Champions League, Coppa Italia, and UCLA vs Long Beach State (Plus Serving Strategy 101)

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. Adam said that with dead eyes. He is going
through it, everybody. I was checking to make
sure that the volumes were correct. So there
was a lot of volleyball this week. Man, was there
a lot of volleyball. Holy moly. And full transparency,
we mostly focused on international stuff. Well,
we watched a little NCAA men's too. But mostly
international. We did watch NCAA men's UCLA Long
Beach State Obvi. That was the must -see match
of the week for NCAA men. Men's Coppa Italia.
We had Women's Champions League wrapping up their
pool play. So playoffs are set. There was so
much good volleyball. So much good volleyball.
We're excited to talk a little bit about it.
So let's get started. Alright, first things first.
Is your volley fantasy a highlight or a happening
this week? More happening than highlight. Really?
Even with the new rule change? The new rule change
would have been good, but I think I may have
forgotten to pick bench players this week, which
really... How do you forget that? Because it
never affected you until now, so you were like,
whatever. Well, exactly. And the other... Crappy
thing about it is that I had Lydia Martin, who
I thought was going to dominate this week. And
she posted a donut because she didn't play. And
then I never backup selected. So I got screwed
royally. Was she injured? I don't think so. I
think they just rested her. That's ridiculous.
Because I had her on my roster, too, because
she's been crushing it. And then they're like,
just kidding. You know who else screwed me over?
Charity Looper. who's been doing outstanding
she was she was a bargain okay and then she doesn't
even play the first match it was looking like
i was in the basement early this week and then
the rule change came out the thing is that happened
and i'm still ahead of you that's how far in
the basement i was okay so i honestly this rule
change benefited me this week but even though
it did benefit me i'm not sure how i feel about
it Well, explain what the rule change was. Because
it kind of came out of nowhere. I didn't realize
it was happening. I opened the app and there
it was. So basically, if your bench player, from
what I'm understanding, if your bench player
scores higher than one of your, like, starting
seven, you get their score. Yeah, I'm still undetermined
on how I feel about this. Because... I'm like,
oh, great. It benefited me. But then part of
me is like, well, I should have just picked that
player to begin with then, you know? Yeah. You
have a little safety valve here. Now, I mean,
I get it, right? Lydia Martin, it's not her.
They just decided not to play her. Which sucks.
Yeah, which sucks. But you have no ability to
understand or think that that's going to happen.
So you still have a chance to get points. I get
it. I just didn't know it was happening. That's
all. Like, what was my big mistake? Not picking
Reagan Cooper. I should have just picked her.
I was on the fence about it. I waffled. I didn't
do it. She outscored both of my left sides. That's
a me mistake. Lydia Martin, however, well, I
will say Charity Luber not playing the first
match. Who could have predicted? I'm not scouring
the injury reports, okay? Well, and it's different
because in a lot of professional sports, you
have to release the injury reports. I'm not sure
in MLB if they have to. I'm also not sure I know
in love they do, but I don't know if you have
to, let's say. It makes it a little tough, and
now you can still get some points. Well, now
you have to be strategic with your whole roster
selection. Top to bottom. We'll see how it goes.
Bench players, role players, you name it. So
anyway, that saved me a little bit. I'm still
behind Adam. But I'm climbed up into the 60s
now. I think I'm only two spots ahead of you,
so we're racing now. I'll have to be smarter
this week. I have a lot of multi -contracts going
on. Multi -week, rather. I think I only have
to sign two players. Yeah, I think I have four
left to sign this week. But a lot of people were
hurting after Charity Looper didn't play, Abercrombie
didn't play, Martin didn't play. The message
board people were airing their grievances and
I was right there with them. I was clacking away
on my phone. You were not happy. It was so mad.
But I partially recovered. What can you do? So
our league continues to grow. It's amazing. It's
so much fun. We're almost at 400 teams in our
league, everybody. So, yeah. And I saw some people,
they joined the league. They didn't get credit
for some points that they were supposed to. It
was corrected right away. They are on it over
at Volley. Okay. So join us. Okay. Join us over
there. I can't tell you how much satisfaction
it gives me to know that we are the top league
for podcasts in terms of signups. Oh, it's not
even close. I know. Makes me smile. Not even
close. So thank you to everybody who's already
signed up. Just solidifying our position in the
game fantasy realm of volleyball. We're not competitive
at all anymore. I'm retired from competitive.
So join us, playvolley .com slash volleytalk,
playvolley .com slash volleytalk, and you can
get in on the action and maybe feel my pain or
maybe be satisfied just being ahead of me like
Adam is. On the NCAA men's front this week, Lindenwood
had quite the week. They went into the week ranked
number 18. They took down number 7, Loyola Chicago,
3 -1, and number 11, Lewis, 3 straight. Lindenwood,
do you think they'll jump to the top 10 now after
beating those two teams? No. No. The ABCA ranking
committee or whatever it is, they're fickle preachers.
