40.099 --> 00:53:43.480
how she kind of toned it down entering that environment.

00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:46.440
Just like, let's get the lay of the land here.

00:53:46.539 --> 00:53:48.519
I'm the new kid on the block. You guys have done

00:53:48.519 --> 00:53:52.219
a lot more than I have. I like that she was respectful

00:53:52.219 --> 00:53:56.960
and was like understanding. her role as a rookie

00:53:56.960 --> 00:53:59.760
and she gradually worked into the game and got

00:53:59.760 --> 00:54:03.059
better. But at the beginning, she was like a

00:54:03.059 --> 00:54:08.280
little nervous. It looked like. Yeah. I think

00:54:08.280 --> 00:54:10.719
that actually shows really good maturity for

00:54:10.719 --> 00:54:12.460
Hudson. She was a leader in the one team and

00:54:12.460 --> 00:54:15.260
then she comes in and, you know, self -awareness

00:54:15.260 --> 00:54:18.639
to know that maybe her style could rub people

00:54:18.639 --> 00:54:21.239
the wrong way, especially if she's not, you know,

00:54:21.239 --> 00:54:23.639
the best on the court. So I have a lot of respect

00:54:23.639 --> 00:54:26.630
for how. It looked like she handled her transition

00:54:26.630 --> 00:54:29.429
to the pros. And I don't think that's always

00:54:29.429 --> 00:54:33.849
easy to go from being top dog to, you know, coming

00:54:33.849 --> 00:54:37.389
in and trying to find your place. And I thought,

00:54:37.510 --> 00:54:41.170
again, like you said, well done by her to kind

00:54:41.170 --> 00:54:42.909
of integrate that, know your own personality,

00:54:43.190 --> 00:54:45.429
know how you fit in. I think that's going to

00:54:45.429 --> 00:54:47.650
serve her well and endear her to her teammates

00:54:47.650 --> 00:54:50.570
for when she gets comfortable because she will

00:54:50.570 --> 00:54:53.199
have to find. herself to play that way because

00:54:53.199 --> 00:54:55.320
i think she plays best when she's like that but

00:54:55.320 --> 00:54:58.059
just i think working into it is really smart

00:54:58.059 --> 00:55:01.260
by her i also thought nigretti did a good job

00:55:01.260 --> 00:55:03.880
the italian libero for them i thought she was

00:55:03.880 --> 00:55:07.719
solid you thought it would be austin atlanta

00:55:07.719 --> 00:55:12.320
at the top right yes austin I can definitely...

00:55:12.320 --> 00:55:13.900
Atlanta's going to need to work into it. I need

00:55:13.900 --> 00:55:16.159
to watch more of the other teams in the next

00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:19.199
couple weeks to really get a feel, but... You've

00:55:19.199 --> 00:55:21.300
got to watch at least three matches of a team

00:55:21.300 --> 00:55:23.639
to kind of understand who they are and where

00:55:23.639 --> 00:55:25.940
their players are and what their moves are. So

00:55:25.940 --> 00:55:28.159
again, this is all kind of off -the -cuff first

00:55:28.159 --> 00:55:31.659
impressions, but I think Atlanta will be a good

00:55:31.659 --> 00:55:35.719
team. I watched a match that you did not watch.

00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:41.539
Hit me. I watched UCLA McKendree, NCAA men. called

00:55:41.539 --> 00:55:46.119
that game. Let me just say UCLA is looking real

00:55:46.119 --> 00:55:49.940
good. That's a positive because they had a tendency

00:55:49.940 --> 00:55:53.440
last season to start a little slow or not finish

00:55:53.440 --> 00:55:57.000
off opponents efficiently when they were capable.

00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:00.679
Well, they were efficient. McKendree got better

00:56:00.679 --> 00:56:04.619
set after set, but I think UCLA hit 550 as a

00:56:04.619 --> 00:56:07.679
team. That's impressive. I mean, if you can hit

00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:12.719
550 as a team. You're winning matches. Honestly,

00:56:12.780 --> 00:56:16.519
yeah. There's not much an opponent can do in

00:56:16.519 --> 00:56:19.619
that circumstance. I think the only thing, and

00:56:19.619 --> 00:56:21.719
I was calling this game, and the only thing that

00:56:21.719 --> 00:56:26.619
I had to say about McKendree is I thought they

00:56:26.619 --> 00:56:29.900
needed to take more risk on their serve. UCLA

00:56:29.900 --> 00:56:32.500
was in system for the majority of the game. That's

00:56:32.500 --> 00:56:37.639
tough. And Zach Rama jumps out of the gym. And

00:56:37.639 --> 00:56:41.460
he has found a new level of playing, I think.

