Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. So, Champions League playoffs. Italian women's
playoffs. Playoffs everywhere. All the leagues.
But we watch playoffs. We watch playoffs. There's
no competing with the intensity, the execution,
the just dire need to win or you go home. I mean,
there's some whack stuff going on in some of
the leagues. True. That we will briefly talk
about. Full disclosure, we watched playoffs.
We watched a lot of Italian and Champions League
this week. And we did some research based on
our listeners' feedback. We're excited to dive
in. We're going to talk about a lot of stuff.
So let's get started. All right, you know what
time it is. Was your fantasy highlighter happening?
What's below happening? R .I .P. Not the best.
I had four bench players count for me. My middles
and my setters right up the middle of the court
screwed me. It was not great. You know it's bad
when four of my bench players get the call up
for their points, okay? I know it's going to
be a bad week when that happens. Although Kylie
Murr was on my bench and she scored me over 50
points as a libero. Okay. And Mimi Collier held
it down for me. She was not a bencher for me.
She was straight up starting. You know who really
screwed me over this week? Brie Kelly. Yeah.
This girl's starting all these matches. She's
doing great. Her points are on the climb. I'm
like, yeah, baby, here we go. What does she decide
to do? Nine points. And you know who got me negative
points but was subbed out, thankfully? Azani
Teeler. Bree Kelly, Kaz Brown, Rakochevich. Like,
not great. It was just not good. And I took a
risk with the setter, but it looks like... Looks
like Shampoo's back. I picked Pukas, too. Got
me 70 points last week. I thought I was being
sneaky. You know what? I'm kind of out of the
running after my week of zero. So my goal was
to try and be in the top 75 every week moving
forward, like just on a week -to -week basis.
What's your ranking? 178. I mean, you got the
last two numbers are close. No, no, I'm saying
weekly I'd like to compete at 75. Thank you for
that. Wait, what? Like you want to be in the
top? Every week. I'm looking at it week by week
how I do compared to everybody else. Oh, no,
no, no. We need to look overall. So what were
you this week then? Overall? No, week by week.
You're 178th this week? No, I'm 178th overall
in the league. I was 270 this week. I had an
awful week. Not even close. Awful week, no. I
set a goal. I was not close to my goal. I'm in
the 90s overall. I don't look week by week. I'm
looking big picture here. It's like win it all
or forget about it. I'm not going into a full
rebuild. I'm not winning at all. But I'm looking
for a retooling on the fly. So we'll see what
this next week looks like. Had some people talking
smack on the message board this week. I loved
it. Keep it coming. The problem is we can't.
Tallahassee Turtles is still winning. I'm upset.
I'm just kidding. Somebody asked what our names
were so they could compare to us. You're probably
beating us, but mine is Schultz. Mine's Volley
Talk SP. I kept it simple. Identifiable. If you
want to scroll down the league to find us and
see if you're beating us, that's what you're
looking for. You know what, every week I still
have hope that I'm going to climb, and I'm not.
But you've got to have hope. So all I can do
now is banter with people on the message boards.
One step at a time. Keep hoping that everyone
will forget the deadline so I can get points
and they don't. We also had Big Paul sign up.
People have been asking for him to have an episode.
My dad signed up. And we will be having Paul
back on the podcast. We are heading back to Canada
in about a month. And we will have him on one
of those episodes because he'll be around. So
stay tuned for that. Keep it up, everybody. I'm
happy for all of you who are doing great. Kind
of. But join us if you haven't. Play volley .com
slash volley talk. Play volley .com slash volley
talk. We're well over 400 teams now. It's very
exciting. All right. NCAA men. Noteworthy results.
Not a bunch of upsets, but we had some good matchups.
I would say the marquee upset of the week was
Vanguard beat number nine UC San Diego in five.
That is going to hurt them. But UC San Diego
beat them a couple days later. Again, it doesn't
matter. Losing to an unranked team when you're
top ten, not good. Beating them a few days later
is good for morale. Not great for the ranking.
They're falling out of the top ten. Totally.
We also had number 15, Lewis, beat number 13,
Ohio State, in three. I mean, that one I expected
it to be close. But that's a bit of a statement.
When you can beat somebody close to you in three,
you're kind of letting them know or putting them
on notice. So maybe they'll flip -flop positions
or something. Number three, Hawaii, and number
six, BYU, had a series, and Hawaii absolutely
shellacked them. In four and in three. That's
not surprising. Hawaii is just a better team.
We had another really big matchup. UCLA versus
UC Irvine. UCLA won that one in five. I was a
little surprised it went to five. I believe they
may have been playing in Irvine. Don't quote
me on that. That's a Monday, Tuesday meeting
game watch. I'm going to go back and watch that
one. So UCLA keeps solidifying themselves as
the team to beat this season. Will they be able
to hold on for the entirety of the season? They've
got USC coming up this week. They still have
Pepperdine. They've got BYU. It's like they've
still got some good teams in front of them, but
undefeated so far. Okay, MLB, listen to this.
So Indy has just solidified themselves as the
top team right now. They're at 12 -2. Nobody
is even close. No. The wild thing about the league
right now, there are only two teams in the whole
league with winning records. Can you believe
that? No. It shouldn't be possible. That is insane.
Two teams have winning records, two teams are
at 500, and half the league has a losing record.
You guys, like that's crazy to me. Yeah. That
only two teams have winning records. So those
teams are obviously Indy and then Dallas is at
nine and five. Orlando's at seven and seven.
Two of the losing record teams are Omaha and
Atlanta. Which I did not see happening. And get
this. San Diego is in fourth, everybody. I mean,
we thought that San Diego would be. Like seventh.
Yes. When we predicted at the beginning of the
season, I believe we had them at seventh. And
they were bottom feeders for like 10 matches.
I honestly don't know how they're doing it. Like,
Brokojevic is not playing well. And I know that
because she's not scoring many fantasy points.
I don't know how they're winning matches, to
be honest. Well, we stopped watching them after
the first few weeks. It was horrendous. Because
I'm like, this is a dumpster fire. I was like,
I can't watch this anymore. And now they're like,
here we are. And that's the thing about picking
what games to watch is there's so much to choose
from that if you're not, you know, some of the
teams we need to watch, like we wanted to watch
Madison, see what's going on. We wanted to watch
Nebraska. You watch a couple of those matches.
But if it's not holding your attention, like
there's, you're going to flip to something else
because there's so much. We gave them a lot of
chances, honestly. Might need to go back because
I don't know how they're doing it. It's a big
turnaround. There and forth. That's wild. Who
would have thought that Omaha and Atlanta would
have losing records right now? I mean, we're
almost exactly halfway through the season. There's
no reason for either of those teams to be doing
as poorly as they are. Omaha has probably the
best roster on paper. We were talking about that
during the offseason, how they were just like...
buying all these people and then like kind of
from what we heard we're not saying that this
is actually fact heard that they were using their
sponsors to buy the most expensive players as
well because that's the loophole around the calorie
salary cap and here they are just like but this
comes back to conversations we've had where it's
about The team, like you have to be thoughtful
about how you make your roster. Just buying the
best athlete in each position doesn't guarantee
you success. There needs to be team chemistry.
There needs to be a goal. Look, they were forced
from all accounts to trade the national team
libero because she wasn't happy with what's going
on. Now that we don't know exactly why that is.
