WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. The last league has wrapped up. And that

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was men's Champions League. So we are moving

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into international season, everybody. But we

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have to talk about Champions League. And obviously

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we have to do a little bit of prep work before

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we get to the international season at the beginning

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of June. Today is going to be all about that.

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We are really excited. You guys have submitted

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some really good questions. I'm hoping that we

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can do them justice in answering them, to be

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honest. We're as excited as always. We hope you

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are too. So let's get started. Hey, we don't

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have a lot of weekly highlights this week, but

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there are a couple things. That were brought

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to my attention that I think are worth discussing.

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Number one, guess who's coaching the German national

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team? That's right. Logan Tom is making a resurgence,

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a reappearance, everybody. Why she's not coaching

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in the U .S. is... beyond me like how do you

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let one of your best players go and coach for

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another national team it it blows my mind quite

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frankly the thing that I've come to learn about

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athletes like her and by athletes like her I

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mean athletes like you incredibly well okay anyway

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athletes like her incredibly talented very very

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good but maybe not the most approachable Or the

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most, I don't want to say outgoing, but toot

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your own horn. Like you will never hear Logan

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Tom talk about how good she is. She does not

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have social media. You can't find her anywhere.

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She very much is like I'm living my life keeping

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to myself. And we know her personally. Yeah.

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She is one of the best that's ever played for

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the U .S. Yeah, I just feel like people overlook

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athletes like her because they're not the most

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outgoing, the most like self -promoting. But

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in my experience, those athletes, when you ask

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them to do something or ask them if they're interested,

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they usually are. They just don't go out of their

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way to do it. So I love that somebody finally

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approached her to do this because I think she

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has a lot to offer. So this is so exciting. If

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I was USA Volleyball and I had heard that, I

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would have called her immediately and be like,

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we'll pay you double, come coach in the US. When

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you look at what's happening on the women's side

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right now and all of this, A, you're turning

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over a roster. You have all of these young athletes

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coming in and trying to figure out how to be

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pros, how to compete, how to win. You can't tell

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me that having Logan Tom in the gym for the next

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three years leading into the Olympics would not

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be... maybe the best thing for you. I'm not sure

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those athletes would respond to her though. But

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it doesn't matter if you want to win. She is

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very like so blunt, so honest to the point of

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like, I'm just going to be honest and I don't

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really care how you take this. I'm just going

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to tell you the truth. But let me ask you this.

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And I don't think a lot of athletes particularly

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can handle that these days. Do you think athletes

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who can't handle feedback like that can win a

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gold medal? So you're either going to figure

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it out. This is going to come up later. This

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exact thing is going to come up later. It's a

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really good question. But anyway, I'm just, that

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was so exciting. I'm really happy for her. And

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I think the way the Germans operate as a people

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in general, it's a good fit. It's a good fit

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for sure. The other thing that came up was, so

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Reese Messer entered the transfer portal for.

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The USC setter. And when she entered the portal,

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they canceled some spring games, presumably because

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they didn't have enough setters on the roster

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to actually have spring games, which is sad.

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But everybody was kind of speculating that she

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was heading to SMU because she had like follow

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them, reposted stuff, whatever. My detectives

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do their digging. And turns out she pulled a

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fast one on everybody and committed to Kansas.

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Which is fine. The other kicker is if we remember

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Ava Serafa, who ended up being the backup setter

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for Kentucky, she, in the winter transfer portal,

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left Kentucky to go to SMU and apparently has

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entered the spring transfer portal. This leaves

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SMU with one setter on their roster who is a

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redshirt freshman. And the other thing is they...

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took a deal away from a young kid coming in who

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was going to set for them as well because they

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thought they were going to get. So now they have.

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A girl that used to play for my dad's club committed

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to them. She would have been a freshman setter

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this upcoming season. They pulled her scholarship

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out of nowhere. And now they have one setter

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remaining. If that isn't karma, I don't know

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what is. So we know who's going to be digging.

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I mean, we always knew they'd be digging in the

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portal, but we know who's going to be really

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desperately digging in the portal. Yeah, but

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you've lost all of your top people who were going

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to play arguably the most important position

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for you. Yeah. Yep. That's karma, baby. So I'm

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sure they'll figure something out, but I thought

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that was very interesting. Those are the weekly

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highlights. Something simple, keeping it fresh,

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exciting, nothing crazy, but yeah, that's what's

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been happening. Champions League men's final

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four happened this weekend in Torino. We had

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two Polish teams in Warsaw and Zawierce. We had

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an Italian team in Perugia and a Turkish team

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in Zurabank, Ankara. So semifinal one, not going

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to lie, didn't watch it. Perugia played Warsaw,

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handled them. Smacked them in the first two sets,

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25 -19, then 25 -20. Warsaw pushed back in the

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third, but couldn't close it out. Pruja won 26

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-24. I mean, they're just, we'll talk about it

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later, but they're just so good. Bentara hit

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517 on 29 sets. I mean, that's pretty much all

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you need to say. Pruja going for the back -to

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-back and accomplishing, well, I mean, accomplishing

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the back -to -back in the Men's Champions League.

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Warsaw. if we remember, was the team that upset

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Trentino when Trentino just literally gave it

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away. Well, upset Trentino and then finished

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fourth. So they didn't win at all in the final

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four. Making it there is obviously an accomplishment,

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but... Making it there is definitely tough. Anybody

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who came in front of Perugia, no. Didn't stand

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a chance. Didn't stand a chance in this final

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four at all. I actually thought... The next semifinal

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between Zivertse and Ankara was the best match

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of the tournament. Now, I know that the bronze

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medal match went to five. I didn't get a chance

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to see that one out of the other matches that

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we watched. This one was my favorite. On paper,

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looking at the rosters, and I don't know if this

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is completely wrong. People who have been following

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the men's Champions League more closely have

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a different opinion. But I thought on paper,

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Ankara should have won. I felt like they were

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the stronger roster. They definitely have more

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name recognition. Okay, yeah. So they have Niemeyer

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on the right side. For Nall, who played for Zavirsa

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last year. He is with Ankara now on the left

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side. Klevno. Also on the left side. So, you

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know, they were bringing in some decent athletes.

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Clevino played for that same team last year,

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but they made some upgrades for sure. On the

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other side, we have Aaron Russell, the American,

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Kyle Ensign, who coming off the bench is on the

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bench. I mean, their setter was Tavares, who's

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Portuguese. I didn't love. But his offense, honestly,

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I didn't love either setter's offense. That was

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the biggest takeaway from this match for me,

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was that the setters were not very good, which

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was mind -blowing to me. And now, whenever you

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watch a hitter be out of rhythm, your immediate

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instinct is to blame the setter. And I'm not

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sure, like Fornell never looked comfortable.

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He was tipping balls. He was setting balls over.

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Now he kind of plays that way in general. So

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it's hard to like look at it and know, was he

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in a good position? Did he just make bad decisions?

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But I thought that the setting, and they tried

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to run super fast, both teams. I thought the

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setting was an issue on both sides of the court,

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quite frankly. Yeah, it didn't look great. I

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mean, Niemeyer is so physical. that he made it

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work. You know, some of the out -of -system sets

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these guys were giving each other, I was like,

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wow, fabulous. I don't know what it is. I don't

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know if guys' hands are just so big that they

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just, like, smother the ball and are just like,

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like, you know what I mean? But they just, like...

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Well, and they're stronger, too, so they can

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just yass that ball up there from across the

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court without having to be super explosive with

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it. Like, fully extend the whole body. Now, a

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couple other things. I thought Ankara was going

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to win until the Ensign sub. And he saved their

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season, quite frankly. He was unbelievable when

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he came in. And I couldn't help but think, ooh,

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this makes things interesting on the U .S. side

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for the opposite position. Because now you have

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Anderson, Ensign, and Garcia. I was impressed

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with how he played, to be honest. Well, Ensign

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was a... an alternate for the Paris Olympics

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for the US. So he's no slouch. Was also splitting

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time with Garcia last summer. I was a little

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surprised he was coming off the bench here. I

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feel like the game could have been better if

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Ankara had taken care of it more decisively in

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set two. They did end up winning set two, 26,

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24. But at one point they were up 22, 18. And

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then the next thing you know, it's 22 all. And

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they're like fighting for their lives. I really

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feel like if they had been able to maintain that

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momentum, the story in set three could have been

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a little bit different. But Zaverza just kind

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of. gained momentum and way more confidence and

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then they just like ran from there well and they

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did a better job of continuing to apply service

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pressure and so well if you look at the stats

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both teams passed relatively equal kind of good

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and perfect passes but Ankara's bad passes were

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so out of system that it made it really hard

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for the hitters so Zaverde out blocked them 11

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to 4 They also had eight aces on 15 errors versus

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four aces on 22 errors. Eight aces and 15 errors

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is actually really, really good. They managed

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to put players in really tough spots. There were

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a couple sets that were close down the stretch

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and they got, you know, three blocks on the mirror

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from 20 to 25 just because he was at a system

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like the mirror is very good. But, you know,

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one bad set or one tough set that's tight. two

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out of system balls where they have really good

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blockers in place. There were also a couple sets

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that were just absolutely unhittable after 20

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coming from Ankara. So it was execution, in my

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opinion, based off really good service pressure

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from Zavirce that gave them the edge at the end

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of sets. Like these sets aren't close set scores,

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like 25 -19, 25 -19, but they were close up until

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the end. And then it was bad pass, bad pass,

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bad set. you know, two good blocks type of situation

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at the end, which is, I mean, men's volleyball.

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And I felt that Zaverze just made better plays

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down the stretch or executed after 20, a .k .a.

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the red zone, which I hate. Don't ever say that

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again. But it was impressive to watch. And they

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played better as a team, I thought. Oh, 100%.

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I mean, looking at the scores, the sets they

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won, they dominated. I was actually surprised

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that Ancro was struggling so much. But I just

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need to say, Niemeyer, man, that guy can thread

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the needle down the line. His line, yes. Okay.

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Clearly his favorite shot. But the way that he's

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able to find that line when there isn't much

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to be found is impressive. As a right -handed

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right side, when they're blocking you line and

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you can still hit it. And you're hitting out

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of set zone. It is impressive. It's super impressive.

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It's even more impressive that that guy was a

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setter. Yes. Are you kidding me? thoroughly impressed

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he should have just been like you know what i'll

00:14:01.629 --> 00:14:05.929
set myself this was an entertaining match i don't

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normally say that about set scores that are 25

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19 25 19 but it was again it was kind of close

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and you kind of always felt like anchor was on

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the edge of finding it service pressure from

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zavirce and i didn't like the setting personally

00:14:20.830 --> 00:14:24.629
but it was a fun game to watch let's talk about

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the final and this was for me a tale of Three

00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:32.279
sets, I guess, obviously. The first set was close,

00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:39.240
29 -27. The biggest takeaway for me was the setting,

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which we talked about in the semifinal matches.

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I don't think you can compare Gianelli with Tavares.

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It's just night and day. Gianelli delivers such

00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:50.940
a good ball from anywhere on the court. You just

00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:55.139
can't compete. And honestly, they were just better.

00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:57.340
That's all there is to it, ladies and gentlemen.

