Austin Wins 2026 LOVB Championship with Golden Set Victory Over Salt Lake

Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We've got a love champion. We've got a Turkish
Sultan Liga champion on the women's side. We
are still waiting for a champion in Italy. Things
are happening. Leagues are coming to an end.
We're down to business. We've got some interesting
segments for you today. If you have some expectations
of how we're going to tackle the love final,
maybe this isn't an episode for you. Because
we've got some thoughts, okay? And we are very
passionate about it. We are excited to talk volley
with all of you again. So let's get started.
All right, starting things off. You know what
time it is. Was your volley fantasy this week?
A highlight or a happening? It's still going
on, but I think I cracked 400 points. So I'm
happy with that. Was your goal? I get confused.
Was it 400 or 450? I think it was 400. I don't
think I agree. Games are still finishing up.
Yeah. But as of this moment, I have 437 points.
So pretty good week for me this week. I'm 25th
on the week. Let's not get carried away. Not
globally. For the league, I'm 75th currently.
So I would say this is a highlight week. So I
made some moves. You've never really done fantasy.
I don't think you have ever been particularly
good at fantasy. I don't know what you're talking
about. I think you've had a good season. Thank
you. I'm happy with this result this week. We
have got, heading into the final couple weeks,
you guys, heavy hitter and the best team are
neck and neck. They are very close. They're within
six points of each other. And they are like 40
points ahead of the third place team, which is
sweet digs. I mean, unless some crazy stuff happens,
I feel like those two are going to be battling
it out. But I don't want to speak too soon. Everybody's
still got a chance to be the grand champion.
Overall, great week for me. If you missed the
news, NCAA. is going to be included in volley
for the 2026 season. So watch out. We are going
to be fantasy volleying year round. It looks
like, and I'm really excited about it. Adding
love to the picture nonstop. It's going to be
so much fun and a lot of anxiety. No, not anxiety.
I don't get stressed about it. I'm going to be
upset a lot. I think because I really need to
hone in on my strategy moving forward, but This
is a win this week. Before we hop into the weekly
highlights, I just want to say thanks to everybody.
There were lots of great additions on the YouTube
channel from last week in terms of our men's
dream team. So lots of people had suggestions
both internationally and on the U .S. side. It
was fun to read those. We definitely missed a
few. I like the sarcasm in the comments about
people that we left off the list. So who were
the highlights that we left off? Aaron Russell
on the U .S. side was one of the big names. I
was thinking about him. I was like, I am missing
an American left side. And I was like trying
to think about it was him. You're right. There
was Namir for the right side. There was a young
Belgian right side who I was actually thinking
about. Played very well in VNL. I got roasted
for my libero choice. People were more on board
with your libero choice. Yeah. Uh, somebody threw
out an Australian libero. I'm terrible with names
and I don't have in front of me, but lots of
people had thoughts and opinions about the team.
It was fun to read through and like hear people
saying like this person, this person, like I
like that guy. I got a message being like, what
were you thinking? Leaving Leon off the list?
He's not, he's so up and down for me. He's not
the player he once was. He can still. We've seen
him be outstanding this past summer. There was
one game in particular. This is always the hard
thing about doing these teams is to leave your
past resume behind and to pick who is playing
best in the moment. Is Leon capable? 100%. Would
I put him in the top left sides in the world
right now? Probably not. Take it or leave it.
I'm sure you will hear about that again this
week. Moving on to the happenings of the week.
NCAA men, Pepperdine swept USC twice. I know
I've talked positively about the Pepperdine coach,
but this is the second season in a row where
they are coming into form at the end of the season.
And for me, that is one of the characteristics
of the best coaches is their teams. build towards
the end of the season and play their best volleyball
consistently at the end. And beating USC twice
is huge. Swept them twice. They came in and they
won the conference last year. I have been very
impressed with the team, yes, but more kind of
watching how they operate and how they peak.
Kudos. Long Beach State beat UC Irvine twice,
once in five, once in four. That's a big win
for them. I think. I mean, that was like a 3
-6, 3 -7 matchup, 3 -5, you know, somewhere around
there. So it was a tough matchup. The Pepperdine
USC was like a 4 -6 or something. So, like, again,
very big matches on those conferences. Number
16, Lewis beat number 12, Lindenwood, three straight.
Lindenwood, like, they're holding on to their
ranking. But, again, Meva, hello. The conference
tournaments are this week, you guys. I'm glad
love is over because we can kind of shift focus
a little bit. Yes, because now we can watch these
conference tournaments and see what the heck
is going to happen because who's going to get
the AQs from these conferences? I do have one.
I'm going to throw this out there. Because we're
in Canada, we don't get ESPN. If anybody knows
how to watch or stream any of the men's tournaments,
put the link in the YouTube because we would
love to watch as live as possible. And sometimes
it's hard to find the matches if you can't get
on ESPN. We leave Southern California and a lot
of finals happen there. And men's NCAA championships
happening there. Like we picked a really bad
time to leave LA, but here we are. Well, it's
snow today here, so that's not great. Yeah, let's
not talk about it. Just kind of following up
on what we discussed last week, Charlie Brand,
the infamous announcer at this point. Will not
broadcast any more UC Irvine volleyball matches.
He has been axed. And that's all we got to say
about that. On the MLV front, it is currently
looking like it will be Indy, Dallas, San Diego,
and Omaha in the final four. There is still a
chance, like mathematically speaking, there is
still a chance for it to be somebody else. Don't
write Grand Rapids off yet. Atlanta needs to
win out to have a chance, but... Omaha is currently
experiencing that coach bump. 25 -year -old coach,
the youngest coach to win a professional sporting
match in American history. Any sport. Good for
him. There you go. He started as the tech guy.
I watched them play Atlanta today. I'm very curious
if the coach bump stays. So here's my impression
of watching it. They're playing free. They've
put Beeson back in, which I'm guessing came from
above. And she's playing well. She had a pretty
good game. They look like they're having fun
again. And I think that the previous coach, he
came across as a bit of a hard -nosed guy and
pushing them to be better, like very Eastern
European style. I'm curious if this continues,
is able to continue into the playoffs when pressure
ratchets up. I think they'll make it now. I think
they'll be the fourth place team. They're going
to end up playing Indy, who has been the most
consistent team in the league. And I'm curious
if they will be prepared, if they will feel the
pressure, how they will manage that. I don't
think it's for real. I don't think they'll beat
Indy if that's where they end up. I think they
have a fun little bump now, but I don't see it
working out for them in the playoffs. And Diego,
our apologies. We did not believe in you. early
in the season you were on our hit list and look
at you now third place well and somebody asked
us to kind of dive into why we didn't think they
or we kept saying like shocked that they won
we will do that at a later episode we want i
want to watch them play one or two more times
i've seen them play a couple high level i just
don't think their setter was very good at the
beginning and you don't win with a bad setter
and she's played better All right, Italian playoffs
for the men. The final is Perugia versus Chivitanova.