We don't know exactly why she wanted to be traded,
to be fair. No, but still, when you have to trade
away a player, of that caliber who is starting
there's something a bad season sure there's there's
something going on there because it should not
be like this wild stuff also i'm curious how
long the staff at atlanta is going to be sticking
around because i would say they're severely underperforming
as well yeah it will depend on what the other
options are like bandwidth has a good resume
she's In the volleyball world, I don't know how
much that buys you. One bad season, I'm not sure.
But also the bird, the woman who was coaching
Omaha the first two seasons when they did really
well is the manager or whatever for Atlanta now.
Do you think she's going to step down and start
coaching? Maybe. Or do both? I wouldn't be surprised.
It's definitely possible. So anyway, yeah, Indy's
rolling. Again, another question of will they
be able to maintain this and finish the season
that way? We'll see. MLB's been interesting,
though. All right. Love. Salt Lake is still in
first place, but they have lost three matches
in a row. Now, in fairness, Poulter and Gray
have been out. Yeah. And I mean, in the last
match they played versus Atlanta, neither Poulter
nor Gray played. Yeah. I honestly haven't watched
them this week, so I don't know if those two
played in the match before or whatever, but yeah,
they've lost three in a row. I think Gray's the
bigger loss because Buggs should be able to run
that offense well enough for them to keep going.
Now, maybe Casanova doesn't have the same connection
with her. Gray is probably one of their best
players, if not their best player. We'll see
when they come back. I'm not worried yet. Something
to keep your eye on. because we don't know the
nature of the injury. We don't know how long
they'll be out. They need gray back for sure
as soon as possible. And Atlanta's won four matches
in a row, so they're coming on strong. I mean,
we knew that they would be good. Did we? They
were good last year. Yeah, last year. Watching
them this year, I haven't loved it. No, but roster
-wise, they're very similar to last year. They
played well. I think it's settling out. I mean,
I think we thought Omaha and I think we thought
Madison would be better than they were. I don't
think I didn't envision Houston being quite this
good. Like they've really come on and won matches
in the last little while. No, at the beginning
of the season, we expected Houston to be really
good. And then they started terribly, but they've
gotten a lot better. We did watch Nebraska -Houston
this week. Yeah, that one, reverse sweep. Reverse
sweep. I don't even know how to explain. that
match it felt to me like the match was determined
on errors there were there weren't a lot of terminal
swings and again it's five sets people scored
points don't get me wrong but it seemed like
rallies rallies rallies hit out of bounds or
miss or it wasn't it didn't feel like there was
a lot of earning points it was like rallies were
ending or plays were ending on errors eye test
not backed up by stats but that's how it felt
watching the match I'm still shocked that Nebraska's
not using Kettle more. I know she has an ankle
injury. Maybe that is holding her back. But you
cannot honestly tell me that she shouldn't be
on the court. I mean, I agree with you. In fairness,
in this match in particular, I thought Thader
was the difference. No, the two middles they
have on are playing well. But are they Kettle's
level? Kettle is your long -term solution. Like
she needs to be playing. I thought Jordan Thompson
played well for Houston. I agree. I also thought
Jordan Larson played well. Oh my God. Jordan
Larson was like scoring at will. It was insane.
Yeah. I don't, I haven't seen her play like that
this season. I don't think it was. Yeah. Jordan
Larson as well. And then like the stare downs
that Thompson was giving Larson. I'm like, I
mean, we all know that I am for a stare down.
I love them. Absolutely. But I was just confused
of why they were directed to Jordan Larson of
all people. If you look at the two people who
you thought would have gotten a stare down in
that match, I think those two players would be
at the bottom. No, I don't think Jordan was staring
anybody down. Larson. Happening between two players.
Yeah. I think it's great for love. We need to
see the players care, get fired up, want to win.
Like, I love that for Jordan Thompson. And I
think. If you're coming for that spot and you
want people to take you not seriously, but know
that you're, yeah, like get after it. I loved
it. No. And that's been one of our major criticisms
of love is it always feels like an exhibition
game where everybody's just like friends with
each other and having fun. Like I'm not, I like,
I'll reiterate, I'm not opposed to a stare down.
I'm just saying I was confused of why it was
directed to who it was. Totally. But I think
we also have to just clear. a little something
up here. I received so many messages this week
about why do you guys hate Jordan Thompson? Why
do you think she's not good? Like all this stuff.
And I'm like, first of all, listen to the words
we are saying, please, because we did not say
that. We, what was said was Jordan Thompson is.
Among our picks of who will be an opposite for
Team USA. She's taken two seasons off of playing
overseas. She's played domestically for two seasons
and a season off of international. So it will
be interesting to see how long it takes her to
readjust to that level of play. That's what we
said. Yeah. And I think I said she still needs
to prove herself because two years can be a long
time compared to the other international right
sides, not the American right sides. So, yeah.
Thank you to everybody who didn't listen but
wanted to share that because, yeah, we said that.
And I don't think she's committed to the national
team yet. I don't know. She still has to decide
whether that's something she wants to do. So
we'll see. Playoffs are happening in Italy. On
the women's side, Corneliano won the regular
season. Quarters and semis are best of three.
Finals, best of five. So Corneliano's playing
Bustor Ciccio. If you follow NCAA women's volleyball,
Melanie Parra and Carter Booth are playing for
that team. Scandici's playing Bergamo. And all
of our Kendall Kipp fans probably know that she
plays for Bergamo. We watched that game. Milano
is playing Vallefoglia and Novar is playing Chieri.
We wanted to do our due diligence here because
so many questions about Kendall Kipp, as we talked
about last week, we admitted that we weren't
too familiar with her. So we watched the Scandici
-Bergamo match this week. What were your thoughts
on Kendall Kipp? So I'm going to preface this
by saying, again, it was one match that we watched.
However, she was more physical than I thought
she would be. which is positive I thought she
hit the ball down the line really well I didn't
see her attack cross court very much and when
she did there wasn't a ton of power on that so
something to pay attention to something she would
need to be able to do to play internationally
I didn't think the Bergamo setter was particularly
consistent so I saw her hit the meat of the block
a bunch of times hard to say whether that was
setting whether that was inconsistency because
there were a couple times where she went into
the seam high and those were good swings so I
mean definitely good things I would say initial
assessment is she definitely deserves to be in
the mix she definitely deserves to play VNL have
a shot see what it's like on the team to me her
performance put her in the mix what else did
you see yeah I mean I definitely think that she
needs to be considered I think she is better
than some of the options we saw on the right
side last international season agreed I think
she has a better serve than all of the right
sides we saw last international season I thought
she defensively she dug heat well not mobile
on tips really uh blocking she put up a decent
block I agree I mean she predominantly hit line
she or line seam she wasn't creating any angles
really yeah and the worrisome part is if you
have time to game plan for her like a really
good libero will probably dig that line shot
you slide six over and now you have to find different
ways to score like can you do it that's that's
the question I mean, I was concerned about the
height that she hits the ball over the net. There
were, there were some where she was hitting really
high and I agree the setter, they might have
had to do with the setting. I don't know. I'll
have to see her in more situations, but for her
size, I was a little surprised at how low to
the net she was hitting some balls, but yeah,
for sure should be in the conversation should
like be on a VNL travel roster for sure. But,
yeah, I'll want to see her play more. Scandici,
I don't know if they were resting players or
if players are injured or what. Skinner has to
be injured because she didn't play. She didn't
play Champions League or this match. Konjanovic
played Champions League, didn't play this match.