00:14:58.409 --> 00:15:00.730
So the first set was full disclosure. I did not

00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:02.210
watch this game because baby girl was having

00:15:02.210 --> 00:15:05.690
some issues. I watched, I was on baby duty and

00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:10.070
Adam was watching the game. Janelle just, when

00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:13.110
everything flows through him, it's like watching

00:15:13.110 --> 00:15:17.549
poetry in motion. He's, he is so good. He delivers

00:15:17.549 --> 00:15:20.750
such a good ball. And quite frankly, Zavirze

00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:23.970
hung with them in the first set and it was really

00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:25.309
entertaining. I was like, man, this is going

00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:28.850
to be a great match. And then it wasn't. And

00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:31.970
then it wasn't. Russell hit .428 in the first

00:15:31.970 --> 00:15:37.590
set. Biennick hit .556. Boulders hit .286. They

00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:41.509
played really well and just couldn't pull it

00:15:41.509 --> 00:15:45.070
out. And then Peru just said, that's enough of

00:15:45.070 --> 00:15:48.590
this. We're going to win. And literally just

00:15:48.590 --> 00:15:52.110
killed them. They served the lights out. They

00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:56.620
blocked super well. They're so efficient. I mean,

00:15:56.620 --> 00:16:00.139
Russell hit zero after that in sets two and three

00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:04.279
combined. It was like the first two rounds of

00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:07.279
a boxing match where both teams are just throwing

00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.659
punches, trying to figure out what the opponent

00:16:10.659 --> 00:16:15.179
is doing. And then Perugia locked in and just,

00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:19.200
it was no contest. It was so impressive to watch

00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.399
them be that dominant after having a close first

00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.620
set. It's just, they're just better. Plain and

00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:30.240
simple. Is it more entertaining or more satisfying

00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:35.039
when you know that the best team hands down won?

00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:40.879
Or in the women's situation where, in my opinion,

00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.519
the top two teams played in the semi and then

00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.139
there were like five set battles. Which is more

00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.519
satisfying? I think it's just different and it

00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.419
depends what you enjoy watching. Because I derive

00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:56.329
satisfaction knowing that the best team... I

00:16:56.329 --> 00:16:59.210
can say I agree with you, but the viewing experience

00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:02.009
is different. Because like it's kind of disappointing

00:17:02.009 --> 00:17:04.210
and I feel really bad for the teams when it's

00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:07.309
like the luck of the draw or like in a tournament,

00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:09.950
a team messes up and then mess like the whole

00:17:09.950 --> 00:17:11.809
draw gets screwed up and then it's like a one,

00:17:11.849 --> 00:17:14.369
two and a quarter. That's like hard for me as

00:17:14.369 --> 00:17:17.490
an athlete to see the women's semifinal where

00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:19.730
I think the top two teams had to play in the

00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:23.930
semis. It's like, oh, dang it. But then. It's

00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:26.490
more fun to watch. Whereas in the men's, it's

00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:29.470
like, you know what? Best team won, nothing to

00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:32.950
say. So set one was thoroughly enjoyable from

00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:38.250
a viewing standpoint. And then you just knew

00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:41.569
after the second set got started, you couldn't

00:17:41.569 --> 00:17:43.190
touch them. That they were just going to roll

00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:46.930
through that. It's different enjoyment to watch

00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:50.190
a team just execute so flawlessly. Like the volleyball

00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:55.970
is so good. My favorite player. I love him. He's

00:17:55.970 --> 00:17:58.650
so good. He is so technically good. You watch

00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:02.349
him play defense. He reads the game so incredibly

00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:05.829
well. Like when you have Semenyuk, and I don't

00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:07.190
know, I can't remember the name of the libero,

00:18:07.250 --> 00:18:09.650
but also played very well. And then Janeli, like

00:18:09.650 --> 00:18:12.390
when those are your contacts one and two, oh,

00:18:12.549 --> 00:18:16.250
you're just always ready to go. Everybody's a

00:18:16.250 --> 00:18:20.549
threat. And then Bentara plays like he's automatic,

00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:23.940
especially when Janeli is running. the offense

00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:25.799
that he's running. Like they're just, they're

00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.539
a very well oiled machine. And I actually found

00:18:29.539 --> 00:18:32.079
myself just kind of tracking Semenyuk on the

00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.960
court, like watching him play defense, watching

00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.019
him make reads, seeing where he was sliding in

00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:39.900
to position. Cause it was just, that was fun

00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:43.920
for me from a pure kind of volleyball standpoint,

00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.140
but the game was not, there was just not enough

00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:50.460
pushback in sets two and three. Okay, you have

00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:52.400
to pick right now. Who do you want for your setter?

00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:57.079
Janelli or Micah Christensen? Janelli. Champions

00:18:57.079 --> 00:18:59.980
League final. Converted Adam, everybody. He's

00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:05.640
very good. Wow. I thought you were going to take

00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.400
a second longer to answer that. We've talked

00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.140
about this. I think Micah Christensen, if you're

00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:15.660
just looking at setting, maybe edges him out

00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:19.440
just a little bit. But Janelli's whole... package

00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.440
on the court there's just no denying he makes

00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:25.279
a little tiny man bun included a couple good

00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.420
matches i i'm gonna go back and watch the bronze

00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.359
match because it was a five setter the bronze

00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:31.740
medal match looked like they traded a couple

00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:34.420
bad sets and then a couple were close so i think

00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:35.980
that one will be worth watching i'll go back

00:19:35.980 --> 00:19:38.240
and check that one out but really enjoyed the

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.240
semi -final liked watching perugia just from

00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:47.299
a purely volleyball ability standpoint but perugia

00:19:47.589 --> 00:19:50.170
Back -to -back winners. Impressive. We'll see

00:19:50.170 --> 00:19:51.750
all these, well, not all these guys. We'll see

00:19:51.750 --> 00:19:56.049
a lot of these guys in V &amp;L in a few weeks. Adam.

00:19:56.789 --> 00:20:03.809
Sarah. What do you think was the most requested

00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:07.890
topic to discuss today? The US V &amp;L roster. Oh,

00:20:07.890 --> 00:20:12.009
baby, you are right. I cannot tell you the number

00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:16.089
of people who sent me. Instagram posts talking

00:20:16.089 --> 00:20:20.150
about this roster asking us to dive in etc so

00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:23.390
what I was thinking is we can go position by

00:20:23.390 --> 00:20:27.329
position I will tell you who made the U .S. women's

00:20:27.329 --> 00:20:31.690
wide roster and then you tell me you know your

00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:34.750
thoughts of like who you're like absolutely love

00:20:34.750 --> 00:20:39.740
this pick and who you are like why And then we

00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:41.279
can kind of go from there because there is some

00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.660
context around people who are injured, who declined

00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:47.680
invites and just straight up weren't invited.

00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:50.420
How does that sound? Yep. Let's do it. Okay.

00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:53.859
Let's start with the setters. The setters are

00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:58.000
Jordan Poulter, Rachel Fairbanks, Micah Hancock,

00:20:58.259 --> 00:21:02.420
Kami Minor, and Sage Kahina Torres. I'm okay

00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:04.180
with all of those. I love that they're giving

00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:08.869
Kami Minor a go. Fairbanks makes sense. Poulter

00:21:08.869 --> 00:21:12.190
and Micah. Yes. I think all of those are great

00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:15.950
choices. Sage, Kahana Torres. She's just not,

00:21:16.029 --> 00:21:18.690
she's not an international setter. Not to mention

00:21:18.690 --> 00:21:21.430
you weren't even starting for your MLV team.

00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:25.029
Yeah. That to me is a Homer pick. Nepotism 101.

00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:29.170
Where's Jenna Gray? Okay. So that is an important

00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:32.410
one. Jenna Gray declined her invite because I

00:21:32.410 --> 00:21:36.049
was wondering the same thing. Okay. Well, I was

00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:39.680
like, how, where is she? She declined it. Obviously,

00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:43.240
we don't know what the context around declining

00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:46.279
was, what the reasons were. I would have put

00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:49.119
her on the list if they asked her. I think that

00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.980
makes sense. Now, for me, when you get down to

00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:55.440
these last roster spots, it's interesting what

00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.160
you choose to do with them. So for me, like if

00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.630
you know. Kahana Torres is not going to be an

00:22:01.630 --> 00:22:04.529
international setter, which for me, that's the

00:22:04.529 --> 00:22:06.650
distinction that I would have made on her. I'm

00:22:06.650 --> 00:22:09.309
bringing in a young kid who I want to get experience.

00:22:09.490 --> 00:22:11.890
So for me, if you're looking at those fringe

00:22:11.890 --> 00:22:14.869
roster spots, Kahana Torres, unless every setter

00:22:14.869 --> 00:22:17.549
gets hurt, should not travel on a V &amp;L roster.

00:22:17.789 --> 00:22:20.230
Who do you want in that environment learning,

00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:23.869
kind of getting to know USA Volleyball? To me,

00:22:23.890 --> 00:22:26.130
it should go to one of your up -and -coming setters.

00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:30.680
Furbringer, Bergen -Riley, or Stark. Now, I don't

00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:32.900
love the way Stark handled that situation, so

00:22:32.900 --> 00:22:35.299
maybe you take her off the list, but bring in

00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:37.160
one of those two setters and get them familiar

00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:39.220
with the offense. Get them to understand what

00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:41.299
you want with the program because you're going

00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:43.059
to want to take a look at them. Now, I'm not

00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:45.680
saying they're going to play in 2028, but part

00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.880
of the summer training in the wide roster is

00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.039
building your pipeline for the future. I don't

00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:54.500
love that pick personally. I think Charlie Furbringer

00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:57.289
was their training. But she wasn't put on the

00:22:57.289 --> 00:23:00.369
list. My understanding is like, yeah, she was

00:23:00.369 --> 00:23:02.829
there in the training environment. Again, we

00:23:02.829 --> 00:23:06.230
don't know what those girls obligations are for

00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:10.269
their teams during the summer. Sure. Maybe they

00:23:10.269 --> 00:23:13.089
have to take summer classes or I know Bergen

00:23:13.089 --> 00:23:15.970
-Ratley just graduated. So who knows? We don't

00:23:15.970 --> 00:23:18.529
know what that is, but I do know that Charlie

00:23:18.529 --> 00:23:20.890
was there, but wasn't on the roster. But I agree.

00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:24.390
I think this Sage pick is ridiculous because.

00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:27.839
You're not starting an MLV. If you're going to

00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.220
do this, take Cameron Turner, who was starting

00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:32.960
over her. You know what I mean? Agreed. Okay,

00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.920
let's do opposites. Jordan Thompson, Maddie Skinner,

00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:40.480
Olivia Babcock, Steph Samity, and Kendall Kipp.

00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.140
I'm actually okay with all of those choices.

00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:45.700
Do I think all of them have a shot to play in

00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:48.980
2028? No. But I think Kipp had a good season.

00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:51.779
Yeah, I think Kipp deserves a shot for sure.

00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:54.660
And I think she was injured last summer. So I

00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:59.480
like that. Samity, I'm fine with as like your

00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:02.440
bottom two. You don't know what you're getting

00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.700
internationally with them yet. So I'm okay with

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:07.000
those choices. And then the top three, Jordan

00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.559
Thompson, if she's going to play, a no -brainer.

00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:11.640
Maddie Skinner, you're hoping to realize the

00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:13.799
physicality of that. So you need to keep her

00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:16.279
in the gym because if she figures it out, she

00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:18.680
could be an X factor. Jury's out on whether that

00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:20.960
will happen or not. So you have to give her some

00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.099
runway. And Olivia Bagwag, yeah, yes. I like

00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:26.759
these choices. Logan led Nikki, not getting the

00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:29.000
callback. I don't think, I think that's fair.

