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. We are back after a week break. Hope everyone's

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feeling refreshed. Much needed, by the way. We

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have been burning the candle from both ends.

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So that was a nice rest. Definitely. Regroup.

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Came back to a ton of questions. So playing a

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bit of catch up today. Trying to squeeze a bunch

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of questions into our segments as well as our

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listener question segment. But week three for

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Women's VNL is complete. So we know who our final

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eight will be competing in Macau. And we were

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pretty close, but we can dive into it later.

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We were decently close. The rankings, we were

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way off on. But the teams present almost got

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there. We have a few other things in the works

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with just weekly happenings in the volleyball

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world that we have gotten a ton of messages about.

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So we are... Very excited to be back to dive

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in. So let's get started. So one of the main

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topics of conversation in the question department

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this week involved love. All of the MLV players

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that they signed recently. So I'm pretty sure

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that these announcements had to wait until the

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last week or so because of the MLV contract period.

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But basically, love is draining MLV of players.

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Well, how many teams did they add? They added

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four, I believe. They need a ton of athletes.

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They need a ton of athletes. And so a lot of

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the questions kind of centered around Love taking

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all these MLV players. Just going off of Love's

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Instagram, here are several of the players who

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are making the switch. Erica Pritchard. She was

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in Italy last year, but she started in MLV, so

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I'll say her. Erica Pritchard, Mimi Collier,

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Brooke Nunaviller, Sean Poo, Natalia Valentine

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Anderson, Sarah Parsons. Abby Walker, Raina Tahiri,

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Elena Ogilvie, Isabel Martin, Sage Kahina Torres,

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Morgan Perkins, Sydney Hilly, Kylie Murr, Raven

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Colvin, Allison Jacobs, Carter Booth, Jenny Mosser,

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who started at Bergamo last year, finished the

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season at MLV, Brooke Mosher, Malaya Jones. That's

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a lot of athletes. That's just the ones they've

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posted so far. Pretty sure I heard Elena Scott

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is also making the switch. Not sure if that's

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confirmed or not. Maybe that's completely made

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up. And if it is, sorry. That's crazy. This is

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good for the athletes. When you have two leagues

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competing for services, you have a choice of

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where you want to go. You have the ability to

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market yourself for contracts, for other perks.

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This is... an athlete's dream in the U S to have

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options and to be able to figure out where you

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want to go. Now, I don't know what the salary

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ranges are. I don't know if they're leaving for

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potential national team looks for salary, for

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other compensations. It would be curious to know

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those things. But the thing that comes to my

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mind is like, love has always touted itself as

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like one of the best leagues in the world. And

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you're poaching from the. less strong league

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in your own country yeah so i'm curious if these

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players are going to see floor time or if they're

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filling out rosters and what happens to the overall

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level of love with four new teams i'm concerned

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because i think last year love did a better job

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of being competitive and interesting to watch

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I'm curious how a four -team expansion, like

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that's... That's massive. It's a huge leap in

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teams from the number that you had. You're almost

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doubling. It could be watered down. They are

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literally taking all the players from the quote

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-unquote secondary league. Yes, they have signed

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a lot of national team athletes from around the

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world, but not like star power names. A lot of

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the questions centered around this idea and...

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I'll just kind of talk through a couple of them.

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Is the hope that the home players who are considered

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to be playing in a lower league, MLV, will elevate

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their level of play? Or do you think this is

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just a way of filling roster spots because they

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haven't had as much interest from top international

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talent? You kind of touched on this. I think

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it's roster filling. I think it's roster filling.

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I mean, there were several athletes that we talked

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about last year who were in MLV that we thought

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were quote -unquote love athletes. I think Mimi

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Collier is a love caliber. athlete carter booth

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if elena scott is going those are is not the

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most dynamic athlete i'm curious how she will

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do with the speed of the game uh she doesn't

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move like super fast laterally i think like brooke

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nunneville or for example belongs in mlv agree

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like she's a bench player in love in my opinion

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if she plays she will struggle to score like

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she's good ball control everything else but she

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she will struggle to score yeah reina terry had

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a great year in mlv last year she for me is also

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a bench caliber love athlete. Do you think the

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mindset of the American athletes is maybe I can

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go to love and then eventually go overseas? Like,

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do you think love gives them... No, like Brooke

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Nunneville played in Turkey. No, I know. Like

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she's been overseas. I, okay, this is what I

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heard. I don't know if it's true, but I heard

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that love bought out, like just... paid a lot

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of money to a lot of these players just to get

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them to leave MLV and then they're signing a

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contract on top of that which I heard and again

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I don't know if this is true I heard has caused

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a little bit of angst problems in love for the

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players who are already there we kind of touched

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on this like several episodes ago but i heard

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numbers thrown around like a quarter of a million

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just to leave mlv and then signing your contract

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on top of that you've seen this in several other

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leagues women's hockey in north america had this

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happen most recently golf with live had this

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happen you have competing entities live love

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baby laugh Make it sign in your house. So this

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is not uncommon and the athletes are reaping

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the benefit of there being multiple opportunities

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to play. Good for them. So another person was

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like, do you think even the players now know

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that love is a higher level league and want tougher

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competition? Maybe they do rather play in the

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bench at love than be a star in MLV. We kind

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of, yeah, I don't know. Maybe they, I think the

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general understanding. Although I have seen some

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clips recently where people were like, MLV and

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love is the same level. You guys, it's not. Okay.

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It's just not. I think the general understanding

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is that love is the stronger league. Do these

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players, are they taking bets on themselves and

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being like, no, I'm going to earn a starting

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spot? Maybe. You would have to think so. Like

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these are top college players who have competitive

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mindsets. Like most athletes will bet on themselves

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given the opportunity. So I, that would be my

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take. And then. A lot of these players weren't

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necessarily even standouts at the MLV level.

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Yeah, a lot of it has to do with playing time.

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Like, why do you think they're leaving if they're

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not even standouts in MLV? Like, what is their

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goal and objective in going? A Mimi Collier,

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for example, does she bet on herself and be like,

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no, I can for sure play at this level. I'm going

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to earn a spot. Yeah, I can see that. But like,

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I don't know, a Raven Colvin, for example, who

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was like fighting for court time. in MLV like

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I wonder what like her motivation would be for

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example again it's really hard to talk to what

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people want but I will say love has done an excellent

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job of bringing in well -connected international

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coaches so if you're a North American athlete

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and we talk about this all the time you need

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to go somewhere to experience a different style

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to learn from somebody else to have more experiences

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For me, if I have people talking to me about

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that, I'm like, okay, here's a chance for me

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to stay in North America to maybe learn from

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another style from a different coach. And who

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knows what connections those coaches have. Like

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a lot of these coaches have coached all over

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the world. All it takes is one phone call. Like,

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hey, I have this player. They'd be a good fit

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for your team. Like the coaching fraternity in

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the world is small. You know, everybody, I think

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there's a lot of call it networking and wanting

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to improve under potentially a different style.

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Because I think Love has done a good job of bringing

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in high name value coaches. Another piece of

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news, and I got this sent to me, I saw it on

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a Brazilian site, is that Andy Drew Schumacher,

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Kelsey Cook, and Justine Wong -Arantes have apparently

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said that they are going to return to the national

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team next season. I have a question for you before

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we go any further. Which of those three players

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do you think makes the biggest impact? Assuming

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they come back close to old form. Just seen while

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we're on test. That was my instinct as well.

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Cause there's the thing is there's no guarantee

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that you return from pregnancy and are playing

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at the same level. That is no joke. Returning

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from pregnancy is no joke. Your body gets messed

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up. Okay. A, the fact that they're even wanting

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to come back. Amazing. But yeah, there is no

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guarantee that you're going to be the player

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that you once were. The thing that I notice most

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about players who have a baby and then come back

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is their jumping ability severely decreases from

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what I have seen on the beach side of the game.

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Well, that's why I think Wongarontas might have

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the best opportunity to return to form because

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you still have to be dynamic. Obviously, you

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have to move quickly, but you don't have to move

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vertically. But the thing is, she has to move

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laterally. And let me tell you, your adductors

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take a hit. So that could be tough. But I think

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the biggest room for improvement among those

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three positions that we've talked about, we've

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talked about it before, is the libero spot. So

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I think she could have the biggest impact. Agreed.

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You know, it's always been kind of like a debate,

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a back and forth of like Annie Drews or Jordan

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Thompson, blah, blah, blah. I am personally in

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favor of Jordan Thompson. So I think that that's

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fine. And then like Kelsey Robinson, I think

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that her ball control. With the current climate.

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With the national team. Could be a huge asset.

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Regardless of what role she might step into.

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I think just her ball control. And defensive

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ability alone. Could help a lot. She fills a

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need. On the team. And gives the coaching staff

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flexibility. In situations where you need a good

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pass. To get out of a rotation late in a set.

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I agree with you. Huge news. If that is true.

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If they are able to come back. That kind of like

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changes. I know the U .S., and we'll get into

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it, did an incredible job in the preliminary

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round. They like finished first, which was a

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shock to me. But they managed to finish first.

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Just that stability and that consistency piece

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of adding those three athletes is massive. The

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big news keeps coming. Another piece is the Russian

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ban has been lifted by the IOC. Individual sport

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federations or bodies have been given the option

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of whether to allow Russia to come back. And

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the FIVB has decided that Russia can come back,

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maintaining the points that they had in 2021,

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which is when they last competed. So that would

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place the women at ninth and the men at third

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in the world. We got a question about this. We've

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gotten several questions, but one that kind of

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encapsulates the general, you know, ideas of

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what have been sent to us. And I think just kind

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of opens the door to the discussion about this

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is the following. I'm interested in your thoughts

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on the reinstatement and how this will affect

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global competitions next year forward. Personally,

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this decision seems very unfair to the countries

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who have worked hard for many years, gained points,

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lost points, developed their teams, etc., just

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to possibly lose their VNL spot next year to

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Russia because they are being put back at their

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2021 ranking. It is especially painful for the

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two countries fighting for the VNL entry berth

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next year. They've possibly lost that chance.

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Finally, are they going to force Ukraine to play

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against Russia next year in the VNL? There are

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many comments online where people are happy about

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it, but the war is still going on. Nothing has

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changed. Yes. Lots of factors involved in this

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decision. What do you think? I'm going to answer

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broadly first and then I'll get specific. So

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first and foremost. The situation is really hard

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to talk about. And we've kind of had this chat

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last week too. They are coming back. Those decisions

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have been made. You know, it's tough because

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the athletes don't all agree or aren't part of

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it. So I'm happy for the athletes who have spent.

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Don't agree. Like the Russian athletes are not

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responsible for their country. You have some

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athletes who are opposed to it. Some who might

00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:26.909
be for it. Like it's so hard to know where they

00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:28.870
stand, but it really has nothing to do with their.

00:14:29.370 --> 00:14:31.909
athletic career and the fact that you know you

00:14:31.909 --> 00:14:34.250
see these athletes give all of this time to train

00:14:34.250 --> 00:14:37.110
and try and do something i'm happy they get an

00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:40.169
opportunity to put all of the hard work in to

00:14:40.169 --> 00:14:42.350
play volleyball i'm happy for the individual

00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:46.549
athletes politically it's a very tricky situation

00:14:46.549 --> 00:14:49.629
we talked like you alluded to we talked about

00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:53.090
this uh last episode i think it was with somebody

00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:55.289
asked a question about the u .s playing iran

00:14:55.289 --> 00:15:00.220
it's the same a similar situation It's it's difficult.

00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.120
Like we obviously can't empathize necessarily

00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.159
in that way because we're from a country that

00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:07.419
has never really been involved in conflicts like

00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:10.059
that. I can't imagine what it must feel like

00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:12.259
for some athletes to have to be put in that position

00:15:12.259 --> 00:15:16.700
to compete against, you know, an invading country.

00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:20.700
But like we I was we are not qualified to speak

00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:23.059
on that and what it would feel like. I don't

00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:26.019
know. As far as slotting them into their spot

00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:31.440
from 2021. I also am like really upset for teams

00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.659
that have worked so hard to earn the ranking

00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:37.919
to kind of put themselves on that cusp. Can you

00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.799
imagine? No. And listen, I wouldn't do it this

00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.879
way personally if I was in charge. Russia is

00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:45.559
a volleyball nation. If we look at their ability,

00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.100
they belong in VNL. They are good enough to compete.

00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:50.279
They're both on the men and the women's. In my

00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.120
opinion, what should happen is you should just

00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.539
add them in next year and have an odd number

00:15:55.539 --> 00:15:59.620
of teams and still allow. one team who should

00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:03.840
be normally in on points to come in you have

00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.120
all these teams go to sites and not play everybody

00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.700
anyway like i don't think it would be a huge

00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:10.960
deal to have one extra team and then next year

00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:12.799
you have two teams that are relegated and then

00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.700
you get back to where you would i would say even

00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:18.179
don't allow russia to compete next year and make

00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:21.190
them hold on to their ranking spot and compete

00:16:21.190 --> 00:16:23.990
for a year against other teams, hold on to their

00:16:23.990 --> 00:16:25.789
ranking, and then they can get bumped in next

00:16:25.789 --> 00:16:28.230
year if they're the next highest ranked team

00:16:28.230 --> 00:16:30.769
that hasn't competed. I don't know if I would

00:16:30.769 --> 00:16:32.830
slot them into VNL right away because I agree

00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:35.629
with what this person said. There are teams that

00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:38.370
have been competing and fighting, and I understand

00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:40.850
that the Russian athletes didn't have a choice

00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:44.049
in this matter, but for countries who have made

00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:48.210
those adjustments and... the evolution to be

00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:50.490
able to become that team that are right on the

00:16:50.490 --> 00:16:53.129
edge. That's not fair. I agree. So I say, don't

00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:55.389
even let them play next year, make them earn

00:16:55.389 --> 00:16:57.730
their spot. And then the next year, if they're

00:16:57.730 --> 00:16:59.870
the next highest ranked team, then they can play.

00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:02.950
Yeah. I mean, I think that's also a good solution.

00:17:03.009 --> 00:17:04.930
I mean, I think it's good for volleyball that

00:17:04.930 --> 00:17:07.470
they're being reintroduced into the competitions

00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:11.069
because they are really good teams. And, you

00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.250
know, we've speculated on, you know, what would

00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:15.349
happen if the Russian women came back with like

00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:17.289
Markova and Fedorovseva and all those athletes.

00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:20.509
Like we will get a chance to see that now. And

00:17:20.509 --> 00:17:22.410
that's exciting. I think it's good for the sport.

00:17:22.890 --> 00:17:26.150
But I think they need to do it in a way that

00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:29.490
doesn't alienate everybody. Yes. So we'll see

00:17:29.490 --> 00:17:31.589
if they make any changes or if there's any pushback

00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:34.730
for that. Our last piece of news. After two months

00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.750
of retirement, Jordan Larson is coming out of

00:17:37.750 --> 00:17:40.150
retirement. I feel this way about all athletes

00:17:40.150 --> 00:17:42.549
who do this. You're either done or you're not

00:17:42.549 --> 00:17:46.589
done. And you should know what you want to do.

