Scandicci Outlasts Fenerbahce in Champions League Golden Set, International & Domestic Dream Teams

Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We are down to crunch time. We got crunch
time in MLV and love who the heck is going to
make playoffs. We got crunch time and NCAA men's
as we head into conference tournaments here in
about less than a month. I want to say, and then
playoffs are fully engaged. overseas. Lots to
talk about, some great segments this week suggested
by our listeners. So we are pumped as always
to kind of get into the nitty gritty, cause some
controversy, you know how it is. So let's get
started. Weekly highlights and happenings. You
know what's coming up first. Was your volley
fantasy a highlight or a happening? It was in
the middle, but it was a happening because I
set a goal of getting 400 and I did not hit my
goal. Were you even close? Not really. And that's
that. Well, let me see how many points I got.
I only got 350. Yeah, I was around there. 340,
I think. On a positive note, only two of my bench
players had to come in as opposed to my usual
four. Yeah, I was going to say, I'm still having
too many bench players outperforming my starters,
which is never a good sign. Not a good thing.
But, you know, I made improvements there. I'm
101st right now, so things got a little more
bleak than last week. The daily grids are still
fun. You know, we were pretty consistent there,
top of the leaderboard for, you know. People
were holding on to their number one spot for
a few weeks. In the last few weeks, things have
been volatile. Okay, I think everybody's kind
of going through it the way we are, but it seems
like some people are going through it for the
positive, whereas we're going through it for
the negative. The best team is currently number
one in our league. Makes sense. I mean, they
manifested it. You know what I mean? My lack
of strategy is clearly hurting me. Adam's strategy
clearly doesn't work. either. So if anybody has
any tips for how to really make the most of these
last few weeks, please reach out and tell me
what the heck I should do. One 400 week. That's
all I want. Fun. Regardless, the daily grids,
I think the highest ranking I've gotten on a
daily grid is third. Is it time -based? Like
if you tie somebody, I think it might, it has
to be time -based of how fast you complete it.
Better get my typing fingers going. Because I
want to be number one at least in that for one
day. But third is better. They're like, only
three people did it. No, I'm just kidding. Only
a few weeks remain. So you still have a chance
to at least surpass Adam and I. Not hard to do
at this point. Not hard to do at this point.
So feel free to join our league at playvolley
.com slash volley talk. That is playvolley .com
slash volley talk to get in on the MLV fantasy
action. NCAA men for probably the first week
ever, there are no upsets. There were some decent
matchups happening. You know, we had UCLA -Stanford.
UCLA smashed them three straight both games.
We had like Pepperdine -BYU. We had like CSUN
-Long Beach State. We had some ranked matchups,
but... According to these teams' rankings, everything
kind of held true. Nothing alarming to report
on the NCAA men's front. In MLV, the three worst
teams in the league pulled off some upsets this
week. Teams are mailing it in before the playoffs.
Well, it's dicey. Columbus beat Orlando three
straight. Orlando is going through it. What the
heck is happening there? The wheels have come
off. They are scraping along the ground. Grand
Rapids beat Indy in four. I'm wondering if Indy's
just cruising at this point. I don't know. They've
only lost four matches all season. It's hard
to criticize. Yeah. And San Diego beat Omaha
in four. The bottom three teams are like, you
know what? We're still here. We're just going
to make your guys' lives hell as you try to make
it into playoffs. Indy and Dallas are so far
ahead. A joke. Omaha and Orlando can't afford
to lose matches. Well, Omaha's at 500. Five out
of eight teams have a losing record. That is
how far ahead Indy and Dallas are. When over
half the league has a losing record, the other
teams, those two teams are just light years ahead
in the record department. Honestly, people are
battling it out for third and fourth. And if
it's not an Indy -Dallas final, I have no words.
I have no words. It's a mess. It's literally
a mess in MLB this year. But that's what you
want. You want these games to mean something.
You want the last place teams, the teams at the
bottom to play. To keep fighting. Yeah, to keep
fighting and to upset teams who want to go. These
losses mean something, which is what you want.
100 % is what you want. Did I expect like this
kind of disparity? No, I think in our preseason
MLB, we had Dallas in like fifth. We had India
at the top, but then we had like Atlanta in second,
who's just cruising like down there. And I don't
know, fifth, sixth, maybe in the mix. Yeah. I
mean, I think every, a lot of teams are in the
mix for three and four minus like Columbus. Kudos
to the bottom three teams for sticking it out
and continuing to put up a fight. Well, you know,
it's pucker time. Adam's favorite time of year,
everybody. Pucker time. On the love front, Nebraska
had a really good week. They beat Atlanta 3 -2
and Salt Lake in three. So they have jumped into
third place in a surprising turn of events here.
I think last week I or we said that. The Nebraska
team stink. So we'll have to rescind that. No,
that was a question. No, no, no, no. T. T. That
is how old I am. Remember? Did you ever used
to say that? On the playground? T. Yeah. Instead
of timeout, we used to just yell T. Anyways,
that's a 90s kid thing. In Ontario. We didn't
say that. A listener said it. In the form of
a question, and we just answered. Okay, fair
enough. Well, I will point out that Nebraska
has come on strong in love. Yeah, they jumped.
It's wild to me that they are now in third. Salt
Lake, have I seen a more drastic plummet? This
is a millstone situation. No, think about it.
Have we seen a more drastic plummet in recent
time? What are we talking about? Volleyball.
I mean, I can think of a couple, at least on
the beach side, that were more drastic than this.
Okay, tell me. The Canada -Mexico meltdown for
the Olympics. Oh my gosh, RIP. We're not talking
about that. It wasn't me, you guys. But no, I
mean, this is hard to do with their roster. We
were watching Champions League, and we were talking
about Salt Lake while we were watching Champions
League. We will talk about the Fenerbahce -Scandici
series in a bit here, but these women were absolutely
blasting serves. Were there a lot of errors?
Yes. Were there a lot of aces? Also, yes. But
it's just the fearlessness, the like, I need
to go for this if my team is going to have a
chance mentality. The way that Salt Lake has
just put that away and are serving muffins. Pillow
fight. It's a pillow fight out there. You're
not going to win a pillow fight. Okay. You need
to grenade these people. I mean, you need some
sort of aggression from the service line. And
it's not only that. And I'm sorry. Where is.
Like at this point, you have almost lost double
digit matches in a row and your middles. I think
Dixon had one game where she was like four for
five. I just don't understand. That is literally
the question every week. It's like, where's Waldo?
Where's Efena Kosipala? Oh, she's over there
on the bench. Unless she has a broken femur,
she needs to play. I'm sure. Give her a chance.
And you know what? Get your spin server spin
serving again, because right now, whatever you're
doing, it's not working. But no, again, no changes.
No changes for the worse. Yeah. Let's all stand
on the ground and float serve. so confused as
to what happens because I think that's one of
the better rosters in the league. Yes. It's shocking.
There's no words for that. No words. So they
were crushing it so far ahead in first place
for a lot of the season and now they're in fourth.
They're going to miss the playoffs. As of today,
Austin and Madison are out of playoffs if it
were today. But Austin plays Salt Lake this week.
