#9 Stanford Hands #4 Hawai'i Their First Loss of the Season, Jordan Thompson Comes Up Big for LOVB Houston

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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.

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I'm your host Sarah Pavin. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball world champion, former Nebraska corn husker and longtime pro both indoor and on the beach.

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And I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international volleyball coach and the show's resident stat guy.

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Another exciting volley week is in the books. I personally enjoyed watching the NCAA men's side of things this week because there were a lot of very exciting matches going on.

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We had a lot of fun watching those. Things are also staying pretty steady in the love universe, but we are seeing some movement starting to happen on the PVF side of things.

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We have got some overseas updates, a new game for you and a lot more to cover. So let's get started.

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Carrying on with the NCAA women's news because you know they just can't stay away.

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They refuse to give up the headlines.

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We have another retirement this week following Coach Cook's announcement last week.

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Mary Wise, the head coach of Florida, announced her retirement after 34 seasons with the program.

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She was the longest tenured head coach in UF history.

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That's amazing that she was there for so long.

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It's wild. And that wasn't even her entire career.

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I know.

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She coached other places.

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It's impressive.

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Mary Wise totaled 1,068 career wins, making it the fourth most in NCAA Division I history.

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And she is the winningest female head coach in Division I history, which is incredible.

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Mary Wise led her teams to eight Final Fours, two national runner up appearances and 25 SEC titles.

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There's a lot more. These are just the highlights.

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Okay. And amazingly, this is a big accomplishment, I think.

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Mary Wise made the NCAA tournament in each of her 34 seasons.

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And Florida was not the program it was when she got there.

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Okay. When she entered the program, they were coming off of a losing season.

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She completely built that program.

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So that might be the most impressive stat for me.

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Just the consistency to run a program and to be in the hunt every year is an incredible accomplishment.

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So we wish Mary Wise all the best.

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I am sure she will hand off the Florida Gators program to good hands.

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I personally haven't seen anything yet.

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Maybe I missed it.

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But another big chapter, another huge player in the NCAA volleyball world is calling it a campaign.

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Do you think we're going to see her as a head coach of a pro team in Florida next year?

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No.

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She's done.

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I think it's another spend time with the family and the grandkids situation.

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It takes a lot of time.

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On the NCAA men's side, we had several upsets this week.

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Okay, it was a big heavy hitting week with big matchups.

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But some of these upsets happened in matches I didn't expect.

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For example, Harvard beat Penn State 3-0.

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And that loss sent Penn State to be 0-7.

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Bye bye to the season.

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Not a great start.

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But Penn State recovered and got their first win of the season by coming back and beating Harvard the next day.

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3-1.

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So Penn State is not getting baggled this season.

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I was about to say, we'll consider that a win.

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It's not a win.

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No, absolutely not.

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Especially for a program like that.

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When we first watched them play and they lost, when they lost to UCLA,

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you know, I thought they had a bunch of players sick.

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They were traveling.

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I expected much more out of them this season.

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And I thought, you know what, you're not firing on all cylinders.

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I'm going to give you a couple of weeks to get back on track.

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But to be 0-7, I mean, your season is over.

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You can't come in now unless they win their division tournament and they get a spot in the tournament.

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That's the only way.

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But that's, you can't start like that.

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That's crazy.

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That's rough.

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Yeah.

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LIU beat Princeton 3-1.

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I wasn't even sure what LIU is.

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Is it Long Island University?

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Regardless, Princeton was a top 20 team and they got beat by LIU.

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No good.

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Long Beach State, this wasn't an upset, but it was just like a public interest type of thing.

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Long Beach State beat UCLA 3-1.

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We couldn't attend that match, but it looked packed.

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I will be sitting down and watching that match as soon as we finish recording this.

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Long Beach State, like you know what we think about UCLA.

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They've got the potential, but like let's show up boys.

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Okay.

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And I understand Long Beach State is probably very good.

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I still haven't seen them play, so don't hold that against me.

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Stanford and Hawaii split their back to back.

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Hawaii won the first match in five and Stanford came back to beat them in four.

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So that was Hawaii's first loss of the season.

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So now I think we're only down to four unbeatens.

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We watched both of those games and we'll be talking about them here in a little bit.

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Cal State Northridge upset Pepperdine 3-1.

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So expect to see some movement in the rankings this week because there was a lot of shakeups.

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Honestly, I am shocked that Penn State is still even in the top 20.

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I think they should probably be off the pole now.

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I would imagine they'll drop out of the standings this week.

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They were 17th.

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Like your 0-7 at that point is like a courtesy and a respect thing that people are even keeping you on the list.

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Yeah, you're giving them the benefit of the dough that they're going to turn it around.

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But and I mean no disrespect to Harvard, but you can't lose that game.

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I mean, Harvard's not bad.

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No, but they're not Penn State.

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I think Princeton will drop off the list because they were like near the bottom of the top 20 and losing to LIU.

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Like they probably won't be there anymore.

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You'll see some movement with Pepperdine and CSUN, Stanford, Hawaii.

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Like yeah, this will be a moving and shaking week in NCAA men's volleyball for sure.

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Moving on to love the head-to-head match this week was a Texas showdown between Houston and Austin with Houston coming up with a 3-1 victory.

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We're going to talk about that match in detail later on in the episode, but that was a good one to watch.

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It was close.

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It was entertaining.

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If we look at the weekend matchups, Atlanta had a good weekend.

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They beat Salt Lake 3-1 and Madison 3-0.

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So they continue to cruise and they're playing really well.

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Omaha had a barn burner with Salt Lake winning 3-2.

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And so the current league standings after week five are Atlanta, Omaha, Houston, Salt Lake, Austin and a struggling Madison.

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So the standings are the exact same as last week, but now Atlanta is pulling further ahead.

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You've got to think that the Omaha fans are loving Madison being at the bottom of the standings.

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We're just going to keep that rivalry going.

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I'm sure they're not heartbroken about it.

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And lastly, let's give you the PVF rundown for the week.

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So last Sunday Orlando handed Omaha their first sweep ever.

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So that was big news.

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Omaha has generally been very strong in one league last year.

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Atlanta did have a tough week.

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They lost to Vegas in four and then they lost to Orlando in three straight and then to Omaha in four as well.

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So they have plummeted in the rankings.

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Yeah, not a not a great week for them.

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But Orlando is playing well and sweeping teams left, right and center.

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Columbus, I'm happy to report has finally won a match beating Grand Rapids in 3-2.

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You never want to be the team.

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You never want to be that team.

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So Grand Rapids gives the team their first win of the season.

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Yeah, not great.

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So if we look at the top of the league, it's Vegas, Omaha and Orlando.

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Omaha has more points than Vegas, but Vegas has a better record.

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So for those of you who are unaware, there's a multi-point system with PVF.

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So they track the wins and losses and that is what is showing up on the rankings page on the website.

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But they also accumulate points based on the type of victory.

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So if you win in three or four, you get three points.

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If you win in five, you get two points.

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And if you lose in five, you get one point.

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So I'm actually unsure as to what the official ranking criteria are.

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If it's just wins and losses or if it's points on the website, it's wins and losses.

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But I'm trying to figure that if anyone knows, let me know.

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But they do track kind of two of those important metrics in terms of wins and losses, but also types of wins.

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I'm also confused because overseas the leagues use the points system

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and it's the points that determine the league standings.

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I'm personally a big fan of the point system.

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I like to me winning in three or four should mean something rather than always going to five.

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So that's my personal preference and I love that they're tracking it.

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I'm just not sure if that's...

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I'm like, is it like a tiebreaker thing?

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Are you keeping track of the points as a tiebreaker because the way that you have laid out it is based on record

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because Vegas is seven and two, Omaha is six and three.

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But Omaha has got 18 points and Vegas has 17.

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So if this is Europe, Omaha would be at the top.

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I wonder if this is a fan education system because they don't do points like that in many pro leagues in America.

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So who knows exactly who's in first place.

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We don't know what the standard is.

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It looks like the record is the standard, but I wish it would be points because I agree.

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That is just like a more zoomed in breakdown of the season.

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And like I think if you're winning in a dominant fashion, that should mean something.

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Agreed.

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Look at that.

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Mostly volleyball this week.

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As it should be.

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One retirement announcement, no drama, easy peasy.

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This is the way we like it.

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Just spitting facts and results.

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So hopefully you guys were able to watch some of those matches,

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but we're about to dive into a couple right now.

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All right, as we alluded to earlier, our first feature match of the week is Hawaii versus Stanford on the NCAA men's side.

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We did actually watch both of these matches.

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So we're going to give a full rundown of their head to head overall.

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Okay, before we get into the match itself for all of you volleyball fans over there who are currently missing

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that women's NCAA volleyball excitement, I want to encourage you to watch some of the men's matches.

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You know, we've talked about our thoughts of the women's pro leagues that are going on and they're good to watch.

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We've been enjoying that.

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But for me personally, they've lacked that.

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Firepower.

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The firepower, the intensity, the excitement of the NCAA women's season that we thoroughly enjoyed.

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And these men's matches have been delivering that for me.

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So if you are feeling like you're missing your volleyball fix, watch some of these matches.

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I promise you they will deliver that excitement of watching.

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I was on the edge of my seat watching these games.

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Well, they're completely different than the women's game.

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Like when I'm watching women's volleyball, I hate to say it, but there are very few times when I'm just like, wow,

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you know what I mean?

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It's entertaining.

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It's back and forth.

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The rallies are long.

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Like cool stuff is happening.

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But when I'm watching the NCAA men's game multiple times a match, I am like, oh my gosh, that is insane.

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Well, and I will be the first one to admit I'm not and have not been a huge fan of watching men's volleyball because you see a lot of errors.

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It's very terminal.

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It's not it's impressive to watch them physically, but it's not always entertaining.

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But these matches that we have been watching, there have been rallies.

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There have been lead changes.

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People's faces getting taken off.

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Yeah, we'll talk about that.

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It's been exciting.

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So if you are looking for something and the women's pro leagues are just not quite scratching that itch, check this out because fantastic.

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So as Sarah mentioned, we're going to talk about the Hawaii Stanford back to back showdown that happened in Hawaii this week.

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Now, I know not everybody is watching men's volleyball.

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So let's give a general overview of the two teams and then we'll talk about the matches specifically.

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What were your thoughts on Stanford start as a team as a team?

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Their setter is no good.

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I'm not a fan starting with the positive.

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I like that.

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I like that Sarah style.

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It's called an open face sandwich effect.

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Okay.

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Most people do positive negative positive.

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I just leave the top piece of bread off. Okay.

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I'm not a huge fan of the setter.

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I think Stanford is incredible at fixing bad sets.

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They're very good at it.

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Hence, they're out jousting and out tipping Hawaii.

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Oh my gosh.

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Badly in those two matches.

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They don't run the middle much at all.

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I would say their firepower comes from their left side, particularly one of them Teo snowy.

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I really like their libero.

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I think Stanford is a solid team.

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I just don't think they have enough pieces to really make it to the top.

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I would I would agree with all that to me.

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Stanford is one of those teams where you know what you're going to get every time you play them.

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They are consistent.

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They put the same product on the floor.

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They make good adjustments.

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I will say defensively.

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They're very scrappy.

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I think their libero does a fantastic job of a digging balls and be being in the right place to get hit by balls.

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Sometimes you have to yeah, and that's part of the men's game.

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Balloon off the fight.

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He is fearless and he gets in there and he makes plays and Stanford keeps balls alive and we'll talk about this in the match.

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But Stanford makes you beat them.

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Yeah, they're steady.

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They're not the team that's necessarily going to go take the match from you, but they're going to be consistent and put a solid product on the floor.

232
00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:28,900
And if you falter, they will still be steady and win.

233
00:15:28,900 --> 00:15:35,000
And I think if I'm looking at that team, like you said about the setter, he does some good things.

234
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,400
But when he misses, he misses and it's unhittable.

235
00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,400
And it happens more than it should.

236
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,200
I think if Stanford had a really good setter, that could be a difference maker.

237
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,100
Well, that's that was my question watching these matches.

238
00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:51,600
I'm like, you're a great program.

239
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,800
I understand the program folded for a second.

240
00:15:54,800 --> 00:16:03,100
So the recruiting was an issue, but you're telling me you cannot find a setter that can deliver a better ball than that.

