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. We are continuing to be just... Spoiled.
With some really high quality matchups. So good.
All over the place. There's just not enough time
to watch them all. Even though we can't watch
them all, it is still very exciting. And I love
getting messages from everybody keeping me in
the know. Watch this game. Watch this game. Did
you see that? It's so much fun. It's amazing.
So we've got a lot to discuss this week. We've
got a couple very interesting segments, we think.
So hopefully you'll think they're just as interesting
as us. So let's get started. All right, you know
how we're starting. Was your volley fantasy a
highlight or a happening? It was a highlight.
I had a good week. I had... I think 350 points,
which I'll take a win. That's my highest week.
I thought you said over 400. No, that's what
most, like that's what the best people get. I
got 350, I think 360 something. My issue is that
I signed two bad contracts that are continuing
to age worse than their initial signings. I scored
that with like two players basically doing nada
for me. He scored that limping. Limping. I will
take that. Once those contracts expire, hopefully
I make some good decisions and we'll be back
on track. But I think I was in the top 100 this
week. Mine, I'm back to it just being happening.
Old news. Last week I got a little treat. Made
me excited. Gave me some confidence. All my players
that did so well last week didn't do so well
this week. So I am back down to like... Mid -90s.
You're still double digits? Are you still triple
digits? Yes. I don't think I even cracked 300
points this week. Yeah, I climbed a little bit,
but I'm still behind. It was a rough go, and
let me tell you, I don't know if anybody else
agrees, but these daily grids are tougher than
they let on. I look at them, and I'm so confident
when I just quickly glance, and then I actually
get doing them, and I'm like, I have no idea.
I don't know. You really need to have paid attention.
I literally can remember maybe four first -round
draft picks, if I'm lucky. And that first -round
draft pick keeps coming up, so not doing so well.
I did get a perfect score once, though. Sarah's
changed the goals of her fantasy. It's now about
the daily grid. Because I know there's no hope
for me. But things on our leaderboard got shaken
up like crazy this week. VBallFan17. is now winning
things. Number one spot. Everybody, divert your
attention. We're out to get them now. So this
is exciting, okay? We're up to 450 teams. We
always have room for more. So if you haven't
yet joined, I know you have, but just in case
you haven't, play volley .com slash volley talk
to join our league. That's play V O L I .com
slash volley talk to join our league. And then
you'll know what we're talking about, about the
daily grid and all these players who are not
living up to their contractual obligations. Okay.
Moving on. There were a lot of matches, so we're
going to do a rundown. Okay. NCAA men, noteworthy
results. Number 13, McKendree beat number eight,
Lindenwood 3 -1. Lindenwood might be out of the
top 10 again. Who knows? Yeah, I think that's
going to happen. I feel like they're a little
more lenient with some teams than others when
it comes to dropping and ranking. So we'll see
what happens. Number 18 beat number seven BYU
twice. First time in four, second time in five.
This is like the first good match. Not good match.
This is the first highly ranked team that Stanford
has beaten this year. And they did it twice.
Do you think that they are? turning a corner
or is this a one -off we've had this discussion
about stanford last year and every time we were
like oh they're figuring it out we said this
all last year about stanford too every time they
started doing well we're like oh they're turning
a corner and then it was like no they need to
win a few more i didn't watch this match these
matches but i'm thinking it was probably a good
matchup for them in some way yeah that's fair
but we expected them to be better this year so
yep we did We'll watch them down the stretch.
They need to win a couple more good games for
me, but it'll be interesting to see if they build
off of this leading into playoffs. Number 11,
UC Santa Barbara beat UC Irvine, who was number
four in five. That's a big upset. Very big. Big
upset. I know they're 11, but as a low single
-digit ranked team, losing to anybody outside
of the top 10 is... Well, that might screw up
their Big West aspirations. Totally. Because
I think they still have to play Hawaii. Have
they played Hawaii yet? Hawaii and Long Beach
State. And they're for sure going to drop. Yeah,
that's not the game you want to lose. I mean,
Santa Barbara's been having a really good season
this year. They've made some big improvements
since last season. But you still have to take
care of matches, especially as a top team. You
don't get any days off. Especially because it's
Big West teams 2 -3 -4. Yep. That's crazy. Number
one, UCLA beat number three, Hawaii in three.
So we managed to catch the end of this match.
We've caught the third set of this. And I have
a couple questions because I didn't have a chance
to go back and watch the first two sets before
we recorded this. Somebody explain to me why
Kanoa Wade is still playing. There's no rationale
other than Tetriski being hurt that he was playing
over Tetriski. But when Tetriski came in in the
third set and hit 400, he's clearly okay. Now,
I don't know whether they are managing him or
what is going on there. So somebody who knows
Hawaii volleyball, give us a lowdown because
this just seems like your daddy's putting you
on the court. Oh, look at Adam. And he's a good
player. Oh, no. No backtracking now. You're in
it now. He's not to Trisky. And he hit 067 against
the number one team. And to Trisky came in. And
you waited until the third set. And he hit 400.
And you had a chance. And they lost the first
set 25 -18. Yeah, I don't understand what's going
on there. And even... I mean, Sakunoko got taken
off. You know, he looks a little banged up. He
hit negative. He hit negative in the first two.
I don't know. But Adrian Rohr, we said last week,
every time we watch Hawaii, he seems to be having
a rough game. He was good. He was pretty good.
At least in the third set. He made some swings.
I was like, my eyes almost fell out of their
sockets. It was impressive. But in the third
set, Rohr and Tatriski were scoring well. It
was so much fun to watch. If Kanoa Wade steps
on the floor again, Like something's going on.
At one point, Adam turns to me, he's like, what
is Cade doing on the court? And I'm like, who
are you talking about? Yeah, you know, Kanoa
Wade, Cade. I was like, wow, okay. He was bad.
But UCLA is very good. Oh my goodness. They run
the pipe maybe as good as any international team
I've seen. Tread Rosenthal was just like picking.
shells by Sean Kelly, just getting absolutely
hammered with balls. And then finally the middle
takes away zone one. And then Kelly hits the
perfect corner ball to zone five. I'm like, but
the timing of it, when they choose to run it,
it's, I would say David Decker has made huge
improvements. Like he was looking much better.
They're so good. Honestly. And I said it again,
watching I'm like the biggest upgrade. Position
wise that UCLA made was libero. Oh my God. He,
if he doesn't get like player of the year, he
should be in running for player of the year.
He totally changes their dynamic. The fact that
that's basically the only piece that really changed.
And they are light years. I mean, in fairness,
Decker looks like a different player. Decker
has made a huge improvements, but I'm sorry,
Chris Connolly, like. Coach Wade said at the
end of the game that Sean Kelly was committed
to Princeton and UCLA got him to decommit from
Princeton. Can you imagine Sean Kelly just playing
at Princeton? He is like, I think he has national
team potential. 100%. If they don't get in their
own way, I just think they're better than everybody
else. Well, Hawaii had a chance to take that
set off of them and who knows what would have
happened after that. It will be interesting to
see if Roar can play like that and Sakunoko is
having a good match. It will be interesting.
