WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160
Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley

00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.339
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

00:00:04.339 --> 00:00:06.639
who want to dig deep into what is going on in

00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.660
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:11.560
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.480
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:17.579
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

00:00:17.579 --> 00:00:19.719
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:22.839
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.079
guy. Lots of volleyball, just like last week.

00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.980
Lots of different volleyball, which was fun.

00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:31.920
There's a lot happening, you guys. We kind of

00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.539
mixed up what we were watching this week. I think

00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:39.179
everything got some love except love. True. I

00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:40.840
didn't mean for that to happen, but you know.

00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.359
Well, I couldn't get a couple of their games

00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.619
that were worth watching due to our TV package

00:00:46.619 --> 00:00:50.960
setup, but... I actually had a really good week

00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:53.000
watching volleyball. I really enjoyed the matches

00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.140
that we ended up watching. I thought it was a

00:00:55.140 --> 00:00:57.479
good mix. I thought they were high quality. This

00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.060
was one of my better volleyball watching weeks,

00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:04.260
I think. Oh, there you go. Adam said it. So yeah,

00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:06.500
as I said, we mixed things up a bit. We got our

00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:09.799
fantasy going strong and we are very excited

00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.519
to dive in, maybe play a little game today. So

00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:29.040
let's get started. Okay, weekly highlights and

00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.560
happenings. First up, would you consider your

00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:38.299
fantasy league to be a highlight or just a happening?

00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.739
Just a happening. It was not a spectacular week

00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:45.700
for me. So I dropped in the rankings. I think

00:01:45.700 --> 00:01:49.329
I'm currently... At 80 maybe. I was as low as

00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:53.909
50 last time. Yeah. Not my best week, but I got

00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:55.829
a bunch of three -week contracts in place. So

00:01:55.829 --> 00:01:59.370
I'm hoping that my value will rise in the coming

00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:03.109
weeks. I had the opposite situation. You had

00:02:03.109 --> 00:02:05.030
a couple good parties. I started this week in

00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:09.409
the high 200s. Okay. Things were looking bleak.

00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:12.770
Shout out to all of you who joined the league.

00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:16.360
Over 300 now. This past week were over 300. I

00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:19.360
was a little upset, however, because new joiners

00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:23.539
jump in at the, like, average score. Which was

00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:25.699
ahead of you. And I was below midway. That just

00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:27.900
kept pushing me way down. So I was like, while

00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:30.639
I'm happy that you all are joining, I'm sad for

00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.699
myself. Bottom third, not the best. I was lower

00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:36.060
than the bottom third. I'm talking, like, bottom

00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:40.710
maybe 20%. Okay? Maybe even bottom 10%. That's

00:02:40.710 --> 00:02:42.830
how bad it was. As I told you last week, I had

00:02:42.830 --> 00:02:44.909
two players get me negative points. I had no

00:02:44.909 --> 00:02:48.569
money left. I couldn't even fill my bench. That's

00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:51.990
how bleak things were. My salary cap went way

00:02:51.990 --> 00:02:56.669
down. But as of the time of this recording, I

00:02:56.669 --> 00:03:01.889
am in the low 90s. The improvement on my fantasy

00:03:01.889 --> 00:03:05.789
team was drastic. Shout out to Lydia Martin for

00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:09.129
doing way better this week than last week. So,

00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:13.039
yes. I'm happy. A couple of my multi -week contracts

00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.000
are expiring, so I'm pretty convinced that my

00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.379
budget's going to go up. Hopefully. I'm feeling

00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:22.259
so much better. But who was your star player

00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:25.819
and who was your dud this week as of this recording?

00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:30.479
I think my dud was my setter. Tueninga did not

00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:35.219
have a great week. And I actually tried to pick

00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:39.080
a bunch of average players who I thought... would

00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:42.340
increase in value. So I did all one week contracts

00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:44.900
at the beginning, the first week. So I had to

00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:46.740
pick a full new team this week. And then I tried

00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:50.099
to get value contracts that I thought would increase.

00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.659
So I didn't have any bangers per se this week.

00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:58.199
I had a bunch of middling performances. So I'm

00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:02.599
hoping. Would you go back to that strategy? Ask

00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:05.930
me again next week. Okay. Because I signed all

00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:07.870
these players to three -week contracts expecting

00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:11.409
their value to go up. So the long -term strategy,

00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:14.870
we'll see if it pays off or not. Right now, not

00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:16.730
so much. You know what I did last week? I signed

00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:20.129
Nunaviller, Abercrombie, and hence the two -week

00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:22.029
contracts because I'm like, we got some veterans,

00:04:22.290 --> 00:04:25.370
you know, consistent performers. It wasn't good.

00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:30.569
It was not good. Abercrombie lost me money. She

00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:31.990
played well this week. But I was stuck with her.

00:04:32.129 --> 00:04:34.800
She's doing better this week. But I will say,

00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:37.939
so she did well. Nunaviller did pretty well.

00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:41.860
She was the only person from Omaha who was good

00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:45.839
this week. So they did well for my week, too.

00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:49.060
Berkeley Oblad, I got stuck with her again. She

00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:51.160
got me negative points this week, but I couldn't

00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:53.779
afford anybody better. She was the lowest cost

00:04:53.779 --> 00:04:56.420
middle that I could afford. She got me zero points.

00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.040
And you know what? She didn't play. Understandably,

00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:01.769
because she got negative points last week. So

00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:03.389
she was my dud. You're going to bite that one.

00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:06.189
I can get rid of her though after this week.

00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:08.910
And then, so yeah, Nunavilla and Abercrombie

00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:10.889
did pretty well for me. I'm having a ton of fun

00:05:10.889 --> 00:05:12.610
playing. This is so much fun. It's keeping me

00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:14.990
so engaged in MLV. I'm not going to lie. There

00:05:14.990 --> 00:05:17.230
were a lot of questions that came up about the

00:05:17.230 --> 00:05:19.490
bench players this week. Do you want to address

00:05:19.490 --> 00:05:22.769
that? Sure. I had some questions as well. So

00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:25.209
I was speaking with the developer. So hit me

00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:26.589
with the questions. I'll throw you the answers.

00:05:26.769 --> 00:05:30.980
So people were asking. Do the bench players'

00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:33.980
points count for your points? They do not. They

00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:38.040
only count if they replace a player on your active

00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.060
roster who was officially injured. So it's basically

00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:43.680
just an insurance policy. So that you can still

00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:45.740
gain points in that position if an injury occurs,

00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.220
yes. So what happens if one of your players doesn't

00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.560
even sniff the court? Too bad. Not sniffing the

00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:52.300
court and injured, two different things. Okay,

00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.639
there you go. And you can't make subs. The subs

00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.879
are automatic. The other thing, were there other

00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.399
questions about the bench players? Just a lot

00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:01.720
of people like, are you penalized for not being

00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.160
able to fill your bench? Do they count for your

00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:07.560
costs? The only other thing that I had a question

00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.120
for was, you get locked out of some players when...

00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:13.439
contracts expire your bench players should not

00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:16.519
cost you contracts so if you have a bench player

00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.660
they expire the next week if you wanted to put

00:06:18.660 --> 00:06:20.920
them onto your active roster there isn't a cooling

00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:23.040
down period so that's only the ones that have

00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:24.899
been on your active roster when their contract

00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:27.079
expires you can't resign them right away for

00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.680
i think three weeks i don't know i can't remember

00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:33.339
what the time frame is but maybe maybe not the

00:06:33.339 --> 00:06:35.980
other thing i will say is for anyone else who's

00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:37.660
interested and i saw some questions on the youtube

00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:40.920
channel this week You can always join the league.

00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:43.720
You will come in at the average spot. Right in

00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.100
the middle. And as we found out this week. You

00:06:46.100 --> 00:06:49.379
can be literally bottom of the barrel. And claw

00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:52.939
your way back. Into the conversation. Look at

00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:57.160
me. I was down and out. Down on my luck. And

00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.639
now I'm re -energized. Rejuvenated. So for sure

00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:03.660
join. Because you will jump in right at the middle.

00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:08.300
So to do so head to play volley .com slash volley

00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:13.959
talk. That's play V O L I .com slash volley talk.

00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:16.199
You can join the league, join the conversation.

00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:19.379
I've been getting in on the chats. I have not.

00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.399
I've been following the stats. Of course, as,

00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:25.870
as he does. But yeah, having a ton of fun. So

00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:29.050
be sure to join the league. Okay. NCAA men noteworthy

00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:31.790
results this week. These are results that kind

00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:35.250
of made me raise an eyebrow, you know? So Lindenwood

00:07:35.250 --> 00:07:39.170
beat number 12, CSUN in four. CSUN, if I remember

00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:41.589
correctly, was inconsistent last year as well.

00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:44.050
Losing some games, they quote unquote, shouldn't

00:07:44.050 --> 00:07:46.750
winning some that they shouldn't either. So we'll

00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:48.350
follow them, but that is definitely an upset.

00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:52.029
Number seven, UC Irvine beat number three, Pepperdine

00:07:52.029 --> 00:07:54.720
in four. We watched that game. We'll talk about

00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.879
it. Great game. Loved watching that game. And

00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.779
number 13, Penn State beat number nine, Lewis,

00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:04.500
in four. Penn State's already off to a way better

00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:06.019
start than they were last year. I believe they

00:08:06.019 --> 00:08:08.779
started the season at least 0 -8 last year, but

00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:11.439
held on to that top 20 ranking. Similar to the

00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.819
women this past women's season. Penn State just

00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:17.079
getting the nod for historical performance when

00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.019
it comes to rankings. But do we think that Penn

00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:22.949
State men are for real this year? I mean... Do

00:08:22.949 --> 00:08:29.329
I? They play in the EIVA. I think they have a

00:08:29.329 --> 00:08:32.789
chance to make it out of that conference into

00:08:32.789 --> 00:08:35.269
the tournament. I do too. I'm looking forward

00:08:35.269 --> 00:08:37.009
to watching them play a little more. I mean,

00:08:37.009 --> 00:08:39.309
they're already doing better than last year.

00:08:39.470 --> 00:08:41.929
At the time of this recording, Ball State was

00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:45.970
up 2 -1 on Stanford. Stanford is not doing great.

00:08:46.070 --> 00:08:48.809
Not the best. You know what? At MPSF Media Days,

00:08:48.809 --> 00:08:53.019
talking to them, I was expecting... Them to turn

00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:55.139
things around. Well, their coach does a good

00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.320
job too. I think that they will get better as

00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:58.960
the season goes on. They are the only team in

00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.940
the MPSF returning every single player. That's

00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:03.059
true. They should have started better. So they're

00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:05.419
not doing amazing. I'm not willing to write them

00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:09.039
off just yet. And Loyola Chicago and UCLA are

00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.620
about to face off. So that is what we've got

00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:16.240
going on there. In MLV, Columbus is still out

00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.309
here getting wins. pushing teams I have been

00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:22.990
that's my surprise of the season how good Columbus

00:09:22.990 --> 00:09:25.789
has been they beat Grand Rapids in five yeah

00:09:25.789 --> 00:09:28.210
they were down 4 -0 at the beginning of that

00:09:28.210 --> 00:09:30.850
fifth set I mean kudos to them they just they

00:09:30.850 --> 00:09:33.470
haven't given up they've been gritty in the matches

00:09:33.470 --> 00:09:35.990
they've played they've kept coming I really like

00:09:35.990 --> 00:09:39.690
what they've done with their culture and style

00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:42.549
so far they knew they had to get out to a good

00:09:42.549 --> 00:09:45.389
start and they've done that well and they pushed

00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:49.149
Indy to five yeah Heredia Colon finally getting

00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:52.350
that start. Been wondering where she was at.