But it very well pushed them to five. Had some
match points. Wild because they were down big
in the set that they won at the beginning. Like,
that shouldn't have been close. Scandici's a
better team. Oh, Scandici is a much better team.
Bergamo's no slouch, but it's just like the A1
players versus A2, as you usually call them.
I think that Scandici should win the next match
handily. Probably in three. It was exciting just
as far as the back and forth and the result goes,
but I don't think it should have been that close.
Agreed. On the men's side, Perugia won the regular
season. So they're playing Monza. Verona finished
second. They're playing Milano. Then we've got
Trentino versus Civitanova and Modena versus
Piacenza. Finally, I told you there was a lot
of playoffs happening. Champions League. The
quarterfinals are set. Milano's playing Vacavbank.
They beat Olympiacos in the home and away. Zarin
Ankara is playing Conigliano. Zarin beat Schwerin
from Germany in both the home and away. And then
Azazibachi is playing Reshov. That was already
predetermined. And then Benerbachi is playing
Scandici. Scandici beat Novara, but it did go
to a golden set. So last week, Novara beat Scandici
3 -1. And so if you remember... Our discussions
about Champions League, if you win in three or
four, that's three points. If you win in five,
that's two. Lose in five, that's one. So because
Navarro won in four, they got three points. They
just needed to push the match to five because
if they lost in five, they would win the head
-to -head four to two. Navarro wins the first
set in Scandici. They needed to win one more
set. Couldn't do it. They could not do it. Scandici
won the next three. Okay. Which was very exciting.
This is so reminiscent of the Fenerbahce back
of bank series last year. So it goes to a golden
set and Scandici squeaks it out. Novara gave
it away. You guys like the drama in this match
was. top -notch like novaro had a hefty lead
yes in what set three or four yeah and and dc
just found a way i'm it was so fun to watch honestly
one of the better matches from a pure entertainment
standpoint that i've seen in a long time just
because the drama was So apparent. Novara's up.
They don't even need to win the match. They just
need to win another set. They're playing well.
Then they pucker. Scandici is trying. They can't
seem to get it together. Well, they had Ruddins
on the left side starting because Skinner didn't
play. Ruddins usually comes in as a dub sub or
as a replacement for Entropova every now and
then. But Ruddins started on the left. And actually
played really well. Until she got used twice.
And then she was like swinging pretty neutral.
Franklin had a really good week. But Franklin
came in for Ruddens. Yes. And then she played
really well. Played really well against Bergamo
too. But dang. That was really good. Pure theater.
Really good. On the men's side, the playoffs
are happening this week. So we got Warsaw versus
Trentino. Las Palmas versus Montpellier. And
Reshov versus Rosalar from Belgium. Now, are
those straight quarters or those the play -in
matches? Those are the play -in matches. Okay.
That's what I thought. Those are the matches
to go to the quarters. So, again, lots of stuff
happening. There were so many good matches this
week. Again, we focused predominantly on the
overseas side watching, and it was well worth
it, everybody. I mean, we're going to watch a
lot of. overseas volleyball in the next couple
weeks because Champions League there's just nothing
like it it's so good it's so entertaining the
Italian finals are so so good the volleyball
is amazing it's the coaches are fiery the players
are fiery everybody wants to win and I love when
a coach wears a suit okay thank you so much to
the Italian League I love a coach in a suit if
you remember a couple weeks ago we talked about
the new rules that were posted about being tested
in VNL from On the FIVB side. And how the FIVB
kind of rolled it back, walked it back a little
bit, and were like, wait a minute, no. So they
officially posted their rules that are going
to be in the VNO. So here they are. Let me know
your thoughts. The push, carry, catch, throw,
tip attack. This is what they called it. So,
the ball must not be caught or thrown. Attack
actions involving changes of direction, two -hand
attacks, pushes, open -hand block outs, and carries
will not be permitted. Only the action of tipping
the ball with a very short contact will be allowed.
Thank goodness. Honestly, I like this one. Me
too. Okay, sorry. I asked you to tell what you
thought, and I'm like, step back. Okay, go. I
hate the... little volley rotation over or the
push from high it's you're doing it because you're
out of position or the set's not where you want
it it it allows sloppy execution and you know
what if you can't execute the speed that you're
trying to run you should suffer for it and I
think I'm all for this rule I love it I am relieved
that this rule like I have hated gross it's gross
I have hated watching These throw tips. I have
hated watching these, like, double -hand set
attacks. Like, somebody hit a ball. Okay? Hit
a ball. I'm sick of seeing all this weird stuff
going on, so I am a huge fan of this one. Next.
In FIVB competitions, teams may register 12 to
14 players. Each roster must include at least
one libero. Teams may choose to nominate two
liberos from their registered roster and have
up to an hour before the match to do this. Fine.
Yeah, that's fine. Mid -rally challenge bookmark.
Teams may mark any action during a rally that
could potentially be challenged at its conclusion.
At the end of the rally, if the team loses the
rally, it can pursue only one of the challenges
they've identified. A mid -rally action cannot
be challenged without a bookmark. If both teams
bookmark actions in the same rally, the sequence
will be reviewed and the first fault observed
will prevail. The bookmarking system must be
linked to the start rally button to allow faster
rewind. Okay. I like this. We talked about this
being, hey, you need to know what you're challenging.
And I wholeheartedly agree. Now, I did have somebody
reach out to me and say, why wouldn't you want
the correct call? So if you challenge it and
they look through the play and they see it, why
are you against them getting the call right?
And I'm not. I would like the call to be correct,
and I have no problem with that. What I do have
a problem with is people just throwing up the
challenge flag on a long rally, hoping they're
going to see a net touch or see something like
that. It slows the game down. You don't actually
think anything is wrong. And the referees have
the ability to call their own challenges. You
know, 99 % of the calls are going to end up being
right if you haven't blown your challenge. So
knowing specifically what you're trying to challenge,
I think improves the system greatly. Well, and
I think I agree. I want the call to be right.
But if you're challenging the wrong thing. but
they end up noticing that you should have gotten
the point anyway, I think you should lose your
challenge. You can still get the point. Yeah,
agreed. But I think you should lose the challenge
because you didn't challenge the right thing.
So honestly, I am totally fine with this mid
-rally challenge thing. Next one is double contact
interpretation. Double contact during the setting
action will continue to be allowed, provided
the ball remains on the same side of the court.
Yeah, I'm fine. If your setter is doubling the
ball, you're in trouble. And you don't, you know,
put the free ball over, continue the rally. There's
no reason to blow that dead. I'm fine with this.
Yeah. Ball contacting the ceiling. If the first
or second contact hits the ceiling and continues
on the same side of the net. The rally continues.
If the ball hits the ceiling and goes to the
other side, it will be ruled a fault. Contact
with the spider cam or crane cam inside the field
of play will continue to result in a replay.
Okay, fine. Honestly, if you are going to rocket
a ball up to the ceiling of some of these places,
like, good luck. Like, if your ball control is
that horrendous, we've got issues. This is a
de minimis rule. Out of rotation, error -free
positioning. The receiving team must be in correct
rotational order at the referee's whistle, but
can move once the serving action is initiated.
