Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We are back after a couple weeks hiatus.
Took some time to recharge the batteries a little
bit. But we are very, very excited because we
love, love international season and women's VNL
started this past week. So we are very excited
to dive in. We've got the men's VNL coming up
this week. Lots of new signings happening in
the American Domestic League. So there's a lot
to dive into. We are very excited. We know you
guys love international season too because we
have gotten a lot of messages. So as I said,
lots to talk about this week. We are excited.
Let's get started. Our weekly highlights this
week is pretty much a list of players who at
the time of this recording have signed with MLV
and or love. Now, there is some movement happening.
I'm not going to dive into players who are moving
within the league. We'll do that when the leagues
start again. That can be a preview of the league
situation. But new players that the leagues are
bringing in that I personally found interesting,
we are going to talk about. For MLV, the teams
that have made the biggest moves so far that
I've seen are Minnesota and Omaha. Those both
track a new team and the team with the biggest
budget. Exactly. Last episode, we talked about
how Steph Samity was the first player who signed
with MLV Minnesota. And the question was like,
is this where her career goes to die? Well, a
bunch of other international players have since
signed with Minnesota too. Maybe not. First one
is Quinn Pellen. She's a Canadian setter. She
was the backup at VNL last year. Ended up starting
the majority of the time because Bria Riley got
injured. So she'll be joining them. Irie Miyabi.
She's the middle blocker for Japan. She played
college at Minnesota. So that tracks. I mean,
she's been there. She knows what she's getting
into. Okay. So far, it makes sense. I think Pellen.
It's tough for international setters overseas
in terms of what teams you can get to, how much
money you can make if you're not like top of
the top. So coming back, I can understand why
she would do that. I mean, I think she was playing
in like Spain or something. Right. So I'm saying
liberos and setters have it tough. Her coming
back, I'm not super shocked. Setters have it
tough, you think? Like a backup setter from Canada
is not going to go start in Italy. We've got
Marie Skulzel. Excuse my German pronunciation
with that double dot. You know what I mean? So
she's the German middle blocker. So another international
player. I mean, pretty solid. Yeah, I mean, that's
the starting of a good roster. So we got a setter,
opposite, middle, two middles. If they get half
decent left sides, they're going to be in contention
almost right away, I would imagine. Yeah, they're
looking good right now. As I said, the other
team is Omaha. So Kami Minor, girl, what are
you doing? I'm disappointed. What are you doing?
I'm disappointed. The funny thing is I saw a
video after the red -white scrimmage. Kami grew
up in Redondo Beach, and they were like, oh,
are you excited to come back and play MLV? Why
did you decide to do that? She's like, oh, I
just really think it'll be so great to be so
close to family, blah, blah, blah. Girl, you
are from LA. There is an MLV LA team. There's
an MLV NorCal team. You are not from Nebraska.
So that one confused me a little bit. I'm not
okay with this. I am not sure what her thought
process was because you were literally on one
of the best teams in the world. I know you were
a backup. Like I understand that, but this just
seems like such a step down. I hope she travels
to a VNL stop because I need to see her set.
They must have offered her a ton of money. It
must be a money decision. Which, I mean, you
can't fault an athlete for wanting to make money.
Like, I get it. That's fine. It just, she's still
so young in her career. But she also strikes
me more as a love setter than an MLV setter.
Granted, love strengths is their setters. But,
like, there's a spot for her. Where? Who do you
think she would replace? There's four new teams.
That's true. I wonder what a candid conversation.
How much money did she make? There you go. That's
the question. Omaha also picked up Kimberly Drevniok
from Love Omaha. Or Love Nebraska, as it's called
now. I mean, they did need an upgrade in the
opposite position. 100%. They re -signed Merritt
Beeson. My point stands. And maybe Emily Wanda.
Again, to me, that team, it's not skill that
they're missing. It's... that cohesion and that
go after it mentality. And I don't think that
the two players they've added are any different.
There's more. Okay. We've also got Natalie Lemons,
who is Belgian. We've got Lena Stigrot, who's
German. And those are the two main ones. Who's
coaching them? Carl McGowan, who used to coach
BYU, I believe, who also John Cook is a big fan
of. I'm pretty sure. He's gold medal. McGowan
was like a consultant or there's a relationship
there. I'm so curious to see what that team looks
like. They've pulled out all of the stops to
try and be good. I thought there was a foreigner
limit in MLV except for a couple of years ago.
Did they drop that? Can somebody tell me, did
they drop that foreigner rule? Because these
Minnesota and Omaha are picking up foreigners
left and right here. So somebody tell me about
that, please. And thanks. Our girl Zoe Jarvis
is heading to Atlanta, MLV, Atlanta. I'm not
surprised that she's no longer in love. Somebody
sent me a message and they're like, did she go
to MLV because she didn't make the national team?
Or did she not make the national team because
she went to MLV? Great question all around. Omaha,
Atlanta also signed Karina Chmielewska, who is
a Polish. player okay so again another foreigner
i mean i like that they're putting more you have
to assume they're putting more money into the
system if they're able to attract some of these
foreign players i'm so curious what this is going
to do to the dynamic to the teams like because
it was kind of a college league and now you are
bringing in people who have played professionally
i i'm so interested to see the culture shifts
in some of these teams. When you start playing
with Polish and German athletes, there's a different
level of conversation and frankness that happens
on the court, in practice, in those situations.
I'm very curious to see what the team dynamic
and league looks like with the addition of these
players. I don't hate it. I'm just very curious.
Are you... competing with love here like are
you trying are you trying to bring in this foreign
talent to compete with love or like are you trying
to stay true to your own product you know what
i mean i know what you mean but i think that
i don't think mlv was ever intended to just be
after college i think that was the budgets they
had yeah at that point so if they have better
funding. And if they're opening it up to foreign
players and it's going to bring the level up,
I, I don't have an issue with that. Granted,
they are adding several more teams. It's just
the thing for MLV is like, it was giving a place
to those college athletes who probably never
would have made a career otherwise a chance.
And now by bringing in four and not every team
is doing it. I know, but by continuing to bring
in foreign talent, it's going to limit the those
opportunities for the middle to high end players
from the US who needed MLV to be their professional
outlet. They might be on the bench to start,
but it also give them probably a better training
environment, maybe an opportunity to get better
in the long run. Like you have to remember volleyball
players don't hit their peak until like 27 to
30, I would say for on the female side. So being
able to be in that, see some. pro athletes who
have played for five or six years. Again, you
have three on some of the top teams. So I don't
think you're displacing that many athletes. And
if it brings the level up, like I love the Japanese
girl coming back when she went to college there.