00:56:41.719 --> 00:56:43.800
There were some balls that Rowan said that I

00:56:43.800 --> 00:56:46.760
was like, oh, maybe not. And then he just came

00:56:46.760 --> 00:56:50.380
out of nowhere and was like unstoppable. And

00:56:50.380 --> 00:56:55.059
then Rowan was running the middle so well. And

00:56:55.059 --> 00:56:57.099
then their new right side, David Decker, was

00:56:57.099 --> 00:57:00.619
playing. They can't be in system. And so if you're

00:57:00.619 --> 00:57:03.599
McKendree, take some more risk on your serve.

00:57:03.659 --> 00:57:07.300
Be okay missing some. So that the ones that come

00:57:07.300 --> 00:57:11.900
in, go in, they don't have four options. Yeah.

00:57:11.960 --> 00:57:14.659
And you came home and said something interesting

00:57:14.659 --> 00:57:20.679
to me was that the UCLA team looks like men.

00:57:21.340 --> 00:57:24.500
They did some weightlifting and some growing

00:57:24.500 --> 00:57:29.300
up over the summer, it seems. And this age in

00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:34.119
college sports for men is. you can see a huge

00:57:34.119 --> 00:57:36.119
difference from one summer to the next and I

00:57:36.119 --> 00:57:38.940
that was your opinion that you said to me was

00:57:38.940 --> 00:57:41.639
they're just they're built different this year

00:57:41.639 --> 00:57:44.019
than they were last year and I think that's going

00:57:44.019 --> 00:57:46.659
to end up being huge for them in the long run

00:57:46.659 --> 00:57:48.360
because they were close last year and if they've

00:57:48.360 --> 00:57:50.360
taken that step they're going to be dangerous

00:57:50.360 --> 00:57:54.860
this year yeah I'm curious to see how they progress

00:57:54.860 --> 00:57:59.139
as the season goes on that was a 1 -15 matchup

00:57:59.139 --> 00:58:05.650
McHenry did a good job they just when UCLA's

00:58:05.650 --> 00:58:07.650
in system I think against anybody in the country

00:58:07.650 --> 00:58:10.789
it's not going to be pretty and shout out to

00:58:10.789 --> 00:58:14.210
the McKendree boys who came up and found me after

00:58:14.210 --> 00:58:16.750
the game and told me that they were huge fans

00:58:16.750 --> 00:58:21.670
of the podcast and I was shocked quite frankly

00:58:21.670 --> 00:58:24.190
I was like wait people who are actually still

00:58:24.190 --> 00:58:26.670
playing volleyball listen to this podcast I was

00:58:26.670 --> 00:58:29.909
like wow gotta be kidding me we'll be following

00:58:29.909 --> 00:58:31.929
your team now Checking out what the games look

00:58:31.929 --> 00:58:33.789
like. Yeah, I was so touched. I told them they

00:58:33.789 --> 00:58:36.110
made my day telling me that they loved our podcast.

00:58:36.489 --> 00:58:38.969
I was like, wow, sorry for everything that we

00:58:38.969 --> 00:58:42.630
say. Good luck, boys. Okay, let's go through

00:58:42.630 --> 00:58:45.929
some listener questions. Question one. If you

00:58:45.929 --> 00:58:48.650
were handed a team with unlimited money and recruiting

00:58:48.650 --> 00:58:51.510
power, what order would you recruit or draft

00:58:51.510 --> 00:58:54.349
positions? Basically like a real life fantasy

00:58:54.349 --> 00:58:59.179
draft. Would you take a specific position because

00:58:59.179 --> 00:59:02.179
there are less elite players at that position?

00:59:02.719 --> 00:59:06.559
Or would it be a specific position because the

00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:09.400
skill set of that position is the most important?