Chivitanova beat Verona three matches to one.
Adam is heartbroken. A little bit. The finals
for this league don't start until April 30th.
So a lot of time off. Wow. That seems strange
to me. I will say as a foreigner playing overseas,
when there is that much time in between, you
are like, what is happening? Because it's like
you've been there for nine months. And you're
just like, okay, we need to keep playing because
if I lose momentum here, I'm just going to implode.
That's almost two weeks in between matches. That's
insane. Yes. On the women's side, Conigliano
won match two, three straight. And then Milano
entered Palo Verde and beat Conigliano for the
first time in over 1 ,500 days at home in match
three to save themselves. So the series is now
2 -1 Conigliano. The final two matches, if it
goes to a fifth, they're all happening this week.
Conigliano looked dominant in match two. I thought
the series was over. They were going back to
Conigliano. I was expecting another sweep. The
game just happened, so we haven't had a chance
to watch it yet. We will definitely do that.
That's two matches in a row they almost dropped
in Conigliano. One of them, obviously, they did.
This is not over. You think it's going five?
I still think Conigliano is going to win. I think
they're the better team. But to go in and push
the series and then be able to finish and come
back at home, I could see it going five. We'll
find out. But the Turkish league ended today.
The final of the Turkish women's league was Vakavbank
versus Fenerbahce. Match five was today. So it
went down to the wire. Vakif Bank won three to
one. Fenerbahce won the first set. Vakif came
back and won the next three. Markova was the
MVP. She had 26 points, three blocks. Vargas
had 25 points, two aces. And Boscovich, who now
plays for Vakif Bank. After like a decade at
Izazibashi, had 19 points, four blocks. This
is the first league championship that Tiana Boscovich
has won in Turkey. She's won a lot there, but
never this one. So that's huge. So that league
has wrapped up, everybody. A couple more tidbits
just to throw out there, have you think about
a little bit. The Big Ten. is going to have a
conference tournament this year to determine
their automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
No more two -way ties. No more co -champions.
Even if, like, Nebraska has a season like they
did where they basically went undefeated and
crushed everybody, they still have to come back
and play the conference tournament to actually
win the conference. So that throws a very interesting
wrench into things. I actually love this for
Nebraska. We've talked about them not having
enough high pressure situations to learn how
to win to be able to do that. And then you're
all of a sudden thrown into the fire at the tournament.
It's not the same in the conference, but you
have that buildup. You're looking at teams. The
process is similar, albeit on a smaller scale.
I think this is really good for them as a team.
I agree. And finally. The rivalry match we've
all been waiting for. Nebraska is going to play
Texas this fall. It is not happening in Lincoln.
Stay tuned to find out exactly where. Is it going
to be Austin? Is it going to be neutral? Who
knows? Circle that on your calendar. The team
that Cornhuskers love to hate, they are going
to have a matchup. Is it shocking that it happened
after John Cook left the program? I don't think
so. Yeah, my former Big 12 self is loving this.
So, yeah, stay tuned for that. Love finals were
this weekend in Long Beach, California. Austin
versus Salt Lake. That's the end of the segment.
I can't talk about it anymore. I know that you
and I both have lots of thoughts, but let's start
with the positives. What are your positives from
the finals? Let's say the finals in general.
Okay, I think it was exciting that it went to
a golden set. From an entertainment perspective,
very exciting. Also, both matches went five.
Nobody ever knew what was going to happen. I
sure didn't. So that could be seen as a positive.
Kojima, always a positive in my books. I think
the Austin Middles are a positive. I think particularly
in match two, Madison Skinner was a positive.
Serena Gray. That's all. I said something out
loud in that match that I never thought that
I would ever say watching Salt Lake play, which
was, you need to set Tori Dixon more. I was losing
my mind. Is that one of your positives? Yeah,
it was. And she put up some good blocks. I thought
Tori Dixon had maybe the best match I've seen
her play in match two. I thought she was very
good. Except when she got hit in the face, and
it was literally like a boxer avoiding a KO.
You know how they stand up and then fall over?
That happened. I was like, dang, is she okay?
Well, I mean, middles playing defense, there's
always a risk of that happening. To her credit,
I thought she played very well. I thought she
was effective on both sides of the ball, quite
frankly. Good for her. I think she was the most
consistent Salt Lake player. Her and Kojima were
the two most consistent Salt Lake players, in
my opinion. And Gray was not far behind. Gray
wasn't far behind, but there were a lot of times
where she was trying to just bury the ball and
hit it in the middle of the net. It happened
more often than it should. She is very good.
And the other positive was it looked like there
were a lot of people there. Match one, I was
disappointed. Match two was a better turnout,
I would say. But match one, I was like, are you
kidding me? Is this actually going to happen
for the finals? I thought those things were all
good. I saw a couple other camera angles from
like kind of behind the court, which I thought
was good. What were your overall thoughts on,
do you want to go series or? No, I think we need
to talk about the series as a whole. Honestly,
and I feel like people are probably going to
be upset about this, but. watching the matches
I feel like it was just a game matches of errors
I didn't really feel like either team was going
and taking the match especially in like critical
moments I kind of it to me was like who's going
to lose this game instead of who's gonna take
it service errors getting aced unhittable sets,
hitting balls out of bounds, like passing free
balls over the passing free balls over that.
Like I just, or like transition sets that are
completely unhittable. It just, I didn't feel
like either team was lean and consistent. I felt
like it honestly just came down to who made fewer
errors when it mattered most. Well, totally because
Salt Lake made 21 hitting errors in match two.
And Austin made nine. And that was the difference.
They refused to swing to win. Salt Lake puckered
more than Austin did. Period. Yeah. But I did
not think the execution was particularly good
from either team. And I actually thought the
coaching decisions were head -scratching. Head
-scratching. Do you want to start there? Sure.