A team can literally go 0 -8 and they're like,
keep them in. And then you'll have never going
to let this go. And then you'll have a team like
Lindenwood. I think because they're not like
a traditional big name, I think they might climb
like a few spots, but we're not going to see
something insane, which sucks because like for
all intents and purposes. They should jump to
at least 13, I think. Okay. You just said top
10 though. I said I was wondering, but I'm saying
I think it's realistic for them to jump. Like
you beat the number seven and the number 11 team,
3 -1 -3 -0. Like we're not even talking close.
You're at 18. I think that's fair. That's a big
weekend. See, Adam's jumping all over the place.
He's like top 10? No, he's like 13 for sure,
though. I was wondering what your opinion on
top 10 was, and I think it'll be 13. Okay, fair.
We'll see what happens. But they had a really
good week. UCLA played Long Beach State. UCLA
came out on top in the Walter Pyramid in Long
Beach. Okay, it was a pumping, bumping environment.
The reverse sweep at that. I will say Rowan lied
to you. What do you mean? You called out UCLA
at your NCAA Men's Media Day. Wait, for what?
I know I did, but what are you... For UCLA being
notoriously slow starters. And you asked them
if they had figured out their issue. They did.
And they said, yes, we figured it out. We've
got a new assistant coach who runs us around
all the time. We are ready to go. Boy, were they
sleepy, set one. Real sleepy. They got slapped
in set one. It was like 25 -16 or something.
Smacked. It was really bad. I thought, man, if
this is where it's going, Long Beach is going
to come in and lay the boots to them. Well, the
other thing is I straight up asked UCLA at media
day. I was like, is there anybody you have unfinished
business with this season? And they straight
up looked me in the eye and they said Long Beach
State. And then the first set ended and I was
like, whoa. So much for unfinished business.
Take it back. But I will say after that set,
the game was thoroughly entertaining. It was
a very good game. I really enjoyed watching that.
Man, UCLA is just, they're really good. Except
for the first two sets. You know, okay, I know
my idea. What position do you think they got
better at the most? I'll say the Libero. Oh,
thank you for saying that. Oh my gosh. They were
terrible on the Libero last year. We had several
conversations about, because they were running
a two libero system. A passing libero, a defensive
libero. Neither of them were doing their job.
They switched roles. It was a mess. But they,
for people who don't know, I believe they took
the Long Beach libero from last year. I don't
know if that one was starting, though. I think
he was on the bench. But he played for the team.
But he played for Long Beach State. So that was
interesting. He made some key plays, too, I was
going to say. But that upgrade was massive for
UCLA. Yes, because I thought that was kind of
their Achilles heel. They weren't digging balls.
They couldn't pass. But now I will say, I thought
their right side struggled. And that's going
to be for UCLA. I'm too excited. I'm too excited.
Finish your thought. They're so good in the middle
with Thorne. Their outsides are very good. Rowan's
a great setter. Now that they've got a little
barrel, but they're young. Right side struggle.
I think he went 0 for 5. I think it's at one
point he was hitting negative 800 or so. I don't
think I've ever seen that before. You did not
mishear that. We said negative 800. Negative
800. That is hard to do. That's hard to do. It's
like, let me punch this ball off the ceiling
every time I hit it just to make sure. I think
he was 0 and 5 or 0 and 6 in the first set, which
is a big reason that they were not very good
in the first set. He's a junior. He played behind
Ido David, but still. Yeah, so they're going
to have to sort that position out, but Zach Rama.
Oh my word. That kid can jump so high. It's like
when he gets his feet under him and he just like
jumps, nobody can compete. Even watching Long
Beach, like if they were playing well, I think
UCLA is better at every position. Except maybe
right side. No, the Long Beach State right side
did not do well either. I think that's where
they could be close. But I think UCLA has a Grayson
Bradford on the bench, the 6 '10 or 6 '11 freshman.
I was curious as to why they didn't make a sub
there. You go 0 -6 and set one in a 1 -2 rivalry
match. You're playing for top seed. They're rivals
just down the road. I mean. Kudos for the coach
for giving him some runway, but I was a little
shocked at that. I'm curious if they're trying
to redshirt that kid. They shouldn't. Why? This
is their year to win, honestly. You need to win
this year. You need to win this year. Anyway.
But I agree. I think UCLA is better in every
position. Like the middles for Long Beach State,
not it for me. And didn't run them very much.
No. You know who did disappoint me, though? Tyler
Varga. I hate to say that because he's a good
Canadian boy. You need to hit the ball, dude.
Yes. You're going up and tipping way too much.