00:09:52.750 --> 00:09:54.970
I don't scour the injury list. I don't know.

00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:58.409
Was she hurt? I saw her hip wrap this week. So

00:09:58.409 --> 00:10:00.370
I'm assuming that there was some sort of injury

00:10:00.370 --> 00:10:02.330
that she needed a little bit of time. She dominated.

00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:04.509
So if anybody's looking for a player, maybe a

00:10:04.509 --> 00:10:07.210
good steal for your fantasy team this week, maybe

00:10:07.210 --> 00:10:08.929
think about her. Because now that she's played

00:10:08.929 --> 00:10:12.700
a match, she can be drafted. They are doing well.

00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:15.700
Dallas got their first win in franchise history,

00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:19.299
3 -1 over San Diego, but it seems that everybody's

00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:22.700
beating San Diego. But still, that's a big deal.

00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.759
Well, San Diego might be 0 -4 after today. They

00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:29.960
are currently playing Atlanta. I have to assume

00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.399
they're not going to win that one. 0 -4 start

00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.519
on the season, not the best. Well, we had them

00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.620
finishing second last to Columbus. Columbus is

00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:42.049
like, no way, Jose. San Diego is currently in

00:10:42.049 --> 00:10:44.690
last. Yeah, they're digging themselves a hole

00:10:44.690 --> 00:10:47.450
early. It's going to be. Not great. Yeah, not

00:10:47.450 --> 00:10:50.690
great. I'm just going to say I'm not a fan of

00:10:50.690 --> 00:10:52.750
their setter. I've been saying that since last

00:10:52.750 --> 00:10:54.970
MLV season. Montserrat is just not it for me.

00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:57.389
But there's a lot of unhittable balls. Might

00:10:57.389 --> 00:11:00.850
be the MLV swindle for you for this season. You

00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:02.590
want somebody to catch strays all season? Get

00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.740
ready, Montserrat. It's you. I think I said that

00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:08.000
watching the San Diego game this week. I was

00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.259
like, Montserrat is my MLB swindle. Sarah always

00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.879
has one player for each league for each season

00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.759
who just catches strays. And the jokes are ongoing.

00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:18.860
So buckle in. This is what it's going to be this

00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:20.299
year. I don't think I have one for love yet.

00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:23.179
Stay tuned. It's still early, everybody. Okay.

00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:27.960
Omaha had a rough week. They lost in five to

00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:32.200
both Atlanta and Orlando. I watched. pieces of

00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.519
those games and a post -game interview on that

00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:37.279
one you weren't a fan of the post -game interview

00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.159
i wasn't wanted more i thought the coach was

00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.379
boring to listen to the interview was only like

00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:44.139
four minutes long and it still wasn't engaging

00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:48.480
and i will say this you guys adam is feeling

00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.679
it today well if you're gonna talk you might

00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:54.919
as well they were just token answers Like, give

00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:57.820
me something real. We're not talking a Kelly

00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:00.019
Sheffield podcast interview, everybody. True.

00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:03.759
I will say the post -game media I watched was

00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.759
after the first match that they were reverse

00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:10.279
swept. Was that Atlanta? I believe so. I liked

00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:14.120
Beeson's answer, actually. She talked about continuing

00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:17.000
to work on hitting high and deep and acknowledged

00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.279
that that didn't happen. I think she got blocked

00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.799
a bunch at the end of that match. They were not

00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:23.779
close in the fifth set on that one. I think losing

00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:27.139
15 -6, if I remember correctly. So to me, when

00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:29.820
an athlete makes the recognition of what's going

00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:33.379
wrong and you can tell they're aware of it, you

00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:35.980
know that there's a process going on there. And

00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:39.820
I think, you know, Emily Londot came in and played

00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:43.360
well in their second match. Beeson was benched

00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.340
after the first two. they're going to need that

00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:48.600
right -side position to score points for them

00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:52.940
to be successful, in my opinion. And so I liked

00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:54.940
Beeson's answer early on in terms of what she

00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:57.480
has to work on, but now you have to do it, and

00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.700
you have to do it under pressure. So, you know,

00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:02.980
didn't have the response in the second game after

00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:05.899
the post -game statement. We'll see where it

00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:08.600
goes. It doesn't always happen quickly, but focused

00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:13.129
on the right things. Finally, in love, Madison

00:13:13.129 --> 00:13:16.570
is off to a good start. They are 2 -0. They beat

00:13:16.570 --> 00:13:19.669
Nebraska in four this week. But I want to say

00:13:19.669 --> 00:13:23.169
I think Houston and Madison are playing the reverse

00:13:23.169 --> 00:13:25.870
game from last season where Houston started so

00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:27.970
strong and Madison was in the tank. Didn't they

00:13:27.970 --> 00:13:29.750
drop like seven in a row at some point? It wasn't

00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:32.610
good. It was not good. But this year it's the

00:13:32.610 --> 00:13:36.070
reverse. Houston can't get a win so far, and

00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:39.309
Madison's 2 -0. So watch out. Just goes to show

00:13:39.309 --> 00:13:42.419
you that. completely getting rid of your roster

00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:44.580
and bringing in 15 new players is the way to

00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:47.639
go. There we go. Take some notes. That is what

00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:51.659
happened this week in the leagues that we paid

00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:54.299
most attention to. We have a couple matches that

00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:56.340
we're going to dig into a little deeper here

00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:59.559
in a second, but that's what's going on. We kind

00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:01.639
of hinted at a few of the matches we watched

00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.740
this week. We checked out Dallas, San Diego,

00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:09.679
MLV. We did a little bit. Got that Victory app

00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.779
downloaded for free. Maybe now that we know what

00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:14.820
Victory Plus is. So again, I got some clarification

00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.700
on this. So I think if I was confused, maybe

00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:20.620
some other people were confused. Almost all Dallas

00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:24.019
games will be streamed on Victory Plus. It's

00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:27.809
either a Dallas or a Texas. streaming app where

00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:30.830
they have a whole bunch of sports so it i it

00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:32.830
is free to watch you can put it on your smart

00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:35.490
tv and you'll be able to find all of their games

00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:37.789
there so if you're looking for them easy enough

00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:41.230
to set up pretty easy to sign up and worked really

00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:45.970
well we watched a little bit of columbus indie

00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:50.950
and we didn't watch any love did you watch any

00:14:50.950 --> 00:14:53.110
love this week I didn't. The matches I wanted

00:14:53.110 --> 00:14:56.029
to watch were on CBS and then... USA or something.

00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:58.610
USA. So I'll have to wait for those to come out.

00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:00.029
We're living that streaming life, everybody.

00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:05.309
So we watched Pepperdine, UC Irvine, as we talked

00:15:05.309 --> 00:15:08.230
about. Loved that game. And we checked out some

00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:11.690
Italian league action with Scandici and Navarra

00:15:11.690 --> 00:15:14.230
on the women's side. And that was a great match.

00:15:14.389 --> 00:15:17.330
Yes, it was. So we're going to dive in a little

00:15:17.330 --> 00:15:20.429
deeper into Pepperdine, UC Irvine. The match

00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:23.769
ended up in a quote -unquote upset with... I

00:15:23.769 --> 00:15:27.049
mean, a top 10 matchup, but yes, for all intents

00:15:27.049 --> 00:15:29.090
and purposes, I think Pepperdine was expected

00:15:29.090 --> 00:15:33.590
to win. And especially seeing the UC Irvine lineup,

00:15:33.970 --> 00:15:37.330
they had a ton of turnover from last season.

00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:41.590
They did. We saw Micah Goss playing, William

00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.269
Darcy coming off the bench as a part of a 6 -2,

00:15:44.389 --> 00:15:48.529
and their libero Shane Aiken, but everybody else...

00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:52.360
That was playing was new to the court. Correct.

00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.919
And Pepperdine coming off a great season. They've

00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.320
got two, six, 10 pin hitters, one on the opposite,

00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.179
one on the left side. They've got international

00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:04.580
experience. They returned all their players,

00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:07.440
but their setter, they won the MPSF tournament.

00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:10.139
Like they had all of the momentum in my opinion,

00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:13.820
coming into the season. I expected them to win

00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:17.379
this one. I want to say handily, but I was expecting

00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:20.899
them to win. So was I. I think watching the match,

00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.440
like they have the physicality. Watching, I still

00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.840
am like, how did they not win? UC Irvine was

00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:29.720
just consistent. I thought they ran the middle

00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:33.679
much better. And honestly, I just need to give

00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.480
a shout out to those middles for their out of

00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.919
system setting. Holy. Their middles are maybe

00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.919
some of the best all around volleyball players.

00:16:43.019 --> 00:16:45.799
Yes. I've seen in the NCAA. Oh my gosh. I saw

00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:50.779
like. These middles setting beautiful out of

00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:54.659
system balls. They were fake attack jump setting.

00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:58.519
They were running tempo. I'm like, normally when

00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:00.720
you see a middle going to set a ball, the hitters

00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.659
are like, oh dear. These guys were delivering.

00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:06.500
So shout out to them for sure. Let's just look

00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:08.079
at this quickly since you already talked about

00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.579
how dominant the middles were. The UC Irvine

00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:14.759
middles got 25 sets total. Between the two of

00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:17.720
them. And had 14 kills. So they got set a whole

00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:20.859
bunch. Which was great. And they had a ton of

00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:24.480
kills. Similar hairdos too. Love that. A little

00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.480
hard to tell apart at the beginning for me. The

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:30.680
hair was puffy. Flowing. I loved it. Gives them

00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:32.319
a few extra inches. Makes them look a little

00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.420
taller. Intimidation factor. But you always felt

00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:37.619
that they were a threat. Not only when they didn't

00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:39.480
get set. But they worked hard in transition.

00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.200
They're up in the air quick. I thought that the

00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:47.140
Pepperdine Middles. had to really stay and watch

00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:48.539
what was going to happen in the middle, which

00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:51.940
opened up the outside hitters for UC Irvine.

00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.440
And I actually thought that was one of the two

00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:56.700
keys to success for them in that match, in my

00:17:56.700 --> 00:17:59.539
opinion. And the other one was UC Irvine's defense.

00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:04.579
They covered a ton of balls. UC Irvine also outdug

00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:08.019
them 34 to 26, which in the men's game is a pretty

00:18:08.019 --> 00:18:10.519
big margin because you're getting... way more

00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:12.759
out -of -system swings, which was huge. Now,

00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.380
Pepperdine did out -block them 8 -2. Part of

00:18:15.380 --> 00:18:17.220
the defense was some of those coverage balls,

00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.519
which they did a good job. I mean, you look at

00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.660
Pepperdine with their size, they're a very good

00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:25.779
blocking team, and they were leading in most

00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:28.680
of the sets that they lost. UC Irvine came up

00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.220
from behind. Pepperdine's going to have to learn

00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:34.700
how to close out sets. I think in set 2, they

00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.940
were up 16 -8. Pepperdine was up 16 -8. They

00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:42.160
lost. Yeah. In set three, they were up at least

00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.940
17 -14 at one point. And then UC Irvine caught

00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:49.700
up. Pepperdine snuck out set three. But it was

00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:54.279
just like, there's no reason to lose when you're

00:18:54.279 --> 00:19:00.039
up 16 -8. From a team standpoint, how concerning

00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:03.740
for you is that early in the season? I mean,

00:19:03.779 --> 00:19:06.400
it's tough because every game counts towards

00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.819
your ranking. And like, if you're not winning

00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:11.880
your conference tournament, those matches really

00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.900
matter for the at -large bids in the men's game.