00:59:10.900 --> 00:59:14.000
I am not the authority on this because I always

00:59:14.000 --> 00:59:19.500
do so bad. But if I were to answer this, I'll

00:59:19.500 --> 00:59:21.159
let Adam answer second because he's way better

00:59:21.159 --> 00:59:26.050
at this than me. I would take strategy two. In

00:59:26.050 --> 00:59:28.349
volleyball, with the skill set that's the most

00:59:28.349 --> 00:59:31.610
important, I like to draft the setter first and

00:59:31.610 --> 00:59:34.949
then the point scoring, whether it's the opposite

00:59:34.949 --> 00:59:37.150
or outside. But I like to do the setter first

00:59:37.150 --> 00:59:42.349
and then the opposite or point scoring left side.

00:59:43.289 --> 00:59:46.489
I generally agree with your strategy. I think

00:59:46.489 --> 00:59:50.570
the one caveat would be it depends how many good

00:59:50.570 --> 00:59:53.210
players are in each of those positions. It depends

00:59:53.210 --> 00:59:56.019
which. league you're looking at which group of

00:59:56.019 --> 00:59:59.099
players so the answer is both of the scenarios

00:59:59.099 --> 01:00:01.860
that's what i don't do well yeah so you i mean

01:00:01.860 --> 01:00:04.519
again i like setters and and point scoring left

01:00:04.519 --> 01:00:07.880
sides are probably the most valuable and the

01:00:07.880 --> 01:00:11.059
hardest to find and then it just depends on you

01:00:11.059 --> 01:00:13.559
know can you get the best setter and then what's

01:00:13.559 --> 01:00:15.559
the drop off after that or how many good left

01:00:15.559 --> 01:00:18.599
sides are there so but in general those two positions

01:00:18.599 --> 01:00:20.880
are probably what you're looking at first Question

01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:24.019
two, MLV rosters seem to prioritize recent college

01:00:24.019 --> 01:00:27.019
grads, whereas Love totes something like 75 %

01:00:27.019 --> 01:00:29.860
current past future national team players. Do

01:00:29.860 --> 01:00:32.719
you agree? And if so, which league strategy do

01:00:32.719 --> 01:00:34.900
you think will survive long term? They're just

01:00:34.900 --> 01:00:39.440
trying to do different things. I am probably

01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:42.579
the most excited for this MLV season. Just I

01:00:42.579 --> 01:00:47.199
really like the influx of young talent, of good

01:00:47.199 --> 01:00:50.500
college players who are going there. So personally,

01:00:50.699 --> 01:00:54.199
I like that. I think that they also had some

01:00:54.199 --> 01:00:57.579
players who there was ability to have vast upgrades

01:00:57.579 --> 01:00:59.739
bringing in the young players over some of the

01:00:59.739 --> 01:01:02.059
roster players that were in MLV. The bottom of

01:01:02.059 --> 01:01:07.239
the MLV rosters, your 10 through 14, was not

01:01:07.239 --> 01:01:09.480
great from a skill level. So I think these young

01:01:09.480 --> 01:01:13.079
players are really bolstering the MLV rosters.

01:01:13.869 --> 01:01:17.570
Love is trying to be an elite league similar

01:01:17.570 --> 01:01:21.030
to Italy and Turkey, and not all of the college

01:01:21.030 --> 01:01:24.230
players coming out are slated to play at that

01:01:24.230 --> 01:01:27.190
level. So given their different missions and

01:01:27.190 --> 01:01:28.670
what they're trying to accomplish, I think they're

01:01:28.670 --> 01:01:32.989
both doing what they need to do. Love hasn't

01:01:32.989 --> 01:01:36.650
been able to attract top, top talent yet, although

01:01:36.650 --> 01:01:39.670
they have the right side from China and Alexa

01:01:39.670 --> 01:01:43.460
Gray is there. moving in that direction it's

01:01:43.460 --> 01:01:46.079
just harder to do because there's more competition

01:01:46.079 --> 01:01:49.800
for those athletes well said question three what's

01:01:49.800 --> 01:01:52.239
the actual process of playing overseas do teams

01:01:52.239 --> 01:01:54.820
scout players do players send video and what

01:01:54.820 --> 01:01:58.000
happens once you accept an offer the majority

01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:02.480
of players get an agent not a scammy one not