Players may leave their correct rotation or lineup
position at the moment the server's motion begins,
including a step or movement of the arms or legs
in the first motion to serve. That's kind of
what they were doing anyway, wasn't it? Yeah,
I mean, I don't personally love it. I think you
should have to... pass where you are I think
it creates more tactical advantages more serving
options but at the end of the day it improves
potentially the service reception you get better
rallies and those kind of things better passes
so I'm on the fence with this one I personally
am like 45 % don't love it but don't really care
I feel like the only way the way teams have been
using it that we've seen is just like Having
hitters move into their attacking positions faster.
Hitters and setters moving early, I don't care.
It's the passing thing that I kind of don't like.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the passing implication
either, but coach to speak to the first referee.
The head coach may approach and speak to the
first referee to clarify or confirm the type
of challenge requested or to seek clarification
regarding a call. Complaints and protests remain
prohibited. That's fine, but I think the picture
they chose for this one is really funny. We are
going to pick the one person who always stops.
Touches and defense and serve receive touches
will be included in the challenge regulations.
A clear and visible contact must be shown on
video to overturn the original decision. Yeah,
that's fine. Reduce breaks after the result of
a challenge. The team that requested the challenge
may not request a timeout. The team that did
not challenge can call a timeout. I like this.
Yep, totally fine. Warm -up protocol, a 90 -second
separate serving warm -up period will be introduced
to the warm -up protocol. Both teams will share
the net for the attack portion, but for serving,
Team A will have the first 90, followed by Team
B for athlete safety. Whatever. I'm totally fine
with that. The number of substitutions will be
increased from six to eight. I'm kind of sad
about this. I like the six substitutions. Everybody
knows that I'm a volleyball purist. I'm like,
everybody should be able to play six rotations.
Like, let's keep it that way. One double sub.
Be picky about who you have on the court. Like,
I like the six substitution. It's just like survival
of the fittest out there. I know, but. If you
use the double sub, then you only have two other
substitutions. What if you wanted to do a middle
serving sub and change your left side for one
rotation through the back row or something like
that? I'm okay with this because it gives you
a little more of a tactical advantage to do a
couple different things for three rotations.
My response to that is your middle should know
how to serve, and we need six rotation players
on the court. Last one. No whistle will be used
for a ball landing clearly in or out, a serve
not passing the net, or a clear block touch.
Basically, they don't want to hear the whistles.
Okay, fine. Notable miss rules are the insane
libero rules that they were talking about. The
libero serving and the libero being able to set
in front of the 10 -foot line. Hallelujah. Okay,
if that rule passed, I was going to just... Oh,
you know what? 100%. The FIVB watched our podcast
and were like, we need to listen to these idiots.
But seriously, though, hallelujah that this little
barrel roll is not going anywhere because I was
about to lose it. We are going to call this segment
Dub Sub. Okay, we got this question from a listener
and I thought it was really interesting. So we're
making it a segment. So the gist of the question
is how would we rank each of the double subs
that each love team has? I love this. Some teams
at this point can't do a double sub because of
injuries or whatever. And we're going to assume
that we're going to use the double subs that
we have seen. At the beginning of the season,
this person laid them out for us. Yeah, we're
going to go through the double subs that each
love team has and rank them. The double sub options
we are looking at are Salt Lake using Bug and
Skylar Fields. Houston using Maddie Wack and
Logan Lednicki. Austin with Carly Lloyd and either
Julian Fawcett or Cat Bell. Atlanta with Ella
Mae Powell and Montano. Nebraska with Gabby Blossom
and Adriana Fitzmaurice. And then Madison with
Argentina Ung and whatever random pin they've
got going on. That's what the person said, okay?
I'm reading the question. Okay, so I know my
bottom two. Who are your bottom two? Madison
and then Nebraska. Madison and Nebraska. Okay.
Madison bottom. Yeah. We don't even know. Madison
bottom. What's going on? Okay. Why Nebraska?
I just, I don't love Blossom as a setter. Why
don't you love her? I mean, I know she's definitely
not a front. She's definitely a dub sub setter.
She's not playing front row. Yeah. I like the
double sub last year. I know Fitzmaurice came
in every now and then for the double sub, but
when. The middle situation happened, and then
they had Stiverins coming, and I thought that
they did a good job together. Yeah. But this
is this year, everybody. Again, which setter
are you putting Blossom ahead of? I mean... Maybe
Ella May Powell? I'm not a huge Ella May Powell
fan, and I mean, Wack is fine. Yeah, but you
have to... She's, like, very inexperienced. She's
inexperienced, but you have to remember she's
coming in and setting Lednicki. Exactly. She's
not inexperienced with that. She loves to come
in and set that first ball on the right side.
And she runs the middle well. I think my two
three would be the Nebraska and then the Ella
Mae Powell Montano would be. Oh, but what one
is worse? You think Nebraska's is worse? Which
right side do you like better? Montano does a
pretty good job. Okay. They're putting Madison
at the bottom. We did have to think about that.
Yeah. Madison at the bottom and then Nebraska
and then Atlanta. Those are my bottom three.
Honestly, okay, so top three. I've watched Salt
Lake play a lot, and I haven't seen Fields and
Bug come in together. Because, like, I've seen
Bug set a 5 -1 when Alter hasn't been playing.
But Casanova's been doing so good. I hate to
say it, I might give the top spot to Wacklinicky,
even though they're the more inexperienced group.
So are you basing that off the fact that they
don't use it in Salt Lake? Okay, we're doing
hypotheticals here. Yeah, let's say Salt Lake
wasn't having as great a season as they were
and they had to use the double sub. Who would
you rather have? Okay, Bokefields. Yeah, that's
where I think I'm at the top. And then I think
I have Wacken -Lednicki second, I think. Yeah.
Because I like Lloyd. I don't know. They're just
like. Fawcett, Catbell. Yeah. Like they're not
like causing the team to bleed out or anything.
No, no, no, no, no, no. But I'm not sure I take
them over the other two. But I'm thinking like
production. Like when Wacklednicki come in, they're
turning a couple points. I agree with you. You
know what I mean? Okay. I'm going to go. So is
this what we're saying? Salt Lake, Houston, Austin.
Atlanta, Nebraska, Madison. I think so. That's
where I would have it. Okay. That's our pick.
Let us know what you think. There's a second
part to this question. Okay. Who would you say
in the international game is the best dub sub?
Italy. Okay. They knew you would say that. So
they said, other than that. Oh, okay. Okay. Italy,
hands down, best double sub. Obviously. Okay.
This is hard. Yeah. I need to run through. Okay.
Let's run through it. Who would Brazil's double
sub be? Okay, depending on who they have that
day setting, either Macris or Roberta. Okay.
And then depending, so like if Anna Christina's
playing, then they've got Bergman on the right
side starting, so then Rosa Maria would be coming
in as the dub sub. Or they've got, or Tainara
coming in. Okay, I mean, that's a pretty good
option. That's a pretty good option. Because
both setters, albeit they're... kind of inconsistent
at times or have both both start and both play
and both have the potential to be good assuming
they're coming in and delivering their setting
situation is a little up and down and i'm thinking
poland you know the girl who sometimes wears
the cornrows she comes in on the right side oh
she's one of the tattoos she's good and then
their backup setter does a good job too like
they do a good job when they come in u .s We've
got like a Sage behind a Torres, maybe a let
Nikki situation. I think the setting drop off
for the US is just high. If Babcock is coming
in as the. No, but yeah. As the dub sub, that's
a good. But the US has been all over the place.