00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:50.049
The other thing for me is you had a whole year

00:17:50.049 --> 00:17:55.069
tour to retire. This is not a spur of the moment

00:17:55.069 --> 00:17:59.289
decision. If she had quietly just decided that

00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:02.150
she wasn't going to play anymore and hadn't really

00:18:02.150 --> 00:18:04.250
said anything and then decided she wanted to

00:18:04.250 --> 00:18:06.430
come back, I'm fine with that. But you made a

00:18:06.430 --> 00:18:09.470
very... public declaration that you were done

00:18:09.470 --> 00:18:12.670
and yes it's her choice I totally get that but

00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:15.690
it's just for me and I've had this opinion about

00:18:15.690 --> 00:18:18.750
all athletes in all sports I think it's cringy

00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:21.410
I mean you guys know I'm I'm a Jordan Larson

00:18:21.410 --> 00:18:24.490
fan I played with her in college I have so much

00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:26.490
respect for her I've talked about it at length

00:18:26.490 --> 00:18:28.569
this is for me nothing to do with Jordan it has

00:18:28.569 --> 00:18:30.809
nothing to do with her as a person it's just

00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:34.269
like the situation I'm like the league had a

00:18:34.269 --> 00:18:38.230
whole thing the whole season we were hearing

00:18:38.230 --> 00:18:41.069
about how you're retiring and how there were

00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:46.569
just like so many grand demonstrations and gestures

00:18:46.569 --> 00:18:49.630
and stuff around this retirement and totally

00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:52.329
warranted totally warranted everything that has

00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:55.670
gone on even outside of love just like about

00:18:55.670 --> 00:18:58.670
this retirement for for it to last two months

00:18:59.289 --> 00:19:01.650
Like for me now, it's like, OK, we can't talk

00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:03.849
about this anymore. Like it's done. It's just

00:19:03.849 --> 00:19:06.190
really confusing to me. Originally, I saw this

00:19:06.190 --> 00:19:08.750
post and I thought it was a joke. Like I thought

00:19:08.750 --> 00:19:11.710
it was not serious, but I think it is serious.

00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:14.569
We'll see. I mean, everybody's entitled to their

00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:17.410
to make their own choices. But I just I agree

00:19:17.410 --> 00:19:19.670
with you when this has happened in other sports

00:19:19.670 --> 00:19:22.829
and with other people. I've just been like, why?

00:19:23.009 --> 00:19:26.509
Why did you make this whole deal about it to

00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:30.170
go green? I don't know what to say. We might

00:19:30.170 --> 00:19:32.569
see her on the court again for Love Nebraska.

00:19:32.869 --> 00:19:36.890
Those are the weekly highlights. Quite a few

00:19:36.890 --> 00:19:40.670
big pieces of news after a week break. We'll

00:19:40.670 --> 00:19:43.650
see how all of these things pan out in the next

00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:48.549
year. Okay, we had an interesting listener suggested

00:19:48.549 --> 00:19:51.329
segment this week. This was a lot of fun. The

00:19:51.329 --> 00:19:56.609
task that was set to us was build a USA women's

00:19:56.609 --> 00:20:01.269
roster. For LA 28, but you can't pick more than

00:20:01.269 --> 00:20:06.670
one player from a university. A full 12 -person

00:20:06.670 --> 00:20:11.390
roster. So we opted to go with three outsides,

00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:15.309
two opposites, two setters, three middles, and

00:20:15.309 --> 00:20:20.269
two liberos. Cannot repeat a college. This was

00:20:20.269 --> 00:20:23.349
actually a lot of fun. Where do you want to start?

00:20:23.609 --> 00:20:25.960
I was just going to ask you the same thing. For

00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:28.180
me, the easiest position to pick was opposite.

00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:31.099
Do you want to start there? Sure. Okay. Who did

00:20:31.099 --> 00:20:33.940
you have? I had Jordan Thompson and Stephanie

00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:38.180
Samity. What? No, you didn't. Who did you have?

00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.079
Jordan Thompson and Annie Drews. We don't know

00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:46.700
if she's playing. LA 28. Okay. And we just said

00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:50.200
she's coming back. Okay. So I excluded the three

00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:51.720
players who are coming back from pregnancy because

00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.000
I haven't seen them play yet. I don't know what

00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.559
they're going to look like. No. You had a miss

00:20:57.559 --> 00:20:59.579
already. Okay, well, we were playing by different

00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:04.859
rules. Okay, so I knock off Cincinnati and Purdue,

00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:08.140
which I felt like that was also a super easy

00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:10.859
pick because those two schools are kind of obscure.

00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:13.440
Yeah, and I'm Cincinnati and Minnesota. Next.

00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:16.799
Let's see how much better my roster will be than

00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.900
yours. Okay. Well, yeah, because you're going

00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:21.119
to have Justine Wong -Arantes, obviously. Yeah,

00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:23.140
Adam, of course you have to pick her. What were

00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:26.500
you thinking? Okay, so I didn't realize that

00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:29.599
they were in play. So that's my fault. We literally

00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.920
just said that they're coming back. Okay, let's

00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.779
go to the left sides. You want me to tell you

00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:38.759
one? Let's... Alternate? Let's alternate. Okay,

00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:42.180
tell me one. Okay, so I have Avery Skinner. Okay,

00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:44.599
did you consider her Kentucky or Baylor? Baylor.

00:21:45.420 --> 00:21:47.579
Didn't matter for me. Yeah, me either. But I

00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:50.619
considered her Kentucky. Okay. Okay, my second

00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:54.059
one was Catherine Plummer from Stanford. Oh,

00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:56.819
that's a good choice. I'm going to crush him.

00:21:56.819 --> 00:22:00.819
You are going to crush me. I had Simone Lee Wank.

00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:04.119
No, you didn't. You guys, I think we can agree

00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.779
that I'm already winning this game. Okay. And

00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:10.400
who is your third? Bajma from Washington. Okay.

00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:14.460
I had her too. Okay. I forgot Plummer was an

00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:15.839
option, to be honest. Looks like Adam forgot

00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:17.920
a lot of things in this game. We're two positions

00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:22.839
in. Okay. So, looks like I'm... I'm just better

00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:29.220
in both positions right now. Perfect. Let's go

00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:32.920
setters. Okay. My first setter was Jordan Poulter,

00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.420
Illinois. Me too. Okay. Well, you can't pick

00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:37.799
Penn State. And I picked Penn State for my second

00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.720
one and Micah Hancock. Well, I had Kami Miner

00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:46.299
from Stanford. Oh. So you did not want to blow

00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:53.789
a Texas pick on setter. Hell no. I think a lot

00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:57.970
of people might object to that. Okay. Okay. Liberos?

00:22:58.269 --> 00:23:01.849
Sure. So, I mean, I have Lexi Rodriguez, but

00:23:01.849 --> 00:23:04.930
it should be Justine, given that she's on the

00:23:04.930 --> 00:23:06.450
board. Same school. I will give that to you.

00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:09.309
Same school. I also had Justine. Yeah. I mean,

00:23:09.329 --> 00:23:10.890
that's a no -brainer. And then I had Elena Scott

00:23:10.890 --> 00:23:13.990
as my backup. Me too. Okay. Okay. So, my reasoning

00:23:13.990 --> 00:23:16.809
was, you know what? Let's just talk out the middles

00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:18.990
and then we'll go through it. Okay. Middle one,

00:23:19.269 --> 00:23:21.849
Dana Redkey, Wisconsin. Correct. Middle two,

00:23:22.109 --> 00:23:25.130
Ogbogu from Texas. I had her too. Who was your

00:23:25.130 --> 00:23:28.990
third? So I had... I can't wait to hear this.

00:23:29.170 --> 00:23:32.250
I had Anna Stevenson, but then I wanted to take

00:23:32.250 --> 00:23:35.269
Elena Scott, so I ended up picking Anna Dodson.

00:23:35.789 --> 00:23:40.230
I picked Amber Ajit, Hawaii. Okay, fair enough.

00:23:41.390 --> 00:23:44.190
Don't even act like, like, no, it's a better

00:23:44.190 --> 00:23:48.309
pick. I mean, you do know the background of all

00:23:48.309 --> 00:23:49.849
of these players off the top of your head better

00:23:49.849 --> 00:23:51.759
than I do. But I thought that was a good pick

00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.380
from UCLA. I mean, obscure. She had a decent

00:23:55.380 --> 00:23:58.779
season in Italy, sure. Yeah. How much better

00:23:58.779 --> 00:24:03.059
do you think IG does than her? Better. But you're

00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:07.299
starting Obagu and Redkey. All right, walk me

00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:09.880
through your thoughts. So I will concede I didn't

00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:11.539
think about Plummer, so that was a good choice.

00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:13.859
I didn't realize that those other players were

00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:16.880
in play. So yes, Annie Drews and Plummer were

00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:19.549
better choices than I came up with. The opposites

00:24:19.549 --> 00:24:22.190
for me were no brainers. Yeah. There were obscure

00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:24.950
schools and they're both very good. Yeah. And

00:24:24.950 --> 00:24:28.890
you know, Olympic experience already setters.

00:24:30.329 --> 00:24:36.109
I was like, okay, Jordan Poulter for sure. Mikey

00:24:36.109 --> 00:24:39.250
Hancock didn't play particularly well this summer,

00:24:39.309 --> 00:24:41.849
but she had a really bad neck injury. Hasn't

00:24:41.849 --> 00:24:43.630
really played. I can't hold that against her.

00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:46.799
We know that I'm not the biggest Sage fan, but

00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.839
I was also like, you know, Texas runs deep on

00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:52.740
the current roster. Do I want to use my Texas

00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:56.519
pick on her or save it for another position?

00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:58.960
I was like, you know what? I got some good setting

00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:00.759
options. I don't need to waste my Texas pick

00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.200
on a setter. So then it became, do I want to

00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.519
use the Texas pick on middle or outside? How

00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:09.079
hard of a choice was that for you? Because mine

00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:12.859
was almost instantaneous. It wasn't because my

00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:14.980
initial, like my instinct right off the bat was

00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:17.599
like, okay, Redke Ogbagu. But I was like, okay,

00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:19.880
who am I going to pick for my outsides other

00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:22.579
than Skinner? That is the thing that kind of

00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:26.559
like got me thinking. And then obviously Justine

00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.740
was my Nebraska pick. Kelsey Cook could have

00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:32.819
been a Nebraska pick, but I was like, as of right

00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:35.900
now, no. Yeah, exactly. And then it's like, okay,

00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:39.019
if I can't use Nebraska again, maybe Morgan Hentz.

00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:41.200
But I'm like, no, I think Catherine Plummer could

00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.880
move the needle more from Stanford than she could,

00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:46.279
which is why Alina Scott came into the conversation.

00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.440
And I had the same reasoning with Kami Miner.

00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:51.200
I was like, I like Kami Miner. What about Jenna

00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.220
Gray? You could use Jenna Gray from Stanford.

00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.160
But neither of them have played a national team.

00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:00.460
True. I like Kami Miner. Okay. Okay, you could

00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:02.019
have picked Jenna Gray, I'm just saying. And

00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:05.859
then Bajma, because of all the talk, She's solid.

00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:08.799
She's one of the better ball control, but the

00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.000
blocking aspect, I was like, okay, I'll throw

00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:14.220
her in. That's how I landed there because I couldn't

00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:17.759
pick Penn State, so Vunk got taken out. Yes,

00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:19.680
I will continually say her name with that accent.

00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:26.079
And then, yeah, Texas was out. Nebraska was out.

00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:29.700
So, you know. I mean, I think the rosters are

00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:31.900
pretty good, but it was a lot of fun to think

00:26:31.900 --> 00:26:34.619
about and go, okay, I would take... These three

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:37.559
athletes from this school, which one is better

00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:41.359
in comparison to these ones? It was fun to think

00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:43.140
about. So I enjoyed that one. Basically, for

00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:45.960
me, it came down to who did I want to prioritize?

00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:50.339
Which positions was I prioritizing for Nebraska,

00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:54.180
Texas, Stanford, Penn State? Those were really

00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:59.609
the only multiples. I had on top of mind. And

00:26:59.609 --> 00:27:02.210
part of that thought process for me was who would

00:27:02.210 --> 00:27:05.630
start over like a third player. Yeah. And I was

00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:07.569
like, okay, the Franklin could come into the

00:27:07.569 --> 00:27:09.990
mix for a double Wisconsin situation, but I'm

00:27:09.990 --> 00:27:13.710
like, you have to pick her. Same thought process.

00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:17.349
That was fun. That was fun. Who would you pick?

00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:21.089
Let us know. Put your rosters in the comments

00:27:21.089 --> 00:27:25.490
on YouTube. I feel like we're going to be close

00:27:25.490 --> 00:27:28.329
to a lot of people, but like I said, those schools

00:27:28.329 --> 00:27:33.650
I think will kind of mix things up a little bit.

00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.319
So we're feeling extra spicy this week because

00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:47.660
we missed last week. So why not throw in a bonus

00:27:47.660 --> 00:27:51.339
listener suggested segment? And the one we are

00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:55.319
going with is who we would pick for our VNL dream

00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:59.940
team. Now, as we know, the dream team this year

00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:04.519
is going by stats and the MVP is a combo of everything

00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:09.339
and like fan voted, I think. We're going to go

00:28:09.339 --> 00:28:14.259
back to the old ways, minus just picking teams

00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:17.160
from the final four. We went through, we picked

00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:21.140
who our dream team would be as we head into the

00:28:21.140 --> 00:28:23.299
final eight for women. We'll do the men next

00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:27.079
week. Are you ready? I'm ready. Full disclosure,

00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.720
did I watch every team play VNL? No. That definitely

00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:34.779
created some bias on my part of who I was picking

00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:39.450
based on the teams that I watched. Okay. So don't

00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:41.549
come at me for these picks. Okay. Just keep in

00:28:41.549 --> 00:28:44.430
mind. I didn't see everybody play. Okay. And

00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:47.769
I added a little bit of who brought the most

00:28:47.769 --> 00:28:51.029
value to their team along with performance. So

00:28:51.029 --> 00:28:52.990
I think I'll have a couple of picks off the beaten

00:28:52.990 --> 00:28:55.549
path that you might not expect. Okay. So I couldn't

00:28:55.549 --> 00:28:57.650
pick a couple because I was kind of going the

00:28:57.650 --> 00:28:59.430
same thought process as you, but then there were

00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:03.150
some like undeniable. Great performance. So I

00:29:03.150 --> 00:29:06.700
have like slash, you know? Okay, so yeah. Maybe

00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:08.740
you can help me. Yeah, let's see where we ended

00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:12.519
up. All right. Who did you pick for your setter?