Like, I think that that's great. We've criticized
the setting in MLV in the past, like being able
to bring in Pellan is going to help that team
and speed up the offense. So I actually like
moves like that. And I'm curious to see, I hope
they keep the... product and how they show it
the same. I'm curious to see if this improves
the volleyball for those teams, because I like
the Minnesota roster already, depending on who
the websites are. Just a couple more. Oh, Orlando
is bringing in Oikana Valle, a Puerto Rican libero.
And you know, the team that I think is not making
great choices that I think, I don't even know
what these rosters are, but my pre pre. Preseason
last pick. Last place, NorCal. What are you guys
doing? They signed Haley Bennett. I don't know
who that is. And they signed Zhang Chen, who
is a player for the Taiwanese national team.
Okay. Like a starter or? Starter or not. When
is the last time anybody has seen Taiwan's national
team play, aside from Asian games? It registered
in my brain as Thailand. Taiwan. Okay. Yeah.
That's different. Could be tough. Seriously.
NorCal. What are you guys doing? Find some players.
NorCal's in trouble. That's the player side.
On the coach's side, there's been a lot of movement
too. As I said, Carl McGowan's heading to Omaha.
Francois Salvani is going to Orlando. He coached
Mulhouse in the French League for a while. Dieter
Collins. Parker is going to D .C. She is a legendary
American player. And Dave Boos is going to Columbus.
Dave Boos actually recruited me when he was coaching
an assistant coach in Minnesota. And he spent
a very long time as the assistant at Florida.
I love that pick because I really like him. I
mean, it seems like they're trying to get more
experienced coaches in there, which again. all
the way around. They're investing in some of
the infrastructure and bringing in some players.
I like all these moves. Are they going to catch
up to Love in one season? Probably not, but they're
heading in the right direction, which is all
you can really ask for. You want to get a little
bit better every year. And on the Love side,
things are a little more quiet, but Catherine
Bowden, as we already knew, is heading to Love.
Malia Deacon. The two -time Olympian from Turkey
is heading to Love. And Kara Holick, formerly
Kara Bajma, is also joining the league. So those
are the updates there. Cesar Hernandez is going
to be the head coach of Minnesota. Just a little,
you know, taster. I'm going to keep checking
in on what is happening. Already, we've got some
power moves being made in MLV. Of course, Love
is not announcing where any of these players
are signing. They need to move the dominoes a
little bit. You know what I mean? But stay tuned
to see what happens next week. Okay, we know
you guys are very excited to dive into the Women's
VNL Week 1. But before we do that, we just wanted
to chat through the men's... U .S. VNL wide roster
because we just, you know, want everyone to be
prepared for this week when the men's tournament
starts. Yes, and we have received some questions.
So we are going to run through this, my preliminary
run through. I'm liking what I'm seeing, but
let's break it down. Okay, so let's go position
by position. And you tell me snubs, misses, thoughts.
So we'll start at setting. Christensen. Ma 'a,
Rowan, and Rosenthal. Two vets. Two young guys.
Got some size. Got some size. Got some sweet
hands. I like this. I like this because you have
the veterans. You're also kind of preparing for
the future. I mean, I don't see any. I don't
know who else I would have put on here. And I
like, like you said, old and young. This is spot
on for me. I like this. All right, so on the
outside, we have a bit of a longer list. Matt
Anderson, Cooper Robinson, Jacob Pasteur, TJ
DeFalco, Zach Rama, Ethan Chamberlain, Nolan
Flexin, Jordan Ewert, Sean Kelly. What do you
think about that list? Can we talk about Matt
Anderson being listed as an outside? I just assumed
that was a typo. No, because I saw multiple posts
where he was listed as an outside too. Has he
ever played outside? I mean, I'm not worried
about him attacking on the outside. Here I was
being like, oh, man, all those right sides, watch
out. Matt Anderson's back. Like, no, he's not.
The question for me is ball control. Like, how
much can you hide him? I mean, I always found
as a right -handed right side, moving to the
left was easier to attack. Your vision was better.
I personally felt more comfortable doing that.
But to me, the question is, what does that ball
control look like? Yeah, yeah. We won't know
until we see. Because are the opposites that
much better? We'll get into them in a second,
but geez. Okay, so anyway, recovering from that.
He needs to be on the team, so put him wherever
he wants. Put him on the roster. Cooper Robinson,
yes, he had a good season last year. DeFalco's
back, absolutely. Bringing in some young guys
in Rama and Flexin. And I love that Sean Kelly's
on the list. I really think that he's the future.
He's very young. I think this is great. And Champlin
had a pretty good season last season. Again,
I think he nailed this. You know who I'm wondering?
Aaron Russell. What's he doing? Because he had
a really good Champions League. His pro season.
He's still playing at a high level. So I'm wondering
if he didn't want to play or if he wasn't included.
Because we have known, like Karch, if you look
back on some of his decisions, he's not afraid
to cut good players if they don't fit with what
he's looking for. He did it to Destiny Hooker.
He did it to Logan Tom. So you kind of have to
fit personality -wise and style -wise into what
he's doing because he doesn't... He'll just cut
you. Yeah. Which is, I mean, totally fine. You
have to have a vision. You have to move with
that. I'm just curious. He's the one person I
thought after watching him play internationally
this year, I was like, nah, that's a player that
has some utility and can be used in a bunch of
different places. I would say that this position
is on the younger end in general. We're not seeing
a real grizzled vet here other than. Maybe that's
why Anderson's moved over there. Kind of like
wrangle them. You know what I mean? Where would
you put DeFalco? I mean, what is he, like, 27?
Yeah, I don't think he's that old, but he's a
ton of experience and he's very good. No, I'm
talking about, like, Grozer. You know what I
mean? Like, let's get a 40 -year -old out there.
Somebody who's going to drag those kids and bang
them into shape. Yeah, fair enough. Like, okay,
like, yes, DeFalco is experienced. He's outstanding.
Yeah, of course. Sure, he could be considered
the experienced player. Maybe you don't need
one of those players when Karch is your head
coach. Well, I don't know. Can you tell that
Adam has a man crush on Karch? It's allowed.
I have a lot of respect for what he does. I honestly
don't. Other than Aaron Russell, this is a good
choice. Again, you have older players. I'm curious
to see the Matt Anderson experiment. We saw it
with Antropova on the women's side. TBD on how
that's going to go. I mean, if he can pass, great.