00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:32.559
Yeah. I don't think she's an international right

00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.819
side. At this point in time, she's not better

00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:37.599
than those five. I don't think. No. And like

00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:41.579
Maddie Skinner, I think Olivia and Jordan are

00:24:41.579 --> 00:24:44.940
significantly better than her. I think having

00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:48.859
her in the gym to like block against, yes, give

00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:51.220
her a chance to figure it out. But I agree right

00:24:51.220 --> 00:24:54.349
now. She's not. Her ball control is not good

00:24:54.349 --> 00:24:56.849
enough to be a left side and she's not terminal

00:24:56.849 --> 00:24:59.950
enough from the right side to be a right side.

00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:04.190
So it's tough. It is, but she's a player who

00:25:04.190 --> 00:25:07.109
could be an X factor given her physicality if

00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:09.109
she can figure it. She gets all the runway in

00:25:09.109 --> 00:25:11.670
the world. A good double sub. Yeah. And for all

00:25:11.670 --> 00:25:13.390
of you people who are like, she got MVP at the

00:25:13.390 --> 00:25:15.250
love. I don't care. I don't need to hear it.

00:25:15.430 --> 00:25:18.109
Okay. But again, we've talked about it with her.

00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:21.500
She needs to be able to play volleyball with

00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.180
people who are just as physical as her. And she

00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:25.480
has to prove that she can do that. So maybe that's

00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:29.539
why Sage made the roster. Because she has trouble

00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:32.420
connecting with a Jordan Poulter type set. You

00:25:32.420 --> 00:25:34.359
don't bring a setter to bring along a player

00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:35.839
you hope is going to make it. No, but Logan Eggleston

00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.700
was the same thing. Mind you, she had Brie O

00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:42.680
'Reilly setting her all year. I don't know. We'll

00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:45.099
see. We saw that Brie O 'Reilly and Skinner had

00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:47.920
trouble connecting. Anyway, we could dive in

00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.099
forever. I like those right side picks. Overall,

00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:53.839
I'm not opposed to these picks. Okay, let's move

00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.640
on to liberos. This position and the opposite

00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:01.859
position were the two holes that we kind of felt

00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:06.440
the U .S. had last season. So the liberos that

00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.940
were picked are Lexi Rodriguez, Morgan Hentz,

00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:13.279
Elena Scott, and Elena Ogilvie. I'm okay with

00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:16.640
those choices. I just don't love any of them

00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:19.519
internationally yet. You guys, that's what he

00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:22.180
said about Alina Scott. They have put themselves

00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:27.380
at the top of the potential options. But for

00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:30.240
me, none of them have proved that they can play

00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:35.160
against the top hitters when things are faster,

00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.279
bigger, higher. This is a huge question mark

00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:41.059
to me, position -wise for the U .S., if Juan

00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:44.819
Guarantes does not come back. Agreed. I don't

00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:47.759
mind any of these picks. I'm actually incredibly

00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.500
curious to see who comes out as the front runner

00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:55.259
for this position for the U S and how they handle

00:26:55.259 --> 00:26:58.039
it. This might be for me, the biggest drama.

00:26:58.460 --> 00:27:01.259
But do you, can you think of anybody that's missing?

00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:04.579
No. Like if you even think of the Liberos, I

00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:07.039
played love. We've got like Maya Sands. We've

00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:11.519
got Lauren Briseño, Jillian Grimes played love.

00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:14.519
I mean, Brazilian was on the list last year.

00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.559
You could maybe make a fringe argument for some

00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:21.579
of those liberals, but nobody is a standout.

00:27:21.579 --> 00:27:23.640
Nobody's moving the needle. Exactly. Yeah. So

00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:26.019
if you're going to pick four to take a bet on,

00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:29.559
I'm okay taking these four. And I think probably

00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:33.660
Pence is leading the way. Honestly, I don't know.

00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.940
This position, I agree, is just, it's a tough

00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:39.990
position for them. And the opposite elevated

00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:42.750
itself by bringing Jordan Thompson back, I think.

00:27:43.670 --> 00:27:48.369
But this position has question marks all over

00:27:48.369 --> 00:27:51.130
it for me because it's not even like I think

00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:53.609
there are better options available. No. And the

00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:58.609
thing is, you don't have a ton of great passing

00:27:58.609 --> 00:28:02.730
left side options. So having a great libero actually

00:28:02.730 --> 00:28:05.210
makes a huge difference for this roster, in my

00:28:05.210 --> 00:28:08.769
opinion. So we will see. This is what I'll be

00:28:08.769 --> 00:28:12.950
keeping my eye out on. Okay, middles. We've got

00:28:12.950 --> 00:28:17.670
Anna Hall, Chiaka Ogbagu, Dana Retke, Asia O

00:28:17.670 --> 00:28:21.529
'Neill, Molly McCage, Sammy Francis, and Anna

00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:26.789
Dodson. Some things to note. Serena Gray, Amber

00:28:26.789 --> 00:28:30.170
Ajit, and Haley Washington are all injured. This

00:28:30.170 --> 00:28:32.750
is an interesting one for me. To me, you kind

00:28:32.750 --> 00:28:36.450
of have... Like, Ogbagu and Retke are your best

00:28:36.450 --> 00:28:39.640
two middles. Agreed, yeah. And then after that,

00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:43.759
it's kind of like, meh. So what are you looking

00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:48.640
for from a strategic standpoint of who you want

00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:51.099
to bring in? I'm not sure O 'Neal and McCage

00:28:51.099 --> 00:28:55.740
are international quality middles. Like, they're

00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:59.579
serviceable. I agree with that. I don't see them

00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:02.789
being on the 2028 roster. I mean, I don't know

00:29:02.789 --> 00:29:04.609
if I bring them along. I like that they're bringing

00:29:04.609 --> 00:29:06.990
Sammy Francis. So she hasn't had a shot. She's

00:29:06.990 --> 00:29:10.349
big. She played her first season overseas in

00:29:10.349 --> 00:29:13.730
Japan. Like, give her a shot. I like that. Anna

00:29:13.730 --> 00:29:16.730
Dodson did pretty well in Italy last season as

00:29:16.730 --> 00:29:20.549
well. I am okay with that one as well. I'm a

00:29:20.549 --> 00:29:23.730
little surprised they're not going to give Andy

00:29:23.730 --> 00:29:26.269
Jackson a shot. I understand, like we talked

00:29:26.269 --> 00:29:28.630
about her maybe not showing up in the finals

00:29:28.630 --> 00:29:31.369
and some other things, and her blocking is definitely

00:29:31.369 --> 00:29:33.970
not up to international standards yet. Again,

00:29:34.049 --> 00:29:36.289
this is kind of that upside conversation we had

00:29:36.289 --> 00:29:39.750
with the setters. She could be a difference maker

00:29:39.750 --> 00:29:41.950
for you. The way she hits the slide, how physical

00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:45.250
she is, if she can figure out, you know, her

00:29:45.250 --> 00:29:47.750
blocking and how to be serviceable in that regard,

00:29:47.990 --> 00:29:50.490
she's got a way higher ceiling than O 'Neal and

00:29:50.490 --> 00:29:52.529
McCage. Well, and Anna Hall is kind of a random

00:29:52.529 --> 00:29:55.799
pick for me too. Honestly, I understand she had

00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:58.460
a baby in September, was coming back, all this

00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:00.940
stuff. To be quite honest, I didn't closely follow

00:30:00.940 --> 00:30:04.700
Madison this year because, well, I sucked. So

00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:06.980
I don't know. Maybe she was really, really good

00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:09.420
in love. Somebody tell me. Maybe she was. But

00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:12.039
that one's kind of random to me. And then the

00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:17.220
McCage -O 'Neal thing is also a stretch. And

00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:20.220
I know that there are some huge O 'Neal and McCage

00:30:20.220 --> 00:30:22.980
fans out there. I agree with you. I don't think

00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:27.039
they are what the program needs. Well, but my

00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:29.240
thing is, it's like you look at roster construction.

00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:32.720
Are either of those two going to bring you something

00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:35.859
that Rettke and Okbogu don't bring you? And my

00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:37.839
next question to you is, is a healthy IG better

00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:40.539
than them? I think so. Okay, so there you have...

00:30:40.539 --> 00:30:42.200
And honestly, the way Serena Gray played this

00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:44.200
year, I think Serena Gray is better too. So...

00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:46.259
You have potentially your four middles there.

00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:48.640
Two of them are hurt. I get that. But then why

00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.680
are you not giving... younger yeah potentially

00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:55.400
program like she's the same well you know why

00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:58.859
they play for love austin well i mean you can

00:30:58.859 --> 00:31:01.960
say that andy jackson is the same in the same

00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:04.519
boat as maddie skinner for me you got a physical

00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:07.480
player who's maybe not as polished bring her

00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:10.279
along If you are going to play a team that's

00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.759
really good defense, like for example, if you're

00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:16.359
going to end up playing like a Japan who's undersized

00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:18.980
but great defensively and you're going to need

00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:21.059
an offensive middle, like that's Andy Jackson.

00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:23.259
She can score at will against a team like that.

00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:26.140
You can start to develop some players who you

00:31:26.140 --> 00:31:29.180
can use in specific situations down the road.

00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:31.970
And I just. Again, I don't know what her commitments

00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:33.670
are. I don't know if they asked her, but that

00:31:33.670 --> 00:31:36.390
is one for me who I think you want to be seeing

00:31:36.390 --> 00:31:38.230
in those situations sooner rather than later.

00:31:38.369 --> 00:31:40.970
I can get behind that. Your girl Tia Jimerson

00:31:40.970 --> 00:31:45.369
was not, I heard not invited back, but I'm not

00:31:45.369 --> 00:31:50.210
sure. And then Breon Butler from last year apparently

00:31:50.210 --> 00:31:53.650
had some issues with Sullivan and was not invited

00:31:53.650 --> 00:31:58.259
back. Jimerson is. I'm not a Jimmerson fan, as

00:31:58.259 --> 00:32:00.839
you all know. You like her more than I do, but

00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:03.119
I don't think she should have been on the list

00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:06.359
anyway. Yeah, I like her attitude. I think she

00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:11.920
brings something and a little grit, a little

00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:14.880
sandpaper, a little attitude. You know that I

00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:16.980
love attitude. You know that I love personality.

00:32:17.099 --> 00:32:19.500
I feel like the way that she goes about it is

00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:22.000
different, but we don't have to dive into this

00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:24.339
again. I understand what you're saying. But when

00:32:24.339 --> 00:32:29.380
I look at that roster, it strikes me as like

00:32:29.380 --> 00:32:32.619
a Nebraska. Where is your Logan Tom? Where is

00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:36.220
who on that team is sitting players down and

00:32:36.220 --> 00:32:38.819
being like, that's not how we function. I think

00:32:38.819 --> 00:32:41.039
that is a consideration. And Jimmerson is not

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:42.599
good enough to do that. No, I'm like, yeah, you

00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:45.420
think she's going to be that player? But I can

00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:48.299
see Jimmerson in practice firing people up. Pushing

00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:51.359
competition is what I'm saying. That was one

00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:53.680
of the reasons I liked her. But I understand

00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.339
that she's not on the roster. Injury -free, let's

00:32:56.339 --> 00:32:59.019
hope that Gray and IG would have replaced a couple

00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:02.880
of these options. But who knows? Yeah. And then

00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:07.000
we've got our outsides. We've got Tori Stafford,

00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:12.599
Avery Skinner, Sarah Franklin, Kara Holick, who

00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:18.299
is Karabajma, Simone Lee, Logan Eggleston, Maddie

00:33:18.299 --> 00:33:22.220
Kubik, Katie Baird, and Claire Hoffman. Some

00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:26.480
context, Mimi Collier declined her invite, which

00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.819
I'm glad they invited her. Catherine Bowden is

00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:32.339
taking the summer off again to rehab an injury.