00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:17.400
I had the Ukrainian setter. Okay. I'm going to

00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:19.319
butcher her name. Do you want to help me? Shaharadzka.

00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:24.099
Shaharadzka. Close. I watched her play a couple

00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:28.980
matches. She's a good setter. But I just think

00:29:28.980 --> 00:29:32.640
looking at her team, she leads them. And not

00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.259
to mention. And this is kind of a wild stat.

00:29:35.299 --> 00:29:39.519
She led every statistical category for all setters.

00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:44.799
Blocking, serving, assists per match. She had

00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:49.240
the most assists. She was very, very good. And

00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:53.900
I just felt like she deserved the credit. Now,

00:29:53.940 --> 00:29:58.539
is she the best technical setter? No. And her

00:29:58.539 --> 00:30:00.720
team didn't do well. And her team didn't do well.

00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.220
But I just thought if you took her off that team,

00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:08.640
they're just so much worse. And I felt like she

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.019
deserved props for her performance in VNO. Before

00:30:12.019 --> 00:30:17.440
I tell you my pick, spoiler alert, it's a slash.

00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:20.299
And one of the slashes is the name you just said.

00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:24.519
Okay. Okay, so. Just like as an aside, I hate

00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:26.720
the way that the VNL does their stats. They're

00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:30.380
awful. Don't do like, hey, best attacker is the

00:30:30.380 --> 00:30:33.160
person with the most number of kills. What is

00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:35.700
that? That doesn't tell me anything. You know

00:30:35.700 --> 00:30:37.059
what I mean? It tells you they play the most

00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:39.200
five set matches. Well, and the thing is, they

00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:43.039
also do like most kills per match. Yeah. What

00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.519
if some team is going five with everybody? Let's

00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:47.839
go per set here. We've talked about this before.

00:30:48.650 --> 00:30:52.690
In our stats discussions. Let's give me the numbers

00:30:52.690 --> 00:30:56.750
per set. Don't give me the total number. I just

00:30:56.750 --> 00:30:58.789
want to know how many kills per set. Period.

00:30:58.849 --> 00:31:01.150
And the hitting percentage. Don't tell me their

00:31:01.150 --> 00:31:03.150
kill percentage. Tell me their hitting efficiency.

00:31:04.130 --> 00:31:10.210
Okay. Anyway. Things like that. I did have Shaharazgah.

00:31:10.309 --> 00:31:12.250
But I also had a Slash Poulter. Because I was

00:31:12.250 --> 00:31:14.250
like you know what. The Americans finished first.

00:31:15.250 --> 00:31:19.359
You can't just like deny them. a pick you know

00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:23.180
what i mean and polter definitely i think the

00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:26.480
american team we saw from week one to three drastically

00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.440
different week one polter wasn't even there week

00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.059
three she was playing like the majority of the

00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:37.619
time so i think that needs to be said she if

00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:40.400
i was picking an american for a dream team award

00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:42.839
it would be her in the setting position i can

00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:45.660
get behind that pick it's that's a valid that's

00:31:45.660 --> 00:31:48.799
valid reasoning But then I was like you, with

00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:51.859
Shoharatsuka, I was like, dang, okay, most assists.

00:31:52.180 --> 00:31:55.000
Do I love that it's like just the entire amount

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.940
of assists? No, but it is what it is. But also

00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:02.200
a blocking factor, a serving factor. Most attacks.

00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:08.019
Like she contributed in more than just the setting

00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:10.079
category. So that's why I had the slash. Jordan

00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:13.119
Poulter's a better setter. She had a great tournament.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.720
But that's what a dream team is, everybody. So

00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:19.819
I'm kind of cheating, but stick with me here.

00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:25.559
Okay. Who would you pick for outsides? So this

00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:28.000
is where I think you and I are going to differ

00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:32.420
a little bit. Can't wait. I had Zhuang YS from

00:32:32.420 --> 00:32:37.019
China, and I had Ishikawa from Japan. What? You're

00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:38.579
giving me a little smirk. I had Zhuang as well.

00:32:38.779 --> 00:32:41.680
Okay. She was outstanding. You cannot. She was

00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:45.250
the best performing left side, hands down. And

00:32:45.250 --> 00:32:49.970
she does it all. Points scored, attacking, serving,

00:32:50.289 --> 00:32:54.289
blocking. She was the best receiver of all hitters.

00:32:54.410 --> 00:32:58.890
She does everything incredibly well. She is 100

00:32:58.890 --> 00:33:02.250
% the non -negotiable on this list. Fair enough.

00:33:02.470 --> 00:33:07.289
And then I had an Anna Christina slash Bergman.

00:33:07.470 --> 00:33:10.490
I think Anna Christina is a better left side.

00:33:10.970 --> 00:33:15.359
I think she is a more terminal. I think she's

00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:17.039
a better server. But if we're looking at this

00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:20.180
tournament as a whole, Bergman played well. She

00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:25.339
served well. She blocked well. Her whole game

00:33:25.339 --> 00:33:29.180
was very good. Statistically, I would argue even

00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:31.700
better than Ana Cristina. But when I think of

00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:36.000
them, I let my bias creep in outside of this

00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.039
tournament, which is why Ana Cristina is there.

00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:41.200
Yeah, I mean, there's no wrong answer. I thought

00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:44.380
the Brazilian left sides as a duo. played well.

00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:48.559
I just really liked the tournament that Ishikawa

00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:52.539
put together. She passes, she defends, she hit

00:33:52.539 --> 00:33:57.400
382 on the tournament. I just, I think maybe

00:33:57.400 --> 00:34:00.220
because she's a smaller player and to watch her

00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:03.220
do those same things and post those numbers and

00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:07.299
be as efficient as she is, I just find that very

00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:09.800
impressive. I thought the Brazilian left sides

00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:13.289
were also very good. I was thinking along the

00:34:13.289 --> 00:34:15.630
same lines. I landed on Ishikawa. I like your

00:34:15.630 --> 00:34:17.190
Ishikawa pick because she was a consideration

00:34:17.190 --> 00:34:20.570
for me too. You're doing much better in this

00:34:20.570 --> 00:34:23.570
one than the... I know my international game

00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:25.130
a little more than I know my college history.

00:34:25.670 --> 00:34:30.250
I had Bergman as my third alternate. She hit

00:34:30.250 --> 00:34:34.389
401 efficiency, 181 points. She was very good.

00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:38.670
Middles? Okay, so I also had a slash on this

00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:42.630
one. But I think... Okay, so let me, the first

00:34:42.630 --> 00:34:47.150
one I had was Julia. Yes. I thought she was outstanding.

00:34:47.489 --> 00:34:50.769
Same. And then my instinct was to pick Maglio,

00:34:50.789 --> 00:34:53.070
but I'm like, I can't pick two people from Canada.

00:34:53.110 --> 00:34:56.230
I just look like a homer if I do that. Wow, okay.

00:34:56.489 --> 00:34:59.329
But I honestly. So you're fine with considering

00:34:59.329 --> 00:35:02.130
multiple Brazilians, but not Canadians. Well,

00:35:02.150 --> 00:35:04.750
it's, maybe it's my Canadian. I don't know. You

00:35:04.750 --> 00:35:07.329
like feel bad. I do. I felt a little bad, but

00:35:07.329 --> 00:35:11.119
I ended up going with her. Because I thought

00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:14.239
she just deserved it. She played outstanding

00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:17.960
this tournament. She was second in blocks. She

00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:22.079
hit 510 on the tournament. Had 73 kills. Like,

00:35:22.099 --> 00:35:25.159
she was a force both blocking and attacking.

00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:29.019
And I don't think Canada does nearly as well

00:35:29.019 --> 00:35:32.920
without her. I think that's maybe the best I've

00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:35.340
ever seen her play. We have the same two picks.

00:35:35.619 --> 00:35:38.280
And then, as an honorable mention, I had Yelacheva.

00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:41.559
Is that how you say it? from Czech, who was also

00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:44.960
very good. She hit 470. She was third in blocks.

00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:47.400
I watched Czech play a couple matches, and I

00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:49.119
thought she was very good, but I don't think

00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:51.659
she was as good as the other two. Honestly, I

00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:55.519
had the same two picks as you, and I don't feel

00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.719
bad. Canada put together the best BNL they've

00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:03.239
ever had. I don't think it's wrong to pick Canadians,

00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:06.480
and Kier van Rijk and Emily Maglio were the two

00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:12.070
best. players for Canada she attacked very well

00:36:12.070 --> 00:36:15.389
her blocking was outstanding and then Julia you

00:36:15.389 --> 00:36:19.630
know played incredible her blocking in particular

00:36:19.630 --> 00:36:22.469
just the speed of Julia's arm on that slide too

00:36:22.469 --> 00:36:27.530
is just unmatched those two for me I think I

00:36:27.530 --> 00:36:31.489
guess I look at US Italy finish top and I didn't

00:36:31.489 --> 00:36:34.030
really pick anybody from them, but those teams

00:36:34.030 --> 00:36:36.090
are more well -rounded. Those were just some

00:36:36.090 --> 00:36:37.630
of the things that I thought about when I was

00:36:37.630 --> 00:36:40.750
picking my dream team. Well, no. Anna Genesee

00:36:40.750 --> 00:36:43.309
played one week of VNL. You know what I mean?

00:36:43.349 --> 00:36:45.550
I'm not going to pick somebody who just played

00:36:45.550 --> 00:36:49.389
a week. Julia and Emily both played the extent

00:36:49.389 --> 00:36:55.170
of the tournament, so no. I agree with your pick.

00:36:55.849 --> 00:36:58.969
What about opposite? I mean, I had Kira Van Ryk.

00:36:59.110 --> 00:37:02.190
I had Kira Van Ryk as well. I had a slash for

00:37:02.190 --> 00:37:04.449
this one because I was thinking about it and

00:37:04.449 --> 00:37:07.190
I was like, the role Kira plays for her team

00:37:07.190 --> 00:37:11.289
is huge. Not just from an attacking standpoint,

00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:13.849
but from a serving standpoint. Like she single

00:37:13.849 --> 00:37:17.489
-handedly brought them back into countless matches

00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:19.809
with her serving. Can I guess who your slash

00:37:19.809 --> 00:37:23.150
is when you're done? Yeah, guess it. Vargas?

00:37:23.329 --> 00:37:26.469
Yeah, for the exact same reason. You know, especially

00:37:26.469 --> 00:37:30.039
with like the injury situation. that Turquoise

00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:33.940
was dealing with, the load that was required

00:37:33.940 --> 00:37:37.719
of Vargas was huge. And I think it's the same

00:37:37.719 --> 00:37:40.860
thing. The way that she's able to turn games

00:37:40.860 --> 00:37:43.420
around with her serve, I feel like they play

00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:48.000
a very similar role for their teams. And yes,

00:37:48.659 --> 00:37:53.679
Kira was top scorer, top attacker, but she also

00:37:53.679 --> 00:37:57.269
played more matches than Vargas. Kira only hit

00:37:57.269 --> 00:37:59.809
like 230 something on the tournament. Vargas

00:37:59.809 --> 00:38:04.269
hit 434 with the same role that Kira Van Ryk

00:38:04.269 --> 00:38:10.710
had. 434 is insane. So that's why I had a hard

00:38:10.710 --> 00:38:13.230
time just like giving it to Kira outright because

00:38:13.230 --> 00:38:17.210
yes, she played all three weeks. Yes, she put

00:38:17.210 --> 00:38:20.630
together some big numbers, but as far as like

00:38:20.630 --> 00:38:23.989
a hitting percentage, it's just like Vargas'

00:38:24.170 --> 00:38:27.469
numbers are... better if you're looking like

00:38:27.469 --> 00:38:29.530
per set. So like, that's why I have the slash.

00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:33.610
Yes. I think those two were by far the best,

00:38:33.610 --> 00:38:37.389
the top performers. I thought you're a played

00:38:37.389 --> 00:38:40.929
incredibly well. I think I edged in that direction

00:38:40.929 --> 00:38:44.250
just because she played all three weeks. She

00:38:44.250 --> 00:38:46.909
had the load. She had to do that. It was, it

00:38:46.909 --> 00:38:48.289
was impressive, but yes, you could give it to

00:38:48.289 --> 00:38:50.449
both. I agree with you. And finally, libero.

00:38:50.690 --> 00:38:54.469
I went with the Italian libero. Me too. For Sino.

00:38:55.050 --> 00:38:56.949
I was debating between her and Marcelli from

00:38:56.949 --> 00:38:59.849
Brazil. There were a couple other good libero

00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:02.650
performances. I thought the Japanese libero played

00:39:02.650 --> 00:39:05.150
well. I thought the Polish libero also played

00:39:05.150 --> 00:39:10.210
well. She is stepping into incredibly big shoes

00:39:10.210 --> 00:39:13.530
to fill. She played all three weeks. She posted

00:39:13.530 --> 00:39:18.329
good numbers. And while she isn't the same player,

00:39:18.489 --> 00:39:22.300
I didn't notice a huge drop -off. In terms of

00:39:22.300 --> 00:39:24.579
how she ran the backcourt and how it played.

00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:28.539
I was impressed with how she stepped into that

00:39:28.539 --> 00:39:32.519
role. I have the same reasons. I thought that

00:39:32.519 --> 00:39:35.800
was a lot of fun. I liked the thinking about

00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:37.800
the dream team. I like having a couple different

00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:41.860
things to look at outside of just pure statistics.

00:39:42.360 --> 00:39:44.940
So I think we'll do this for the men's and I

00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:49.769
like this little exercise. All right. VNL week

00:39:49.769 --> 00:39:53.309
three wrap -up slash final eight predictions.

00:39:54.170 --> 00:39:59.010
Last episode for women, we went through our final

00:39:59.010 --> 00:40:02.909
eight predictions. I will say I was seven of

00:40:02.909 --> 00:40:07.130
eight for the teams, but the order, I got way

00:40:07.130 --> 00:40:11.110
wrong. I thought Poland was going to make it

00:40:11.110 --> 00:40:13.670
instead of Netherlands. Netherlands came out

00:40:13.670 --> 00:40:15.949
of nowhere for me. They were not on my radar

00:40:15.949 --> 00:40:19.630
whatsoever. I also thought China was going to

00:40:19.630 --> 00:40:22.949
qualify outright instead of relying on their

00:40:22.949 --> 00:40:26.369
host spot. So that kind of messed that up. Other

00:40:26.369 --> 00:40:30.050
than Netherlands, I was seven for eight with

00:40:30.050 --> 00:40:32.969
teams. I think I was six for eight. I think I

00:40:32.969 --> 00:40:36.349
had check making it over Canada, which didn't

00:40:36.349 --> 00:40:38.690
happen. Now, before we get into the matchups,

00:40:38.829 --> 00:40:43.650
I have a couple storylines from week three. And

00:40:43.650 --> 00:40:45.849
I'm curious. We can chat about all of them, but

00:40:45.849 --> 00:40:51.059
I'm curious. Which one you think is kind of the

00:40:51.059 --> 00:40:53.059
biggest news, the most surprising, the most relevant.