And I mean, I know that people are probably like,
oh my gosh, that was such good volleyball. So
exciting, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, 100%. It was
exciting. But just from my perspective, it was
frustrating to watch. Well, it can be exciting
and not well executed. Like those both of those
things can be true. We had long rallies of overpasses
of missed assignments of. failure to swing to
score when you needed to just chaotic at times
like and it wasn't honestly it wasn't even about
the errors it was about the timing of the errors
for me that's that's what i thought well and
just like neutral swings particularly on salt
lake side it's like when things were comfortable
the hitters were going up they were free whatever
but like when salt lake needed points their hitters
were hitting so neutral when they weren't making
errors I mean, Salt Lake's best three players,
I thought, wilted down the stretch. I thought
Alexa Gray, her hitting numbers, and I didn't
have a chance to do this, but her percentage
below 18 and above 18 when the score is there
or when it quote -unquote matters has to be astronomically
different. I'm not sure she scored a single point.
I'm being a little facetious after 20 for her
team. I don't even think it's like a point total.
I think it's just even when her team needs a
point. Because at one point, like every time
Salt Lake was like up by a few points and Austin
started like creeping back in, she disappeared.
She disappeared from the service line. She was
a shank a source back there, literally just shanking
balls all over the place or hitting neutral.
And then as soon as everything was comfortable
again, then she was scoring points. And it's
just like, where, where did you go? Every single
time her team needed. My issue with Alexa Gray,
because I know people are going to pull up her
stats and be like, how are you saying this? Look
at her numbers. That's the thing. She puts up
really good numbers, which makes it look like
she's playing so incredibly well. She's padding
her stats at points in the match when it doesn't
matter. And then as soon as her team needs a
point, she's hitting like negative and passing
zero. I don't understand. What is the mental
switch here? We talk about having. go -to players
or gamers. We have this conversation in NCAA
all the time. And this is an example where in
this playoff run, she has not been a player that
you could count on late in sets. She doesn't
take the appropriate swing. She makes errors.
She's tentative. I also think that Jordan Poulter
struggled down the stretch. Her sets started
coming off the net. She wasn't able to connect
with the middles. I don't know what happened
because I thought she was playing well. And Casanova
disappeared. And part of that, like Casanova
can't hit balls that are behind her. Like as
soon as the ball gets behind her head, she doesn't
score and she makes errors. And Poulter put her
into that position and then stopped setting her.
I thought her decision making at the end of when
matches got tight, like she just stopped going
to different players and just set Alexa. The
offense became incredibly predictable. Which
is why Austin got so many blocks. Exactly. You
can't do that. I thought, for me, those three
players, gone. Disappeared. Cost them the championship,
quite frankly. Before everybody gets up in arms,
Austin won, and you're not even talking about
the things they did well, blah, blah, blah. You
guys, Salt Lake, for all intents and purposes,
should have won that match. That match was theirs.
They had it in their hands. There is absolutely
no reason Austin should have won that match.
Salt Lake completely... Pissed it away. They
handed it to Austin. They gave it to them on
a silver platter. So yeah, if we're talking about
all the reasons why Salt Lake lost, it's because
Salt Lake lost. Okay. I'm clearly very passionate
about this. I was getting so annoyed. Serena
Gray was scoring pretty well aside from the times
when she was trying to hit it at the two foot
line. And then right when it really mattered,
Jordan Poulter was setting her too low. Yeah.
She was hitting from her shoulder. Casanova,
you're jumping straight up and down on these
back row balls and they're still trying to lead
her on the back row ball. You can't set a player
that jumps like that in that far in front of
the attack line on a back row ball. After set
three, Casanova was literally a black hole. Everything
that entered her gravitational pull was a point
for the other team. And you know what? Why were
you not subbed out? Why did the coach of Salt
Lake not make any changes? Not one. And I get
it. You want to ride your players who have gotten
you that far. I can appreciate that. But at some
point, you have to make... It was painful. Was
Fields still suspended? No, she was dressed.
I'm pretty sure she was wearing a uniform. I'm
sorry. That reeks of personal to me. Yeah, it's
like, I am going to lose this championship rather
than put you on the court. Because honestly,
watching Casanova try to play the last two sets
of match two and the golden set, it was hurting
me. I'm like, this is the worst meltdown I may
have ever seen. The thing is, she wasn't good
by any means. If you were watching the match,
she didn't pass the eye test. If you were looking
at the stats, she didn't pass. Like, what are
you thinking? to leave her on the floor and clearly
Poulter had no confidence setting her the ball
because she just didn't set her they were able
to load up the block they weren't even respecting
Casanova like how do you not see that and make
a change as a staff I mind -blowing that you
just sit there and watch your team well and then
after every time out she's like asking her coaches
what do you got for me what do you got for me
listen I'm sitting on my couch at home I've got
some things for you Anybody watching can give
you some feedback, but instead run the route,
run your route. Like what, what does that mean?
I know what it means, but I'm being, I mean,
look at the other side. Eric Sullivan closed
his eyes and picked some names out of a hat and
they ended up. Why did Zoe Jarvis go on the court?
Why did she start? And hold on because, because
everybody's going to look at those two subs and
go genius, genius. And I'm sorry. That was a
panic move. I have nothing else to do. I don't
know what else to do. I'm just going to make
these substitutions. Because quite frankly, and
there's two parts to this. Quite frankly, Zoe
Jarvis didn't start well, didn't pass well. I
get you have to work yourself into a match. She
set a ball out of bounds on the other side of
the net. That was a ludicrous sub. Now, to her
credit, she settled in and passed decent down
the stretch. But this is another thing I had
with Salt Lake. So you came at the libero who
they switched. Fine. But then at what point do
you not realize that she's now passing better?
Go back to Eggleston. Like, no changes. You're
just like, well, they put their second libero
in, so we're just going to serve her the whole
time. I thought neither coach had any feel for
the match as to what was going on. It's all like
serving muffins. Muffins. And they still missed
nine. Literal free balls to the middle of the
court. Austin is not. A prolific passing team,
you guys. They were in system so much because
you were literally like, boop, take it. To your
point about those subs, Brie O 'Reilly and Julianne
Fawcett came in on the double sub, I think in
set two or something, did real bad. They completely
killed any type of momentum Austin was kind of
building at that point. Goes into set three or
four, keeps Brie O 'Reilly in. Now, I am a real
Riley fan. I feel like, you know, she's a really
good setter. And I have kind of questioned why
Carly Lloyd was playing over her down the stretch.
But you guys, Carly Lloyd got you to this point
in the playoffs. Right. Let her ride her out.