00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.180
Kalia Lanier was not invited. That's a big miss

00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:39.819
for me. That's a big miss for me. I thought she

00:33:39.819 --> 00:33:42.599
played well enough, and I think she's quite frankly

00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:44.980
better than some of these left sides. That's

00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:49.180
the big one. This outside group makes me nervous.

00:33:49.380 --> 00:33:53.990
Has me asking questions. Yeah. Who outside of

00:33:53.990 --> 00:33:57.089
Lanier do you think should have been asked that

00:33:57.089 --> 00:34:01.450
wasn't? This group makes me nervous, but I'm

00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:05.730
not sure there are that many better options.

00:34:05.970 --> 00:34:09.989
I don't disagree with you. This is tough. I agree

00:34:09.989 --> 00:34:11.769
that Cleo Lanier should have been given a shot.

00:34:11.929 --> 00:34:13.849
You play for one of the top clubs in the world.

00:34:13.869 --> 00:34:18.860
You started. You did well. Why not? That's a

00:34:18.860 --> 00:34:21.719
huge miss. You have seen and played against the

00:34:21.719 --> 00:34:25.760
level that you're going to see at VNL, and I

00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:28.579
think that makes a huge difference. Big miss.

00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:31.820
Maybe the biggest miss of the roster. Okay, so

00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:33.920
Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock are the only

00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:35.639
two current college players that were invited.

00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:38.860
Do you think that any other current college players

00:34:38.860 --> 00:34:42.059
could have been asked? I mean, Andy Jackson.

00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:45.320
Okay, yeah, Andy Jackson. Or one of the setters.

00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:48.219
But from a left -side perspective. Yeah, no,

00:34:48.420 --> 00:34:51.219
I don't think so. The jump is big, I think, especially

00:34:51.219 --> 00:34:54.340
from the left side in terms of defense, passing.

00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:58.860
You're hitting against massive right sides. I

00:34:58.860 --> 00:35:00.559
like Tori Stafford because I think she's got

00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.559
a well -rounded game, pass and track with enough

00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:06.440
exposure to the game at that level. I like that

00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:09.340
pick. But yeah, I don't think you have enough

00:35:09.340 --> 00:35:12.969
good options. Okay. Like Claire Hoffman to me

00:35:12.969 --> 00:35:16.070
was a huge question mark. She's the left side

00:35:16.070 --> 00:35:19.070
for Salt Lake. I was like, she's not, you gotta

00:35:19.070 --> 00:35:22.610
be kidding me right now. So I was trying to come

00:35:22.610 --> 00:35:25.230
up with reasons of why this group was selected.

00:35:25.590 --> 00:35:29.869
And the only thing I can really land on is they're

00:35:29.869 --> 00:35:34.449
seen, they knew either scene, but be passing

00:35:34.449 --> 00:35:38.699
was such an issue. For them last year that maybe

00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:41.860
he was trying to find left sides that were competent

00:35:41.860 --> 00:35:46.380
passers. Which is why. You skipped Lanier? Yeah.

00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:50.440
She's not a fantastic passer. No. She scores.

00:35:50.579 --> 00:35:52.380
So that's why I'm like, okay, maybe that's why

00:35:52.380 --> 00:35:54.460
Maddie Kubik was picked. Maybe that's why Tori

00:35:54.460 --> 00:35:57.659
Stafford was picked. Maybe that's why Cara Badgma

00:35:57.659 --> 00:36:00.539
was picked. You know what I mean? Not players

00:36:00.539 --> 00:36:03.239
that I would have been like, yes, should be on

00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:06.599
the roster today. But like. Maybe that's why.

00:36:06.699 --> 00:36:10.679
Other than that, I don't know why some of these

00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:13.659
players would have been on it other than that.

00:36:13.780 --> 00:36:16.780
Because Claire Hoffman, for me, no. And I think

00:36:16.780 --> 00:36:19.320
you're probably right. Here's my issue, is that

00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.300
these are decent passers. But then you have to

00:36:22.300 --> 00:36:26.519
score. No, you can have one passing left side.

00:36:26.579 --> 00:36:29.909
That's fine. But they're decent passers. In the

00:36:29.909 --> 00:36:32.329
Powderpuff Serving League. I understand Lanyard's

00:36:32.329 --> 00:36:34.829
not a great passer, but she was passing serves

00:36:34.829 --> 00:36:40.269
from Entropova, from Iganu. She has seen those

00:36:40.269 --> 00:36:42.489
balls. That's fair. Now you're going to have

00:36:42.489 --> 00:36:44.750
all of these passing outsides come and play here?

00:36:44.949 --> 00:36:46.989
We've talked about the service pressure we saw

00:36:46.989 --> 00:36:50.429
in Love. It's nothing compared to what they're

00:36:50.429 --> 00:36:53.489
going to see. So while the theory might be right,

00:36:53.610 --> 00:36:56.329
it appears to me that they didn't have anybody

00:36:56.329 --> 00:36:59.369
from their staff. watching the European games.

00:36:59.750 --> 00:37:03.250
All of their recruiting and looking and analysis

00:37:03.250 --> 00:37:05.429
came from Love because they were coaching there.

00:37:05.510 --> 00:37:07.809
Well, Adam, look at this. Who are the starters

00:37:07.809 --> 00:37:11.789
for Love Austin? Yes, I understand. Maddie Kubik,

00:37:11.889 --> 00:37:15.070
Logan Eggleston, Asia O 'Neill, Molly McCage,

00:37:15.150 --> 00:37:17.829
and Maddie Skinner. The setter won as Canadian,

00:37:18.130 --> 00:37:23.030
can't play, did libero, Japanese, and thankfully

00:37:23.030 --> 00:37:25.690
Zoe Fleck wasn't added because we know he probably

00:37:25.690 --> 00:37:27.849
wanted it. I don't disagree with you. Starting

00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:30.050
lineup for Austin, you guys. Are you kidding

00:37:30.050 --> 00:37:34.769
me? They needed somebody watching European volleyball.

00:37:35.190 --> 00:37:38.030
Maybe they had somebody. Who knows? Well, he

00:37:38.030 --> 00:37:39.909
didn't do his job. Or she didn't do her job.

00:37:40.070 --> 00:37:43.349
Because, I'm sorry, you need at least a couple

00:37:43.349 --> 00:37:46.929
players who have played against that level. Especially

00:37:46.929 --> 00:37:49.670
on the left. I think this position is going to

00:37:49.670 --> 00:37:51.869
undo them. Well, now, yeah. Last year, we were

00:37:51.869 --> 00:37:54.030
like, ooh, right side and libero not so hot.

00:37:54.190 --> 00:37:56.090
Now, I'm like, your left sides are going to kill

00:37:56.090 --> 00:37:58.969
you. Yeah, I agree. I'm glad Avery Skinner's

00:37:58.969 --> 00:38:01.869
on the list. 100%. I honestly thought it was

00:38:01.869 --> 00:38:04.369
going to be a trio of Skinner, Franklin, and

00:38:04.369 --> 00:38:06.750
Lanier. At least Ronnie Jones Perry wasn't on

00:38:06.750 --> 00:38:11.429
the list this year. On the note of left sides,

00:38:11.690 --> 00:38:16.650
do you think that Plummer or Bowden, you know,

00:38:16.650 --> 00:38:18.610
not really playing on her professional team,

00:38:18.789 --> 00:38:21.289
being injured, having to rehab, she's missed

00:38:21.289 --> 00:38:25.159
a couple seasons now. Like, do you think... The

00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.840
window for her competing internationally is closing.

00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:33.539
No, because I still think that a, she's way more

00:38:33.539 --> 00:38:36.840
experienced than a lot of the left sides I have

00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:41.199
on the roster. And B, she is capable of stepping

00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:44.139
in and playing left side if needed or right side.

00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:47.420
I mean, when she came in this year for her team,

00:38:47.460 --> 00:38:50.219
she was quite effective. Yeah. So I think that

00:38:50.219 --> 00:38:53.500
if she wants to come back, I think they should

00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:57.019
reserve a spot for her if she's healthy enough

00:38:57.019 --> 00:39:00.159
to be serviceable. Okay. I was, I was just curious.

00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:02.500
Cause it's, I mean, she's a unique athlete for

00:39:02.500 --> 00:39:04.199
them at this point and where they are roster

00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:07.420
wise, but again, hasn't been able to play, you

00:39:07.420 --> 00:39:09.719
know, for a variety of reasons. And I just find

00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:11.599
this all interesting because I feel like last

00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:13.559
year was a year of like, okay, let's test it

00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:16.559
out because we're in a new cycle. And this year

00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:18.380
it's kind of like, okay, we kind of have to get

00:39:18.380 --> 00:39:21.619
the pieces. put in place because next summer

00:39:21.619 --> 00:39:24.400
things are really starting to ramp up and granted

00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:26.679
yeah they have a spot in the olympics they don't

00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:28.980
have to stress about that but i feel like but

00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:30.739
you're not going to go from never making it past

00:39:30.739 --> 00:39:32.659
the quarterfinals to winning a gold medal like

00:39:32.659 --> 00:39:35.239
yeah they're gonna have to start putting some

00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:39.380
results on the table correct so we got some interesting

00:39:39.380 --> 00:39:42.539
questions pertaining to this vnl roster that

00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:45.300
i kind of want to go through so one of them is

00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:49.480
If you could cut one player from each position,

00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:52.260
two for the left sides because there are so many,

00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:56.579
from this roster, who would it be and why and

00:39:56.579 --> 00:39:59.619
who would you replace them with? And what would

00:39:59.619 --> 00:40:03.559
be your starting lineup with this current roster

00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:06.119
as it is? I know who I would cut from the center

00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:08.960
is Sage. Yeah, correct. We already kind of talked

00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:12.880
about this. So if we are operating with like

00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:19.400
we don't know who. or whatever, I would replace

00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:21.900
her with Jenna Gray. Agreed. We already know

00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:24.880
why I would cut Sage, because if you're not starting

00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:28.000
for your team, what are you doing? You're not

00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:31.199
starting for your MLV team. Who would you cut

00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:36.260
from the opposites? For me, it would be... Okay,

00:40:36.340 --> 00:40:39.980
so my question is, is this about performance

00:40:39.980 --> 00:40:42.780
this summer? Let's say performance this summer.

00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:45.480
I'm probably going to cut Skinner then. I think

00:40:45.480 --> 00:40:48.940
she's got the law. She's listen, you know what

00:40:48.940 --> 00:40:52.000
I said? I think that she is potentially an X

00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.599
factor, but if you're looking at, if Sullivan's

00:40:55.599 --> 00:40:59.159
job is on the line going, Hey, you have to, you

00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:02.559
have to hit X performance marker or we're hiring

00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:05.420
somebody else for next year. I think those other

00:41:05.420 --> 00:41:07.559
options give you more flexibility and are more

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:10.719
reliable at the position. Man, this is a tough

00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:15.300
one. I even considered Olivia Babcock. but she's

00:41:15.300 --> 00:41:17.000
probably better defensively than Maddie Skinner.

