LOVB Picks Up Waived MLV Players, NCAA Senior to Pro Predictions, Would You Rather?

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. I've just got to say our listeners are showing
up. We had a great week. And basically creating
the show for us at this point because you guys
are sending in some ideas slash questions that
are so interesting that they could be their own
segments. Totally agree. We're going to do that.
We aren't going to dive quite as deep into individual
matches because I feel like sometimes it just
kind of. There's so much going on. It's just
like it's on repeat though. With like MLV and
Love, I feel like we say the same thing every
single day. So we're going to just like highlight
matches that we've watched with maybe trends
that we're seeing or things that we're picking
up, but not dive into necessarily individual
performances or numbers or stats. We'll save
those for more playoff or more meaningful matches
and just try and keep you up to date with what's
happening in those leagues. And instead, we are
going to do what you guys suggested and use some
of your ideas as segments. So I'm excited to
kind of. mix it up, see how it goes. And wow,
you guys had a lot of interesting thoughts after
last episode. Love the questions, love the comments.
We had some stuff going on aside from playing
that so many people reached out about. So of
course we have to dive in, obviously. So I'm
actually, I'm really excited about this episode.
So let's get started. All right, everybody. The
question we have to ask each other at the beginning
of every episode, is your volley fantasy team
a highlight or just a happening this week? I
would say a highlight. Gosh dang it. I think
I'm currently in 44th place overall, which not
amazing, but not terrible. But all of my players
have come off the books as of this week, and
I'm up 10 grand on my budget, which is kind of
- From the beginning or from last week? From
the beginning. Okay. Which is what I was hoping.
Remember, I went three weeks, solid young players
looking to increase value. I haven't scored the
most points, but I have good value, I think.
And so now I can start picking athletes that
I want and trying to shoot up the leaderboard.
So I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful. I'm happy for you.
I started out as a highlight when all of my players
played on the first day. And then I just became
a happening. when everybody else's players play
sarah likes to take a screenshot when she's at
her highest level and share it with everybody
actually never happened but sure texted adam
no just kidding i didn't i did not take a screenshot
so i actually took a screenshot and then she
took a screenshot of where i was sitting which
was below her no again these are lies do not
listen to this i got up to like 20 something
and then everybody else's players played the
next day and then now i'm back to like 84 So
I'm just a happening. Honestly, Charity Looper
started strong for me. She had 105 points for
me after her first match, and then she ended
the week with 75, which is still, or something
like that. Don't quote me on that. Which is still
really good. But she had me so hopeful when she
was at 105. Are you kidding me? Dang. So we actually
had a couple questions about the app. This week,
and I was chatting with the developer to get
the answers because I didn't have them. We had
a couple of people who were in some of the Asian
countries who were wondering about the app. It
has now been released in a bunch of the countries
where there's not a lot of hoops to jump through.
So shout out to the people who reached out. I
know we got a few new people joining us, which
is great. And then the other question was, does
an athlete score more points if they play twice
in one week versus once in one week? And the
answer is no. It's still a weighted average of
all of the sets played. So it doesn't matter
if your athletes play one or two games in a week.
It's about how they actually performed in those
matches. So just some clarification. We had some
questions. See, the reason I was so upset that
that game got canceled last week is because a
couple of my players were really underperformed
and they were going to be in that game that got
canceled. And I was like, here's their chance
to make up some ground. That's why I was mad.
Yeah. Too bad Charity Looper's second game didn't
get canceled. He would have been flying. Right.
But it is so much fun. I'm always peeking in
on the chat, participating every now and then.
Keep signing up. Yeah. Keep signing up. Come
play. I got so many messages this week of people
saying that it has made them so much more excited
to follow MLV, which same totally. So join our
fantasy league for the volley talk podcast at
play volley .com slash volley talk. It's. V -O
-L -I dot com slash volley talk. And hopefully
next week I will be saying that my team is a
highlight. Maybe. Probably not. Okay. NCAA men's
side. Hit me with the results. Well, things happened
pretty much as expected. Ohio State came out
to the West Coast. They lost to UCLA in three,
lost to USC in five. We had. Pepperdine -Long
Beach State, Long Beach State 1 -4, Hawaii had
a couple good wins. The good teams are trucking.
Yeah, I mean, nothing crazy happened. There were
some good matchups, but we didn't see any eyebrow
-raising upsets, so things are smooth sailing
there. On the MLB side, Indy is now alone at
the top. They're followed by Orlando and Dallas.
I was really disappointed with the Indy -Dallas
game. Yeah, it wasn't great. I was expecting
a banger and Dallas just couldn't pass. It was
frustrating to watch because I also had Tristan
Savage on my fantasy team and... Couldn't set
her. That's that. I mean, we're not going to
get into matches, but Indy did such a great job
of serving seams and Dallas had to make some
adjustments in terms of passing and right sides
and they just... They started playing better
at the end of set three, but it was too little
too late. I think if they would have won that
third set, it would have gone five, but they
couldn't get it on the rails quick enough, and
Indy just served them off the court. Yeah, disappointing.
But I do appreciate the creativity in taking
Kelsey Payne out, moving Maldonado Diaz over
to the right side. Because she was struggling
to pass. Thank you. This is what I'm talking
about. Let's make some adjustments. Let's be
creative. It didn't work out for them. But it
was starting to. Yeah. It was like 29 -27 in
the third after they got absolutely slapped in
the first two sets. Correct. So anyway, yeah,
I wanted that game to be better. Me too. San
Diego's continuing to suck. They're 1 -6 now.