You know what I mean? She got you here. I might
not have agreed with the situation, but Carly
Lloyd showed up in playoffs. Why are you sitting
her on the bench for the end? Because he didn't
know what else to do. And those were the two
subs that he could make. And he closed his eyes
and said, YOLO, we're going to do this. And it
worked out in his favor. There was nothing strategic
about that. That was a Hail Mary that worked
out in his favor because Salt Lake. Puckered.
Granted, Inouye's out -of -system setting, she
had a couple really bad out -of -system sets,
but guess what? Every single person on Austin's
team could not figure out how to set out -of
-system. I've seen 16 U teams set better out
-of -system than Austin's set. It was painful.
I'm like, you guys should be ashamed at this
skill that you are failing at so miserably. But
even if that is the reason you're taking Inouye
out, Everybody else was doing the same thing.
I have no explanation for why Zoe Jarvis was
put in. No, it was because they weren't winning
and he needed to shake it up. He wasn't taking
Skinner off the floor. He wasn't taking Eggleston
off the floor. And he wasn't going to take Matty
Banks off the floor. I think Banks, top to bottom,
was their most consistent player. Sure. Madison
Skinner really turned it on, particularly down
the stretch, like when it really mattered. The
golden set, she did really, really well. Bree
knew exactly who to give the ball to. I thought
Bree set a really good game when she came in.
The couple swing and misses we had back -to -back,
that was a little concerning. Mind you, Madison,
are you running a literal quick in the front
row on a back row ball? No setter could ever
connect with you on that one play. And the choice
to run the slide in that situation was maybe
a little ambitious. But I thought her decision
making was good. No, she's a good setter. Yeah.
I just think Carly got you there. She is a very
clear leader on the team that moves the pieces.
The girls respect her. She really wasn't playing
poorly enough to take her out. Those subs were
a YOLO. I know. We keep talking about these subs.
Whatever. I mean, you have to give Austin credit.
They just kept going. They just did what they
needed to do to stay alive. Yeah. They didn't
make errors. No, they did make errors. Everybody
made errors. But they made, again, like I said,
they made nine hitting errors in five sets compared
to 21. So they made Salt Lake beat them. And
they made, I will give them credit, they made
blocking adjustments. They blocked well. So when
they knew Casanova wasn't getting the ball, they
had solid blocks up everywhere. And Salt Lake
didn't pass particularly well. So it was high
ball outside. Like you said, a great puckered.
Hoffman is not. a prolific score. Like she's
not going to be able to work you out of those
situations. They stopped running the middle.
She's a P2. So like Hoffman to, for Hoffman to
score, there needs to be other options. Totally.
Attacking wise. And there just wasn't. No. Particular.
And I'm going to get, say something about Alexa
Gray again. Why are you always surprised when
you get set on the pipe? How many times are you
going to like walk in and get set and like be
shocked and have to set it over half speed it
over? It is your job. The number of times she
is surprised when she's getting the pipe. I'm
like, girl, come on. I, it was a disappointing
performance from her. There's no other way to
put it. And don't even, nobody even talked to
me about her stats because quite frankly, I don't
care. All I care about is like, she doesn't show
up when it matters. And I think the other thing
for me is it's not even that Austin came out.
And dominated Salt Lake at the beginning of the
match. Salt Lake was up. It wasn't like you didn't
show up for the match. It's not like you didn't
start well or put yourself in a good position.
I get that. Austin makes adjustments. They come
out. They play really well. They're more athletic
than Salt Lake by a country mile. They're just
better athletes. Salt Lake had that match in
their hand. Austin was not executing the fundamentals
very well. Like you said, in terms of passing
free balls, setting out a system. Doing all of
those little things well. Salt Lake, they just
handed it to them. They would not take the win.
It was crazy to watch. Crazy. And I'm sorry,
and I'll say it again, that coach needs to take
responsibility. The fact that you refused to
make changes that were so painfully obvious,
what are you doing? But even how you run the
offense, go to Jordan Poulter and say, we're
not connecting on some of these different things
like it was like after the fourth set jordan
just didn't know what to do she didn't know who
to set she didn't feel a connection with anyone
like that as a coach when you need to sit down
and say hey this is what got us here to this
point that didn't work very well but we got to
get casanova going because you're going into
the fifth set you've got two chances to win that
match And you know what? If you don't win the
fifth set and you go to a golden set, you needed
to find your rhythm. And you needed to reset
your offense. And they didn't. It was disjointed.
And Austin knew exactly what was happening. But
also, like on serve -receive, Salt Lake starts
out pinching Alexa Gray to give her as little
court as possible. And then as the match went
on, all of a sudden, she's taking more and more
court. What happened? Why are you letting her
pass now? It's not going well. I'm upset. I was
like, Austin cannot win. All these conversations
all season long. What's going to happen if they
don't win? They're almost not making playoffs,
blah, blah, blah. Well, they pulled it off. What
do you think it says about the league that the
last place team wins the championship two years
in a row? They weren't last. They were tied for
second last. They were legitimately one of the
worst. Tied for second last, tied for third,
whatever. If by our calculations, they shouldn't
have even been in the playoffs. We have talked
about this. Austin, if you watched that, if you
didn't know what the stats were and you didn't
know what the records were and you watched all
of the matches, you would have said Austin was
one of the worst teams in the league. They did
not put together a great season overall. Which
is why the conversations kept happening about
like, how can the national team like not win
the league? How can the entire national team
coaching staff like. What is happening? Blah,
blah, blah. They saved face. We'll say that.
And I will say they showed a closeup of Eric
Sullivan's face at match point for Austin and
the smirk he had on his face. I was like, gross.
Anyway, that's an aside. The league. I mean,
the fact that there was golden sets in every
single playoff series. That's true, right? I
think so. Okay. Something like that. Or at least
three of three or two of three. shows that there
is parody in the league is the parody in the
league a marker of good volleyball no well that's
but it does make it exciting and i it was exciting
to watch so this is my takeaway as like a volleyball
fan with no invested interest in anything other
than i like watching good volleyball love got
what it wanted you had tons of five setters you
had close matches you had back and forth it just
proves to me that people don't know how to win
They don't know how to close out games. The environments
are not conducive to winning, to knowing how
to win. You are squeaking things out here and
there. Like even Nebraska playing in that match
where you need to win to go on. Like it was in
their hands, choke job. Across the board when
teams needed to win, Salt Lake, massive slide,
can't figure it out, then comes back, then can't
win. The point swing is crazy. The inconsistency
and lack of taking care of the fundamentals,
I think is what stuck out to me because we were
watching this and the Italian final back to back.