But Hawaii doesn't run the pipe the same way
and their middles aren't as much of a threat.
I think with Sakunoko, they do. Roar hit a couple
really good pipe balls. It is not a UCLA pipe.
No. But they do run it very well. I don't think
Tread uses it the same way that UCLA does, though.
Well, they don't really run their middles. The
same way like Cameron Thorne when he is used
is very good. Like the back to back with Thorne
and like the pipe is insane. But like Hawaii
doesn't really run their middles enough in a
straight one. Like they usually run a 31 for
it to like be as deceptive. And one pet peeve.
The refs need to lay off the whistle. Let the
boys stare each other down and yell. Like, you
blow the whistle, you slow it down, but you're
not actually doing it. You're not throwing out
any cards. You're not going to fight each other.
Well, I'm sorry, and it's a huge game. One versus
three. It's like 30 -28 in the third set. Of
course, everybody's feeling themselves getting
fired up. Who even cares if they're going to
stare through the net or, like, flex down on
each other a couple times? Just lay off. It makes
it interesting. Lay off. Let them go at it. There's
a net there. Nobody's going to hurt each other.
Sorry, everybody's a little fired up right now.
That bothers me. Anyway, that set was so entertaining.
It was so much fun to watch. MLV, Indy, and Dallas
have just completely separated themselves as
the top two teams. The battle is still on for
the three and four spot, though, for the playoffs.
So currently... 3 -4 belongs to Omaha and Orlando.
They're both at 500 at 9 -9. It will be interesting
to see how everything plays out. I will say Omaha
handed Indy only their third loss of the season
this week, which is huge, especially because
Omaha has been going through it like a roller
coaster ride over there. I'm curious if this
gives them a spark. Adam, how many times have
we said that this year? I understand that. Oh,
are they finding their rhythm? Oh my gosh, they
started so slow. Oh, look, they're coming on.
They must be finding the rhythm and then they
suck again. You didn't let me finish. I was too
excited. Is this going to be a spark or is it
they're just so much better than us? We play
free. There's no expectations and they play well.
Do you actually think Omaha has that attitude
though of like admitting to themselves or like
Indy's just better than us? But I don't, not
outward, but there's a different kind of pressure.
There's a different kind of feeling when the
team is so far ahead of you in the standings.
You can't catch them. The game doesn't necessarily,
I don't want to say it doesn't matter, but they're
just. It definitely matters for Omaha. It matters
standing wise, but you, you played, you've always
been the top dog. wherever you've played, you've
always played for a very good team. So I don't
expect you to know what this feels like. But
when you go in and you're, they can't catch Indy.
And so it's just like, hey, we can go out and
play free, you know, kind of no expectations.
Because I think there's a lot of pressure to
win. And I'm wondering if playing against a team
that's so far ahead of them just eases off those
expectations a little bit. We'll see. I don't
know. I don't know. I can't even predict what's
going to happen. The top two, I feel like unless
something absolutely wild happens, I feel like
the top two are locked in and then everybody's
kind of scrambling for the rest. It'll be interesting
to see the race coming down for three or four.
And it'll be, I'm curious if teams are going
to look at it. We don't want to play Indy in
the semi. We want to play Dallas. Like, I wonder
if that's going to be a thing. I'm sorry. If
you're playing like that, then. Don't even bother
showing up to playoffs. You can't tell me that
people don't think like that all the time. I
think in beach volleyball, people think like
that all the time. But I in indoor, especially
in this in a pro league where you can't predict
what's going to happen. You are just trying to
win every single match to earn your spot. No,
I'm sorry. And that's terrible karma. If you're
going to play games like that, you don't even
deserve to be there. Grand Rapids also beat Atlanta.
Atlanta's going through it. Yeah. And Grand Rapids
is making a push. It could get interesting down
the stretch. Those are the games I'm going to
want to watch from now on. The ones where you
see if people like pucker or not? The pucker
matches are my favorite. All right, in love,
Houston keeps kind of growing that gap between
everybody. Remember they started the season 0
-3, and we're like, what actually happened to
Houston this year? And then they're like, surprise,
we're 11 -5 now. Impressive. Yeah, they're doing
great. And Salt Lake finally got a win again.
But they squeaked it out in five against Nebraska.
But Alexa Gray is back. So that is probably a
big reason why. We still have Atlanta in third.
And Madison beat Austin 3 -1. Yikes. Nobody wants
to lose to Madison. No. No. But we, well, mostly
me. Mostly I watched Austin versus Houston. Let
me just say. This is the fire and the spark that
I have been waiting for from Love You Guys. We
had some like stare downs between Maddie Skinner,
Jordan Thompson, the young gun who is coming
up, wants to steal Jordan's national team spot.
And Jordan Thompson being like, absolutely not.
It's been my spot and it's still going to be
my spot. You know what? I just made up that narrative,
but that's sure what it seemed like. And then
the teams getting legit fired up and making pushes.
This is what I have been wanting to see from
Love. Didn't feel like an exhibition match. It
felt like both sides really wanted to win. It
was entertaining. Well, and I found out, thank
you to the person who posted this for me, not
everybody makes the playoffs in Love this year.
Finally. They changed it. I mean, they played
one season, but finally anyway. And it's a good
change. The season has to mean something. You
don't want to be embarrassed as the team that
doesn't make the playoffs. Well, and can you
imagine? Because Austin is like... The national
team. The national team. And they're looking
like they might not make playoffs. Like, they
are right on the bubble. They're currently 7
-9 in fourth. Nebraska's 6 -8. Nebraska has games
in hand. Austin has played two more games than
both the third and fifth place teams. Not great.
So they are really on the bubble. Can you imagine
you're the national team basically whole staff
and so many of the national team players from
last season and you can't make playoffs in your
domestic league? It's not a great look. And half
of the players in the league are like, Former
national team players who are like retired from
national team or are retired from their foreign
national team or something like that. You know
what I mean? Or never played one. Not the best.
Not the best. So yeah, they really wanted that
win. Jordan Thompson said not today. Moving on.
So many messages. Why do you hate love? Why do
you hate love? That was honestly, and we never
hated love. But the exhibition feel was one reason
that it was not as enjoyable to watch for me
personally. So seeing that dynamic on the court,
I was like, okay, I can tune in and watch something
like this. 100%. When you see athletes trying
and you see it mean something, it draws you into
the match. It makes it fun. When you see that
it matters to them. Yes. I feel like saying that
they're trying might not be fair, but like...
To see that it like legit matters if they like
win. Yes, it's fun to watch. All right. The leagues
keep coming, everybody. Italian playoffs. So
we had the first match of semifinals happened.