We'll see. Okay. Since we had questions moving
on to opposite. All right. So here's what we
have. Kyle Ensign, Gabby Garcia, Jake Haynes,
and Cole Harkey. So I don't know who Jake Haynes
is. I haven't seen him play. I don't really have
any reason to see or know him. So not sure about
that choice, but I mean, the other ones all make
sense. Well, we had it. And singing Garcia last
season. Bringing Hartke up. I mean, if you're
bringing a Sean Kelly up, you're bringing Tread
up. He makes sense, too. Again, it's a really
good mixture for me of the older and younger
players. Agreed. Not sure why Matt Anderson was
moved to the right side, though, or to the left
side, but we'll stay with it. Well, and again,
nothing is written in stone, right? He starts
there, doesn't work, you move him over. Maybe
he's not. I haven't seen him play recently. Maybe
he's not elevating in quite his terminal. You
never know. Okay, middle blockers. Jeff Jendrick,
Michael Marshman, Taylor Averill, Cameron Thorne,
Daniel Wetter, Merrick McHenry, Matthew Nagy,
and Parker Tomkinson. And Wesley Smith. Right
at the end of the list, I thought I missed him.
Well, Averill's back. Averill's back. That's
positive for them. That is positive. This position
for me is a little up in the air in terms of
who they're going to play. Avril will play. Avril
will start when they need him. Well, Jendrik
is solid. He is, but they don't have... Like,
they're not standouts. They're solid. They're
good players. They play well in a system, but
I feel like there's a couple young guys who are
pretty dynamic, who... could potentially make
a push here. This is the most interesting position
for me. Like Mick Henry for me was up and down
during the season last year. Agreed. I've said
this last year. I'm not sure Cameron Thorne is
an international middle. I'm under, he's way
undersized. And while offensively, it might not
cause problems. We've talked about it defensively.
I think it will not sure about him. Tomkinson,
I think, deserves a chance. Again, he has brought
a very young athlete, at least one in every single
position, and that is very calculated in the
best way. Tomkinson needs a chance. And then
Canigo was in last season. Yeah, but to me, in
terms of who ends up taking that spot, there's
the most room for upward movement for some of
those young guys in that spot, I think. The one
thing I will say about Cameron Thorne, if they
play a smaller team that runs a really fast offense,
he might be a utility player or be able to play
him against specific teams. I'm thinking about
maybe playing against a Japan where he gets the
hands up fast with the different tempos and motions
and speed that they run. If he's not playing
against the seven -foot Polish guy who's... you
know, going over top of him and he has to leave
the air. There is a use case for him. He could
even come in as like a blocking sub or like a
setter or something for a rotation. So there's
some interesting places you could utilize him
if it makes sense to bring him. Yeah, fair. Finally,
we've got the Liberos. So Mason Briggs, Kyle
D 'Agostino. We have Eric Shoji, obviously, and
Troy Gooch. I mean, I'm only really familiar
with, I'm not familiar with Gooch. No, me either.
Shoji, who else are you going to pick? He plays
every time, all the time. He's never hurt. D
'Agostino did a good job when he came in last
season. So, you know what? The liberal position
is only available if Shoji gets hurt. The men's
USA roster is never as interesting to discuss
because it actually makes sense. It's thoughtful.
That's all we have to say about it. I mean, I
think they're going to be very competitive. Yeah,
we were unsure of them last season. I think they're
going to be even better this season. I was so
sad for them that they didn't make the final
eight last year, but I think this roster can
do it. Some of the Olympians and veteran players
are coming back. I think they're going to do
it. Having DeFalco and Anderson there, I think
it's going to make a big difference. Avril? Yeah.
DeFalco, Avril, Anderson, back. Yes. You have
some more options, some more experience in matches
that might get tight. I guess the thing for the
men that I'm most curious to see is how he utilizes
these young players. Were they brought in and
they're not going to travel? Are some of them
going to get to travel? Are they going to get
some playing time? That balance of... okay, fine,
you can come to the training gym, but are you
actually going to get some experience? Are you
going to get a chance to prove that you could
do something in 2028? That usage for me will
be one of the interesting storylines for how
Karch manages that. Well, we have the week one
travel roster already, if you want to know it.
Hit me. So this is numerical order, not by position.
So Matt Anderson, Mason Briggs, Jeff Gendrick.
Cooper Robinson, Mike Marshman, Taylor Avril,
Micah Ma 'a, Andrew Rowan, Jake Haynes, Cole
Hartke, Ethan Champlin, Eric Shoji, Merrick McHenry,
Jordan Ewert. Okay. So a little bit of a mix,
given some of the guys who had long pro seasons,
some time at home. So the opposite position is
very young. Yes. You're taking Haynes and Hartke.
Yeah. Having Anderson there, that will probably
play both positions smart. Yeah. Ma 'a and Andrew
Rowan. And you can get him to pass in this situation,
so you're double duty. Ma 'a and Andrew Rowan
setting. We've got Briggs and Shoji in the libero.
We've got Jendrick, Marshman, Avril, McHenry
in the middle. Yeah. This is a solid roster.
Yeah. Old and new. I'm very curious to see Hartke
on the international stage when he's not bigger
and more physical than most of his opponents.
I mean, he's still pretty big. He is big, but...
Have him listed at seven feet on the USA website.
I think he's like 6 '10". Can you score? Now
we're going to see his volleyball shots. It's
not just going to be, you know, high to six or...
Over the block. So I'm really curious to see
how he does, how he steps up. I think... giving
him a shot in week one. I like that. I hope he
plays. Not surprising the roster is pretty straightforward,
well -constructed. I think most of the storylines
will be about usage and how they perform. I would
say the expectations for this team are relatively
high. Quarterfinals, for sure, and pushing for
a semi, I think. Whoa. I'm just like make the
final eight. I'm not saying, no, I think definitely
minimum goal is make the final eight. I'm not
saying I think they'll make the semi, but like
push a team. Like we're talking above 20 in your
quarterfinal match, which I think would be expectations.
As we said at the top of the episode, it was
week one of the women's VNL this past week. Full
disclosure before we get started, our daughter.
Is on the move. She doesn't like to sleep. And
we don't show her any screens. So. Makes it challenging
to watch. I was actually impressed with the amount
of volleyball. We were able to consume. We are
trying our best. We watched. A bunch of Canada.
We watched. A medium amount of US. We obviously.
Because they were in the same site. Inherently
watched all the Quebec City teams. Saw some Italy
and a little Brazil. So that's what's up. So
we did not see the China site. Even though we
were awake. And we wanted to. Just, you know,
we're working through things over here. Again,
most of the questions we received were about
USA and Canada. So if you have questions about
a specific team, let us know and we will definitely
watch a couple of those matches so that we can
address it. But for this week, that's where we
focused our time. Just off the hop, brief sort
of overview. We have two undefeated teams right
now. Italy, their 39 -match unbeaten streak was
broken in the final match of this week. Against
Brazil, they almost pulled off the reverse sweep
with their second string lineup. So world record
for consecutive matches won. That is done. Everybody
can kind of start fresh. But Brazil and Japan
are the two undefeated teams right now. We also
have two teams that are still looking for a win
in Dominican Republic and Thailand. Well, so
let's talk about those teams a little bit. Both
Brazil and Japan pretty much playing their full
rosters. Brazil minus Gabi this week. Obviously,
give and take, people are coming and going. But
for the most part, they're addressing who we
would expect to see. Yeah, Brazil. I mean, obviously,
Gabi is a huge part of the Brazilian lineup.