Yeah, it's not looking great. They can't put
it together. Can't put it together. Honestly,
and I know you guys are going to say it's because
she's your... MLB Swindle. I don't like their
setter. She cannot run. Her team is struggling
to connect with her. Totally. I don't think there's,
I bet you that if you, they quite frankly should
have picked up Matty Wack. We're going to talk
about that in a bit. But they need, they're not
a bad team. They need somebody to run the offense
and Alicia Glass must be. Absolutely ripping
her hair out at night. Dust off those knee pads,
Alicia. Have we ever seen an individual go from
coach to starting six in the same season? I mean,
she could. She could. She's got to be. Whoever
is managing the roster out of the team needs
to go, Alicia, find me a setter. She'll be like,
I'll be a player coach. Yeah, anyway, it's a
dumpster fire over there. So we'll see if they
can get it together against Columbus. I'm going
to say Columbus is going to win, though. I think
Columbus is going to win that game, too. And
then on the love side, Salt Lake is still dominating.
They are 5 -1 now. They look real good. Basically,
everybody else is fighting for second place because
every other team has three losses except for
Atlanta, who is 1 -4. Wonk, wonk. So Salt Lake
just has to hold it together here. I mean, Houston
was also winless, but they won a couple games
this week, so they're back in the mix. They have
done better. We did watch a few of the games.
We watched Houston, Atlanta. Yeah. We watched
Salt Lake play. We watched Nebraska, Austin.
And we watched a bunch of love. We watched a
bunch of love. What are your feelings love versus
MLV? Because I'm honestly still on that MLV train
right now. It's much more exciting to me. Yeah.
So there's a few observations from love and I
will give them some credit because I think they've
made some interesting. Good changes. And the
broadcasting teams. They've brought in better
broadcasting teams, which makes it worth listening
to. I didn't have to hear 77 times watching Nebraska
that Jordan Larson is called the governor. Yes.
I didn't have to hear it. Maybe once. Yeah, I
think that part is better. I've noticed they're
doing more teaching in their broadcasts, which
I think is a really... Good move for them. You
want to educate your audience. So I'm a big fan
of that. I don't love the basketball comparisons.
That was in one game. And it was one announcer
that was doing it. I understand that. I was kind
of cringing though. They tried to compare. Jordan
Thompson to Kevin Durant. You can't do that.
You just. Anyway. I think they're still looking
for ways to try. We were having aftershocks from
that statement for like the whole match. Yeah.
They're looking for ways to validate their league
still without, they don't need to. You just need
to present the game in and of itself. So they've
made some changes. I can't fault them for trying
new things, but that one fell flat for me. They
also tried to compare setting the middle to establishing
a run game in the NFL. Stop comparing. Stop using
just football terms, period. It doesn't have
to be the red zone. I understand you're trying
to bring other viewers in and give them something
to connect to, but allow it to be its own thing.
My personal opinion on that. I love how Adam
creates caveats for every single thing he says.
He has to maintain friends. I'm like, no, forget
it. I will say one thing I wished MLV and loved
it better is when we watched the Italian League,
a lot of their replays they do from a baseline
camera, which I love. Give me some replay baseline
action. And I think the quality of the broadcast
goes up so much. You just see the game from a
different perspective. Oh, let me see how the
block was set up there. Like, how did she make
that shot? And then you see it's like a truckload
of line was left open. You're like, well, there
it is. You don't get that with the side view.
I still am getting exhibition vibes from love,
which they need to find a way to get rid of that.
You don't all have to be friends. You shouldn't
just be happy to be there. Let's fight. Let's
show that you're competing for something. Yeah,
but they're all contracted by the Central League.
You're not staying on your team. It's almost
as if you're, if you don't make waves and you're
not absolutely terrible, like the majority of
the starters are, can be there forever. And it's
just really hard to drive yourself when you know
that's the case. And I think you see that in
love. Those players are playing for contracts.
They're playing for teams. They're maybe some
of them will want to go overseas. There's a different
level of intensity right now in MLV versus love.
From what I'm seeing. I can't tell you the number
of times I've been watching a love game and I
think to myself, if I played in this league,
wow, I would have no friends and everybody would
hate me because I see them like joking with each
other under the, like across the net and like
smiling and like, you can tell that they're like
friends and stuff. And I'd be like, I'm out here
to kill. Okay. This is serious stuff. So I'm
like, I don't think I would fit in. Okay, we've
got a few things that are not league related.
Okay. Number one, the U .S. Department of Education
has found that San Jose State, if you remember
from last year, they have the transgendered athlete
on their team. They found that they violated
Title IX. By allowing a biological male that
is an X and Y chromosome to compete on the women's
volleyball team even after female volleyball
players complained. I just don't understand why
it took so long. Yeah, I'm just saying. This
has happened. Yes. I don't know what the ramifications
are of violating Title IX. I'm not sure either.
I don't know if it's like a fine or if... You
can't take away scholarships because that violates
Title IX even more. So I don't know. The school
will probably get a fine or they'll have to maybe
sit out a year. Can you imagine? Yeah, I don't
know. I don't know what that would be, but there'll
be some sort of penalty because they're not going
to want to deal with this situation again. So
I think the penalty could be fairly severe. But
again, the timing is baffling to me. Yeah, like
all this stuff was happening when literally...
Half of the team transferred last December. Yeah,
but that's the result of it. Zarin Sport, the
team that is sponsoring Champions League and
in the process of sponsoring Champions League,
bought their team away into Champions League,
bypassing the qualification process. And they
are a team in Turkey. They're having financial
difficulties. And they're not paying their players.
So a whole bunch of their players. Have already
signed elsewhere for next season. But I'm sorry.
How are you going to sponsor Champions League
and buy your team away in and then not even pay
them? Because you have no money. That's baffling.