241
00:16:03,100 --> 00:16:07,400
So I think the setter, this is his first season seeing actual playing time.

242
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,500
So, you know, he might need a chance to settle in.

243
00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:13,100
We'll see if he can kind of figure it out.

244
00:16:13,100 --> 00:16:21,600
But for me watching them, other than having just a stud athlete, that was the biggest piece they were missing that I think could make a difference for them down the stretch.

245
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,000
OK, what about Hawaii?

246
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,500
Hawaii is just so fun to watch.

247
00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:30,700
Now they have a very internationally inspired roster.

248
00:16:30,700 --> 00:16:35,300
Their two left sides are both French players.

249
00:16:35,300 --> 00:16:42,000
Their opposite, who is incredible, is Bulgarian and they have an Israeli middle.

250
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,600
So they're bringing in a lot of pieces.

251
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,700
A lot of them are young.

252
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:47,900
They're going to be very good for a long time.

253
00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:56,600
They're young in their eligibility, but they're older compared to other freshmen, which a lot of them are freshmen or sophomores.

254
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:57,900
And it's insane.

255
00:16:57,900 --> 00:17:03,600
And so that is a it's a good recipe for success on the men's side because those years make a difference.

256
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:09,100
And you've got a similar David situation from UCLA going on.

257
00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:10,600
They're dynamic.

258
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:11,800
They're players.

259
00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,600
They've they're big.

260
00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,000
They jump.

261
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,400
They have a left side number 23.

262
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,400
This kid, he is just fun to watch.

263
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,600
He does everything.

264
00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,300
He makes incredible digs.

265
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:31,200
He is absolutely dynamic front row back row.

266
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:38,000
I saw him apologize to more players in those two matches for blowing their faces off than I think I've seen all year in any league.

267
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:39,900
It was incredible.

268
00:17:39,900 --> 00:17:41,600
They are fun to watch.

269
00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,900
Not to mention their biggest player is their setter at 611.

270
00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:48,200
What?

271
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,400
The setter is 611.

272
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:51,800
Okay, then we'll talk with them.

273
00:17:51,800 --> 00:18:00,600
And their right side, they call him the Bulgarian boom, has a heavy arm and also fun to watch.

274
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:05,800
Defensive liability doesn't bend his knees, but man, he can hit the ball.

275
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,200
Okay, let's talk about these matches.

276
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:08,000
All right.

277
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,000
So let's start with Stanford.

278
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,100
And I want to highlight a few things here.

279
00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:19,300
We talked about Stanford being a very consistent team on a read you a couple stats here.

280
00:18:19,300 --> 00:18:21,300
So let's talk about Teo snowy.

281
00:18:21,300 --> 00:18:23,100
And this is kind of the consistency part.

282
00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:28,600
So he hit 349 in one match and 350 in the other match.

283
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:28,800
Right.

284
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,200
So almost identical.

285
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:38,400
He had 40 attempts in one 43 in the other and similar like 19 kills, five errors, 23 kills, eight errors.

286
00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:43,000
He was the same in both matches and he is kind of their biggest point score.

287
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:49,100
I would say on the left side and then on the right side you have Moses Wagner who also was relatively consistent.

288
00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:56,000
He hit 216 one night to 37 the next night 14 kills in both matches.

289
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,500
They're just incredibly consistent.

290
00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:00,400
And I would say the same thing.

291
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,700
They played the same match in both.

292
00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:04,400
They had chances to win.

293
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,200
The sets were all by two points.

294
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:14,800
They were in every match just couldn't close out the one and then found a way to make those plays down the stretch in the other.

295
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,600
What were your overall impressions of those two matches and what was the difference to you?

296
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:25,400
Honestly, I think the difference lies in Hawaii's performance.

297
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,900
I think the night that they won I wasn't ever questioning their decision-making.

298
00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:33,600
I was they were playing hard.

299
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,800
It was good volleyball in the match that they lost.

300
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:53,400
I found that there was a bit of a lack of discipline in certain players decision-making and I think setting choices and execution at times really hurt them.

301
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:59,700
It's like as you said, Stanford played very consistent, but I think Hawaii took a dip.

302
00:19:59,700 --> 00:20:05,100
They crushed Stanford and set one of that match and then lost the next three.

303
00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:08,400
It was just poor choices.

304
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:10,300
I think I can get behind that.

305
00:20:10,300 --> 00:20:16,900
They were actually statistically better in their loss than they were in their win.

306
00:20:16,900 --> 00:20:22,400
Well, yeah, they crushed Stanford in the first set and I think that everybody stats got padded in that set.

307
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,500
And then the next three were very close.

308
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:28,000
I think every set was by two points or something correct.

309
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:34,000
So and that's the difference is when sets are that close.

310
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:43,400
It is the one or two bad choices the one or two plays that you lose focus or aren't mindful that makes the difference.

311
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:49,900
Yeah, and you can look at their mistakes to me were after 20 where they were undisciplined.

312
00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:54,400
They had four net touches in that match to Stanford zero.

313
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,800
I believe at least three of them were down the stretch post 20.

314
00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:06,300
There were stretches where they missed two serves at the end of matches and they just didn't give themselves a chance.

315
00:21:06,300 --> 00:21:08,900
The center was set a completely unhittable wall.

316
00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:09,400
Correct.

317
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:15,200
No, like the angle that they chose to set was just like as a hitter impossible.

318
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,600
So let's talk about Trey Rosenthal a little bit here.

319
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:26,900
So he's a 611 setter and anytime you hear about a setter being that big you're excited because they're not a liability when they're blocking.

320
00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:28,600
They're going to be able to generate some points.

321
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,100
The biggest liability blocking for that team though.

322
00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:43,200
I think in general you don't have that size mismatch and but what I want to highlight are some of the difficulties of setting when you're taller than your hitters.

323
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:56,200
So you can set a really flat ball and that increases your tempo because where you're contacting the ball as a setter and where your hitters are hitting that ball is on the same level generally on the same plane.

324
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,300
And that is really good for running your offense.

325
00:21:59,300 --> 00:22:08,600
And I thought in the first match that they played he did a really good job of delivering those flat balls both to the middle and to the outside hitters.

326
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,000
Now, I thought they also passed better in the first game.

327
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,500
Tred was setting from good places.

328
00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:15,500
He was balanced.

329
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:20,000
He was able to take the ball well and deliver what he wanted.

330
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:26,300
In the second game, Stanford did a better job of moving the passers around and playing with the depths of their serves.

331
00:22:26,300 --> 00:22:29,300
We saw Tred setting balls from around the attack line.

332
00:22:29,300 --> 00:22:37,600
Some of them he had to go to his knees and run around setting a bunch of balls in four and in position two.

333
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,700
And I thought that threw off his rhythm.

334
00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:41,200
He wasn't able to get a square.

335
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:42,600
Some of the balls got tight.

336
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,400
Some of the distances weren't very, very good.

337
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,800
And that put his hitters in a tough position.

338
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:57,700
That was to me the biggest difference was the passing broke down and Tred wasn't able to fix some of those sets and put his hitters in the same position.

339
00:22:57,700 --> 00:23:01,700
Well, I'm curious if you like as a hitter, you're a tall hitter as well.

340
00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:03,800
You've played with a bunch of setters like does it.

341
00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:05,400
Did you see the same thing?

342
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:13,700
Obviously, you could see the setter running around, but did I think that the passing was that much more terrible in the second match than the first?

343
00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:16,100
I mean, I think we're saying the same thing.

344
00:23:16,100 --> 00:23:20,600
Like the setting execution and decision making was not as good.

345
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:30,800
I think with Tred being as large as he is and needing to take the ball at that apex to run the offense as they want, they have to pass well.

346
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:37,700
And it's harder for him to fix those than let's say maybe a more a smaller, quicker, agile, more agile setter.

347
00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:43,700
And Tred moves really well for being 6'11", but there are just realities to being that tall versus some smaller players.

348
00:23:43,700 --> 00:23:47,000
I didn't think he fixed those balls as well as he needed to.

349
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:52,000
I am obsessed with Luis Sakonoko, though.

350
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,100
I think that he is the full package.

351
00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:58,300
He generally passes well.

352
00:23:58,300 --> 00:24:01,800
He plays quite good defense.

353
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,800
His attacking ability is incredible.

354
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:06,900
He sets well out of system.

355
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:10,900
I was so impressed with his complete game.

356
00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:19,300
And while their opposite, Christian Tetriski, offensively is almost unstoppable.

357
00:24:19,300 --> 00:24:20,700
The buck stops there.

358
00:24:20,700 --> 00:24:28,000
Like he's a very, very typical opposite where it's like my job is to score points and then like you're lucky.

359
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,800
If I'll touch a ball on defense.

360
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,300
There was one play where Rosenthal was blocking.

361
00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:35,300
He saw that the Stanford left side was going to use him.

362
00:24:35,300 --> 00:24:37,400
He pulled his hands down.

363
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,500
So there was no touch and Tetriski.

364
00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:45,300
That was the only ball that he dug was out of bounds and he dug it into the stands.

365
00:24:45,300 --> 00:24:50,200
So not only are you not digging, but on smart plays by your setter, you're costing your team points.

366
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:57,400
So, yeah, Sakonoko full package, Tetriski point score to the max.

367
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,000
The way that they serve, they are going for it.

368
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,800
Like they're tossing this ball almost to the 10 foot line.

369
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:04,500
Okay.

370
00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:08,400
And the way they've dialed in their approach every time I'm like, did they step on the line?

371
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,400
I was like, no.

372
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:19,100
I think on paper, Hawaii is a much better team, a much more skilled team.

373
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:25,300
They have those dominant pieces that are missing from the Stanford side.

374
00:25:25,300 --> 00:25:35,700
It's just they didn't show up in the same way and their consistency faltered a little bit where Stanford stayed.

375
00:25:35,700 --> 00:25:39,400
Despite having to save almost every single ball that that setter set.

376
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,200
Well, but I do think you have to give Stanford a little bit of credit.

377
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:49,300
So here are the things that I thought they did better in the second match than in the first one.

378
00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:52,000
I think their serving location was better.

379
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,800
I thought overall Stanford made better adjustments.

380
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,000
So change their serving technique.

381
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,600
They did get some worse passing out of Hawaii.

382
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:08,800
I thought their defensive adjustments, they had the same number of digs in their win versus their loss and they played one more set.

383
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,900
I thought they were able to extend more rallies in those situations.

384
00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:16,000
And I think it was a bit of game plan in that regard.

385
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,300
They managed to neutralize the second left side for Hawaii.

386
00:26:20,300 --> 00:26:27,700
And while that wasn't only his fault, I think it was part of the plan in terms of where they were serving and what they were trying to do.

387
00:26:27,700 --> 00:26:36,400
And I also think that the setter did a better job of running more middle in that second match than he did.

388
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:43,900
It still wasn't a ton, but he managed to get Carrera a few balls and he ended up being very efficient.

389
00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:47,400
He had 10 sets overall, but he had seven kills, no errors.

390
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:48,400
So it was a little.

391
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,500
I don't think I've seen that wainwright at all.

392
00:26:50,500 --> 00:26:52,500
I don't think I've seen that guy hit a ball.

393
00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:55,500
Well, he would have watched multiple Stanford matches.

394
00:26:55,500 --> 00:26:56,500
Yeah, fair.

395
00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:58,100
I mean, he got nine sets, four kills.

396
00:26:58,100 --> 00:27:11,300
He's not particularly offensive, but they did get the other middle some touches and it created a few more seams and a little more one on one or one on one and a half situations for their outside hitters.

397
00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:16,400
So I did like the adjustments that Stanford made from the second match to the first match.

398
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:23,500
So to sum this up, let's look at kind of position by position who you think won those battles.

399
00:27:23,500 --> 00:27:27,500
So I think you're a fan of the Hawaii setter over the.

400
00:27:27,500 --> 00:27:30,500
I wouldn't say a fan, but compared to the Stanford setter.

401
00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:32,100
Yes.

402
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:35,300
Who do you think won the middle battle?

403
00:27:35,300 --> 00:27:53,000
Stanford in the first match had 16 block assists to Hawaii's five and four solo blocks to Hawaii's two and in the second match, Stanford had 13 block assists to Hawaii's 14 and one solo to Hawaii's three.