00:19:15.579 --> 00:19:18.579
Granted, there are 12 teams playing now in the

00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:22.220
NCAA tournament. Do I think that this loss will

00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:28.299
hurt them so much down the stretch? No. But if...

00:19:28.490 --> 00:19:31.970
you want to be in the conversation for national

00:19:31.970 --> 00:19:35.150
championship. Like you want to win those. And

00:19:35.150 --> 00:19:39.470
what about from a culture standpoint moving forward?

00:19:39.589 --> 00:19:43.170
Is that something you just write off? Like it's

00:19:43.170 --> 00:19:44.789
going to happen once in a while, but it happened

00:19:44.789 --> 00:19:47.390
in almost every set they lost. Is that something

00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:50.309
as a coach or as players you're addressing after

00:19:50.309 --> 00:19:53.670
it happens once or? Yeah, I think it has to be

00:19:53.670 --> 00:19:56.940
addressed for sure. You don't. like what happened

00:19:56.940 --> 00:20:01.019
did they do something like from a tactic perspective

00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:04.980
or a physical perspective to make that happen

00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:09.799
or was it our team's mentality or lack of focus

00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:13.460
or whatever so I think if a team is pushing back

00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.900
that's one thing but if it's like a lack of focus

00:20:15.900 --> 00:20:17.500
because you're up that much like that's something

00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:21.240
you can control now what did you see as one or

00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.400
two key reasons for them giving up those leads

00:20:23.950 --> 00:20:29.690
I know what I thought I saw. Honestly, Cole Hartke's

00:20:29.690 --> 00:20:33.190
a black hole. He scores very well, but whenever

00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:35.829
UC Irvine needed a point, it was like, tip it

00:20:35.829 --> 00:20:38.569
somewhere near him, and we're going to score.

00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:43.390
He had one dig on the match and many chances

00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:45.930
to dig the ball. I don't think I saw him bend

00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:49.410
his legs. When it came down to it, if UC Irvine

00:20:49.410 --> 00:20:51.930
needed a point, it was like, tip it near him.

00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:55.740
Sometimes he took a step. And I think his only

00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:57.480
dig was actually a pancake where he laid out

00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:00.640
and just got his hand on the ball. And this is

00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:04.660
not uncommon. He's 6 '10". It's a lot of effort

00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:06.819
to get low. And he had a lot of success as a

00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:08.799
freshman. He was a second -team All -American.

00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.880
Who knows what that does to your mentality? I'm

00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:17.279
not saying this is certain. But this is, in my

00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.799
experience, a very typical progression for a

00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:24.109
male opposite. You come out, you're thinking

00:21:24.109 --> 00:21:26.710
about hitting the ball, you're thinking about

00:21:26.710 --> 00:21:28.849
blocking. He had a whole bunch of kills. I think

00:21:28.849 --> 00:21:31.190
he had four or five blocks on the night. For

00:21:31.190 --> 00:21:33.049
all intents and purposes, he's coming out of

00:21:33.049 --> 00:21:34.609
that match going, I played really well. I mean,

00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:36.710
he did his job as an opposite if we're looking

00:21:36.710 --> 00:21:40.589
strictly at point scoring. But here's the thing.

00:21:40.750 --> 00:21:44.390
When you lose close matches and you're the person

00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:47.430
that teams are picking on to score points, those

00:21:47.430 --> 00:21:53.220
defensive balls matter. If he's incapable of

00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:55.180
making those reads or whatever, like, you're

00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:58.519
6 '10". It's obviously not easy to hit the ground.

00:21:58.579 --> 00:22:03.200
Trust me. But then, like, what are we doing to

00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.380
tweak our defensive system to, like, cover that?

00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:07.859
That was the biggest. Which I think makes it

00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:09.559
good that this happened early in the season.

00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:11.440
I agree. Because there's still a ton of time

00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:15.220
to fix that. They will need to find an adjustment

00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:17.200
because anybody watching that, that's going to

00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.519
be what they're keying in on. And then you take

00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.289
him out of transition as well. So there's going

00:22:22.289 --> 00:22:24.450
to be a few things that I think Pepperdine needs

00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:27.990
to adjust. They block well, but they're not a

00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:30.049
good defensive team and they're not a good out

00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:33.829
-of -system setting team. I will say two performances

00:22:33.829 --> 00:22:35.430
I wanted to highlight, which I thought were really

00:22:35.430 --> 00:22:38.430
good. Barnett played really well for Pepperdine.

00:22:38.609 --> 00:22:42.230
He's incredibly dynamic. They run him in a bunch

00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:45.009
of different pipe positions, which is incredibly

00:22:45.009 --> 00:22:47.589
effective. He passes well. He's dynamic on the

00:22:47.589 --> 00:22:50.599
swing. I really liked his performance. So that

00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:55.539
was good. I also like William Darcy. Why he didn't

00:22:55.539 --> 00:23:00.180
start the match is confounding to me. Yeah, he

00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:02.420
played for UC Irvine when they moved Flex in

00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:04.960
to the left. He was the right side last year.

00:23:05.059 --> 00:23:07.420
To see him coming in as part of a 6 -2, I was

00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:08.900
kind of surprised. But then they just kept him

00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:12.480
in. Yeah, well, he went 19 for 27, hitting 630

00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.299
as an opposite. That couldn't have been a shock

00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:17.539
to the coaching staff. Like I don't, for whatever

00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:19.500
reason, he didn't start, but he finished and

00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:21.460
he was unbelievable. He didn't start, but he

00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:24.779
finished it. Absolutely. And what else did you

00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:27.599
think about the match? Honestly, I was just like

00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.000
really impressed with UC Irvine's grittiness.

00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:32.819
Like looking at them, I was like, wow, they're

00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:34.759
really small. They're so undersized. And they're

00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.359
like in this middle 6 '10". And I was like, yikes.

00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:39.700
Wow. I mean, their middle was 6 '10", but compared

00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:42.720
to the 6 '10 boys from Pepperdine, he looked.

00:23:43.829 --> 00:23:46.549
The team as a whole looked very small. It was

00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:50.490
a very different look than the UC Irvine we saw

00:23:50.490 --> 00:23:54.329
last year. I thought, yeah, just their grittiness,

00:23:54.410 --> 00:23:58.190
the way that they ran their system together.

00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:02.750
I was like, oh, wow. Don't sleep on UC Irvine.

00:24:02.950 --> 00:24:05.690
I really liked their setter. I thought he ran

00:24:05.690 --> 00:24:07.009
a really good offense. I thought he ran a much

00:24:07.009 --> 00:24:08.789
better offense than the Pepperdine setter. And

00:24:08.789 --> 00:24:12.730
that was the other difference to me was. how

00:24:12.730 --> 00:24:16.710
they chose to run the offense specifically owning

00:24:16.710 --> 00:24:18.769
the middle of the court with both middles from

00:24:18.769 --> 00:24:20.890
UC Irvine and then delivering over top of that

00:24:20.890 --> 00:24:24.670
it was good really good that was a fun match

00:24:24.670 --> 00:24:28.890
to watch it was engaging it was exciting both

00:24:28.890 --> 00:24:33.170
teams played well but like the detail stuff was

00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:36.069
taken care of better by UC Irvine agreed and

00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:38.130
we were able to watch that match on YouTube actually

00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:40.349
so if you're looking for a good men's game that

00:24:40.349 --> 00:24:42.349
you want to watch I would check that out The

00:24:42.349 --> 00:24:45.690
next match that we are going to talk about in

00:24:45.690 --> 00:24:49.829
depth is from the Italian Women's League, Scandici

00:24:49.829 --> 00:24:55.349
versus Navarra. They are currently number two

00:24:55.349 --> 00:24:58.190
and five in the Italian League, I believe. So

00:24:58.190 --> 00:25:00.789
we figured it would be a good game, and it did

00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:05.089
not disappoint. Probably one of the best technical

00:25:05.089 --> 00:25:07.569
and competitive games, especially on the women's

00:25:07.569 --> 00:25:10.759
side, I've watched in a long time. Oh my gosh.

00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:17.759
It just really highlights the difference in level,

00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:20.920
I guess, from league to league. I haven't seen,

00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:23.640
I guess we haven't seen a match played at this

00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.660
high of a level since maybe Worlds. Yeah, I would

00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:29.859
agree. The serves were tough. The opposites were

00:25:29.859 --> 00:25:35.160
going after each other. Just the level of play

00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:38.140
and defense and what they were trying to do to

00:25:38.140 --> 00:25:41.579
different players. Strategy wise, the Italians

00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:43.559
can't build an ice rink, but man, their coaches

00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:46.220
look good on the sidelines. Gotta love it when

00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:50.039
a coaching staff wears suits. So let's go over

00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.920
some of the players from both teams. Our American

00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:54.900
listeners will definitely recognize a few names

00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:58.720
on Scandici, which is fun. Got Avery Skinner,

00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:02.759
Sarah Franklin, and I believe Lindsey Ruddens.

00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:06.559
Skinner starting, Franklin on the bench. I thought

00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:09.319
Skinner looked good in that match. She's holding

00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:11.539
her own. She's passing well. I thought she attacked

00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:13.940
well. Overall, I would say a really good performance.

00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.880
We've got Maya Onyanovich setting. Antropova

00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:23.400
on the right side. Katarina Bosetti as the second

00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.380
left side. And then for this match in the middle,

00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:31.559
we had Graziani and Weitzel from Germany. Brenda

00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:35.940
Castillo as the libero. So solid roster. Very

00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:38.930
solid. Bunch of different countries, top players.

00:26:39.630 --> 00:26:42.750
They're a very good team. For Novara, we have

00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:46.390
Carlotta Comby setting the backup for Alessia

00:26:46.390 --> 00:26:49.750
Oro on the national team. We've got Toluk from

00:26:49.750 --> 00:26:52.930
Russia on the right side. I want to come back

00:26:52.930 --> 00:26:54.609
to her after you finish going over the players

00:26:54.609 --> 00:26:57.650
who are still there. We're at Herbots and Alsmeyer

00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:01.069
on the left from Belgium and Germany, respectively.

00:27:01.950 --> 00:27:06.170
And in the middle, we had another Belgian player.

00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:10.569
And Federica Scorchini from Italy. Taylor Mims

00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:13.890
is actually on this team, but she is on the bench.

00:27:14.769 --> 00:27:16.630
We'll start with the interesting thing first

00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:20.289
in terms of, you know, I watched this match and

00:27:20.289 --> 00:27:22.430
I hadn't watched Tolok play at all. This was

00:27:22.430 --> 00:27:24.190
the first time I had never even heard of her.

00:27:24.750 --> 00:27:27.750
She's a Russian opposite. She has played her

00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:30.609
last five or six seasons in Russia. And this

00:27:30.609 --> 00:27:32.490
is one of the things you miss when Russia's not

00:27:32.490 --> 00:27:35.549
involved in international play. And Russia produces

00:27:35.549 --> 00:27:38.049
some very good volleyball players. And Dolhok

00:27:38.049 --> 00:27:40.609
went toe -to -toe with Antropova in this match,

00:27:40.730 --> 00:27:43.170
which I thought was impressive. Her numbers were

00:27:43.170 --> 00:27:46.710
actually better than Antropova's. Yeah, she went

00:27:46.710 --> 00:27:51.589
27 for 51, hitting 501. I felt like she was getting

00:27:51.589 --> 00:27:54.079
blocked. She may have been blocked a few times,

00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:57.079
but she was a scoring machine. Antropova was

00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:02.960
17 for 38, hitting 368. So, not too shabby. No,

00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.380
not too shabby. I think the craziest thing, though,

00:28:05.420 --> 00:28:08.140
is that both of those women are 22 years old.