How do you make that miscalculation? You know
what your budget is. That's wild to me. So I've
heard they're trying to get out of sponsoring
Champions League. Who's going to pick up the
slack? The FIVB, they have enough money, but
still. Well, I'm sure they've already put a down
payment or some sort of, there's no way they're
getting that money. Sorry, I can't afford it
now after I made all this hoopla about getting
my team in. Nice try. What a joke. I'm curious
to see how that plays out because those players
are not going to be motivated to play. Well,
no, their whole reason of like being a professional
athlete is to be compensated for your skills
as a volleyball player. If you're not getting
paid. What reason do you have to go to practice
or to games or whatever? This will be interesting
to see how it plays out. Okay, the final item
that we have to discuss. I got so many messages
about this. Basically, it all started when MLV,
the Atlanta Vibe, waved Maddie Wack only for
her to get picked up by Love Houston. Going crazy.
I lost Sarah for half a day down the rabbit hole.
Again, he's lying. Okay. Do not listen to a word
this man says because that is not true. And then
Jillian Grimes gets waived from MLV to get picked
up by Love Madison. And now rumor has it that
Indie Ignite is going to waive one of their players.
And rumor also has it that it's Cara Cressy to
go to love. Where are you getting these rumors
from? My sources. My sources on Instagram. I
wonder where she's going to end up. A, what do
you think about this? B, we've gotten so many
questions being like, how is this even possible?
And is this ridiculous? I mean, you know my feelings.
I think everybody knows my feelings about Maddie
Wack. I think she did an outstanding job. Why
you would waive her is... Beyond me. I'm wondering
what the mechanics of this are. So obviously
the MLB players signed contracts because they
were there. Well, let's keep in mind that Atlanta
waived Mac Pedraza when they signed Maddie Wack
too. Fair. But then Maddie started the first
match of the season. Not sure they used her much
following that. Well, and Houston has an injured
setter, right? Micah Hancock. Yeah. So I'm wondering
if Love is poaching players or going to them
and saying, hey, we have a spot for you. Do you
want to play? And then they're going to their
MLB teams and saying, hey, can you waive my contract?
I don't want to play. I don't know. That would
be bogus. Because you're basically. ruining every
chance you have of playing MLB again. If you're
like, oh, can you waive my contract? Blah, blah,
blah. I don't want to play here. No. Why is that
any different than switching college schools?
Because you're not doing it in the middle of
the season. Another option is that there are
injuries in Love. Houston and Madison do have
a ton of injuries. I'm wondering if Love bought
out. those players from their mlv teams i mean
that's kind of what i was getting at you made
it sound like you're like yeah the player just
goes to the team was like can we stop my contract
now i'm done no what i meant was like there was
an opportunity in in love and the only way they
could do that was if their contracts were voided
by or maybe love or bought out yeah either or
they were trying to get out i feel like the two
things are very different okay fair enough my
point was love had an opening, those players
want to play in love, and they're working through
what the contract situation with those two. My
thing is just like, why aren't... I can't see
Indy wanting to give up Karakressi. Okay, that
one is speculation still. Okay. Grimes and Wack
are for sure. Yeah. But my thing is just like,
love is being so exclusive, only taking six players
for like... If roster size is an issue and you're
not accounting for injuries or whatever, let
more people join your league. I don't know. I
think it's a bad look when you are saying that
you're the better league and then you're taking
players. I mean, I don't know. Well, that's the
thing. The impression out there is that love
is stronger. So now you're bringing people from
the MLV to fill your... It's just so weird. I
wish I knew what the situation around those are.
If you waved, in my opinion, Matty Whack, Okay,
so Micah Hancock is injured. She is out with
a neck injury. And Pagani recently, the libero
for Madison, injured her ankle and is out. I
understand it from Houston and Madison's standpoint.
I'm saying I don't necessarily understand it
from the MLV team standpoint, unless there's
financial compensation, like you said, going
back, which would make sense. You see that in
European soccer. You see it in other leagues
where players come up and play. Yeah, they're
like they borrow an athlete for the season or
whatever. But like as MLB trying to like validate
yourself as being a like legitimate option for
strong volleyball players to play in. Why are
you getting rid of these players? Why are you
allowing this to happen? I mean, maybe they're
coming back once the injuries are done. We don't
know what the arrangements are. Well, like if
a contract is waived, doesn't that mean that
they're let go? Yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure.
In the NHL, when a player is put on waivers,
what does that mean? That means they can be picked
up by another club or they go and play for the
minors. But they have the ability to come back.
Yeah, and the practice squad for MLB doesn't
exist anymore because they wanted a higher budget
for their main team. Yeah, we'll see. I mean,
letting those caliber players. It just looks
so silly to me. Yeah, it doesn't make sense.
But I'm sure we'll get more clarity in a couple
weeks about what's actually going on. I don't
think we will. Love doesn't say anything about
anything. No, I know. But when the players come
back and are no longer injured, what's going
to happen? That's when you'll know what's going
on. We watched the Scandici -Conigliano Italian
Cup final out. Outstanding. And we had some questions
specifically about Skinner. So I thought it'd
be interesting to spend, you know, what were
your thoughts on the match overall? What'd you
think about Skinner? What do you think is going
to happen in the rematch? Give me your overall
impression. Cause it was an outstanding game.
It was interesting. The whole game, we were talking
about like head to head position wise, each team.
I think the two setting positions were pretty
even. Don't talk about the right sides. It might
be involved later in the show. Oh my gosh. Well,
I was going to. Okay. Talk about the right sides.
Just try to read my mind. Adam said probably
double digit times. Sarah Farr is so good. I
don't care. I don't know what people are saying
that she's no good. She's amazing. So I think.