404
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,000
So Hawaii actually blocked much better in the match that they lost in the match that they won.

405
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,500
Well, the commentators were saying the same thing in the first match.

406
00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:05,200
They were shocked that Hawaii hadn't been getting blocks early because they usually do.

407
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:12,500
I think both teams kind of have one middle that they use more than the other.

408
00:28:12,500 --> 00:28:19,100
I think Neusterer for Hawaii, he kind of brings everything to the court.

409
00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:23,900
Like he scores, he puts up a decent block, he serves well.

410
00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:26,300
Carrera, same thing.

411
00:28:26,300 --> 00:28:27,200
He's steady.

412
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,900
He is obviously used more in a blocking sense.

413
00:28:29,900 --> 00:28:42,400
But and then there's the other Hazan for Hawaii and Wainwright for Stanford who are more blocking middles and Hazan is quite a bit smaller than Rosenthal.

414
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,300
So the connection there is kind of missing.

415
00:28:44,300 --> 00:28:45,800
He's almost setting down to him.

416
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:50,100
Yeah, Rosenthal is setting it down and he misses a lot.

417
00:28:50,100 --> 00:28:52,600
Like the mismatch in height there is just really tough.

418
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,700
So they don't really set him all that often.

419
00:28:55,700 --> 00:29:02,000
But I would say the middle battle was I would give it a slight edge to Hawaii.

420
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,100
I think Neusterer pushed it over the edge for me.

421
00:29:05,100 --> 00:29:05,900
Fair enough.

422
00:29:05,900 --> 00:29:10,100
I thought the Stanford libero was better than the Hawaii libero.

423
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:12,300
Is he okay?

424
00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:17,800
Oh, I don't think I've ever seen somebody get hit in the face as hard as this guy did.

425
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,600
Okay, here's a little context.

426
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:20,900
Obviously, you guys can't see this.

427
00:29:20,900 --> 00:29:22,800
I'm sure there's a highlight reel somewhere.

428
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:29,400
But we had Sakunoko coming out of the back row right over top of a middle run,

429
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:38,000
which both players committed on and the libero for Stanford took it straight in the face.

430
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,200
No hands, no nothing.

431
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:46,000
I think Sakunoko may have landed on the other side underneath the net when he landed from that attack.

432
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,200
It happened so fast.

433
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:48,800
It was wild.

434
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,700
I think I almost passed away.

435
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:53,900
I felt that impact from my couch.

436
00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:55,300
Wow.

437
00:29:55,300 --> 00:29:58,500
And to his credit, he got up.

438
00:29:58,500 --> 00:29:59,400
Didn't even touch it.

439
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,800
Didn't even touch his face.

440
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:07,500
There was a mandatory quick little check on him and he was back out and made a dig right after that.

441
00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:10,800
Like that to me was impressive to watch.

442
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,000
So I liked him.

443
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:20,000
Just let everybody else know Sakunoko also took out Moses Wagner in the first match and Tred Rosenthal took one so hard in the beak.

444
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,500
Oh, he had to cover his face with his jersey during the rally.

445
00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:28,900
Like the number of bombs that these guys took to the face.

446
00:30:28,900 --> 00:30:30,300
There was some head hunting going on.

447
00:30:30,300 --> 00:30:31,400
Wow.

448
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:32,000
Wow.

449
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,200
It was crazy.

450
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:38,300
Of the teams that I've watched so far, I really, really enjoy watching Hawaii.

451
00:30:38,300 --> 00:30:42,900
I think like I said, the team as a whole has so much potential.

452
00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:44,000
They're a full package.

453
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:45,600
They have personality.

454
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:53,800
They are skilled, they're athletic, dynamic, like they make digs, you know, except for Tetris game.

455
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,100
Just kidding.

456
00:30:55,100 --> 00:31:02,900
But like they are playing full well-rounded volleyball and they're really, really fun to watch.

457
00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:06,900
So hopefully this is a wake-up call for them and they're able to bounce back.

458
00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:11,500
Stanford, like I wouldn't say they're a fun team to watch.

459
00:31:11,500 --> 00:31:12,800
They're steady.

460
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,500
They execute well.

461
00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:18,800
You know, they're methodical in what they do.

462
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:26,200
And they make teams pay attention and execute their game plan because they're that team that like will sneak up on you

463
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,200
and then the game's over before you notice.

464
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,800
So I'm curious to see how this progresses.

465
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,100
But that back-to-back series was so fun.

466
00:31:36,100 --> 00:31:37,500
Outstanding.

467
00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:42,600
Our second feature match of the week is Love Houston versus Austin.

468
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:44,600
What is your take?

469
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,600
I thought the volleyball was really competitive.

470
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,400
It was an entertaining game, very close.

471
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:53,700
We had the first set was 33-31, I think.

472
00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:56,200
The second set was also incredibly close.

473
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:57,700
So it was definitely entertaining.

474
00:31:57,700 --> 00:32:04,800
We saw a right side battle, I think, between Maddy Skinner and Jordan Thompson.

475
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:11,400
So that was interesting to watch and, you know, a storyline in terms of current Olympic opposite

476
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,000
and maybe a future Olympic opposite.

477
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,100
So there were some storylines to watch and I thought the volleyball was pretty good.

478
00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:20,400
We saw leads being blown.

479
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:21,100
Correct.

480
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:24,000
In every single set, it seemed, except set four.

481
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,200
Like teams would be a big and then poof, the lead is gone.

482
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,200
Well, it was interesting.

483
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:39,600
You had, I think Maddy Skinner had 10 or 11 points, maybe 10 kills in one service or block point in set one.

484
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:44,800
And they ended up losing that set, which to me was crazy.

485
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:49,600
I mean, Jordan Thompson played well on that first set as well, but Maddy Skinner was untouchable.

486
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:50,500
I mean, 10 points in a set.

487
00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:54,100
Granted, it was like a set and a half because it was like 33-31.

488
00:32:54,100 --> 00:32:58,700
But I felt like she scored most of her points at the beginning of that set because towards the end,

489
00:32:58,700 --> 00:33:02,500
like when we were in overtime, she wasn't that effective.

490
00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:04,200
She had a, I think she got blocked.

491
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:05,000
She had a hitting error.

492
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,500
She was dug twice and she scored once.

493
00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:13,400
Like if you have a player who scores that many points in one set, you need to capitalize on those performances.

494
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,000
Like what is the rest of the team doing?

495
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:15,600
Yeah, it was.

496
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:20,800
If one person is scoring a third of the points, like you guys, let's just get a couple more each.

497
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:29,800
I thought in general, the setting for Austin was lacking, for a better word.

498
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:34,800
When I was thinking about what I thought the difference makers were,

499
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,700
I think it was honestly the setting in the right side.

500
00:33:37,700 --> 00:33:43,200
I think that those were the pieces that kind of pushed Houston over the edge.

501
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,900
I think the left side battle was pretty evenly matched.

502
00:33:46,900 --> 00:33:50,300
I don't really think the left sides for either team did much.

503
00:33:50,300 --> 00:33:53,400
Logan Eggleston came in and did a very good job.

504
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:54,900
I will give her that.

505
00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:55,300
Correct.

506
00:33:55,300 --> 00:34:01,200
But until that sub was made, the left sides for both teams, I was like, man, this is a struggle.

507
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,000
And the middle is kind of the same thing.

508
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,600
You're not seeing a ton of production.

509
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:10,700
And I'm like, why is Austin not setting Ugg Bogumore?

510
00:34:10,700 --> 00:34:12,400
That's a head scratcher.

511
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,700
But we've talked about this with Austin kind of all season long,

512
00:34:16,700 --> 00:34:22,800
is that they haven't found a starting lineup that has stuck for them.

513
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,300
They always seem to be rotating players in and out.

514
00:34:26,300 --> 00:34:31,900
We saw the setter switch from the first set to the second set with Carly Lloyd coming in.

515
00:34:31,900 --> 00:34:35,400
They would do the double sub and then not take it out and leave it.

516
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:36,900
It just feels like they...

517
00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:42,400
Someone also mentioned Hardman was playing, and I think it was only her the second match that she ever played.

518
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,800
And it's like, where is this coming from?

519
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:45,400
Yeah, they haven't...

520
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,500
They're clearly scrambling to find something that works.

521
00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:53,300
And then in the middle of the match, taking out Molly McCage, putting in Asia O'Neil,

522
00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:56,400
they are just in and out trying to figure something out.

523
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,300
Like the only consistent player is Zoe Jarvis.

524
00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:01,300
Well, and yeah, fair.

525
00:35:01,300 --> 00:35:04,400
Maddie Skinner was on the bench for a set and a half almost.

526
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:05,000
True.

527
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,200
You said consistent player in terms of them being on the court.

528
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,400
And I just...

529
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:18,500
You would think after five weeks, you would have either figured out who needs to play

530
00:35:18,500 --> 00:35:22,500
or built in some consistency towards having six players on the court.

531
00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:28,000
Because they should be, in my opinion, with the roster that they have, winning more matches than they are.

532
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,100
I...

533
00:35:29,100 --> 00:35:30,700
I mean, I say this all the time.

534
00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:31,900
I thought Madison would be good.

535
00:35:31,900 --> 00:35:34,200
I thought Austin would be near the top too.

536
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,600
Like I thought their potential was definitely there.

537
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,400
But you have Jarvis who's passing pretty well.

538
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,300
Eggleston, I know she's working on her passing.

539
00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:47,500
She's a traditional P1.

540
00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:49,100
She's your point scoring left side.

541
00:35:49,100 --> 00:35:58,400
But you have a decent passing left side in Hawk, in Janari, who can be that other piece.

542
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,100
It's like why are you putting in Hardman?

543
00:36:01,100 --> 00:36:03,600
Like why are you...

544
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:04,300
Well, Hawk...

545
00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:08,000
Just the... Hawk's offensive ability was not...

546
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,300
She wasn't there this match, I thought.

547
00:36:10,300 --> 00:36:11,300
She definitely wasn't.

548
00:36:11,300 --> 00:36:16,400
But like if you're passing well enough, you can run your middle more.

549
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,100
You can run your right side comfortably.

550
00:36:18,100 --> 00:36:19,400
You can create seams.

551
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:20,400
You can do this thing.

552
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:26,800
Like you don't have to be a left side that is scoring a ton of points.

553
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:28,400
That's not every left side's role.

554
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,900
Well, but she struggled to pass too.

555
00:36:30,900 --> 00:36:36,100
They picked on her and she was only passing in system balls 16.7% of the time.

556
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:40,900
You need a left side on the court who can deliver some passes because right now your

557
00:36:40,900 --> 00:36:44,700
only one person who's doing that is your libero.

558
00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:48,500
Well, and then I see that as it's a two-fold problem, right?

559
00:36:48,500 --> 00:36:54,200
So if your passing is not amazing, your setters need to be able to fix those balls and put

560
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:55,900
your hitters in good positions.

561
00:36:55,900 --> 00:37:02,100
But they are struggling to pass consistently and their setters have not found a rhythm

562
00:37:02,100 --> 00:37:03,100
yet.

563
00:37:03,100 --> 00:37:07,500
Carly Lloyd is... still looks like she's trying to find her footing.

564
00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:09,500
Well, Tora started.

565
00:37:09,500 --> 00:37:11,300
And I didn't think she was very good.

566
00:37:11,300 --> 00:37:14,400
Like there's just too much in and out.

567
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:18,500
They've got to find some consistency because they have the pieces to be good.

568
00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:22,380
And like you said, they need to find a Baugu more.

569
00:37:22,380 --> 00:37:26,140
She needs to be a bigger offensive threat.

570
00:37:26,140 --> 00:37:27,660
She is great at the net.

571
00:37:27,660 --> 00:37:28,700
She's getting blocks.

572
00:37:28,700 --> 00:37:31,940
She's affecting the game that way, but you need her to be a centerpiece of what you're

573
00:37:31,940 --> 00:37:32,940
trying to do.

574
00:37:32,940 --> 00:37:34,900
And either you're passing your setting needs to be better.

575
00:37:34,900 --> 00:37:38,060
Honestly, watching that match, I'm like, how did Houston win?

576
00:37:38,060 --> 00:37:40,780
Because like Merzik was very quiet.