But she, for all intents and purposes, was the
only traditional starter missing from the court.
On that team. And then Japan. A very similar
look. To last season. They had everybody. I feel
like Canada had everybody. Canada had everybody.
Italy had nobody. And Tropova was playing left
side. As we knew was going to happen. But she
was the only. What we are assuming to be regular
starter. Present. The other ones didn't even
travel. Well and that to me. I watched a little
bit of the Brazil -Italy match. Now, obviously,
they got smacked in the first set, but that resilience
from the young players, it just goes to show
you what you can learn from being in the environment
with the senior starters, right? I'm impressed,
honestly. You learn how to compete. I mean, they
could have easily rolled over and lost Brazil
3 -0 and gone, yep, they're starting lineup.
We're getting started. Their fight and the character
they showed. They're good. Yeah, really, really
impressive for me. Future's bright for Italy
after all their winners retire. Yep, they're
going to be good for a while. Just running through,
as Adam said, Canada had their best players there.
It looked like Netherlands did. Turkey A had
nobody. They played their second string roster
as well, their young kids. Germany looked like
they were pretty. Germany was solid. I'm really
impressed by Grozer. She already is good, but
she's going to be very good. France had their
people there. Dominican played modified lineup,
like half, a couple starters, but not everybody.
It was kind of all over the map. But the teams
that are at the very, very top in Japan and Brazil
played their starters. And it was kind of a mixed
bag from there. So based on what we were able
to watch, what are your feelings? Everything
as clear as mud is how I end up this week. Okay.
How did you feel about Canada? I was hoping that
their left sides were going to be better. I was
impressed with Maglio. I thought she had a really
good first week. Offensively, I think she played
very well, both offensively and from a blocking
perspective. I like the hybrid serve she's doing
because last V &L, the girl could not have had
a serve to save her life. I thought she was a
bright spot. Kiervin Reich as well. Yes. She
started slow. Match one. So I would agree with
that. Their left sides, Guidetti's trying to,
he's putting in whoever he thinks. can play well
at that particular moment. Nobody is grabbing
a spot. You see flashes of brilliance for moments
and then it disappears and they're subbing in
and out. Gusen looks good and then she doesn't
look good. That's the position for me that they
need to solidify or somebody needs to step up
and show some consistency because right now it's
left side by committee and roll the dice as to
who's going to play well on any given night.
You and I were talking about this. You brought
this up. The double sub doesn't work for them.
I hate it. Kira Van Ryke needs to be on the floor
at all times. I hate it. I agree with what you're
saying about the left sides. I mean, we saw the
same Alexa Gray that we saw in Love. She does
fine when nothing matters, and then as soon as
things get tight and they need a point, it's
like air machine, shank machine, you name it.
Don't rely on her. I like Gusen probably the
best. She's still young. She makes some young
mistakes. She really, really exaggerates that
toss on her serve. Sometimes it gets a little
wild. I think she's got the biggest upside. You
know, I think Hillary Johnson and Mitrovic did
a good job when they came in against Japan. It's
not a benchmark game. Yeah. Yeah. Fair. I agree.
But the connection between Brie. Now France and
Brie O 'Reilly and Kira Van Ryk was not good
in the first match against Germany. Almost non
-existent. Did not play well at all. They should
not have lost that match. But Van Ryk got better
as the matches went on. I agree with what you're
saying. That double sub with Baker and Smrek
is just a liability. For me, it's on both accounts.
Like Baker, I don't really enjoy her as a setter
from what I've seen so far. Like she threw up
some. unhittable balls. And you just, I, how
is there not a better option? Well, what happened
to Pellen? I don't, I'm not sure. And I know
Smrek is big, but used on the block can only
hit really in system. Like it just, she's not
intimidating anybody. Like, what are you doing?
And it's not like Brie O 'Reilly is a huge liability.
It's like you hear the Japanese timeout. It's
like, okay, well that girl's in, just use her
on the block. And if you, gets Sedge's tip of
the wall near her. Nobody's intimidated by this.
I think there were one or two scenarios. This
is the thing about Smirk that I've seen so far
is she has, she always has future potential and
she will have one, like there were a couple runs
where she went across the front row where Kira's
serving and they're getting a lot of points.
A lot of them are because Kira's serving, but
you have that run. But when that doesn't work,
I'm sorry, when Japan is getting massive touches
on you on the block, what's happening? There's
no way somebody that is a foot shorter than you
should be getting control blocks on you. Ever.
Okay? So here's my thing. In the games that I
watched, they would do these double subs. Kira
is generating so many points from the service
line. They put Smrek in while she's serving,
and then as soon as Kira exits the floor, it's
like, The team bleeds out. Keep her on the floor
as a back row option. We've talked last year
about how she's pretty good defensively. And
she hits well out of the back row. She has no
business ever being taken off the court. Agreed.
So stop the double sub. That's my feedback. They
beat the US in three, which is a whole thing.
Pretty sure. I think somebody was like. Oh, it's
the first time Canada's ever beaten the U .S.
at VNL. You guys, let's be real. It's probably
the first time Canada has beaten the U .S. at
a senior women's event, period, okay? You think
that's going on Eric's CV? I thought CVs are
supposed to highlight the good things you do.
Anyway, okay, U .S. thoughts. I'm confused. Okay,
well, a question that we got is how are some
players, namely Sage, behind Torres and Morgan
Hentz playing better for the national team than
they do for their club teams. There are certain
players who play better in a structured environment.
So when you play against athletes of a lower
caliber, which obviously in the leagues they're
in, those athletes are lower than national team
athletes, there's a little less predictability.
So that could potentially be one. I think, so
for Sage, she runs a bit of a slower offense.
With bigger, better hitters, they can score in
those situations versus usually her hitters have
a two -man block because the sets are slower.
So that would be one reason you have better hitters
to hit those balls. She has decent location.
It's just not paced, and I don't love her decision
-making. So I think with bigger, better hitters,
you see her look more efficient in that regard.
And quite frankly, a lot of the hitters on the
U .S. like to hit a higher set so i think it's
a good fit stylistically even if it's not great
strategically i didn't watch a ton of hens playing
in this season i mean i think it's a weird season
for her with her requesting out of omaha i don't
know what happened there and she was fine at
grand rapids i still don't think she's i mean
the girl can't dig a ball to her left good She
moves to her right on almost every contact and
she's loaded. And then if the ball goes to her
left, she has to sprawl at it. She never takes
a step. She's not stopped on defense. And yeah,
like you said, she's always moving to her right.