Like I couldn't even tell you who their starting
right side is. Right. Like it's hard to figure
out who the dub sub is. And they don't have another
setter like Poulter. So the offense is totally
different. To me, I'm not sure I would put the
U .S. on just because the drop in setting right
now is so significant in terms of how it looks.
So I think right side, you have a whole bunch
of options. So I think that piece from an attacking
or blocking standpoint is fine, but it's the
setting that makes me nervous on that one. What
about Germany, Turkey? You've got the young 23
year old who sometimes, but like, you don't take
Vargas off. No, no, you can't. Like, it's hard
to like, like if you have a player that you like,
absolutely are like, we are never taking you
off. Then it's like, it's like, it's hard to
justify it. And then we've got, okay. Germany,
they bring the kinder. She sometimes starts,
but then she sometimes doesn't. I not know. Germany.
Okay. Right now my two top are Brazil and Poland.
Yeah. I. And then Serbia, Japan, WADA has been
starting for them. They don't really switch.
China, Gong passes. Yeah, probably Brazil would
be the option for that one, I think. And then
Canada, I'm like, eh, no. Their double sub doesn't
do it for me. Well, no, and you're not taking
what's -her -name off the floor. Van Ryn? Yeah,
their next. Well, their double sub is like. What
is her name? Quinn something. Yeah. Yeah. It's
not the Poland Brazil level. No. France. No,
it's got, it's gotta be Brazil and then Poland.
I think. Those two. Italy's obviously number
one. Yeah. And then probably Russia. I'm sure
they have someone besides Tolok waiting in the
wings. Oh, absolutely. Right side. No need to
pass. Perfect. There you go. Great segment. Great
segment. That was a lot of fun. Great suggestion,
too. This was a really good question. We love
alliteration on the show. So for the game today,
we're going to do Pavin's predictions. We have
all kinds of stuff. Instead of the formerly known
Pavin's percentages. No, that's a different game.
No, I know. Oh, okay. But we like to keep it
with the P. MLV love seasons are about halfway
through. We're entering playoffs in Champions
League and the Italian leagues. So what I want
to do today is I want to go through and I want
to get your predictions of what's going to happen
in all of these different situations. Are you
going to guide this? I'm going to guide this.
Okay, good. It's the Wild West out there. MLV
and Love, I want you to predict where you think
teams will finish regular season based off where
they are now. Okay, so a little bit. We did a
prediction at the beginning of the season. So
now that you've seen them play and we're halfway
through. Let's reevaluate and see where we're
at. Okay. And then we'll pick playoff winners
for Italian League women, Italian League Champions
League, and we might do the men once they're
a little more set in their quarterfinals. We'll
see if we have time to do some NCAA men's. We'll
go from there. That's ambitious, but we'll see.
All right. So let's start with MLV. Currently,
we have Indian first, then Dallas, Orlando, San
Diego, Omaha, Atlanta, Grand Rapids, and Columbus.
Do you think we will stay in this order, or what
do you think the end of the regular season will
look like? All eight, or what do you mean? Yeah,
give me all eight. Okay, I'm going to go Indy,
Dallas, Orlando, Omaha, San Diego, Atlanta, Grand
Rapids, Columbus. I would have the same one,
but I think Atlanta will end up finishing ahead
of San Diego. Atlanta. I think they're going
to get it on the rails. The momentum's in San
Diego's favor right now. Agreed. But we're still,
there's still a lot of game to play here. I need
to acknowledge the fact that they've made strides
though. Totally. Totally. But I still think Atlanta,
I mean, they're one, Atlanta has a game in hand
and they're only one game behind. So it's going
to be close. I mean, it's, there's a messy middle
there. Lots of seven. This game is called. Adam's
predictions, not Adam's prediction. We'll keep
going. All right. For love, we have Salt Lake,
Houston, Austin, Atlanta, Nebraska, Madison.
What are you thinking? Salt Lake, Houston, Atlanta,
Austin, Nebraska, Madison. Do you want to know
mine or am I not allowed? No, I don't, but go
for it. I'm just kidding. I think it's going
to be Salt Lake, Austin, Houston, Atlanta. Madison,
Nebraska. You think Madison is going to finish
ahead of Nebraska? I do. I think they're going
to. Do you think Austin is going to finish ahead
of Atlanta and Houston? I do. So we'll see. Let's
look at the Women's Champions League. Quarterfinals.
You kind of went over this, but give me your
quick take. Milano, Vacavank. Vacavank. Ankara
versus Conigliano. Conigliano. Izazibashi versus
Reslow. Oh, it's Ozzy Bashi. Scandicci, Fenerbahce.
I hate to say it. I really like Scandicci, but
I think Fenerbahce. And who's going to win the
whole thing? Oh, okay. I'm going to. Oh, my gosh.
This is so hard. I believe it's Vakavbank playing
Corneliano in the semis based on that lineup.
I think it's going to be Fenerbahce versus Vakavbank.
This is so hard. I'm going to give it to Back
Bank. Everybody can get mad and go for it. And
then the Italian women's playoff. I mean, I think
the first two are fairly straightforward, but
Canigliano or Busto? Canigliano. Scandicci, Bergamo.
Well, you say it's straightforward, and the Bergamo
took Scandicci to five, like in that Scandicci.
But I think Scandicci. Milano, Vallefoglia. Milano.
And then Novara, Chieri. Novara. And who's winning
the league? Fair enough. So we're going to do
men's last time. One more round for you. Let's
go through the NCAA men's big divisions and I'm
going to give you the top three teams currently
in each conference and you tell me who you think
is going to win the conference. Okay. So Big
West, UC Irvine, Hawaii, Long Beach State. Oh
my gosh. I haven't seen Hawaii play yet. So it's
really hard for me to... I mean, you know their
team, though. We watched them quite a bit last
year. I'm going to go Hawaii. Okay. That would
be my pick as well. MPSF, UCLA, USC, BYU. UCLA.
Meva, Ball State, Lindenwood, Loyola, Chicago.
Loyola, Chicago. Ooh, interesting. And then Eastern
Intercollegiate, you have Penn State, NJIT, and
George Mason. Penn State, I guess. And who do
you have winning the NCAA men's? UCLA. All right.
There you have it. There's Pavin's predictions.
That was fast. That was decisive. We'll do a
mini Pavin's predictions next week for the Italian
men's playoff and the Champions League. Okay.
I just jumped on it. I tried not to think too
hard. Just went on like gut instinct. But we'll
see what happens. All right. It is time for listener
questions. Are you ready? Let's do it. Question
one. I'm a new listener and enjoyed the podcast
a lot as a former club player. A question for
you guys about consistency. Young players tend
to lack consistency. How should those young players
improve that from both a player's standpoint
and coach's standpoint? Great question. Very
good question. I need to think about this. Well,
I'm curious what your thought is, but my initial
instinct is. I want you to make good decisions
and the execution will come with practice. That's
how I would phrase it to the athletes. If you
see the right thing and you are trying to do
something, that's going to make you better in
the long run, hands down. You talk about that
first and then if you notice something technically
deficient with what they're doing, you kind of
go, hey, try this. Knowing full well that making
any changes is going to have them make more mistakes.