00:40:53.159 --> 00:40:57.199
So here they are. Japan beating Poland in a reverse

00:40:57.199 --> 00:41:00.039
sweep to make it into the final eight. So that's

00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:03.960
the first one. Canada coming out 3 -1 to finish

00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:10.659
fifth in the ranking. USA winning 3 -1 and locking

00:41:10.659 --> 00:41:18.119
up first place. Or the Julia injury. I mean,

00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:23.159
the Japan -Poland match was to get in. That was

00:41:23.159 --> 00:41:28.460
huge. Going into that week, I thought Japan was

00:41:28.460 --> 00:41:31.260
going to either win three or four matches. I

00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:35.059
did not expect them to play so or not just lose

00:41:35.059 --> 00:41:38.739
so much at home. Yeah, I agree. I was shocked.

00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:41.599
Absolutely shocked. I thought they were going

00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:44.340
to serve the lights out this week. You know what?

00:41:44.380 --> 00:41:49.610
And I watched them. Brazil. And when they were

00:41:49.610 --> 00:41:52.869
running the pipe, it was almost unstoppable.

00:41:53.969 --> 00:41:56.889
They just didn't run it much. And we've talked

00:41:56.889 --> 00:41:59.650
ad nauseum about how little they run the middle.

00:41:59.730 --> 00:42:03.289
Their pipe was running and scoring so well. Imagine

00:42:03.289 --> 00:42:05.690
if they incorporated a middle attack with the

00:42:05.690 --> 00:42:10.210
pipe. I don't understand why they don't do that.

00:42:10.250 --> 00:42:12.829
Wada hits a great back roll ball. Ishikawa can

00:42:12.829 --> 00:42:17.070
hit a back roll ball. Their middles. I feel like

00:42:17.070 --> 00:42:20.269
the staff has just resigned themselves to the

00:42:20.269 --> 00:42:22.389
middles being undersized, so we're not going

00:42:22.389 --> 00:42:26.030
to set them. But she can score. She's not going

00:42:26.030 --> 00:42:27.969
to be your main threat. I get that. But you have

00:42:27.969 --> 00:42:31.210
to run your middles more than they do. And it

00:42:31.210 --> 00:42:35.429
just baffles me that they don't. Yeah, I could

00:42:35.429 --> 00:42:38.510
not believe that they put such a poor week together.

00:42:39.230 --> 00:42:41.789
I think it would have been, I mean, I think it's

00:42:41.789 --> 00:42:45.550
outrageous that Poland didn't qualify. But coming

00:42:45.550 --> 00:42:48.269
down to the two of them, like which one's going

00:42:48.269 --> 00:42:51.250
to be in and out, never saw that coming. That

00:42:51.250 --> 00:42:55.769
was huge. Canada finishing fifth. We were like,

00:42:55.869 --> 00:42:59.429
yeah, Canada's good for a complete meltdown at

00:42:59.429 --> 00:43:03.090
some point. They did not have one. Going into

00:43:03.090 --> 00:43:05.050
that week, I said I thought Kira was going to

00:43:05.050 --> 00:43:08.130
have to be unbelievable in all four matches,

00:43:08.210 --> 00:43:10.329
and I didn't think she was going to do it. She

00:43:10.329 --> 00:43:13.380
did it. Well, they almost. pissed it away against

00:43:13.380 --> 00:43:17.119
belgium yes which i'm like i would not be shocked

00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:19.440
if they lost to one of either belgium or dominican

00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:23.820
yeah they almost did but they held on okay which

00:43:23.820 --> 00:43:30.420
is a huge step from a morale and just like confidence

00:43:30.420 --> 00:43:32.900
perspective the fact that you were able to do

00:43:32.900 --> 00:43:36.599
that like who knows if this is like a springboard

00:43:36.599 --> 00:43:39.820
to like continue this trajectory who knows but

00:43:40.429 --> 00:43:44.230
They proved me wrong. I am very happy for them,

00:43:44.309 --> 00:43:47.590
and they qualified for their first ever VNL Final

00:43:47.590 --> 00:43:53.389
Eight. Kira, yeah, she took care of business.

00:43:53.869 --> 00:43:55.949
I think the biggest thing for me, and we talked

00:43:55.949 --> 00:43:58.389
about this, is that she's just making less errors

00:43:58.389 --> 00:44:03.090
than she usually does. So her attacking stayed

00:44:03.090 --> 00:44:05.909
the same. She cut down the errors, and she was

00:44:05.909 --> 00:44:11.190
very terminal. So kudos to her. Huge load on

00:44:11.190 --> 00:44:13.329
her shoulders in terms of Canada performing.

00:44:13.489 --> 00:44:16.869
And she rose to the challenge. USA finishing

00:44:16.869 --> 00:44:21.210
first. Did I ever think that would happen? No.

00:44:21.269 --> 00:44:25.070
No. Do we want to dive into the U .S. a little

00:44:25.070 --> 00:44:27.969
bit here? I know you had a bunch of questions

00:44:27.969 --> 00:44:30.630
and we had a couple things to talk about. We

00:44:30.630 --> 00:44:32.610
get a lot of questions about the U .S. But one

00:44:32.610 --> 00:44:36.309
that I think is pertinent to just this week three

00:44:36.309 --> 00:44:40.570
discussion is basically this person said, USA

00:44:40.570 --> 00:44:43.590
is night and day from what they were last year

00:44:43.590 --> 00:44:45.969
and even from what they were in week one of this

00:44:45.969 --> 00:44:49.809
year's VNL. Do you think this is just great players

00:44:49.809 --> 00:44:52.809
or is Sullivan finally figuring it out? He's

00:44:52.809 --> 00:44:54.590
definitely talking more this year than having

00:44:54.590 --> 00:44:58.070
his assistants talk. The follow -up to this was

00:44:58.070 --> 00:45:00.170
it seems that Eric Sullivan is going with the

00:45:00.170 --> 00:45:03.550
approach of having sluggers on both pins. Logan

00:45:03.550 --> 00:45:07.219
isn't a great passer. But there's not a Kelsey

00:45:07.219 --> 00:45:11.260
Cook or Jordan Larson who could potentially be

00:45:11.260 --> 00:45:15.639
liabilities in the front row. They've got attackers

00:45:15.639 --> 00:45:18.119
that are scoring points and putting up blocks.

00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:20.880
What do you think the team identity is after

00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.460
watching them the last few weeks? I mean, we've

00:45:23.460 --> 00:45:26.579
talked about Sullivan a whole bunch on this podcast.

00:45:26.920 --> 00:45:30.579
And I think you have to give him and the staff

00:45:30.579 --> 00:45:33.980
credit. Yes, the players stepped in. Yes, the

00:45:33.980 --> 00:45:37.059
players are playing better. I think we're starting

00:45:37.059 --> 00:45:41.619
to see the roster they have in mind for the most

00:45:41.619 --> 00:45:46.179
part. But they blocked really well this week.

00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:50.679
And to me, that means they were prepared. They

00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:52.460
had a game plan. They had things they wanted

00:45:52.460 --> 00:45:56.019
to take care of. Well, never forget last year

00:45:56.019 --> 00:46:00.860
when they played China in the final week for

00:46:00.860 --> 00:46:03.480
a chance to finish like fifth and completely

00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:06.699
blew it. to have to face Italy in the quarterfinal.

00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:09.500
That had to have been looming somewhere in the

00:46:09.500 --> 00:46:11.780
background of we cannot mess around this year.

00:46:12.019 --> 00:46:14.179
They're not a finished product yet, but they

00:46:14.179 --> 00:46:16.320
look much better. Some of the things that we

00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:19.320
talked about in terms of not knowing who is setting,

00:46:19.420 --> 00:46:22.219
coming in, being disjointed, those things are

00:46:22.219 --> 00:46:26.480
cleaned up. You can see the semblance of a defense

00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:29.380
in place. I mean, there were a bunch of times

00:46:29.380 --> 00:46:33.179
where they were leaving opposites line. Intentionally.

00:46:33.219 --> 00:46:34.940
Across the board for every team, I would say.

00:46:35.139 --> 00:46:37.539
But they weren't making digs, but the game plan

00:46:37.539 --> 00:46:39.579
was there. That was kind of my point. You could

00:46:39.579 --> 00:46:42.800
see they had plans in place. So I think the staff

00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:44.980
has done a good job of getting the team to this

00:46:44.980 --> 00:46:48.420
place. And I like the selections of players.

00:46:48.579 --> 00:46:50.380
I think they're starting to find a good rhythm.

00:46:51.380 --> 00:46:53.900
Not sure I can pinpoint what their identity is,

00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:57.340
though. You know what? I think it's going to

00:46:57.340 --> 00:47:01.469
be blocking. I think they're going to be... They

00:47:01.469 --> 00:47:05.289
don't serve particularly tough. They don't pass

00:47:05.289 --> 00:47:09.989
particularly well. I don't think they dig. They

00:47:09.989 --> 00:47:12.449
scramble decently, but they don't dig. But with

00:47:12.449 --> 00:47:14.969
hitters who maybe aren't the best at hitting

00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:18.889
high, like really fast balls, not passing well

00:47:18.889 --> 00:47:22.050
maybe isn't the worst thing. They don't pass

00:47:22.050 --> 00:47:25.289
great. But I feel like the only, like Jordan

00:47:25.289 --> 00:47:27.070
Thompson's capable of hitting a faster ball.

00:47:27.170 --> 00:47:30.460
So is Avery Skinner. But Jordan can also hit

00:47:30.460 --> 00:47:34.380
an out -of -system ball. Eggleston struggles

00:47:34.380 --> 00:47:37.539
more than any of them with the fastball. The

00:47:37.539 --> 00:47:39.780
Bic is still not running like it was last season

00:47:39.780 --> 00:47:42.619
for me. I think they used to be better at it.

00:47:42.739 --> 00:47:47.400
Their system makes more sense now as far as a

00:47:47.400 --> 00:47:50.239
block defense perspective. I think when it comes

00:47:50.239 --> 00:47:53.420
down to it, they're going to be tough to score

00:47:53.420 --> 00:47:55.619
against because they're disciplined on the block.

00:47:56.190 --> 00:47:57.730
And they're going to try and own the middle of

00:47:57.730 --> 00:48:00.550
the court with the middle pipe combo. I think

00:48:00.550 --> 00:48:03.449
those are going to be the two things that they're

00:48:03.449 --> 00:48:08.730
going to kind of rest their hat on. And then

00:48:08.730 --> 00:48:11.070
the last thing I had here. Well, Netherlands

00:48:11.070 --> 00:48:14.989
coming out of nowhere. Not on my radar at all.

00:48:15.170 --> 00:48:17.449
Good for them. Three wins on that to get in.

00:48:17.650 --> 00:48:20.949
The Julia injury. Oh my gosh. You've got to be

00:48:20.949 --> 00:48:22.449
kidding me. That's heartbreaking. In the match

00:48:22.449 --> 00:48:28.730
against the US. She tore her ACL, which I'm pretty

00:48:28.730 --> 00:48:31.750
sure she had an ACL tear like two years ago.

00:48:32.130 --> 00:48:34.969
So to have it happen again, I cannot even imagine.

00:48:35.610 --> 00:48:39.010
But this is going to really hurt Brazil going

00:48:39.010 --> 00:48:42.369
into the final eight because Gabi is out. Julia

00:48:42.369 --> 00:48:46.250
is out. And I think she was probably their best

00:48:46.250 --> 00:48:50.119
player. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I didn't watch the

00:48:50.119 --> 00:48:52.659
US game. I just saw like three straight and like

00:48:52.659 --> 00:48:54.639
it wasn't even close in the third set. I was

00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:57.500
like, what the heck happened? Well, that's what

00:48:57.500 --> 00:49:01.639
happened. That's devastating, honestly. Your

00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:05.639
heart breaks for her, but that is going to leave

00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:09.840
a performance hole for Brazil without a doubt.

00:49:09.940 --> 00:49:12.400
I think it cost them their chance to win. I think

00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:16.320
so too. So heading into the final eight. The

00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:20.980
rankings are as follows. USA, Italy, Brazil,

00:49:21.380 --> 00:49:26.320
Turkey, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, China. Quarterfinal

00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:30.320
matchups, USA, China. I don't think this is as

00:49:30.320 --> 00:49:34.280
straightforward as a 1 -8 necessarily should

00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:37.940
be. I think the US is going to win, but China's

00:49:37.940 --> 00:49:41.079
playing in China, which I think... I don't think

00:49:41.079 --> 00:49:43.019
that matters because they were in Hong Kong this

00:49:43.019 --> 00:49:46.369
last week and they did not do great. China, they

00:49:46.369 --> 00:49:49.610
have enough talent that if it all comes together,

00:49:49.869 --> 00:49:53.250
they can be very good. I'm going to put that

00:49:53.250 --> 00:49:58.010
one at like a 65 -35 odds for the US. I think

00:49:58.010 --> 00:50:00.210
the US is going to win. Yeah, I still think they're

00:50:00.210 --> 00:50:01.969
going to win, but I don't. I'm not sure it's

00:50:01.969 --> 00:50:04.949
going to be as close as you think. Then we've

00:50:04.949 --> 00:50:08.530
got Italy versus Netherlands. I'm leaning heavy

00:50:08.530 --> 00:50:11.429
Italy on this one. Yeah, I mean, I think Netherlands.

00:50:12.380 --> 00:50:15.159
accomplished their goal of making the final eight,

00:50:15.219 --> 00:50:17.599
but they're out of their depth now, especially

00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:21.440
playing Italy, in my opinion. I agree. Then we've

00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:27.059
got Brazil -Japan. Brazil beat Japan in four

00:50:27.059 --> 00:50:31.659
this week, but without Julia, I feel like Japan

00:50:31.659 --> 00:50:34.059
is going to have a lot more confidence to run

00:50:34.059 --> 00:50:37.659
the middle. I feel like she was a, and Gianna's

00:50:37.659 --> 00:50:39.920
a good middle too, but she was a big deterrent

00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:42.980
for them even attempting it. There's that piece

00:50:42.980 --> 00:50:46.300
of it. And then she closes the block to the outside

00:50:46.300 --> 00:50:50.360
on the fast offense. Well, also, I think the

00:50:50.360 --> 00:50:52.719
replacement is going to leave seams for those

00:50:52.719 --> 00:50:55.840
outside hitters. When that happens, the Japanese

00:50:55.840 --> 00:50:59.420
hitters are very good at finding those. So I

00:50:59.420 --> 00:51:02.360
don't know if Julia was playing. But Anna Christina

00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:05.719
was unstoppable against Japan. They could not

00:51:05.719 --> 00:51:10.159
touch her. And Japan was not passing well against

00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:13.460
Brazil either. Yeah. I think Anna Christina is

00:51:13.460 --> 00:51:15.219
going to be the wild card there. If she goes

00:51:15.219 --> 00:51:19.079
off and she can score at will, Brazil will win.