You're doing the little fancy set over. Like,
hit the ball. I feel like last year they didn't
need him to score as many points. They needed
him to be steady. But this year they need him
to score points. He was too safe. I feel like
he was more aggressive last year. He looks to
me like he doesn't want to make errors. Well,
I agree. He's not aggressive. In situations where
he could be aggressive, he leans too far to being
safe. And I think if they're going to continue
to be good teams, he's going to need to take
some rips and he's going to need to be okay with
making some errors. We'll see how that progression
goes for him. 100 % agree. We did get a question
pertaining to this game. Okay. So I don't know
if you remember this, but while we were watching,
the announcer said that Andrew Rowan is averaging
over 13. Assist per set. I do remember this.
And he was like, oh my gosh, that's pretty much
unheard of. This person was asking, why is that
many assist per set so crazy and so rare? They
were like, is the team not in system that often?
Or is the team's hitting percentage rarely as
high as UCLA's is? Or why is that so rare? Well,
I think on the men's side, there's a couple things.
One is there's far more missed serves, so you
have less opportunities to score points. So if
your team is missing three or four serves a set,
now you have... Wow, I think that's on the low
end. Right, but I'm saying minimum. Now you have
less opportunities to score points. I think that
you have more hitting errors, guys being aggressive
in situations where... They won't necessarily
score, but they're going for it. So you have
an error that doesn't count as a hit, but that's
a point for another team. What does that have
to do with an assist though? With more unforced
errors, there's less opportunities to have to
earn points to finish the set. And then if you
look at how many blocks you get, the digs are
a little more wild. So you have more out of system
setting that's not necessarily coming from the
setter. I think there's just less opportunities
to be in system and to score points because of
more errors. That are tallying towards the score.
Well, I think it just speaks to how dialed in
UCLA is in general. Totally. But I think that's
why you see those numbers being generally lower.
For MLV, Indy is still in the lead. But we have
a new second place team in Omaha who has righted
the ship. They're sitting in second now at six
and three. They've also played more games than
everybody else. Way more games than everybody
else. Let's wait and see what happens with that.
Okay. And San Diego got a much needed win over
Columbus. So they're both sitting at two and
six. I'm a little surprised. I thought Columbus
was going to win that one. The early momentum
that Columbus kind of garnered playing well against
good teams is fizzled out. Love Salt Lake still
dominating. They're seven and one. Very good.
Very good team. They're fun to watch. They're
my favorite love team to watch. I like the way
they play. They're individual players. I like
how they're coming together. They work hard.
They want to win. They're a little chippy. I
like them. I like them. We're still hoping that
Cossack Paula takes Dixon's spot. I'm still a
head scratcher for me. She's so good. Houston's
risen from the ashes. They started 0 -3. They
are now 4 -3, everybody. And guess what? They're
in second place. Wild. Crazy. And the Love Classic
is happening this weekend in conjunction with
Triple Crown in Kansas City. So if you're heading
to that tournament, check it out. What do you
think of that weekend? I mean, overall, it's
pretty pointless, but it's good exposure for
club players to see what they can aspire to.
Yeah. I like that they are doing it where the
kids can watch. Like you said, I think it's cool
for the kids to see, you know, what they could
do. They need to find a way to make it more meaningful.
Yeah, it's just like three games. It seems like
they just randomly picked teams to play against
each other in like a random head -to -head match.
And like, that's it. And what do you get if you
win? Like, that's the thing. That's the thing.
Like, there's no playoffs. It's just like, boom,
boom, boom. Six teams playing. Done. Yeah. Because,
I mean, you look at, let's take the Italian League,
for example. They have the Italian Cup. But the
winner gets to go to Champions League. Well,
you know what you could do is the winner goes
to Club Nationals, but Love said no to Club Nationals.
Yeah, so I think they need to find a way to make
that meaningful. Club Nationals. What am I talking
about? I meant Club Worlds. Yeah, I mean, I think
everybody knew what you were talking about. And
you just let it go. Yeah. Thank you. Wow, it
came out of my mouth and I'm like, something
sounds weird about this, but keep it up. Okay,
so if you're in Kansas City, check it out. See.
I'm curious what the atmosphere is going to be.
Let us know what it's like if you're there. As
we said at the top of the episode, Champions
League women's pool play is over. Basically building
on the question that we answered last week about
Champions League. There's five pools. All of
the pool winners automatically jump into the
quarterfinals. If you came second in your pool
or if you were the top third place team, which
in this case is Olympiakos from Greece, they
play each other to get. into the quarterfinals
however if you are the bottom ranked first place
teams you play each other in the quarter in the
quarters that make sense yeah okay so basically
oh and the remaining third place teams that don't
get that one spot they go to chev cup which as
we mentioned is the step down and they jump right
into the quarterfinals for that one i know a
lot of moving parts so Milano is playing Olympiacos,
which, as I said, was the top third place team.
The winner of that plays Vakavbank in the quarter.
Schwerin from Germany plays Zeren Ankara, which
I got an update. Apparently they paid their players.