And when the ball is hit to her left, she does
not take a step with the left. She just falls
to the left. And I'm like, what is going on here?
Which begs another question. Of the Lexi Rodriguez
versus Morgan Hentz debate. I'm sorry, you guys.
Lexi Rodriguez, her defense does not cut it at
the international level. It does not cut it.
Period. She's still not reading what's possible.
Morgan Hentz isn't reading either. We don't know
what Morgan Hentz is reading because she's moving.
She's moving all the time. And then she has to
make all these like running, diving plays, which
might look good. But like I said this last year
and I will say it again. She makes spectacular
looking digs because she's out of position all
the time. She has to make up for it by diving
all over the place. I think Lexi's passing is
better than Morgan Hentz's. Agreed. I think Lexi
did a good job passing this week. When she played,
I was like, okay, fair. She covers pretty well.
But the defense, the U .S. defense in general
and their out -of -system setting is killing
them. Killing them. Absolutely killing them.
If I had to pick... I'd play Lexi. I mean, I
hate Morgan Hentz's setting. And watching her
play defense and moving on contact all the time,
it was driving me absolutely bonkers. So at least
let's get somebody passing the ball. And Lexi's
a better setter. Yeah, fair. So we saw Logan
Eggleston play like a match and a half. And then
it was predominantly Simone Lee, Vonk. I'm going
to say Vonk because I think she's married. To
a German. To the Germans. And I think the W is
a vonk. So we saw Simone Lee and Avery Skinner
holding it down on the left side for the most
part. We saw a little bit of mix -up. Well, we
saw Maddie Kubik make an appearance too. She
played well. I feel like it was fair play week
for the U .S. This is what is confusing me about
this whole situation. And again, I'm going to
say... Okay, all this being said, and they won
three matches out of four. Right. But, like,
this is what we're here for. This was a bit of
a joke pool, let's be honest. It was pretty weak.
Fine, if you're looking at this going, okay,
we're probably going to win a bunch of matches,
still trying to figure out who's who and who
can do what, but we shouldn't be at that place
anymore. Like, I think you need to do well. And,
again, they're coming out with three wins, so
that's fine. They lost to Canada. Sorry. They
lost to Canada. And then it was a completely
different set of players playing. And this is
what I can't figure out. Was that planned? Was
that a reaction to the loss? I have no feel for
what the purpose of those decisions are. Jordan
Thompson was even taken off. Are we evaluating
players? Are we trying to figure it out? There's
still no style because Micah and Sage set completely
different offenses. I felt like nobody could
connect with Micah, though. I don't disagree
with you. I think the players were connecting
better with Sage, which I'm like, what is happening
here? Yeah, I... There doesn't seem to be...
I guess the question I have is, what is an Eric
Sullivan team? That's my thing. I'm watching
them play, and I'm not even sure what... The
goal is. The goal is what they're trying to move
toward. I don't understand. what the vision is
here. It's almost like they're like, okay, let's
just go win. Figure it out. And I'm sorry, if
I have to hear up and down one more time in a
timeout, I'm going to punch my TV. Well, up and
down on what? Like literally every situation
that's happening, a timeout's called. It's like
up and down. Okay. Okay. Up and down. It's such
a good phrase. It can be used for anything. But
I'm like, is this like don't get aced? It can
be used for blocking. Is it the set? It can be
used for passing a hard serve. It can be used
for. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, what are
you referring to? And why do you keep saying
that? Anyway, that's an aside. The thing for
me is. The U S has lots of good physical volleyball
players. They can continue to make the quarterfinals
doing this situation. Like they came in, they
played a whole bunch of different lineups. They
sub people in and out. They want a five setter.
They beat a bunch of teams. Like they will qualify
for the quarterfinals. They will finish top eight.
Then what are you doing? Like what? What cohesiveness
have you built? What lineup are you going in
and playing? You see teams have a purpose. Brazil
is trying to find their rhythm. They have all
of their starters playing. Italy is trying to
determine what they have in their second line
players and get them experience. Canada is trying
to figure out who's playing on the left side
and solidify that competitive roster. When you
look at those teams, it's very evident what the
goals and what the purposes are. When I watch
the U .S. play, I am left wondering why decisions
are being made. And it just looks like a bunch
of individuals on the court to me. Like, what
happened to the pipe? They used to run the pipe
so well. And I remember last V &L, we were like,
it was a freaking dumpster fire in week one.
And we're like, but they ran that pipe real well.
Where did the pipe go? I thought that was going
to be their identity. Where did the pipe go?
Even Avery Skinner wasn't hitting the pipe well.
And, like, Simone Lee, I'm sorry, she brings
fire, which I love. We know I love that. She
is aggressive. That's fine. But, like, her plus
minus has got to be in the negative. Not the
best. And the timing of these errors. She single
-handedly bled out on the court against Canada
in set three. I think the U .S. was up 23 -16,
and she got aced, like, four times and hit three
balls out, and I was just like, blech. And this
is the thing that I find. Humorous is the wrong
word. But can you picture a previous U .S. team
being okay, being up 23 -16 and losing? No, it
would not have happened. What do you think Jordan
is going to do? It would not have happened. It's
not okay. No, I just don't understand what's
going on. Yeah, I'm just very confused about
what the plan is. And your one bread and butter
in the pipe just completely disappeared. Week
two needs to be your legitimate roster, and they
need to be going, in my opinion. I think I've
said it before, and I will say it again. I think
this season is make or break for Sullivan. I'm
not sure I want to run fair play on my make or
break year. You mentioned Earl. Okay, moving
on. I can't. I'm sweating. Grosser. I agree.
She's gotten a lot better since last year for
the German team. The young French left side.
Also. Very good. Very good. I thought she did
well. There was one other performance in the
French match that I wanted to point out. I thought
Cazote struggled for. For when they played the
U .S.? When they played the U .S. I thought she
struggled for the most part of that match. And
then there was a point towards the end. where
she got set a couple balls in a row and just
went up and unloaded. And I just, I couldn't
help but think, you know, there's somebody who's
played at a high level. She's experienced struggling,
but knows how to stick with it and come up and
make big swings when her team needs her. And
she hadn't been good. And then all of a sudden
they needed a couple swings and she was there.
And it's that sort of mental fortitude and resilience.
That's what playing in Champions League in those
environments gives you. Those are the moments
that matter. And I know France still lost, but
those individual plays and that individual experience,
it's important. And when we talk about players
going overseas and making choices about where
they're going to play, that is an example of
what I think it gives you. Anything else you
want to talk about? Antropova on the left. I
looked like she passed pretty well from the games
that I saw. I will just say from what I saw and
I didn't see every game, her passing was better
than I expected. I personally reserve judgment
because I think she is athletic. I've seen her
play pretty good defense when she's playing.