Milano actually beat Scandici three straight
at Scandici. Yikes. Okay. And Conigliano beat
Novara in five. So these matches are best three
out of five. Originally, I thought they were
two or three. They are three or five. Dropping
a match at home for Scandici is no good for them.
We will see what happens there. And for the men,
the men's quarterfinals are actually three or
five. So all matchups are currently 2 -0, except
Piacenza Monza is 1 -1. Perugia, Verona, and
Civita Nova all have to win just one more game.
Civita Nova is actually playing Trentino. So
Trentino's going through it. Their season might
be over earlier than expected. Like two months
earlier than they thought. Because moving on
to Champions League, the quarterfinals are set
for men. And guess what? Trentino's not in them.
That was a self -inflicted gunshot wound. Yes.
Because, again, we watched that game. which was
outstanding. But they had chances to win the
first set, which they blew. They had chances
to close out that match. They ended up losing
in five. They were up in the golden set. Well,
they were up 7 -4. Yes. And then it was like
12 -8 or something along those lines. I think
they got outscored 7 -1. Okay, so if you didn't
tune in last week, Trentino beat Warsaw in five.
So they just had to win the match. Basically
just win the match and you're fine. So Warsaw
beat them in five. So because it was like equal,
they had to play the golden set. In Trentino.
Yeah, they came out firing. They looked good.
I thought game over. 7 -4. They were cruising.
And they couldn't pass. Well, four looked really
good at the beginning of that match. And then
he could not score. Gabby Garcia ended up coming
in as a fifth set sub. And then in the golden
set as well. I mean on the double sub, but. I
mean, he struggled down the stretch. I just don't
think they should have lost. Watching it, it
was their match to lose because they always seemed
to be in the lead. They found ways to blow it.
And the Polish team just did not go away. No,
they didn't. It was fun to watch. It was a really
good match, really entertaining. And you know
the Trentino management is like... Pissed. Having
lots of meaning, not happy. Well, Trentino, you
know, is typically one of, if not the best men's
team in Italy, historically. So very high expectations.
Yeah. So not the year you're looking for. Now,
in fairness, Mickey Aleto has been out. He's
one of the best left sides. If Mickey Aleto had,
he would have made a massive difference. Yeah.
But you still. have to take care of the matches
you can win. You might not win Champions League
without him, but that match, I think they should
have won. So that being said, Warsaw is playing
Lublin. Las Palmas is going to face Perugia.
Chivita Nova is playing Zawierce and Vrešov is
playing Ankara. So those are the quarterfinals.
Let's go. We also had... The women's quarterfinal
round one happened. Vakif Bank beat Milano in
five. And they're taking it back to Vakif Bank
to Istanbul for the next one. Corneliano beat
Zeran Ankara three straight. Going back to Corneliano.
Ezazi Baci beat Reshov in four. Playing in Istanbul
for the next one. And Scandici beat Fenerbahce
in three. That one, I didn't expect. Nope, me
either, especially not in three. They are going
back to Istanbul, but if Scandici can win two
sets, there they are through. Yeah, lots of good
international volleyball in Italian League to
watch this week. A couple storylines to follow,
and we'll see what happens. So, the last happening
of the week, Julio Velasco announced that Antropova
is going to be playing outside. for the national
team this summer genius you think that's genius
a hundred percent how do you how do you think
that transition is gonna go for her who cares
try it if you can get her if you can get her
and aganu on the floor at the same time no i
understand in theory yes it's a great move i
feel like in trouble was completely wasted on
the bench for that team i like it was a genuine
question how do you think the transition is gonna
go like can she pass Does her approach and arm
swing lend itself to playing left side? She looks
like she moves and controls her body pretty well.
I mean, passing is tough, but I don't know. Will
she be as bad as Karakurt? I don't think so.
No, I don't think so either. You have nothing
to lose in trying it. I think it's great roster
management. I think you're looking for a chance
to put your best players on the floor. They need
a better... They win all the time. But having
a bigger hitting left side to score points, it's
smart. Give her a chance to play. See how she
does. She's got three years to figure out the
passing or to figure out if they can move her
around with the new passing rules. They might
even be able to hide her. Well, the tough thing,
too, is Mogi Dajanaro retired. So they're bringing
in a brand new libero. I think if you had Sila
and Dajanaro on the court, you could basically
pass. a two and a half person service Eve, but
with a less experienced libero, like I wonder
how that's going to go. Do you know what I'm
saying? Like I understand what the new service
Eve rules, they can like play with some things,
but it's not like they're going to have overwhelming
ball control like they have in the past. No,
that's fair, but you can always take her out
if it doesn't work. I think it's the perfect
time to experiment with this because if it works,
Yikes. Yikes. I wonder if Degrati is not coming
back. Like, she's still not playing club after
her knee injury. She played for Kyrie this season
and Katerina Bosetti is... I think she's done
with the national team. So, I mean, Nervini did
a good job coming in and replacing Degrati during
world championships and stuff. They obviously
won with her. I understand wanting to level up
a little bit if you can, but I'm just also like...
It is hard to pass at that level when you haven't
done it. And I'm just curious if she ever has.
We will see how the experiment goes. I think
it's a brilliant coaching move, personally. Our
first segment of the week is a fan -generated
segment. Both of our segments are. This one is
building off of the segment we did last week.
Which was a ton of fun. Ranking recent, the most...
the last 15 national player of the years and
their pro careers and then how they did collegiately.
So we got a request to do the same thing for
national freshman of the year. So rolling it
back to 2010, let's just roll through 2010 to
15 to start. And we will talk about if their
pro careers met expectations, surpassed them
or fell below. Again, with National Freshman
of the Year, I feel like it's so tough because
they still have their whole college career ahead
of them after this. So I'm like, how can I have
expectations of what their pro career will be?
Do you know what I mean? I was actually going
to start by asking you, if you win Freshman of
the Year, what do you think is the baseline minimum
acceptable? Oh, my gosh. Okay, so if you're freshman
of the year, you're obviously starting and making
a huge impact on a good team. Correct. So the
expectation, you're probably starting your entire
career collegially. Yeah. I'm expecting at least
a couple first -team All -American nods. Yeah.
And then from there... But what about national
team? See, that's the thing. Because like if
you're national player of the year, I feel like
national team should be in your future. National
freshman of the year. Like some people peak so
early and then just like disappear. It's a really
interesting conversation. It's so hard. Okay.
Okay. So what is the standard for like if that
met expectations? I think for me it would be
minimum playing, you know, four or five years
middle of the pack in Italy or Turkey or Brazil.