Well, that's positive. So there's that. We always
love to see that. Yes, I just wanted to let everybody
know that. And the winner of that plays Conigliano,
which means we're looking at a potential Vakavbank
-Conigliano semi. In the final four. That might
be the game of the tournament. I haven't seen
Fenerbahce. So I need to watch them. But those
two teams are very good. I was very impressed
with Vakafenk. We can get into that later. Novara
is playing Scandici. Where's your money on that
one? Scandici. And the winner plays Fenerbahce.
And then Azazibashi plays Reshov. They're the
two lowest ranked. First place teams. We're potentially
looking at three Turkish teams in the final four.
Maybe two and two if Scandici can upset Fenerbahce.
Those are my predictions. We'll see. But yeah,
we watched Azazibashi play Milano. And we watched
Vakif Bank play Scandici. Both very good games.
I think watching the games, I turned to Adam
and I was like, I love watching games where I
say, wow. Instead of what the hell is going on.
That happened. Honestly, I'm not sure. Which
game do you want to talk about first? I don't
know why I'd wanted to tune into the Azazibashi
match so much. I didn't love Azazibashi as a
team last year. And let me tell you, I still
don't love them. Okay, so for people who don't
know, let's just give a quick highlight of some
of the big name players on that team so we can
talk about them. Big is the key word here. Watching
Azazibashi, last episode we talked about a certain
type of player being recruited to play for Omaha
in MLV. The manager or the staff having a quote
-unquote type. Well, let me tell you, at Azazibashi,
they also have a type. And it's 6 '6". Those
are the requirements to get into the front door.
They have Karakurt. They have Stysiak. They have...
They have Plummer on the bench. They have Smrek
on the bench. They're massive. And I'm pretty
sure next year, Antropova's going there to replace
Stysiak. That's a good adjustment because let
me tell you, when Stysiak and Karakur are in
the back row together, it's like the Bermuda
Triangle. Nothing that goes over there comes
back. The ball just disappears. If there's a
heat map for that rotation, it's like bright
red. Order of the court. I saw the most egregious
courtesy dive from Karakur in that match that
I think I've ever seen. I think she hit the floor
after the ball went into the stands. She had
no intention of digging the ball. No, zero. I
saw Eganu go up and do the most muffin tip I've
ever seen. Literally seven meters back. Because
who was back there? The ball landed. You know
who is good at defense, though? I am impressed
with her defensive ability is Dana Reckie. Yes.
She moves well. Too bad she only plays one rotation.
I need to give her credit for that. That being
said, when they're firing on all cylinders, and
if they're getting blocks, their front row is
massive. They're fun to watch. Because it's just
massive offensive firepower and nothing else
is happening. But I'm not sure that this is a
recipe for success. Like, I get it. You're big.
You're physical. You can hit the ball. But there
is more to the game than that. And granted, they
won. They had no business winning, I don't think.
Like, Milano was up, what, 6 -1 in the fifth
set? Yes. And they lost. Yeah. 15 -13. I'm just
not sure that team gets it done against other
super skilled teams. I didn't like watching them.
I didn't. Aside from Carriker wagging her tongue
around all over the place. Like, they just seem
like a bunch of individuals that are, have to
play together. Yeah, they're not. It's not pretty
volleyball to watch. No, they're not a team.
Like you said, it's a bunch of individuals. They're
a bunch of very skilled individuals, which helps
me be like, wow. But sometimes it's not great.
They're missing a couple components that can
extend rallies, that can make an out -of -system
set. I think that that's going to come back and
hurt them. But we'll see. It was a fun match,
nonetheless. Karakor started wagging her tongue
around, like literally tongue out, like flapping
it in the stands. And then Igonu decided that,
you know what? I'm going to turn it on now. Enough's
enough. She was very good. Yeah, when she decides
that she wants to prove a point, she's unbelievable.
And she's a ton of fun to watch. The angle she
hits, the presence of mind she has to put the
ball in strategic places. Fun to watch. I think
a better match was Vakaf Bank Skandichi. Super
entertaining. Holy moly. I mean, we are talking
the best volleyball in the world. Like if you
aren't able to watch or you haven't watched,
go back and find it. There's just, there's nothing
like it. This is the best thing going right now.
And I will tell you the playoffs for Champions
League are going to be incredible. I just have
one question for Scandici. Hit me. Why are you
leaving Marina Markova? 10 feet of line. Not
the best. So that she can have like highlight
reel swings. Many of them. You guys, I understand
this girl likes to hit a sharp angle, but like
you've taken it to the extreme to make sure she's
not going to hit that sharp angle to the point
that she just can hit it anywhere. And it's like
straight down. Even if a player doesn't. Who's
crazy. Yeah. Even if a player doesn't like hitting
line, when you feel nothing there, you have,
and you can just tip it down to the ground. She
was not tipping it. She was putting holes in
the floor. No, I understand that. But you can't
give up that much line to a hitter like that.