00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:11.720
It's wild. They could be playing in college.

00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:14.240
Think about that. Let's think about this. Like,

00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:17.400
that's insane. And this is the piece that you

00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.359
have to think about when you talk about... college

00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:22.519
players and every once in a while you watch one

00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:25.440
of these 21 22 year olds play on the international

00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.960
stage and then you compare them to what you're

00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:32.500
seeing and it's wild so if you if you're an nza

00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:35.119
college volleyball fan i would encourage you

00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:37.940
to go watch this match and pay attention to the

00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:41.099
right sides and then let us know what you think

00:28:41.099 --> 00:28:43.680
the comparison is to like an olivia babcock or

00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.859
a martin because it's well and also take into

00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:48.680
consideration who the level of athlete these

00:28:49.130 --> 00:28:51.569
Women are playing against. Totally. Like these

00:28:51.569 --> 00:28:54.250
are like national team. Every single player on

00:28:54.250 --> 00:28:56.250
the court is on a starter on their national team.

00:28:56.309 --> 00:28:59.150
Pretty much. Except for Antropova. Who would

00:28:59.150 --> 00:29:01.390
probably start on any national team other than

00:29:01.390 --> 00:29:05.210
Italy. Honestly, also shout out to my own Yinovich

00:29:05.210 --> 00:29:08.549
who's like over 40 and is still running a banging

00:29:08.549 --> 00:29:11.509
offense. Like, and I think she connects well

00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:13.950
with Avery Skinner who likes a faster ball. Yes.

00:29:14.269 --> 00:29:16.029
Some of those balls that they were running with

00:29:16.029 --> 00:29:19.230
the 31 in the middle with Skinner over top, holy.

00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:22.369
I think this year specifically, both for Skinner

00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:24.410
and Franklin, is going to be huge for the U .S.

00:29:24.410 --> 00:29:28.009
I see them coming back and probably stepping

00:29:28.009 --> 00:29:30.730
into the starting left side spots. Franklin practicing

00:29:30.730 --> 00:29:33.589
against that starting squad all the time is going

00:29:33.589 --> 00:29:36.490
to make her so much better. I wonder if she'll

00:29:36.490 --> 00:29:38.549
stay overseas and continue to take advantage

00:29:38.549 --> 00:29:40.670
of that opportunity or if she just would rather

00:29:40.670 --> 00:29:44.650
play. I think if she stays overseas and then

00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:47.470
plays for the U S national team and does that

00:29:47.470 --> 00:29:50.230
cycle up until 2028, that gives her the best

00:29:50.230 --> 00:29:53.430
chance of starting for them. That would be my

00:29:53.430 --> 00:29:55.329
opinion. The other thing that really impressed

00:29:55.329 --> 00:29:57.430
me was everybody's out of system setting. And

00:29:57.430 --> 00:29:59.710
I know that I always talk about it, but I'm obsessed

00:29:59.710 --> 00:30:02.309
with some good out of system setting the liberos,

00:30:02.390 --> 00:30:05.190
the left sides, like you name it. These women

00:30:05.190 --> 00:30:08.549
were setting really good balls out of system.

00:30:09.029 --> 00:30:12.960
Yeah. You would see almost every. dig that happened.

00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:16.460
The hitters were in a window where they could

00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:18.359
put a good attack on the ball. We're going to

00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:21.220
do a listener question about three outsides and

00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:24.480
an opposite. And this match really highlighted

00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.660
to me what an opposite should do for you. There

00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:30.279
were some great defensive plays and just massive

00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:34.180
swings by both Toluk and Antropova. It was so

00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:37.740
much fun to watch. It was such a high level match.

00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:40.769
And it was... The skill of all of the players

00:30:40.769 --> 00:30:43.430
to make decisions like that was impressive. And

00:30:43.430 --> 00:30:45.450
some of the angles that these middles were hitting.

00:30:45.549 --> 00:30:49.549
They weren't run a ton, I didn't think. But when

00:30:49.549 --> 00:30:52.809
they were set, some of those angles were impressive.

00:30:53.309 --> 00:30:56.750
It was just a really high -level entertaining

00:30:56.750 --> 00:30:59.529
match to watch. Or was I completely wrong and

00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:02.529
I said the middle a lot? So you are wrong. That

00:31:02.529 --> 00:31:05.289
was one of the reasons that Scandicci won that

00:31:05.289 --> 00:31:08.710
match was because... Their middles got set 33

00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:11.549
times combined. I had 20 kills between the two

00:31:11.549 --> 00:31:13.170
of them. Forget everything I just said. I mean,

00:31:13.170 --> 00:31:16.329
it was five sets. So it's not a ton of sets,

00:31:16.430 --> 00:31:19.250
but they were very active and they were very

00:31:19.250 --> 00:31:22.230
efficient. And Scandici's middles were A, both

00:31:22.230 --> 00:31:25.289
threats, and B, they blocked well. I think Scandici

00:31:25.289 --> 00:31:29.569
out -blocked them 15 to 5 on the match, which

00:31:29.569 --> 00:31:33.710
is a pretty big margin. And the middles for Navarra

00:31:33.710 --> 00:31:38.230
didn't play poorly. They got set. 23 times with

00:31:38.230 --> 00:31:40.529
12 kills. But the difference for me was they

00:31:40.529 --> 00:31:44.869
only had one middle who was a real threat. Scorchini

00:31:44.869 --> 00:31:47.390
scored a whole bunch of points for them out of

00:31:47.390 --> 00:31:48.650
the middle, but their other middles who were

00:31:48.650 --> 00:31:51.150
rotating in and out didn't get set a ton. And

00:31:51.150 --> 00:31:54.710
so not having that second middle threat and not

00:31:54.710 --> 00:31:56.789
setting them quite as much as Scandici, I thought

00:31:56.789 --> 00:31:59.390
was one of the big differences. And you can see

00:31:59.390 --> 00:32:01.880
those things show up in the block, right? A middle's

00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:04.700
not a threat. Scandici has 15 blocks. Scandici's

00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:06.579
middles are both threats. You're at five for

00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.099
Novara. I thought that that made a huge difference

00:32:09.099 --> 00:32:12.339
in the outcome of that match. I mean, both of

00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:14.220
these teams are incredibly skilled. Honestly,

00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:16.359
Scandici went up 2 -0, and I thought it was going

00:32:16.359 --> 00:32:19.279
to be done in three or four. And the fact that

00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:21.839
Novara fought back and pushed it to five, I was

00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:25.000
like, dang. It was a gritty win. It reminded

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:27.559
me of the UC Irvine match we played, just in

00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:31.299
terms of their refusing to lose. Yeah, and I

00:32:31.299 --> 00:32:34.420
mean, in the first two sets, Scandici, like,

00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:38.519
it was pretty tight until, like, 16 -16 or, like,

00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:39.799
somewhere in the middle of the set. And then

00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:43.640
Scandici just, like, blew them away. And, like,

00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:46.000
to see them regroup and kind of get it together

00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:47.779
in sets three and four, I thought was so good.

00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:50.220
And like I said, like, both of these teams are

00:32:50.220 --> 00:32:52.519
really good. But if you look at them, like, player

00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:57.980
for player, I felt that Scandici had, like, elite

00:32:57.980 --> 00:33:02.750
talent. And Novara had like a step down of that

00:33:02.750 --> 00:33:05.569
talent. You know the analogy that I love. If

00:33:05.569 --> 00:33:10.190
we go Scandicis 1A, then Novara had the 1B for

00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:13.309
all of the positions just behind them. Although

00:33:13.309 --> 00:33:15.410
I will say, I mean, Antropova is better than

00:33:15.410 --> 00:33:19.289
Tolok. But I think Tolok outplayed her in this

00:33:19.289 --> 00:33:21.390
match. Now she got set a whole bunch more and

00:33:21.390 --> 00:33:23.809
she needed to outplay her for it to be close.

00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:27.160
Scandici has a more balanced offense, as we alluded

00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:30.099
to, but she was very good, especially down the

00:33:30.099 --> 00:33:33.799
stretch. No, I'm not denying that. I'm just saying,

00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:37.200
like, when you look at Avery Skinner to her bots,

00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:40.559
okay, they're similar. But, like, Katarina Bosetti

00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:43.240
to Alsmeyer, if we're looking at it from a passing

00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:46.519
and defensive perspective for the P2, Bosetti's

00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:50.819
better. Like, Weitzel is better than, you know,

00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:54.430
Scorchini. Grande Castillo is better than their

00:33:54.430 --> 00:33:56.750
libero on Yenovich. I thought set a better game

00:33:56.750 --> 00:34:00.589
than camp. It's just like a slight edge in each

00:34:00.589 --> 00:34:03.769
position was the difference. It makes a huge

00:34:03.769 --> 00:34:06.009
difference. Everybody scores one more point or

00:34:06.009 --> 00:34:08.309
plays that much better makes one more play. I

00:34:08.309 --> 00:34:11.030
agree with you. I agree with you. Okay. So if

00:34:11.030 --> 00:34:13.690
you just for perspective for listeners who might

00:34:13.690 --> 00:34:18.309
not watch overseas leagues, if a love team were

00:34:18.309 --> 00:34:22.730
to play against one of these teams, How many

00:34:22.730 --> 00:34:24.369
points do you think they would score? Do you

00:34:24.369 --> 00:34:29.250
think they'd win a set, etc.? I think if both

00:34:29.250 --> 00:34:32.869
teams are playing to their capabilities, I think

00:34:32.869 --> 00:34:36.170
they'd probably score 17 or 18 points against

00:34:36.170 --> 00:34:39.630
these teams. That would be my guess. I think

00:34:39.630 --> 00:34:43.210
they have trouble passing probably. Those serves

00:34:43.210 --> 00:34:46.849
were bombs. We're talking about serving in one

00:34:46.849 --> 00:34:51.599
of the listener questions later. were very good

00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.739
serves. So I think that causes problems, which

00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:56.940
means they probably aren't as effective at running

00:34:56.940 --> 00:34:58.900
the middle, and I would say the out -of -system

00:34:58.900 --> 00:35:01.139
setting for most of the love teams isn't as good

00:35:01.139 --> 00:35:03.639
as it is here. So I feel like they would be on

00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:07.260
the defensive quite a bit playing those two teams.

00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:10.340
That would be my assessment. I mean, overall,

00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:13.300
we watched some very entertaining matches, as

00:35:13.300 --> 00:35:16.460
you said earlier. I'm so glad we tuned into this

00:35:16.460 --> 00:35:18.880
one. I thought it would be good, and it did not

00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:21.630
disappoint. So if you want to go back and watch

00:35:21.630 --> 00:35:23.650
some good volleyball, you know, because there's

00:35:23.650 --> 00:35:26.769
not enough happening live every single day. Monday,

00:35:26.869 --> 00:35:28.829
Tuesday are a little slim. So if you want something

00:35:28.829 --> 00:35:31.750
to do Mondays and Tuesdays, go back and watch

00:35:31.750 --> 00:35:34.510
the Pepperdine -Use -Irvine game or the Skandation

00:35:34.510 --> 00:35:36.389
-Avara game because they were very good. Mondays

00:35:36.389 --> 00:35:38.389
and Tuesdays should now be known as replay days.

00:35:38.730 --> 00:35:40.969
There you go. We haven't done this for a while

00:35:40.969 --> 00:35:43.530
because there has been such an intense focus

00:35:43.530 --> 00:35:47.070
on NCAA and we've been, you know, in kind of

00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:50.469
one zone for a long time. Now that we're watching

00:35:50.469 --> 00:35:52.670
and following a whole bunch of leagues, I think

00:35:52.670 --> 00:35:54.250
it's going to be fun to bring some games back

00:35:54.250 --> 00:35:57.030
into the mix. It'll help us look at some of the

00:35:57.030 --> 00:35:58.730
different leagues, mix things up a little bit.