00:41:17.559 --> 00:41:19.739
Oh my gosh. This is, this is actually a hard

00:41:19.739 --> 00:41:22.599
one. Cause I think this is a pretty equal position

00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:24.820
across the board. I mean, I just, I like Kendall

00:41:24.820 --> 00:41:27.260
Kip's body of work this year. I think she's playing.

00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:30.239
And Samity has been playing against like good

00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:33.900
competition for a while. I'll say Babcock because

00:41:33.900 --> 00:41:37.199
I just think last year she looked a little bit

00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:40.780
like a fish out of water. She did. Okay. But

00:41:40.780 --> 00:41:44.210
like she was just not quite there yet. If we're

00:41:44.210 --> 00:41:46.630
looking at this year. If we're building to the

00:41:46.630 --> 00:41:48.510
future, absolutely keep her on the roster. But,

00:41:48.510 --> 00:41:51.869
okay, which libero would you get rid of? Putting

00:41:51.869 --> 00:41:55.070
aside personal bias, probably Elena Scott. Over

00:41:55.070 --> 00:41:59.289
Elena Ogilvie? Yeah. Interesting. I think Rodriguez

00:41:59.289 --> 00:42:02.769
deserves another chance. Like, she was fresh

00:42:02.769 --> 00:42:04.670
out of college last time. I think she deserves

00:42:04.670 --> 00:42:07.550
another chance to see if she's improved. I was

00:42:07.550 --> 00:42:11.400
going to say Ogilvie. The thing for me that...

00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:13.480
I love Elena Scott's setting. Well, that was

00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:16.380
going to be... I think that she needs a little

00:42:16.380 --> 00:42:20.239
bit more time to get up to the speed of defense

00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:24.519
and serve -receive. I mean, Ogilvie does as well.

00:42:24.579 --> 00:42:26.719
I think Elena Scott's setting sets her apart.

00:42:26.920 --> 00:42:30.659
Yeah. Especially seeing the inconsistent setting

00:42:30.659 --> 00:42:32.719
coming from the libero position last year. They

00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:34.880
need somebody who can deliver an out -of -system

00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:37.030
ball. Actually, I think you've convinced me.

00:42:37.110 --> 00:42:39.670
I think that gives her the edge over Ogilvie.

00:42:39.730 --> 00:42:42.369
It was between Ogilvie and her for me. I thought

00:42:42.369 --> 00:42:44.389
that Ogilvie might handle the pace a little bit

00:42:44.389 --> 00:42:48.829
better than she does, but agreed her setting

00:42:48.829 --> 00:42:51.550
is better. Okay, middles, who would you take

00:42:51.550 --> 00:42:54.750
off? O 'Neal or McCage. It's between those two

00:42:54.750 --> 00:42:57.449
for me. I never saw Anna Hall play this year,

00:42:57.550 --> 00:43:00.150
so for me it was between Anna Hall and O 'Neal.

00:43:00.750 --> 00:43:03.150
But without actually having seen Anna Hall play,

00:43:03.309 --> 00:43:06.610
like maybe she's incredible. So I'm also going

00:43:06.610 --> 00:43:09.250
to go with O 'Neal because I think Molly McCage

00:43:09.250 --> 00:43:13.010
is a better blocker. Yeah. Okay. Which two outsides

00:43:13.010 --> 00:43:16.110
would you take off? Probably Hoffman and Maddie

00:43:16.110 --> 00:43:18.949
Kubik. Thanks. I understand if you're looking

00:43:18.949 --> 00:43:22.130
for ball control, but they just can't score at

00:43:22.130 --> 00:43:25.550
that level. Can you think about them hitting

00:43:25.550 --> 00:43:29.969
against Hawk or Antropova or like, that's just

00:43:29.969 --> 00:43:32.050
not. It's not going to happen. And I don't think

00:43:32.050 --> 00:43:34.329
their passing is so prolific that you need them

00:43:34.329 --> 00:43:35.750
on the court. Like Avery Skinner is a better

00:43:35.750 --> 00:43:38.889
pastor than they are. I'm going Hoffman. And

00:43:38.889 --> 00:43:42.130
I was thinking about actually doing Tori Stafford

00:43:42.130 --> 00:43:44.909
because I'm going from like today. I think, yes,

00:43:44.929 --> 00:43:47.710
if you want, if you want to build for the future,

00:43:47.769 --> 00:43:50.030
you need to start infiltrating those college

00:43:50.030 --> 00:43:52.489
players into the mix to like get them experience.

00:43:52.849 --> 00:43:55.789
But if we're looking at it today, I'd probably

00:43:55.789 --> 00:43:59.139
take Stafford off Hoffman. Because I don't think

00:43:59.139 --> 00:44:02.079
Hoffman's passing is that good that she's going

00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:04.260
to make up for what they currently have. Who

00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:05.940
do you think is better offensively, Stafford

00:44:05.940 --> 00:44:08.920
or Hoffman? It's hard because we're seeing Stafford

00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:10.599
hitting against college kids. No, I understand

00:44:10.599 --> 00:44:14.420
that, but just think about... I mean, the angles

00:44:14.420 --> 00:44:17.780
that Stafford can hit, her ceiling is higher.

00:44:17.980 --> 00:44:20.960
Yeah, okay. But we're picking two. Yeah, I'm

00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:23.360
staying with my choices. Okay, so the list as

00:44:23.360 --> 00:44:25.599
it currently is, who would you pick as your starting

00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:29.360
seven? Assuming everybody is healthy. Okay. So

00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:33.900
I'm going Poulter. I'm going Hentz. I'm going

00:44:33.900 --> 00:44:39.699
Rettke and Ogbagu. And then I'm going Skinner

00:44:39.699 --> 00:44:43.880
and Franklin. Did you say your opposite? Thompson.

00:44:44.059 --> 00:44:48.219
Okay. Mine's the same. I really love Micah Hancock,

00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:52.539
though. So I would probably do Hancock, Thompson,

00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:59.940
Hentz right now. Retke Agbagu and Avery Skinner

00:44:59.940 --> 00:45:04.019
and probably Franklin. Yeah. That's who I'm expecting

00:45:04.019 --> 00:45:07.559
to see in matches they need to win. Okay. The

00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:11.039
second interesting question about this was, what

00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:15.340
do you think this team identity will be this

00:45:15.340 --> 00:45:18.099
year? So like we know Karch's teams were really

00:45:18.099 --> 00:45:22.260
fast sets to the pins, front and back row. And

00:45:22.260 --> 00:45:25.199
then like, He wasn't rostering people that couldn't

00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:29.440
fit that identity. Do you think there will be

00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:33.119
an identity? And if so, what do you see it being?

00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:36.260
Honestly, I have no idea how to answer this question.

00:45:36.380 --> 00:45:38.300
I feel like this kind of team is like a hang

00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:41.360
and bang team. It's like, they're not constructed

00:45:41.360 --> 00:45:44.679
to run super fast offense. Their passing isn't

00:45:44.679 --> 00:45:46.639
good enough. So I feel like they're like a hang

00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:49.800
and bang, but like not Mark of a Boscovich level.

00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:53.619
But do you think their identity is hang and bang

00:45:53.619 --> 00:45:55.780
by default? Or do you think that's what they

00:45:55.780 --> 00:45:59.619
want to be? No, it's by default. Yeah, okay.

00:45:59.739 --> 00:46:01.440
What do they want to be? Couldn't tell you. I

00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:04.239
don't think that that is clear. Because they're

00:46:04.239 --> 00:46:09.019
not super aggressive servers. Nope. They're not

00:46:09.019 --> 00:46:12.820
great passers. Avery Skinner runs a really good

00:46:12.820 --> 00:46:15.440
fastball. Franklin's better. Her pipe is very

00:46:15.440 --> 00:46:19.480
good. Yeah. I think... they're going to try and

00:46:19.480 --> 00:46:22.880
own the middle of the court. I think that's their

00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:27.139
only shot. Right? You have, I mean, Retke and

00:46:27.139 --> 00:46:29.320
Obagu. Including in the pipe. Yes. Just that

00:46:29.320 --> 00:46:33.679
hold zone. Yes. Retke and Obagu are not prolific

00:46:33.679 --> 00:46:36.860
offensively, but they're good. I would say they're

00:46:36.860 --> 00:46:39.159
both, I think they're both better in front of

00:46:39.159 --> 00:46:41.820
the setter. Yes, I agree with you. But you think,

00:46:41.980 --> 00:46:45.139
I hope they're running Chaka behind because I

00:46:45.139 --> 00:46:47.909
do not like Retke off of one foot. Agreed. Well,

00:46:47.929 --> 00:46:50.969
this is also why I think that Andy Jackson makes

00:46:50.969 --> 00:46:53.469
a lot of sense. But I think they're going to

00:46:53.469 --> 00:46:59.449
try and run really good middle pipe combos to

00:46:59.449 --> 00:47:03.050
try and free up their outsides and hold the block

00:47:03.050 --> 00:47:08.230
in the middle. That's it. That's how they can

00:47:08.230 --> 00:47:11.730
win. And because you don't need the passing to

00:47:11.730 --> 00:47:14.760
be amazing to do that, you can still... Force

00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:16.460
the middle, and I think Poulter does a pretty

00:47:16.460 --> 00:47:19.099
good job of that when she's healthy. Run over

00:47:19.099 --> 00:47:21.539
top. I don't know if that's what they're going

00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:24.539
to do, but I think that's what they need to do.

00:47:25.400 --> 00:47:29.219
So we'll see. I mean, this is always a super

00:47:29.219 --> 00:47:32.639
interesting topic because right now there are

00:47:32.639 --> 00:47:37.119
not a ton of clear -cut standouts. You're not

00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:39.519
looking at this roster going, yes, 100%, this

00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:43.099
person is a lock. We'll see what happens come

00:47:43.099 --> 00:47:46.380
week one of VNL and who travels. I'm sure there'll

00:47:46.380 --> 00:47:49.880
be a few surprises. It is time for listener questions.

00:47:50.820 --> 00:47:54.000
Question one. I was curious about how one can

00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.219
get into volleyball analytics or being a statistician.

00:47:57.460 --> 00:47:59.739
I've been a brief player of the sport and have

00:47:59.739 --> 00:48:01.719
been following and learning for a long time.

00:48:01.920 --> 00:48:05.039
I have a strong foundation. In qualitative and

00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:07.260
quantitative research and analysis, I'm interested

00:48:07.260 --> 00:48:09.760
in combining my skills with my passion, but I'm

00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:12.480
not sure where to start. I'm sure the market

00:48:12.480 --> 00:48:15.320
is tough for jobs, but I would want to learn

00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:18.460
volleyball software for my own benefit. You asked

00:48:18.460 --> 00:48:22.179
the right guy. So, I mean, the first thing you

00:48:22.179 --> 00:48:25.739
need to do is get good at Data Volley. And so

00:48:25.739 --> 00:48:29.289
Data Volley is the software that... 99 % of teams

00:48:29.289 --> 00:48:32.909
use for doing their analysis and collecting data.