Who's going to show up or better yet, in Adam's
words, who is going to pucker? That's always
the question. Okay. It's going to be interesting
to see what happens. Again, love that these matches
actually mean something. I wonder if there's
a bonus structure attached to making playoffs.
I think just to winning. No, not mistaken. In
love there is? Yeah. What do they get to win?
Money. They do? I believe so. Did they last year?
I think last year the money was for the tournament.
The Triple Crown tournament? I think so. If I'm
not mistaken. There was a cash prize somewhere
along the way. Regardless. Let's see what happens
because this is wild stuff. The Italian playoffs,
baby. Corneliano won their semifinal series against
Navarra. Three matches to none. Rolling. Heading
into this week, Scandici Milano. Milano was up
two matches to none. Scandici won match three,
3 -1. And match four. Milan 0 -1, 3 -1. So it's
a Conigliano -Milano final. Meanwhile, Scandici
has to chill for another month and a bit to go
to the final four for Champions League. That
is tough. I hope they got a week off. You aren't
playing league anymore and you just have to train
for a whole month. Yeah, I hope they were given
a week off. That's tough to do. Mentally, for
the players who aren't Italian, even for the
ones who are Italian. It's going to be hard to
stay engaged, so I'm curious to see what happens.
That is really tough. I hope they gave them at
least a week off or something just to kind of
recharge the batteries. A little trip to Lake
Como. Oh my gosh, for real. As I said, Corneliano
Milano in the final. For men, the semifinals
are set. Piacenza beat Modena 3 -1 in match five
of the quarterfinal series. So we've got Verona
versus Civitanova and Perugia versus Piacenza.
So that will be interesting. And in Champions
League, the men's quarterfinal home matches happened
this past week. So Warsaw beat Lublin 3 -1. Perugia
beat Las Palmas in 5. Zawierce beat Civitanova
3 -0. And Ankara beat Sheshov, which I think
that's how you say it because I heard some announcers
on Champions League say Sheshov. So here I was
saying like Reshov. I'm trying my best over here,
everybody. So yeah, Ankara beat Sheshov 3 -0.
The return matches are this week. Perugia needs
to make sure they win or if they lose, at least
lose in five. Yep. You hate. They're going home,
though, so hopefully it'll work. But Trentino
did the same thing to Warsaw. That will be interesting
stuff. I mean, it's so hard to pick what to watch
because there's so many matches that have meaning
that are such a high caliber with a high compete
level. I mean, again, it's a great time of year.
Well, I also have to say, for us, our focus has
had to be narrowed so much. Now, because of having
a little baby, so we don't have like the same
time as we used to, to just like chill out and
watch volleyball like whenever we want. So we
have had to really, really dial in our focus
of what we're watching too. And so this week,
full disclosure, we went back and watched the
women's quarterfinals of Fenerbahce -Scandici
because we wanted to get that breakdown. And
I went back and watched the Hawaii match from
the previous week because I heard it was really
good and I wanted to see Trisky play. Versus
Long Beach. Yeah. So what were your takeaways?
I mean, it was a good game. I thought Trisky
did well. Hawaii is... No Cade. No Cade. You
know I'm not going to drop this for the rest
of time anymore. Swindle and Cade. I was just
about to say, but I was like, you know what?
You're going to overdo it. Don't bring Swindle
into this. Adam did. Thank you. Hawaii is humming.
I'm looking forward to another showdown with
Hawaii and UCLA. I think it's going to be...
I still think UCLA is better, but I think it'll
be a better game. You think that that would be
the best final? I do. Right now, I do. I just
think they're... I think they're the two best
teams. Do you think Hawaii will win the Big West
tournament? Yes. Do you think UCLA will win the
MPSF tournament? Yes. Do you care who's hosting?
Not really. BYU is hosting MPSF, by the way.
These aren't new teams. They've competed at a
high level. They've been to finals. They understand
how to prepare. If that's going to be your reason,
it just shouldn't be for those two teams, in
my opinion. You know what the deal is. You've
been to the dance. Well, regardless, you know
both of those teams are making the tournament
anyway. Yeah, totally. And it went up to 12 teams
instead of just eight. Regardless of where they
play. I know Hawaii gets a boost at home and
it's a further travel. They need to be ready
to go. And I think they will be. I'm also excited
for the MIVA tournament because that conference
is always a mess. All season long, they all just
beat up on each other. It's not quite the same
caliber. But the sheer competitiveness of it
makes it very entertaining. All that to say,
it is very difficult for us to narrow in on what
we want to watch in any given week. It has been
a challenge. Those were the big highlights, happenings,
you name it, this week in the volleyball world
that we really focus in on. So, yeah, very exciting
stuff. All right. This segment, we had a listener
write in, and I thought this was a great idea,
and it's a fun exercise. So we're going to put
together dream teams from three different categories.
First will be an international dream team. Second
will be a U .S. roster dream team. And the third
one will be an NCAA dream team with players who
will be playing next year, so no graduating seniors.
So let's dive in and see what you got. Are we
starting international? Sure. What position?
Setter? Okay. Who do you have for your setter?
I picked Oro. Me too. On the same page so far.
Perfect. Who do you pick for left sides? My instinct
was Gabi and Markova. Gabi is on mine too. I
struggled with the second one for this because
I thought Markova, but her passing is rough.
Beyond rough. Anna Christina. She's not getting
a ton of court time with Fenerbahce and coming
back from her knee surgery. I'm like, I mean,
if it was pre -surgery, I'd probably pick Anna
Christina. But right now I'm like, I haven't
been able to see her enough. Like maybe my opinion
would change after VNL if she gets a chance to
start again. Then I thought about Fedorov -Seva,
but I'm like, wow, her passing is even more tragic.
And I don't love her arm swing, to be honest.
Her arm swing is crazy. I like her. I think she's
an outstanding player. She keeps her shoulders,
we'll talk about this anyways, so open on her
attack. It's really hard to find a left side
that has it all. You know? And so I'm like, who
has it all? And Ishikawa has it all. But she
has it all within the Japanese system. And we've
seen internationally it doesn't work for her
as well. Like at Navarra. Yeah. All that to say
that I've been stumped. You're going to pick
Antropova? That would make my right side decision
easier. She's unproven on the left side so far.
I just think you can hide Markova enough with
Gabi. And a really good libero. And a good setter.
You need another terminal piece. Okay, I can
get behind Markova because she was definitely
on my list. My hang up with her was her passing.
Sure. But which, again, which left side? And
I know Gabi can score, but you just need another
hitter out there. And I think I like her. Okay.
So we got Oro, Gabi, and Markova right side.
This was my toughest decision. And I'm not sure
that I would make this decision all the time.
And I'm willing to admit there is some recency
bias here. I think right now Antropova is playing
the best volleyball out of any of the right sides.
Did you say that because you knew I was going
to pick her? I didn't know who you were going
to pick. I thought you were going to pick Pagano.
You guys, I know that people are going to be
up in arms about this. I am obsessed with Antropova.