So I thought there was a decent chance she would
be okay passing. I mean, obviously still needs
to develop the range of shots offensively. She's
got, you know, the deep angles. But seeing her
get a little more uncomfortable, taking a sharp
angle, she just needs a little more time. But
I think if she can really lock in, dang. Markova
and her, and Christina as an example, people
like that are changing the game because we're
seeing 6 '5 plusers who are now playing. serve
receive playing left side. It's not just like,
let's hide the big girl. You know what I mean?
Yeah. I think the biggest thing that she's going
to have to get used to is having to pass and
then get outside. Yeah. You saw her when people
were able to take her to the ground. That's a
lot of body to get off the ground. So I think
that's going to be people's strategy is to either
serve dropout serves to take her to a knee, make
her go to the ground because she's not. getting
up and getting a good approach right away so
either figuring out how to do that or adapting
the offense to either come run a lower ball like
right in front of the setter or like an inside
set or something just to kind of counteract that
yeah there were a couple times i saw her get
pulled inside to pass and then not get outside
and miss an angle swing by half a foot like great
swing just not quite what she's used to so i
think that more than the passing is going to
be okay what she is gonna kind of struggle with
again we mentioned that we weren't able to watch
the chinese location so can anybody somebody
please let us know what check looked like because
they won three matches and they were new to vnl
last year they did like not decently well but
This was a pretty decent location. So somebody
just like, let us know what happened. Were they
playing their best roster? Were teams playing
their second string? Were they just looking really,
really good? So hit us up, please. It will probably
work out from week to week that we're able to
kind of focus on one pool and watch some of those
games. We'll bring you a little bit of an update
from different teams. I want to watch Italy a
little bit more. I'm curious to watch China specifically.
You mentioned Czech. Turkey didn't have anybody.
Serbia continued to struggle. I was expecting
them to have a little bit of a better result.
I don't think Boscovich played. I know Uzalak
played for sure, but I didn't check box scores.
We'll see what they look like. From week to week,
we'll find a few other teams to watch. By the
time we get to the finals, we'll have gone through
everyone and we'll have a good picture of what
those matchups look like, strengths and weaknesses
of the rosters, and where everything's heading.
Listener question time, everybody. I think we've
got some good ones. We've been flooded with questions
this week. Well, we tried to address several
of... the Team USA ones during the VNL segment,
but we have more. So just before we dive in,
we, as we said, we addressed a lot of the Team
USA stuff because that is where most of the questions
were directed. So like we are open to talking
about anybody. So send us your questions. And
that also kind of forms what we watch during
the week. So if we know ahead of time that there's
lots of questions about. Italy, Germany, whatever.
We'll watch more of those games. Okay, so question
one. What are the chances of Eric Sullivan getting
fired before the Olympics? Has it ever happened
before this late to the Olympics starting? And
if so, what were the results? If it was up to
you, what would you do? And who would you think
the other candidates are? Okay, so there's a
lot there. I don't know my U .S. volleyball history.
off the top of my head. So I can't say whether
this has happened before, but coaches... Well,
not even US. Let's just say anywhere. Coaches
get fired all the time. And we're not that far
into the quad. We're like halfway. Halfway. Whether
he gets fired or not is dependent on how this
summer goes. And listen, there's... Do you think
they would actually fire him though? 100%. You
have... The UCLA nepotism won't hold anything
back. Listen, if the U .S. has a poor showing
on home soil in L .A., that's embarrassing. No,
I'm not denying that at all. But you could lose
sponsors. There's all kinds of things that could
happen if they're not on the podium. So if his
plan or what has been communicated is not coming
to fruition by the end of the summer, there will
be legitimate conversations about replacing him.
100%. It is unacceptable for the U .S. not to
meddle in L .A. Again, fully agree. I think if
they don't perform this summer, by the end of
the summer, yeah, he should be fired. Do I think
it will happen? I'm going to go out and say no.
I don't think they will. Honestly, I'm sure it's
happened before that a coach has been fired.
Coaches get fired all the time. I can't think
of it off the top of my head. I've been so immersed
in the beach world in recent years. When did
Shannon Windsor get let go from Canada? Right
after the quad. I'm sure it has happened. If
it were to happen, this is a tough question because
all the coaches that I would consider to be candidates
are working, except for Shannon Windsor. Maybe
I would just say her. Guidetti went and asked
USA Volleyball if he could coach them, and they
said no. All the coaches that I would be like,
yeah, they could do a good job, are already working.
So I'd put Shannon Windsor, but you guys know
that we love her. I'm curious if someone would
leave a current job to take that job. Like if
somebody was playing for or coaching in not a
top like European country, would they drop and
come back? Like there are lots of good international
coaches, good assistant coaches. It just depends
on whether they're willing to hire a non -American
or not. Well, clearly they're not because they
hired somebody who's never been a head coach
over a proven winner. I understand that, but
losing changes. Not only is the Volleyball Federation,
they're going to get pressure from the Olympic
Committee. Volleyball is a sport that they are
expected to do well in. Things change when you
don't win. Good question. Great question. Okay,
question two. Do you need the slide at the VNL
level? Do other top nations use it as extensively
as the U .S.? And the reason that this person
was asking, like they run it so extensively because
of college, right? Where the opposites aren't
really hitting in the back row. And then that
bleeds into the national team. You don't need
a slide. I would, I would say that the Italians
don't really run a slide, but guess who they've
got hitting the D ball. I also think there's
another, there's another case with this is that
the slide allows a middle blocker. Who's maybe
not. a great two -foot jumper to still be offensive
if they're a really good blocker. If you had
two great blockers who could run super dynamic
in front of the setter, I don't think you need
it. But if you have a hitter who's just really
good on the slide and you can move the D -ball
in and out based off where they're running, it
makes sense to use it. I think the reason this
question came up is because we were saying that
we like Chiaka and Dana Retke in front of the
setter more. And we were saying, why are they
running Dana behind the setter? I think that's
where this question came from. So then totally,
if you have two middles that run better in front
of the setter, and that's not to say you can't
run like a 61 close behind. It's a two -foot
takeoff is what you're looking for. Yeah, I think
that's understood. The question is around, like,
do the top teams use the slide as much as the
U .S.? And I would say no. Turquoise uses it
because... Historically, Ada Airdem runs the
slide incredibly well. The Italians don't really
run it. The Brazilians historically have. The
Japanese do just because their offense needs
to be so fast and dynamic. But no, you don't
need to run one to win. I think it depends on
your personnel hitting in the back row. And compared
to other top countries, I would argue... Other
than Brazil, the U .S. has not had an opposite.