00:48:33.010 --> 00:48:36.530
The data input part is really important because

00:48:36.530 --> 00:48:39.869
you want it to be as accurate as possible live

00:48:39.869 --> 00:48:42.590
in the moment. You can get the software. I mean,

00:48:42.590 --> 00:48:44.630
I connected with a team when Sarah was playing

00:48:44.630 --> 00:48:47.530
pro. I borrowed a license. I practiced. I talked

00:48:47.530 --> 00:48:49.269
to their statistician about what they were looking

00:48:49.269 --> 00:48:52.190
for. And then it was just reps, reps, reps. And

00:48:52.190 --> 00:48:54.809
then from there, you can start to put your analysis

00:48:54.809 --> 00:48:59.750
and your stats degree But getting good at the

00:48:59.750 --> 00:49:02.429
input part and understanding what coaches are

00:49:02.429 --> 00:49:06.190
looking for would be the starting point. And

00:49:06.190 --> 00:49:08.230
there are lots of colleges out there who are

00:49:08.230 --> 00:49:13.230
looking to add a video analytics person to their

00:49:13.230 --> 00:49:17.070
team. Once you become proficient at the data

00:49:17.070 --> 00:49:20.150
entry and the data volley and connecting with

00:49:20.150 --> 00:49:22.469
a team, and I would recommend going to a college

00:49:22.469 --> 00:49:25.710
team and just... Understanding the specifics

00:49:25.710 --> 00:49:28.769
of what that coach is looking for is. Okay. We

00:49:28.769 --> 00:49:35.289
got so many questions about college teams doing

00:49:35.289 --> 00:49:40.170
international trips in particular pit because

00:49:40.170 --> 00:49:43.590
they have been posting their trip to Europe on

00:49:43.590 --> 00:49:47.309
Instagram. There are multiple parts to this,

00:49:47.449 --> 00:49:51.429
but I'll try to break it down as concisely as

00:49:51.429 --> 00:49:54.340
possible. I wanted to ask you guys what your

00:49:54.340 --> 00:49:57.059
opinions are on NCAA teams traveling to other

00:49:57.059 --> 00:49:59.760
countries in the summer to compete and train

00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:01.840
in places where the playing style is much different

00:50:01.840 --> 00:50:05.679
than college. For reference, Pitt swept one of

00:50:05.679 --> 00:50:09.199
Italy's junior national teams. Cal Berkeley is

00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:11.920
going to Shanghai and Beijing. What do you guys

00:50:11.920 --> 00:50:14.940
feel about this? Do you think playing against

00:50:14.940 --> 00:50:18.179
another country's U19 or U21 team is beneficial

00:50:18.179 --> 00:50:22.360
or not? A hundred percent. It's an amazing experience.

00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:26.500
It's a good recruiting tool. It's always beneficial

00:50:26.500 --> 00:50:29.199
to play against a different style, different

00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:31.519
athletes to play in an environment that you're

00:50:31.519 --> 00:50:36.420
uncomfortable with. I think it's great for these

00:50:36.420 --> 00:50:38.639
athletes to have this opportunity. Well, and

00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:41.380
I think it used to be a college could take an

00:50:41.380 --> 00:50:43.679
international trip once every four years. And

00:50:43.679 --> 00:50:45.800
I think they've recently changed it to they can

00:50:45.800 --> 00:50:49.849
do it every year, which wow. could also be a

00:50:49.849 --> 00:50:52.869
good recruiting tool. You know, playing against

00:50:52.869 --> 00:50:56.769
a U19, U21 team, sure, you guys are like around

00:50:56.769 --> 00:51:00.429
the same age. It's good to play against a different

00:51:00.429 --> 00:51:02.849
style of volleyball. It's good to be exposed

00:51:02.849 --> 00:51:07.349
to those different types of athletes and especially

00:51:07.349 --> 00:51:10.050
doing it in an environment that isn't your own,

00:51:10.130 --> 00:51:12.469
as Adam was saying. I think it's beneficial.

00:51:12.949 --> 00:51:16.900
I know. When I was in college, like the summer

00:51:16.900 --> 00:51:19.659
before we won the national championship, we traveled

00:51:19.659 --> 00:51:23.940
to China and Japan. And we weren't playing against

00:51:23.940 --> 00:51:26.440
U19 teams. We were playing against professional

00:51:26.440 --> 00:51:29.840
teams. So a little bit different. Obviously,

00:51:29.920 --> 00:51:34.699
the players were older. So it was a little more

00:51:34.699 --> 00:51:37.039
experience on the other side of the net. But

00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:41.579
I think even more than... just the volleyball

00:51:41.579 --> 00:51:46.099
aspect, being in an uncomfortable situation in

00:51:46.099 --> 00:51:49.079
a country where you don't know anything, you

00:51:49.079 --> 00:51:52.139
don't have your comforts and you just are like

00:51:52.139 --> 00:51:55.320
locked in with your team. I think that was more

00:51:55.320 --> 00:51:58.099
beneficial than the volleyball component, to

00:51:58.099 --> 00:52:01.119
be honest. And like, keep in mind, this was back

00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:05.780
before like video calls and all that stuff. So

00:52:05.780 --> 00:52:08.940
we were like completely isolated in these countries

00:52:08.940 --> 00:52:13.380
together. I think it's the team component and

00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:16.420
having that shared experience together that is

00:52:16.420 --> 00:52:19.780
more beneficial than the actual volleyball. So

00:52:19.780 --> 00:52:22.440
to kind of build off of this, we got a few more

00:52:22.440 --> 00:52:25.480
questions that relate to it. Last week, we talked

00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:27.699
about teams not being able to push past a certain

00:52:27.699 --> 00:52:30.039
point in the tournament. How do you feel about

00:52:30.039 --> 00:52:33.199
the almost entire lineup for Pitt getting experience

00:52:33.199 --> 00:52:36.599
against international teams? Do you think the

00:52:36.599 --> 00:52:39.500
different look that they have to offer can give

00:52:39.500 --> 00:52:42.460
Pitt an edge to have a good start this fall?

00:52:42.739 --> 00:52:45.360
Is this type of experience significant enough

00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:48.119
to help them better compete against teams like

00:52:48.119 --> 00:52:51.079
Nebraska? And will it be good enough to help

00:52:51.079 --> 00:52:53.579
them finally push into the national championship

00:52:53.579 --> 00:52:57.300
match? No. Honestly, I'll go back to what I said

00:52:57.300 --> 00:53:02.739
in part A of this question. For me, these trips

00:53:02.739 --> 00:53:06.340
are more of a team building exercise. than anything

00:53:06.340 --> 00:53:10.380
else. Yes. While it's good to go and potentially

00:53:10.380 --> 00:53:15.000
beat the Slovenian U19 team who are like, if

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:17.800
this, the Italian team were world champions and

00:53:17.800 --> 00:53:19.800
they beat them like, yeah, sure. Is that nice?

00:53:20.059 --> 00:53:22.599
Yes. But I don't think it gives any indication

00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:26.719
of honestly anything because let's keep in mind,

00:53:26.719 --> 00:53:30.880
these are exhibition matches. The Italian team

00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:33.619
is not going studying like who these players

00:53:33.619 --> 00:53:35.940
are and what are their tendencies. They don't

00:53:35.940 --> 00:53:37.679
even know who Olivia Babcock is. I guarantee

00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:40.380
you. They're probably using it as a trial. They

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:43.260
probably showed up for practice one day and their

00:53:43.260 --> 00:53:45.619
coach was like, we're having an exhibition game

00:53:45.619 --> 00:53:47.340
against this American team. And they're like,

00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:51.260
okay. So then they used it as a training day.

00:53:51.480 --> 00:53:53.719
Like they don't know anything about these players.

00:53:53.820 --> 00:53:56.219
There's no preparation involved. Both teams are

00:53:56.219 --> 00:54:00.159
just going and playing. sight unseen yeah while

00:54:00.159 --> 00:54:03.579
it might be nice to be like oh we beat the u19

00:54:03.579 --> 00:54:06.500
team that won world championships it's like yeah

00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:10.119
nobody prepared well so i'm going to disagree

00:54:10.119 --> 00:54:12.960
with you slightly on this and i think this is

00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:16.420
maybe a pit specific thing at this point i think

00:54:16.420 --> 00:54:19.719
pit not making the finals is mental well yeah

00:54:19.719 --> 00:54:22.739
we talked about that When you go into a different

00:54:22.739 --> 00:54:25.460
experience and you're uncomfortable, maybe this

00:54:25.460 --> 00:54:28.500
provides some sort of team bond. Maybe this provides

00:54:28.500 --> 00:54:31.539
some sort of experience that they can lean on.

00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:35.760
It's not volleyball related necessarily as to

00:54:35.760 --> 00:54:39.139
why they're not making the finals. I think it's...

00:54:39.389 --> 00:54:41.570
dealing with pressure it's mental it's making

00:54:41.570 --> 00:54:44.650
decisions so putting yourself in different situations

00:54:44.650 --> 00:54:48.230
may be the key to unlocking a better performance

00:54:48.230 --> 00:54:50.190
and i'm not saying it's gonna okay i hear what

00:54:50.190 --> 00:54:52.750
you're saying but i'm saying do you think the

00:54:52.750 --> 00:54:56.250
fact that they beat the slovenian whatever team

00:54:56.250 --> 00:54:58.869
or the italian team is going to give them the

00:54:58.869 --> 00:55:02.329
the boost they need No, the result is irrelevant.

00:55:02.789 --> 00:55:05.449
No, that's what I'm saying, though. From a skill

00:55:05.449 --> 00:55:08.090
perspective, it doesn't matter. It's an exhibition

00:55:08.090 --> 00:55:12.489
match. I think we're talking about two slightly

00:55:12.489 --> 00:55:15.130
different things. We are. Okay. I interpreted

00:55:15.130 --> 00:55:17.510
this question as, was this a good idea and does

00:55:17.510 --> 00:55:20.230
this in some way give them an edge that they

00:55:20.230 --> 00:55:23.510
haven't necessarily had? And I think it's possible.

00:55:23.730 --> 00:55:25.769
And I like that they tried something different

00:55:25.769 --> 00:55:27.250
because they've been banging their head against

00:55:27.250 --> 00:55:29.630
the wall for a while. Okay. I think it's a...

00:55:29.869 --> 00:55:32.929
I think it was a good choice. And I took this

00:55:32.929 --> 00:55:37.010
question as does beating these teams or does

00:55:37.010 --> 00:55:40.550
competing against this level of team give them

00:55:40.550 --> 00:55:43.130
the boost they need? So I was taking it as a

00:55:43.130 --> 00:55:46.170
strict like volleyball level giving them the

00:55:46.170 --> 00:55:49.010
boost and you were like switch up the experience

00:55:49.010 --> 00:55:51.429
giving them the boost. I agree that switching

00:55:51.429 --> 00:55:54.170
up the experience and doing something new together

00:55:54.170 --> 00:55:56.829
could potentially give them that boost but I

00:55:56.829 --> 00:56:00.119
don't think playing against No. Okay. This, these

00:56:00.119 --> 00:56:03.139
teams are going to like give them the volleyball

00:56:03.139 --> 00:56:05.559
skill to push past like Nebraska or something.

00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:07.699
Yeah. Agreed. Okay. So we're on the same page.