The Corneliano middles are better than the Scandici
middles. Hands down. I think the left side duo
honestly are better than the Scandici left side
duo. Yes. You're more of a fan of Zhu Ting than
I am. Zhu Ting can't get off the ground to save
her life, but she finds ways to score. She does.
My... And she shows up when it's like really
important. After 20, she's outstanding. After
20, she's money in the bank. Does she have to
get taken out in the back row once a set? Yes.
Does she work to get more than a one -step approach
in transition? Her approach is one step. Probably
another reason why she's not skying. But she
finds a way. And I have respect for her. Gabby,
so good. So good. Honestly, Skinner. Are good.
They do a good job. Do I think Skinner is as
good as the other left sides on the court? No.
Does she look out of place? No. She runs a pipe
as well, if not better, than anybody on the court.
Agreed. I think the pipe ball is her best attack.
I think she's getting better. I do. I think her
passing is improving her. She needs to add a
few more front court swings to her repertoire.
I think just to hold the defense in place. No,
she's making some good swings. This is so good
for her. I mean, again, and we're talking about
her playing against the best teams in the world
and hanging and doing her job. No, she played
for Kyrie last year. Kyrie's a good team, too.
She definitely moved up the ranks with Scandici.
Well, I'm saying this is a final. These are the
best two teams in the Italian League, the best
players in the world, and she's right there.
Totally. I thought she was good. I think she's
doing really well. I think she's the US's best
left side right now. I would agree with you on
that. Yeah. I can't talk about the right sides.
Isabel Hawk was unstoppable. She's so good. And
the thing is, too, is I want to get young volleyball
players to watch these women or even college
players and be like, these are strong, solid
women who are... The best of the best. Okay.
We aren't talking about skinny little girls here.
Like these women are strong and powerful. And
like it is so great to watch them just be so
dominant. And yeah. I actually thought that I
had two differences in the match watching that.
One was Conigliano knows how to win after 20.
Scandicci had leads in all three sets. When Igliano
Juteng made plays. Juan Gabi was blocking Antropova
like crazy. After 20. They've been in those situations.
They know how to execute when it comes down to
it. So I thought that was a difference. And then
the second one is Antropova struggled with her
connection with the setter. She looked out of
rhythm most of the night. If they could have
set her better. I think that match ends differently
because the team played well enough to give themselves
a lead, and that piece was off, and I thought
it was the setting. I don't think they were leading
her quite enough. No, the back row balls were
a little too far back. Yeah, those two things
to me were the difference in that match, but
it was so much fun to watch. Who do you think
is going to win the rematch this week? I didn't
see who the home team was. Does it matter to
you? I think Conigliano. I think they're finding
their rhythm again. They had a slower start to
the season and lost some matches that they typically
don't, so I'll say them. Conigliano in four is
my prediction. Okay, this is a listener -suggested
segment, everybody. The question slash segment
idea is, I would love to hear your wildest speculations
or predictions on the future placement, MLV,
Love, or International. and national team potential
of this next year's NCAA senior class. Seven
athletes were named, so let's do it. Here we
go. Athlete one, Andy Jackson. I think she'll
go to Love. I think she should go overseas. Okay,
seven athletes. This is very much in Love's wheelhouse
to take them all. Yes, I agree with you. Because
especially they're adding a new team. So they'll
need more than just the six. Of six. Okay, so
should we say what we think is going to happen
or what we think should happen? I think we should
do both. Okay. So I think Andy will end up in
love, but I think she should go overseas. I,
national team wise, I need to see her in a situation
where she's uncomfortable. We were so high on
her for national team like a year ago, and I
think this last match or the last couple matches
she played, we're like, hmm. No, and you know
what? I'm not down on her at all. I think her
abilities are there, but we've seen it kind of
time and time again of how do you respond when
the chips are down? Like you watch Kunigliano,
you know, they're down 22 -19. They're down 23
-20. They're gritty. They find a way to win.
They find a way to do things when they're uncomfortable.
I need to see how you respond when you're uncomfortable
because the national team is uncomfortable. You're
traveling. You're alone. All of those different
things play a factor. And can you get it done?
Will you be able to learn to get it done before
the Olympics? That's the question. I think she's
good enough. Where's the mentality? Is it there
for 2028? I agree. I think she'll end up in love.
Athlete two, Harper Murray. I think love will
snag her just because she has a large social
media following. I agree. And I think that she
will, they will want to use that to gain attention
from other people. Yeah, and I think it's a good,
Harper Murray doesn't strike me as somebody who
would do well overseas. I think she would excel
more in an MLV setting than love, but I think
love will... It's like a mutually beneficial
kind of situation with love. Yeah, I agree. I
think she will end up at love. I don't see her
overseas. I think love is a really good fit for
what they both want. Or for what they both bring
to the table. Yes, it's mutually beneficial.
I honestly... I don't see a future for her on
the national team in 2028. I don't either. And
I'll go back to what I said about the international
level women. Like, she's built like a girl compared
to them. Well, again, do you see her blocking
a Hawk, a Ganu, an Andropova? There's some maturing
physically and mentally to compete at that next
level. Yeah. And that doesn't, I don't think
that happens overnight. Next athlete is Bergen
Riley. I think she will end up in MLV because
she'll play. I, that was my instinct too. She's
not going to replace a Micah Hancock, a Lauren
Carlini. She's not going to replace, you know,
who they might replace is Jekima. Maybe. Jekima.
Yeah. For Love Nebraska. And it's a good fit
for her actually. Fair. She's not going to. play
over Brie O 'Reilly. No. Love's strongest position
is setting. That's where they have the most talent.
And so if she wants to be in the love environment,
she's probably sitting on the bench. I can see
them sliding her into Love Nebraska, honestly.