Obsessed with her. This girl, her serving, her
attacking. And she tries on defense. She tries
on defense. She's not a defensive stalwart, but
she's better than, she might be the best defensive
right side out of the top players that there
is. And she's 6 '7", and she's like getting to
the ground, doing pancakes. Yeah, my thing with
her is that I've just seen her, specifically
in Champions League, affecting the match in all
phases. All phases. From the baseline, from the
block, attacking front row, back row. Not a liability
on defense. She's just, right now, she's playing
better than any of the other right sides. I love
her. She was my pick. Okay. Middles? I'm going
to go with Farr and Julia Kudais. This was another
one that stumped me. I also, just before you
go, Gunesh was also on my list. Okay. Ogbogu
was on my list. So I was thinking Ogbogu for
sure. And then I was deciding between Julia Kudais
and Farr. I think I'm going to give it to Kudais.
Okay. You guys know I love the Italian roster,
period. But I have to go with Ogbogu and Kudais.
Libero? I struggle with this. Or can we pick...
Retired national team because I was going to
go Dajanaro again. Well, that's the obvious answer,
but I think she's done. Oh, so we can't pick
her? So who else? Let's make it interesting.
Okay, then I'm going to go with Brenda Castillo.
Ooh. Yeah, maybe Gizm. Over a Japanese libero
or Justine? I have a hard time. I would have
picked Justine, but in my mind, she's ineligible.
okay you decided that well she's not she's not
playing okay we have to talk about the eligibility
rules for the u .s stream team okay when we get
there okay fair so okay if juan orantes is in
i would pick her if she's not i like castillo
i like everything about gizm's game except for
her in -system nonchalant approach to setting
but Other than that, I think defensively, I watched
her dig a ton of balls down the line. It was
really good. I like the way she passes. There's
tempo. She moves well. She's definitely up there
for me. And again, I will admit that there's
some recency bias because we watched that series,
but I was impressed with what I saw. And she
did well in VNL too. This is for me. Okay, so
my roster is Alessia Oro, then Gabi and Markova,
then Entropova. Julia Kudais and Ogbagu and Brenda
Castillo. So my roster was the same, but for
middles I had Farr instead of Ogbagu and Gizem
instead of Castillo. Okay, let us hear it. I
know people are punching their computer screens
right now. I love listening to what other people
would pick and who they think is the best. So
yeah, let's have at it. Yeah, let's like have
a nice discussion about it. Post your roster.
We put ourselves out there. Now it's up to you.
Let's see what you've got. What changes would
you make? All right. U .S. Dream Team. What are
the stipulations? Are we saying anybody who potentially
could play in L .A.? Are we saying people who
are currently eligible as in non -injury, not
pregnant, not on maternity leave? Let's go 2028
roster. Anybody that potentially could be available.
Are we talking people who have like said they've
for sure announced their retirement from national
team? No. People who have retired, who have said
they've retired publicly are off the list. Okay.
So that takes out like a Lauren Carlini, for
example. Yes. Okay. Satter. A non -injured Poulter.
She is not playing well at Salt Lake, but I still
think given the type of offense they need to
run. I think she's my choice still. That's my
issue, is watching her recently. I'm like, no.
I mean, that's totally fair. But even recently,
who are you going to pick over her? Well, then
I was thinking Micah Hancock, but I'm like, I
haven't even seen her play all season because
of her neck. Right. So I'm like, can I actually
say her? Not really. Not with any kind of faith.
I haven't watched Jenna Gray play. I want her
to be on my list. I haven't seen Kami Miner play
much because of her backup situation in Milano.
So, yeah, I feel like I need to say Poulter even
though I don't really want to. Again, they're
limited in that position currently. You're going
to have to wait until VNL to see, but I think
the spot is still Poulter's in my opinion. Left
sides? I have been thoroughly impressed with
Skinner, Avery. So she is on the roster for sure.
It's a little murky after that for me. So Avery
Skinner is my pick for sure. I want to say Kalia
Lanier. Based off how she's been playing recently,
that's a defensible choice. Do you think her
upside is good enough? Let's say over a healthy
and motivated plumber. But I haven't been impressed
with plumber this season. And that's totally
fair. She's riding the bench at Azazibashi. Her
ball control at its best for me wasn't like stupendous.
Plummer or Franklin? At this point, I would say
Franklin. And then between Franklin and Lanier,
you're picking Lanier. I'm picking Lanier because
she's consistently been on the court for a top
team. Franklin comes in every now and then and
does a good job when she comes in. But I think
Lanier, given the chance to play, is the choice.
Cause I think she's better than Eggleston. I
think she's, you know, better than who they had
traveling last summer. Sure. Franklin, I would
say is in the mix right now, but like, unless
you want to add like Kelsey Robinson cook back
to the mix, but offensively, I think her time
has passed. Lanyer this year, but I don't think
she's going to be the final solution for 2028.
Who do you think is going to be? I'm not sure
yet. Do you think like a college kid? I think
it's too close for the college kids. No, I think
there's at least a high likelihood that one of
Franklin and or Plummer passes her. Okay. Opposite?
Thompson. Part of me almost said Babcock. I have
to go with Thompson right now. I want to see
Kendall Kipp this summer in an international
situation. I want to see Olivia Babcock again.
Madison Skinner is not it for me on the right
side, but I would say right now. And I don't
love any Drews, Schumacher. So for me, it's Jordan
Thompson currently. I know we talked about what
league she plays in, and I think that that is
still a fair point comparing her to international
right sides. But in the U .S., she's just currently
playing better than any of the other right sides.
It's hers, period. Well, we have heard some whispers
about Taylor Bannister from Sheshov. I didn't
watch them play yet. They're on our list to watch
as we go back and watch those Champions League
matches. So I'll put an asterisk next to that.
I might change my mind, but right now it's her.
Whether we agree with her choice to play in Love
or go internationally, you can only play where
you're at in the moment. And she is playing very
well and better than anybody else. In her current
situation. Middles? Rettke and Abagu. Same. And
Libero. I mean, Justine. Same. Again, assuming
she comes back, you know, close to what she was
before. No, but these were the rules. Yeah. I
just don't think anybody is close to her right
now. Her read of the game, her positioning, her
touch on the ball, the trust she's built in her
defensive unit and the other passers. I just
don't think there's anybody close to her. Okay,
so we agreed pretty much across the board. Our
U .S. Dream Team currently is Poulter, Avery
Skinner, and Clea Lanier, Jordan Thompson, Chiaka
Agbagu, and Dana Retke, and then Justine Wong
-Arantes. I hope we get to see that roster at
VNL. I'd be curious to see how they do. Well,
we're not going to see Justine. Well, fair. But
the rest, I hope, and I hope some of the players
that we mentioned at least get to travel. So
we can see like how they do. Okay. Our last dream
team, current U S collegiate dream team. And
as Adam said, it is players who are going to
be playing in the upcoming 2026 season. So we've
taken off a huge chunk of the seniors who, who
finished their eligibility. Let's get the obvious
one out of the way. Who's your rights? Well,
people are going to probably, there's probably
going to be some people who are pissed and be
like, Olivia Babcock, what about Kennedy Martin?
I don't care. Olivia Babcock. Yeah, Olivia Babcock.
Okay. Okay, now we got that one. Now it gets
interesting. Setter. I know who you're going
to pick. Who am I picking? Harley Frebringer.