I was like, how is this not being corrected?
But the crazy part also is they weren't even
doubling up the line. No. I'm like, you're leaving
her 10 feet of line and you're just leaving.
Put your helmet on. Literally. I kind of feel
like the coaching staff was like, if she's going
to beat us down the line, we'll let her. Well,
she beat you down the line. She sure did. But
you have Brenda Castillo and Katerina Bosetti
playing in the angle. Yeah. Is she going to score
her points? Absolutely. She's going to score
her points. But like, let's adjust. Yeah. I thought
that was a miss. Huge miss. In terms of their
defensive lineup against her. Boscovich played
pretty well. And Tropovot was very good. Again,
the execution, there were some incredible rallies.
You can see the servers taking different things
away, setters making adjustments defensively,
having to take swings in uncomfortable positions
to make points against massive blocks. Hammering
the crap out of their serves. The volleyball
was peak. I don't even know what else to say.
It was just so much fun to watch. So entertaining.
Tune in to the rest of these matches because
this was the end of pool play. We're not even
talking playoffs yet. All of these teams were
going through. Positioning was on the line, but
man, was it high level. And finally, we had the
men's Coppa Italia in the semis. Trentino beat
Piacenza in five and Verona beat Perugia three
straight. That was unexpected, I think. Verona
has been doing really well this season. They're
like up there, but Perugia has been like holding
down the top of the Italian league for a whole
season. But then in the final, Verona beat Trentino
three straight. So we were able to watch the
final. I heard the semifinal with Trentino and
Piacenza was unbelievable. I had a few people
message me. I'm going to watch that this week.
We just didn't have time to get it in for the
podcast. But Verona, my goodness. Micah Christensen,
I could watch him set. He's so good. I don't
think there's another person like him. There
are other very good setters. in the world and
there are players who are better in the setting
position than him in terms of all around effectiveness
and how they play the game but as a pure setter
i'm not sure there's anybody better it's it's
incredible his ability to if you really watch
him to connect with the ball in the same Every
time he sets, but then set any hitter I'm watching
and I've seen the ball leave his hands and I
think it's going to the left side and the right
side was set. Like it's incredible to watch.
He just gets to the ball so fast. Like you see
a lot of setters like time their approach to
the ball so that it's like they're getting there
as it's dropping into their hands. He gets there
under the ball so early. And he keeps his hands
so high while he's moving, which traditionally
young setters are taught to run to the ball first.
He actually runs with his hands up, which is
not traditional, but he makes it work for him.
And his hands are, he approaches the ball with
his hands up. It's the same release every time.
And his ability to spot a set, his location is,
I mean, his hitters are in rhythm, in system,
in location. All the time. You just have to watch
him. The other thing I will say, we talked about
some camera angles. The Italian league does volleyball
on TV better than anybody else. I watched a few
angles in replays. This is where I think they
get it right. The replays. You watch like the
ball come out of Christiansen's hand. You see
it like drift over the middle. And then the left
side just comes screaming in and massacre the
ball. And that replay angle is so much fun to
watch because you can just see the blocker's
bite. You can see the trajectory. They do that
so well. I love watching the Italian streams.
Well, you also said that you, and I agreed with
this, you got the impression that Verona was
like the punk little brother. Trentino's been...
good forever. You know, they expect to be there.
They expect to be in these matches. I don't know
the history of the Italian League particularly
well, but I don't think Verona is often considered
my cream of the crop when it comes to the Italian
League and just the players that they have. Now,
Michael Christensen is cool, calm, and collected,
but Darlan, the Brazilian opposite, he's fiery.
He's doing his Naruto. hand signals as he's scoring
points and running and yelling around the court
they're waving their hands in front of their
faces like they're a little cocky you know and
you need to win to make that happen but they're
fun to watch there's a lot of energy on that
court and they were gunning to win that but it
was it was fun Trentino was down they're just
so steady and consistent They keep fighting.
I thought the final was great. I'm looking forward
to watching the semis earlier next week. Well,
if you have VBTV, check it out. Or for Champions
League, go to eurovolley .com. It's like $19
.99 for three months. You can like watch all
of Champions League. Watch it all. Yeah. So,
yeah. It's the price of a coffee these days.
Actually, wow. So, yeah. Overall, outstanding
week. We loved it. There was always something
great to watch. We had a hard time picking, do
you want to watch this or do you want to watch
that? It was fantastic. All right, everybody.
We have a, this person referred to it as a coaching
101 segment. Okay. So we've got a lot of good
feedback for our 101 segments, our 201 advanced
level segments. As we were saying last week,
our listeners have been sending in some very
good segment ideas and we really liked this one.