00:51:19.780 --> 00:51:22.480
If she starts getting touched and slowed down

00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:27.519
and the rallies are extended, I think Japan has

00:51:27.519 --> 00:51:30.380
a shot. Oof, I don't know who to pick for this

00:51:30.380 --> 00:51:32.760
one. I'm going to take a flyer and say Japan.

00:51:33.659 --> 00:51:38.599
I like Brazil, but I'm going to go Japan. With

00:51:38.599 --> 00:51:42.630
the entry, I was also leaning Japan. And then

00:51:42.630 --> 00:51:45.829
the last quarterfinal is Turkey -Canada. This

00:51:45.829 --> 00:51:48.670
to me is a pick -em. This is interesting because

00:51:48.670 --> 00:51:53.230
Guidetti coached Turkey for a while. He coaches

00:51:53.230 --> 00:51:57.670
Vakaf Bank. He is very familiar with the Turkish

00:51:57.670 --> 00:52:02.449
players. So I think that that gives Canada a

00:52:02.449 --> 00:52:07.030
strategic edge. Will they execute though? And

00:52:07.030 --> 00:52:10.900
will their mental game stay on track? And will

00:52:10.900 --> 00:52:16.360
Kira keep them in it? I think Canada's going

00:52:16.360 --> 00:52:21.460
to win this one. Oh, baby. Vargas versus Kira.

00:52:21.559 --> 00:52:25.619
It's Vargas versus Kira. I think Maglio is playing

00:52:25.619 --> 00:52:28.679
really well. Maglio, Gunnish, head -to -head.

00:52:28.900 --> 00:52:32.280
I think both teams have question marks on the

00:52:32.280 --> 00:52:35.820
left side. I have been liking Aydin, not going

00:52:35.820 --> 00:52:38.780
to lie. I like Aydin. I like the Aydin -Baladin

00:52:38.780 --> 00:52:43.519
combo. You think it's better than the Guzin -Grey

00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:47.559
combo? Yes. Yes, I do. I think Turquoise has

00:52:47.559 --> 00:52:51.300
the edge at Libero. I think... But you know what?

00:52:51.559 --> 00:52:53.260
Canada... The thing about Canada, and we've said

00:52:53.260 --> 00:52:56.280
this in the past, they play exceptionally well

00:52:56.280 --> 00:52:58.440
against teams that they, quote -unquote, have

00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:00.659
no business beating. Yes, I was thinking... Do

00:53:00.659 --> 00:53:02.219
I consider Turquoise a team they have no business

00:53:02.219 --> 00:53:06.719
beating? Normally... Normally, yes. In this situation,

00:53:06.940 --> 00:53:10.059
not really. But I think, like... They are going

00:53:10.059 --> 00:53:12.559
to be considered the underdogs. So I feel like

00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:15.719
Canada is going to show up. And I think Van Rijk

00:53:15.719 --> 00:53:19.679
is feeling it right now. I think she puts up

00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:23.260
better numbers than Vargas. Really? Point -wise.

00:53:23.360 --> 00:53:25.639
I don't think she'll be necessarily as efficient

00:53:25.639 --> 00:53:28.300
as Vargas, but I think she will score more points

00:53:28.300 --> 00:53:31.699
than Vargas. But I think it's going to be a great

00:53:31.699 --> 00:53:33.860
game. Who are you taking? One, two, three, go.

00:53:33.980 --> 00:53:39.730
Canada. Okay. You're not picking? I'm like moving

00:53:39.730 --> 00:53:42.789
on. Okay. I was actually going to lean Canada

00:53:42.789 --> 00:53:44.909
too. I don't know what I'm doing. You guys know

00:53:44.909 --> 00:53:48.210
that I hate an underdog. I never want underdogs

00:53:48.210 --> 00:53:50.210
to win, but I'm just like, I'm going based on

00:53:50.210 --> 00:53:52.150
observation here. You know what I mean? And I

00:53:52.150 --> 00:53:54.449
mean, I need to throw Canada bonus their first

00:53:54.449 --> 00:53:58.130
final eight. Okay. Semi -finals USA, Canada,

00:53:58.269 --> 00:54:01.730
USA. At the beginning of this VNL, did you think

00:54:01.730 --> 00:54:03.610
we would ever say that USA was going to be in

00:54:03.610 --> 00:54:07.309
the final? No, I didn't either. I didn't either.

00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:10.219
Yeah, here they are. Growth. Well -deserved.

00:54:10.300 --> 00:54:13.239
Honestly, I'm not even mad. Prove us wrong, please.

00:54:13.559 --> 00:54:16.400
Listen. I'm not mad about it. No, because you

00:54:16.400 --> 00:54:18.940
can only talk about what's in front of you and

00:54:18.940 --> 00:54:22.539
what you can see. We have not said anything that

00:54:22.539 --> 00:54:25.559
is untrue in terms of their performance. People

00:54:25.559 --> 00:54:27.579
might disagree with that, but I don't care. It

00:54:27.579 --> 00:54:29.719
has not looked good up until this point, and

00:54:29.719 --> 00:54:31.699
they have turned it around, and they've played

00:54:31.699 --> 00:54:34.579
well. Let's see them continue to do that, but

00:54:34.579 --> 00:54:36.380
it was a mess week one. Facts are facts here,

00:54:36.420 --> 00:54:39.380
people. Yeah. They're playing well. And then

00:54:39.380 --> 00:54:42.519
I think Italy is coming out. Italy over Japan.

00:54:42.780 --> 00:54:46.719
Yeah. So USA, Italy, who wins? Italy. Italy is

00:54:46.719 --> 00:54:50.099
not looking as crisp as they have, you know,

00:54:50.099 --> 00:54:52.860
ever since they broke that streak. It's like

00:54:52.860 --> 00:54:55.340
they took an exhale. You know what I mean? You

00:54:55.340 --> 00:54:57.960
still have an X factor on the right side for

00:54:57.960 --> 00:55:01.719
Italy in either Iganu or Antropova. And I think

00:55:01.719 --> 00:55:06.460
in a match like this, you need. Someone like

00:55:06.460 --> 00:55:10.400
that. U .S. is balanced, but they don't have

00:55:10.400 --> 00:55:14.280
an automatic point score. Is a Nervini -Silla

00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:17.340
combo going to be effective against Jordan Thompson?

00:55:17.900 --> 00:55:21.179
You mean from a blocking standpoint? Yeah. Maybe

00:55:21.179 --> 00:55:23.079
not, but defensively, they'll be prepared for

00:55:23.079 --> 00:55:26.559
her. I don't think she's a heavy enough hitter

00:55:26.559 --> 00:55:29.380
to just blow defenses up. They will be prepared

00:55:29.380 --> 00:55:32.039
to make her life challenging, even if they're

00:55:32.039 --> 00:55:34.000
not blocking her. Those are our predictions.

00:55:35.420 --> 00:55:41.420
VNL Final 8 in two weeks. Who knows? I mean,

00:55:41.440 --> 00:55:42.760
I don't think our predictions are very rarely

00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:45.820
accurate, so it'll probably be... I'm actually

00:55:45.820 --> 00:55:48.199
pretty proud of my predictions for who would

00:55:48.199 --> 00:55:50.980
qualify. Again, I'll repeat, my order was a mess,

00:55:51.139 --> 00:55:54.519
but still. I'm just going to hold on to this

00:55:54.519 --> 00:55:57.039
for a while. A Netherlands -China final. No,

00:55:57.039 --> 00:56:00.980
stop. Stop it. Okay, let us know what you think.

00:56:01.119 --> 00:56:04.739
Do you agree? Do you disagree? Hit us up in the

00:56:04.739 --> 00:56:08.360
comments. All right. Time for listener questions.

00:56:09.139 --> 00:56:12.619
Because we skipped a week, we got a lot of questions

00:56:12.619 --> 00:56:17.280
on the docket and in reserve. Some very good

00:56:17.280 --> 00:56:20.690
ones. Question one. I've been an Iganu fan for

00:56:20.690 --> 00:56:23.309
almost a decade, and her arm swing has been my

00:56:23.309 --> 00:56:26.789
reference point. The, you know, the big elbow

00:56:26.789 --> 00:56:30.550
drawback, double swing through. This year, I've

00:56:30.550 --> 00:56:33.730
found comfort and greater attacks in the arm

00:56:33.730 --> 00:56:39.230
swing that Gabi uses, which is the sort of circular,

00:56:39.429 --> 00:56:42.829
like elbow down circular motion. As someone who's

00:56:42.829 --> 00:56:47.519
a 5 '11 male and is... I thought someone my height

00:56:47.519 --> 00:56:49.920
would be a better reference as opposed to a 6

00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:52.420
'3 player. I've been hitting the ball with greater

00:56:52.420 --> 00:56:54.960
timing and consistency. Now I'm torn between

00:56:54.960 --> 00:56:57.360
staying consistent and using a gun whose arm

00:56:57.360 --> 00:57:00.820
swing or changing it completely. What is your

00:57:00.820 --> 00:57:03.880
input? My instinct is you should do whatever

00:57:03.880 --> 00:57:07.179
works for you. Everybody's body is a little bit

00:57:07.179 --> 00:57:11.699
different. Everybody feels things differently.

00:57:11.980 --> 00:57:14.849
At the end of the day. No matter what level you're

00:57:14.849 --> 00:57:16.409
playing at, if you're trying to be good, it's

00:57:16.409 --> 00:57:18.769
about what allows you to be successful. There

00:57:18.769 --> 00:57:22.369
are some right and wrong ways to do things, but

00:57:22.369 --> 00:57:24.869
people would say Gabi's arm swing is wrong. Like

00:57:24.869 --> 00:57:26.969
it's not technically sound. It's not technically

00:57:26.969 --> 00:57:31.570
sound at all. But it works. And so, you know,

00:57:31.570 --> 00:57:35.429
as long as you're not doing something that will

00:57:35.429 --> 00:57:38.670
harm your body or your shoulder, which some people

00:57:38.670 --> 00:57:42.059
do. You got to find and play with what works

00:57:42.059 --> 00:57:44.000
for you, what allows you to hit the most angles,

00:57:44.119 --> 00:57:45.820
what allows you to have the best vision, what

00:57:45.820 --> 00:57:48.920
allows you to maximize the skill set that you

00:57:48.920 --> 00:57:51.559
have. So I would say experiment, play with some

00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:55.639
different things. There's no quote unquote right

00:57:55.639 --> 00:57:59.420
or wrong way to do something. Well, if you want

00:57:59.420 --> 00:58:03.280
some context around Gabi's arm swing, she started

00:58:03.280 --> 00:58:06.500
out as a tennis player and then switched to volleyball

00:58:06.500 --> 00:58:10.309
later. So the reason. her arm swing is the way

00:58:10.309 --> 00:58:13.409
it is is because it is from tennis like that

00:58:13.409 --> 00:58:16.469
is how you serve or how she served in tennis

00:58:16.469 --> 00:58:20.269
and that is what she was able to make work for

00:58:20.269 --> 00:58:22.510
her when she transitioned to volleyball for all

00:58:22.510 --> 00:58:25.610
intents and purposes as I said it is not a technically

00:58:25.610 --> 00:58:30.389
sound arm swing she jumps out of the gym so she

00:58:30.389 --> 00:58:34.329
can make it work but that motion in and of itself

00:58:34.329 --> 00:58:37.360
if you're not contacting the ball like with precision,

00:58:37.420 --> 00:58:40.719
that thing can take off just by its nature. Egonu's

00:58:40.719 --> 00:58:43.739
arm swing is much more technically sound, you

00:58:43.739 --> 00:58:46.960
know, the double arm drawback, the high elbow.

00:58:47.639 --> 00:58:50.400
But as Adam said, like Gabi has made it work

00:58:50.400 --> 00:58:53.480
for her. And I will, yeah, echo what he said.

00:58:53.559 --> 00:58:56.239
You need to use what is best for you. If I was

00:58:56.239 --> 00:59:00.079
picking, I'd pick Egonu. Question two. I noticed

00:59:00.079 --> 00:59:04.719
that Moki Dajunaru will often pass a super low

00:59:04.719 --> 00:59:09.179
fast ball. whether she's taking it off of serve

00:59:09.179 --> 00:59:12.880
-receive or free ball or whatever, and when she's

00:59:12.880 --> 00:59:15.900
setting. Turkey's libero also does relatively

00:59:15.900 --> 00:59:21.079
low passes, at least off of free balls. The Moki's

00:59:21.079 --> 00:59:24.360
out -of -system sets are the fastest and most

00:59:24.360 --> 00:59:27.539
precise I've ever seen, presumably to speed up

00:59:27.539 --> 00:59:29.860
the pace and catch the opponent off guard. By

00:59:29.860 --> 00:59:32.780
comparison, the American liberos take free balls

00:59:32.780 --> 00:59:36.210
with a super high pass. and their out -of -system

00:59:36.210 --> 00:59:41.349
sets are also very high, especially hence. I'm

00:59:41.349 --> 00:59:43.349
wondering if you think the U .S. team is just

00:59:43.349 --> 00:59:48.190
unaware that they need to work on this, or are

00:59:48.190 --> 00:59:52.309
there any other theories why this is how they're

00:59:52.309 --> 00:59:55.090
passing and they're not changing it? I wrote

00:59:55.090 --> 00:59:57.030
this person back, and I was like, this is a very

00:59:57.030 --> 00:59:59.929
astute observation, and I thought that this was

00:59:59.929 --> 01:00:03.110
a great question. Go ahead. Moki Dajunaru is

01:00:03.110 --> 01:00:05.030
passing and setting that way because she can,

01:00:05.250 --> 01:00:08.989
period. Honestly, when she is setting, she is

01:00:08.989 --> 01:00:13.750
trying to emulate an in -system set from the

01:00:13.750 --> 01:00:16.670
setter as closely as she can. That makes it really

01:00:16.670 --> 01:00:19.670
easy for the hitters to not have to, like, adjust

01:00:19.670 --> 01:00:22.329
their timing based on who is setting. You know,

01:00:22.349 --> 01:00:24.730
it keeps the flow of the team, the pace of the

01:00:24.730 --> 01:00:27.090
offense very consistent across the board, no

01:00:27.090 --> 01:00:29.460
matter who is contacting the ball. When you're

01:00:29.460 --> 01:00:32.880
on serve receive or a free ball, if you're passing

01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:37.059
low and fast, it allows your offense to run that

01:00:37.059 --> 01:00:40.480
much quicker. It allows your middles to time

01:00:40.480 --> 01:00:43.960
their attacks better. It's just consistent across

01:00:43.960 --> 01:00:47.219
the board. That is the ideal situation. When

01:00:47.219 --> 01:00:50.019
you are passing balls to the sky or you're setting

01:00:50.019 --> 01:00:52.699
out of system balls really, really high, it's

01:00:52.699 --> 01:00:56.940
hard, especially if you're bump setting, which

01:00:56.940 --> 01:01:00.619
a lot of liberos are. to set with that tempo

01:01:00.619 --> 01:01:03.119
and that precision with your forearms. It's much

01:01:03.119 --> 01:01:06.219
easier to do it with your hands. I think it's

01:01:06.219 --> 01:01:09.780
a capability thing. I do not think that anybody

01:01:09.780 --> 01:01:13.340
should pass free ball super high. I'm not sure

01:01:13.340 --> 01:01:15.980
why they do that because as a middle, it's really

01:01:15.980 --> 01:01:19.420
hard to time it. And as a setter with a pass

01:01:19.420 --> 01:01:22.460
that high, you are losing complete sight of the

01:01:22.460 --> 01:01:24.039
other side of the court and what the blockers

01:01:24.039 --> 01:01:26.139
are doing because you're looking so high in the

01:01:26.139 --> 01:01:29.829
air. The flat pass allows you to maintain your

01:01:29.829 --> 01:01:32.289
vision and your peripheral vision across the

01:01:32.289 --> 01:01:35.170
court. I am not a proponent of passing a free

01:01:35.170 --> 01:01:37.909
ball in particular really, really high, and I

01:01:37.909 --> 01:01:40.929
think that if a setter and a libero are capable

01:01:40.929 --> 01:01:43.769
of running the same tempo, they 100 % should.