Correct. You guys know I love Izzy Stark. I haven't
seen her play in a long, long time, so I can't
in good conscience pick her anymore. For me,
at this moment, it comes down to Bergen -Riley
and Charlie Furbringer. I think the thing that
pushes Charlie over the edge is her out -of -system
setting. A, she's had to set out -of -system
a whole lot more than Bergen -Riley because Wisconsin's
ball control is not near what Nebraska's is.
And when she's had to set out -of -system, her
location's just better than Bergen's, I think.
So that is why I'm picking Charlie, too. Okay.
Left sides. Do you want to go one -on -one? Okay,
so my first pick is Kendall Stowers. Interesting.
She was in my mix. Okay. I was going to do Tori
Stafford. She was my second. Okay, I was also
kind of throwing Brooklyn DeLay around. Fair
choice. I know I can't say this. I don't know
her. I don't coach her. But there is a doggedness
and an attitude about Kendall Stowers. That just,
I love. And she's the kind of athlete that I
would love to coach. She is it for me in terms
of coming back, resilience, her mindset, how
aggressive she is, the swings she's willing to
take. I just think that those things matter.
And I saw those in her run with Texas A &M. That
is, Delay's a great choice. I just, for me, the
intangibles. We're over the top with Stowers.
No, I didn't say I picked. I said it was like
between Delaney and Stowers for me. Tori Stafford
was one of my picks, and then I was like flip
-flopping between the two. Straight skill, though.
You're bringing intangibles in for this one person,
which we haven't done for anybody else. Straight
skill. Is she still your pick? Yes. I can get
behind it. Middles? I had Annie Jackson. Okay,
yes. Me too. And Lizzie Andrews. She was also
on my list. Who else did you have? The only other
one that I was kind of throwing around was Jayla
Auguste. Fair consideration, but I don't think
she's on the same level as those two. And Libero.
I picked Van Gorp. I mean, I know we talked about
the Libero pool not being super deep this year,
but I picked Van Gorp. I was thinking Tuzzo.
You guys know I hate her jump setting, but yeah,
she's... Or even Lola Schumacher. Ooh, yeah.
I thought Lola Schumacher really stepped into
her own this season. Her freshman year, I was
a little concerned about her passing, but I think
she got a lot better and really, like, owned
her role at UCLA. Yeah, she was forced to pass
and take a lot of balls because they were not
very good. Yeah. You're sticking with Van Gorp?
Schumacher... I mean, I thought... Tuzzo and
Van Gorp were kind of the two I was going between.
Schumacher's a good pick. I'll stay with Van
Gorp. Take Schumacher. Okay, so we are pretty
much the same except for Liberos. Yeah. So we
had Charlie Furbringer. Then we had Olivia Babcock
on the right side. We had Tori Stafford and Kendall
Stowers, potentially Brooklyn Tilley, on the
left side. Andy Jackson and Lizzie Andrew in
the middle. And you had Rachel Van Gorb. I had
Lola Schumacher at Libero. This was a lot of
fun to think about, actually. I really enjoyed
this segment. These stress me out so much. I
know, but thank you for the suggestions. Keep
them coming because, I mean, I hope you guys
like listening to them because we really enjoy
doing them. As promised, we're going to go through
the Women's Champions League quarterfinal series
this week. we wanted to dive into Fenerbahce
-Scandici because I thought Fenerbahce was going
to make the final four. I had them making the
final, okay? It's been a while since we've done
this. I'm kind of excited. I needed to see what
was going on. And this is the only series that
went to a golden set, so we were very intrigued.
Match one. Okay, hold on. I was thinking for
all of these, we should go over the teams and
just say on paper who you think would be better
in each position. Adam came with a plan today.
I'm excited. We dove into some numbers for these
ones. I'm looking forward to it. Let's start
with a fun one. Fenerbahce, Vargas, Scandici,
Antropova. On paper, without having watched it,
who do you give the nod to? You know how I feel
about Antropova. But who do you think common
perception? I don't know what the perception
is. I mean, there are clearly Vargas fans out
there. I think people probably expected Fenerbahce
to win. I think people probably expected Vargas
to take over. Yeah, I would agree. So I think
Fenerbahce actually gets the nod on the right
side position on paper. What about on the setting
position? Fenerbahce. Okay. And then what do
you think on the left side position? Fenerbahce.
So you think... Fedorov, Seva, and then you've
got the combo of Baladine and Anna Christina
versus Avery Skinner and Katerina Rossetti. And
Sarah Franklin, if you're looking at three. And
Sarah Franklin. And then in the middle? I think
that Fenerbahce has the edge. I think Fenerbahce
has the edge in every position except Libero.
Okay. Fair enough. On paper. Yeah. I think it's
a fun exercise to just quickly think about and
go through. I mean, you said it. You thought
Fenerbahce was going to win. So give me your
thoughts on the first match. Antropova. She,
for me, Scandici won three straight. Antropova
had 25 points, six of which were aces. She literally
lit them up in every facet of the game. She scored
incredibly well offensively. She was blocking
Fedor Otseva so well. To the point that Fenerbahce
switched their rotation in set two to get her
away from her and served lights out. They could
not handle her serve. She carried that team and
was unbelievable. I think she just was wow. So
I agree with you that she was the difference
maker on that. But the numbers are interesting.
So everything you just said, forget it. I think
your perception of watching it is accurate. But
the biggest difference was from the serving line.
All of the other stats are similar, or even Vargas
was better. So if you look from an attacking...
But I'm not even thinking, like, what's the difference
between head -to -head players? And Tropova just,
like, showed up and carried her team. Totally
fair. But I think the difference came from how
good she was from the baseline. Because the stats
on the serves were... Scandicci had 11 aces to
7 errors. And Fenerbahce had three aces on eight
errors. And to me, that's the difference, given
how close most of the sets were. And Andropova
single -handedly, I think, had a serving run
to put a set out of reach when it was close.
But she hit 205 on the match with 17 kills. Vargas
hit 486 with 21 kills. And they both had two
blocks. So minus the... serving run or continual
serving that Antropova put on, like Vargas played
well. No, I'm not saying she didn't. Yeah, I
know. I never said that she didn't. I was just
so incredibly impressed with how Antropova showed
up. Fenerbahce can't pass. Agreed. Like you've
got the best setter in the world who is setting
most balls from behind the 10 foot line or in
front of the 10 foot line off of a knee. Okay.
It is so, I don't care how good you are. It is
so hard to run a productive offense if you are
running all over the place. They weren't able
to get their middles involved, hardly at all.
It was like high balls to Fedor Oseva and Vargas
the whole match. Then Fedor Oseva and Baladin
are just getting lit up in server -sieve. Yeah,
so middle -wise... They actually, and again,
this is where perception is so interesting. You
are wrong. Keep talking, keep talking. Tell me
everything. I'll just say you're wrong. You're
not wrong. But they ran the middle the same amount
of time. So Fenerbahce ran 14 middle balls. Scandicci
ran 13. But it felt like Scandicci always had
an option in the middle. And the percentage was
way better. So Fenerbahce only hit 286. And out
of the middle, that's atrocious. And for Scandici,
they hit 462. And most of that was Weitzel. But
when you have Ada Erdem, who runs that slide
so well, you need to be using her more. Totally.