So the question idea was, can you talk about
serving zones from beginner up to the more international
styles and why you would serve each zone? I think
we've gone over this, but I'm assuming everybody
knows the numbered positions on the court. Yes.
If not, if you are standing at the net, looking
towards the baseline, position one is close to
the baseline on your left. Position two is close
to the net on your left. Position three, close
to the net in the middle. Four, close to the
net on your right. Five, towards the baseline
on your right. And six, towards the baseline
in the middle. So it goes counterclockwise if
you're looking from net to baseline, starting
in the top left corner. Okay, yes. Just in case
people weren't aware. Now, before we get into
why you would serve the different zones, I think
one of the key things about serving is to always
have a purpose. You should always have something.
That you are trying to accomplish with your serve.
And I think that's the most important thing.
Then the second thing you want to think about.
Unless you're a beginner. Yeah. Then let's work
on the fundamentals. Let's just get that thing
over. Right. I'm assuming we've progressed to
a little bit of a higher level. Like we're competent
volleyball players. But we're talking our beginner
level will be what? High school? Like junior?
No. brush soft team yeah you have control of
your serve to serve it deep and long you can
serve from anywhere along the baseline and put
it in a general area i think you meant short
and deep but what did i say deep and long yeah
i went short and deep is what i was shooting
for the next thing is you want in general to
either make a passer move left or right or front
to back generally both Two of those directions
is always better than one, but you never want
to serve at somebody's kind of midline and not
make the move. So I think as a basic serving
strategy, if nothing else, like those two things
will get you a long way. We can go through the
different zones and talk about how they would
be effective. So serving to zone one is effective
because the ball is coming from behind the setter.
It takes their vision away. It doesn't allow
them to square up as much. It makes them move
to try and see their hitters. So in general,
serving to position one makes it challenging
for the setter to run an offense, especially
if the setter is not super skilled. Which, like
you just said, is more applicable in the younger
ages because once you get to hopefully top college
programs and international, setters can set anywhere.
from wherever the ball is coming from. So that
is like more effective in less experienced environments.
Correct. Serving to position two can be effective
because generally a middle has to pass that ball
or you're taking away the approach of the right
side if you're jamming them up there, depending
on what the rotation is. Yeah, or if the setter
is coming from position one. In rotation one,
serving to zone two, she's going to run right
into that ball. It's a confusion area. Yeah.
So you're not generally looking for an ace, but
you're looking to disrupt the flow or the approach
or make somebody who doesn't generally pass take
that ball. Position three, you are looking to
potentially have a middle pass the ball, which
will disrupt their approach, particularly if...
They're running a slide, let's say, or yeah,
it really jams things up for the middle. Or you're
making the libero come all the way up to pass,
which she might get in the way of people. So
that's a good reason for that. One thing I want
to add here, just as a little nugget, not necessarily
about serving, but setters often have a tendency
of doing one of two things if the middle passes.
They will always either set the middle who passes
them the ball. or never set the middle who passes
in the ball. So if you know what's going to happen,
you can commit in the middle or you can focus
on blocking outside. It's actually uncanny how
many setters have that pattern. If you've done
your homework, you will know. Position four often
is used to make the left side, passing left side,
run up to pass and then disrupt their approach.
Or it could also be really good to use in like
a rotation five where the setter's in five and
has to run across the court from that area because
that's a confusion zone too. Serving to position
five, you can try and bury the front court left
side. So you're making them pass and then they
have to come out and hit. You're pushing them
to the sideline or bringing them into their inner
seam so that they have to work to get outside.
You're really picking on a player who has to
pass and then hit. Maybe they have a weakness
in that regard, or they don't get all the way
outside, or the setter doesn't like to set them
if they pass, but that's generally why you would
serve to position five. For serving to position
six, I wouldn't say it's generally a great strategy
unless you're trying to pick on a passer. You're
not really taking away any zones. You're not
making it challenging. The ball's still coming
from... in front of the setter so not usually
your best option so i would probably stay away
from that one a couple other just notes on serving
i don't know if you have anything else that you
wanted to add having the ball cross the zone
of multiple passers is also a good strategy so
for example If you want the front court left
side to pass, if you serve from position five
and it's traveling across the court, then that
passer in six has to make a decision of, am I
going to cut that ball off or is my left side
going to take that? And you're kind of aiming
for that seam. So anytime you can serve in between
players and have the ball cross zones, you're
going to create confusion and the passers will
be required to communicate. So that's often an
effective strategy as well. Just some things
I was thinking of, like if you're at a lower
level or a more novice level, aiming to have
a certain player pass the ball is a good strategy.