577
00:37:40,780 --> 00:37:41,780
Average.

578
00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:43,180
She hit 0-70 on the match.

579
00:37:43,180 --> 00:37:45,780
She just like was having issues.

580
00:37:45,780 --> 00:37:48,180
Richel, same thing.

581
00:37:48,180 --> 00:37:51,340
From the eye test watching, I'm like, is she doing anything?

582
00:37:51,340 --> 00:37:55,420
Like she passes, she was digging some balls, but like from a point scoring perspective,

583
00:37:55,420 --> 00:37:56,420
I was like, eh.

584
00:37:56,420 --> 00:38:01,100
That's interesting that you say that because she had 19 points and hit 316.

585
00:38:01,100 --> 00:38:02,100
Fabulous.

586
00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:03,100
Excellent.

587
00:38:03,100 --> 00:38:06,060
But that's her role as a left side.

588
00:38:06,060 --> 00:38:08,100
She's not super dynamic.

589
00:38:08,100 --> 00:38:10,200
She's not flashy.

590
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,740
She moves the ball around and makes plays.

591
00:38:12,740 --> 00:38:16,920
She's one of those players that if you don't really notice her, she's doing her job.

592
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:21,660
And so she quietly was their second best attacker.

593
00:38:21,660 --> 00:38:27,340
And if you're going to win consistently against good teams, that probably can't be the case.

594
00:38:27,340 --> 00:38:28,660
Well Merzik needed to be better.

595
00:38:28,660 --> 00:38:29,660
Well they won.

596
00:38:29,660 --> 00:38:35,580
But still, like the standard that she has set for herself for her capability, she was

597
00:38:35,580 --> 00:38:38,020
far under that, I would say.

598
00:38:38,020 --> 00:38:41,900
Jordan Thompson, however, she's been very up and down.

599
00:38:41,900 --> 00:38:45,780
And I think that she played well this match.

600
00:38:45,780 --> 00:38:47,580
She was the reason that they won.

601
00:38:47,580 --> 00:38:53,560
So she went head to head with Skinner in the first set and then down the stretch in overtime,

602
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:54,820
she scored points.

603
00:38:54,820 --> 00:38:58,220
She was the difference maker in that, in my opinion.

604
00:38:58,220 --> 00:39:02,180
And I also thought that Micah Hancock had a really good game.

605
00:39:02,180 --> 00:39:03,600
I liked her offense.

606
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:04,900
She was serving well.

607
00:39:04,900 --> 00:39:08,020
I think her decisions to attack the ball were good.

608
00:39:08,020 --> 00:39:10,940
I really, really liked her in that match.

609
00:39:10,940 --> 00:39:12,740
And here's a big difference.

610
00:39:12,740 --> 00:39:15,100
I know we've gotten a ton of questions.

611
00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:18,780
Jordan Thompson versus Madison Skinner, blah, blah, blah.

612
00:39:18,780 --> 00:39:24,140
Here's the difference that I noticed between those two players in this particular match.

613
00:39:24,140 --> 00:39:28,820
Jordan Thompson was going up and hitting angles.

614
00:39:28,820 --> 00:39:34,060
Sharp cross, high seam, down the line, deep corner.

615
00:39:34,060 --> 00:39:36,940
Madison Skinner was hitting straight.

616
00:39:36,940 --> 00:39:42,940
And that is not going to cut it as an opposite, as any, as any hitter.

617
00:39:42,940 --> 00:39:43,940
Okay?

618
00:39:43,940 --> 00:39:49,460
Because you get to a higher and higher level, hitting straight is not going to do it.

619
00:39:49,460 --> 00:39:54,060
So that was the difference for me is Jordan Thompson was finding angles.

620
00:39:54,060 --> 00:39:57,360
Madison Skinner got lucky because she got some broken blocks.

621
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,040
She got some seams sometimes.

622
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:03,540
She had to like throw the ball around to fix tight sets, whatever.

623
00:40:03,540 --> 00:40:06,220
But that was my takeaway watching the two of them.

624
00:40:06,220 --> 00:40:11,060
Well, and let's talk about, because we get lots of questions about US national team,

625
00:40:11,060 --> 00:40:16,420
about internationally, and this is the progression for athletes as they move kind of from one

626
00:40:16,420 --> 00:40:18,180
phase of their career to the other.

627
00:40:18,180 --> 00:40:24,060
So in college, Maddie Skinner is just physically dominant compared to the players that she's

628
00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:25,060
playing.

629
00:40:25,060 --> 00:40:30,780
She can just go up, jump high, swing hard and deep, which she does really well and score.

630
00:40:30,780 --> 00:40:35,340
And she is still seeing that success at the love level.

631
00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:42,700
And you have better athletes, bigger athletes, but you don't have international caliber national

632
00:40:42,700 --> 00:40:43,780
team athletes.

633
00:40:43,780 --> 00:40:48,420
And so we're, and we're going to address this question later, but that is going to be one

634
00:40:48,420 --> 00:40:53,340
of the things she's going to have to learn how to do if she wants to compete with, let's

635
00:40:53,340 --> 00:40:57,860
say a Jordan Thompson for a national team spot is find some angles, find some consistency

636
00:40:57,860 --> 00:40:59,660
and be able to move the ball around.

637
00:40:59,660 --> 00:41:07,380
I also think for Houston to continue to become a dominant team, they also need to run the

638
00:41:07,380 --> 00:41:08,380
middle more.

639
00:41:08,380 --> 00:41:09,380
Also, yes.

640
00:41:09,380 --> 00:41:12,780
I mean, I know that's something that we talk about a lot.

641
00:41:12,780 --> 00:41:19,580
If we, that is the one consistent thing we say every episode, run the middle more.

642
00:41:19,580 --> 00:41:24,820
You know, in fairness, it looks like Micah Hancock and Amber Ajid's connection is getting

643
00:41:24,820 --> 00:41:25,820
better.

644
00:41:25,820 --> 00:41:30,340
She had 13 points, but she's only getting like 14 attempts.

645
00:41:30,340 --> 00:41:31,340
She hit 500.

646
00:41:31,340 --> 00:41:37,560
Like, there's no reason to not be able to get her the ball a little more often.

647
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:42,660
And I actually thought that for the most part, Houston passed pretty well because you had

648
00:41:42,660 --> 00:41:46,520
like their libero and a Pogany.

649
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,020
She's passing a lot of the court and she's doing a great job.

650
00:41:49,020 --> 00:41:51,980
She played better than I have seen her play in the past.

651
00:41:51,980 --> 00:41:54,900
I thought that she had a good game.

652
00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:56,380
Yeah, I would agree.

653
00:41:56,380 --> 00:42:00,780
And I think that Jess Mirzik wasn't great offensively, but she almost passed.

654
00:42:00,780 --> 00:42:07,780
Like, she's at 36% in system passes, which, you know, it's not amazing, but it's getting

655
00:42:07,780 --> 00:42:08,780
better.

656
00:42:08,780 --> 00:42:13,780
You can tell she's focused on that part of her game and that's only going to help.

657
00:42:13,780 --> 00:42:17,300
I thought Houston missed a ton of serves though, like in the middle of the net.

658
00:42:17,300 --> 00:42:18,300
Yeah, I agree.

659
00:42:18,300 --> 00:42:20,220
They did miss a lot of serves.

660
00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:24,820
But again, when you have their setters struggling and their passers struggling, you just stay

661
00:42:24,820 --> 00:42:28,940
aggressive and you're going to turn points and you're going to get chances.

662
00:42:28,940 --> 00:42:32,460
There were definite issues on both sides.

663
00:42:32,460 --> 00:42:35,420
The games were very tight, very back and forth.

664
00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:37,820
Do I love seeing a big lead blown?

665
00:42:37,820 --> 00:42:38,900
Absolutely not.

666
00:42:38,900 --> 00:42:44,740
But in a tight match like that and looking at the difference makers, I do think that

667
00:42:44,740 --> 00:42:50,020
the, like we said, the things that pushed Houston over the edge were their setting ability

668
00:42:50,020 --> 00:42:52,180
and Jordan Thompson.

669
00:42:52,180 --> 00:42:56,300
Well, you think about after 20, what are the most important things?

670
00:42:56,300 --> 00:42:58,540
It's decision making and it's execution.

671
00:42:58,540 --> 00:43:04,140
And when you have Micah Hancock touching the ball every second contact and making good

672
00:43:04,140 --> 00:43:09,660
decisions and putting hitters in positive situations and then Jordan Thompson executing

673
00:43:09,660 --> 00:43:12,860
on top of that, she just knows where to put the ball.

674
00:43:12,860 --> 00:43:17,100
And they're, like you said, better decisions down the stretch, especially when it was close.

675
00:43:17,100 --> 00:43:19,540
Okay, I have a question for you actually.

676
00:43:19,540 --> 00:43:28,260
Okay, so we know how the Austin team keeps pushing this narrative of the lovehorns because

677
00:43:28,260 --> 00:43:34,060
so many of them played at Texas and during timeouts, you could actually see them putting

678
00:43:34,060 --> 00:43:35,980
their hands in the middle like this.

679
00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:42,780
Do you think that that is a factor in their lack of success?

680
00:43:42,780 --> 00:43:45,700
Oh, that's a great question.

681
00:43:45,700 --> 00:43:50,500
To me, they're missing cohesiveness and identity.

682
00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:56,180
And I think that things like that can definitely play a role.

683
00:43:56,180 --> 00:43:58,140
That was my instinct too.

684
00:43:58,140 --> 00:44:00,340
Because I know you're in Texas.

685
00:44:00,340 --> 00:44:06,420
I know you all went to Texas, but you have more players on your team than just that.

686
00:44:06,420 --> 00:44:11,420
And it becomes, it's hard to enter into an environment like that where you know you're

687
00:44:11,420 --> 00:44:13,500
an outsider.

688
00:44:13,500 --> 00:44:17,340
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the personalities on the team, but you're

689
00:44:17,340 --> 00:44:20,500
always, like you don't identify as a Longhorn.

690
00:44:20,500 --> 00:44:25,860
You've got more than half the team who is just playing along for a narrative.

691
00:44:25,860 --> 00:44:29,220
And the coaching staff, it doesn't, there's no connection.

692
00:44:29,220 --> 00:44:30,220
Yeah.

693
00:44:30,220 --> 00:44:33,060
Well, not to mention this isn't college anymore.

694
00:44:33,060 --> 00:44:34,900
This is professional volleyball.

695
00:44:34,900 --> 00:44:39,580
You can definitely be proud of where you went to school and that can always kind of be a

696
00:44:39,580 --> 00:44:46,060
part of your pride and your identity, but to bring that into a professional environment,

697
00:44:46,060 --> 00:44:49,540
I think is like holding you back a little bit.

698
00:44:49,540 --> 00:44:54,620
Well, and you can't control the narratives that happen outside of your team, but you

699
00:44:54,620 --> 00:44:57,640
can control what happens inside of your team.

700
00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:06,020
And for that to be, when it's such an interesting dynamic, because love in general doesn't create

701
00:45:06,020 --> 00:45:11,300
like team cohesiveness, your love, Austin.

702
00:45:11,300 --> 00:45:15,900
And so, you know, maybe it's a way of trying to create some team unity, like the thought

703
00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:20,860
process around that is their own, but you're in using the Longhorns because so many of

704
00:45:20,860 --> 00:45:22,540
them went to Texas.

705
00:45:22,540 --> 00:45:26,740
It could possibly be creating even unknowingly a rift or...

706
00:45:26,740 --> 00:45:32,620
Well, I'm just like, if you go overseas and you are talking about like, yeah, I am a Texas

707
00:45:32,620 --> 00:45:35,660
Longhorn, people will be like, who cares?

708
00:45:35,660 --> 00:45:36,660
You know what I mean?

709
00:45:36,660 --> 00:45:40,140
It's like, we're here to play volleyball and we're here to win, like, congratulations,

710
00:45:40,140 --> 00:45:42,140
but like, come on.

711
00:45:42,140 --> 00:45:45,540
And let's be honest, we're not talking about this if they're winning, but the fact that

712
00:45:45,540 --> 00:45:52,300
they haven't found a consistent roster and they seem to lack cohesiveness, maybe.

713
00:45:52,300 --> 00:45:54,500
It's an interesting, I hadn't thought about that, but it's an interesting question.