Like you can play that level. Okay. I think for
me, if you're the best out of everybody coming
out in a year, you know, theoretically should
probably be your floor. But it's also so interesting
to like see how this has aged. When you look
at like who has won national player of the year,
like looking through this 2010 to 2025 list real
quick of all of these athletes, only three of
them have won national player of the year so
far. granted a couple of them are still playing
and might, but from 2010 to 2025, only three
national freshmen of the year have been national
player of the year so far. Okay. Like if that
doesn't say something like, yeah, like it's like
what it just says a lot about the kind of player
who is able to like span four years. Like, yeah,
that consistency for so like, anyway, give me
the player and I'll give you their pro career
history. In a nutshell. Okay. In 2010, we had
Deja McClendon from Penn State. Okay. So she
played six years of pro. Poland, Italy, Brazil.
Played in Woods, Trentino, and Minas. Trentino
was an A2 team at the time, I believe. And then
Minas. So decent enough clubs. This, to me, is
kind of my benchmark. I would say, yeah, met
expectations. All right, 2011 was Haley Eckerman
from Texas. Okay, so six -year pro, played in
Korea, Puerto Rico for three years, I think,
and then Baku, Monza, Italy, and Russia. So she
played a long time, but the league she played
in weren't phenomenal, and I didn't recognize
the Russian team, so I'm not sure. I think she's
close, but a little bit under. Yeah, my instinct
was below. I think she's the head coach of Kent
State now, though. I believe so, yeah. So she's
still involved in the game. 2012 was Ziva Recek
from Florida. No pro career. So below. Yep. I
think she's coaching, though. I believe so. 2013
was Ebony Nwanebu of USC. So two -year pro, Turkey
and Italy, and that was it? Below. Yep. 2014
was Allie Franti of Penn State. Pretty impressive
career. Still playing. Played for Rejlov, Kieri,
Casal Maggiore, Vakif Bank, Galates or I. I would
say above. Yeah. And she's still going. And national
team. Yeah. The only one on the list so far,
I believe. I know you guys will correct me if
I'm wrong. That's been on the national team.
I believe that's out here. Okay. We have our
first surpassed. And not Pan Am, like national
team. Yeah. We're not talking B team. We're not
talking U23. It was V &L roster. Yeah. 2015,
we had Haley Hodson of Stanford. Interesting
case. Yeah. No pro, was medically retired from
concussions. I think she only played two years
of college. And sued the university. And the
NCAA. Yeah. I don't know how that ended up going.
Well, I heard that her testimony was huge in
passing NIL. Interesting. I didn't realize that.
Yeah, she only played. Two years of college.
I heard she had a very promising career and then
post -concussion syndrome or something. So that's
sad. But we can't comment on her much at all.
2016, Catherine Plummer of Stanford. We went
over her last week. Because she was a National
Player of the Year, I believe we said she met
expectations. If we're comparing her to Freshman
of the year and the standard is different. Highly
exceeded expectations. It would be surpassed.
Yeah, totally. 2017 was Dana Redke of Wisconsin.
Surpassed. Same thing. We had her surpassed as
a national player of the year. So, of course,
surpassed as a national freshman. 2018 was Heather
Gneiding of BYU. So, she played one season at
Galatasaray. 2019, Magna Hilajarova. One season
of MLB. Washington State. Yeah, one season of
Love. Still going. I mean. This is where it gets
interesting. This is when it gets tough because
a lot, like, some of them are still playing.
Yeah. College. Yeah. So it's hard. Like, she
has a long. These next ones have their whole
career ahead of them still. Yeah, are going to
be. Tough to say. Let's keep going though. Let's
make a prediction on the rest of them. Because
we can talk about their collegiate careers for
the most part except the last two. 2020 we had
Emily Landot of Ohio State. So I mean she's playing
MLV now. I think her professional career is probably
going to end up being below. It's going to end
up being below. Honestly Magda though she plays
for the Czech national team. I think she does
have potential for it to go well. If she chooses
To keep playing and if she wanted to go there.
Yeah. I think she has more potential than Landau
for sure. 100%. Yeah. 2021 was Lexi Rodriguez
of Nebraska. This one is interesting. She was
so good as a collegiate player, but hasn't had
a chance to really play professionally. Is playing
more this year. and the team is starting to win.
Yeah, I think it's going to end up being meat
or below. Yeah, I agree. Because I didn't think
her showing with the national team was particularly
great. We gave her some grace because she hadn't
been given a chance in her pro team because she
was playing behind just somebody better in Justine.
And then to come into an international, like
we understand that it was like a different game.
Now she's getting a chance or got a chance and
the team wasn't winning. Yeah, there's a whole
thing. So my prediction is it's going to either
meet or fall below expectations. I think that's
probably fair. 2022, Mimi Collier from Oregon.
I think she's going to end up being below. I
think she'll play MLV. I'm not sure she'll go
anywhere else. Maybe Love. I'm not expecting.
Like an Ali Franti style career. Agreed. 2023,
Olivia Babcock from Pitt. I think she will exceed
expectations. I hope she exceeds expectations.
I think at least she'll meet them. Yeah, out
of everybody that we've kind of looked at since
2019, I think she has the highest potential.
100%. To exceed expectations. I agree. Yeah.
And these last two obviously still have the majority
of their playing career ahead of them. 2024 was
Izzy Stark from Penn State. And 2025 was Cassie
O 'Brien from Kentucky. Yeah. Hard to tell. Yeah.
And setters need time. It's probably the hardest
position to put. Those are the pro careers. Now
let's kind of rank their collegiate careers.
I think it's fair to say because a couple of
them were on the National Player of the Year
list and were topping that list. You know, Catherine
Plummer at the top. Yeah. By far the best collegiate
career, followed by Dana Recchi. five -time first
-team All -American. You know, we have some national
champions here. We have a potential four -time
first -team All -American in Olivia Babcock coming
through, assuming she gets it again in her senior
season. Deja McLennan had a really good career.
494 sets played, two NCAA championship wins.
To be the top of a statistical leader at a story
school is... I mean, you would know. Well, no,
and the thing is, too, if she was freshman of
the year in 2010, she had to fill in Megan Hodge's
shoes. And Megan Hodge was a four -time first
-team All -American 2006 to 2009. And then for
Deja to come in and have to be put in that, that's
hard to do. So when I read her list, I was impressed.
With Haley Ackerman. She was top 10 in six different
statistical categories at Texas, including fifth
in both total points with 1910 and kills with
1662. That's. How many? She won in 2012. She
won a national, one national title. Like that's
a, that's nothing to turn your nose up at. Those
are good numbers. Okay. I will put Deja McLennan
at three. Ackerman at four. Babcock at five.
But Ali Franti won a couple too. How did she
do? So Ali Franti had 1 ,283 kills, hit 257 for
her career. But she won two national championships.
One national championship and a semifinal appearance.
So the numbers weren't as prolific as the other
ones. But she still won. Olivia Babcock still
hasn't won. How many All -American? I don't have
that information. It wasn't all super easy to
find. Okay, so we got Plummer, Redkey, McClendon,
Eckerman. Then I think we can say Babcock. Franti.