From a marketing standpoint, that makes a ton
of sense. I think MLV is her spot, but... Unless
they're making a concession for her to play on
that team, she's not sliding in anywhere else.
She's not better than those other setters. I
mean, we've talked about this before. I'll let
you take it, national team. No. And everybody
also take note that Adam said it, not me. So
please don't get mad at me. Adam said it. Well,
we're talking about 2028, right? She's not setting
in the 2028 Olympics. It's just not going to
happen. Now, again, all of these players. could
play in 3032. In a millennium. They might be
skilled. All of these players are on the radar
for 2032. 3032. If they have not turned into
diamonds by then. Okay. Let me rephrase that.
Very few of these athletes are going to be ready
to compete in 2028 with a goal being a U .S.
medal. Now, does that mean that six years down
the road, 2032, they're not mainstays on the
national team? No, but they're just not ready
yet. Okay, next athlete is Tori Stafford. This
is the one that I think potentially gets snubbed
from Love if they're only taking six. Oh, I agree.
I think... I want her to go overseas. Out of
the majority of those athletes, out of all the
ones we've talked about so far, I think she has
the highest potential to go overseas. I like
her all -around game. She would benefit from
a season of doing what Sarah Franklin is doing.
I think her ceiling is very, very high. I think
she has a good mentality. I think she's very
physical. I like what's there, but again, go
be uncomfortable. Train under a different style.
Go see what you're made out of. I hope she goes
overseas. Well, we saw like Regan Rutherford
came from Texas and she went overseas right away.
I hope she has somebody in her ear helping her
make that decision because I think she could
be a very good international player for a decade.
So you're saying yes to national team? I don't
think she's going to beat out the current left
sides. I think she will be on the B team. She's
not going to the Olympics. Okay, Olivia Babcock.
Overseas. I agree. I think she belongs overseas.
I think she will go. I'm wondering if she'll
drink the Love Kool -Aid, though. Again. I think
she needs to pull a Kami Minor and just go right
over there. 100%. We don't know these people.
But she just seems like she knows what she wants
and she does what she needs to do to get there.
That's just the vibe. This is Adam's emotional
intelligence showing through. He doesn't know
this woman at all. He's like, I can read you.
That's the vibe I get. And so I think she will
go overseas. And she's already been on the national
team. Yeah. She's in the running to be their
starting opposite. Kennedy Martin. Oh, man. This
is the hardest one for me. She would dominate
in MLV. There aren't a ton of really good right
sides in MLV. Literally, it is my lowest priority
pick on my fantasy team because I look at the
list and I'm like, absolutely not. I don't know.
I don't know. She doesn't give me that love vibe,
though. You know what I mean? I agree. Like,
I don't know. I watched Love and I feel like
the players all have the same vibe. She doesn't
fit it for me. I can't articulate it, but I feel
the same way. I'm also not sure she would go
overseas. Oh, yeah. This is a hard one for me.
She's question marks all the way around. I'll
have to admit that. Okay. If you had to pick
something right off the bat, what would it be?
MLV for one year and then overseas. National
team? Who do you put above her or Lidnicki? Lidnicki
for 2028. Really? Yeah. She has more experience.
What, like one summer? Yeah, but I think Martin's
ceiling is probably higher. Olivia Babcock blows
both of them out of the water to me because Olivia's
defensive abilities improved so much and she's
such a good blocker. The other two for me are
more just attackers. Agreed. That's fair. Last
one, Brooklyn Delay. MLV for me. I get an overseas
vibe. I'm sticking to MLV. Yeah. National team?
No. No. I really loved this question. It was
an outstanding question. I'm sure all of you
have so many opinions and so many thoughts. Hit
us up. Hit us up. The YouTube is going to be
popping for sure. Can't wait. And thank you to
the person who submitted this question. Loved
it. All right. It's game time on the podcast.
And today. We are playing Would You Rather Volleyball
Edition. So this is why... Have we done this
one before? I don't know if I've called it something
else or... I'm not sure. I don't know what edition
of Would You Rather would be on this podcast,
but I appreciate the clarification. I mean, I
don't know if I just... I named it something
else. But the thought process is I'm going to
give you two options and you are going to pick...
Which one you would prefer? Oh my gosh, this
is why you didn't want me to talk about the opposites.
Correct. No, skip that one. The very first would
you rather I had was Hawk over Antropova. Oh.
Like forever or from the Coppa Italia final?
In general, as of right now. Oh. Antropova has
been like. becoming my favorite opposite. I'm
obviously so passionate about the opposite position
because I was one. And she has like quickly been
becoming my favorite opposite. Hawk was so good.
Okay, okay. I know who I'm going to pick. Okay,
go ahead. Antropova. What? What? I like Antropova's
overall game better, I think. But Hawk just,
she hits the ball. with a different pace and
she comes heavy it's heavy heavy and she's got
a great serve i played against her in her first
year of playing in italy she was what probably
19 at the time heavy ball well and but the other
thing that i really like about hawk is she runs
different back row routes better than any other
her that involves the setter that involves the
team's ball control like it's not just her i
understand that but watching her Do all of that?
Okay, well, this is my game to answer. Can I
tell you why I picked Antropova? Hit me. Because
she's only 22. Okay. She has got a long runway
left. Sarah's building an empire here. Okay.
Her serve is improving. That hybrid serve she's
got going on. Very nice. She plays way better
defense than Hawk. At 6 '7". Totally agree. Okay.
Blocking, I would say they're similar. Sarah
sees a kindred spirit. Tall gangler who's building
an overall game here. And she's so young. I really
like Isabel Hawk, don't get me wrong. But Antropova
has been growing in my heart. Fair enough. Dallas's
middle combination of Savage and Van Buskirk
or... Indy's middle combination of Lydia Martin
and Blake Mollier. Dallas. Lydia Martin's doing
really, really well. But I had Blake Mollier
on my fantasy volley roster the first two weeks.