But I think the consistency comes with good decision
making long term. I think that's fair. I'm thinking
about my own kind of path and trajectory. And
I'm going to throw out a term that we get so
annoyed when people use. You know what I'm going
to say? I don't, but I'm curious. volleyball
IQ like I hate I feel like it's so overused when
I think about my own career I feel like as I
gained a more intimate knowledge of the sport
and how people are moving and like the timing
in the set and how the team's momentum is going
how my personal you know momentum has been going
I developed a better understanding as I progressed
of like when it was OK to take risks and when
I needed to be smart. And I feel like that comes
with experience and being in certain situations
enough times to really hone that volleyball IQ.
Do you know what I'm saying? No, that's that's
totally. Right. I think there's two ways to talk
about consistency. One is when you're developing
skills when you're a younger athlete. And the
other one is when you're playing at a higher
level and you have those basic. So I'm just saying
like, even at the highest levels, it's the teams
that are able to execute consistently. And I'm
talking like even at the professional level.
And I'm thinking even specifically of like beach
volleyball, like the difference between teams
who are winning international tournaments. And
the teams who are, you know, finishing 17th or,
you know, just getting so close and then missing
is consistency. And I have said that like so
much, like as I've competed is the best teams
just make fewer errors. Okay. And so it's like,
how do you develop that? I feel like for club
players, it is like giving them the freedom to
figure it out. Like you were saying. So there's
two things. One is if there's a legitimate technical
issue that is causing a player to consistently
make mistakes, you have to go back, you have
to train them on the fundamentals, and then you
have to move them through doing it in isolation,
doing it with decisions, and then doing it in
live play. That's how you would correct a technical
issue. I know that sounds simple. It's not. But
that's kind of the progression you would do.
I think what you're talking about and what you
see at the higher levels is... pattern recognition
and being able to execute on those on that pattern
that's fair and I am kind of talking about like
as you progress to a higher level but if this
question is specifically asking about young players
I will say the coaches that made me afraid to
make mistakes those were the coaches that I made
more mistakes playing for yeah do you know what
I'm saying it's like If it's like if there was
like a rule in practice or in on a team or in
practice or something like if you miss your serve
in the net, you're doing X punishment. It's like
that's what you're thinking. I would miss more
serves in the net if it was just like, you know,
your job is to the point score. So when it's
24 all like I we have confidence in you like
you're the person we want to take that swing
and like. part of that role does come with making
errors in that situation. It's like, okay, yes,
that my team has confidence in me. Like this
is my job. I need to be aggressive and it's okay.
You know, like there's such a big difference
when there's like punishment attached to something.
Like when I, when I was made afraid to make errors,
I made more errors. So I think just like, allowing
players to understand their role and empowering
them to take risks and potentially make mistakes
as they're becoming better and honing their skills.
Because it's a mentality. Totally. My two favorite
questions when I coach is, what did you see and
what were you trying to do? That's the only two
things you ever need to ask an athlete. I'm being
somewhat facetious there. If you understand what
they're seeing and what they were trying to do,
then you can have a conversation with them about,
okay, here's how I would have A, made a different
decision, or did you see this? And then B, if
you were trying to do that and it didn't happen,
then you can give them some feedback on why that
didn't work. And now you're bringing them into
the process and you're having them think about
it. And I think that's just so valuable to developing
that consistency and that confidence. I love
this question. This is... This is a beer question
to me. I could sit around and drink beer and
talk about these kind of things for hours on
end. I love this. Thank you for submitting it.
Good question. Okay, question two. With the current
ban lift on youth Russian international competition,
do you think FIVB will lift the senior ban? And
if so, do you think the Russian nationals for
both men and women will be competitive? I think
the women's side would compete with the world,
the men's side not so much. Ooh, I don't... I
haven't seen a lot of men's Russian volleyball
lately, but they're always good. And they're
always big. Yeah, they've typically been pretty
good. And their pro leagues are generally pretty
competitive. So I would, I have no idea what
the FIVB is thinking in terms of lifting bands.
I can't even, I can't predict. Like it's been
several years now. Yeah. Yeah, I have no idea
if they'll do it or not. No sport federation
wants to be the first, I would say, probably.
So I don't know. I haven't seen anything else
happen except for individual athletes who can
compete under a non -flag. But team -wise, I'm
not sure. I would be surprised. But I think both
would be competitive. I know the Russian women
from, like, my era, and obviously, like, the
younger athletes and the athletes that are, like,
currently, like, playing in Russia still, I'm
not as familiar with. But just off the top of
my head, like, you've got Markova, Fedorovseva,
Tolok. Like right off the top of my head. That's
a legit three. And there's way more. The women
100 % would be very competitive. The men, they're
always good. But you also have players that are
of the older era when they were very good who
in the time the ban has happened have stopped
playing. Yeah. If I had to guess, they were making
quarterfinals of most major tournaments, if not
better. That's what that would be. I would say,
I would guess both would be competitive. Yeah,
I would. Ain't nobody want to see them in the
draw. You look at the men across the board, though,
and the men, there's parody. True. Way more parody
than there is on the women's side. So like, are
they going to walk in and win a gold medal? I
don't know, because like, literally. nine teams
on the men's side could win a gold medal and
i wouldn't be shocked you know what i'm saying
but like the women's side like i could they i
think that they could slot in for sure top three
i mean i would say top five at least somebody
asked me recently on instagram if i think that
they would be better than the u .s right now
and i said yes i think they would be better than
the u .s It's a good question. Yeah. It would
just be interesting. Even seeing them play professionally
for their club teams, I'm like, wow. They're
good. They're good. Question three. Between NCAA
men's or women's volleyball players, who do you
think leave college more prepared for international
volleyball? The men. Hands down. Why do you say
that? There are fewer men's teams, so the talent
is more concentrated. You're playing better games.
more consistently, I think. There's no dilution.
The guys who are coming up, there just aren't
that many people who are choosing volleyball
over football, baseball, basketball. Okay, no,
I don't... But my point was... Those same athletes
are all going through U15, U17, U19 for the international
programs. Okay, so yeah, they're playing together.
Great. But you think they're ready to step in
to top international play? I think a lot of them
have competed more internationally than the women
have. So they have more experience. They know
more about it. And the young men coming up are
just as physical. The men's game is more physical.
then I would say the women's game. The guys can
go up and hammer balls. No, see, I was going
to say that reason that you just said was going
to be a reason why I didn't think the men were
prepared. But think about when you see the women
come out. They go, okay, I can score. I can score
here. I can score here. Look at Babcock. What
do we always say? She is coming in and she can
score on two balls. Now she's going to see a
much bigger block. She's going to need to learn
how to score in other ways when she moves to
internationally. You look at... I'm blanking
on the kid's name from UCLA. Cooper Robinson?
Cooper Robinson came in, started for the U .S.
national team straight out of college, right?
He's as big as the other guys. He's as physical.