Maybe Franti. How did Ebony Nwanabu do? Honestly,
guys, I hadn't even heard of some of these people.
They were second twice at the NCAA. She played
for a couple different schools, so then the records
aren't. aren't as clean in terms of being on
leaderboards or things like that. Talaprova was
national blocks leader. I think she has the NCAA
record for blocks, doesn't she? I think she probably
does have the lead because Dana Rettke has 738
in five seasons and Magda had 796 in four. So
she also had 1 ,253 kills and hit 384 on her
career. Dana's stats were, she's the Wisconsin
leader in hitting percentage at 423, blocks at
738, and points at 2314. Again, she played an
extra season. Yeah, it kind of skews the numbers.
That helps. I mean, the kill percentage is what
it is. Hitting percentage, yeah. But yeah, she's
got 2300 kills, or 2300 points, sorry, which
is pretty impressive. I mean, there's a lot to
rank here, but I think... I mean, Landau, even
1 ,718 kills, over four kills a set. Her team,
they did well one season. Correct. I'm talking
individual kind of performances over. But our
ranking for National Player of the Year had to
do with All -American and had to do with if they
won or not. And then, I mean, there's Alexi Rodriguez.
First time ever libero for freshman of the year.
Had 4 .33 digs per set. Nebraska dig leader.
I think it was a four -time All -American, three
times first team, one time second, two NCAA second
-place finishes, once in the semis. I think that's
a pretty good college career as well. Okay, just
running through it real quick. Plummer, Retke,
McClendon, Eckerman, Babcock, Branty, Kalahrova,
then maybe Rodriguez. Magda. magda then yeah
yeah what a great exercise and it's kind of fun
to go back and look at like you and i were getting
married and overseas for a stretch of that and
not really paying attention so to go back and
see that caliber of player what they did kind
of look through their career it was kind of fun
it was this was a great exercise and we love
these suggestions keep them coming yeah that's
fun okay Our second listener suggested segment
of the day. I really liked this one. I thought
it was interesting. So here it is. There are
so many teams in the women's game that are so
close to being a contender for a gold medal.
Turkey, Poland, USA, Brazil, Japan, China, Serbia,
sort of, etc. If there was a transfer portal
for the national teams, what is one player from
anywhere in the world? that could fill the gap
in that national team and push them past the
level of simply being a contender. Notice that
Italy was not included. We know that Italy is
like a favorite. So, okay, we will just use the
teams that this person named. My question is,
in doing this, do we pick a player who is not
on one of the teams that has been named? Can
we repeat players? If we think a team's need
is the same or similar? Let's do it this way.
Let's pick the biggest position of weakness for
the team. Okay. And then pick the player that
we think would fill that position the best. For
example, if Brazil needs a role that China excels
at, we can use that even though they're all contenders?
I think so. Okay. Can we use the same player
if the need is similar? Like are we operating
as each team independently? It would be more
interesting to think through if we couldn't use
the same player. Okay. Let's do it two ways.
Let's do one where we just pick the best player
and then one where we pick a player from a team
not listed. And you can't use those players more
than once. Okay. Okay. Here we go. So let's start
with Turkey. I already wrote down what I think
that each team's biggest weaknesses. So this
is Sarah's brought the segment to the table.
So I'm I'm working. It is my turn to be prepared
for a segment and Adam to have to scramble because
it always happens to me. OK, so if I had to pick
a need for Turkey, it's got to be the P2 ball
control position for Turkey. I put ball control
left side. Yes. Okay. Because they've got a decent
setter grade opposite. Their middles are solid.
They're libero. Like you need a compliment for
Kirk. Really good ball control. Left side is
required. So like, who is the standard for me?
Yes. I think we, and this is why I think going
outside of the box here now. Okay. This first
time through is probably going to be pretty fast.
The second time through is going to be harder
because we're going to have to. Figure it out.
Okay. So Gabi to Turkey. Moving on to Poland.
I'm going to say a point scoring left side. That's
what I said. Okay. Who are we going to pick?
Kim. And we bring Kim Jong -un out of retirement.
Oh, that's a good question. I mean, Anna Christina
comes to mind for me. Markova comes to mind for
me. Fedorov Seva comes to mind. Anna Christina
was my first instinct. Yeah, all of those are
good choices. Would you pick Karakur? No. Okay.
Well, because I feel like there would be some
personality clashes, perhaps. That's fair. Yeah,
I think Anna Christina is the answer for this
one for me. Again, I would like to pick one of
the Russians, and they look good in Champions
League in a national team setting for a while.
So it's tougher to justify that. Okay, Anna Christina.
USA. Opposite. Or a ball control left side. Or
a libero. For me, it's still an opposite. I would
probably, if we're looking at, like, they run
a pretty fast offense. I know who I would pick.
I would say Igonu would probably fit the best.
I was going to say Antropova. Really? Yeah. I
think she fits the vibe of that program better.
I was thinking about, like, hitting. More speed.
speed yeah she just has that fire that I think
would add to that team over Iganu and I think
that she'd be able to connect with Poulter we
spent the last couple weeks talking about roster
construction and like personalities and things
so I'm trying to think about that as we go through
this they need a spark on that floor and Iganu
can be a little deadpan so that's why I would
pick I mean as long as we think Antropova could
hit a fastball it might take a second for her
and Poulter to find their connection, but I think
Poulter could set her and I think she'd figure
it out. Okay. Brazil. I'm going to say a setter.
I think they need an opposite. Okay. Which position
are we picking? I mean, let's not kid ourselves.
Like Brazil finishes top three in most tournaments.
Agreed. And like we have said when we've analyzed
it, that it's like their lack of production on
the right side that has cost them. I don't disagree
with your assessment. But I think a better setter
would greatly help that. You never know who's
going to start. It seems like they try and figure
out who's playing the best at any given moment
or what the matchup is. I don't think setting
for them is a position of strength. I think they
have lots of hitters. I think they pass pretty
well. I think if they had a top -tier setter,
that would make a bigger difference than somebody
who's going to score five or six more points.
That's the difference of what they're losing
in these big matches. I also don't think either
setter set the right side particularly well.
No? Adam's bullying me. I'm what? Okay, fine.
Setter. No, we can pick one of each. You pick
yours, I'll pick mine. Fine, pick a setter. Which
setter would suit the Brazilian style the best?
I think if you put Oro on that team, they'd look
really good. Fair. Yeah, that's my pick. Who
do you think would make a difference for them
on the right? I think Hawk. Ooh. I really like
that pick. I think she fits the style. I think,
yeah, that's a good choice. I like that. I like
that a lot. So we disagreed with that one. Japan.
I'm going to say an opposite. I'm going to say
a middle. I actually like yours better. Like
their middles, they rarely run the middle. Yeah.