She got me negative points. So I'm harboring
a serious grudge. Grudge aside, do you still
pick Dallas's middles? I do. Okay. I would agree
with you on that one. Tred Rosenthal, who's the
setter for Hawaii on the men's side NCAA, or
Andrew Rowan, the setter for UCLA? This is the
question that's going to break me. Can we come
back to this one? Okay. This is hard. They're
only going to get harder. I picked good ones
this week. The outside core of Salt Lake, so
Alexa Gray, Heidi Casanova, and Claire Hoffman.
Or the outside core for Austin, which is Logan
Eggleston, Maddie Skinner, and Maddie Banks.
Good grief. Well, Alexa Gray's not a prolific
passer. Neither is Eggleston. Alexa Gray's a
better attacker. Much better attacker. Maddie
Banks, I think, is overall better than Hoffman.
Gosh dang it, Adam. I had fun with this one this
week. I'm taking Salt Lake. I think that's fair.
I think overall they're better. I agree. That's
why I picked them. Okay, here we're going to
move in. Actually, a lot of the questions I had
lined up with some of the listener questions.
So we'll get into this a little bit later as
well. But would you take Shannon Windsor or one
of Eric Sullivan, Sonia Tomasovic, or Tamiya
Mearshiro? Shannon Windsor. The other ones haven't
done anything to prove to me that they can build
teams. Be a head coach. Yeah, exactly. Like Shana
Windsor, Canada's women's volleyball team was
like very awful mid before she got there and
she built them. And then I saw this video this
week on Instagram of one of her post game speeches
after they won in five last weekend. And just
like the way that she went about acknowledging
role players and stuff. I was like, that is.
So fundamentally important and not enough coaches
do that. Anyways, I'm going to pick her. I agree.
And I know culture is a buzzword, but she does
a really good job of building that team culture.
Brittany Abercrombie or, and I'm going to run
you through three options. Oh dear. So it's her.
Her or Heidi Casanova. Casanova. Her or Maddie
Skinner. Skinner. Her or Kimberly Drevniak. Abercrombie.
Okay. And. The last one, and this is... Are we
circling back? Okay, we'll circle back. Tread
Rosenthal. Well, I'm not ready for that one yet.
That one, and we have one last one. Am I picking
these players today or based on their future?
Because I kind of did a bit of the future for
the opposites. You make a choice and tell me
why, and you can put the reins on it. Can they
die? No, that's no fun. Okay, can I talk this
through? Sure. I really like how Rowan... Runs
his offense. I like his out -of -system setting.
I like his distribution. I like his all -around
game, his demeanor, his serving. I think Tread's
height and the things that he'll be able to bring
to the table as far as, like, an international
style of play. Like, I'm thinking Janelli. Yes.
You know? That's the direct comparison. I think
as much is very compelling. I think he plays
pretty good defense too. I just don't think that
his hands are as nice as Rowan's. See him having
difficulty setting players who are smaller than
him, which is like almost everybody, like especially
middles who are smaller than him. Okay. I'm going
to have to pick him there. Talking it through
really helped me. Thank you. No problem. All
right. And our last one is love Atlanta or indie
ignite. So the bottom of love, Or the top of
MLB. I'm going to have to go with Love Atlanta.
Yeah. I think they're just better. You need me
to expand on that? I do. I mean, Rachel Fairbanks
is better than Tuaniga. Who cost Adam a lot of
money. It's a miracle he's still up 10 grand.
You know, I think Tessa Grubbs is better than
Teeler. I think. Like, across the board. It's
just position by position. I mean, I could break
it down. I think, yeah, they're just a better
team. Yeah, I agree. They're more physical. Yeah.
They're just, they're bigger. I'm not going to
say anybody's stronger than Electra Member Meta,
but they're just more physical. Yeah. I mean,
that's all there is to it. Yeah, I thought that
would be an interesting one. Anyway, I really
liked it. I had a ton of fun thinking about those
different comparisons. I'm shocked that the Tread
Rosenthal Andrew Rowan question was the one that
stumped me the hardest. Well, the interesting
thing about that is I agree with you. Rowan is
a setting maestro. Like he is fun. He is fun
to watch set. He's a true setter. Tread has been
made into a setter. Similar to Moni Nikolov,
in my opinion. 100%. They're very similar. But
those are the people who you see being successful
internationally currently. Look how big Gianelli
is. He's a very good setter. And Nikolov. Yeah.
So it was interesting. Good questions. Good questions.
Let's dive into some of our listener questions.
All right. Question one. I was wondering if you
guys could give a rundown on... CEV Volleyball.
So like Champions League. How does it work? When
does it start and end? Are all teams in Europe
a part of it? What is a golden set? Anything
you would need to know. We did do a little rundown
last year about this time, but I think our listener
base has kind of expanded their interests. Agreed.
And so I feel like usually people come and listen
to the show. They have like. one volleyball niche
that they're really into, whether it's NCAA women
or Team USA or whatever. And I feel like our
listeners have really expanded their interests.
So I love that you guys are considering watching
Champions League. If you are new and you missed
last year when we kind of did the rundown, here
we go. Champions League generally starts in November
-ish and it goes until late March, early April.
Basically, if you are playing in a top league,
so I'll use women's leagues, for example. If
you're in a top league, the league champion and
the cup winner. So it's like a tournament within
the season. Both of those winners get to go and
be a part of champions league. So that's like
the Turkish league, Italian, Polish, used to
be Russian. Those are the top leagues in Europe
right now. So they get at least two teams in.