01:02:02.480 --> 01:02:08.260
a scammy one you find an FIVB licensed agent

01:02:08.260 --> 01:02:16.219
and they basically sell you to teams and they

01:02:16.219 --> 01:02:20.619
have your info they work to sell you i have heard

01:02:20.619 --> 01:02:23.440
of people who do it on their own tough and they

01:02:23.440 --> 01:02:27.000
send video in but that is really tough finding

01:02:27.000 --> 01:02:32.719
an agent is the best route they find you options

01:02:32.719 --> 01:02:35.780
one or multiple you figure out the one that sounds

01:02:35.780 --> 01:02:39.500
best to you Once you find the one that sounds

01:02:39.500 --> 01:02:43.019
best, you sign the contract. And then basically

01:02:43.019 --> 01:02:45.280
all communication, at least in my experience,

01:02:45.320 --> 01:02:47.659
all communication went through my agent as to

01:02:47.659 --> 01:02:54.019
when I would show up. Or the manager of the team

01:02:54.019 --> 01:02:58.500
would book me a flight or whatever. But yeah,

01:02:58.619 --> 01:03:01.539
I basically go through the paperwork of getting

01:03:01.539 --> 01:03:08.230
your work visa to work there. Then you're booked

01:03:08.230 --> 01:03:10.989
a flight and you go. Yeah. Pretty straightforward.

01:03:11.829 --> 01:03:15.030
The agent should do all the heavy lifting. They

01:03:15.030 --> 01:03:18.610
should. Yes. Question four. How do teams find

01:03:18.610 --> 01:03:21.289
players on smaller or lesser known teams and

01:03:21.289 --> 01:03:24.429
how do they judge if their stats translate? I'm

01:03:24.429 --> 01:03:27.489
assuming this pertains to like the transfer portal.

01:03:27.670 --> 01:03:29.789
Okay. If we stick with college and assume this

01:03:29.789 --> 01:03:33.519
is about transfer portal, I think. Probably given

01:03:33.519 --> 01:03:36.940
the sheer amount of athletes that are in the

01:03:36.940 --> 01:03:40.139
portal. So I think probably how I would approach

01:03:40.139 --> 01:03:43.219
it is I would rank all of the lower divisions

01:03:43.219 --> 01:03:47.340
because I think there's 32 divisions. And then

01:03:47.340 --> 01:03:51.260
I would start with the highest competitive level

01:03:51.260 --> 01:03:54.239
of the ones I'm looking at and find the best

01:03:54.239 --> 01:03:57.320
statistical players. And then from there, I would

01:03:57.320 --> 01:04:00.059
start to look at video against different competition

01:04:00.059 --> 01:04:03.260
to understand, you know, is the touch and the

01:04:03.260 --> 01:04:05.539
contact point, will it be competitive at this

01:04:05.539 --> 01:04:08.559
spot? Or how do they look against solid form

01:04:08.559 --> 01:04:11.460
blocks in different situations? And I think between

01:04:11.460 --> 01:04:14.039
those two things, you start statistically to

01:04:14.039 --> 01:04:16.519
weed out anybody who won't be able to make the

01:04:16.519 --> 01:04:19.320
jump, and then you finish it with video in the

01:04:19.320 --> 01:04:21.940
eye test. Question five, what happens if a player

01:04:21.940 --> 01:04:24.099
enters the portal but can't sign anywhere else?

01:04:25.230 --> 01:04:27.269
Then you make a post about returning to your

01:04:27.269 --> 01:04:34.269
previous school. It is a risk. I think if you

01:04:34.269 --> 01:04:37.789
leave a program and you don't find anything,

01:04:37.929 --> 01:04:43.550
there is a chance that you're done. Your D1 career

01:04:43.550 --> 01:04:46.429
is over. You've lost your scholarship. There

01:04:46.429 --> 01:04:48.949
are coaches who are gracious enough to potentially

01:04:48.949 --> 01:04:53.300
take you back. That doesn't have to happen. So

01:04:53.300 --> 01:04:55.760
if somebody takes that risk and can't find anywhere

01:04:55.760 --> 01:05:00.579
else, you're risking not playing anymore. And

01:05:00.579 --> 01:05:02.840
our final question of the day. Now that the back

01:05:02.840 --> 01:05:05.260
row attack has become a big part of NCAA women's

01:05:05.260 --> 01:05:07.199
teams, who do you guys think has the best back

01:05:07.199 --> 01:05:09.719
row attack slash who is able to execute it the

01:05:09.719 --> 01:05:12.900
best? I like how Olivia Babcock runs the back

01:05:12.900 --> 01:05:16.880
row. I actually think Harper Murray runs her

01:05:16.880 --> 01:05:19.659
back row attack well. I would agree with that.