714
00:45:54,500 --> 00:45:59,460
Well, I just noticed it at one of the timeouts that like a few of them were putting the horns

715
00:45:59,460 --> 00:46:03,260
into the middle and I'm like, you've got to be kidding me right now.

716
00:46:03,260 --> 00:46:05,820
Like, come on, no.

717
00:46:05,820 --> 00:46:07,660
I as well see how it plays out.

718
00:46:07,660 --> 00:46:10,820
Overall, I thought this was an incredibly entertaining match.

719
00:46:10,820 --> 00:46:13,900
I always love a good overtime.

720
00:46:13,900 --> 00:46:17,100
You have players feeling the pressure, decision making.

721
00:46:17,100 --> 00:46:19,420
I think it shows what teams are made of.

722
00:46:19,420 --> 00:46:26,460
It was Houston coming up on two of those matches that were very tight with, again, good setting

723
00:46:26,460 --> 00:46:28,380
and a good right side hitter, I think.

724
00:46:28,380 --> 00:46:29,740
Overall, I was entertained.

725
00:46:29,740 --> 00:46:30,740
I enjoyed the volleyball.

726
00:46:30,740 --> 00:46:33,900
I thought it was a good high level match.

727
00:46:33,900 --> 00:46:34,900
All right.

728
00:46:34,900 --> 00:46:39,660
So we are coming up on not quite the halfway point for the love season.

729
00:46:39,660 --> 00:46:45,060
I think it's 16 weeks and we've completed five, but they are heading into their mid

730
00:46:45,060 --> 00:46:46,500
season tournament.

731
00:46:46,500 --> 00:46:53,000
And so I was thinking today we are going to play Magic GM.

732
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:59,120
So if you were the GM for all of these teams and we'll go through them, you're out trying

733
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:03,260
to make your team better, you need to pick the position.

734
00:47:03,260 --> 00:47:08,060
We're not going to say the player, but that you would address at, let's call it the trade

735
00:47:08,060 --> 00:47:10,500
deadline for love.

736
00:47:10,500 --> 00:47:14,100
So I'm going to give you a team and I will do this as well.

737
00:47:14,100 --> 00:47:19,540
You tell me what position would be your highest concern that you would want to address to

738
00:47:19,540 --> 00:47:20,540
finish the season.

739
00:47:20,540 --> 00:47:21,540
So I just pick one position.

740
00:47:21,540 --> 00:47:22,540
Pick one position.

741
00:47:22,540 --> 00:47:23,540
Okay.

742
00:47:23,540 --> 00:47:28,060
So we're going to start from the top of the league in love and we're going to go to the

743
00:47:28,060 --> 00:47:29,060
bottom.

744
00:47:29,060 --> 00:47:33,300
So we're going to do love this week and then either next week or the week after we will

745
00:47:33,300 --> 00:47:35,140
do the same thing for PVF.

746
00:47:35,140 --> 00:47:38,140
PVF season's a little bit longer and they have a few more teams.

747
00:47:38,140 --> 00:47:42,460
So I want to see a few more matches from all the teams before we do this.

748
00:47:42,460 --> 00:47:44,940
So that's why we're choosing one over the other.

749
00:47:44,940 --> 00:47:47,180
But let's get started with this.

750
00:47:47,180 --> 00:47:48,180
Let's start with Atlanta.

751
00:47:48,180 --> 00:47:53,100
They're at the top of the league as the Atlanta GM.

752
00:47:53,100 --> 00:47:54,100
What are you looking to do?

753
00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:56,620
Oh gosh, it's been a while since I've seen Atlanta play.

754
00:47:56,620 --> 00:47:57,620
Hmm.

755
00:47:57,620 --> 00:47:59,300
They're doing well though.

756
00:47:59,300 --> 00:48:02,980
If a team's doing well, should you just like leave it be?

757
00:48:02,980 --> 00:48:03,980
You're the GM.

758
00:48:03,980 --> 00:48:05,380
You can make any decision you want.

759
00:48:05,380 --> 00:48:07,020
I mean they're cruising.

760
00:48:07,020 --> 00:48:08,180
I wouldn't touch it.

761
00:48:08,180 --> 00:48:12,260
I had the exact same instinct.

762
00:48:12,260 --> 00:48:13,460
I am sitting back.

763
00:48:13,460 --> 00:48:15,260
I'm watching matches from the suite.

764
00:48:15,260 --> 00:48:17,100
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

765
00:48:17,100 --> 00:48:21,780
I've got a couple beers sitting beside me and I am just enjoying watching my team play

766
00:48:21,780 --> 00:48:22,780
well.

767
00:48:22,780 --> 00:48:23,780
I wouldn't mess with the chemistry.

768
00:48:23,780 --> 00:48:24,780
I wouldn't change anything.

769
00:48:24,780 --> 00:48:26,780
I think they're cruising.

770
00:48:26,780 --> 00:48:31,900
Let's go to Omaha in number two in the league.

771
00:48:31,900 --> 00:48:33,940
What are you looking at for them?

772
00:48:33,940 --> 00:48:35,860
I like Omaha's chemistry.

773
00:48:35,860 --> 00:48:39,180
I think they're doing pretty well.

774
00:48:39,180 --> 00:48:47,300
If I had to think of positions that could use work, it would be maybe one of the outsides

775
00:48:47,300 --> 00:48:48,580
or the setter.

776
00:48:48,580 --> 00:48:51,660
I would switch up an outside.

777
00:48:51,660 --> 00:48:53,540
I had the same instinct.

778
00:48:53,540 --> 00:49:00,180
I think if you look at Omaha's metrics as a team, they are winning.

779
00:49:00,180 --> 00:49:05,580
I think a lot of that has to do with the experience that they have on their roster and they're

780
00:49:05,580 --> 00:49:08,860
able to sort out situations.

781
00:49:08,860 --> 00:49:11,740
Long term, I think they need a go-to hitter.

782
00:49:11,740 --> 00:49:16,180
They need somebody to score points for them.

783
00:49:16,180 --> 00:49:18,740
Whether that's on the left side, whether that's on the right side.

784
00:49:18,740 --> 00:49:21,740
They have Dravignac who scores on the right side.

785
00:49:21,740 --> 00:49:26,940
She's not really at the top of the league on inconsistent...

786
00:49:26,940 --> 00:49:28,220
I'm not going to lie.

787
00:49:28,220 --> 00:49:31,020
When I was saying outside, the player I was thinking was Winters.

788
00:49:31,020 --> 00:49:33,540
I know people love her.

789
00:49:33,540 --> 00:49:34,860
I'm not a fan.

790
00:49:34,860 --> 00:49:40,340
If you're going to be that inconsistent with your ball control, you better be scoring a

791
00:49:40,340 --> 00:49:42,200
ton of points.

792
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,900
You're thinking a Sarah Franklin or a Jess Merzick level of point production.

793
00:49:45,900 --> 00:49:46,900
Yeah.

794
00:49:46,900 --> 00:49:51,980
I think she has a great ball control from Jordan as the second outside.

795
00:49:51,980 --> 00:50:00,740
Jordan's finding ways to score, but I think a big time left side point score.

796
00:50:00,740 --> 00:50:01,940
I think that's fair.

797
00:50:01,940 --> 00:50:06,040
I think that that's going to be... If they run into trouble down the stretch, it's going

798
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,620
to be because they can't generate enough points that way.

799
00:50:08,620 --> 00:50:09,620
All right.

800
00:50:09,620 --> 00:50:11,780
What do you think about Houston?

801
00:50:11,780 --> 00:50:15,900
I would probably pick up a LeBaro.

802
00:50:15,900 --> 00:50:16,900
Oh, interesting.

803
00:50:16,900 --> 00:50:23,020
Pagani, I know I said she played well in the Austin match, but generally speaking, I haven't

804
00:50:23,020 --> 00:50:27,300
loved her defensive ability.

805
00:50:27,300 --> 00:50:34,540
She hasn't been picking up... If I'm looking at Kojima or Juan Orantes as the standard,

806
00:50:34,540 --> 00:50:35,860
she's just not there.

807
00:50:35,860 --> 00:50:38,540
She's not digging nearly enough balls in my opinion.

808
00:50:38,540 --> 00:50:43,660
I think Houston has the pieces, but I would make a switch at that position.

809
00:50:43,660 --> 00:50:46,060
I'd pick up a second middle.

810
00:50:46,060 --> 00:50:48,980
I'd want to be a little more of a threat.

811
00:50:48,980 --> 00:50:54,020
I think they've got one great middle, and that's where I would go with their team.

812
00:50:54,020 --> 00:50:57,340
Moving on to Salt Lake.

813
00:50:57,340 --> 00:51:00,060
What are you thinking?

814
00:51:00,060 --> 00:51:03,340
If I was Salt Lake, I would get a second left side.

815
00:51:03,340 --> 00:51:05,580
I know what you're going to say in the middle.

816
00:51:05,580 --> 00:51:08,140
I think they have the pieces for the middle.

817
00:51:08,140 --> 00:51:12,860
I don't necessarily agree with who they're playing in the middle.

818
00:51:12,860 --> 00:51:17,900
That position that's on rotation with Danny Drews, and then they're bringing in all these

819
00:51:17,900 --> 00:51:22,580
people, that is the position that I think is their Achilles heel.

820
00:51:22,580 --> 00:51:23,580
You are right.

821
00:51:23,580 --> 00:51:25,900
I am leaning to a middle.

822
00:51:25,900 --> 00:51:32,220
They have not found consistent production or rotations with their middles.

823
00:51:32,220 --> 00:51:34,780
I think they have a good outside core.

824
00:51:34,780 --> 00:51:38,940
I think they have the ability to weaponize the middle with Jordan Poulter.

825
00:51:38,940 --> 00:51:40,220
I think they could.

826
00:51:40,220 --> 00:51:45,260
I know you are not a Torrie Dixon fan, but they have Serena Gray.

827
00:51:45,260 --> 00:51:50,780
I think that Serena Gray was doing pretty well when she was getting set the ball, but

828
00:51:50,780 --> 00:51:54,460
then they just aren't playing her, and they're favoring Dixon over her.

829
00:51:54,460 --> 00:51:56,340
That's why I said I think they have the pieces.

830
00:51:56,340 --> 00:51:59,420
I just don't agree with how they're using the pieces.

831
00:51:59,420 --> 00:52:02,420
How they use the pieces is the coach's job.

832
00:52:02,420 --> 00:52:06,500
As a GM, I'm looking at the middle of the court, and I'm saying we need to be stronger

833
00:52:06,500 --> 00:52:07,500
here.

834
00:52:07,500 --> 00:52:08,500
That's what I'm looking for.

835
00:52:08,500 --> 00:52:13,980
I think down to the bottom of the barrel here in terms of the love teams, we just watched

836
00:52:13,980 --> 00:52:17,260
them play, so I think I know what you're going to say.

837
00:52:17,260 --> 00:52:20,660
But if you're the Austin GM, what are you looking at?

838
00:52:20,660 --> 00:52:21,660
A setter.

839
00:52:21,660 --> 00:52:22,660
A setter.

840
00:52:22,660 --> 00:52:23,660
Yeah.

841
00:52:23,660 --> 00:52:24,660
Hands down.

842
00:52:24,660 --> 00:52:26,180
I think you have a great roster.

843
00:52:26,180 --> 00:52:28,860
In my opinion, you are underperforming.

844
00:52:28,860 --> 00:52:31,900
A really good setter changes the game for you.

845
00:52:31,900 --> 00:52:35,900
Are there any Texas Longhorns setters out there who want to join the team?

846
00:52:35,900 --> 00:52:36,900
Torres.

847
00:52:36,900 --> 00:52:37,900
They've got one.

848
00:52:37,900 --> 00:52:38,900
Maybe another one.

849
00:52:38,900 --> 00:52:39,900
All right.

850
00:52:39,900 --> 00:52:45,140
And, you know, with Atlanta, we chose to do nothing.

851
00:52:45,140 --> 00:52:50,460
With Madison, I'm going to limit you to one choice, but what are you doing if you're the

852
00:52:50,460 --> 00:52:52,340
Madison GM at this point?

853
00:52:52,340 --> 00:52:56,580
Right off the top of my head, I'm like switch your middle or your right side, but I'm going

854
00:52:56,580 --> 00:52:59,020
to do middle.