He's been playing against six 10 -setters who
are also international. But then you have like
an Andrew Rowan who came out for VNL and was
like... But I think setting in the barrel is
a different animal. Skilled positions. Yes. And
you also have more... high -end international
men playing in the NCAA than you do on the women's
side you're playing against Nikolov you're playing
against Hanno you're playing against all of these
other guys Canadians the level of competition
on the NCAA side I think is closer to international
than it is on the women's I'm not saying it is
international I'm saying it's closer okay you've
convinced me that's my argument I was initially
thinking that the physics aspect. Like the men
need a little bit to catch up. Some of them need
to put a little meat on their bones. That's what
I mean. But they're still playing the game at
the same height. It's not as big of a difference
as like an 18 year old freshman walking in playing
against 22 year old men. Correct. As a 22 year
old man is playing against like a 27 year old.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You convinced me. Question
four. When you are considering players for a
roster, how much weight do you put on certain
aspects? For example, the eye test, stats, physicality
versus others. How do those individual traits
feed into roster construction? Do you have a
kind of player that you really tend to gravitate
toward? I'm just going to say, I feel like, I
don't know if this is true across the board,
but I feel like it is so easy for coaches to
relate and identify with players that are like
them when they were athletes. Totally. I think
it's the number one innate coaching mistake.
Yes. As all my answers start with, I'm going
to say it depends on what you're trying to do
here. No, but just like for you, what do you
look at when you're constructing a roster? But
are we talking internationally? Are we talking
club? The only reason I ask that is because potential
comes into the question depending on where you
are and what you're trying to accomplish. Okay,
let's start with if you're building a club team
roster and then we'll do like... A good college
team. So I'm going to do a club roster. Let's
say 16U. Okay, so 16U. Or 15U. And I'm going
to coach them for two or three years. I'm taking
raw athleticism first. Attitude second. Skill
after that. I don't think many coaches would
do that that late this day and age. I'm not saying
it's right. I hear what you're saying, but...
three years at that age is an eternity. And this
is just me. Like, I don't be like, no, but they
have to sign and get verbally committed by the
time they are 15 winning at 16. You doesn't do
anything for me. Like, I don't, I don't care.
Right. For me, I'm like, if you're good enough
and you develop, you will get recruited and you'll
find a place to play. Like who cares how good
you are when you're 14? That's probably, except
if you're carrying on. So I'm just, that's probably
what I would look for. in that order in club
I do think you know obviously if you have just
stellar an athlete who's just innate but you
got to work on some personality stuff or some
attitude stuff you you work with that player
but I think in general I would go with that so
you don't really care about on a club level you
rely more on eye test physicality yeah because
there's so much to learn There's so much to work.
They're so mobile. I would watch the parents
drop them off. That's how you recruit kids to
the gym. I can actually say I've done this. I
coached a boys club team and I needed a few extra
players. And I drove to the Dutch community that
was around my house. I looked for the biggest
kids. I didn't know their names. We ended up
calling them Sticks and Lefty were the two guys
that I pulled. They were grade 10, 6 '5", lefty,
6 '6", long. They were my right side and my middle.
We brought them in, told them about volleyball.
They had no idea what was going on. Are they
any good? By the end, they both played in college.
Really? Yeah. I think for club, that's what I
would prioritize. And I will say I'm a sucker
for undying work ethic. So if there's an athlete
in the gym who's like that, I'm taking them on
my team because I love the environment. That's
Adam's mini me blind spot. Yeah. Fair. What would
my mini me blind spot be? Somebody who's a psycho.
Yours would be technically sound and competitive.
Like rip somebody's face off and don't apologize.
Yeah. Win every drill. Don't make friends. I'm
just kidding. I'm not. Okay. Making a club, a
college team. This is a little trickier. Yes.
It's so hard because you need, you do like good
athletes. To some extent there is ego. You can't
become the best at something without a little
bit of ego, but then to make a good team, you
also need role players who are like the hype
guy, the selfless ones. It's just like, I would
say roster building in college is about finding
harmony. You need to understand how athletes
will change the mix. Now, don't get me wrong.
You need horses to win. That's first and foremost.
You probably can't have four alphas on the team.
Maybe you can if you're really good at managing
them, but you're probably not going to get them
in one place. I'm talking women's more than men's.
And then you have to look at the strengths that
you have and make sure that... your team is going
to function the way you want it to, both from
a personality standpoint, but from a strategic
standpoint. We talked about Azazi Bashi the other
week and just how they brought all the tallest
players in. It's like, well, who's going to play
defense and who's going to do this? Or is your
sole plan to be offensive and block? You need
to have a clear identity and a clear goal, and
you need to recruit players who fit what you
want to do, but who also mesh with each other.
So it's nuanced. It's hard. So he's not going
to answer that part of the question. Okay. I
don't coach college. So what do I know? But I
would say you need, what would I look for? A
setter with a... Very intelligent, good hands,
but also a little bit of swagger. Then I would
look for a right side who is fearless. That's
going to be the ego player. Fearless, go for
it. Left side, okay being point score number
two, ball control, but also works really hard.
Then, other than that, your middles, workhorses.
Grinders. Grinders. The ones who are willing
to work the selfless position, but also, like,
don't mess with me. If you push me hard enough,
I'm going to clap back. Am I building the Haiku
roster? Maybe. And your libero needs to be the
hype person, but also be a little crazy. Because
you can't be taking... getting pelted by balls
getting hit at your face all day without being
a little tweaked but the libero needs to be the
like energy source i think on the court and then
you need role players and bench players who are
okay like that's why i wonder sometimes about
certain colleges who just collect all the best
players it's like how are you how are you managing
that like you don't The best teams don't always
have the best players top to bottom. You need
those role players who might not be the most
skilled, but who can do a couple things really
well to patch a hole in the crunch. You know
what I mean? And who are working at practice
to make the team better. Exactly. Okay, so let
me ask you this. You've played for a super successful
college. You've played on a ton of pro teams,
both that have won and that have lost. What are
the two biggest differences you would say between
the teams that you've been on that have won and
that have lost? Honestly, the team dynamic. The
teams who are able to manage the personalities
and the egos and get everybody to really understand
their role and buy in are the teams that were
the most successful. And is that done by the
coach or is that done by the team or is it a
combination? I don't know. if it's necessarily
done by anybody, but I think like the people
that the athletes have to have those, you know,
traits and you don't have to be happy if you're
not playing, but you need to keep it to yourself.
Do you know what I mean? Like harmony. I think
the other thing about putting a team together
is I think the intangibles and the personality
piece gets more important as you get, higher
in level because the skill is closer and closer
like if you look at winning teams of high level
sports like I'm I'm a big hockey guy so I watched
a lot of hockey you you look at the character
guys you hear the interviews like our dressing
room was the best we went to battle for each
other like that those things are important in
the hard moments and I think that's something
I've noticed with teams that you won especially
those two Brazilian teams like you guys were
not the most skilled team In the years that you
won. But you guys were grinders. You were fighters.
You were. You see the amount of money those teams.
Spend on scouting. Of watching players they bring
in. To see how they react in certain situations.
Like all of that is super important. Is that
something that you think. That can be taught.
Through like you know. All teams do like team
building exercises. Blah blah blah. Or do you
think it's just intangible. I think the older
you get, the harder it is to change. If you're
23 and you're externally motivated, I think it's
very hard to all of a sudden become internally
motivated. Not that being externally motivated
is a bad thing, but you need to understand that
if you have someone like that on your team. It's
harder to make those adjustments the older you
get, I think. All right. Question five. What
do you guys think of Lector Member Mena? She's
become a pretty solid passer in MLV, that is.