00:56:07.760 --> 00:56:11.639
Yeah. Okay. The last part of this question is

00:56:11.639 --> 00:56:15.699
do the international teams play FIVB six subs

00:56:15.699 --> 00:56:19.719
and NCAA teams use their sub rules or like how

00:56:19.719 --> 00:56:23.420
would these games work? Honestly, you guys, again,

00:56:23.500 --> 00:56:25.639
I didn't follow this on Instagram. So maybe this

00:56:25.639 --> 00:56:30.360
was like, an official match with like spectators

00:56:30.360 --> 00:56:33.380
and stuff. I don't know if it was tell me, but

00:56:33.380 --> 00:56:38.139
from my experience in doing this, it's like an

00:56:38.139 --> 00:56:44.320
empty gym. It is a practice gym where nobody

00:56:44.320 --> 00:56:48.420
is there. Yeah. And it's like a literal six on

00:56:48.420 --> 00:56:51.099
six practice. It's essentially a scrimmage and

00:56:51.099 --> 00:56:53.710
the coaches. don't give a whack who's on the

00:56:53.710 --> 00:56:54.889
court. They're going to go, hey, we're going

00:56:54.889 --> 00:56:56.690
to play. I'm going to move players in and out.

00:56:56.730 --> 00:56:58.789
I'm looking at this. No matter what happens,

00:56:58.849 --> 00:57:00.730
we're going to just play four set. I don't know

00:57:00.730 --> 00:57:04.050
if that's what this was or if it was more official,

00:57:04.130 --> 00:57:08.590
but from when I have done things like this, it's

00:57:08.590 --> 00:57:11.449
like both teams kind of operate however they

00:57:11.449 --> 00:57:14.489
want. The coaches do flip -flops middle of the

00:57:14.489 --> 00:57:17.369
set. So, yeah, I feel like it would be Pitt kind

00:57:17.369 --> 00:57:19.489
of doing what they do and then the other team

00:57:19.489 --> 00:57:22.010
just doing what they do. And probably reffed

00:57:22.010 --> 00:57:24.449
by an assistant coach. Yeah. If what you saw

00:57:24.449 --> 00:57:27.750
on social media was different, let me know. But

00:57:27.750 --> 00:57:31.469
I wasn't following along, so I don't know. Okay,

00:57:31.489 --> 00:57:34.389
question three. A fellow volleyball mom and I

00:57:34.389 --> 00:57:37.530
disagree over the concept of a team wanting it

00:57:37.530 --> 00:57:41.289
more. I say that... A team that wants it more

00:57:41.289 --> 00:57:44.449
wins, and she says that that's not a thing. What

00:57:44.449 --> 00:57:46.150
are your thoughts on this, and can you think

00:57:46.150 --> 00:57:49.349
of a match where one team clearly wanted to win

00:57:49.349 --> 00:57:52.650
more? I would phrase this slightly differently.

00:57:53.650 --> 00:57:57.929
There are athletes who hate to lose, and there

00:57:57.929 --> 00:58:01.630
are athletes that like winning. Those are two

00:58:01.630 --> 00:58:05.869
very, very different things, and I think that

00:58:05.869 --> 00:58:08.900
100 % makes a difference. I think that's a good

00:58:08.900 --> 00:58:12.679
way to put it. In a situation like this, those

00:58:12.679 --> 00:58:17.119
athletes that hate losing will do literally anything

00:58:17.119 --> 00:58:20.780
to make sure their team wins. That's getting

00:58:20.780 --> 00:58:23.039
in a teammate's face. That's taking a ball they

00:58:23.039 --> 00:58:25.659
shouldn't. That's making an extraordinary swing.

00:58:26.139 --> 00:58:29.460
Whereas some athletes are like, well, if I get

00:58:29.460 --> 00:58:31.739
a good swing and I score, I like winning. But

00:58:31.739 --> 00:58:34.719
if the match ends, I'm okay going out for dinner

00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:40.400
afterwards. No, you're laughing, but you see

00:58:40.400 --> 00:58:44.059
that. I think that mentality plays a huge part

00:58:44.059 --> 00:58:47.119
in long -term success. Maybe not like in one

00:58:47.119 --> 00:58:50.960
specific match, but give me six athletes who

00:58:50.960 --> 00:58:55.039
hate losing. Well, and I can, for an example,

00:58:55.320 --> 00:58:59.500
I can, the Texas A &amp;M Nebraska match, I think

00:58:59.500 --> 00:59:01.219
is a perfect example of that. I wasn't going

00:59:01.219 --> 00:59:04.300
to go there. Well, I did. Based on Adam's definition.

00:59:05.079 --> 00:59:09.340
I think that the, not across the board, but certain

00:59:09.340 --> 00:59:14.039
players like winning on Nebraska. The Texas A

00:59:14.039 --> 00:59:18.559
&amp;M girls, they were not, like their backs were

00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:21.019
against the wall and they clawed their way through

00:59:21.019 --> 00:59:23.519
and they found a way to score points and they

00:59:23.519 --> 00:59:28.699
refused to lose. That match highlights what this

00:59:28.699 --> 00:59:32.110
question is for me. I agree with you. And it

00:59:32.110 --> 00:59:34.110
can be different. Like you had all seniors, they

00:59:34.110 --> 00:59:36.309
had one shot driven by their coat. Like there

00:59:36.309 --> 00:59:39.010
were lots of factors that can have on it, but

00:59:39.010 --> 00:59:41.869
I think that's a very, very good example. Okay.

00:59:41.909 --> 00:59:44.349
Question four. We've seen how an athlete's mental

00:59:44.349 --> 00:59:46.530
state can dictate their performance, especially

00:59:46.530 --> 00:59:48.929
in high pressure situations like a tournament

00:59:48.929 --> 00:59:51.590
final. Can you guys discuss the relationship

00:59:51.590 --> 00:59:55.579
between emotions and athletic performance? Okay.

00:59:55.579 --> 00:59:58.039
We might need to do a whole podcast on this.

00:59:58.179 --> 01:00:00.880
I'm going to say, I'm going to preface this by

01:00:00.880 --> 01:00:04.360
saying this is not a statement of like, everybody

01:00:04.360 --> 01:00:06.739
is like this. There are definitely exceptions.

01:00:07.179 --> 01:00:10.460
Okay. So before you get all upset, I know that

01:00:10.460 --> 01:00:13.500
there are exceptions, but generally speaking,

01:00:13.699 --> 01:00:18.679
my observation of this is that athletes who maintain

01:00:18.679 --> 01:00:22.480
or are able to maintain the same demeanor in

01:00:22.480 --> 01:00:25.530
all situations. are the ones that perform at

01:00:25.530 --> 01:00:28.690
the highest level. If you are an athlete who

01:00:28.690 --> 01:00:34.070
is loud in your face, give it all you got, pump

01:00:34.070 --> 01:00:36.690
up your teammates, cheer for yourself, whatever.

01:00:37.429 --> 01:00:41.010
If that is you and you are that, whether your

01:00:41.010 --> 01:00:43.989
team is winning or losing, you've gone on a run

01:00:43.989 --> 01:00:46.570
for the better or for the worse, but you are

01:00:46.570 --> 01:00:49.840
that person and you don't change that. your performance

01:00:49.840 --> 01:00:53.500
will usually stay consistent. If you are a quiet,

01:00:53.539 --> 01:00:56.860
serious player who gets fired up when your team

01:00:56.860 --> 01:01:01.019
scores, you're pissed off when you make a mistake,

01:01:01.119 --> 01:01:05.659
but that is you and you maintain that headspace

01:01:05.659 --> 01:01:09.619
in all moments, your performance is probably

01:01:09.619 --> 01:01:13.079
going to be consistent. When you are volatile

01:01:13.079 --> 01:01:15.860
and you are so happy when you're playing well,

01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.139
but then you are beating yourself up when you're

01:01:18.139 --> 01:01:20.760
making mistakes. And then when your team is scoring

01:01:20.760 --> 01:01:23.400
points, you're happy. And then you look so upset

01:01:23.400 --> 01:01:26.239
and frustrated when you aren't. Those players

01:01:26.239 --> 01:01:30.119
are very up and down in performance. For me,

01:01:30.199 --> 01:01:32.739
I don't know if you agree with this, being able

01:01:32.739 --> 01:01:37.489
to maintain a consistent demeanor. maintain your

01:01:37.489 --> 01:01:40.929
emotions regardless of the situation, I typically

01:01:40.929 --> 01:01:45.530
associate with more consistent performance. So

01:01:45.530 --> 01:01:48.590
I think what you're describing is the ideal performance

01:01:48.590 --> 01:01:52.469
state. Like when you can get to that place, that's

01:01:52.469 --> 01:01:54.989
the goal and that's where you perform best. The

01:01:54.989 --> 01:01:57.730
way I like to explain it. to athletes, especially

01:01:57.730 --> 01:02:00.789
younger athletes, is you want to not be necessarily

01:02:00.789 --> 01:02:02.889
thinking while you're playing. You want to just

01:02:02.889 --> 01:02:05.070
be you and performing the things that you've

01:02:05.070 --> 01:02:08.469
practiced and your emotions, they happen during

01:02:08.469 --> 01:02:11.650
a match. You can be excited. You can be upset.

01:02:11.769 --> 01:02:14.329
You made a mistake. You could go back and think,

01:02:14.349 --> 01:02:16.929
oh man, if I miss this serve, you know, my team's

01:02:16.929 --> 01:02:19.690
going to lose. All of those things are normal.

01:02:20.159 --> 01:02:23.420
But how you deal with those emotions and what

01:02:23.420 --> 01:02:25.780
you've put in place to maintain the state that

01:02:25.780 --> 01:02:28.480
you're talking about is the important piece.

01:02:28.619 --> 01:02:31.239
And that looks a little bit different for every

01:02:31.239 --> 01:02:33.079
player. And that's what you have to kind of figure

01:02:33.079 --> 01:02:36.139
out is how do I recognize what I'm feeling? How

01:02:36.139 --> 01:02:38.599
do I deal with it? And then how do I get back

01:02:38.599 --> 01:02:41.679
into the headspace that allows me to perform

01:02:41.679 --> 01:02:44.900
the best? And again, it's totally individual.

01:02:45.119 --> 01:02:48.179
But when you can do that, it looks like what

01:02:48.179 --> 01:02:50.800
you're describing. Yeah, I'm not. You're going

01:02:50.800 --> 01:02:53.460
to feel emotions. It's completely normal. You're

01:02:53.460 --> 01:02:57.360
not just going to be like deadpan, like no feeling

01:02:57.360 --> 01:02:59.860
whatsoever while you're playing. You're going

01:02:59.860 --> 01:03:02.099
to go through those things. I was definitely

01:03:02.099 --> 01:03:04.780
describing the outward portrayal of those emotions.