855
00:52:59,020 --> 00:53:01,020
I'm leaning to opposite, personally.

856
00:53:01,020 --> 00:53:02,020
Thomas I.

857
00:53:02,020 --> 00:53:04,540
Lara was doing okay.

858
00:53:04,540 --> 00:53:06,940
Annie Schumacher is the disappointment for me.

859
00:53:06,940 --> 00:53:12,020
Like you have that experience, like I expect more.

860
00:53:12,020 --> 00:53:15,060
But the middles.

861
00:53:15,060 --> 00:53:18,900
Either just do something.

862
00:53:18,900 --> 00:53:20,100
Yeah, fair enough.

863
00:53:20,100 --> 00:53:25,380
But I think I think stacked up against the other teams opposite is where is where they

864
00:53:25,380 --> 00:53:27,980
fall the most short, in my opinion.

865
00:53:27,980 --> 00:53:28,980
All right.

866
00:53:28,980 --> 00:53:31,140
Well, that was a quick game today.

867
00:53:31,140 --> 00:53:32,540
Just a little snippy snappy.

868
00:53:32,540 --> 00:53:33,540
Yeah.

869
00:53:33,540 --> 00:53:37,980
And I think it's good in terms of looking at the teams, you know, they're a decent way

870
00:53:37,980 --> 00:53:38,980
through the season.

871
00:53:38,980 --> 00:53:40,300
We've seen a whole bunch of matches.

872
00:53:40,300 --> 00:53:42,600
They're coming into their midseason tournament.

873
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:46,900
I think at this point you have a good feel for where the teams are, what they've been

874
00:53:46,900 --> 00:53:49,220
trying to do, what they've been able to accomplish.

875
00:53:49,220 --> 00:53:52,740
And I don't know if there's any movement during the season.

876
00:53:52,740 --> 00:53:56,340
I don't know if they'll trade any players because it's not a team thing.

877
00:53:56,340 --> 00:53:57,620
It's a league thing.

878
00:53:57,620 --> 00:53:59,480
But that's what I would be looking at.

879
00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:03,380
Those are the areas of improvement I think are needed across the board.

880
00:54:03,380 --> 00:54:06,500
I've been loving the feedback I've been getting for some of the different games that we've

881
00:54:06,500 --> 00:54:07,500
been playing.

882
00:54:07,500 --> 00:54:12,140
I know the one last week in terms of level of concern was a seem to be a big hit.

883
00:54:12,140 --> 00:54:17,940
So if you like the Magic GM, let us know if you have other ideas for what we should do

884
00:54:17,940 --> 00:54:22,540
when we attack PDF in kind of this manner in terms of roster construction.

885
00:54:22,540 --> 00:54:23,540
Let us know.

886
00:54:23,540 --> 00:54:25,700
I'm always open for for new ideas.

887
00:54:25,700 --> 00:54:29,340
It is time for listener questions.

888
00:54:29,340 --> 00:54:32,700
Our first question is multifaceted.

889
00:54:32,700 --> 00:54:37,060
So I'm going to read the whole thing and then add them.

890
00:54:37,060 --> 00:54:40,120
I put them to work again to do some research.

891
00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:44,800
So the question was, and we got this question from a ton of people.

892
00:54:44,800 --> 00:54:46,580
So thank you very much.

893
00:54:46,580 --> 00:54:51,480
Can you tell us how the recent NCAA grads are doing with their overseas pro teams?

894
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:55,900
And then I got an email with some more specifics.

895
00:54:55,900 --> 00:55:00,020
What calibers of player went to Europe versus love and PDF?

896
00:55:00,020 --> 00:55:05,700
What might going to Europe mean to their careers versus those who stayed in the States?

897
00:55:05,700 --> 00:55:13,300
And how is the caliber of the European teams they went to compared to love and the PDF?

898
00:55:13,300 --> 00:55:15,700
Lots of information to dive into there.

899
00:55:15,700 --> 00:55:17,780
So let's start with this.

900
00:55:17,780 --> 00:55:25,860
I took a list and shout out to the avid volley Instagram feed.

901
00:55:25,860 --> 00:55:28,620
I pulled some of the information and some of the contracts from there.

902
00:55:28,620 --> 00:55:29,900
So they do an amazing job.

903
00:55:29,900 --> 00:55:34,220
If you're looking for Instagram updates, I would follow them.

904
00:55:34,220 --> 00:55:35,220
Thanks guys.

905
00:55:35,220 --> 00:55:36,500
Really appreciate it.

906
00:55:36,500 --> 00:55:41,260
But I went and looked at a bunch of the different players who we kind of recognized from this

907
00:55:41,260 --> 00:55:43,540
year's NCAA season.

908
00:55:43,540 --> 00:55:47,540
And I'll break down what teams they went to, what place those teams are in.

909
00:55:47,540 --> 00:55:52,460
And then maybe you can speak to the caliber of the league of those ones.

910
00:55:52,460 --> 00:55:55,660
So first, let's stay close to home.

911
00:55:55,660 --> 00:55:57,700
We'll look at the Puerto Rican league.

912
00:55:57,700 --> 00:55:59,660
So we had three players go there.

913
00:55:59,660 --> 00:56:05,260
Jalen Hodge from Arizona and she joined Valencianas.

914
00:56:05,260 --> 00:56:08,500
They are in last place in Puerto Rico.

915
00:56:08,500 --> 00:56:12,520
Now let me tell you, the Puerto Rican league website is not the easiest to navigate.

916
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:13,520
So I was...

917
00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:14,860
And Adam doesn't speak Spanish.

918
00:56:14,860 --> 00:56:16,380
Do they have a translate feature?

919
00:56:16,380 --> 00:56:18,020
No, they don't.

920
00:56:18,020 --> 00:56:19,580
So the team is in last place.

921
00:56:19,580 --> 00:56:24,940
However, she is playing and I looked at some of the stats from the last three matches and

922
00:56:24,940 --> 00:56:28,700
she's playing and she looks like she's one of their leading point scorers.

923
00:56:28,700 --> 00:56:31,140
So she is on her way.

924
00:56:31,140 --> 00:56:35,620
She is making a difference and we'll see where that team ends up.

925
00:56:35,620 --> 00:56:40,100
Also playing in Puerto Rico is Emma Grome from Kentucky.

926
00:56:40,100 --> 00:56:45,180
I'm going to apologize ahead of time because I'm going to butcher all of these team names,

927
00:56:45,180 --> 00:56:48,100
but she's playing for...

928
00:56:48,100 --> 00:56:50,020
Cangas de Naranjito.

929
00:56:50,020 --> 00:56:51,020
Thank you.

930
00:56:51,020 --> 00:56:53,460
Sarah's going to do the pronunciations because she speaks four languages and I don't only

931
00:56:53,460 --> 00:56:54,460
speak one.

932
00:56:54,460 --> 00:56:55,460
Spanish isn't one of them though.

933
00:56:55,460 --> 00:56:58,180
Yeah, but it's better than my Spanish.

934
00:56:58,180 --> 00:57:04,900
So she is also, again, like I said, in Puerto Rico, that team is three of six.

935
00:57:04,900 --> 00:57:07,520
She looks like she's setting all of those matches.

936
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:09,740
She's playing right when she got there.

937
00:57:09,740 --> 00:57:11,900
So again, also making a difference.

938
00:57:11,900 --> 00:57:17,620
And finally, Savannah Coleheed from Arizona State playing for...

939
00:57:17,620 --> 00:57:18,620
Manz de Guayanaba.

940
00:57:18,620 --> 00:57:19,980
There you go.

941
00:57:19,980 --> 00:57:23,300
They are five of six in league standings.

942
00:57:23,300 --> 00:57:28,700
But again, she is also playing every match and one of the top point getters.

943
00:57:28,700 --> 00:57:33,500
So all three of those players, while they're not playing for the best teams in Puerto Rico,

944
00:57:33,500 --> 00:57:37,780
are starting every match and contributing in a meaningful way.

945
00:57:37,780 --> 00:57:43,180
For reference, Puerto Rico, not a great league if you're looking on the world scale.

946
00:57:43,180 --> 00:57:45,540
I mean, the level's not great.

947
00:57:45,540 --> 00:57:53,580
I would say that it is historically, it's been very typical for American college players

948
00:57:53,580 --> 00:57:58,420
who graduate to spend the winter and spring there.

949
00:57:58,420 --> 00:58:04,180
But it is a very comfortable place to get a start.

950
00:58:04,180 --> 00:58:06,060
And there's only six teams.

951
00:58:06,060 --> 00:58:12,620
The level is definitely, I would say, is probably closer to PBF than Love.

952
00:58:12,620 --> 00:58:19,580
And am I expecting these careers to skyrocket after playing in Puerto Rico?

953
00:58:19,580 --> 00:58:20,780
Not usually.

954
00:58:20,780 --> 00:58:23,420
Let's move on to Italy.

955
00:58:23,420 --> 00:58:28,740
So I found two players who went to Italian A1 leagues and then another player who was

956
00:58:28,740 --> 00:58:29,740
in A2.

957
00:58:29,740 --> 00:58:34,340
And these are people that we have talked about extensively on the podcast.

958
00:58:34,340 --> 00:58:39,840
There are more, but we, Adam chose to narrow his focus to players that we've talked about.

959
00:58:39,840 --> 00:58:45,540
So I had lots of questions about her specifically, but what is Anna Smirak doing from Wisconsin?

960
00:58:45,540 --> 00:58:48,060
Adam really struggles with her name, you guys.

961
00:58:48,060 --> 00:58:53,540
So she actually went to Vero Vali in Milano.

962
00:58:53,540 --> 00:58:57,780
They are in second place in the Italian league.

963
00:58:57,780 --> 00:59:01,140
I believe she's been there for six matches.

964
00:59:01,140 --> 00:59:04,120
She's gotten into two of those matches.

965
00:59:04,120 --> 00:59:11,340
She scored seven points, but it's a front court for three rotation type situation that

966
00:59:11,340 --> 00:59:12,340
she finds herself in.

967
00:59:12,340 --> 00:59:15,060
So she's not seeing a ton of playing time.

968
00:59:15,060 --> 00:59:20,180
And I would have been knocked out on the floor if she did see extensive playing time because

969
00:59:20,180 --> 00:59:25,500
she's playing behind one of the best players in the world in Paola Egonu.

970
00:59:25,500 --> 00:59:30,700
Vero Vali is loaded with Italian national team players, outstanding.

971
00:59:30,700 --> 00:59:32,320
They keep advancing in Champions League.

972
00:59:32,320 --> 00:59:34,020
So very good.

973
00:59:34,020 --> 00:59:36,700
I think it's a really good situation for her.

974
00:59:36,700 --> 00:59:44,820
She has a chance to see what players at the highest level look like, train like, what's

975
00:59:44,820 --> 00:59:46,740
their ball control like.

976
00:59:46,740 --> 00:59:53,620
All of those things will benefit her if she wants to make a career internationally.

977
00:59:53,620 --> 00:59:56,780
This will be a good barometer for her.

978
00:59:56,780 --> 01:00:01,580
This is by far the best team that anybody this year went to.

979
01:00:01,580 --> 01:00:08,740
To be quite honest, I feel like given Anna Smreks skill set, that will be her role for

980
01:00:08,740 --> 01:00:10,900
any team she plays for.

981
01:00:10,900 --> 01:00:13,780
Anna Smreks not necessarily fast enough to be a middle.

982
01:00:13,780 --> 01:00:16,860
She's not dynamic enough to be a right side.

983
01:00:16,860 --> 01:00:22,460
And the reason I say that is because in international rules, the right sides need to play all the

984
01:00:22,460 --> 01:00:23,460
way around.

985
01:00:23,460 --> 01:00:25,380
The girl struggles to pass a free ball.

986
01:00:25,380 --> 01:00:31,380
So you're not going to see her playing defense against top players.

987
01:00:31,380 --> 01:00:37,100
You won't see her hitting out of system balls or hitting out of the back row or serving.

988
01:00:37,100 --> 01:00:46,220
Her skill set is so particular and so limited that no matter what team she goes to, I feel

989
01:00:46,220 --> 01:00:51,140
like her role will always be come in with the double sub, go across the front row one

990
01:00:51,140 --> 01:00:52,140
time to block.