01:01:43.949 --> 01:01:46.469
I will echo everything you said. I think that's

01:01:46.469 --> 01:01:48.289
the ideal scenario. Now, I do think a couple

01:01:48.289 --> 01:01:51.130
things on the U .S. side. I think they pass their

01:01:51.130 --> 01:01:53.570
free balls that high because they pass that high,

01:01:53.650 --> 01:01:56.829
and they're also trying to keep it. So that it's

01:01:56.829 --> 01:02:00.230
not one tempo on free ball and one tempo on server

01:02:00.230 --> 01:02:03.010
safe. That would be my guess. Okay. It's not

01:02:03.010 --> 01:02:05.010
ideal though. No, it's not ideal. But I think.

01:02:05.550 --> 01:02:08.550
Like even in like as when I was, I mean, again,

01:02:08.630 --> 01:02:10.730
it was a long time ago, but when I was coming

01:02:10.730 --> 01:02:13.530
up through the system, it was like tempo was

01:02:13.530 --> 01:02:16.849
a huge component of a good pass. A hundred percent.

01:02:16.869 --> 01:02:19.130
And there are lots of coaches who will take a

01:02:19.130 --> 01:02:22.300
stopwatch and time the amount of time. from the

01:02:22.300 --> 01:02:24.199
pass off the arm to the setter's hands, and you're

01:02:24.199 --> 01:02:26.519
trying to be consistent across the board. Totally

01:02:26.519 --> 01:02:28.880
agree with you. To the point about Hentz's setting,

01:02:29.019 --> 01:02:32.199
if you have a higher set, now the hitter has

01:02:32.199 --> 01:02:35.039
the ability to adjust their feet and attack if

01:02:35.039 --> 01:02:37.219
the set isn't in a good location. Those hitters,

01:02:37.239 --> 01:02:39.760
when they're going off De Janeiro, if that ball

01:02:39.760 --> 01:02:41.420
is not where they're expecting it to be, they

01:02:41.420 --> 01:02:44.780
have nothing. So it's a trust piece, and the

01:02:44.780 --> 01:02:47.400
U .S. is putting their faith in their hitters

01:02:47.400 --> 01:02:49.780
to step close to a higher set and go from there.

01:02:50.190 --> 01:02:52.170
Again, it's a skill thing, I would agree with

01:02:52.170 --> 01:02:55.150
you. I loved that question. Very astute observation.

01:02:55.909 --> 01:02:58.269
Question three. Watching VNL and listening to

01:02:58.269 --> 01:02:59.909
the commentators, I was wondering if there are

01:02:59.909 --> 01:03:02.929
any players that, in your guys' opinion, don't

01:03:02.929 --> 01:03:05.170
get enough credit or are not mentioned enough

01:03:05.170 --> 01:03:07.989
for the work they do. I think a lot of commentators

01:03:07.989 --> 01:03:11.050
have favorites, which is understandable, but

01:03:11.050 --> 01:03:13.590
do you think some players, men or women, may

01:03:13.590 --> 01:03:15.590
get left out a bit? I'm going to take a step

01:03:15.590 --> 01:03:17.369
back from that question and say commentators

01:03:17.369 --> 01:03:19.389
generally recognize the position they played.

01:03:20.230 --> 01:03:22.570
Yeah, 100%. And I know I fall into that. Why

01:03:22.570 --> 01:03:24.190
do you think I love opposites so much? Yeah.

01:03:24.289 --> 01:03:27.329
Because I was one. And you understand the nuances

01:03:27.329 --> 01:03:29.329
of your own position better than anything else.

01:03:29.409 --> 01:03:33.130
That's first and foremost. I think Julia from

01:03:33.130 --> 01:03:35.150
Brazil does not get enough credit for how good

01:03:35.150 --> 01:03:38.309
she is. Both medals from Brazil. Yeah. They will

01:03:38.309 --> 01:03:41.190
applaud the big monster blocks, but they don't

01:03:41.190 --> 01:03:43.309
get credit for the little things that they do

01:03:43.309 --> 01:03:47.130
away from the ball. So that would be the first

01:03:47.130 --> 01:03:49.820
one that pops into my mind. I think generally

01:03:49.820 --> 01:03:53.420
speaking, middles, period, don't get enough credit.

01:03:54.119 --> 01:03:58.159
I will say one announcer in particular, Key Michael,

01:03:58.500 --> 01:04:01.239
she was a middle. And so she is one that usually

01:04:01.239 --> 01:04:04.039
does shout out middle blockers. I think in general,

01:04:04.039 --> 01:04:06.440
across the board, middles don't get enough credit.

01:04:06.579 --> 01:04:10.019
I will also say a lot of people get credit for

01:04:10.019 --> 01:04:12.219
the spectacular plays, which are usually the

01:04:12.219 --> 01:04:16.199
big hits, the impressive digs. But like a Moki

01:04:16.199 --> 01:04:18.900
Dajunaru, for example, her setting. She got a

01:04:18.900 --> 01:04:22.619
lot of credit, but like. It took years. No, but

01:04:22.619 --> 01:04:26.099
like you rarely hear anything said about her

01:04:26.099 --> 01:04:28.420
setting. It's like, wow, look at that dig. Look

01:04:28.420 --> 01:04:32.440
at that pass. You know what I mean? So I don't

01:04:32.440 --> 01:04:36.679
know off the top of my head. I, okay. Okay. And

01:04:36.679 --> 01:04:38.900
a Denise for me, you said the Brazilian middles.

01:04:38.920 --> 01:04:40.880
I agree with you in a Denise too. Like she's

01:04:40.880 --> 01:04:44.880
not a flashy player, but she's efficient. She

01:04:44.880 --> 01:04:48.460
is very consistent in what she does. The other

01:04:48.460 --> 01:04:50.760
player that popped in mind was Sato from Japan.

01:04:51.500 --> 01:04:54.900
Ishikawa and Wada get a lot of credit, but she

01:04:54.900 --> 01:04:58.059
does defensively things. She passes well. She

01:04:58.059 --> 01:05:01.340
uses the hands. Any player who is consistent

01:05:01.340 --> 01:05:04.199
and not flashy never gets enough credit. That's

01:05:04.199 --> 01:05:06.559
kind of the mold of players who don't get recognized.

01:05:07.179 --> 01:05:10.320
I mean, you would probably name one on every

01:05:10.320 --> 01:05:13.639
single team. 100%. They're either a middle set

01:05:13.639 --> 01:05:17.559
or a P2. Probably, yeah. Well, I think we also

01:05:17.559 --> 01:05:21.059
mentioned last week Fukatsu from Japan. And again,

01:05:21.179 --> 01:05:25.619
yeah, it's like Ishikawa, Ran, like all these

01:05:25.619 --> 01:05:28.199
players are like this quote unquote superstars,

01:05:28.199 --> 01:05:32.539
but like Fukatsu's incredible, incredible. So

01:05:32.539 --> 01:05:35.340
he's one that pops into mind for me. So I think

01:05:35.340 --> 01:05:36.820
if we're looking to the men's side as well, my

01:05:36.820 --> 01:05:38.699
brain was just on women. So I think Semenyuk

01:05:38.699 --> 01:05:41.760
from Poland, I mean, he's surrounded by stars.

01:05:42.590 --> 01:05:44.170
But I don't think that team wins without him.

01:05:44.190 --> 01:05:46.750
The defensive plays he makes in the back row,

01:05:46.809 --> 01:05:49.789
the reads he has, the passes he makes, the plays

01:05:49.789 --> 01:05:52.769
he keeps alive. Like those are the things that

01:05:52.769 --> 01:05:55.949
should get like people who love volleyball excited,

01:05:56.070 --> 01:05:57.550
but they don't get mentioned because something

01:05:57.550 --> 01:05:59.409
else usually happens in those rallies. So he

01:05:59.409 --> 01:06:01.769
pops into my mind. So Maniak is a huge one for

01:06:01.769 --> 01:06:03.449
me. And I know he probably has a lot of fans

01:06:03.449 --> 01:06:07.309
out there, but like he's like the third outside,

01:06:07.510 --> 01:06:10.469
you know, for Poland. So yeah, that was a good

01:06:10.469 --> 01:06:14.030
one. Yeah, Marcelli pops into mind for me, the

01:06:14.030 --> 01:06:16.769
Brazilian women's libero. She makes a lot of

01:06:16.769 --> 01:06:21.130
really good digs. She is solid. She flies under

01:06:21.130 --> 01:06:24.210
the radar. Again, we've mentioned you don't really

01:06:24.210 --> 01:06:26.369
want to notice a libero because usually they're

01:06:26.369 --> 01:06:29.349
getting aced, if that's the case. But she makes

01:06:29.349 --> 01:06:33.170
some incredible digs. Yeah, I think those are

01:06:33.170 --> 01:06:35.989
a couple of examples that pop into mind. There's

01:06:35.989 --> 01:06:38.940
lots more, but I'll stop there. Okay, question

01:06:38.940 --> 01:06:42.000
four. During V &L and maybe other competitions,

01:06:42.119 --> 01:06:44.340
between sets there's sometimes a graphic shown

01:06:44.340 --> 01:06:47.039
where the sets are broken down by percentage

01:06:47.039 --> 01:06:50.940
to the left, middle, and right side of the court.

01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:55.400
Sometimes they're also colored based on where

01:06:55.400 --> 01:06:58.280
the ball is hit, like line or cross. So this

01:06:58.280 --> 01:07:01.760
person says... As a middle, I feel like different

01:07:01.760 --> 01:07:04.659
people I've played with or for have told me different

01:07:04.659 --> 01:07:08.760
things as what constitutes a line swing versus

01:07:08.760 --> 01:07:12.420
an angle swing or cross court swing for a middle.

01:07:12.559 --> 01:07:14.679
So this has always been a mystery to me. And

01:07:14.679 --> 01:07:17.079
I would really appreciate your input on whether

01:07:17.079 --> 01:07:20.579
to V &L a middle hitting line is hitting to the

01:07:20.579 --> 01:07:23.300
left or right. I mean, that's a great question.

01:07:23.340 --> 01:07:25.679
And honestly, I don't know the answer because

01:07:25.679 --> 01:07:29.610
you can. I know what my instinct is, but I can't

01:07:29.610 --> 01:07:31.389
tell you with certainty that that's how they

01:07:31.389 --> 01:07:33.269
stat it. So you tell me what yours is, and I'm

01:07:33.269 --> 01:07:36.469
curious if we have the same one. Okay. 99 % of

01:07:36.469 --> 01:07:39.510
middles are right -handed, and when they're approaching,

01:07:39.789 --> 01:07:45.429
they are usually slightly angled toward the setter.

01:07:45.710 --> 01:07:47.570
If they're doing it correctly, yes. If they're

01:07:47.570 --> 01:07:51.309
doing it correctly. So for me, a ball that is

01:07:51.309 --> 01:07:55.349
hit, if the middle blocker's team is facing the

01:07:55.349 --> 01:07:59.389
net, line to me would be toward the right. And

01:07:59.389 --> 01:08:01.989
then cross court would be cutting the ball back

01:08:01.989 --> 01:08:04.469
across their body to the left. So you're going

01:08:04.469 --> 01:08:07.929
based off arm swing. Yeah. Yeah. But then I'm

01:08:07.929 --> 01:08:11.409
also like, okay, if they hit a gap set, I think

01:08:11.409 --> 01:08:13.269
it also depends on what set they're hitting too,

01:08:13.309 --> 01:08:16.050
because if they're running a gap set line would

01:08:16.050 --> 01:08:20.399
be towards the left. Cross court would be towards

01:08:20.399 --> 01:08:22.939
the right. And then if they're running a slide,

01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:25.359
line would be towards the right and cross court

01:08:25.359 --> 01:08:27.359
would be towards the left. Yeah. So, I mean,

01:08:27.380 --> 01:08:30.279
in general, I think outside of the graphic from

01:08:30.279 --> 01:08:33.760
VNL, when you talk to middle players, you talk

01:08:33.760 --> 01:08:35.880
about hitting to five and hitting to one. Like

01:08:35.880 --> 01:08:38.600
you don't really talk about cross court or line.

01:08:39.819 --> 01:08:41.699
Yeah, but the whole question came about because

01:08:41.699 --> 01:08:45.619
they do. Yeah. My instinct is actually on a quick

01:08:45.619 --> 01:08:48.979
is. An angle swing is to five and a line swing

01:08:48.979 --> 01:08:50.100
is to five. You're kidding me. Because you're

01:08:50.100 --> 01:08:52.399
coming back across your body. I look at it like

01:08:52.399 --> 01:08:54.880
a left side swing. Okay. So if they come across

01:08:54.880 --> 01:08:57.220
their body back to one, that's a line swing.

01:08:57.399 --> 01:08:58.680
Oh my gosh, we're literally using the same reference,

01:08:58.760 --> 01:09:01.979
but our deduction is completely different. Yeah.

01:09:02.020 --> 01:09:04.180
Oh, dang. We didn't answer this question. So

01:09:04.180 --> 01:09:06.119
who knows? You'll have to ask somebody at the

01:09:06.119 --> 01:09:09.840
FIVB how they stat it. Oh my gosh, that's interesting.