And with that arm, I wonder if there's a good
ROI if Team USA develops her. I don't think it's
going to happen. She's good. I think she's good
for the level she's playing at. But, like, the
jump from MLV to national team is steep. Listen.
I think she's 5 '8". She is. And. We're not trying
to like put limits on people here. No. But there's
sometimes all you can do is go as high as you
can. I love her mentality. I think she's good.
I love the way she plays. I think she's constantly
improving. She is somebody I would want on my
team hands down. But think about like Jordan
Larson was is the definition of the best. P2
you could probably have on a team in her prime.
And how tall is she? 6 '2". That's 6 inches.
It's tough to compete with that. Can you imagine
Lector member mana blocking Egonu or Entropova?
That's what would happen. No, because it wouldn't
happen. She is good. I respect her. I think she's
a good player. She is good for the level she's
playing at. Totally. She is not... An international
caliber left side. Not all of us can go on and
play internationally or play wherever, you know,
you have to, as an athlete, your goal should
be to be the best version of yourself. And I
think she is doing that. Unfortunately, you know,
0 .01 % of people play for national teams and
there's all kinds of factors. That's not an exact
stat. But you get, you get the point I'm saying.
I like her, but no. Okay, question six. Why don't
teams utilize the serve receive rotation adjustment,
which is the last minute hide or shift right
before the serve comes over, especially in rotation
one receive to push the setter and outside closer
to the net and shift the libero to take the serve
going to area one. To me, this is almost like
conceding you're not good enough to pass a serve.
I think there's a mentality piece to it. Yeah.
And then the team would be like, oh, they shifted.
I'm going to bomb one here. Forget it. The other
thing about passing, too, is it's rhythmic. Like,
you have your routine you go through. Shifting
every now and then, you know, could be beneficial.
But I think it would be really, really hard to
kind of throw your rhythm or to be moving on
contact, you know, in that situation. I think
the benefits. The situation for the benefit to
be to outweigh the potential issues would have
to be very specific. Like I think the Chinese
men did it. The Chinese men did it. You know,
and they are in general competing outside of
their level. When I think about it too, like
the serves are coming so fast. If I'm coaching,
I'm like, be stopped. You need to be stopped
when the person is contacting the ball. Otherwise.
it's not going to go well for you a lot of the
time. In beach, you see it. You see when the
server takes their eye off the court or when
their eyes lift to make contact with the ball.
You can make the shift. But indoor, A, the court
is bigger. B, the serves are coming way faster.
I don't see it working as often as it might seem.
as a concept I agree like in theory it sounds
like a great idea but like I said there's too
much that could go wrong teams are good enough
like they'll notice it once and they'll be like
yeah forget about it well I think the other thing
to think about too is you would have to be an
unbelievable passer to do that I think because
you the way you read serves and you read hand
contact and body position like if your eyes are
bouncing up and down and you're moving across
like your perception of the ball I think would
also change like I think it I just don't like
the movement it creates yeah an extra level of
difficulty that probably doesn't give you the
benefit okay last question today how important
are sports psychologists what do they do and
at what level of the sport do they usually come
into play Do they offer patchwork or do they
let the athlete build useful tools? I think it
should start at four years old. It's like anything.
I think there are some people who need them more
than others. It depends on somebody's makeup.
It's like a therapist. I think that every single
person should go to therapy. Is it going to look
the same for every single person? Absolutely
not. Are some people going to have to work with
their therapist for 17 years while others can
move on and live well after a few sessions? Yes.
And I think the same thing applies to sports
psychologists. Some people will need them intensively
for their whole career and some people might
have an issue or two that pop up here and then
that they need to work through. I would put it
like that. I think that's a really good way of
looking at it. I think the way I think about
it is a lot of those mental things are skills
that are required in order to perform. So I look
at visualization. When I met you, I asked you,
I think, if you did any kind of specific visualization
and you told me no. And as we talked about sport,
you're like, oh, I've seen myself doing that.
I picture myself doing that. You're like, you
idiot, that's visualization. I was like, I asked
you. if you do visualization, you said, no, you're
like, well, I don't sit there and visualize,
but like, I look at the skill was I'm doing this
and I do it when I watch video. And so I think,
or it's just like, I'm always thinking about
volleyball. So it's always, but that's the thing.
I think a lot of athletes do some things naturally.
It just kind of makes sense to them. They can't
necessarily put a word to it, but they are doing
those things, but confidence dealing with errors.
Getting over mistakes and thinking about the
right thing. Critically looking at your own game.
Pressure. All of those things are mental skills
that you can work on and build frameworks around.
Some people need it. Some people don't. But I
do think it's incredibly important. And how you're
brought up and how you're coached from a young
age also plays a huge role into that. So if your
coaches are mindful of that and know how to talk
to you and build those skills, then you probably
don't need them. totally foreign to you, then
very helpful. But the mental aspect is incredibly
important. Some people are innately wired to
have certain skills and mental skills required
to be a high performance athlete and other people
really have to work a lot harder at it. It's
the same with anything. I think the skills that
sports psychologists provide and the tools that
they help athletes. develop over the course of
their career are incredibly important. Some athletes
require more hand -holding to get there and others
don't. But I think the essence of what the sports
psychologist represents and the tools that they
are providing and helping athletes hone are so
important if you want to reach a particular level.
And useful in life. And in life. I know I say
this every week, but I love these questions.
These ones are really, really good. We could
have done a two -hour podcast on these, I think.
Oh, yeah. The questions were fantastic. Thank
you so much. I love the engagement we're getting
and the questions people are coming up with.
We're both balling nerds. We could talk about
this stuff forever. So it's fun. Thank you. All
right. We have got some great volleyball for
you this week. Wednesday, game two of the Italian
women's quarterfinals are happening. So just
a reminder, series are best two of three. So
some of them could be over. Some of them could
have a third game. But these will be very good
matches. Until the final. And the final is three
of five. Yeah. Yes. Wednesday and Thursday, we
also have men's Champions League playoffs. So
those will also be good. I believe those are
the play -ins. For the quarterfinals. The Italian
matches will be on FIVB TV and the men's Champions
League matches will be on Euro Volley TV. Both
of them accessible and you can check them out
online. Wednesday and Friday at 10 p .m. Eastern,
NCAA men have UCLA versus USC. A little LA rivalry
happening. And a top five matchup. So those...
Both of those matches on both of those nights
should be very good games. Home and away series,
baby. We don't have to check that one out live.
Put baby in our headphones and away we go. Earmuffs.
Thursday at 8 p .m. Eastern, NCAA men's ball
state versus Loyola Chicago. So battle of the
East with that one should be very good. And then
Friday. Or Midwest, whatever. Well, East of here.
Everything's East of here. And then Friday at
8 p .m. Eastern, Love Houston versus Austin.
That's on Victory Plus. Battle of Texas. We got
a lot of rivalries going on this week. Saturday,
9 p .m. Eastern, MLB San Diego versus Atlanta.
That one's on YouTube. San Diego's coming on,
you guys. They are. So Atlanta better watch out.
And then Saturday and Sunday next week, game
one of the Italian men's. quarterfinals lots
of playoff volleyball and we all know playoff
sports are the best tune in have it rolling get
your fill it's going to be great that concludes
this week's episode of volley talk there's always
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