And because the passing was so bad, you knew
when Fenerbahce was going to run the middle.
So it wasn't as effective. So even though the
numbers are similar, it just didn't feel like
Fenerbahce ever owned the center of the court
or the middle of the court. I can't say I expected
them to come into Scandici and get swept first
straight. No, absolutely not. That first match
was shocking. And again, without Antropova, it
doesn't happen that way. Not only was she so
good, but she was clutch in the moments she needed
to be. We talk about this a lot on the podcast
about having a player. Who can step up in the
situations. Of somebody who can score. When you
know where the ball is going. Antropova was unbelievable.
In the big moments. Whether it was blocking.
Attacking. Serving. Vargas was too. I don't want
to take that away from her. She was too. She
just wasn't as good as Antropova. Because her
team in general. They weren't putting each other
in a position. To be successful. It's so hard
to run an offense at that level. 12 feet off
the net yeah you i don't think you can look at
that match and go vargas needed to be better
but no it's not that's just not accurate better
at save i thought had a really tough connection
with oral though she could not get going at all
yeah like she started real slow she found her
rhythm here and there but like that connection
between those two players looked rough well fenerbahce
outsides as a core hit 163 versus 222 for scandici
Similar number of kills, just more errors. And
despite all that, Katerina Bossetti gets player
of the game. Which is outrageous. Unless I completely
misunderstood what that award was she was holding
at the end. I think I had the TV on mute because
the baby was sleeping, but... Maybe it was a
passing award. Like, I'm like, why is she going
up and getting anything? Like, Entropova scored
a full set out of three. The first two sets were
good. The third set, they kind of rolled them.
But the first two sets, the margins were so slim.
It was very entertaining. Okay. Match two. You
saw the response from Fenerbahce that I think
we expected to see. Yeah. I mean, they had to
win in three or four to have a chance. Set one
was super tight. Super tight. Then Scandici blew
them out. I think it was like 16. Then Fenerbahce
had to like. Scandigi could not win another set.
So coming off of that tied 1 -1, Fenerbahce hammers
them. I think at one point it was... 11 -4 or
something at one point. I think it was like 16
-6 or something crazy. It was ridiculous. Well,
and let's also say that Fenerbahce made an adjustment
in the middle. They put Kalach in for... Oh,
Kornelic. For Kornelic. Okay, so you had heard
rumors about this match in that... management
told Marcello who to start yeah I heard I heard
some rumblings unverified wouldn't be shocking
that there were some suggestions in air quotes
made to the coaching staff as to what should
happen so I don't know what those were so Kornelik
who if you need a reminder is the starting middle
for Poland best middle blocker of VNL last year
She was on the bench in match two. She also wasn't
very good in match one. It's a good substitution
because Kalik played. She brings a fire too.
And she played really well. Like, Benerbachi's
middles were better than Scandici's middles.
They went and hit 413. They were 14 for 29. Like,
they, to me, I thought that was. Double the number
of sets they had in match one. Which, I mean,
they passed better. They scored better. Like,
it all makes sense. But I thought that was a
really. Smart sub. That worked out. Regardless
of. Where the idea came from. And Tropova. And
Vargas. Still a battle. Yes. I wouldn't say that.
And Tropova. Still like. Scored a bunch of points.
But she didn't like. Dominate in the same way.
It's hard to replicate that performance. And
Vargas. Stepped up. Particularly in set four.
When it was super tight again. Yeah. Scored.
The last two points. The last one being like
a flaming ace in between players. That thing
was moving. Andropova, how she affects the game
from the service line is just, it's incredible.
And it's not just aces and errors. She served
26 times in that match. And you're just, that
doesn't show up on the scorecard because you're
not necessarily getting aces all the time. you're
just putting teams in trouble. But I think that
that is worth mentioning because like that is
something at a higher level that teams look at
is how many points your service rotation generates
for your team. And the fact that she is serving
26 times in a four set match, like they are turning
points when she is at the baseline, which is
an important thing to look at when you're Planning
your game plan. And just to clarify. Because
I know somebody has the numbers memorized. These
stats for match two also include the golden set.
They weren't separated on this game sheet. And
I wasn't. I didn't go through them set by set.
But still. It's her ability to generate points.
Either directly or through her team. I'm not
sure I've ever seen anything like it. Her serve
has gotten a lot more consistent. In the last
year. I would say. She used to be. 50 -50, I
would say, on getting them in. She has gotten
a lot more consistent. You know who has gotten
way less consistent? Vargas? Oro. She has completely
changed her serve. She did just like a vanilla
jump float serve. She is trying to put a lot
more pace on it, is missing a lot more, which
the announcer was kind of critical of Marcello
for putting in the backup setter. Or Oro when
Oro was going to serve. If she's not confident
and she's making mistakes, take her out to serve
for like one rotation. It's a half rotation,
but she's being put in as soon as the serve is
lost. Like she's clearly doing a different serve.
It was not working in that match. She was making
a lot of errors. You could tell that she did
not look particularly confident in it. Absolutely
put the backup setter in for that half rotation.
So here's the most telling stat that I found
from this match. Fenerbahce and Scandicci both
had seven team aces. Okay. Scandicci had six
errors, six service errors, which is a fantastic
ratio. Yeah. I want you to throw me out a number
of the number of serves you think Fenerbahce
missed in this match. Well, I think Oral missed
three herself. And then I'm just trying to think
if I can remember anybody else missing. Vargas
missed. A couple. Did they miss like six? Seven?
28 serves. I almost blacked out. I blacked out,
you guys. 28 missed serves. Okay, now I just
feel ridiculous that I'm like, hmm. They didn't
miss many. This is a solid one to four. We're
talking like that's worse than men's volleyball.
But it brings up a very interesting point. Because
it didn't feel like there were that many missed
serves. Well, clearly not. Here I am scratching
my head. Did they even get seven? But they needed
to apply pressure. And it worked because the
Scandici middles were far less effective in this
match. They only hit 300. They were six for 20.
The outsides had far more pressure on them. Fenerbahce
out hit. as an outside core. Fenerbahce went
453 to Scandicci's 271. For outsides hitting
453 in a match, that's insanity. Well, Fedoroceva
hit 547 with 29 kills on the match. She played
much better this match, yes. They knew they needed
to apply pressure, and they were going to go
for it, and that was their strategy. And, I mean,
they won the first match, right? So clearly it
wasn't all terrible. Well, I know we talked about
this earlier, but Salt Lake needs to take some
notes here. Okay. You can't just run away from
the errors. It's too many. That was a lot. But
there's a philosophy behind that that the team
buys into that is important to win at high level
volleyball. You have to be applying service pressure.
Otherwise, good teams are just going to eat you
up. And, you know, you're kind of hoping if you
keep the mentality like your servers are going
to. are going to find it. Some of them, some
of them didn't. And you know, you had some people
with lollipop servers who were missing badly,
but in general, I mean, it's not a bad philosophy.
We got, I got some messages about balloting being
taken out at the end of the regular match and
then not being put back in, in the golden set.