00:35:59.010 --> 00:36:02.389
So because we have been doing fantasy and MLV

00:36:02.389 --> 00:36:04.929
and following that pretty closely at the start

00:36:04.929 --> 00:36:06.769
of the season, I think we're two weeks in at

00:36:06.769 --> 00:36:11.289
this point, I wanted to get a quick kind of coach's

00:36:11.289 --> 00:36:15.349
mood meter for the eight MLV teams based off

00:36:15.349 --> 00:36:20.119
the first two weeks. We'll take it with perspective

00:36:20.119 --> 00:36:22.039
going into the season, how they thought they

00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:25.079
should do, who they beat, how they've lost. I'll

00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:27.639
give a quick rundown here, and then you give

00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:31.480
me who you think is the happiest coach down to

00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:34.300
the least happy coach with a little bit of a

00:36:34.300 --> 00:36:37.820
justification. As a quick rundown, Orlando Valkyrie

00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:43.440
are 3 -0. Indie Ignite are 2 -0. Atlanta Vibe

00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:46.579
are 2 -2. Now they beat Grand Rapids and Omaha.

00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:51.179
They lost to Columbus and San Diego. Omaha is

00:36:51.179 --> 00:36:55.159
2 -2. Remember, they lost two matches this week

00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:58.280
in five. One of them a reverse sweep. The Dallas

00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:01.019
Pulse are 1 -1, beating San Diego and losing

00:37:01.019 --> 00:37:05.159
to Indy. Grand Rapids 1 -2, Columbus 1 -3, and

00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:11.199
San Diego 1 -3. Hit me with your thoughts. Am

00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:13.300
I putting them in order or something? Put them

00:37:13.300 --> 00:37:15.739
in order. Which coaching staff do you think is

00:37:15.739 --> 00:37:19.500
the happiest, the least happiest? Okay, happiest,

00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:23.719
I'm going to say Orlando. Okay. Because, you

00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:26.079
know, defending champs, you know you have a target

00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:29.900
on your back. It is always harder to stay at

00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:32.960
the top than it is to get to the top. So the

00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:36.639
fact that they have come back after their championship

00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:41.280
season and they started 3 -0. And beat Omaha.

00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:44.920
In five. Recently. Last game. I think that they

00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:48.519
should be very happy. I agree. Second, I'm going

00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.099
to put Indy. They also had a really good season

00:37:51.099 --> 00:37:53.159
last year. They finished second. They have a

00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:56.820
new coach. So there's a bit of a transition there.

00:37:57.820 --> 00:38:02.079
But that in consideration with the start that

00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.079
they've had, you can't be mad at that. Third,

00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:08.079
I'm going to say Dallas. That was going to be

00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:12.679
my third. Yes. It is so hard to start a new program

00:38:12.679 --> 00:38:17.179
and like having to pick players, take them from

00:38:17.179 --> 00:38:20.360
different teams and try to, you know, hope that

00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:23.519
it's a formula that works. That is such a big

00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:27.219
risk. And it's just kind of like, well, let's

00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:29.119
see what happens. Tried my best here. Kind of

00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:32.460
like me with my fantasy team. So the fact that,

00:38:32.500 --> 00:38:36.659
you know, they lost to Indy, strong team. Not

00:38:36.659 --> 00:38:39.719
a bad loss, I would say, especially for the first

00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:42.280
match. But to come out and win their second match,

00:38:42.420 --> 00:38:45.380
albeit against San Diego, it doesn't matter.

00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:48.280
But I think that they have to be happy with that

00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:50.980
start. Not to mention that one of your key players

00:38:50.980 --> 00:38:54.159
in Mimi Collier only got to practice with the

00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:57.860
team two or three weeks before the season started.

00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:01.980
And as a coaching staff, you're excited. You

00:39:01.980 --> 00:39:04.380
got at least one win and you know, you have a

00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:06.519
ton of room to improve and keep getting better.

00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:09.579
So I agree with you so far. I think we might

00:39:09.579 --> 00:39:12.320
differ in our opinion on the next one. What are

00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:14.460
we on number four? Yeah. I'm going to say Columbus.

00:39:14.739 --> 00:39:18.860
Oh, that's what I was going to say. Okay. Columbus,

00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:21.219
even though they're currently sitting like second

00:39:21.219 --> 00:39:25.340
last, they. are a completely different team than

00:39:25.340 --> 00:39:29.179
last year. They are, even though they've lost

00:39:29.179 --> 00:39:32.320
a few matches, like they are close. They're in

00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:36.159
the conversation. They are so close to just like

00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:38.800
getting a few more points and turning those matches.

00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:41.900
So I think they are definitely on the right track.

00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:43.619
I think they're heading in the right direction.

00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:45.820
They got a huge win right off the bat against

00:39:45.820 --> 00:39:48.800
Atlanta, which I don't think many people expected

00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:51.800
them to do. And then... For all intents and purposes,

00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:54.619
should have beaten Grand Rapids. They were big

00:39:54.619 --> 00:39:58.179
in set five. Indy, good team. So I think that

00:39:58.179 --> 00:40:01.460
things are going well for Columbus. And definitely

00:40:01.460 --> 00:40:05.780
given how last season went, even though, like

00:40:05.780 --> 00:40:08.519
you said, the record doesn't show it, they're

00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:10.780
playing much better. The vibe and the feeling

00:40:10.780 --> 00:40:12.920
is much better. I think you have hope that you

00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:16.760
can finish in the middle of the pack and push

00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:20.250
some good teams for them. Okay, number five,

00:40:20.530 --> 00:40:25.429
I'm going to say Grand Rapids. Okay. Why would,

00:40:25.429 --> 00:40:28.409
that sounded disgusted. No, I think I would have

00:40:28.409 --> 00:40:33.690
gone Atlanta next. Absolutely not. Okay. Well,

00:40:33.769 --> 00:40:36.429
you go your way, I'll go mine. I mean, Grand

00:40:36.429 --> 00:40:39.550
Rapids, I don't really have a reason for putting

00:40:39.550 --> 00:40:41.449
them there. I just mostly have reasons for putting

00:40:41.449 --> 00:40:44.269
the other three below them. Okay. I would probably

00:40:44.269 --> 00:40:53.710
put Omaha six. Okay. Because with the spend they

00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:59.630
made on acquiring the names they did on the whole,

00:40:59.789 --> 00:41:03.650
the expectations on them are very high just from

00:41:03.650 --> 00:41:06.070
a sponsor perspective, a fan base perspective,

00:41:06.289 --> 00:41:09.269
who they brought in, and the fact that you're

00:41:09.269 --> 00:41:13.289
starting the season two and two, losing to two

00:41:13.289 --> 00:41:16.590
of your rivals in Atlanta and Orlando, not amazing.

00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:20.760
but I would put Atlanta below them because I

00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:23.019
feel like Atlanta and Omaha have similar expectations,

00:41:23.219 --> 00:41:26.179
but I feel like the teams that Atlanta lost to

00:41:26.179 --> 00:41:29.559
are way worse than the ones that Omaha lost to.

00:41:29.579 --> 00:41:32.880
They lost to San Diego and Columbus, the two

00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:36.199
bottom teams. See, and for me, that's why the

00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:38.800
justification would be flipped. I would put Atlanta

00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:41.079
ahead of them. They beat Omaha, who's their rival.

00:41:41.260 --> 00:41:42.920
They're going to look at those two losses and

00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:45.460
go, okay, we can clean that up. That's not going

00:41:45.460 --> 00:41:49.690
to happen again. But Omaha, the way they lost

00:41:49.690 --> 00:41:52.610
in five to both of those teams, one of them being

00:41:52.610 --> 00:41:54.329
a reverse sweep of the good teams in the league

00:41:54.329 --> 00:41:58.230
of not being able to finish, I'm more unhappy

00:41:58.230 --> 00:42:01.769
as a coach in that case. I can get behind that.

00:42:01.769 --> 00:42:04.630
That would be my justification for that. I can

00:42:04.630 --> 00:42:08.090
get behind that reasoning. San Diego, honestly,

00:42:08.250 --> 00:42:09.989
I'd be worried as a coach just because they look

00:42:09.989 --> 00:42:13.230
so bad. Yes, they just beat Atlanta in five,

00:42:13.269 --> 00:42:17.409
which this is a new finding. Since we started

00:42:17.409 --> 00:42:20.110
recording this episode. So keep that in mind.

00:42:20.730 --> 00:42:24.130
But they just do not look good as a team for

00:42:24.130 --> 00:42:27.030
me. They look disjointed. I already mentioned,

00:42:27.150 --> 00:42:28.710
I don't think their center is running a good

00:42:28.710 --> 00:42:31.070
offense. They can't, they don't seem to get anybody

00:42:31.070 --> 00:42:33.690
going in a good rhythm. And it just seems so

00:42:33.690 --> 00:42:36.050
disjointed. So even putting the losses aside

00:42:36.050 --> 00:42:40.309
and the ranking standings aside, they just don't

00:42:40.309 --> 00:42:44.730
look good to me. I agree with you. My question

00:42:44.730 --> 00:42:48.510
for you about them is, I think that a lot of

00:42:48.510 --> 00:42:50.929
their issues come from the setting, which we've

00:42:50.929 --> 00:42:53.090
talked about. Well, yeah, so play somebody else

00:42:53.090 --> 00:42:56.030
then, but they're not. But do you think that

00:42:56.030 --> 00:42:59.289
their head coach in, I was going to call her

00:42:59.289 --> 00:43:02.969
Alicia Glass, Alicia Childress, is uniquely set

00:43:02.969 --> 00:43:06.489
up to fix that and make it better? Or do you

00:43:06.489 --> 00:43:09.710
think that that's just, it's a tough ask? I mean,

00:43:09.710 --> 00:43:13.170
I feel like once you hit this level, you're either

00:43:13.170 --> 00:43:16.019
running a good offense or you're not. We're not

00:43:16.019 --> 00:43:18.679
talking like 16U club where you can still be

00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:22.440
like molded and see like massive improvements.

00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:24.780
I'm not saying you can't see improvement. You

00:43:24.780 --> 00:43:27.300
definitely can. You're playing professional volleyball.

00:43:27.519 --> 00:43:30.079
Yeah, it takes longer and the changes are a little

00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:34.420
more micro. Yeah, more micro. Fair enough. I

00:43:34.420 --> 00:43:37.679
think it's going to be a long year for San Diego.

00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:41.239
So you agree with my order, except you would

00:43:41.239 --> 00:43:46.420
reverse Atlanta and or Omaha. And put Grand Rapids

00:43:46.420 --> 00:43:49.199
somewhere at the bottom? Yeah, I would put...