A dominant opposite, yeah. Strong enough in the
back row attack abilities. And I know people
are going to be like, Jordan Thompson. I don't
think Jordan Thompson's back row attacking is
superlative. Well, and the other thing I would
mention is USA has historically been a very good
ball control team. So if you are in system and
you run that slide, if you're good, you can run
it short. You can run it long. You can run a
mid. Like there's lots of different ways. to
make it challenging for the block to line that
up if you're passing really well consistently,
which the U .S. has historically done. Okay,
question three. Do you think Eric Sullivan would
ever use two liberos like Japan does? And if
so, which two would you choose? I mean, we've
seen him do it at Austin. Yes. I don't think
there's any reason not to do it if you don't
have one stud libero. Which they don't. And honestly,
right now, I don't think there's a frontrunner.
I didn't love Lexi this week. But that's, again,
not to say that they won't come along. Her passing
is pretty good. I think defensively she's out
of her depth right now. So that might be a situation
where she's passing and Hentz is playing defense.
But I don't think Hentz reads the game well enough.
She just dives around the court and she makes
it spectacular because I don't think she reads
well. Fair. I'm saying that as an example. It
doesn't have to be her. I honestly would probably,
if they did, And you know my feelings on the
US liberos. I would probably have like Elena
Scott even be the defensive libero because her
out of system setting is better than all of the
other ones. Yeah. Obviously she's untested defensively.
Just we don't know. But hypothetically, let's
say she's on par defensively with the other ones.
I would use her as the defensive libero because
she'll put up a hittable ball in transition if
need be. And then for passing, I guess I would
pick Flexy. And the U .S. setters are generally
pretty good defensively, so there are lots of
opportunities to set. That's a good call. But
he's used before. I don't see any reason why
he wouldn't. He's used it at Austin, but I don't.
In some of the U .S. games that I watched this
week, they only even dressed one with the jersey,
and then there was a serving sub. So I'm just
like. What are you gaining from the service line
as opposed to like losing in having two of them
dressed is my question. Okay. Question four.
What are your thoughts on the new VNL awards?
So Adam, I don't think is aware. No. So let's
tell him. VNL is not going to have a dream team
anymore. Basically what they're going to do is
at the end of the preliminary round. So like
before the final eight. The statistical leaders
for best score, best attacker, best whatever,
all are just going to get $10 ,000 each. For
the MVP of VNL, it's going to be selected by
one player that's playing in the final. And it's
going to be a combination of fan voting and statistics.
And that person gets $30 ,000. I like it. You
don't like it? I was going to say, I don't love
it. Only because stats don't tell the whole story.
If you were going to do that mostly and then
have like two awards. No, but I'm sure like it
has to be like they have swung on a minimum of
X balls. I understand that. But like, what about
the best all around left side who is passing,
attacking set? Like they're not going to, that
player is not going to win any awards and can
be incredibly. They're going by skill instead
of each individual skill instead of individual
position. I get that. I think it's going to overlook
certain players who are well -rounded and incredibly
important to their team, but are never going
to be statistical leaders. But don't you think
that it's a better system than what it currently
was where all of the award winners were from
a final four team. And then you started scratching
your head to be like, Oh, well that person was
clearly picked because that team in the final
four needed a player. Do you know what I mean?
Yes. That's totally fine. I just wish there was
some consideration other than just. Best hitting
like so best hitting percentage is obviously
gonna go to a middle best blockers gonna go to
a middle It's not hitting percent. We don't know
exactly what stuff they're looking at. We're
gonna be the hitting percentage is it gonna be
a combination of you know kills per set and Sure,
like we don't know. Okay, so let's wait and see
what the stats are But my I like it better in
theory than what they were doing before my apprehension
with the system would be that Stats don't ever
tell the whole story. And I'm a stats guy. That
would be my two cents on that. Having heard this
for the first time. I prefer it to what it was.
Because then it gives like, you can be a superstar
on a not so good team and you can be considered.
No, I like the format. I like the idea in general.
That's where my head went to when you told me.
Okay, question five is about indoor serving strategies.
So for coaches, how do you balance having your
servers serve their best serve zone with targeting
opponents' weaknesses? So sometimes they align
well, and that's great. So like if your best
serve is from zone five, cross court to zone
five. Amazing. Sometimes it works out that it's
in the game plan. So this person said, I've been
part of programs that prioritize their players
serving the zones that they serve most effectively.
I've also been part of programs that prioritize
their opponent's weaknesses despite a player's
maybe struggling with those angles. What are
some of the dependencies of what to choose or
prioritize? This is a very good question. I love,
love, love this question. Let's let them run
here with it, you know? Do you have anything
or do you want me to go? You're excited. Go for
it. Okay, let's start with this. It depends on
how... Look at his grin, everybody. But these
questions are my jam. You basically have an efficiency
problem, right? So you have an outcome that you're
looking for. And is it better to use somebody's
best serve or to go after somebody's weakness?
It's a great debate. For me, the question comes
down to if I take that player... And they're
not comfortable making that serve. Is it so bad
that it's a free ball? Do you know what I mean?
So what am I gaining and losing versus what I'm
doing? And the other thing is, is there green
light serve where they go like one to one? Is
it a hard pass regardless of who's passing on
the other side? So you are continually weighing.
You're looking for the best outcome from the
service line. And you have to figure out. whether
your green light serve of what you hit best is
going to give you consistently a worse pass than
taking you out of your comfort zone and shooting
for a specific target. Okay, yes. So that basically
repeats the question. What are the scenarios
where you would select one over the other? If
somebody's got a great spin serve, generally
let them rip and we'll see what happens. If...
If somebody has a mediocre serve at best at a
top level, then I'm making that person go into
the weakness because I'm going to trust that
our scouting report has given us something that
we're going to be able to use. So those would
be kind of the two blatant scenarios that I would
look at. I think it depends on where the lineup
arranges itself to. Or like if the coach is deliberately,
usually you're deliberately lining up your lineup
for blocking and defensive purposes, not serving.
So in the moment, I think it would come down
to more of like, oh, what did we end up with?
Yeah. So that was going to be the next thing
I said was like, you have to kind of find the
flow of the match. Do we just need aggressive
serving to switch a mindset? Is that player struggling
more than we expected? So now we really just
want to target him with anything because that
person is in the tank. There's some feel stuff
around those situations as well. For example,
let's say their best passer is in zone one. You're
really good at serving one -to -one, and their
best passer is in zone one, but you happen to
hit that passer. When they're in rotation one
and you are kind of disrupting things because
the setter's coming in, they're running in, and
then even though their best passer's there, the
setter's getting kind of turned around. Like,
there's a lot of rotational scenarios, too, of,
like, where the setter's coming in from, this
and that, who their hitters are. It's hard to
say. Like, the it depends answer is extensive.