And I think if they could like have a middle
that teams respect, they could do so much with
their outside, like their pin hitters. Yep. No,
I'm wrong. That's. 100 % the right choice. The
question is, which medal? Like, the Italian medals
both score fine. The Brazilian medals can score
fine. Even the American medals score well. My
instinct is far. I think that she is... Or Julia
Kudais. Yeah. Either of those two would be really
good additions for them. I think that's fair.
Okay, China. I might say middle as well. Yeah,
I like their one middle. She's a good blocker,
but I think they need a more offensive middle.
So, I mean, same thing. Same too. Yeah, I think
that's fair. And Serbia. Which Boscovich do they
have? I mean, let's say the good one. Okay, a
left side. I think a setter. Who would you put
if you had to pick a setter? Oro, probably. Yeah.
I mean, you have to pick. She's like the standard
right now. Yeah, agreed. Okay, let's go through
it again. We can't use the same player, and we
can't use... players from any of the teams that
are being listed. Yeah. All right. So Herky needs
the ball control left side. We said Gubby before.
We can't use her. My initial instinct, again,
kind of going off gut, is either Alsmeyer or
Herbots were the first two that popped into my
head. You know who else could potentially fit
that is Miriam Silla. True. I guess I wasn't
thinking about Italy. But they're not listed.
True. Yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. Any of those three,
I think, would be good. I think Scylla's the
best of the three, though. I do, too. I would
agree with you. She's got probably more offensive
upside along with that. Yeah, she's not your
typical P2, and she's not a P2 for Italy, but
she has the characteristics of being able to
be that, I think. Yeah, that's a good choice.
Okay, Poland, we said, needs a point -scoring
left side. And we said Anna Christina, so we
have to switch that. Alexa Gray is the first
player that comes to mind for me. Or we could
go with one of the Russians. Oh, yeah. Markova
or Fedorovseva. Oh, probably Markova, I would
say. I like her. I feel like she could fit in
with the Polish vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay,
that's a better choice. USA, we said opposite,
and we sent Entropova there, so we can keep that
one. And then Brazil, we disagreed. I said opposite
and sent Hawk there, so I can keep that. And
you said a setter, and I believe you sent Oro
there. Japan, middle, we said Seraphar, so we
can keep it. Keep that one. All right, China,
second middle, we had Julia Kudais, so we have
to change that one. My initial instinct was Weitzel,
but we could go Denaise too. Yeah. I was thinking
Weitzel too. Just because I feel like Italy is
kind of a cop -out. Yeah, I was thinking the
same thing. You know who else I was thinking
we could use for Turkey instead of Scylla? Is
Helena Cazotte from France. Oh, that's a good
one. And instead of Oro, I was also thinking
of Brie O 'Reilly. Well, there's another setter
coming for Serbia. Well, Brie O 'Reilly. Yeah,
just to mix it up and not just like bail out
and use Italy for all of them. Kazot, I think,
is a decent pick. Kazot is a good pick. For Turkey.
And then, yeah, Weitzel for China. Weitzel for
China. We can go Brie O 'Reilly for Serbia. Yeah.
So we use Antropova. Well, for Antropova, you
could also... go hawk or well i used hawk we
used i used hawk for my right side for brazil
you could also bring in kira van rijk kira van
rijk was the other one i thought could work too
and we had another middle i'm trying to think
does does canada have a good middle like middles
are middles are tough to come by in the countries
that we have left i don't we're probably missing
some things like super obvious there i bet you
there's a couple good russian middles but we
just don't see them I think those are pretty
good picks, though. I do, too. I actually really
like this exercise. People keep sending us ideas
like this because it's a lot of fun to kind of
think about and pick players. Sarah and I don't
always agree, which is also fun. We can have
a little back and forth. There's like one out
of seven we didn't agree on. I like this one.
All right. It is time for listener questions,
everybody. So question one. I really want to
see if Anacostia will play for the national team.
You said that her height might be her biggest
hindrance, but Ogbogu is also 6 '2". How can
Kasakwala get to Ogbogu's level? Does she need
to go overseas? I want to clarify something because
we get a lot of comments when we talk about height.
I'm not shocked. When we say, you know, height
is... I don't think we ever say it's necessary,
but it helps. It's just, it's not that shorter
players can't do great things. I don't think
we've ever said that. It's about A, how high
you play above the net, and B, you got to work
a little bit harder and bring a few more intangibles
to the court if you're shorter than a counterpart
who is just as good. It's just the way it goes.
Coaches look at a 6 '6 middle versus a 6 '2 middle,
and your tendency is to take the 6 '6 because...
They're just bigger. Well, it's not even a question
necessarily. Okay. It is a question how high
you play above the net, but it also, if you're
smaller, it's like how quickly can you make up
that difference? Correct. Do you know what I
mean? Because the game is played so fast. So
if you're smaller, even if you jump really well,
you know, it's like how quickly can you react
to make up for that four to six inches of difference?
to then be able to take up the space that you're
able to yeah and i think think about it from
a middle perspective right so if i'm six six
and i can reach above the net i can do a toe
jump in the middle on a quick and get a slow
down if we're not committing on the middle and
then my feet are almost still on the ground where
i can then move laterally and close as a woman
outside as a Yes. As a female player. As a female
player. Kossak Paula, for example, she'll need
to leave the ground to get that same soft touch.
And then when she lands, she's got to be just
as quick or faster to close the block. So those
are the kind of nuances that we're talking about
that you have to be able to overcome. And I actually
think it's a little more challenging in the middle
than it is outside. I would say yes, because
the plays that are happening in the middle of
the court are even faster than what we're seeing
on the outsides. What does she have to do to
get to a Bogu's level? She needs to play against
speed. The college game, even though it has evolved,
is still incredibly slow compared to the top
professional and international levels. So she
needs to play against speed, period. And I think
being able to have that exposure and that experience
and then you inherently just adapt as you're
exposed to those different styles and tempos
and everything like that. So I think she needs
to be removed from the college game where she
was incredibly dominant from a blocking perspective
in particular. She was very good offensively
as well. And just go into an environment where
she just has to. Adapt. Adapt and keep up. Unfortunately,
she's not getting a chance to play at Salt Lake
at all. Somebody shared some stats with me on
Tori Dixon's last few performances. I don't understand.
She has hit negative or under 300. for the last
several matches negative you guys as a middle
and that's ridiculous I'm sorry why are you still
on the court I get if your team is rolling you
don't make lineup changes fine I can get behind
that from a coaching standpoint but you're not
rolling anymore no it's time I know like we were
saying this last year like we were like why is
Tori Dixon playing over Serena Gray last season
this season we're like why is Tori Dixon playing
over like why are you not giving her a chance
I understand the injury of Alexa Gray is what
has caused some issues here, but like give the
girl a chance. Okay. Especially when your middle
is putting up negative hitting numbers where
I'm sorry, as a middle, you should be hitting
400. And she's not a prolific blocker either.
No, we digress. She needs to get a chance to
play. So, I mean, if she's not giving a chance
to do anything in Salt Lake, she's wasting her
time. She might as well go overseas and get exposed
to that. I'm okay with her playing in love. This
year, for the most part, I don't think she's
going to be a 2028 middle for the national team.