00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:52.119
Grand Rapids to me is the wild card. I haven't

00:43:52.119 --> 00:43:53.639
watched them play it either, so I don't really

00:43:53.639 --> 00:43:55.460
have a feel. And using your favorite word, I'd

00:43:55.460 --> 00:44:00.380
be like, they're fine. Yeah. So somewhere in

00:44:00.380 --> 00:44:05.019
between in the Atlanta -Omaha section, I don't

00:44:05.019 --> 00:44:08.519
think that they're... I mean, they lost to Orlando

00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:12.659
and Atlanta, so they've lost to good teams. I

00:44:12.659 --> 00:44:15.630
think you're... okay with that knowing where

00:44:15.630 --> 00:44:17.550
you were last time so I probably put them ahead

00:44:17.550 --> 00:44:21.269
of Atlanta and Omaha given expectations and then

00:44:21.269 --> 00:44:25.010
I would go Atlanta ahead of Omaha and then finish

00:44:25.010 --> 00:44:27.489
with with what you said that would be my instinct

00:44:27.489 --> 00:44:29.949
but we're in agreement for the top four yes okay

00:44:29.949 --> 00:44:32.329
well there we go coach's mood meter for MLB week

00:44:32.329 --> 00:44:36.690
two and we're gonna cook up some new games we

00:44:36.690 --> 00:44:39.050
love a game or this year it stressed me out a

00:44:39.050 --> 00:44:40.989
little bit yeah it's always fun because Sarah

00:44:40.989 --> 00:44:44.679
never knows what's coming Let's dive in to some

00:44:44.679 --> 00:44:48.699
listener questions. Question one. I thought it

00:44:48.699 --> 00:44:52.139
was weird that on Civitanova, which is an Italian

00:44:52.139 --> 00:44:55.619
men's team, they have three outsides on their

00:44:55.619 --> 00:44:58.159
roster instead of two outsides and an opposite.

00:44:58.519 --> 00:45:01.320
I've never seen this before. What do you guys

00:45:01.320 --> 00:45:04.500
think makes a team go for a format like this?

00:45:04.559 --> 00:45:06.840
And could you talk about the advantages and disadvantages

00:45:06.840 --> 00:45:09.980
of doing this compared to a regular team makeup?

00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:13.880
So the advantages of having, and for the sake

00:45:13.880 --> 00:45:15.500
of this question, let's assume that you have

00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:18.460
three legitimate outside hitters and no true

00:45:18.460 --> 00:45:21.000
opposite. Because sometimes they do list an opposite

00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:24.019
as an outside. I feel like it's kind of an oversight

00:45:24.019 --> 00:45:25.980
sometimes. Yeah. Because they are not the same

00:45:25.980 --> 00:45:28.659
position. Yeah, I would agree with that. So let's

00:45:28.659 --> 00:45:31.659
say you have three actual outsides. Generally,

00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:34.679
your right side is your best point score. They're

00:45:34.679 --> 00:45:38.300
your most physical player. outside maybe of a

00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:40.099
middle, but they're getting the majority. And

00:45:40.099 --> 00:45:41.619
probably don't have the greatest ball control.

00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:44.360
Yeah, so those are kind of the two big things

00:45:44.360 --> 00:45:47.199
who are usually not as good ball control as your

00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:50.139
left sides and usually a better attacker than

00:45:50.139 --> 00:45:53.579
your left sides. Now, if you don't have somebody

00:45:53.579 --> 00:45:57.599
who's significantly better attacking -wise, the

00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:00.199
benefit of having three outside hitters on the

00:46:00.199 --> 00:46:02.059
floor is you can change your passing rotation

00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:04.820
based off who's serving to free up other players.

00:46:05.420 --> 00:46:09.099
and to pass appropriate seams or have an easier

00:46:09.099 --> 00:46:11.539
time getting approach routes for different headers.

00:46:11.699 --> 00:46:15.480
So there is an advantage from an overall ball

00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:19.679
control standpoint if you use outsides. The downside

00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:23.199
is you often don't have as good of an outlet

00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:26.000
option on the right side in terms of ability

00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:29.110
to just score points. Question two, why do the

00:46:29.110 --> 00:46:32.090
pro teams in the U .S. feel so much slower, especially

00:46:32.090 --> 00:46:34.849
in serving? When the announcers say they're serving

00:46:34.849 --> 00:46:36.849
tough, the other team still passes literally

00:46:36.849 --> 00:46:39.670
perfect balls most of the time. For example,

00:46:39.769 --> 00:46:42.269
Virginia Adriano at the college level, even though

00:46:42.269 --> 00:46:45.409
her serve is inconsistent, when she does get

00:46:45.409 --> 00:46:48.949
it in, it's really good. And internationally,

00:46:49.250 --> 00:46:52.110
this person is talking about how those players

00:46:52.110 --> 00:46:56.250
have speed and float and consistency. So why?

00:46:57.099 --> 00:47:00.099
Does the US pro system seem different? A, do

00:47:00.099 --> 00:47:02.059
you agree that it seems different? That it is

00:47:02.059 --> 00:47:04.300
different? First of all. I think it depends on

00:47:04.300 --> 00:47:07.539
what league you're comparing it to. Okay, so

00:47:07.539 --> 00:47:10.019
this person was comparing it to like VNL Worlds.

00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:14.340
Yes, totally. And if we're talking, let's compare

00:47:14.340 --> 00:47:16.659
it to the two foreign leagues we talk about most,

00:47:16.820 --> 00:47:19.480
which would be Italy and Turkey. Yes, it's different.

00:47:19.900 --> 00:47:22.820
You have, listen, nobody wants to hear this,

00:47:22.880 --> 00:47:25.739
but you have a different caliber of player in.

00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:29.539
those vnl and worlds matches in the top two leagues

00:47:29.539 --> 00:47:32.800
than you currently do in the u .s pro leagues

00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:35.480
that's not to say there aren't some servers who

00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:38.760
serve at an international caliber level but as

00:47:38.760 --> 00:47:42.059
a whole it's not the same and that's they're

00:47:42.059 --> 00:47:46.480
young leagues they are not as established as

00:47:46.480 --> 00:47:48.980
those other teams and national teams so you're

00:47:48.980 --> 00:47:52.059
just not going to see the same physicality and

00:47:52.059 --> 00:47:54.400
skill level do you think it's different Yeah,

00:47:54.420 --> 00:47:56.760
and I think a lot also has to do with the type

00:47:56.760 --> 00:48:00.099
of ball that is used. Granted, the Italian league

00:48:00.099 --> 00:48:02.920
does use a molten ball, so whatever. But internationally,

00:48:03.599 --> 00:48:07.139
the different balls that are used do have a different

00:48:07.139 --> 00:48:11.619
touch, both on serving and passing. But I think...

00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:14.159
Another part of this person's question basically

00:48:14.159 --> 00:48:16.079
is like, why are the announcers saying they're

00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:17.940
serving so tough when the passes are perfect?

00:48:18.179 --> 00:48:20.300
Do you think the serves are legitimately tough

00:48:20.300 --> 00:48:23.500
and the passing is that good? Or do you think

00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:26.280
they're just saying they're serving tough? Part

00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:28.260
of the announcer's job is to make the league

00:48:28.260 --> 00:48:32.380
interesting and seem competitive and compelling

00:48:32.380 --> 00:48:35.820
to watch. You do that by talking about different

00:48:35.820 --> 00:48:38.139
aspects. The serving is good. The passing is

00:48:38.139 --> 00:48:41.340
not as good. I would say. the serving is probably

00:48:41.340 --> 00:48:44.840
not as tough as the announcers are making it

00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:47.840
seem or they use that line and remember they're

00:48:47.840 --> 00:48:50.320
talking about volleyball for two hours you have

00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:53.659
to put things into perspective and there's a

00:48:53.659 --> 00:48:56.599
scale right maybe that was a tough serve for

00:48:56.599 --> 00:48:59.320
the current match that was going on if you compare

00:48:59.320 --> 00:49:03.260
it to vnl and worlds not tough if you compare

00:49:03.260 --> 00:49:06.659
it to the match yesterday or three other servers

00:49:06.659 --> 00:49:09.039
on her team maybe that was a tougher serve there's

00:49:09.420 --> 00:49:13.139
all kinds of caveats to what the announcers are

00:49:13.139 --> 00:49:16.239
trying to do and how they do it. And I mean,

00:49:16.239 --> 00:49:18.300
we've talked about this at length on some of

00:49:18.300 --> 00:49:22.179
the announcing trends on the leagues. But overall,

00:49:22.300 --> 00:49:24.159
I don't think the serving is as competitive as

00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:25.739
it is in the top leagues and internationally,

00:49:25.900 --> 00:49:28.179
which is understandable. Okay, question three.

00:49:28.219 --> 00:49:30.199
What are your thoughts on NCAA programs that

00:49:30.199 --> 00:49:32.280
accept transfers when they're already at the

00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:35.239
maximum roster capacity, which is 18 players

00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:38.119
allowed for the NCAA? So this person alluded

00:49:38.119 --> 00:49:41.940
to Arizona State. Basically, with the players

00:49:41.940 --> 00:49:46.940
they lost, the players they signed for 2026,

00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:51.619
they were going to be at the 18. Again, I didn't

00:49:51.619 --> 00:49:53.380
fact check this. I'm assuming this person did

00:49:53.380 --> 00:49:55.710
their research. And then they continued to sign

00:49:55.710 --> 00:49:58.530
more portal players, which would put them over

00:49:58.530 --> 00:50:00.710
the capacity, meaning they'll have to get rid

00:50:00.710 --> 00:50:03.130
of people. I mean, I want to reiterate, I did

00:50:03.130 --> 00:50:06.130
not fact check this, but if this is the case,

00:50:06.130 --> 00:50:08.510
I feel like that's real shady. Like, what are

00:50:08.510 --> 00:50:13.150
you doing? You recruited kids to come in. You

00:50:13.150 --> 00:50:15.369
have your current roster who decided to stick

00:50:15.369 --> 00:50:18.369
it out. Maybe. Unless they're anticipating more

00:50:18.369 --> 00:50:21.210
transfers in May. But you don't know for sure.

00:50:21.329 --> 00:50:23.349
Unless a kid walked into your office and was

00:50:23.349 --> 00:50:25.190
like, hey, can I stick around for spring ball

00:50:25.190 --> 00:50:27.849
and then I'm leaving? But I can't really see

00:50:27.849 --> 00:50:31.090
that happening. Maybe, but you don't know. Okay,

00:50:31.130 --> 00:50:35.150
so what would you do if you were a coach who

00:50:35.150 --> 00:50:38.469
had over the capacity and then nobody decided

00:50:38.469 --> 00:50:41.510
to leave in May? Well, so this comes back to

00:50:41.510 --> 00:50:45.590
individual integrity, in my opinion. Same as

00:50:45.590 --> 00:50:48.289
we talked about with the agents. The staff is...

00:50:48.590 --> 00:50:51.210
working to get the best roster, the most competitive

00:50:51.210 --> 00:50:54.250
roster they can. If you have made promises to

00:50:54.250 --> 00:50:57.329
kids and you are breaking those promises to bring

00:50:57.329 --> 00:51:00.030
in better athletes, personally, I don't love

00:51:00.030 --> 00:51:02.610
that. You're trying to make the best team. So

00:51:02.610 --> 00:51:04.909
I understand because the athletes have no loyalty.

00:51:04.989 --> 00:51:10.250
So how it comes down to communication and expectation.

00:51:10.690 --> 00:51:14.190
When you put it that way, like red flags were

00:51:14.190 --> 00:51:16.170
flying when I was reading this question, but

00:51:16.170 --> 00:51:20.800
you're right. There are not many athletes that

00:51:20.800 --> 00:51:23.539
have loyalty anymore. And so it's like, look

00:51:23.539 --> 00:51:26.659
out for yourself. But then do you also want that

00:51:26.659 --> 00:51:28.840
reputation? Because then how hard is it going

00:51:28.840 --> 00:51:31.559
to be to get athletes? Or are you just going

00:51:31.559 --> 00:51:33.380
to be a portal school for the rest of your life

00:51:33.380 --> 00:51:34.940
and just be like, well, I guess we're not going

00:51:34.940 --> 00:51:37.380
to recruit any club kids. Well, and you're assuming

00:51:37.380 --> 00:51:40.079
that it's the kids who are coming in that are

00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:42.880
getting cut. Maybe they're getting rid of a fourth

00:51:42.880 --> 00:51:44.760
year. No, that's what I mean. I'm not making

00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:48.579
any assumptions. It's the recruits coming in

00:51:48.579 --> 00:51:50.340
that are getting cut. I think it's the kids that

00:51:50.340 --> 00:51:52.840
have been there who are maybe on the bench. Yeah.