01:09:10.460 --> 01:09:13.180
Wait, so if they run a slide, what do you consider

01:09:13.180 --> 01:09:15.170
a line? Then it switches. So then you're hitting

01:09:15.170 --> 01:09:16.590
from the right side of the court, so then it's

01:09:16.590 --> 01:09:18.510
to five, and the angle swing is to one. See,

01:09:18.510 --> 01:09:20.869
the thing for me, too, is a setter is usually

01:09:20.869 --> 01:09:23.130
positioned at two and a half, which is angled

01:09:23.130 --> 01:09:25.729
slightly toward the right side of the court.

01:09:25.869 --> 01:09:28.229
So also, if we're thinking line, it's usually

01:09:28.229 --> 01:09:31.569
the skinnier side of the court, which on a quick

01:09:31.569 --> 01:09:34.409
set, if the setter's in a normal position, the

01:09:34.409 --> 01:09:36.630
skinnier side is toward the right. I mean, I

01:09:36.630 --> 01:09:38.930
think you can make an argument either way, but...

01:09:38.930 --> 01:09:41.289
This question is highlighting that this is a

01:09:41.289 --> 01:09:44.539
big issue. We don't even know. The person who

01:09:44.539 --> 01:09:45.640
asks that question is going to be like, well,

01:09:45.739 --> 01:09:48.920
thanks for nothing. I think that may also have

01:09:48.920 --> 01:09:50.659
to be like, I grew up playing men's where you

01:09:50.659 --> 01:09:52.079
don't really run the slide. So you're thinking

01:09:52.079 --> 01:09:55.579
purely gap and 51. That may also play a role

01:09:55.579 --> 01:09:57.979
in how you think versus how I think. Yeah, I

01:09:57.979 --> 01:09:59.979
don't think so. I think our brains just work

01:09:59.979 --> 01:10:02.380
differently. Who agrees with Adam? Who agrees

01:10:02.380 --> 01:10:04.640
with me? I'm just interested in to know the split

01:10:04.640 --> 01:10:08.720
and the gender. Maybe women think one way and

01:10:08.720 --> 01:10:10.020
men the other. I don't know. That is definitely

01:10:10.020 --> 01:10:16.350
true. Okay, we got so many questions about Yuki

01:10:16.350 --> 01:10:20.350
Ishikawa this week. So many. Question five is

01:10:20.350 --> 01:10:24.170
kind of like a multi -parter. Basically, numerous

01:10:24.170 --> 01:10:27.050
people that sent a similar question called it

01:10:27.050 --> 01:10:30.430
a similar thing, which is like the Yuki Ishikawa

01:10:30.430 --> 01:10:32.770
dilemma. He's on the number one team in the world

01:10:32.770 --> 01:10:35.789
in Perugia. In two seasons, they've won everything.

01:10:36.470 --> 01:10:40.430
They are the Italian champs. Champions League

01:10:40.430 --> 01:10:44.289
champions, world champions. But in these years

01:10:44.289 --> 01:10:47.130
that he spent at Perugia, he's had to shift from

01:10:47.130 --> 01:10:49.569
being the team leader, which he was in Milano

01:10:49.569 --> 01:10:52.770
and on the Japanese national team, to being basically

01:10:52.770 --> 01:10:55.369
like a bench player. He did have a knee injury,

01:10:55.609 --> 01:10:59.470
but he was Perugia's fourth outside this year.

01:10:59.649 --> 01:11:02.710
So if you were in his shoes at this stage in

01:11:02.710 --> 01:11:05.390
his career, what would you do? Would you stay

01:11:05.390 --> 01:11:08.210
in the top team, even if your opportunities to

01:11:08.210 --> 01:11:10.949
play are quite limited? Would you go to a team

01:11:10.949 --> 01:11:13.470
where you can regain your role as a team leader,

01:11:13.649 --> 01:11:16.369
even at the risk of not competing for trophies

01:11:16.369 --> 01:11:19.529
and championships? Or would you just accept the

01:11:19.529 --> 01:11:22.109
most money regardless of your opportunities to

01:11:22.109 --> 01:11:25.029
be a starter or compete at the top level? So

01:11:25.029 --> 01:11:27.649
this is a really interesting question. I'm going

01:11:27.649 --> 01:11:29.869
to start off by saying people have different

01:11:29.869 --> 01:11:33.090
priorities of what is important to them. And

01:11:33.090 --> 01:11:36.130
I can't pretend to understand what Ishikawa.

01:11:36.680 --> 01:11:39.100
at this point, but I'll give it a crack just

01:11:39.100 --> 01:11:44.460
for fun. So he's 30, which is not that old on

01:11:44.460 --> 01:11:48.819
the men's side. I feel like with the way Asian

01:11:48.819 --> 01:11:53.079
countries train though, like a Japanese 30 is

01:11:53.079 --> 01:11:59.220
like a Western 37. Like they train so much, you

01:11:59.220 --> 01:12:03.859
guys. The first thing I'm going to say is I think

01:12:03.859 --> 01:12:08.920
it depends on how mature he is and where he sees

01:12:08.920 --> 01:12:13.500
himself in the process of his career so if he

01:12:13.500 --> 01:12:15.800
still feels like he personally has something

01:12:15.800 --> 01:12:19.380
to prove then he will go play somewhere where

01:12:19.380 --> 01:12:22.300
he can still be the big dog and show that he's

01:12:22.300 --> 01:12:25.300
got it my guess would be he's played a ton of

01:12:25.300 --> 01:12:28.439
volleyball he's playing for the best team he

01:12:28.439 --> 01:12:32.000
probably hurts every day guys like that are wired

01:12:32.000 --> 01:12:35.770
to want to win And being part of a team is winning.

01:12:35.869 --> 01:12:38.550
He can still come in and play a role in a lot

01:12:38.550 --> 01:12:40.970
of situations and be part of that culture. I

01:12:40.970 --> 01:12:43.729
think it's hard to switch from a winning culture

01:12:43.729 --> 01:12:47.029
and mentality out of that once you've been in

01:12:47.029 --> 01:12:50.829
it. I've got to think, too. We just spoke about

01:12:50.829 --> 01:12:54.949
how much Asian teams typically train. If he's

01:12:54.949 --> 01:12:57.409
going back to the Japanese national team, they

01:12:57.409 --> 01:13:00.449
are probably training a ton. And adding an injury

01:13:00.449 --> 01:13:04.850
on top of that. It's probably really nice for

01:13:04.850 --> 01:13:10.930
his body to be able to earn a living while like

01:13:10.930 --> 01:13:16.109
not resting, but kinda, you know, you, you come

01:13:16.109 --> 01:13:20.869
in now and then during matches, you play in a

01:13:20.869 --> 01:13:24.109
place that is like helping you heal your knee,

01:13:24.250 --> 01:13:28.010
get ready. So you can like go all out in national

01:13:28.010 --> 01:13:31.060
team season. it might not be the worst thing

01:13:31.060 --> 01:13:34.479
for him. It's probably frustrating to be injured

01:13:34.479 --> 01:13:38.880
and not be able to play. A lot of people like

01:13:38.880 --> 01:13:42.899
to be on the court, but you have to think, I

01:13:42.899 --> 01:13:45.140
don't know what his priorities are, but if national

01:13:45.140 --> 01:13:48.340
team is his priority, that's a great setup, honestly.

01:13:48.600 --> 01:13:50.960
If you've been at a team for a bunch of times,

01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:53.960
those guys become your family. You enjoy spending

01:13:53.960 --> 01:13:56.779
time with them. Life in Italy as a volleyball

01:13:56.779 --> 01:14:00.029
player is... very nice. It's a, it's a sister's

01:14:00.029 --> 01:14:03.430
been there. Yeah. So there's a lot of pros in

01:14:03.430 --> 01:14:06.909
being there, I would say. And if he can accept

01:14:06.909 --> 01:14:08.890
the role of, I'm going to do this to help my

01:14:08.890 --> 01:14:11.130
team win. And he still feels like he's contributing.

01:14:11.689 --> 01:14:13.510
Like you said, with a national team priority,

01:14:13.649 --> 01:14:17.069
it's a really good setup for him. But also I'm

01:14:17.069 --> 01:14:19.109
like, if you're, I don't know where he is in

01:14:19.109 --> 01:14:22.329
his career, like obviously 30 versus like what

01:14:22.329 --> 01:14:25.010
his body is feeling like. If he's near the end

01:14:25.010 --> 01:14:27.630
of the career, I'm like, Earn that money. Yeah.

01:14:28.369 --> 01:14:30.850
Just take the biggest contracts you can and just

01:14:30.850 --> 01:14:33.869
like maximize your earning potential as an athlete

01:14:33.869 --> 01:14:35.970
while you can. I don't think there's a wrong

01:14:35.970 --> 01:14:39.010
answer here. What would you do? One, two, three,

01:14:39.050 --> 01:14:42.670
go. Stay. There you go. There you have it. Adam

01:14:42.670 --> 01:14:44.710
would stay. Because you got to think he's probably

01:14:44.710 --> 01:14:47.109
thinking about the LA Olympics. That's what I

01:14:47.109 --> 01:14:50.479
was thinking. Part B of this is like due to injuries,

01:14:50.520 --> 01:14:52.779
Yuki and several other top players like Lavia

01:14:52.779 --> 01:14:55.199
and Micheletto had to skip almost the entire

01:14:55.199 --> 01:14:59.119
last season. What happens when players are injured

01:14:59.119 --> 01:15:01.199
for extended periods of time? Are they still

01:15:01.199 --> 01:15:04.319
paid or can their contract be terminated by the

01:15:04.319 --> 01:15:08.899
club? So this is usually written into your contract

01:15:08.899 --> 01:15:13.640
as far as what the expectations are of the athlete

01:15:13.640 --> 01:15:17.600
and the club in case of injury. In most circumstances

01:15:17.600 --> 01:15:21.779
that I've seen, as long as the athlete is fulfilling

01:15:21.779 --> 01:15:26.060
their obligations to the team as far as professionalism,

01:15:26.079 --> 01:15:28.720
showing up to all training sessions, doing everything

01:15:28.720 --> 01:15:31.579
in their power to get back to a place of being

01:15:31.579 --> 01:15:34.359
able to perform, the club does have to pay them.

01:15:34.800 --> 01:15:37.060
Usually there is something written that if the

01:15:37.060 --> 01:15:40.149
club does get rid of you, you have like... earn

01:15:40.149 --> 01:15:42.789
your money anyway, or you earn an X percentage

01:15:42.789 --> 01:15:45.649
of your contract or something like that. But

01:15:45.649 --> 01:15:48.050
I would say in these guys' situation, yes, they

01:15:48.050 --> 01:15:50.090
are getting paid. Now, the one thing I will say

01:15:50.090 --> 01:15:52.869
to that is if you get injured, like skiing or

01:15:52.869 --> 01:15:56.569
snowboarding or doing something, not that those

01:15:56.569 --> 01:15:59.329
things are reckless, but outside of volleyball,

01:15:59.489 --> 01:16:03.989
then there are often clauses about how that works.

01:16:04.050 --> 01:16:08.069
Yeah. And then you're let go usually. Most players

01:16:08.069 --> 01:16:10.189
will also have some sort of personal insurance

01:16:10.189 --> 01:16:14.010
on their careers. So it's not always black and

01:16:14.010 --> 01:16:17.010
white. But the basic answer is I would say, yes,

01:16:17.050 --> 01:16:20.130
these guys are getting paid still. Agreed. Okay.

01:16:20.390 --> 01:16:23.550
Part three of this. Do you agree with this statement?

01:16:23.590 --> 01:16:27.970
This person is thinking that since Yuki's moved

01:16:27.970 --> 01:16:30.289
to Perugia, his performance has dropped off,

01:16:30.409 --> 01:16:35.470
but Takahashi Ren has grown. And so there's like

01:16:35.470 --> 01:16:39.029
a generational shift happening where Ishikawa

01:16:39.029 --> 01:16:41.449
is kind of on his way out and Ran is entering

01:16:41.449 --> 01:16:46.250
his moment. I would say I thought Ran played

01:16:46.250 --> 01:16:48.729
well in the matches that I've seen. So I would

01:16:48.729 --> 01:16:51.029
agree with at least part of that. I'm not sure

01:16:51.029 --> 01:16:53.630
I would say that Ishikawa is on his way out yet.

01:16:54.470 --> 01:16:56.710
He still looks very good. Ishikawa looks way

01:16:56.710 --> 01:16:58.869
better with Fukatsu setting than anybody else.

01:16:58.989 --> 01:17:01.939
I understand what this person is saying. But

01:17:01.939 --> 01:17:03.920
I, this is probably going to, people are going

01:17:03.920 --> 01:17:06.659
to be so mad, but I'm not like a huge Ran fan.

01:17:07.420 --> 01:17:10.220
Let's call a spade a spade. Japan last year was

01:17:10.220 --> 01:17:13.720
not good with the setter they had. So I have

01:17:13.720 --> 01:17:16.220
tried to wipe my memory of watching them last

01:17:16.220 --> 01:17:20.199
year and watch them fresh this year. And all

01:17:20.199 --> 01:17:22.539
three of their outside hitters have been much

01:17:22.539 --> 01:17:25.239
better. I don't think I understand the Ran hype

01:17:25.239 --> 01:17:28.470
as much as... I know it exists. Let's put it

01:17:28.470 --> 01:17:31.069
that way. Yeah, that's fair. He's good. I don't

01:17:31.069 --> 01:17:33.029
think he's better than Ishikawa yet. I don't

01:17:33.029 --> 01:17:35.630
think the torch has been passed at this point.

01:17:36.149 --> 01:17:40.569
Question six. If you were an active player on

01:17:40.569 --> 01:17:43.470
a national team, which coaching style do you

01:17:43.470 --> 01:17:47.750
think you could tolerate more? Eric Sullivan's

01:17:47.750 --> 01:17:52.090
communication during timeouts or Dan Lewis's

01:17:52.090 --> 01:17:56.760
constant antics with refs? For me, I think that's

01:17:56.760 --> 01:18:00.680
an easy answer. Okay. I have an easy answer too.

01:18:01.039 --> 01:18:02.739
You said, well, it's going to be the first name.