If you're in like a step down, like a Germany,
a France, your winner gets to go. But if you're
not in like the upper echelon or like the upper
mid echelon, you compete in a separate event
to qualify your team to go, basically. So that
prelim round happens like September, October.
Those teams play each other. And if you win.
you become a part of the actual Champions League,
which is five pools of four. And then you go
from there. So you'll notice that like Italy
has four teams. That's because, and actually
Turkey, because those leagues are so strong.
You'll see in the Women's League, for example,
a team from like Serbia or Romania or Czech Republic.
They only have the one team because the leagues
are weaker, but they qualified through that secondary
route. In pool play. You play a team home and
away. So one week you'll play the host of the
team. The next week you'll go to their place.
Winning in three or four, you earn three points
for the win. Winning in five, you earn two points
and losing in five, you get one point. So if
you win in three, lose in five, you win the head
to head because you have beaten that team four
to two. If you win in three, lose in four, you
each end with three points. So in a case like
that, when the score is tied, that's when you
go to a golden set to decide who is the winner
of the head -to -head. A golden set is just one
set played to 15 points. Winner takes all. And
it's wild because you will play it right after
one of the matches. Let's say you're at home.
You win 3 -0. You go on the road. You lose 3
-0. you immediately start the golden set in that
gym, play to 15, done. So it's like you play
two matches, quote unquote, back to back at the
same time. So if you're a higher ranked team,
you will play away first and then you'll play
at home so that if it goes to a golden set, you're
playing the golden set in your own gym. That
is what the golden set is. If you go and you
win both rounds, then you straight up win and
you win that head to head. I believe the golden
set only comes into account when it's in playoffs.
I think pool play, they just play it out and
the top two teams move on. So then you see the
quarterfinals, the back and forth semis, and
then the final four all happens in one spot.
Again, I will repeat. I'm pretty sure the golden
set only happens when you're in the playoffs
head to head with one team. I believe you're
right. That's how it works. It's actually really
exciting because they like happen. Those games
happen midweek. So you'll play like your country
league at the weekend. And then on like a Tuesday,
you'll go to a different country for a couple
of days, play another match, come back. It was,
it's pretty cool. Now, are there tiers to the
European champions league? Like, is there a champions
league and then a Chev cup and then a something
else? I think it's a challenge cup. Yeah. So
if you're not, It gives the opportunity to lower
leagues and lower teams in the higher leagues
to have the same thing. So Champions League is
the top of the top, best of the best. Chev Cup
or CEV Cup is like the next tier. And those are
for teams like in the Italian League teams ranked
five and six or, you know, something like that.
And then Challenge Cup is the step below. CEV
Cup. Because something a lot of people may not
know is Czech has a league, Spain has a league,
the Scandic countries have a league. So those
teams aren't competing with the top Italian teams,
but they are competing within Europe against
teams of similar caliber. So hopefully that helps
with a bit of a rundown. Teams in all over Europe
are a part of it. It just matters if you qualify
or not. Okay, question two. What do you think
of the MLV coaches in comparison to the Love
coaches? I understand where the question is coming
from. It's hard to answer because you don't see
any of them coach. I will say Love has hired
coaches with better resumes, but even still.
The only legitimate head coaches in love are
Coco and that might be it. Like the rest of them
have been assistant coaches on national teams.
Eric Sullivan is obviously the head coach in
the national team, but that's... I was like,
acknowledge it. No, but that's brand new. Like
he doesn't have any clout yet. They haven't done
anything. They haven't... Sonja Tomasovic has
been an assistant coach. Burbringer was an assistant
with the men's team. Exactly. De Libero, who's
coaching Salt Lake, maybe? Yeah. It was also
an assistant coach. So you have a lot of experience
in volleyball in love, but not necessarily a
lot of head coaching experience other than in
love. In MLV, I think it's, again, you have a
little less experience internationally. minus
shannon windsor i would say like alicia glass
obviously played a ton but doesn't have a ton
of coaching experience i would say the resumes
are better but that doesn't make you a better
coach okay question three as an indoor player
what would you do to transition into the beach
game what are some things to train and new skills
to develop i believe the person who sent this
is um was a middle indoor okay so if you're a
middle indoor I mean the passing. Passing. Passing.
The games are not similar whatsoever. Not at
all. Once you get into it. I think the two biggest
things that come into mind is the approach. Everything
about the attack approach is different. We won't
get into the details or the nuances. set up your
defensive strategy is just so much different
than okay i'm not gonna go a completely different
direction if you want to win in beach volleyball
and you're making the transition learn to pass
and set yeah okay pass and set if you can deliver
a consistent set and if you're you were a middle
indoor i'm assuming you'll be a blocker transition
setting is so important and there are very few
people who do it well I would say if you can
dial in a consistent set as far as like tempo
and consistent location from all over the court
especially in transition yes those are the difference
makers when I watch people play beach volleyball
the thing that frustrates me the most is watching
them set each other true story I would say dial
in that, and if you played middle or opposite
or center, just work on your passing fundamentals.
And the thing about Beach is you can get away
with not really being a good passer because you're
not running a complex offense. I took that question
from a technical standpoint, but your answer
is much better than mine. I was like, wow, Adam's
getting into the nitty -gritty here, like tactics.
Question four, can a coach be replaced during
an Olympic cycle? If Sullivan's coaching style
turns out to be unsuccessful in love and we have
another underwhelming finish in future VNLs,
could this cause enough concern to reconsider
the head coach for the national team? 100%. You
can fire a coach whenever you want. The only
question is, would they? What are the clauses
in his contract about getting fired? Would they
buy him out if they have to? I'm sorry, LA is
the US's... time to shine 100 you don't mess
around with an olympics period but you extra
don't mess around with a home olympics totally
especially when you have been dominant in the
sport for and one yeah four what is it they've
won five medals in a row yeah something at least
listen again if we're not taking politics or
contracts or any of that into consideration If
they don't show marked improvement this year
and perform at Worlds, I think there's a very
high likelihood that they find a replacement.