And what were your thoughts on keeping Anna Christina
in for the golden set? I honestly, I didn't mind
the move because I didn't think Valadine was
playing particularly well. I don't have her numbers
directly in front of me, but if their outsides
hit 453 and Federal Seva hit 547, like the other
two were not particularly good. You know, you
got to go for it. Anna Christina, you know, has
a reputation of being a gamer, of being a big
time player. I mean, Baladine couldn't pass,
but neither could Ana Christina. Right. And so
then you're thinking about upside for Ana Christina
from an attacking standpoint and a blocking standpoint.
Baladine defensively is maybe better. Yeah. I
mean, it's a situation where you're making a
gut call based off what you're seeing and what
you know of your team. And the thing is, you
can criticize it now, but if it would have worked
and they were two points away from winning, you're
like, Marcel is a genius. He's a genius. He's
a genius. It was a great call. Whoa. But as a
coach, you live and die by those decisions, right?
Yeah. I don't think you can sit here and say
it was like a wild decision. Fenerbahce was down
substantially for most of that golden set, too.
You know, at one point. I think they were down
four for most of it. Three or four for most of
it. At one point, it was 12 -8. Yeah. They made
a push. They made a push. You know, we had a
setting. Timing miscommunication. You know. For
Scandici. For Scandici. We had. A hitting error.
A hitting error. As the set was progressing.
You were like. Oh my gosh. Scandici is going
to just run away with this. But to Fenerbahce's
credit. They did make a push. In the eyes of
their fans. And their management. Does that matter?
No. No. Well they're 0 -5 in golden sets. I think.
I think it's 0 -6 now. Maybe. Not great. Like.
They were talking about. Oh they. Won. Champions
League in 2012. That's when I was in the Champions
League Final Four, okay? Like, a club of that
reputation, I would have thought they would have
won it for sure more recently than 2012. I will
say, you know, I thought Scandici had a pretty
good game plan when they were in trouble in terms
of taking the attack to the Vargas, Federov -Seva
tip defense. That intersection between Federov
-Seva and Vargas. Not great. That tip zone in
the middle, Bermuda triangle, as Adam likes to
call it. The ball just disappears. So, you know,
and not only that, they're both going for it
because they know somebody has to dig it. Then
you're taking away their two best hitters. And
now, you know, you're going to get. you know,
a marginal back row ball if they make a dig.
They had an offensive plan that they were able
to exploit in certain situations, and I thought
Skinner did a good job of that. The game was
so close. It could have gone either way. I know
four points is a lot in a 15 -point set, but
they fought back. Yeah, it was 15 -13 at the
end. Yeah. Who would you say are your players
of the match for each side in match two slash
golden set? I mean, I thought Federal Seva was
outstanding for Fenerbahce. I mean, that's the
response you want to have from one of your top
players. Tons of credit to her. She was outstanding.
I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but
I want to give it to Skinner. She did a really
good job. I thought she was solid. I thought
she passed pretty well. I know they're pinching
her and they're not giving her a lot of responsibility,
but she took care of the ball she needed to.
She made some massive swings. ballsy swings at
the end of the golden set well against she was
the one who had the miscommunication and made
a hitting error and then they set her again and
she scored two in a row like she could have crumbled
she came back and made a big time swing in a
big moment that's for me it's growth it shows
she is and I'm going to say this and people are
going to jump down my throat. She is learning
how to win in the biggest moments. When you make
a mistake to close that gap in a fifth set to
go to the semifinals in Champions League, that's
probably one of the biggest pressure moments
of her career. And to come back and to make two
great swings against a good block. I don't know
how anybody can disagree with that. I'm sorry.
Winning is a skill that you need to learn like
everything else. And if you're never put in those
moments where you need to execute when you feel
like you're going to barf all over the floor,
then what are you doing? You're never going to
learn how to do that. Like you need to be put
in those situations where you want to run and
hide and you don't have anywhere to go. And you
need to prove to yourself and to everybody else
that you can do it because then the next time
you're there, you just replicate it. And then
that's how you become a winner. So I think that
that is huge. We've seen Antropova do it. We've
seen Vargas do it. We've seen players that were
in that match do it. Fedorovseva did it. Skinner
needed that. I totally agree. And again, you
can probably always give MVP to Antropova. Like
she also played well. She had the game winning
swing. Like she serves great. But I think if
you look at her performance from match one to
match two, like she was better in match one.
And I thought Skinner, you know, when the chips
were down. played really well. So I was impressed.
I was really, really impressed watching her take
those last couple swings. Regardless of the outcome,
I do feel for Fenerbahce. To play for a club
like that, the expectations are sky high. And
to consistently lose in a golden set situation,
that is tough. And I'm sure that they are hearing
about it from all angles. It is hard to play
for a club that demands excellence. But it's
also something that you need to do to advance
your career and get better, etc. I thought, so
even though I do feel for them, I loved watching
this series. It was so entertaining, such high
quality volleyball. I love this. This is why
we do the podcast, quite frankly. Yeah, it was
just so good. And you're moving. Just watching
how the athletes are attacking defenses, adjustments,
serving strategies, it doesn't get much better
than this, quite frankly. Well, NDG moving on
to their second Final Four in a row. They came
second last year, so we will see if they can
improve on that this year because they will go
head -to -head with Azazibashi in the semifinals
in a month. Okay, let's dive into our listener
questions for the week. Question one. Do you
guys think there will be massive movement in
love once the second season comes to an end?
Do you think the voice of media people, Volley
Talk, the forum, outside voices, loved ones,
etc. will be enough to convince players to play
overseas? So we're talking about players leaving
love for overseas. Is that? Yeah, massive movement.
Because a lot of players sign two -year contracts
at the start of Love. And obviously the second
season is coming to an end. They're wondering
if we think that there will be a mass exodus.
I don't think so. I think that players like playing
in Love. I think if they're not national team
potentials, that they won't leave. So what about
players that are like a Maddie Skinner or a Logan
Eggleston, those types? Honestly, I have no idea
where their head's at. I think that Avery Skinner
has done so well overseas. If she's talking to
her sister, she might be able to convince her
to go. But again, they're playing for the national
team coach. It's hard. And I think those two
realistically are the big ones, right? None of
the, I want to say, legacy players. but the U
S national team who have done it a whole bunch
are going to go back overseas if they're going
to play national team. So I think what we're
really talking about is Skinner, Angleston, and
maybe Jordan Thompson. Like those would be the
three. I would consider Jordan Thompson a legacy
type player too. She's played a couple Olympics.
But she is also going to be integral to their
success going forward. I think as a hitter, it's
more important to play against the big block
and to get the feel than let's say for a setter.
you can kind of still run your offense. I think
for me, those three players are the big question
mark, but I honestly don't think Eggleston is
going to end up being a starter. So it's really
between Maddie and Jordan, who's going to start
and is, are either of them going to go overseas
to cement that I think is the real question.
Well, and I mean, like you said, I think love
is comfortable. Yeah. And even just like watching
champions league, it's just a different vibe
and just. Like these coaches are screaming at
these players and you do not see that in North
America. It's just a complete, you see the fans
like booing, throwing things on the floor, hissing,
like, you know, management is getting in people's
faces. And I guarantee you, this is not the case
in the North American league. So it's just, what
are you willing to handle to get better? It'll
be an interesting question, and I'm very curious,
but I don't think so. I think it's too, like
you said, it's comfortable. Okay, question two.