I think it's too close. So play love. You know,
there's some really, really good setters in love.
I think that's their strongest position. So she's
getting a chance to play love, like play love.
She's sitting on the bench. She can't help that.
I'm talking about the last part of the question
in terms of what league they need to play in.
She will get better playing in love for a year
or two. And then depending on where she goes,
then it's time to adapt again. Like, play against
a different style. See different setters. You
know, I think the love jump out of college is
fine for her. Good chance for her to get better.
And then, you know, probably in a couple years,
go overseas. Okay, question two. How do you guys
feel about Rebecca Alec? She's playing at Madison
right now. Why do you think she looked and played
better at Nebraska than how she's playing right
now for Madison? Does the defensive digging and
passing have something to do with that? I know
that she's used to having great defensive plays
and ups being right on target, which makes it
easier for her to become available. Do you think
love has exposed her for not actually being a
very good middle? It's a complete, like, you
cannot compare college and pro. I'm sorry. Yes,
she played for one of the top programs in the
country. played for a team that has incredible
ball control, a setter that can run the middle
from many locations on the court, but love teams
would still beat them. Like the jump from college
to pro is large. The pace of the game is large.
The physicality, the physicality, the angles,
the experience. And I know you guys say that
we hate on love all the time. And I'm like, I'm
sorry that that is the impression we're giving.
It's still a pro league. But the league is still
a way higher level than you're seeing in the
NCAA. So I don't think it's fair to say that
she doesn't look good. I actually have thought
that she's done a good job. Yeah. And I think
that's what all comes down to expectation. I
don't know if this person's a Nebraska fan or
not, but if you're a Nebraska fan, you love those
athletes, which is totally fair. I think looking
at how athletes make the jump to pro. I think
she's exceeded my personal expectations. Honestly,
I was impressed that she's starting for them.
Correct. Because I thought she was going to go
there and have to sit on the bench and learn
and gain some experience to make that transition.
So I was impressed that she stepped in and started
right away. And I don't think she looks out of
place. No. You know, she's not as dominant. You're
not going to be. You're not higher than everybody
else. You lose your physical advantage. Like,
she's big. She's physical. She could out -muscle,
out -work a lot of players in college. That doesn't
happen. Like, now everybody's that size. Because
think of the number of players who went to Love,
for example. We had, what, six players this year?
Six or seven? If you count Matty Wack, eight
with Jillian Grimes. So, like... Of the entire
senior class that graduated, only eight of those
players are now playing in love. Well, and I
don't think you're putting Rebecca Alec in the
top eight in the country who graduated, probably.
I mean, I'd have to take some time to think about
it. My point being, you know, I think she's done
exceptionally well. Yeah. Ooh, question three
is from a young listener in Canada. Love that.
So I listened to your episode from a couple weeks
ago where you compared the three top opposites,
Vargas, Hawk, and Iganu, and I was wondering
where Kira Van Ryke would fall on that list.
I know that she isn't good enough to be in the
top three, but what is missing from her game
that makes the other three more dominant than
her? How would you compare her to the USA opposites
like Thompson and Skinner? Okay, so I don't have
any numbers in front of me. But I would say I
think the one thing that stands out to me is
blocking. I don't think she's a great blocker.
That's what I was going to say. I think her serve
is on pace with the other right sides. I think
she's got a very good serve. Yeah. 100%. I think
she plays better defense than them, honestly.
I think she's a very good defensive right side.
Low bar for those three, but yes. No, but she
is, though. And even in some V &L, she has been
ranked among the top. defenders in all of VNL
in the past. Like she picks up a lot of balls.
I think a, again, I'm sure there's going to be
people out here there who like find some games
to prove this wrong, but I feel like she is a
little more error prone. Granted, every one of
these players does have matches and does have
streaks where they make a ton of errors. Okay.
I don't want to hear about it, but I would say
overall, she is a little more error prone. And
I don't think then these hitters. And her blocking
is not as good. I don't think she has quite the
same angles as the other ones. But I think she
does hit harder. She hits a heavy ball. Maybe
then Hawk hits a heavy ball. Hawk hits a heavy
ball. I don't think she's hitting as sharp of
an angle. Yes. Like cross -court angle as the
other ones. So those three, who else would you
potentially put in front of her? And Tropova.
Yeah. I think she's better than Stischiak. I
think she's better than Stischiak. Boscovich,
I think, I haven't watched a ton of Azazibashi,
but from what I know, and I know she was injured
last summer, but the Boscovich I saw last summer,
I thought Kira Van Rijk was better than that
version of Tiana. I mean, I would put her among
the top. I think when we've kind of talked about
her, we've put her in the top five or six opposites
in the world for sure. Yeah. My favorite one,
B. Yes, Adam loves to say 1B. Yeah, I would say
lack of cross -court angle, blocking, and errors.
But she's very good. And very close. I think
she's very good, and she's right there. And you
wouldn't be shocked to see her have a better
game than any of those three. Like on any given
night. Yeah. It's just not quite as consistent,
I don't think. I do think she's better than the
American opposites. Agreed. Agreed. Do you think
she's better than the version of Jordan Thompson
we're currently seeing in Love? I can't say because
it's just not. I'm going to say yes. I think
she would do very well in the Love League. Right
now, yes. But if Jordan Thompson plays V &L this
year, I wouldn't be surprised if she looks better.
Okay. Question four. We have gotten so many.
iterations of this question. Here we go. Why
do you think Jenna Gray hasn't been involved
with USA? Do you see her with the team for this
summer or LA? I am pretty sure, and I know someone
is going to be writing in immediately. She was
on the VNL wide roster last year, and I'm pretty
sure she was injured for the majority of the
summer. If my memory is serving me correctly.
Why hasn't she been included? Again, great question.
She definitely should be in the mix. Now, keep
in mind, in the last couple cycles, like Jenna
Gray graduated in like 2019. So she wasn't going
to do anything for Tokyo. Okay, it was too close.
Then leading into Paris, the U .S. had won gold
in Tokyo. You were bringing back... Jordan Poulter
and Micah Hancock, who both were part of that
gold medal. Lauren Carlini was also in the mix.
Are they going to make a switch necessarily when
they won gold with those setters who are still
arguably like in the prime of their career? It
would be very hard to break in in that moment,
I would say. And so I think the first real opportunity
we saw for that kind of transition was last summer.
And with her injury, it would have made it tough.