991
01:00:52,140 --> 01:00:56,740
Well, and that's, again, a little bit of a byproduct of the American system with the

992
01:00:56,740 --> 01:00:57,980
subs and the DSs.

993
01:00:57,980 --> 01:01:00,100
So she hasn't had a chance to do those things.

994
01:01:00,100 --> 01:01:03,940
And again, this is here's what the expectation is.

995
01:01:03,940 --> 01:01:05,900
You're playing behind one of the best in the world.

996
01:01:05,900 --> 01:01:08,140
This is what she does in all facets of the game.

997
01:01:08,140 --> 01:01:09,140
Can you get there?

998
01:01:09,140 --> 01:01:13,300
If she doesn't get better playing with this team, then she's just not going to cut it

999
01:01:13,300 --> 01:01:18,780
because like that environment is the environment where you sink or swim.

1000
01:01:18,780 --> 01:01:23,620
And yeah, it's the best place for her to be if she wants to keep playing.

1001
01:01:23,620 --> 01:01:31,140
We also have Argentina from Arizona State playing at Savino del Bene Scandici and very

1002
01:01:31,140 --> 01:01:32,140
good team.

1003
01:01:32,140 --> 01:01:35,300
They are third in the Italian League.

1004
01:01:35,300 --> 01:01:36,300
Very good.

1005
01:01:36,300 --> 01:01:39,060
I have not seen her play at all at this point.

1006
01:01:39,060 --> 01:01:46,740
I mean, the top Italian teams that bring players in at the transfer window, they're not looking

1007
01:01:46,740 --> 01:01:49,300
to bring people in to necessarily play.

1008
01:01:49,300 --> 01:01:57,900
They're looking to bring people in to be on their B side because the good teams are loaded.

1009
01:01:57,900 --> 01:02:03,780
So I was actually really shocked that she signed with this team, but she is for sure

1010
01:02:03,780 --> 01:02:05,500
like the B side setter.

1011
01:02:05,500 --> 01:02:10,900
Well, and again, if you have big aspirations in the sport and you want to see like how

1012
01:02:10,900 --> 01:02:16,620
good can I be, you go to these teams and you're on the bench.

1013
01:02:16,620 --> 01:02:18,820
You're in amazing training environments every day.

1014
01:02:18,820 --> 01:02:21,440
This is how you figure out how good can I be.

1015
01:02:21,440 --> 01:02:23,720
So good for her.

1016
01:02:23,720 --> 01:02:29,040
And then finally, Michael Vernon from ZOO is in A2 Italy.

1017
01:02:29,040 --> 01:02:32,300
They're in third place out of 10 of the teams in that league.

1018
01:02:32,300 --> 01:02:34,320
She is getting playing time.

1019
01:02:34,320 --> 01:02:35,740
She's played about four matches.

1020
01:02:35,740 --> 01:02:37,100
She's had about 60 swings.

1021
01:02:37,100 --> 01:02:39,720
Her numbers are decent.

1022
01:02:39,720 --> 01:02:43,820
So she is making an impact in A2 Italy.

1023
01:02:43,820 --> 01:02:48,260
Honestly, I think A2 is a good place for Michael Vernon.

1024
01:02:48,260 --> 01:02:50,620
I think that's a good level for her.

1025
01:02:50,620 --> 01:02:57,820
I would say that A2 might be similar to love, slightly better.

1026
01:02:57,820 --> 01:03:02,900
So I think that that is a really good spot for Michael Vernon to land.

1027
01:03:02,900 --> 01:03:06,380
And I think that it can help her develop her game for sure.

1028
01:03:06,380 --> 01:03:12,940
OK, let's move on to a couple athletes who are having great seasons overseas.

1029
01:03:12,940 --> 01:03:17,420
So first we have Reagan Rutherford from Texas, obviously.

1030
01:03:17,420 --> 01:03:21,820
She is playing in France for?

1031
01:03:21,820 --> 01:03:23,460
Moll House, Alsace.

1032
01:03:23,460 --> 01:03:28,640
So they are currently five out of 15 teams in that league.

1033
01:03:28,640 --> 01:03:30,300
She is playing.

1034
01:03:30,300 --> 01:03:31,660
She is doing really well.

1035
01:03:31,660 --> 01:03:34,480
She was player of the match this week.

1036
01:03:34,480 --> 01:03:36,480
It looks like she has landed on her feet.

1037
01:03:36,480 --> 01:03:41,140
She is contributing in the league to her team and playing really well.

1038
01:03:41,140 --> 01:03:42,900
So great for her.

1039
01:03:42,900 --> 01:03:50,020
Yeah, I would say the French league is probably in between the PVF and love levels.

1040
01:03:50,020 --> 01:03:56,580
It's not the strongest league, but I think having a good season in France could be a

1041
01:03:56,580 --> 01:04:05,940
good springboard for her to go to maybe A2 Italy or maybe to Poland, a slightly better

1042
01:04:05,940 --> 01:04:06,940
league.

1043
01:04:06,940 --> 01:04:09,980
Do I think Rutherford is an A1 caliber player?

1044
01:04:09,980 --> 01:04:10,980
No.

1045
01:04:10,980 --> 01:04:15,780
But I think that this was a good move for her career because even though the level isn't

1046
01:04:15,780 --> 01:04:21,740
crazy high, I think getting that exposure in Europe can help her get a better contract

1047
01:04:21,740 --> 01:04:22,740
later.

1048
01:04:22,740 --> 01:04:26,580
There's lots of players who do that in the French league because France is a volleyball

1049
01:04:26,580 --> 01:04:27,580
country.

1050
01:04:27,580 --> 01:04:28,580
They understand the game.

1051
01:04:28,580 --> 01:04:29,580
You get good training.

1052
01:04:29,580 --> 01:04:33,900
They just don't have the money that some of the other leagues have, but it's a very professional

1053
01:04:33,900 --> 01:04:34,900
environment.

1054
01:04:34,900 --> 01:04:36,100
So good for her.

1055
01:04:36,100 --> 01:04:41,580
Julia Orzel from Wisconsin obviously went to Poland.

1056
01:04:41,580 --> 01:04:43,620
No shock there being Polish.

1057
01:04:43,620 --> 01:04:45,100
I'm for Chemek Policja.

1058
01:04:45,100 --> 01:04:47,460
Yeah, so they are right in the middle of the league.

1059
01:04:47,460 --> 01:04:51,780
There are six out of the 12 teams that compete there.

1060
01:04:51,780 --> 01:04:58,460
She is also playing right away, starting for them, also player of the match this week.

1061
01:04:58,460 --> 01:04:59,960
Her stats look good.

1062
01:04:59,960 --> 01:05:03,300
She is continuing to perform and play at a high level.

1063
01:05:03,300 --> 01:05:07,260
She will make a difference for them for sure.

1064
01:05:07,260 --> 01:05:10,900
And I feel like she could be a Poland league lifer.

1065
01:05:10,900 --> 01:05:14,740
In the European leagues, there are foreigner limits.

1066
01:05:14,740 --> 01:05:21,740
And so being a Polish national, she will be free to play there without restrictions forever.

1067
01:05:21,740 --> 01:05:24,700
I think that's great.

1068
01:05:24,700 --> 01:05:29,780
The Polish league is not the top, but it's pretty good.

1069
01:05:29,780 --> 01:05:33,020
And I think this is great for her.

1070
01:05:33,020 --> 01:05:37,620
I think she's exceeding my expectations for sure.

1071
01:05:37,620 --> 01:05:42,780
I've got two more on the list that we will highlight who had notable NCAA careers.

1072
01:05:42,780 --> 01:05:49,520
Melanie Schaffmaster from Minnesota is playing at AON Amazons in Greece.

1073
01:05:49,520 --> 01:05:54,420
That team is 12th out of 12 in the Greek league.

1074
01:05:54,420 --> 01:06:00,820
They're not doing so hot, but she is playing and starting for that team, not surprisingly.

1075
01:06:00,820 --> 01:06:05,060
I haven't seen them play, so I'm not sure what the caliber of players around her are,

1076
01:06:05,060 --> 01:06:06,820
but the team's not doing very well.

1077
01:06:06,820 --> 01:06:09,300
The Greek league is not great.

1078
01:06:09,300 --> 01:06:12,380
I would say it's definitely lower than France.

1079
01:06:12,380 --> 01:06:17,780
I mean, the listeners know my feelings on Schaffmaster.

1080
01:06:17,780 --> 01:06:19,620
I feel like that's where she fits.

1081
01:06:19,620 --> 01:06:27,860
And finally, Sofia Maldonado-Diaz from Louisville took a contract in Colombia.

1082
01:06:27,860 --> 01:06:30,340
I did a little research on this.

1083
01:06:30,340 --> 01:06:35,740
There wasn't much to find, but I think they just launched their league.

1084
01:06:35,740 --> 01:06:39,540
I saw a notification on the FIBB website about that.

1085
01:06:39,540 --> 01:06:41,460
I couldn't find a website.

1086
01:06:41,460 --> 01:06:45,480
I couldn't find many stats or any stats.

1087
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:51,140
So I'm not sure what's going on there, but that's where she's playing.

1088
01:06:51,140 --> 01:06:55,300
And unfortunately, if anybody else has found where that league is or knows anything about

1089
01:06:55,300 --> 01:06:56,380
it, please let us know.

1090
01:06:56,380 --> 01:07:01,500
So I think the top NCAA players that graduated went to love.

1091
01:07:01,500 --> 01:07:07,660
I would say that the players who went to Europe are probably the middle tier, and then the

1092
01:07:07,660 --> 01:07:10,060
PVF players are probably lower.

1093
01:07:10,060 --> 01:07:12,300
Would you agree with that?

1094
01:07:12,300 --> 01:07:16,440
Yeah, and I think part of it is probably also where you want to go.

1095
01:07:16,440 --> 01:07:17,980
Are you comfortable going overseas?

1096
01:07:17,980 --> 01:07:21,700
So there will be some overlap in that.

1097
01:07:21,700 --> 01:07:27,660
And contract wise, some of the contracts for the lower positions in the European league

1098
01:07:27,660 --> 01:07:30,940
won't be making as much money as they would be either at PVF or love.

1099
01:07:30,940 --> 01:07:34,820
So a few factors there, but I think in general, that's accurate.

1100
01:07:34,820 --> 01:07:36,060
There's definitely some give and take.

1101
01:07:36,060 --> 01:07:41,940
I mean, I think going to Europe is more, especially as a young athlete, if you are coming halfway

1102
01:07:41,940 --> 01:07:46,940
through the season, they might not be making as much as they would have in PVF this season.

1103
01:07:46,940 --> 01:07:52,060
But I think the potential if they perform well is definitely higher.

1104
01:07:52,060 --> 01:07:54,380
So I am a fan of going to Europe.

1105
01:07:54,380 --> 01:07:55,860
I'm a huge advocate for it.

1106
01:07:55,860 --> 01:07:59,540
It's really cool to see some of these young athletes getting playing time and getting

1107
01:07:59,540 --> 01:08:01,780
that experience and having success.

1108
01:08:01,780 --> 01:08:05,500
So hopefully that answers everybody's question.

1109
01:08:05,500 --> 01:08:12,340
Second question, somebody sent in a hypothetical and I would love your take.

1110
01:08:12,340 --> 01:08:16,060
Hypothetical USA national team 2028 scenario.

1111
01:08:16,060 --> 01:08:20,700
Oh, Kennedy Martin and Olivia Babcock are the right sides.

1112
01:08:20,700 --> 01:08:26,460
Maddie Skinner moves to the left side with Merzik and Franklin and Plummer.

1113
01:08:26,460 --> 01:08:27,900
How do you think that will go?

1114
01:08:27,900 --> 01:08:32,540
Oh, there are so many question marks there.

1115
01:08:32,540 --> 01:08:35,380
I mean, it's, I definitely see passing.

1116
01:08:35,380 --> 01:08:37,640
Well, yes, my question.

1117
01:08:37,640 --> 01:08:43,340
So I definitely see the thought process behind a team like this.

1118
01:08:43,340 --> 01:08:48,180
I'm going to go from a philosophy standpoint first and then I can talk about some of those

1119
01:08:48,180 --> 01:08:49,180
players.