Now that Turner took over the starting role for
Grand Rapids Rise, does this hurt Sage's chances
of returning to the national team? I would think
that it wouldn't make sense for her to make the
lineup if she couldn't even keep her starting
spot in a weaker league. I mean, I think you
and I both didn't really picture her setter for
the national team so when she got named to the
roster last season we were just jaw on the floor
all things equal yes losing your starting spot
doesn't look great especially in the quote -unquote
lower league but honestly she was like the only
setter that the former texas players could connect
with last summer i thought yeah so that is the
one thing she has going in her favor but the
offense isn't an international offense when she
said no it's not long term it's not a good decision
But we did have a lot of setter injuries last
year. Like Jenna Gray, I think, was injured.
Rachel Fairbanks was injured. Kami Miner was
in school. So it'll be really interesting to
see if they choose to utilize those players that
were unavailable last season. And I mean, those
four setters alone are ahead of her. I think
so. Yeah. Okay, question three. Rewatching some
older USA volleyball matches, Logan Tom was thought
of as one of the best U .S. women's volleyball
players ever. I would say by now Jordan Larson
can be added to that list. Who is better, Logan
or Jordan, and why? Who is better in their prime?
If Logan Tom was in this era of volleyball, who
would be better? It is so hard to answer questions
like this because you even look at like... NBA
discussions and stuff and it's like if Kareem
Abdul -Jabbar was playing in this era like how
would he fare and it's just like comparing apples
to oranges but you also played with both of them
I did play with both of them okay Kareem Abdul
-Jabbar to now is like more of a stretch than
Logan Tom playing now I get it so back off but
it's really interesting question because they
are very very similar athletes their their style
of play is similar their makeup as like their
skill sets as far as ball control defense when
Jordan was spin serving like it's actually eerie
how similar their styles are I think it's fair
to say that Jordan can 100 % go down as one of
the best ever without in US women's volleyball
like she's won four Olympic medals are you kidding
me I think it's worth taking a look at the personnel
around those athletes and the types of teams
that they were on because it's hard to compare
people's results to each other when the makeup
of teams is so different. I mean, when you have
players slotted in the right spot, it allows
them to succeed on a team level. And I think
that's where you can't really compare because
the U .S. was in their golden age of volleyball
when Jordan was playing. I know that Jordan and
Logan played together in the 2012 games in London.
But just the whole vibe of USA Volleyball at
the time was just different. And I think that
they became more of a unit as time went on. Who
was better in their prime? How do you answer
that? What's your instinct? There's no right
or wrong answer. They're both amazing. You can't
prove it one way or the other. But what comes
to mind? Well, let me ask you this. Who do you
think was a more fierce competitor? Logan. That
was my instinct as well. I think at the time,
Logan was doing things that you didn't see many
players doing. When I think of hitting a cross
-body line shot, I think of Logan Tom. You know
what I mean? Jordan is a polished, skilled athlete
from top to bottom. But do I think she necessarily
like revolutionized a game? No. Like I wanted
to be Logan. So that is also coloring my opinion.
I don't think it's fair for me to answer this
because like I literally looked up to Logan and
wanted to be her when I was like young. That
is always going to be hanging in my mind. I mean,
if you're looking straight at results, who is
better in their prime, you have to say Jordan.
She won four Olympic medals. Like, you can't
deny that. If Logan played now, if I take Logan
in her prime and slot her in now, would she start
for the national team? Yes. This question is
so challenging. Do you have a take at all? I
didn't get to see much of Logan in her prime.
You played with her towards the end. But just
understanding how she approached her craft and
even how she performed in that season with you.
and having watched Jordan for longer, there's
an edge to Logan that you see with the greatest
competitors. And I think, for me, that's what
maybe puts it over the top. I love this question.
I'm sorry I'm not answering it well. Okay, question
four. MLV seems to be starved for opposites.
True. Agreed. Is it typical for stronger opposites
to go overseas or is it a position that isn't
as developed in college players? It seems like
a lot of the opposites were outsides in college.
There's two factors to this question. One is
opposites are generally the highest paid players.
So if you're a good opposite, you can get more
money than you can playing an MLV unless you're
a 6 '7 passing left side who's terminal. Those
are always worth the most. The other piece of
it is in college, opposites don't play six rotations.
Very rare. You can't have them on the floor in
MLV because you can't sub them off. I mean, and
that goes across the board. MLV, love, take your
pick. So even if you see some of these big terminal
athletes coming out of college, they're not ready
to compete in a game like this because they have
to play in the back row. They have to play defense.
They become a huge liability. You take a passing
outside. Who's maybe not your best passer, but
has ball control and you move them over to be
terminal and your team is better than having
a really offensive player with a black hole in
the back row. The transition is tough. I think
you'll end up seeing them trying to train some
of these players, maybe quote unquote red shirting
them on an MLB team for a year to get their defense
kind of up to par. But I think for right now,
that's the reason you see the issue. Yeah. I
mean, I think in recent years, even the NCAA
has been starved for good opposites. But if you
think of bigger opposites and a smack went overseas
right away, let Nikki went to love. What other
great, I don't even want to say great. What other
decent opposites have come out of college recently?
And like, I'm saying this on the fly. I'm sure
everybody has a list in their head, but like
just thinking of this, like in a split second,
I'm like, okay, Olivia Babcock will probably
go overseas, I hope. Kennedy Martin. Kennedy
Martin's coming. And then I'm like, okay, Noemi
Glover is an MLV -style opposite for me. I agree.
Like, she could do MLV. But, yeah, I think the
U .S. in general is not developing opposites
to be able to play six rotations, like you said.
And at the pro level, you have to be able to
play a little bit of defense, at least, like
serviceable. hopefully, and know how to hit in
the back row. Well, you even see, we watched
some Champions League matches this week, and
the defensive hole between Vargas and Federer
-Seva, who are both great offensive players,
was exploited by Scandici. Like, you have to
be able to not be a minus on defense. You don't
have to make spectacular plays, but good coaches
and well -run teams will exploit defensive holes,
and you can't have them. Okay, question five.
Do you think Kalia Lanier has a strong chance
of being selected for the VNL this year based
on her strong performance with Milano? Given
that she's often performing at or above the level
of some current contending outsides, will she
finally be given a real opportunity after only
limited chances in the past? I mean, I hope so.
We saw last summer, I think she might've been
injured during VNL actually, but then like at
world champs, she got subbed in for a game and
like got aced twice, like right away. And then
they took her out again. And it's like, not really
fair. You're not being put in a position to succeed.
If your team is sucking and then they're like,
just go in, make a difference. And you're like,
okay. And like, then you're never given a chance
again. Like that's really unfortunate. I think
she's proven that she's capable of playing. at
that high level. Like she's starting for Milano
who advanced to the quarters, took back of bank
to the down to the wire for champions league.