If she's not included this summer, then yeah,
I'm going to have questions. Absolutely. But
I think she should be included in the VNL roster
this year and, you know, be in the discussion
for LA. That second setting position is. Wide
open. Yeah. They're going to need to get looks
at other setters. Okay, question five. What are
your takes on grass doubles and triples? It's
very popular on the East Coast and Midwest. There
are huge tournaments like Pottstown and Wapaka,
and grass tends to be more accessible than beach
volleyball. 100%, I completely understand that.
It's so much easier to side out in grass than
indoor or beach, and it puts more onus on having
a good serve. Triples can be quite chaotic, but
it's fun to watch at a high level. What are our
thoughts on grass? It's great. It's great. Well,
no. No, I agree. It's much more accessible to
areas that aren't on literal shoreline. Well,
we... live very close to a beach and there's
a park by our house and there are people playing
grass there pretty consistently it's a it's a
ton of fun it's a great game anybody again you
can play you're still working on the same skills
i like i don't have an issue I'm not sure exactly
what the question is asking. Like, do we think
it's fun? Do we think it's still volleyball?
Are we like looking down our noses at it? Like,
do we think it's legit? I will say for me personally,
I worry about grass because all I can think about
trying to play it is like sliding or like slipping
out on the grass and like pulling a hamstring
or something, you know, like it just makes me.
really really nervous about getting injured right
and you're thinking about you know how it affects
your professional career and and all of those
kind of things professional career doesn't exist
anymore now it's just like quality of life slash
middle age yeah i i hear what you're saying but
again it's a ton of fun i've been to a whole
bunch of tournaments i've watched i've played
i've helped run them yeah it's definitely has
the volleyball vibe and the spirit and you see
Good blocks and you see great plays. I feel like
the vibe and the attitude of the players is an
interesting mix or like a hybrid between indoor
and beach. Like for beach, you get a very distinct
type of personality. And then in indoor, it's
definitely different. But I feel like grass is
a good mix of the two. When I was young and didn't
worry about getting injured or anything, I loved
playing grass. Totally. No, there's, there's
no, like, I wouldn't think of it as the younger
stepchild or whatever. Oh, I think you meant
ugly stepchild, but whatever. Sure, take your
pick. It's the game and watching people play
is fun. And if you have an opportunity to play,
great. You can work on your skills. You can improve
all of your other ones. Like there's, there's
no, shame is the wrong word, but yeah, it's like
anything. It's the sport. We've legit, we know
Wapaka. We know Pottstown. We know how big grass
is. No, huge fan. Okay, question six. Do you
have any insight on Eric Sullivan's rationale
for having Eggleston play defense in one and
Matty Skinner play defense in five or six? It
seems like that's not the best for their development
in their positions when any other coach would
have them be switched like normal. It's to have
Skinner hit out of the back row. Yeah. It Maddie
Skinner is very good at hitting the pipe. I would
say much better at hitting the pipe than she
is at hitting the D ball or the zone one back
row attack. I think hitting back row is her best
attack. Neither Skinner nor Eggleston are top
of the charts defensively. If they do happen
to get a dig. I would much rather have Maddie
Skinner hitting the pipe than Eggleston. And
I think Maddie would rather have Maddie hitting
the pipe too. Yeah. I have noticed them, her
playing a lot in position six. I haven't seen
her playing in five, but I also haven't been
watching them like every single match. So if
she is playing in five that I don't understand,
I do understand her playing in six though. Well,
it depends. There may be some rotations where
they think she's not going to be able to dig
the ball in six. So they're going to put, the
libero to play there and if she doesn't dig in
five then she can still back out and hit like
an in -between pipe or whatever like so i think
that i would imagine if there's a strategic reason
for doing it would be something along those lines
you know and potentially if he is you know looking
ahead to national team if he's planning on having
maddie b play opposite and and logan play left
side again from my understanding logan was playing
right side When she played for Galatasaray, the
Turkish club she played for after college, maybe
she is comfortable playing defense there. I don't
know. I like that he's thinking outside the box.
And quite frankly, if they stay with Austin,
they're not going to have another coach. So he's
getting options for the national team. He's their
club coach. He's the national team coach. He
can try whatever he wants. I actually like the
fact that he's... trying to figure out the best
utilization of his players and thinking outside
the box. I think that's promising, quite frankly.
Okay, our last question today. I understand needing
power and consistency to be impactful with a
jump serve, like a spin serve, and I don't disagree,
but why don't teams encourage the hybrid serve
more on the women's side? Yoshino from Japan
does it and does it effectively enough that it
can change the outcome of a game. You are right.
Yoshino's hybrid serve is insane. Kim Young -kyung
did one when she was playing that was wild. When
they are done effectively or correctly, they
are monsters to pass. It is very hard to do.
I will say your toss needs to be so consistent
and so perfect. And I think a lot of players
who spin serve are just like, see ball, hit ball.
Just let me yass this thing up there and just
go after it. It doesn't require a ton of precision,
to be honest. Good step close. Yeah, have a good
step close and just go up and hit the snot out
of it. Well, the other thing, too, is if you're
hitting that hybrid, sometimes you're hitting
float, sometimes you're hitting spin. If you
want to hit the spin out of that approach, you
don't have your full lead and weight there. So
your arm has to be so quick to get the pace on
the ball to make it effective. There's a whole
bunch of things that have to be in place for
that to go. A, to get it in the court. B, to
be effective. And it's much harder than it looks.
And it takes a very specific athlete to be able
to do it. The precision and consistency of the
toss. The speed of the arm. And I think you have
to have a very specific arm swing, too, to make
it work. So it's not conducive to work for everybody.
But that's a really good question, though, because
I agree. It's like the hardest serve to get a
handle on. Thanks again for everybody who's writing
in questions. I know we got all kinds of volleyball
going on. International, Champions League. Love
MLV. We love getting all the different questions,
talking about grass, different players. So thanks
everybody who wrote in this week. All right.
These days, the looking forward segment could
possibly be the longest part of the podcast,
but we've narrowed it down to a few things that
you guys should watch this week. So Tuesday and
Wednesday, Italian A1 men's quarterfinal match
three. Watch it. It's amazing. It's been, the
volleyball has been fantastic. Wednesday and
Thursday, Women's Champions League second quarter
matches. That's on Euro Volley TV. Again, I think
it was like 16 euros for three months. You can
watch the whole thing. Again, great volleyball,
great storylines to follow. And then we get into
the local stuff. Thursday at 7 p .m. Eastern,
MLV, Orlando versus Atlanta. Friday and Saturday
at 10 p .m. Eastern, NCAA Men's Hawaii versus
Long Beach State right after it. We'll see if
Cade is playing for Hawaii or who's going for
them there. And then Saturday at 2 p .m. Eastern,
Love Atlanta versus Salt Lake. That's on Victory
Plus. On the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Italian
A1 semifinal match two on the women. Yes. So
lots to watch. Take your pick. That concludes
this week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always
something shaking in the volleyball world, and
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure
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Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll be back
next week.