And it just, it's a very stark difference. And
again, if you're looking at it from an entertainment
standpoint. It's entertaining because you have
no idea what's going to happen. No clue. If you're
looking at it from a volleyball standpoint, I
can't tell you how frustrating it is to watch
you pass a free ball over the net to have it
come slam back in your face. That just shouldn't
happen. Or sometimes not. Sometimes not. The
number of overpasses that Salt Lake did not handle,
I'm like, wow. True. It was incredibly frustrating
watching that final series, I have to say. Can
we talk about between sets? Was it two and three?
When Serena Gray got interviewed by Cameron Irwin
and there she's like, what are your thoughts
going in? She's like, well, they don't want it.
Not only that, she threw Haley Washington under
the bus. Haley Washington brought up the stats.
We had 13 errors and we still only lost by four
points. They clearly don't want it. If you're
going to let a team make that many, if you're
going to let a team get that close. we're going
to take this. I was like, well, I appreciate
your candor, but wow. If I was the Austin social
media team, I would be posting that clip everywhere.
Because I think she even said, I hope Austin
doesn't see this. Well, you know what? You coughed
it up. Guess what? They won. You had a chance
in set four. You had a chance in set five. You
had a chance in the golden set and you couldn't
get it done. Am I heartbroken that Austin won?
Yes. Everybody knows how I feel about Love Austin.
I think a lot of people also have the same feeling.
If you wanted Austin to win, I want to hear from
you. Please tell me why. Because a lot of the
messages I was getting were like, Salt Lake needs
to win this. Yeah, it's just, here we go again.
It's just not a great narrative that, to me,
it reflects poorly on Austin as a team because
they're good enough to finish first in the league
and to win the championship. They have very good
athletes. They have Brie O 'Reilly. If you look
at them position for position in isolation, they
should be one of the best teams that you have
in the league. And they just can't do... There's
a lack of consistency. And whether that's fundamental
consistency, whether that's mental preparation
to put your best performance on the floor consistently,
they are disappointing in and of the fact that
they don't play to their potential very often.
Well, back -to -back years, they're like... hovering
near the bottom of the league for most of the
time. And then they went like, what? And don't
tell me it's like, oh, well, it's great season
management. They peaked at the right time. No,
they didn't. They were playing the exact same
way, running the exact same systems and the finals
as they were in week one. Yeah. Okay. They have
not made many adjustments to like their style
and team play. So they know season two of love
is over. We'll do a league breakdown in either
next episode or a couple episodes from here.
I will say I did enjoy the passion, particularly
on Austin's side. As they were coming back, you
could see the fire and stuff. I want to see that.
There weren't a lot of smiles between the net
like we talked about all last season. So from
that perspective, I would say that that's a positive.
High level, I thought Love made good changes
this year across the board as a league. We can
get into those. But yeah, agreed. All right.
Season two of Love. Done and dusted. Austin back
-to -back champs. Get their names engraved on
that Tiffany trophy. Let us know your thoughts
about this series because I'm anticipating a
lot of pushback. The thing is, nothing we said
was untrue. There was not a lot of opinions on
there other than you saying you didn't want Austin
to win. Well, that's how I felt. I didn't want
Austin to win. What's wrong with that? That's
fair. Yeah, let us know your thoughts. Were you
as frustrated as us watching this? Because, yikes.
But anyways, congrats to Austin. This segment
is going to build off of the fraudulent or for
real segment that we did a few episodes ago.
This was submitted by a listener. The segment
suggestion is... Up and coming NCAA women's programs,
which are becoming a new powerhouse and which
are just shining at the moment. This person gave
several examples, which we will use. And I'll
add a couple more that have kind of made an appearance
in top rankings recently. Basically, which teams
can you realistically see making a push into
the final four or even winning a championship
and which are just. Here for a brief glimmer
of time. So is the timeframe five years, 10 years?
Fraudulent or for real? Which programs are building
sort of like a lasting legacy where they will
be a highly sought after location for recruits
who want to win and which are just a flash in
the pan? I'm ready. Arizona State. Fraudulent.
I never run these games. So you have to do an
excellent. Okay. And then I'll tell my opinion
after you're done. They're not in a strong conference
and they do well because they're consistent,
but I haven't seen any big recruits want to go
there. I'm not sure. Listen, their head coach
is an ex finance guy. So he understands creating
a good environment. He understands, you know,
performance and. They're definitely consistent.
I just don't know if they have the ability to
recruit the high -end talent necessary to compete.
And I don't know what that draw would be. You're
not in the best conference. You win consistently
and you go to the tournament, but they're never
really a threat. And just the way they play.
I'm not sure they're getting any of those blue
chip recruits. But do you think they are building
to the point that they will be a perennial threat?
I don't think they'll be much better than they
are now. They're consistent always with the players
that they have. I just don't see them pushing
through. I'm fraudulent as well. They rely heavily
on the portal. We see kind of a mess going on
there now where they've committed more players
than they have roster spots for. This also ties
into our discussion from last week, maybe a listener
question of what does, is it like to play for
a coach who has no playing experience? Obviously
they've had success, Russ Rose, John Cook, et
cetera. But in this situation, I just, I just
don't know. I'm not really familiar enough with
the assistant coaches in that program to know
how they are maybe picking up the slack in that
department. I just don't watch them and think
that's a team that's one piece away. I watch
them and I think they make teams beat them, but
they're not really capable of elevating. They're
a great 1B, as Adam calls it. So fraudulent.
We agree on that. TCU. Fraudulent. There's just
too much volatility in that program. Like you
had Melanie Parra and you were, you know, really
good and you were competitive and you have some
good athletes, but you, that program just seems
to have massive swings. They go on win streaks
and then they go on losing streaks and it's up
and it's down. I think they could potentially,
like they've had some high end players go there,
but it just, it doesn't seem to click there.
For like a season or two seasons, it's always
on fire or you're waiting for it to be on fire.
That's what that program feels like. I'm also
fraudulent for the same reasons. Hey, Texas A
&M. For real. They're not going to win next year
because they had significant turnover with seniors.
But what Jamie is building there and what he
has shown that he can do with a group of athletes
that goes and stays there. I think his, we'll
call it street cred for lack of a better word,
has very much gone through the roof. I think
people will want to play there. He has international
experience. He knows how to train athletes. I
think they're going to be a year or two away
unless they really go heavy into the portal,
which I hope they don't. He builds a culture
that I think will be competitive for the foreseeable
future. This is our first disagreement. I'm fraudulent
on this one. Texas A &M won because a group of
nine athletes stuck it out with him and believed
it. And they won with nine seniors. That entire
group is gone. And yeah, they have pulled in
from the portal, but they weren't able to really
pull in blue chip athletes from the portal. And
I'm not sure that you're going to get that perfect
storm. combination of things occurring that happened
this year that got them a title, I think they're
going to struggle to make it back there. SMU.