Like, yeah, she a hundred percent should be given
a chance. She's without question better than
some of the players who've been on the roster
last season. It's just a question of, I think,
you know, national teams have sometimes politics
comes into it. I was going to say if she's not
given. a legitimate chance, like here, take a
week and start the matches. Let's see what you
have. I think that becomes political, quite frankly.
I think she's earned, I think she's earned the
chance to see if she can perform at that level.
Well, I think a bunch of these players have earned
a chance. I think she's earned a chance. Kendall
Kipp has earned a chance. Amy Minor has earned
a chance. Granted, she was a backup setter on
Milano, but that experience is like really valuable.
There are numerous players that we didn't see
last year who for sure deserve a chance, and
if they were not given a chance last year because
of injury, that's one thing. If they didn't want
to be there, that's also a thing, but we'll see
how it plays out this season. All right, question
six. It is known that Flormarie Heredia Colon
from Columbus Fury will play for Minas next season
in Brazil with Hilary Johnson, who's having an
amazing club season so far. What can we expect
from the Dominican? Okay, first of all, I thought
after seeing V &L last year that Hillary Johnson
was going to have a terrible club season. So
glad to hear it's going well. Good for her. Yes.
I'm glad she proved me wrong, really. Good for
Canada. Yeah, good for Canada. Here's the thing.
Radio Cologne scores a ton of points because
she's fearless, but she makes so many errors.
So many errors. Do I foresee that changing in
a higher level where teams will have time to
really prepare and it's a professional environment?
No. I think we will see, my prediction is, we
will see a lot of volatility. We'll see one game
where she is scoring like 25 points and then
we'll see another game where she's subbed out
in set one because she's making so many errors.
I think she was given the green light to just
go for it at Miami. And I think she just has
to really become a little more consistent and
understand when to press the gas pedal and when
to maybe tap the brake a bit. Yeah, I think that's
a fair prediction for what will happen in her
season. I also think playing in Brazil will help
with that. style of training she'll already be
a little bit familiar with it given her coaching
staff at miami but it's part of a maturing process
and honestly as a coach i'd rather teach you
to dial it back and make different decisions
than have to force you to ramp it up and be more
aggressive so it's part of a learning curve of
an athlete who has that kind of mentality which
is good i think she will get better in that regard
playing in brazil And question seven, why is
the libero position so lacking in the U .S. in
regards to talent? We have tens of thousands
of younger girls and huge amounts of money in
youth club volleyball, and we have hence Grimes,
Tuzzo, and Ogilvy as the top runners for 2026
VNL. They're good, but not great. I think Rodriguez
could be added to that list, but I understand
what you're saying. Great question. I think there's
a very easy answer. Okay, what is it? They're
not having a chance to compete with higher level
athletes. You look at, again, I'm a fan of the
North American system. I'm a fan of athletes
having to play, of getting to go to college.
It's a more holistic experience. But if you look
at the world -class liberos, at 14, 15, 16, they're
playing against the top athletes at their clubs.
If you get identified as being good, you go and
play with the pros. You see volleyball at a faster,
higher, better level for longer. Well, look at
Gutsch again right now. She graduated from Tennessee.
She is the backup libero for Fenerbahce right
now. Who's hitting at you every day? Playing
against Vargas, Fedorov, Seva, Airdem. She's
on the B -side digging those players. It's different.
I'm not picking on Lexi, but we'll use her as
an example. When she played VNL from a defensive
standpoint, teams were scoring on her because
she wasn't used to athletes being able to hit
the angles that were being hit against her. At
the pace that they were coming. Yeah, you can
talk about game plan. You can talk about positioning.
But the fact of the matter is she wasn't in the
right place for the speed and the angle of the
attacks that were coming because she could make
those digs in college. It's really hard to get
better when you don't see things, when you don't
see a bigger block, you don't see better attackers.
A year of training in that environment, you would
figure out which of these liberos had a chance
to move to the next level and which don't, but
you don't get to see that. And then all of a
sudden you're playing VNL and you're shell shocked
and you're traveling and all of this. I think
that's why you see this issue. The other thing
that I'll add, and I'm not saying that this is
like true 100 % of the time, but in my experience,
the best liberos in the world are in your face,
aggressive, don't hold back, or kind of will
tell you like it is. These girls that were named
seem like nice girls. Do you know what I mean?
And like North American sport culture, like everybody
has to be nice. If you're like in the girls side,
you watch champions league, you watch top VNL
teams. The liberos are barking at their passers
about what to do. They're going up and getting
in the face. of hitters after making bad decisions.
Or if somebody makes a serve, they're going up
and telling them about it. Like, do you see Moki
Dajunaro like sitting there smiling, being passive?
Like, no, she is means business and she is running
the court. And you don't, I don't really get
that vibe from these liberos who were listed
in American history. Who did I get that vibe
from? Like a Stacy Sikora. She gave me that impression.
What about Wong Arantis? What kind of vibe do
you get from her? Cause she's. Very good. She's
very good. I wouldn't, I don't get like the aggressive
vibe from her, but you can see that she has control
of the back court. Like she's speaking to her
passers and she's gotten things down. Granted,
she's nicer than some of the liberos that I,
she seems like nicer than some of the liberos
I'm thinking of internationally. I think the
libero position, it's like more than just like
knowing how to play. It's about having that intangible
of like, almost like a bulldog. Well, you're
the back row boss and you have to act like it.
Like you, you're running the show. The setter
is running the offense and you are running the
defense. You're talking to blockers. You're letting
them know you have a vision of what's happening
and unfolding on the court. And you need to be
able to communicate that and make sure people
are doing what they're supposed to be doing.
And again, a lot of these liberals listed seem
passive. They're not ready for that role yet.
And I don't think that type of attitude is necessarily
rewarded sport culture. All right. Looking forward
this week, Tuesday to Thursday, Champions League
men's. quarterfinals away matches are on the
board. You know how to think about Champions
League. Watch them. Thursday at 8 p .m. Eastern,
Love Austin versus Salt Lake. That's on Victory
Plus. These two teams are competing for that
number four spot. Yes, so this should be, this
game has some meaning. We don't say that about
Love very often, so this will be a good one to
watch. Thursday at 9 p .m. Eastern and Saturday
at 10 p .m. Eastern, NCAA men UCLA versus Pepperdine.
This could either Be a good game or an absolute
shellacking? Well, they're doing a home in a
way. I'm curious which Pepperdine shows up. I
think everybody's going to come out and do their
best against UCLA. When you're at the top, when
you're undefeated, everybody knows they've got
nothing to lose against you and you're going
to get everybody's best. But I'm curious if they
can do it for more than a set. Like, is it one
good set and then they roll or can they fight
for the whole match? I'm curious to see how Hartke
does specifically against this team. And then
Friday and Saturday at 9 p .m. Eastern, NCAA
men Hawaii versus UC Irvine. The NCAA men's this
week is going to be fantastic. And Saturday at
4 p .m. Eastern, MLV Indy versus Omaha. And that
will be on YouTube. Omaha needs a win here. So
we'll see how that goes. Well, Omaha beat Indy
in their last matchup, I believe. I know. So
Indy will be out for blood. But Omaha needs to
keep winning. That concludes this week's episode
of Volley Talk. There's always something shaking
in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed
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