01:05:19.739 --> 01:05:22.360
I think Mimi Collier and Kennedy Martin run the

01:05:22.360 --> 01:05:25.960
back row well. I'm not sure. Do you think there

01:05:25.960 --> 01:05:28.179
are teams that run the back row well, or would

01:05:28.179 --> 01:05:30.920
you say it's more individual players? I think

01:05:30.920 --> 01:05:34.539
there are teams that set the back row better

01:05:34.539 --> 01:05:38.619
than others. To me, running a successful back

01:05:38.619 --> 01:05:41.360
row is you have to lead the hitter, and there

01:05:41.360 --> 01:05:43.219
are some teams. I don't want to see you set the

01:05:43.219 --> 01:05:46.539
back row on the 10 -foot line. Set it at the

01:05:46.539 --> 01:05:48.940
five -foot line if you're a girl. Set it at the

01:05:48.940 --> 01:05:51.559
three -foot line if you're a guy. Yeah, and I

01:05:51.559 --> 01:05:54.980
think Charlie sets a good back row ball. I think

01:05:54.980 --> 01:05:58.059
Bergen sets a good back row ball. Izzy Stark

01:05:58.059 --> 01:06:00.139
set a good back row ball when she was playing.

01:06:00.840 --> 01:06:03.440
They set her at Kentucky. Oh, I think even Hudson

01:06:03.440 --> 01:06:05.260
hits a good back row ball, too. Yeah, they ran

01:06:05.260 --> 01:06:07.840
a good back row ball. Yeah, I think there are

01:06:07.840 --> 01:06:09.400
players who hit good back row balls, but then

01:06:09.400 --> 01:06:12.769
there are setters who... run good back row balls

01:06:12.769 --> 01:06:15.929
and team strategies that intentionally include

01:06:15.929 --> 01:06:18.489
back row balls. I think the back row too is interesting

01:06:18.489 --> 01:06:23.690
because you're broad jumping and the whole court

01:06:23.690 --> 01:06:26.030
is kind of laid out in front of you so like your

01:06:26.030 --> 01:06:27.769
vision of the court is different your vision

01:06:27.769 --> 01:06:30.250
of the block is different the way you jump I

01:06:30.250 --> 01:06:32.329
personally preferred hitting back row because

01:06:32.329 --> 01:06:35.550
just like the power and like sailing forward

01:06:35.550 --> 01:06:40.090
it's just I liked it better. So, yeah, I love

01:06:40.090 --> 01:06:42.010
seeing a well -run back row ball. And, like,

01:06:42.050 --> 01:06:45.309
I commented a few times. I know it's not NCAA

01:06:45.309 --> 01:06:49.010
women, but UCLA men run that back row ball so

01:06:49.010 --> 01:06:51.809
well. And it's so important because it allows

01:06:51.809 --> 01:06:54.210
you to own the middle of the court. You can run

01:06:54.210 --> 01:06:56.150
it slightly pushed. You can run it in conjunction.

01:06:56.150 --> 01:06:58.469
They were running it slightly. You know how you

01:06:58.469 --> 01:07:00.989
see the push back row in front of the between

01:07:00.989 --> 01:07:03.030
the middle and outside? They were running it

01:07:03.030 --> 01:07:05.469
between the middle and right side. Oh, I like

01:07:05.469 --> 01:07:08.380
that. I was like, thank you. Innovate. Let's

01:07:08.380 --> 01:07:11.579
change things up. That was so sneaky. The number

01:07:11.579 --> 01:07:14.400
of zero -man blocks on the back row ball, not

01:07:14.400 --> 01:07:16.840
just against McHenry, but it happens against

01:07:16.840 --> 01:07:20.619
everybody UCLA plays. It's just wild. It's so

01:07:20.619 --> 01:07:22.739
effective if you can do it right. Love these

01:07:22.739 --> 01:07:26.199
questions. Keep them coming. I had some that

01:07:26.199 --> 01:07:28.380
I had to not include, but I'm going to include

01:07:28.380 --> 01:07:31.780
them next week. They're wonderful. So thank you

01:07:31.780 --> 01:07:34.800
so much, as always, and keep them coming. Okay.