01:18:02.800 --> 01:18:09.399
One, two, three, Dan. Okay. Yeah. Listen, it's

01:18:09.399 --> 01:18:11.560
clear when Dan talks to his athletes that he

01:18:11.560 --> 01:18:14.380
is prepared. He knows what he's talking about

01:18:14.380 --> 01:18:17.960
and like it or not, he has a plan and something

01:18:17.960 --> 01:18:20.399
he expects the team to execute. Like they get

01:18:20.399 --> 01:18:23.659
a lot of information in timeouts. And quite frankly,

01:18:24.199 --> 01:18:27.140
There are lots of coaches who do dumb stuff on

01:18:27.140 --> 01:18:30.020
the sidelines and who are just very into the

01:18:30.020 --> 01:18:34.079
match. Give me my coach cares about us winning

01:18:34.079 --> 01:18:38.439
and is invested over the other. Yeah. I don't

01:18:38.439 --> 01:18:42.359
agree with how Dan acts, but I would be able

01:18:42.359 --> 01:18:46.439
to just ignore it. Yeah. I think if I was playing

01:18:46.439 --> 01:18:48.739
and just be like, okay, whatever you do you,

01:18:48.819 --> 01:18:51.829
but. I'm not paying attention. If I had to stand

01:18:51.829 --> 01:18:55.869
and listen to somebody say nothing, I would lose

01:18:55.869 --> 01:18:59.449
it. Up and down. I'd be like, what does that

01:18:59.449 --> 01:19:02.710
mean? Yeah. I think we both played for people

01:19:02.710 --> 01:19:06.430
who have some sideline antics and it's easy to

01:19:06.430 --> 01:19:10.930
just not pay attention to. Would you accept an

01:19:10.930 --> 01:19:13.750
offer the following season if you were invited

01:19:13.750 --> 01:19:17.329
to play for the squad again? Yes. Based on who

01:19:17.329 --> 01:19:19.970
I picked? Yes. Yeah. And that's the thing is

01:19:19.970 --> 01:19:22.449
like, I wouldn't forego my national team experience

01:19:22.449 --> 01:19:26.569
if I didn't love my coat. Like I've been in situations

01:19:26.569 --> 01:19:29.409
where I'm like, this is not ideal, but like,

01:19:29.409 --> 01:19:34.789
here we go. Just be better. Yeah. I would say

01:19:34.789 --> 01:19:36.869
the coach is a small part of your experience.

01:19:36.949 --> 01:19:38.590
Like you're playing with other players at the

01:19:38.590 --> 01:19:39.930
end of the day, you're the one on the court,

01:19:40.010 --> 01:19:42.270
like for both Canada and the U S like you're

01:19:42.270 --> 01:19:44.329
representing your country. That is more than

01:19:44.329 --> 01:19:47.680
a single person. Okay, question seven. Can Italy

01:19:47.680 --> 01:19:50.039
continue winning even without an outside hitter

01:19:50.039 --> 01:19:53.000
that can score consistently? And Tropova is doing

01:19:53.000 --> 01:19:55.859
great, and obviously Egonu is there as well,

01:19:56.060 --> 01:19:58.659
but I don't think that this year they can rely

01:19:58.659 --> 01:20:02.380
on just them and their middles. So on the outside,

01:20:02.680 --> 01:20:06.319
this week in week three, we saw Silla and Nervini.

01:20:06.760 --> 01:20:10.180
Interesting question. They will need one of those

01:20:10.180 --> 01:20:13.789
two players to generate points. And I think they'll

01:20:13.789 --> 01:20:16.390
need to run a pipe out of the back row a little

01:20:16.390 --> 01:20:18.949
bit more for the first time. I mean, Antropova

01:20:18.949 --> 01:20:21.829
can just go off for 37 points again and they'd

01:20:21.829 --> 01:20:25.130
be fine. Yeah. And I don't think we've seen the

01:20:25.130 --> 01:20:27.770
end of the Antropova on the left experiment.

01:20:28.130 --> 01:20:30.210
You don't? No. You think she's going to be back?

01:20:30.510 --> 01:20:33.229
I think she'll be back. Maybe Iganu just like

01:20:33.229 --> 01:20:36.010
is hurting and just like needs a little extra

01:20:36.010 --> 01:20:38.649
break. And they're like, we are going to use

01:20:38.649 --> 01:20:42.720
her like as needed. So we have to move Entropova

01:20:42.720 --> 01:20:45.939
back. Maybe she isn't done on the left. And it's

01:20:45.939 --> 01:20:48.699
all just like protecting Egonu, you know? Yeah,

01:20:48.720 --> 01:20:51.399
if you're their coaching staff and you're looking

01:20:51.399 --> 01:20:54.539
at your best lineup with threats on both pins,

01:20:54.760 --> 01:20:58.140
I still think that is your dream end goal. And

01:20:58.140 --> 01:21:00.600
having Entropova block on an opposite? Come on

01:21:00.600 --> 01:21:03.020
now. Yeah, there's still too much upside for

01:21:03.020 --> 01:21:05.439
that experiment to be over, in my opinion. I

01:21:05.439 --> 01:21:09.619
think Scylla is still capable. But she's not

01:21:09.619 --> 01:21:12.619
automatic. She's not automatic. This is her first

01:21:12.619 --> 01:21:17.180
week back in VNL. I'm not counting her out. I

01:21:17.180 --> 01:21:20.640
understand this question 100%. Can they win?

01:21:20.739 --> 01:21:22.899
Let's say that their left sides are not scoring

01:21:22.899 --> 01:21:27.420
at a super high clip. Will they win VNL? Is Gabi

01:21:27.420 --> 01:21:32.239
back? Gabi is out. Yes. Do you think Italy is

01:21:32.239 --> 01:21:36.399
going to win? I do. I just don't. Teams have

01:21:36.399 --> 01:21:39.970
injuries. Turkey's injured. I still think they're

01:21:39.970 --> 01:21:42.989
better than Poland. I think they're better than

01:21:42.989 --> 01:21:45.729
Brazil without Gabi because Brazil doesn't have,

01:21:45.869 --> 01:21:48.029
like give me left sides who can't score over

01:21:48.029 --> 01:21:51.569
right sides who can't score. But you still have

01:21:51.569 --> 01:21:55.109
huge point scores. And I think there's still

01:21:55.109 --> 01:21:58.149
more terminal than the U .S. in general. From

01:21:58.149 --> 01:22:01.310
top to bottom. Yes. Last question of the day.

01:22:01.489 --> 01:22:03.369
What advice would you give to the players on

01:22:03.369 --> 01:22:06.229
the U .S. women's wide roster who have not traveled

01:22:06.229 --> 01:22:09.069
for the team? assuming that they're healthy,

01:22:09.229 --> 01:22:14.649
such as Kip, Miner, Baird, Bajma, would you encourage

01:22:14.649 --> 01:22:17.069
them to stay international or play in the States

01:22:17.069 --> 01:22:19.550
if it seems like the national team isn't in their

01:22:19.550 --> 01:22:22.350
future, at least with this particular coaching

01:22:22.350 --> 01:22:24.470
staff? I don't know. Again, it comes back to

01:22:24.470 --> 01:22:26.529
like the Yuki Ishikawa discussion. It's like,

01:22:26.590 --> 01:22:29.010
what do you want? What do you want? Are you trying

01:22:29.010 --> 01:22:32.550
to play at the highest level possible? Like,

01:22:32.590 --> 01:22:36.680
do you derive pleasure in... progressing through

01:22:36.680 --> 01:22:39.859
the leagues and getting better and better and

01:22:39.859 --> 01:22:43.420
better, then stay overseas. Is your goal to make

01:22:43.420 --> 01:22:45.880
as much money as possible? You're going to do

01:22:45.880 --> 01:22:48.279
that playing for the top leagues overseas. Go

01:22:48.279 --> 01:22:51.920
overseas. Do you want to play volleyball and

01:22:51.920 --> 01:22:54.659
earn a decent living and have a more comfortable

01:22:54.659 --> 01:22:58.399
life? Then come back here. There's so many ways

01:22:58.399 --> 01:23:00.680
to take this depending on what you want. Yeah,

01:23:00.720 --> 01:23:03.539
every player and every person is motivated in

01:23:03.539 --> 01:23:08.500
different ways and uses the sport in a professional

01:23:08.500 --> 01:23:14.239
career to achieve different ends. And I don't

01:23:14.239 --> 01:23:16.939
know what their goals are, honestly. How much

01:23:16.939 --> 01:23:19.680
of the roster do you think at this point is cemented?

01:23:20.279 --> 01:23:22.199
Well, they didn't change anything from week two

01:23:22.199 --> 01:23:26.560
to three. That's kind of my, like, do you think

01:23:26.560 --> 01:23:29.460
regardless, like, let's say Kami Minor has two

01:23:29.460 --> 01:23:31.420
great seasons. Do you think she cracked? No,

01:23:31.420 --> 01:23:35.119
I think Sullivan loves the three setters that

01:23:35.119 --> 01:23:37.939
he has. I agree. Which positions do you think

01:23:37.939 --> 01:23:43.680
there's no movement for? Setter, middle. Those

01:23:43.680 --> 01:23:45.739
are the two for me. Yeah, because we have to

01:23:45.739 --> 01:23:48.859
see how things play out with the pregnancies,

01:23:48.880 --> 01:23:52.159
the maternity leaves that are ending. Yeah. That

01:23:52.159 --> 01:23:54.579
will tell the story. Yeah. And if Babcock comes

01:23:54.579 --> 01:23:57.119
out and has... No, I don't think Babcock's in

01:23:57.119 --> 01:23:59.960
the discussion. I'm not... Maybe a bad example.

01:24:00.060 --> 01:24:02.279
If there is a right side who comes out and is

01:24:02.279 --> 01:24:04.560
just super terminal in the next two years, so

01:24:04.560 --> 01:24:07.279
you think it's Jordan Thompson. Thompson and

01:24:07.279 --> 01:24:10.699
Drews. I'm less sure on that one. I think there

01:24:10.699 --> 01:24:12.680
is... But this whole discussion, like a huge...

01:24:12.680 --> 01:24:15.920
I get so many messages about like, why isn't

01:24:15.920 --> 01:24:19.760
Cara Badgman traveling? She is the top blocker

01:24:19.760 --> 01:24:22.920
in the Turkish league. And she started this season

01:24:22.920 --> 01:24:25.640
late and still was the top blocker in the Turkish

01:24:25.640 --> 01:24:27.720
league. Like, why is she not given a chance?

01:24:27.840 --> 01:24:30.319
Like if these players are riding the bench, like

01:24:30.319 --> 01:24:33.380
who cares who like the bench roster is like,

01:24:33.420 --> 01:24:35.100
at least let them travel and have a chance. Like

01:24:35.100 --> 01:24:38.220
I've gotten so many messages about her in particular

01:24:38.220 --> 01:24:42.539
about like, why are you not even giving her a

01:24:42.539 --> 01:24:45.739
chance to be put in the front row to block? Again,

01:24:45.800 --> 01:24:48.739
Liz, as a coach, you have to pick athletes who

01:24:48.739 --> 01:24:51.659
fit your style. Karch did it. Everybody does

01:24:51.659 --> 01:24:56.060
it. They just don't see that skill set as a requirement

01:24:56.060 --> 01:24:58.340
to winning period. That's what it comes down

01:24:58.340 --> 01:25:01.239
to. And that's whether she deserves to be there

01:25:01.239 --> 01:25:04.520
or not is kind of irrelevant because the coaching

01:25:04.520 --> 01:25:07.279
staff knows what they want and how they want

01:25:07.279 --> 01:25:10.060
to play. Yeah. Again, this is another question

01:25:10.060 --> 01:25:11.880
that we're not giving like a complete answer

01:25:11.880 --> 01:25:14.899
because I don't know how these people are motivated.

01:25:16.109 --> 01:25:19.350
I for like speaking from personal experience,

01:25:19.649 --> 01:25:25.229
I found I derived a lot of pleasure and I felt

01:25:25.229 --> 01:25:29.149
so good about like see seeing progress throughout

01:25:29.149 --> 01:25:32.130
leagues and throughout teams within the same

01:25:32.130 --> 01:25:34.770
league and making those improvements and, you

01:25:34.770 --> 01:25:37.189
know, having a chance to win world championships

01:25:37.189 --> 01:25:41.510
and having a chance to, you know, compete like

01:25:41.510 --> 01:25:44.869
in like. Champions League Final Four. I liked

01:25:44.869 --> 01:25:49.369
that. And then as I got older, it was like an

01:25:49.369 --> 01:25:51.710
evolution of like, okay, the athlete timeline

01:25:51.710 --> 01:25:57.489
is short. Let's just maximize this. So that was

01:25:57.489 --> 01:25:59.590
my thought process, but everybody's different.

01:25:59.689 --> 01:26:01.989
I don't know. Great questions this week, everybody.

01:26:02.430 --> 01:26:04.729
If we didn't get to yours, I got them all written

01:26:04.729 --> 01:26:08.170
down. They're coming eventually. We'll get there.

01:26:10.109 --> 01:26:11.789
Yeah, it's crazy what happens when you take a

01:26:11.789 --> 01:26:14.670
week off. Love that people were still engaged

01:26:14.670 --> 01:26:18.390
in sending us questions. 100%. All right. Looking

01:26:18.390 --> 01:26:21.550
forward to next week, Wednesday at 5 p .m. Eastern,

01:26:21.630 --> 01:26:25.149
France versus Brazil. So two teams battling to

01:26:25.149 --> 01:26:27.289
make it back into the final eight. That will

01:26:27.289 --> 01:26:28.949
be a game with lots of implications on the line.

01:26:29.649 --> 01:26:32.970
Saturday at 12 a .m. Eastern, Canada. We're talking

01:26:32.970 --> 01:26:35.310
Friday night here, people. Yes. Let's not get

01:26:35.310 --> 01:26:38.050
it twisted. It's not Saturday night. It's Friday

01:26:38.050 --> 01:26:41.529
night. What better thing to do at midnight than

01:26:41.529 --> 01:26:45.850
watch Canada -Cuba for a chance at relegation

01:26:45.850 --> 01:26:49.029
or a chance to not be relegated? So that game

01:26:49.029 --> 01:26:51.069
will also have a ton of implication. And then

01:26:51.069 --> 01:26:54.390
Sunday at 9 p .m. Eastern, USA versus Poland.

01:26:54.970 --> 01:26:57.270
And that's just straight up going to be a great

01:26:57.270 --> 01:27:00.010
match with some of our favorite players and curious

01:27:00.010 --> 01:27:02.649
to see how the U .S. men look against the top

01:27:02.649 --> 01:27:04.789
team. So those are the matches that you should

01:27:04.789 --> 01:27:07.039
be looking out for next week. That concludes

01:27:07.039 --> 01:27:09.640
this week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always

01:27:09.640 --> 01:27:11.340
something shaking in the volleyball world, and

01:27:11.340 --> 01:27:13.920
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure

01:27:13.920 --> 01:27:15.859
to follow the show so you don't miss any updates,

01:27:16.060 --> 01:27:18.359
and we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five

01:27:18.359 --> 01:27:20.699
-star review. You can also find us on Instagram

01:27:20.699 --> 01:27:23.939
at volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have

01:27:23.939 --> 01:27:25.960
a topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach

01:27:25.960 --> 01:27:29.520
out on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin .com.

01:27:29.720 --> 01:27:31.899
Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll be back

01:27:31.899 --> 01:27:32.479
next week.