It is. But I think the main one should be what
gives which scenario in this given moment is
going to give you the advantage. And I don't
think it's ever a good policy to be we're a team
that does this or we're a team that does that.
It should be all options should be on the table
at any given time to get the best outcome. It
depends. Okay, question six. At the elite pro
level, what percentage of time is spent improving
individual skills or strengths versus team strategy?
How much is done in the gym versus on video?
So I can only really speak to my personal experience.
So for all of the pro, pretty much all the pro
teams I played for, there were often double days
training. So whenever there was a double day,
morning practice was devoted more to individual
skill work. And the evening practice was devoted
to team play, team cohesion, systems, things
like that, or game planning. If there was one
practice in a day, it was team stuff. I would
say... In my experience, the individual stuff
was all done in gym. The individual reps, whether
it's passing, defense, setting, whatever, was
all done in gym. There wasn't a ton of individual
video work done with coaches. That, for me, was
done more in college. And then for team stuff,
the video was mostly done looking at opponents
and game planning. Any game opponent related
stuff was like video first, then we go put it
into practice. But any team system stuff as far
as offensive abilities were just in gym. I don't
know. It would probably be 35 % individual, 65
team roughly. Yeah. slides as the season goes
on right more individual work the beginning of
the season less as you move on and also probably
dependent on what level of pro like i'm sure
some of the younger kids in your clubs who were
going to stay there long term were getting more
video work from the coaches and things like that
and our last question of the day i know sarah
dislikes love austin How does this affect your
thoughts of the U .S. national roster and coaches?
How should this affect our perceptions and pride
for our national team as U .S. fans? We dislike
them for certain reasons, but we need to have
pride for them in VNL and the Olympics. This
question starts with your dislike of Austin,
so I'll let you go first on this one. Definitely
not the only one who dislikes Austin. Come on.
How does my dislike for Austin affect my thoughts
of the roster and coaches? I mean, I think it's
a chicken and the egg situation. Like I disliked
Austin before the coaching staff got there. And
then the coaching staff getting there made me
like eyebrow raise a little more. I just think
I just dislike that. It seems like nepotism.
I dislike the fact that so many athletes from
this one team. are on the national team sometimes
because it just seems like they're part of that
team. You know what I mean? Like, it's just,
I'm not sure that the roster is based off of
full merit. That is my issue with the U .S. I'm
not American, so I don't feel a need to, like,
cheer for them at all. So I'm, like, chilling.
But as Americans, I can understand what you're
saying, and that's challenging. But I would say
like, yeah, I don't know. What do you think?
I don't think it should have any bearing on it
whatsoever. Like you're aware of the performance.
And so you question some of the roster decisions,
like you were saying. Yeah. I think like that
is my issue. Yeah. And that's, and that's, and
I think they're separate things. Like I don't
love Austin for a variety of reasons, but like
are, do these people deserve to be on the national
team? But once, once they pick the rosters and
you start, playing it's relevant and then you're
just looking straight at the performance then
i start to question like and i'm gonna travel
roster decisions and who's actually on the court
decisions like yes that bleeds into it for me
and i think you can look at the rock you look
at the coaching staff and the players differently
in this situation the players can only do what
they're given the opportunity to do whether they're
good enough to be there or not But Sullivan's
decisions on who plays and those kind of things,
that's a line that's hard to unblur. Or like,
is he playing people for Austin, who he knows
he'll get to work with on the national team?
And I just think of the Polish middle, who was
on the bronze medal winning VNL team, who's been
an Olympian, who rode the bench for Austin all
year. Decisions like that, I'm like scratching
my head. I mean, if you're an American, you're
going to cheer for your country. I don't know.
But this is one of those situations. Would I
cheer for Canada in all sports regardless? I
don't know. I think this is one of those situations
where if they win, no one's going to say anything.
They're going to be like, great, we won. If they
lose, there's going to be lots of questions about
the decision -making process. I think that's
the thing. Like the athletes, it is. I know we
talk about who we feel should be playing, who
should have been on the roster. Do they deserve
to be there? This and that. But like, like you
said, my issues with the whole thing have more
about coaching decisions and the decision making.
Like the athletes are just doing what they are
told to do or given the opportunity to do. And
that's it. Yeah. These decisions will either
come back to bite him. And I. Understand the
urge to pick players that you have more time
to work with as a coach. I get that instinct,
but you also have to be able to judge that talent
against the top international talent, given your
goal is a gold medal. So if he believes that,
and I don't, I'm just going to use these players
just because that like Asia O 'Neill and Eggleston
are going to be your gold medal left sides and
middles. given three years of working with me,
you make that decision and you live or die by
that decision, I can respect that as a coach.
I may not agree with it, but I can respect that,
but you got to own it. And quite frankly, you
should come out and say that, which I don't think
we'll ever get. I think about it this way for
the fans who kind of are feeling a little disconnected.
a lot of people that I just do not like. But
at the end of the day, I'm like, I don't have
to like you, but I will play with you and I will
go to battle with you to win games. So I think,
I think it's like a similar thing as a fan. It's
like, okay, I might not like the situation here,
but I want my country to do well. So it's just
like kind of blurring the line, like putting
it aside for the greater good, I guess. I understand
these questions coming up and these feelings
coming up now with love being so fresh, with
Austin being at the bottom and then winning the
championship and like coming right out of season
into first week of VNL. I get the visceral reaction.
I think we need to wait and see what happens.
We need to revisit this conversation in August.
I mean, because last year, VNL week one, they
looked real bad. Yeah. And they made the final
eight. Yeah. All things ick when it comes to
this. I think need to be put on hold for at least
two more rounds. Great questions this week, you
guys. Love talking about this. Even if we're
going to put the ick on hold, if you still want
to ask questions, we probably will talk about
it. I never in a million years thought that I
would hear Adam use that term, but here we are.
Wrong usage and everything, but it is what it
is. But I think that's the feeling. All right,
there is a ton of volleyball. going on during
VNL. So we've handpicked a couple matches that
we think will be great coming up this week. Wednesday
at 4 p .m. Eastern, we have Italy versus France.
Doesn't matter who's playing, that's always going
to be a great match. Thursday at 8 a .m. Eastern,
early riser, Slovenia versus Poland. Two Final
Four teams, baby. Two Final Four teams, little
geographical rivalry. So that one will also be
good. And then Saturday at 4 p .m. Eastern, Canada
versus USA. That's always a good rivalry. Most
of our listeners are in Canada and the U .S.,
so I had to throw it in there, you know what
I mean? Yeah, we'll definitely be watching that
one. That concludes this week's episode of Volley
Talk. There's always something shaking in the
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you
don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore
podcast. If you have a topic you'd like us to
discuss, you can reach out on Instagram or at
info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining
us and we'll be back.