01:07:35.360 --> 01:07:38.760
The looking forward section has become the hardest

01:07:38.760 --> 01:07:42.579
part of the podcast to do. Says the guy who doesn't

01:07:42.579 --> 01:07:46.559
do it. Because there's so much going on. So here

01:07:46.559 --> 01:07:49.380
are the matches that we think you should watch

01:07:49.380 --> 01:07:52.500
this week. Friday at 8 p .m. Eastern, we have

01:07:52.500 --> 01:07:55.780
Love Nebraska versus Madison on Victory Plus.

01:07:56.360 --> 01:08:00.739
And again, that's a free app that you can install

01:08:00.739 --> 01:08:03.360
on your smart TV so you can find the games there.

01:08:03.500 --> 01:08:06.840
The games for love this week are Wednesday, Friday,

01:08:06.940 --> 01:08:10.159
and Sunday. Also Friday at 9 p .m. Eastern, UC

01:08:10.159 --> 01:08:12.920
Irvine is playing Pepperdine. That's on ESPN+.

01:08:12.920 --> 01:08:15.420
That's going to be a really good game. Saturday

01:08:15.420 --> 01:08:18.500
at 5 p .m. Eastern, Long Beach State versus Ohio

01:08:18.500 --> 01:08:21.359
State, also on ESPN+. If you want to get your

01:08:21.359 --> 01:08:24.159
men's volleyball fix in. And then Saturday at

01:08:24.159 --> 01:08:27.159
2 p .m. Eastern, Scandici versus Navarro, which

01:08:27.159 --> 01:08:29.800
is pretty much must -watch TV. That should be

01:08:29.800 --> 01:08:33.979
on FIVB TV. And then Sunday at 4 p .m. Eastern,

01:08:34.199 --> 01:08:37.979
Orlando versus Omaha. That's on CBS Sports. And

01:08:37.979 --> 01:08:41.479
MLV games will be Wednesday through Sunday this

01:08:41.479 --> 01:08:45.699
week. So lots to watch. Put your TV on. Follow

01:08:45.699 --> 01:08:48.819
along. And let's see where we end up next week.

01:08:49.369 --> 01:08:52.609
I just made my second, my week two roster for

01:08:52.609 --> 01:08:55.050
volley. I don't think I'm going to be doing much

01:08:55.050 --> 01:08:58.529
better. I put my roster together and I included

01:08:58.529 --> 01:09:00.409
some of the younger players coming in. Now that

01:09:00.409 --> 01:09:02.390
you could select them, picked a bunch of three

01:09:02.390 --> 01:09:05.069
week contracts. I'm excited. I'm excited about

01:09:05.069 --> 01:09:07.590
my roster. I'm so I'm doubting myself so much.

01:09:07.609 --> 01:09:10.229
I'm scared of the multi -week contract. Now my

01:09:10.229 --> 01:09:13.689
I'm predicting big money gains on my budget.

01:09:13.729 --> 01:09:16.989
So we'll see what happens. That concludes this

01:09:16.989 --> 01:09:18.989
week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always

01:09:18.989 --> 01:09:20.729
something shaking in the volleyball world, and

01:09:20.729 --> 01:09:23.069
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure

01:09:23.069 --> 01:09:24.989
to follow the show so you don't miss any updates,

01:09:25.069 --> 01:09:27.409
and we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five

01:09:27.409 --> 01:09:29.710
-star review. You can also find us on Instagram

01:09:29.710 --> 01:09:33.470
at volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have

01:09:33.470 --> 01:09:35.329
a topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

01:09:35.329 --> 01:09:38.229
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin

01:09:38.229 --> 01:09:40.829
.com. Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll

01:09:40.829 --> 01:09:41.869
be back next week.