Question five. If a teammate isn't playing well,
how do you balance being supportive and encouraging
and telling them to pick it up? Like, what do
those huddles look like from a player perspective?
You or me? I'm probably not the person to ask.
Why don't you go? I feel like you're the diplomat
of the group. It depends on who your teammate
is. You have to know that person. Some people
need a kick in the pants and some people need
you to rub their back and tell them they're the
best and that they're going to get the next one.
I mean, it's the same thing with coaching, really.
It's exactly. You need to know what fires up
your players. Somebody looked at me and told
me I couldn't do something and that I was sucking.
I played better, period. And some people can't
handle it. Yeah, it's. individual and that comes
down to just knowing your teammates i feel like
there is a way because i have played with people
i have not played with many people that since
college that or sorry since indoor because like
indoor i would say it's more a more conducive
environment to being real beach not so much so
i've played with both types of people. And I
think there is a way to get your point across
or offer suggestions or say like what you're
observing without getting in their face and being
like, you suck. Yeah. You know what I mean? So
it's like, if it's, if it's very clear what the
other team's strategy is against a certain player
and they are not figuring it out, just like,
offering observations of like hey they're leaving
you a lot of line and you have a tip open like
the defender's deep i find that information is
often received best yeah i would agree with that
coming back to something you've talked about
before like hey the game plan is X, let's make
sure we execute this on the next play or man,
their serves are coming real fast. I'm going
to take a step back on the pass. You can drop
hints and things like that without being overly
critical. Again, you start there and then if
they still stink, then you become a little more
direct. But yeah, that's the guy who's so nice.
Okay, last question of the day. Do you know why
a player like Lindsay Ruddens is not getting
looks for Team USA? She's the backup opposite
to Antropova at Scandici and has done well when
she gets a chance. Maybe she's turned them down.
I don't know if they've approached her or not.
I don't know what the details are there. I haven't
heard anything. I don't know if they've approached
her, if she said no, but in the last couple seasons
when I have seen her get in for Scandici, she's
done a good job. yeah and the opposite position
for usa in my opinion is wide open i would have
10 opposites in the gym if i was sullivan and
go somebody show me that you can be terminal
and you can be our go -to i mean like do i think
ruddens is your answer to like a vargas or an
agonu no but they don't have an answer but you
don't have anybody right now Totally. I think
that she should be getting a look again. She's
got a little fire too. Yeah, which is good. We
don't know whether she said yes, whether she
said no, if there's any history there, blah,
blah, blah. But I think she deserves a chance
based on what I've seen. Thanks so much for everybody
who submitted questions. I loved reading them
all this week. There were so many. We'll get
into them over the next couple of weeks. But
we always appreciate the comments and the messages.
So thanks for sending those in. Looking forward,
as always, there is a ton of volleyball to scratch
whatever itch you're feeling. I had trouble picking,
so buckle up. There's quite the list coming.
Wednesday, 10 p .m. Eastern, NCAA men's CSUN
versus USC. CSUN coming on. USC has a good team.
That'll be a good game. Thursday, 8 o 'clock
p .m. Eastern, Omaha versus Dallas. That's on
Roku. I'm very curious to watch this match. I'll
be watching that one for sure. I'm a big fan
of Dallas right now, FYI. Same. Friday, 10 p
.m. Eastern, NCAA men's UCLA versus Long Beach
State. One versus two, baby. Let's go. That is
maybe the must -watch match of the week. And
if you watch the NPSF Men's Volleyball Media
Days, I straight up asked UCLA players, who do
you have unfinished business with? And they straight
up said Long Beach State. So here we go. This
one's going to be fun. Also at 10 p .m. Eastern
on Friday, you got to make your pick. MLV Columbus
versus San Diego. I figured it would be a good
game. I know they're at both of the bottom of
the MLV, but I thought it would be a good game.
That game actually heavily influenced my choice
of athletes for my fantasy team this week, so
I will be following the stats at least. I definitely
won't be watching it over the men's game. That's
just me, though. Saturday at 5 p .m. Eastern,
Love Nebraska versus Salt Lake. That's on Victory
Plus. That's free. I think we said you can find
that. on your smart TV. And then men's Coppa
Italia Final Four is on VBTV this weekend. Trentino
versus Piacenza and Verona versus Perugia. And
then the finals will be the next day. So let's
go. That'll be great. And Italian women's Sunday,
10 a .m. Eastern. Milano versus Navarra. Sunday
at 11 a .m. Eastern. Conigliano versus Scandici.
Rematch. We talked about that game. It was so
good. You have to tune in and watch this rematch.
It's going to get... Eat it, I think. There is
so much good volleyball this week, you guys,
particularly on NCAA men's and overseas. I'll
be calling in sick this week. So if you have
VBTV, definitely just, like, post up on your
couch this weekend and tune in. Just watch them
back to back to back, you know? Milano versus
Navarro on the laptop. Canigliano versus Scandicci
on the TV. That's how it's going to be. And then
I'm guessing a Trentino Perugia final for Coppa
Italia men. which was great when they played
in the regular season last week. So you're welcome.
Check it out. That concludes this week's episode
of Volley Talk. There's always something shaking
in the volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed
this little fix. Be sure to follow the show so
you don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore
podcast. If you have a topic you'd like us to
discuss, you can reach out on Instagram or at
info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining
us and we'll be back next week.