Let's say it together, everybody. Fraudulent.
I can respect her approach of saying, hey, we
want to empower athletes with NIL. We want to
allow them to build a brand. We want to do all
of that. Totally fine. That's within the rules.
You go ahead and do that. I just don't think
you can build a Nebraska, a Pitt, a Louisville
culture when you're cycling athletes through
every one or two years. Like you can add to what
you have, but your core needs to come from somewhere.
And until they recognize that. I don't think
they'll do any better than they're doing. Or
maybe they catch lightning in a bottle one year
and then it will go back. But they need to establish
what SMU volleyball is other than taking players
from the portal. I know we're going to get some
pushback on this perhaps. I understand that we
have said Texas operates in a similar way and
we've joked about it, how there's always like
a ton of in and out from Texas. The difference
between Texas and SMU for me is Texas had established
itself as being a top program in the country
before NIL was a thing, before the transfer portal
started going crazy. Yes, they have a lot of
movement right now, but you're still seeing top,
top recruits choose to go to Texas out of high
school. We have yet to see a top. top recruit
choose to go to SMU out of high school. We're
seeing players that are on maybe unhappy at certain
programs or want to leave a top program and they
go to SMU, but we haven't seen what we see at
Nebraska, Texas, where the top high school players
are choosing to go there. Well, look who's at
Texas this year. Like look who they had playing.
They had two freshmen on the floor. playing in
the tournament when they get the freshmen that
are good enough to play in the stay they keep
them and then you know they put pieces around
them but i totally agree with you but yeah like
smu has made themselves relevant and part of
the discussion during the nil era which is fraudulent
freighton fraudulent they're always going to
be good they're always going to have a solid
team I think their conference kills them. You
can't come into the tournament having not sharpened
your teeth all season. The top athletes want
to play against the best athletes. You're not
going to Creighton because you don't, you're
not playing those matches. If they were in another
program, I think I might change my answer or
another conference. But I just, I think given
the way that their season goes, fraudulent. I'm
for real on Creighton. We have seen, like, I
think of back when I was playing college, Creighton
was no good. Like, we always had to play them,
like, mid -season for, like, a D1 Nebraska match
or whatever, and it was, like, three straight
whatever. To see how that program has grown and
evolved over the last, like, 20 years, they have
consistently been chipping away. I feel like
they have done it the right way, and you can't
take that away from them. That wasn't the question,
though, because I agree with what you're saying.
No, but I think there's a difference in the way
that a Creighton has built. I think that the
way that they have built creates longevity, creates
the type of atmosphere that is built for excellence,
culture, etc., versus an SMU that is just...
So what is the difference in your mind between
Creighton and Texas A &M? Texas A &M put everything
together with a one dream season, nine seniors
who are all gone and then they could start from
scratch. Creighton is like consistently putting
out good players that are staying in the program.
Yes, they pull from the portal, but it's not
like seven in a season. And they've consistently
built. Yes, they are just missing out on like
final fours now and then. But I think that they've
done it in such a way that like they have set
themselves up to be a top team. Okay. I think
they'll be good, but I don't think they'll ever
make it past the quarterfinal. What about in
Indiana? I'm a coin flip here. I like the vision
of what he's trying to build there. Jury is out
on whether. He can sustain that and he can get
the players required to run that system. I like
the idea of what he's doing in theory. We'll
have to see if he can pull it off. I don't have
an answer on this one. This one is tough too
because it's really been like one year that they
kind of come in and made a splash. Granted, they
did it with a lot of younger players. We need
more time on this one. To see what kind of recruits
they can continue to bring in. Can they run the
system that worked for them in 2025? I like that
the same coach in Steve Aird has kind of been
with the program from ground zero to this. The
jump that they took was huge this year. It's
not going to happen again. But will we see an
incremental reach? If you had to pick one right
now, what would you say? Rodulan. Me too. My
issue with this is you're pigeonholing the kind
of athlete that can play in your system. So you're
automatically limiting the number of players
who could come to your school. You know, he has
a system and he has a vision and I get that,
but you also have to be flexible enough to move
that system when you don't have the pieces. And
I just don't know. They've committed to doing
this. I'll be curious to see what adjustments
they're willing to make if they don't get the
players that fit the way they want to play. Let's
do two more. Kansas. Right now I have to say
fraudulent. Their season was a nightmare. They
got kicked in the tournament. They're a long
way from being there. Fraudulent as well. I think
that they are a good program. I just don't think
that they're going to be a Final Four type program.
No. They're good. They're a 1B type program.
It's a good place for Midwestern kids who maybe
don't choose to go to a Creighton or a Nebraska
or a Texas type situation. It's a good program
for them to go to, but do I see them winning
in the near future? No. Finally, Purdue. And
I don't know if I would put Purdue in the same
category as some of these because they have been
pretty good for a while, but let's just do it.
I'm going to say for real, and that's mostly
because of the coach. They've been able to recruit
high -level players. Yes, they've left, but those
players have left and he's found a way to motivate
them to be competitive with, quite frankly, little
talent. when you look at them compared to some
of the other schools and what they've done, I
think he does a fantastic job of getting the
most out of the players that he has. When he
gets a good recruiting class and when he has
the horses, they will be dangerous. Now, can
they pull off that in the recruiting standpoint?
I'm not sure, but they're always going to be
dangerous. if they get those athletes. And I
also think that he'll, he does a good job with
transfer players. Like people who are unhappy
can come and revitalize their career at Purdue.
And I think that that kind of sets them apart
a little bit and gives them an advantage. I'm
for real as well for the same reason. Hey, a
little bonus question for this segment. Who's
going to get the championship first Louisville
or pit? Oh, that's a great question. Let's just
set the stage. Things to think about. We no longer
have Danny Busboom Kelly coaching Louisville,
so can they do it in the Dan Meske era? And Pitt,
we're about to lose Olivia Babcock. Can the players
that they've recruited for the next several years
kind of fill those gaps? I would lean Louisville
because we've seen what Pitt is with arguably
one of the best players the NCAA has seen, and
they couldn't get it done. Maybe they will this
year, but... Maybe. I'm still not high on it
though. Final four and not finals was what I
would predict. Dan Metzke juries out on whether
he can replicate what Danny left him at that
program. And I know I joke about the Instagram
and the social media. You've got to prove it
now. And he cares and his athletes love him and
I get that. There's a difference between being
an assistant coach and being a head coach and
creating the environment and setting the expectations.