1120
01:08:49,180 --> 01:08:56,100
So typically the US focuses on ball control and running a very quick off.

1121
01:08:56,100 --> 01:08:57,380
We went over this last week.

1122
01:08:57,380 --> 01:08:59,860
If you missed that question, go check it out.

1123
01:08:59,860 --> 01:09:06,460
I don't think that any of those left sides and in fairness, I haven't seen Plummer pass

1124
01:09:06,460 --> 01:09:08,200
in Turkey so far.

1125
01:09:08,200 --> 01:09:12,180
So she's been having a good I know she's having a good season, but what is that ball control

1126
01:09:12,180 --> 01:09:13,180
like?

1127
01:09:13,180 --> 01:09:19,580
So if you're going with two of Maddie Skinner, Merzik, Franklin and Plummer, the potential

1128
01:09:19,580 --> 01:09:26,060
for your passing to go sideways in their current state as athletes, that would be my biggest

1129
01:09:26,060 --> 01:09:27,060
concern.

1130
01:09:27,060 --> 01:09:28,820
Well, my question is like, where's Avery Skinner?

1131
01:09:28,820 --> 01:09:29,820
Right.

1132
01:09:29,820 --> 01:09:34,860
So you're not going to you're not going to see Skinner, Merzik and Franklin on the same

1133
01:09:34,860 --> 01:09:38,020
roster for the Olympics in the same position.

1134
01:09:38,020 --> 01:09:39,020
Fair enough.

1135
01:09:39,020 --> 01:09:45,620
I think it's more likely that you're going to see one of Maddie Skinner, Merzik, Franklin

1136
01:09:45,620 --> 01:09:46,620
and Plummer.

1137
01:09:46,620 --> 01:09:52,140
And I would imagine that that conversation has been had already internally at USAV.

1138
01:09:52,140 --> 01:09:57,900
And you know, as you're creating your depth chart, we're still three years out from the

1139
01:09:57,900 --> 01:09:58,940
Olympics.

1140
01:09:58,940 --> 01:10:01,940
Don't forget, lots can happen in those regards.

1141
01:10:01,940 --> 01:10:08,980
I would give Plummer the edge there just because I think playing overseas gives you that experience.

1142
01:10:08,980 --> 01:10:16,220
She's big, she's dynamic, she is solid all the way around, and she's had more experience.

1143
01:10:16,220 --> 01:10:20,140
Does that mean injury, you know, the other three coming on?

1144
01:10:20,140 --> 01:10:21,140
Anything could happen.

1145
01:10:21,140 --> 01:10:22,700
But I would give Plummer the edge there.

1146
01:10:22,700 --> 01:10:27,860
Kennedy Martin and Olivia Babcock on the right side is really interesting.

1147
01:10:27,860 --> 01:10:31,520
They are the most traditional right sides we've seen for a while.

1148
01:10:31,520 --> 01:10:37,560
And this is a position that the US has, in my opinion, been the furthest behind the other

1149
01:10:37,560 --> 01:10:40,560
top international teams.

1150
01:10:40,560 --> 01:10:43,580
So I think this is a real possibility.

1151
01:10:43,580 --> 01:10:49,280
I think Babcock has the edge in my mind versus Kennedy Martin at this point.

1152
01:10:49,280 --> 01:10:53,980
I read some comments, you have to remember Olivia's graduating in 2027.

1153
01:10:53,980 --> 01:11:00,220
So that gives you, you know, a season overseas, which could be enough if they get her into

1154
01:11:00,220 --> 01:11:03,680
the USA program this summer, next summer.

1155
01:11:03,680 --> 01:11:06,380
She doesn't necessarily have to play, but she has to be in that environment.

1156
01:11:06,380 --> 01:11:07,780
She has to understand what that is.

1157
01:11:07,780 --> 01:11:11,140
So we're beyond the travel roster for V&O for sure.

1158
01:11:11,140 --> 01:11:14,760
So I would give Olivia the edge at this point.

1159
01:11:14,760 --> 01:11:21,100
But I think that the right side is definitely the position that has the most uncertainty

1160
01:11:21,100 --> 01:11:22,940
around it leading into LA.

1161
01:11:22,940 --> 01:11:29,060
Our third question is which US League do you think will be most affected by the third MLV

1162
01:11:29,060 --> 01:11:30,060
League?

1163
01:11:30,060 --> 01:11:34,900
Well, I think it's definitely going to be PVF, because the MLV is going to operate in

1164
01:11:34,900 --> 01:11:36,860
a similar model.

1165
01:11:36,860 --> 01:11:40,980
So they're going to be competing for players, they're going to be competing for fans, they'll

1166
01:11:40,980 --> 01:11:43,060
be in similar cities.

1167
01:11:43,060 --> 01:11:45,660
The setup will be similar.

1168
01:11:45,660 --> 01:11:50,720
For better or for worse, Love has their own model that is not really mergeable with any

1169
01:11:50,720 --> 01:11:51,720
other league.

1170
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:53,100
It operates two differently.

1171
01:11:53,100 --> 01:11:54,520
They don't have franchise owners.

1172
01:11:54,520 --> 01:11:56,180
It's all owned by the same company.

1173
01:11:56,180 --> 01:12:00,500
So Love is either going to succeed or fail on its own.

1174
01:12:00,500 --> 01:12:06,060
So yeah, I definitely think PVF and the other league will be in direct competition.

1175
01:12:06,060 --> 01:12:08,460
Now you might have some fan fatigue.

1176
01:12:08,460 --> 01:12:14,260
If you have three teams in one city or the big markets, people will have to choose and

1177
01:12:14,260 --> 01:12:17,660
then it will come down to production value and entertainment.

1178
01:12:17,660 --> 01:12:21,780
But from a pure league standpoint, I think that's the direct competition.

1179
01:12:21,780 --> 01:12:22,980
I agree.

1180
01:12:22,980 --> 01:12:29,240
And our final question of the week is, why are some people not moving after the serve

1181
01:12:29,240 --> 01:12:31,340
and just standing in their position?

1182
01:12:31,340 --> 01:12:34,260
Have they changed the rotation rules?

1183
01:12:34,260 --> 01:12:35,820
They have actually.

1184
01:12:35,820 --> 01:12:43,260
So you no longer have to, if your team is serving, start or stand in the rotation where

1185
01:12:43,260 --> 01:12:46,180
you are, you can go directly to your position.

1186
01:12:46,180 --> 01:12:48,580
I mean, at this point, everybody knows what the rotations are.

1187
01:12:48,580 --> 01:12:49,580
The players are old enough.

1188
01:12:49,580 --> 01:12:51,900
That has been adopted internationally now.

1189
01:12:51,900 --> 01:12:52,900
Yeah.

1190
01:12:52,900 --> 01:12:54,140
So that's across the board.

1191
01:12:54,140 --> 01:12:55,180
That's the rule now.

1192
01:12:55,180 --> 01:12:57,420
You can just go to your spot.

1193
01:12:57,420 --> 01:13:00,580
You don't have to worry about standing and waiting and moving.

1194
01:13:00,580 --> 01:13:02,620
I think it's a natural progression.

1195
01:13:02,620 --> 01:13:03,620
Everybody knows what's going on.

1196
01:13:03,620 --> 01:13:08,300
So that is a rule change if you were unsure as to why that happened.

1197
01:13:08,300 --> 01:13:11,020
Thank you so much to everybody who submitted questions.

1198
01:13:11,020 --> 01:13:15,700
As I said before, I record all of your questions.

1199
01:13:15,700 --> 01:13:17,920
We will get to them eventually.

1200
01:13:17,920 --> 01:13:23,380
We pick and choose just a few each week, but thank you so much for your participation and

1201
01:13:23,380 --> 01:13:26,240
submitting your questions for us to read.

1202
01:13:26,240 --> 01:13:31,120
So moving forward, let's look at the week ahead.

1203
01:13:31,120 --> 01:13:35,940
This weekend, Love is doing their mid-season tournament in Kansas City.

1204
01:13:35,940 --> 01:13:39,500
This is coinciding with a massive youth tournament.

1205
01:13:39,500 --> 01:13:41,220
Yes, Triple Crown.

1206
01:13:41,220 --> 01:13:45,940
So those matches will be shown on ESPN Plus and ESPNU.

1207
01:13:45,940 --> 01:13:46,940
I believe you can see.

1208
01:13:46,940 --> 01:13:47,940
Only on Sunday.

1209
01:13:47,940 --> 01:13:53,060
There's one match on ESPNU, one on ESPN2, but across the board, they're all on ESPN

1210
01:13:53,060 --> 01:13:54,060
Plus.

1211
01:13:54,060 --> 01:13:55,060
Got it.

1212
01:13:55,060 --> 01:13:56,180
So tune into those.

1213
01:13:56,180 --> 01:13:57,180
They should be good.

1214
01:13:57,180 --> 01:14:00,300
It should be a good atmosphere because there'll be lots of kids and coaches watching.

1215
01:14:00,300 --> 01:14:02,260
It'll be a fun weekend, I think.

1216
01:14:02,260 --> 01:14:07,380
Not sure if this has any implications for the actual league, but is it more of a showcase

1217
01:14:07,380 --> 01:14:11,140
because there's going to be a ton of youth programs there.

1218
01:14:11,140 --> 01:14:15,420
That's kind of the feeling I'm getting, but if you know something I don't, let me know.

1219
01:14:15,420 --> 01:14:20,380
And the top two teams in the standings right now get buys in this showcase.

1220
01:14:20,380 --> 01:14:23,060
So they will play one last match and go right to the semifinals.

1221
01:14:23,060 --> 01:14:28,560
So there's a little benefit to being at the top of the league.

1222
01:14:28,560 --> 01:14:34,800
In NCAA men's action, Wednesday and Friday, USC plays UC Irvine.

1223
01:14:34,800 --> 01:14:36,580
Those will be great matches.

1224
01:14:36,580 --> 01:14:37,580
I would tune in.

1225
01:14:37,580 --> 01:14:41,100
They're at 9 and 10 Eastern respectively.

1226
01:14:41,100 --> 01:14:47,180
And then on Thursday and Friday, Ball State plays Lewis, which may or may not be schools

1227
01:14:47,180 --> 01:14:50,380
you're familiar with if you only follow the women's game.

1228
01:14:50,380 --> 01:14:54,260
So they are top 10 teams, both of them, I believe.

1229
01:14:54,260 --> 01:14:58,500
Like they're like an 8-12 situation.

1230
01:14:58,500 --> 01:15:01,940
So those games will be at 7 p.m. Eastern.

1231
01:15:01,940 --> 01:15:04,860
Again if you're looking for that college fix, tune into those.

1232
01:15:04,860 --> 01:15:06,940
Adam is really pushing the men's game you guys.

1233
01:15:06,940 --> 01:15:08,180
So just like help us out.

1234
01:15:08,180 --> 01:15:09,180
I'm in.

1235
01:15:09,180 --> 01:15:10,400
Just go watch a couple, okay?

1236
01:15:10,400 --> 01:15:16,340
And then PVF, Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, Grand Rapids Rise plays the Orlando Valkyries.

1237
01:15:16,340 --> 01:15:21,300
We'll see if Orlando can keep their sweep streak alive in three.

1238
01:15:21,300 --> 01:15:27,300
And then on Sunday, the Omaha Supernovas play the San Diego Mojo at 4 p.m. Eastern.

1239
01:15:27,300 --> 01:15:31,220
And those can be found on the PVF YouTube channel.

1240
01:15:31,220 --> 01:15:33,860
That concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

1241
01:15:33,860 --> 01:15:37,620
There's always something shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you enjoyed this little

1242
01:15:37,620 --> 01:15:38,620
fix.

1243
01:15:38,620 --> 01:15:42,660
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss any updates and we would be so grateful if

1244
01:15:42,660 --> 01:15:45,100
you'd leave us a five-star review.

1245
01:15:45,100 --> 01:15:49,740
You can also find us on Instagram at VolleyTalk underscore podcast.

1246
01:15:49,740 --> 01:15:53,400
If you have a topic that you want us to discuss, be sure to let us know by reaching out to

1247
01:15:53,400 --> 01:15:57,660
us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin.com.

1248
01:15:57,660 --> 01:16:15,500
Thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back next week.