So that is like pick your zones based on the
weakest passer. Or if you know that a setter
really struggles with a particular like pass
angle or something or has like crazy ridiculous.
obvious tendencies that is a good way to pick
your zones at the beginner level I would say
as you get to like a really high level you want
to like most people can pass or most passers
can pass when the ball is like in their wheelhouse
you want to like do your homework and like from
a statistical standpoint exploit certain things
and from a rotational standpoint which we've
talked about in the past like jamming somebody
up or like eliminating options by where you choose
to put the ball is a good option but also like
at the higher levels you want to aim like seams
between players or ways to get a player to back
up or come forward so back up in the sense of
like like serving it at their chest or like neck
height so they have to like open their hips or
dropping it in so they have to go to the ground
like you want to create as much difficulty for
passers as possible at the higher level so while
the exact zone might not be critical because
the setters are generally capable of setting
anywhere from anywhere you want to aim for seams
and trying to take players to the ground or get
them to back up One other thing for coaches who
are working with younger athletes is make sure
you have your athletes serve from different positions
on the court. Have them serve from one, have
them serve from six, have them serve from five.
I know you'll hear, well, I want to get to my
spot quickly or I want to be on defense. But
if you can find angles or trajectories of the
balls that give teams trouble. You want all of
your players to be comfortable serving from anywhere
along the baseline. It'll give you a huge advantage.
So make sure they do that in practice so that
they're comfortable in doing that in a game.
I can attest to that. I wish I had been forced
to serve from zone five because a lefty spin
serve from zone five messes people up so bad.
But for whatever reason, I was just my whole
life trained to serve from zone one because I
was playing right back. And I feel like I missed
a huge opportunity there. I hope that answers
the questions. We're happy to have any follow
-up. Post them on YouTube or Instagram and we'll
answer those questions. But hopefully that gives
you some basics and some ideas of strategies
that you can use when you're serving yourself.
All right. We have our listener suggested segment.
A lot of these were intended to be questions,
but they're so in -depth that they're better
off as a segment. This one is if the 2028 Olympics
were this summer, based on everything you've
seen in all the leagues and taking out players,
you know, would not be available. So we're talking
pregnancy, injury, whatever. Who do you think
makes a three deep position USA roster? This
was a tough question. I mean, for some positions,
but like also to be fair, we don't like. watch
every league with a microscope so i know for
me my answers are probably going to be biased
to the leagues that i watch or the some of the
teams that i want fair well let's let's go through
it position by position and see if we're close
or what we think where do you want what position
you want to start um let's start setter i mean
jordan poulter is the okay who are your top who
are your three and i will tell you who mine are
i Poulter, Fairbanks, and Miner. Okay, I had
Poulter, Micah Hancock, and Miner. But Micah
Hancock's been struggling with a neck injury,
so I won't lie to you. I actually was waffling
between Fairbanks and Hancock. Yeah, fair enough.
If Hancock was healthy, I think I would put her
on probably instead of Fairbanks. Miner's not
starting, so that's tough, but I think that...
The atmosphere that she's in will give her the
edge to Fairbanks. You know, if we were talking
about coming this summer, that's probably where
I would lean. Given the question, I didn't have
Hancock on there. Okay, let's do opposite. So
I had Thompson, Skinner, Babcock with an asterisk
on Ruddins because I... Again, I lean favorably
to athletes who are currently playing in Italy.
I haven't had a chance to see her play a ton.
But for me, this position is wide open to take.
And so I wouldn't count her out. I have the same
list as you. Okay. I know lots of people are
going to talk through this. So the two or three
we left off the list in led Nikki in who else?
Would kind of be there. Kennedy Martin? No. She's
still too young if we were going to do this.
But the people could probably make an argument
that Eggleston would be better off on the bright
side. Yeah, maybe. But I don't think she's better
than those three. People ask about Tessa Grubbs.
Yeah. Like, where do you think that those players
fall short? Just not terminal enough? Or just
not as good as the other three? I don't think
Lednicki's big enough. I don't think she has
a strong defensive game. Or puts up a good enough
block. Out of the three of those, who would you
start? Right now, probably Thompson. Yeah. It's
so hard when you don't see her against big international
left sides to know where she's at. Obviously,
she has a history. She has a pedigree. She's
won before. I have no sense of where her game
is at internationally, which I think would be
interesting to see. And I'm hoping we see this
summer. Yeah, I just I think the other ones are
missing. And I mean, Skinner's like this kind
of to like missing defense, missing like a strong
serve and a blocking presence. Why? Quite frankly,
I don't think Skinner has found her attacking
rhythm internationally either. Like she very
rarely have I watched her on the international
stage. OK, there there she is. There she's in
rhythm. There she's comfortable. There she's
in charge of the ball. I don't think it's clicked
for her yet. And I'm not sure when that's going
to happen. Okay, middles? This one, I'm curious
if we have the same. I went four deep. No, you
have to do three. Okay, well, I have... I think
Okbagu and Redkey are your one -two. I think
that they're better than everybody else. And
then I have IGD. But I think... I think Tia Jimerson
is making... A case for herself. No. Hear me
out. Not for me. Hear me out. I think they need
some personality on that team. They need. You
talk about players being all the same. She brings
an element to the team. I think that. Not the
way that I like it though. But it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter if you like it or not. I understand
what you're saying. And she's one of those players
that has kind of come out of nowhere. And I think
her ceiling is still. Very high. I think that
she's going to play a role. On that team. This
year would be a little early. Like I still think
she's got a lot of work to do. But I think she
brings. Some intangibles. And some physicality.