Danny's... a no BS coach and Meske is, he feels,
and he's passionate. And I want to see if he
can harness that in a way where his teams can
feed off that. I got to see it. This is a really,
really hard question. I don't know. I don't know
how to answer this heading into this year. Would
I like to see Olivia Babcock win one? Yes. If
Pitt doesn't win this year, I'm going to say
Louisville. Okay, let's get into our listener
questions for the week. Question one. Could you
talk a bit about the red zone? What American
volleyball calls the red zone, which is after
20 points. Do coaches at the international level
use red zone metrics for strategic and personnel
decisions in competition? I'm curious. As the
concept has become more prominent in college
volleyball discourse in the last five to 10 years.
First of all, the term red zone is outrageous.
Let's stop using men's sport terminology like
football and basketball for volleyball. Okay.
I know we want to connect with the dads out there,
but like stop using red zone. It's a pet peeve
of mine. Yes. Moving on. Okay. So if we take,
if we take the red zone out of it. Yeah, of course
you practice. After 20, you practice closing
games out. You practice 20 -20, 21 -20. How do
you turn a point? How do you finish a match?
Yeah, definitely. You try and get your athletes
in that mindset for sure. You look at how your
players perform in different segments of the
game for sure. You know who you want to set.
You know what offenses you want to run. Some
of it is feel in match. you know, as to what
plays you want to run after 20 depends on what
rotation you're in, what rotation your opponent
is in, but a hundred percent, you're thinking
about those things and you're making the, you
know, you're trying to make the right decisions
at that point in the game. When you were doing
stats internationally, were you keeping a separate
set of stats for after 20? The short answer is
yes, but you can filter and just look at players
information. Did you use them then? Totally.
Yeah, and we would look at, you know, what teams
want to, what plays they want to run after 20,
what plays we want to run. So you're, yeah, you're
looking at it. And setter's tendencies 100 %
change as the game gets past 20 and you're looking
towards the end for sure. So, yeah, we definitely
looked at those things. Hitting charts for specific
players, situations, all of it is relevant. You're
looking for any edge. But just don't call it
the red zone. Yeah. Okay, question two. Is it
extra hard to block an overpass? I've seen some
players who do it with success. So why wouldn't
more players try to slow the ball down? Do they
not want to get used on a badly formed block?
So what this means, I think, is like the ball
is overpassed from your player. Why do you not
try to block the person that's hitting the overpass?
Like, why don't we see that more? Most of the
time, you're not at the net because you're getting
ready to attack. Generally, the only person who's
at the net. or should be at the net as the setter.
If they're back row, they can't block. If they're
front row, they can go up, but they're not usually
particularly big. So unless it's a bang -bang
play where the middle hasn't gotten off the net
yet, you're usually having to jump forward, and
that's never a good place to be as a blocker.
So it's really a preparation thing. You don't
want to have to run forward as you're blocking.
In serve -receive, it'd be really hard to get
to the net on time to block it, but maybe in
transition, like Adam was saying, the blockers
are still kind of hanging out at the net and
might not have time to transition. So it's more
likely to block then, but like if you have time
for sure, you should try to get in their face.
Okay. Question three question about the semis
and final setup for love. So at the time of this
recording, the love final match two is about
to happen. So we do not have a champion yet.
As a player, would you rather have a single elimination
match like the Olympics or World Champs, or would
you rather have a series with the possibility
of a golden set? What are the pros and cons to
that as a player? What would you prefer from
an entertainment perspective? As a player, I
prefer series because I really think that over
the course of several matches, you get a complete
picture of who the better team is. better coached,
better team, period. From an entertainment perspective,
it's always exciting to see who's going to pucker,
as Adam says, in a one -match, one -and -done
situation. Last year, we were pretty critical
of the domestic league's playoff formats because,
I mean, we saw teams who had done so well in
the regular season I know there's arguments about
that. So I like that Love kind of changed it
up this year to have the two matches in a golden
set. Are there pros and cons as a player? Pros,
you get a chance to kind of understand what the
opponent's game plan is against you. You know
that as the series progresses, there are no secrets
anymore. So you're seeing truly the best. Of
what a player can show in as prepared a situation
as they're in. So I think that that's good. The
cons, obviously, to a one match is like what
we saw, like teams who have put together a great
body of work through the season might not win.
But that also could bring up the argument of
like, if you're truly the best, you should be
able to win like and put together a. a command
performance when the pressure's on. I could go
back and forth all day, but personally, if I
was playing, I like the series of matches because
you get a full picture, as I said, of who is
actually better. Question four, can you talk
about how or why the shorter setters are leading
the best teams in MLV? Is it because of the individuals
such as Tuaniga, Valentin Anderson, Shampoo?
Even Grand Rapids started playing better with
Cameron Turner setting. Or is there something
else at play? The height has nothing to do with
this. It's who's running a better offense, who's
putting the ball in a hittable position, who's
more consistent. We've consistently talked about
the setters and the right sides in MLV being
probably the weaker positions in that. So I think
what you're seeing is those setters mentioned
here running the best offenses. Height in a setter.
Only comes into play when all other things are
even, you know, everything is great. Your hitters
are firing, you're doing everything else. And
now your setter can earn you a point from the
service line and they're not a blocking liability
at this stage of MLV. It's about who's running
the better offense. Okay. Question five. This
is actually from a high school libero. This pertains
to our discussion of the hence Ogilvy trade.
several episodes back. This person says, you
guys criticize the trade as being better for
Omaha because Ogilvy was having a much better
season than Hentz. When I watch Omaha and Grand
Rapids play, I feel that Hentz looks better defensively
and is not passing bad, while Ogilvy seems to
struggle a bit defensively and on her passing.
You guys clearly have much more experience, so
I'm curious what exactly you define as having
success as a libero versus not. I think To preface
this discussion, we should probably say that
clearly Morgan Hentz was unhappy in Omaha if
she requested that trade. I think at the time
we had that discussion, I think Ogilvy was playing
better. And could Hentz's unhappiness or lack
of satisfaction in Omaha have contributed to
her play? Absolutely. Since the trade, I don't
disagree with you. I think Morgan Hens has upped
her performance for sure. I just wanted to say
that I think that your assessment is correct.