00:51:52.980 --> 00:51:55.659
Again, to me. Also, you need a bench because

00:51:55.659 --> 00:51:58.400
bench players have a very important role, especially

00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:02.619
during training. Yeah. It comes down to your

00:52:02.619 --> 00:52:05.679
communication with your athletes, the expectations

00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:09.280
you have set in your practice, and is everybody

00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:11.789
on the same page? And I don't think that's any

00:52:11.789 --> 00:52:14.090
different than the conversation we had with Wisconsin

00:52:14.090 --> 00:52:16.750
last week or with any of these schools. It's

00:52:16.750 --> 00:52:20.710
really hard, but you as a staff need to act with

00:52:20.710 --> 00:52:22.809
integrity. And the same goes for the athletes.

00:52:22.989 --> 00:52:24.969
At the end of the day, you have to live with

00:52:24.969 --> 00:52:27.750
your choices. And it's like, if you sleep well

00:52:27.750 --> 00:52:32.210
at night, I'm happy for you. I would not. I mean,

00:52:32.230 --> 00:52:34.230
I don't think as a... But then don't go complaining.

00:52:34.530 --> 00:52:36.869
Right. I don't think as a program you can pass

00:52:36.869 --> 00:52:38.710
up on a really good athlete who makes your team

00:52:38.710 --> 00:52:41.380
better who wants to come. I mean, your job is

00:52:41.380 --> 00:52:43.539
to build a competitive program. I think this

00:52:43.539 --> 00:52:45.780
is just a microcosm of society as a whole these

00:52:45.780 --> 00:52:47.800
days where everybody's just looking out for themselves

00:52:47.800 --> 00:52:50.400
and nobody cares about anybody else. It sucks.

00:52:50.820 --> 00:52:53.940
It sucks. I don't disagree with you, but I think

00:52:53.940 --> 00:52:57.380
given the climate, it's realistic. You look at

00:52:57.380 --> 00:52:59.480
all the pro sports teams, you know, you don't

00:52:59.480 --> 00:53:02.119
have to be cap compliant or roster compliant

00:53:02.119 --> 00:53:04.699
until the season starts. I think you maybe mentioned

00:53:04.699 --> 00:53:06.719
this last week. There needs to be a cap on how

00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:09.679
many transfers you can accept. In a four year

00:53:09.679 --> 00:53:12.920
period or something. You just. They'll let it

00:53:12.920 --> 00:53:15.019
go for a few more years. They'll see what the

00:53:15.019 --> 00:53:16.940
issues are. And then someone will make some rules.

00:53:17.239 --> 00:53:20.239
They'll end up being like. All these people out

00:53:20.239 --> 00:53:22.760
here just guinea pigs. With NIL and everything.

00:53:23.579 --> 00:53:25.980
You'll end up having an athletes union. Who will

00:53:25.980 --> 00:53:27.420
represent them. And there'll be a bargaining

00:53:27.420 --> 00:53:31.179
agreement. That's where it's heading. I quit

00:53:31.179 --> 00:53:34.980
at that point. Question four. This one is from

00:53:34.980 --> 00:53:40.659
a Canadian listener. Okay. So, kind of a long

00:53:40.659 --> 00:53:45.039
question, but we have a youth team, a club team,

00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:47.340
who was ranked second in our province last year,

00:53:47.460 --> 00:53:51.179
and we've been waitlisted for nationals. Just

00:53:51.179 --> 00:53:52.780
wondering what your thoughts are on Volleyball

00:53:52.780 --> 00:53:55.239
Canada's system of deciding which club teams

00:53:55.239 --> 00:53:58.000
get to go to nationals, which is basically to

00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:01.400
solicit expressions of interest from all teams

00:54:01.400 --> 00:54:05.380
across Canada, and then do a random draw to see

00:54:05.380 --> 00:54:09.239
who gets to attend. I can't even keep a straight

00:54:09.239 --> 00:54:12.119
face because our parents run very big volleyball

00:54:12.119 --> 00:54:15.099
clubs and this has come up before. Why are we

00:54:15.099 --> 00:54:17.539
deciding who goes to nationals, if you can even

00:54:17.539 --> 00:54:20.119
call it that at this point, by doing a random

00:54:20.119 --> 00:54:22.679
draw instead of having top teams get an invite

00:54:22.679 --> 00:54:25.380
first? How is this good for the competitiveness

00:54:25.380 --> 00:54:28.800
of athletes in the sport in Canada? I mean, the

00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:30.920
short answer to your question is it's not good

00:54:30.920 --> 00:54:38.440
for the competitive nature for the sport, Fair

00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:42.000
play and equality and all of those things. That's

00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:45.960
why Canada doesn't win medals. Yes. I agree.

00:54:46.539 --> 00:54:48.500
And I think they've come to realize that the

00:54:48.500 --> 00:54:50.840
top teams who really want to be good come down

00:54:50.840 --> 00:54:53.199
and play in the States. So they have the opportunity

00:54:53.199 --> 00:54:56.440
to run nationals, to invite whoever they want

00:54:56.440 --> 00:54:59.139
so they don't upset anybody. It's equal. It's

00:54:59.139 --> 00:55:03.500
in line with a lot of, you know, sporting policies

00:55:03.500 --> 00:55:05.639
across the country. And if you really want to

00:55:05.639 --> 00:55:08.170
compete, you go to the U .S. That's nice guy.

00:55:08.250 --> 00:55:11.070
Adam's answer. My answer is, I think it's a joke.

00:55:11.289 --> 00:55:14.429
It's never used to be that way when we played,

00:55:14.469 --> 00:55:17.949
which is like too long ago. Don't ask. It was

00:55:17.949 --> 00:55:21.869
merit based. You had to be ranked in a certain

00:55:21.869 --> 00:55:24.070
place in your province to even get the opportunity

00:55:24.070 --> 00:55:28.489
to go, which I love that. And I love the way

00:55:28.489 --> 00:55:30.369
the Americans do it, where you have to go to

00:55:30.369 --> 00:55:33.159
qualifiers. You have to like. nationals actually

00:55:33.159 --> 00:55:36.239
means something in the u .s and it meant something

00:55:36.239 --> 00:55:40.199
back when we played i think is ridiculous quite

00:55:40.199 --> 00:55:42.940
frankly what is the point of winning provincials

00:55:42.940 --> 00:55:44.800
if you're just gonna potentially not even get

00:55:44.800 --> 00:55:46.840
to go to nationals and if you do go you play

00:55:46.840 --> 00:55:49.920
the 76th ranked team from like saskatchewan it's

00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:53.840
not that's not fun for anybody no i don't disagree

00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:56.619
not to mention like no college coaches want to

00:55:56.619 --> 00:55:59.639
go watch nationals when it's literally a mixed

00:55:59.639 --> 00:56:02.340
bag of skill level like But let's be honest,

00:56:02.440 --> 00:56:04.900
the Canadian nationals is about money for the

00:56:04.900 --> 00:56:07.820
national team. Is it even money for the national

00:56:07.820 --> 00:56:12.019
team? Yes. You're still going to get that same

00:56:12.019 --> 00:56:14.500
money, but you can have a better competition.

00:56:15.059 --> 00:56:16.880
Do you know what I mean? Like if the top teams

00:56:16.880 --> 00:56:19.300
go, you're still going to get the money. But

00:56:19.300 --> 00:56:20.780
you're growing the sport and you're getting other

00:56:20.780 --> 00:56:23.820
kids in. Like, I'm sorry. I understand. Let's

00:56:23.820 --> 00:56:26.239
keep people interested in volleyball. Let's make

00:56:26.239 --> 00:56:28.460
it an accessible sport for people. It's a sport

00:56:28.460 --> 00:56:31.719
for life, blah, blah, blah. That's fine. But

00:56:31.719 --> 00:56:34.219
let's have like real nationals. And then we can

00:56:34.219 --> 00:56:37.139
have like an open play nationals for kids and

00:56:37.139 --> 00:56:40.320
teams who want to have fun. Yeah. I mean, I think

00:56:40.320 --> 00:56:42.780
the best approach is, and again, similarly, the

00:56:42.780 --> 00:56:45.460
U .S. does this. They have divisions. So lots

00:56:45.460 --> 00:56:47.820
of people can go to divisions and play wherever

00:56:47.820 --> 00:56:49.900
they want. But if you want to compete at the

00:56:49.900 --> 00:56:52.199
top tier and you want to win those tournaments,

00:56:52.400 --> 00:56:55.239
which means something. No, but I think for nationals,

00:56:55.239 --> 00:56:57.710
you straight up need to qualify. I believe there

00:56:57.710 --> 00:57:00.250
is like an open division for other teams, depending

00:57:00.250 --> 00:57:02.070
on which tournaments you go to, like some of

00:57:02.070 --> 00:57:04.070
the big tournaments, which are equivalent to

00:57:04.070 --> 00:57:06.809
a national, I believe. I think Canada has swung

00:57:06.809 --> 00:57:11.730
too far in the fair play mantra and you're losing

00:57:11.730 --> 00:57:16.289
some of that competitiveness. And again, teaching

00:57:16.289 --> 00:57:17.929
opportunities to be competitive, when you have

00:57:17.929 --> 00:57:20.329
to go to a qualifier and you have to win to go

00:57:20.329 --> 00:57:22.949
to nationals, those are learning experience for

00:57:22.949 --> 00:57:25.619
athletes who want to be. Top players. You have

00:57:25.619 --> 00:57:27.619
to learn how to perform. You have to learn how

00:57:27.619 --> 00:57:30.340
to make adjustments. You have to play under pressure.

00:57:30.480 --> 00:57:33.000
It matters. All skills that matter if you want

00:57:33.000 --> 00:57:35.780
to continue playing the sport after high school.

00:57:35.860 --> 00:57:39.119
Or you know what? Even deal with real life pressures.

00:57:39.539 --> 00:57:42.679
Not a fan. Not a fan. Question five, can you

00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:45.159
guys talk about contracts for MLV and Love? I'm

00:57:45.159 --> 00:57:47.659
curious if someone like Lexi Rodriguez would

00:57:47.659 --> 00:57:50.719
be paid more due to her popularity within Nebraska,

00:57:50.800 --> 00:57:53.900
or are contracts strictly based on positions

00:57:53.900 --> 00:57:56.420
and performance? Okay, so first and foremost,

00:57:56.559 --> 00:58:00.199
contract talk is not really public information.

00:58:00.539 --> 00:58:04.099
Yeah, I don't know what the MLV and Love situations

00:58:04.099 --> 00:58:09.159
are. This is my best understanding. It may not

00:58:09.159 --> 00:58:11.900
be entirely accurate, but it's different between

00:58:11.900 --> 00:58:15.780
the two leagues. Love as an organization signs

00:58:15.780 --> 00:58:19.920
and pays players and then puts them on their

00:58:19.920 --> 00:58:22.300
corresponding team. I don't believe in Lexi's

00:58:22.300 --> 00:58:24.159
case you would be getting additional revenue

00:58:24.159 --> 00:58:26.199
because you're playing in Nebraska and you're

00:58:26.199 --> 00:58:29.000
popular there because it's a central organization

00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:32.840
deciding contracts. But do you think that their

00:58:32.840 --> 00:58:36.599
contracts operate the way most do where like...