01:03:04.860 --> 01:03:08.320
But I think internally, I think if you stay very

01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:13.219
in the moment and process driven, that not only

01:03:13.219 --> 01:03:17.119
helps you regulate your outside emotions and

01:03:17.119 --> 01:03:20.550
what you're expressing. But it helps you, as

01:03:20.550 --> 01:03:23.170
I said, stay in the moment and not get too far

01:03:23.170 --> 01:03:25.630
ahead of yourself. Yeah, I might be incredibly

01:03:25.630 --> 01:03:28.889
frustrated, but if I need to execute a pass this

01:03:28.889 --> 01:03:32.130
next point, I'm going through in my mind the

01:03:32.130 --> 01:03:37.730
steps or the techniques of what I need to do

01:03:37.730 --> 01:03:41.469
to execute that pass. And that brings you back

01:03:41.469 --> 01:03:45.489
into the moment. Yeah. Great question. And that's

01:03:45.489 --> 01:03:47.429
a pretty simplified answer for something that

01:03:47.429 --> 01:03:50.550
takes... years to develop and other things, but

01:03:50.550 --> 01:03:54.210
that's the gist. Okay. Last question. I like

01:03:54.210 --> 01:03:57.369
this one. It's a long question, but I'm going

01:03:57.369 --> 01:04:00.030
to read it anyway. As a former club and collegiate

01:04:00.030 --> 01:04:02.289
athlete who now coaches youth sports, I've noticed

01:04:02.289 --> 01:04:05.050
a major shift in competitiveness over the past

01:04:05.050 --> 01:04:08.230
20 years. With the rise of mental health awareness,

01:04:08.469 --> 01:04:11.329
many programs seem to emphasize having fun and

01:04:11.329 --> 01:04:13.449
staying positive rather than letting mistakes

01:04:13.449 --> 01:04:15.980
affect players. I coach with that philosophy

01:04:15.980 --> 01:04:18.739
too, but I sometimes wonder if it's unintentionally

01:04:18.739 --> 01:04:21.860
reducing competitive intensity in women's volleyball

01:04:21.860 --> 01:04:24.719
especially. It feels like there are fewer teams

01:04:24.719 --> 01:04:28.519
that balance joy and competitiveness well. I'm

01:04:28.519 --> 01:04:31.320
curious, does that mindset work at the highest

01:04:31.320 --> 01:04:33.760
professional and international levels or does

01:04:33.760 --> 01:04:36.880
elite competition still require a certain edge,

01:04:37.079 --> 01:04:40.429
anger, or intensity? Is volleyball culture in

01:04:40.429 --> 01:04:43.269
the U .S. evolving for the better or are we losing

01:04:43.269 --> 01:04:46.789
something important competitively? I honestly

01:04:46.789 --> 01:04:49.289
just got goosebumps. This is such a good question,

01:04:49.369 --> 01:04:51.670
you guys. I read this one and I was like, wow.

01:04:52.469 --> 01:04:54.869
I'm going to take the first crack at this. Kids

01:04:54.869 --> 01:05:00.150
need to have fun to engage in sport 100%. I totally

01:05:00.150 --> 01:05:02.530
agree with that philosophy. You should not be

01:05:02.530 --> 01:05:04.389
yelling at a 12 -year -old when they don't do

01:05:04.389 --> 01:05:07.050
things. They need to want to come to practice.

01:05:07.579 --> 01:05:12.800
Where I think we lose the mindset a little bit

01:05:12.800 --> 01:05:17.099
is in the definition of fun. That fun can't be

01:05:17.099 --> 01:05:23.059
hard. If you watch kids learn skills, they should

01:05:23.059 --> 01:05:25.539
be frustrated. They should be working towards

01:05:25.539 --> 01:05:30.019
something. But the joy and confidence they get

01:05:30.019 --> 01:05:34.530
when they learn and execute that skill. You can't

01:05:34.530 --> 01:05:36.630
take that away from them. And I think that's

01:05:36.630 --> 01:05:40.190
what we need to be striving for is it's okay

01:05:40.190 --> 01:05:42.429
to be frustrated. It's okay to cry on the court.

01:05:42.510 --> 01:05:45.590
It's okay to make mistakes. But then you need

01:05:45.590 --> 01:05:48.849
to highlight when they get there, when they do

01:05:48.849 --> 01:05:51.849
it right. And I guarantee you will see them light

01:05:51.849 --> 01:05:53.309
up and they'll be like, I want to do it again.

01:05:53.469 --> 01:05:56.369
And I want to do it again. And that feeling of

01:05:56.369 --> 01:05:59.829
overcoming something difficult to build confidence

01:05:59.829 --> 01:06:03.940
and have success is addicting. And that is the

01:06:03.940 --> 01:06:06.719
joy that you can provide athletes while still

01:06:06.719 --> 01:06:09.380
maintaining a culture of excellence, while still

01:06:09.380 --> 01:06:11.900
having them learn something, while still having

01:06:11.900 --> 01:06:15.599
them do hard things. I think the mistake we make

01:06:15.599 --> 01:06:20.559
is that we equate fun with easy. That may be

01:06:20.559 --> 01:06:23.260
true in the moment, but I don't think long -term

01:06:23.260 --> 01:06:25.739
it works. I mean, I think that was a really good

01:06:25.739 --> 01:06:29.679
answer. That was a really good answer. I think

01:06:29.679 --> 01:06:33.800
I agree. A hundred percent. I think for sports,

01:06:33.820 --> 01:06:37.960
like you said, kids need to enjoy it to want

01:06:37.960 --> 01:06:43.179
to come back. But I think to get to the top level,

01:06:43.239 --> 01:06:48.400
you do need to enjoy doing hard things. You do

01:06:48.400 --> 01:06:51.579
need to find joy in the process of overcoming

01:06:51.579 --> 01:06:55.619
challenges and difficulty. And I think parents

01:06:55.619 --> 01:06:57.940
have an innate instinct to obviously want to

01:06:57.940 --> 01:07:01.039
protect their children. And not to see them struggle

01:07:01.039 --> 01:07:04.880
or suffer, but like overcoming struggle and overcoming

01:07:04.880 --> 01:07:09.139
suffering is fun. And it is such a sense of accomplishment

01:07:09.139 --> 01:07:12.900
that not a lot of kids are even given the opportunity

01:07:12.900 --> 01:07:17.780
to do anymore because they are so protected at

01:07:17.780 --> 01:07:21.500
all times. And so, yeah, I do think we are losing

01:07:21.500 --> 01:07:24.960
some competitiveness, particularly in North America.

01:07:25.719 --> 01:07:27.780
But I think... Particularly on the women's side.

01:07:27.920 --> 01:07:30.139
Yeah, but I do think that there are kids who

01:07:30.139 --> 01:07:33.960
really want it and who have it in them if they're

01:07:33.960 --> 01:07:36.420
only given the opportunity to let it come out.

01:07:36.539 --> 01:07:40.099
Two things. I have yet to see a kid or work with

01:07:40.099 --> 01:07:43.179
a kid who hasn't had a huge smile on their face

01:07:43.179 --> 01:07:45.199
when they've managed to accomplish something

01:07:45.199 --> 01:07:47.420
they haven't been able to do before. I think

01:07:47.420 --> 01:07:49.579
that is across the board, no matter how good,

01:07:49.699 --> 01:07:53.059
no matter how competitive. no matter what avenue

01:07:53.059 --> 01:07:56.480
they experience that in, that is something in

01:07:56.480 --> 01:08:00.019
my opinion that is universally enjoyed. So that's

01:08:00.019 --> 01:08:01.760
the first one. Yeah. But I think it's just the,

01:08:01.760 --> 01:08:05.440
the, the mindset of just like, I love you and

01:08:05.440 --> 01:08:08.820
this is hard. Yeah. You know, like this is a

01:08:08.820 --> 01:08:11.159
hard thing, but it doesn't change how I feel

01:08:11.159 --> 01:08:14.059
about you because especially girls are such people

01:08:14.059 --> 01:08:17.470
pleasers. They look for that positive affirmation

01:08:17.470 --> 01:08:20.710
and reinforcement from authority figures. And

01:08:20.710 --> 01:08:25.109
I think acknowledging that this is hard, but

01:08:25.109 --> 01:08:29.029
I love you and I want you to overcome this. You

01:08:29.029 --> 01:08:33.069
can. Yes, I totally agree. Her other point of

01:08:33.069 --> 01:08:35.750
I've seen things change in the past and now,

01:08:35.869 --> 01:08:38.250
I think there's one key difference that I've

01:08:38.250 --> 01:08:40.250
noticed in coaching athletes over this period

01:08:40.250 --> 01:08:43.350
of time as well. And it's back in the day, like

01:08:43.350 --> 01:08:46.050
when we played, If a coach told you to do something,

01:08:46.210 --> 01:08:49.289
you never asked why. You just, you did it. A

01:08:49.289 --> 01:08:55.689
coach's word was law. Yes. I think now athletes

01:08:55.689 --> 01:08:57.529
require more communication. They're watching

01:08:57.529 --> 01:08:59.329
things on social media. They're seeing their

01:08:59.329 --> 01:09:02.010
favorite players do certain things. There is

01:09:02.010 --> 01:09:04.529
a little bit of a, you have to get the athlete

01:09:04.529 --> 01:09:06.729
to buy into what you're trying to get them to

01:09:06.729 --> 01:09:08.829
do. Which isn't a bad thing. It's not a bad thing

01:09:08.829 --> 01:09:10.989
because it forces you to be able to articulate

01:09:10.989 --> 01:09:13.829
it. And every athlete. Probably should have one

01:09:13.829 --> 01:09:15.710
or two things they're working on themselves,

01:09:16.050 --> 01:09:18.890
right? Your left side is passing. Your middle

01:09:18.890 --> 01:09:21.310
is being in the air on time. Your right side

01:09:21.310 --> 01:09:24.090
is working on their cross body swing. It takes

01:09:24.090 --> 01:09:27.229
more effort. But if you can have each athlete

01:09:27.229 --> 01:09:29.550
focused on one or two things that they're trying

01:09:29.550 --> 01:09:32.430
to accomplish, the environment in the gym will

01:09:32.430 --> 01:09:34.590
change because everybody's like, I want to do

01:09:34.590 --> 01:09:37.109
this. I want to do this. And I think that communication

01:09:37.109 --> 01:09:40.189
piece is one of the big changes that we've seen

01:09:40.189 --> 01:09:43.310
over the last. whatever, 10, 15 years in youth

01:09:43.310 --> 01:09:45.909
sports specifically? This was a fabulous question.

01:09:46.029 --> 01:09:48.130
Absolutely. Really good questions today, everybody.

01:09:48.550 --> 01:09:52.989
So we are in the in -between. VNL for Women starts

01:09:52.989 --> 01:09:56.550
on June 3rd. So you know what, guys? We are going

01:09:56.550 --> 01:09:58.970
to take a couple weeks and decompress as well.

01:09:59.289 --> 01:10:02.270
There's not much to watch in the next couple

01:10:02.270 --> 01:10:05.609
weeks, but be sure to tune in to VBTV starting

01:10:05.609 --> 01:10:10.420
the week of June 3rd for... women's vnl and we're

01:10:10.420 --> 01:10:12.920
going to be alternating or women men women men

01:10:12.920 --> 01:10:17.100
we are going to be back that week so no episode

01:10:17.100 --> 01:10:19.819
for the next couple weeks as we kind of take

01:10:19.819 --> 01:10:22.279
a little vacation ourselves be sure to submit

01:10:22.279 --> 01:10:24.420
all your questions as always because we're going

01:10:24.420 --> 01:10:27.260
to pick up once vnl gets going That concludes

01:10:27.260 --> 01:10:29.880
this week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always

01:10:29.880 --> 01:10:31.680
something shaking in the volleyball world and

01:10:31.680 --> 01:10:34.079
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure

01:10:34.079 --> 01:10:35.960
to follow the show so you don't miss any updates

01:10:35.960 --> 01:10:38.359
and we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five

01:10:38.359 --> 01:10:40.720
-star review. You can also find us on Instagram

01:10:40.720 --> 01:10:43.819
at volleytalk underscore podcast. If there's

01:10:43.819 --> 01:10:45.659
a topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

01:10:45.659 --> 01:10:49.520
out on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin .com.

01:10:49.760 --> 01:10:52.439
Thanks so much for joining us and we'll see you

01:10:52.439 --> 01:10:54.380
once V &amp;L starts. Bye.