But what do you look for when you're determining
if a libero is playing really well or not? We
touched on this a little bit last episode when
we were trying to figure out who the best international
liberos are. Thank you for everybody who threw
in some feedback on YouTube. It was fun to read.
I think two things. One, you have to perform
your skills. So you have to be a good passer
first and foremost. And then it's about how much
court do you take up and how much pressure can
you relieve from your other passers? So I think
that's never statted, but hugely important. And
then defensively, are you able to kind of run
the back row? So do you know what the game plan
is? Are you moving guys around? Are you talking
to your blockers? You have to obviously dig the
balls that you're supposed to dig. But then after
that, are you making sure that you're the floor
captain, that everybody knows what's going on?
Because that's your job. You run the show back
there. So I think the best liberos do those non
-stat intangible things very well. And that's
what sets them apart. Obviously, you have to
perform. Just to kind of build on that a little,
I think. From a serve -receive perspective, like
Adam was saying, and also defensively, it's just
when you watch a good libero, you can just see
there's a sense of comfort in the other players
on the court, a complete lack of confusion as
to whose ball is whose. For example, any seam
balls on serve -receive. Players know their responsibilities
and they know how much court their libero is
going to take. There's never confusion between
a libero and another passer of who's going to
take it. The libero has that authority and the
confidence to just go. Same as like with defense.
And I think we criticized Lexi Rodriguez for
this during VNL last year. She looked confused
or maybe it was Morgan Hens. Hesitating on some
balls that were tipped. And like her and the
right side are kind of looking at each other.
It's like with a Barrow who is performing at
a very high level, there is not that confusion.
It's like the ball is theirs. They know it's
their job. They're taking it. And everybody around
them has that confidence to know what their defensive
range is and that they will pick up anything
in that range. I think there's just a sense of.
confidence in the liberos when they're performing
well and i'll say it again and i'll scream it
from the rooftops out of system setting is something
that i will always look at and i will not stop
talking about okay question six my friends who
are very into beach volleyball call their set
numbers one through five or 10 20 30 etc did
you ever use this system can you explain what
the numbers mean okay so this set calling system
is very american You see the majority of American
teams use this system. I personally have not.
I've used it when I've played like AVP with Americans
because it's just a very easy to follow system
with somebody if you don't play with them often.
But basically what happens is the court is divided
into five locations. So the left antenna is one.
The very middle of the court is three. And the
right antenna is five. And then obviously in
between one and three is two. Between three and
five is four. It kind of takes away any confusion
as to where a set should be located. Typically
in beach volleyball, the set location moves based
on where the setter moves. And so it requires
a really intimate knowledge and understanding
with your partner of how the set is manipulated
based on the pass location. The number system
is just like, When I call this number, this is
where you are going to set the ball regardless
of where I pass it. And so it just clears up
any confusion. And quite frankly, I think you
see the Americans use this because nobody switches
partners more than the Americans do. And I'm
not even saying that with any shade at all. Like
it's just fact and reality. So I think it has
really helped the Americans. particularly in
like the juniors and college level and honestly
AVP at this point, just know where to set the
ball when they're changing partners so frequently.
When they're calling a 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, that
is like a fast set to that location. So just
the number one is like an up and down loopy set
to position one. A 10 is a fast flat set, like
a go set indoor. to position one. And then a
30 is like almost like a meter ball or like if
you're playing indoor, that is what the difference
is. I'm not a huge fan of it. Yes, I've played
it. Okay. Our last question of the week, what
makes Justine such a standout compared to all
the other liberos that have gone through the
Nebraska pipeline? Is it the training she received
overseas versus past and present libero options?
Is it the cart culture and teammates she was
able to grow and compete with for Team USA or
what? I mean, at first, I think we have to remember
that she's been playing for a long time, so she
has more experience than the ones we've currently
watched. And, you know, along with setting, I
think libero is a position that requires lots
of experience and you kind of mature and come
into your own. in that position maybe a little
later than some of the hitters. So I don't think
it's necessarily fair to compare Justine to the
new crop of Liberos coming in just yet. They
still have a chance to write their story. But
I think it's all of that, right? She played on
arguably some of the best U .S. teams with some
of the best players. That atmosphere was great.
They pushed each other. It was just Karch demands
excellence and his attention to detail and his
ability to teach and... get you to understand
what is required of you, I think is, you know,
elite, elite. You can't help but get better when
you're in the gym with him. Like you can, every
team that he's been a part of, whether he's been
playing or coaching, they win or they compete
or they're high level. He's up there with the
best of the best. And so of course that, that
plays a role on it. I don't know her personally,
but you know, obviously work ethic, all of those
things play into her favor and we'll see what
happens with the other ones. all of the factors
mentioned here, I think play a role. Well, and
I think if we want to take away each individual's
like personal skills, work ethic, as Adam was
saying, et cetera, we know that they were trained,
all trained in the similar system, the same system,
which I, I can't speak on this with certainty,
but I would assume like the training methods
have not changed that much over the years. But
I think A differentiator because Kayla Banworth
was also a Nebraska libero who went on and played
for USA, won an Olympic medal. The differentiators
you can look at aside from post -secondary is
what was the level of competition they were playing
against during college. And we have spoken about
this at length that the current era is a little
less strong overall. from a skill perspective
than it was in the 2015 era than it was in the
Caleb Banworth era of 2007 to 10 or whatever.
We're talking about certain eras in college volleyball
where overall the level is quite high. And so
maybe that has a factor too that maybe aided
the transition to national team, to professional
level. I don't know for sure, but like it might
be worth speculating on. I'm just saying like
I don't want anybody to be offended or be like
you like the past better than now. It's something
to consider. And I do think that going overseas
right after college shaped all of these athletes
as well. You're uncomfortable. You're learning.
You're in pressure environments. I still believe
that plays a huge factor in your development
when you're 21, 22, 23. So I do think that that
makes a difference. All right, we got a short
list this week. Looking forward, NCAA men's conference
tournaments are this week. It'll be great volleyball.
Watch when you can. There's too many matches
to list. Well, these are critical because who
the heck even knows who they're going to give
the at -large bids to for the tournament. Winning
the conference tournament is huge. Saturday at
7 p .m. Eastern, MLV Orlando versus Grand Rapids
on YouTube. But Grand Rapids is winning some
matches. They've got a chance to sneak in, too.
Both of these teams have a chance to sneak in,
so this is big. And then finally, Italian A1
women's match Wednesday at 2 .30 p .m. Eastern,
and then the potential fifth match is on Saturday.
That concludes this week's episode of Volley
Talk. There's always something shaking in the
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you
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