00:58:37.070 --> 00:58:39.289
points going outsides and opposites get paid

00:58:39.289 --> 00:58:43.230
the most and liberos and middles get paid the

00:58:43.230 --> 00:58:45.969
least from a league standpoint i'm not sure how

00:58:45.969 --> 00:58:48.289
love operates i don't know whether that's how

00:58:48.289 --> 00:58:51.570
it does yeah that's how it works in a lot of

00:58:51.570 --> 00:58:54.929
places right but they also need the league to

00:58:54.929 --> 00:58:57.809
succeed so maybe they're paying players who get

00:58:57.809 --> 00:59:00.750
more eyeballs or bring people in or have agreements

00:59:00.750 --> 00:59:05.590
to do Marketing, like the love situation is different

00:59:05.590 --> 00:59:08.610
than any other pro team because the players are

00:59:08.610 --> 00:59:12.210
registered centrally and not for a team. MLV,

00:59:12.289 --> 00:59:15.010
on the other hand, is those teams are individually

00:59:15.010 --> 00:59:17.710
owned. The general managers or the owners are

00:59:17.710 --> 00:59:19.650
signing those contracts. Now, there's a framework

00:59:19.650 --> 00:59:22.309
in terms of what you can pay people. But yes,

00:59:22.510 --> 00:59:25.590
it would make more sense for those people to

00:59:25.590 --> 00:59:28.590
sign and pay players who will put butts in seats.

00:59:29.920 --> 00:59:32.780
positionally i think that could be different

00:59:32.780 --> 00:59:36.739
because they're making their own revenue so it

00:59:36.739 --> 00:59:39.320
is it's different and the considerations would

00:59:39.320 --> 00:59:42.820
be different again i'm fully acknowledging that

00:59:42.820 --> 00:59:45.360
a lot of those processes are are private but

00:59:45.360 --> 00:59:48.679
that's my understanding i mean liberos aren't

00:59:48.679 --> 00:59:51.039
are definitely making less than everybody else

00:59:51.039 --> 00:59:53.960
around the world i'm curious how the mlv and

00:59:53.960 --> 00:59:57.789
love libero salaries compared overseas I think

00:59:57.789 --> 00:59:59.369
there's a big push in the American leagues that

00:59:59.369 --> 01:00:01.210
there's a lot of equity. Like there's a minimum

01:00:01.210 --> 01:00:04.630
salary and then a maximum salary. So you're not

01:00:04.630 --> 01:00:07.190
paying your libero, you know, a 10th of the lowest

01:00:07.190 --> 01:00:10.050
person. They may be making the minimum salary,

01:00:10.170 --> 01:00:12.110
but there is a minimum salary. I mean, I don't

01:00:12.110 --> 01:00:14.550
think they have those in some of the other leagues.

01:00:15.489 --> 01:00:18.329
Okay, last question of the day. If there is a

01:00:18.329 --> 01:00:20.789
toxic player on your team that's not meshing

01:00:20.789 --> 01:00:23.269
well with the culture of the team, as a teammate,

01:00:23.510 --> 01:00:25.550
what is the best way to deal with that toxic

01:00:25.550 --> 01:00:28.909
player to make it through the season? We know

01:00:28.909 --> 01:00:31.050
various ways coaches can deal with toxic players,

01:00:31.130 --> 01:00:33.070
so I'm curious to get your perspective on best

01:00:33.070 --> 01:00:35.650
approaches for fellow teammates to deal with

01:00:35.650 --> 01:00:38.809
this type of athlete. So I think this question,

01:00:38.869 --> 01:00:46.099
it's different for men and women. fundamentally

01:00:46.099 --> 01:00:48.380
different I have played with people that I didn't

01:00:48.380 --> 01:00:51.659
like yeah but was the person toxic or did you

01:00:51.659 --> 01:00:54.480
just not like them toxic is such a weird word

01:00:54.480 --> 01:00:59.099
he's like he was toxic to me they weren't great

01:00:59.099 --> 01:01:01.480
for team dynamics let's put it that way you just

01:01:01.480 --> 01:01:03.239
go out and you play and you do your job and you

01:01:03.239 --> 01:01:05.659
work towards that and you put that beside you

01:01:05.659 --> 01:01:07.119
and you don't spend time together off the court

01:01:07.119 --> 01:01:10.820
like I think that's generally how guys function

01:01:10.820 --> 01:01:15.820
how male teams function unless it's Really bad.

01:01:16.239 --> 01:01:19.280
I was thinking that's how I would function. It

01:01:19.280 --> 01:01:22.639
also depends. Like if this is 14U or 16U club

01:01:22.639 --> 01:01:24.719
volleyball, there's a different solution than

01:01:24.719 --> 01:01:26.320
if you're playing professionally and you're being

01:01:26.320 --> 01:01:28.920
paid to behave a certain way. But how often in

01:01:28.920 --> 01:01:31.639
like youth and club is it like toxic parents?

01:01:31.880 --> 01:01:35.139
Wow. And not necessarily toxic kids, but like

01:01:35.139 --> 01:01:38.179
the toxic parents, like the messaging at home

01:01:38.179 --> 01:01:42.369
makes the kid. I think if you're looking for

01:01:42.369 --> 01:01:44.289
a way to deal with this as a player, you treat

01:01:44.289 --> 01:01:49.289
that person with respect when you need to, but

01:01:49.289 --> 01:01:52.050
you do your best to limit the interactions, especially

01:01:52.050 --> 01:01:54.949
if they are condescending or demeaning to you

01:01:54.949 --> 01:01:58.650
or if that toxic is wearing on you in a particular

01:01:58.650 --> 01:02:01.590
way. That's a tough question. Yeah, that's so

01:02:01.590 --> 01:02:05.110
hard. Because it's like, okay, if you have a

01:02:05.110 --> 01:02:07.570
problem with somebody, you don't need to be friends

01:02:07.570 --> 01:02:10.519
with everybody you play with. But if it's ruining

01:02:10.519 --> 01:02:14.780
team culture. And again, depending on what the

01:02:14.780 --> 01:02:19.179
age group is, there are more or less roles that

01:02:19.179 --> 01:02:21.579
a coach should play. Like if they're youth, the

01:02:21.579 --> 01:02:23.719
coach needs to help address the situation because

01:02:23.719 --> 01:02:26.079
the athletes may not have the tools or the experience

01:02:26.079 --> 01:02:28.320
to deal with that. If it's a professional or

01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:30.460
a college situation, you know, you should be

01:02:30.460 --> 01:02:32.360
better equipped to kind of handle that and make

01:02:32.360 --> 01:02:34.059
it work because the team's shooting for a goal.

01:02:34.199 --> 01:02:36.000
I always think it's worth having a conversation

01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:38.550
though. Totally. I remember we had a conversation

01:02:38.550 --> 01:02:41.429
like this once on our national team when I played

01:02:41.429 --> 01:02:45.269
indoor. It didn't go well. And it might not go

01:02:45.269 --> 01:02:47.469
well, but at least you've tried. Yeah, I think

01:02:47.469 --> 01:02:50.349
it's important to give people the opportunity

01:02:50.349 --> 01:02:53.650
to make changes once they are made aware of how

01:02:53.650 --> 01:02:58.010
their actions make you feel. And also you have

01:02:58.010 --> 01:03:00.469
to be careful that you're not the only one who

01:03:00.469 --> 01:03:04.369
perceives the toxicness. Yeah, whatever you want

01:03:04.369 --> 01:03:08.019
to call it. No, that's what it's called. Yeah,

01:03:08.019 --> 01:03:11.940
okay. Fair. But if you're the only one who's

01:03:11.940 --> 01:03:13.699
bothered by this person, then it's more of a

01:03:13.699 --> 01:03:17.239
personal thing than a team issue. If it's affecting

01:03:17.239 --> 01:03:20.239
three or four players, then try and address it.

01:03:20.300 --> 01:03:22.679
But I think people can only operate with information

01:03:22.679 --> 01:03:26.699
they're given. So I think allowing... Bringing

01:03:26.699 --> 01:03:30.260
things up and letting it be known how a certain

01:03:30.260 --> 01:03:32.739
person's words or actions are making a group

01:03:32.739 --> 01:03:35.239
feel. You have to give people the opportunity

01:03:35.239 --> 01:03:37.900
to make a change. And then if that doesn't work,

01:03:38.280 --> 01:03:40.820
cut them. No, just kidding. Great question. Tough

01:03:40.820 --> 01:03:43.119
question. Really tough. Love these questions.

01:03:43.780 --> 01:03:47.519
Every week, keep them coming. Instagram, email,

01:03:47.800 --> 01:03:51.679
you name it. Top segment for me. I love this

01:03:51.679 --> 01:03:54.659
one as well. Looking forward to this week. Again,

01:03:54.719 --> 01:03:57.380
there's so much to watch and so many good matches.

01:03:57.460 --> 01:03:59.460
So we're going to highlight a few here. Watch

01:03:59.460 --> 01:04:02.440
some replays Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in this

01:04:02.440 --> 01:04:04.860
case as well. But starting on Thursday at 9 p

01:04:04.860 --> 01:04:08.179
.m. Eastern, we have Stanford versus UC Santa

01:04:08.179 --> 01:04:12.239
Barbara on the men's side. Thursday at 7 p .m.

01:04:12.239 --> 01:04:16.260
Eastern, MLV is Indy versus Orlando, both undefeated

01:04:16.260 --> 01:04:18.460
teams. So that will be a really good match to

01:04:18.460 --> 01:04:21.659
watch. Friday at 7 p .m. Eastern, Pepperdine

01:04:21.659 --> 01:04:24.619
versus Loyola Chicago. Pepperdine coming off

01:04:24.619 --> 01:04:26.800
a loss. Loyola Chicago playing really well currently,

01:04:26.940 --> 01:04:28.840
so that will be really good. That's also NCAA

01:04:28.840 --> 01:04:33.340
men's. Saturday at 9 p .m. Eastern, UC Irvine

01:04:33.340 --> 01:04:36.300
versus BYU. Lots of really good men's games this

01:04:36.300 --> 01:04:39.400
week. Saturday, 9 p .m. Eastern, Love Madison

01:04:39.400 --> 01:04:42.519
versus Salt Lake. Both teams are currently playing

01:04:42.519 --> 01:04:45.699
well, so that should be a really good game. And

01:04:45.699 --> 01:04:48.860
then Sunday at 2 p .m. Eastern, we have Trentino

01:04:48.860 --> 01:04:51.980
versus Perugia, which is an Italian men's game.

01:04:52.179 --> 01:04:54.239
Both of those teams are at the top of the league.

01:04:54.460 --> 01:04:56.239
I think it's a one versus three. Yeah, that's

01:04:56.239 --> 01:04:59.880
going to be a great game, and that'll be on VBTV.

01:05:00.480 --> 01:05:03.940
Lots to tune into. Watch what you can, and we'll

01:05:03.940 --> 01:05:06.139
be back here next week to discuss it. That concludes

01:05:06.139 --> 01:05:08.599
this week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always

01:05:08.599 --> 01:05:10.380
something shaking in the volleyball world, and

01:05:10.380 --> 01:05:12.619
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure

01:05:12.619 --> 01:05:14.500
to follow the show so you don't miss any updates.

01:05:14.969 --> 01:05:17.449
And we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five

01:05:17.449 --> 01:05:20.230
-star review. You can find us on Instagram at

01:05:20.230 --> 01:05:23.409
volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have a

01:05:23.409 --> 01:05:25.489
topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

01:05:25.489 --> 01:05:28.670
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin

01:05:28.670 --> 01:05:31.429
.com. Thanks so much for joining us and we'll

01:05:31.429 --> 01:05:32.369
be back next week.