To the team. That they need. Just the hot take
from the outside. My list was. Ogbogu. Redkey.
IG'd. Yeah I think that's fair. I think that's
fair, but I think it's fair to put Jimmerson
close behind and see what happens. I don't agree.
Who would you have if you had to pick a fourth?
I'm not picking a fourth because I only thought
of three because that was the rule of the game.
All right. Okay, let's keep going. Oatsides?
I mean, I had Skinner and Franklin. Those are
my one, two. And then, honestly, it's roll a
dice on a given day between. Eggleston, Franti,
Lanier. I had no idea who to pick as my third
one. I couldn't do it. Not with any kind of true
reason or backing. Yeah, I could only come up
with two, and then I'm adding one in. Yeah. So
I've got Skinner, Lanier, and then I'm adding
in Franklin. You have Lanier ahead of Franklin,
eh? In these Ozzy Boshy match, like... They didn't
really give her a chance last year with USA and
she got subbed into a match where it was just
a dumpster fire. Like she could not pass. It
was bad. Like the sets were unhittable, but seeing
her play against his Ozzy Bashi, like she's starting
for Milano. Like I was like, damn. Okay. She's
good. I don't disagree with you, but, but I think
if they're going to be successful, they need.
Someone on the left side who's going to be able
to score points. Yeah, exactly. I think it's
going to have to be Franklin. She was scoring
points. And Avery Skinner scores points. I don't
see them as true. I don't think Franklin is scoring
that many more points than anybody else. I don't
think she's as good as the other two. Not right
now, no. I agree with you. But I think she's
going to. And she's so one -dimensional. I need
to see her after this season overseas, honestly.
From what I've seen from her in the past. Very
wonderful. If they're going to be successful,
I think Franklin's going to have to be on the
court, and she's going to have to be able to
score. I don't think the duo of Lanier and Skinner
match up to the other top teams' left sides.
And I'm not saying Franklin does now, currently,
but she's going to have to if they're going to
have success. Wow, Adam is bold and confident
today, everybody. It was a fun question. I like
thinking about it. Okay, Liberos. I mean, I wrote
down... Justine Wong -Aron just because... She's
pregnant. She can't be on the list. I understand
that. But who else? I mean, I think it's Hanson
Rodriguez, but neither of those two so far have
shown that they can get the job done. Yeah, I
would add Elena Scott for my third. Again, I
don't know. For some reason, I heard the impression
that she said no to the national team last year,
but now I'm hearing that she wasn't asked. I
don't know. Well, part two of this question.
So we have our 3D roster. What position is the
strongest and which is the weakest out of the
list that we put together? Okay, I'm going to
say strongest is probably middle or setter. Setter,
not setters. That's what I said. I left the S
off the end. Singular. Okay, so if it's not a
group, then fine, middle. And then weakest, honestly,
libero, opposite. I think libero and opposite.
It has to be. But all of that is predicated on
how Jordan Thompson comes out. Okay, well, the
next thing is which position has the potential
to make the biggest level jump by 2028 with possible
players becoming available? It's got to be the
left side. Who's going to be available? Well,
I'm thinking internal improvement. No, like the
players that we had to leave off the list for
injury or for pregnancy or whatever. Libero.
If Justine Wong -Aranda is healthy, she is currently
by far way better than the other options. I think
Libero can probably make the biggest jump based
on who's currently left off the list. Well, and
not only that. Unless you want to say if you
think Annie Drews is going to level up the right
side that much, but we know how I feel about
her. Yeah, I don't. And I think that passing
is going to be... such a key for that team to
be successful that the effect of Justine, you
know, either being able to pass both seams or
take pressure off the left sides from having
to pass is going to be paramount to their success.
So that's where my answer is. We're on the same
page with those. We're on the same page for most.
Yeah, that was a great question. There was a
couple when Adam went rogue and thought that
he could just change the rules. I wanted to give
Tia a little shout out. A little love. Yeah,
I feel like there's personality and then there's
like, yeah. Okay, and I, this is a - Do you know
what I'm saying? Yes, this is a personal bias
for you. Why? Because Tia hasn't technically
done much yet and you - You're making assumptions.
I think you know me. You have a high level of
respect. For the game and for players who have
accomplished things in their career. And a player
like Tia who comes in and has got a chip on her
shoulder but hasn't won anything yet. You haven't
won anything, just done anything. Don't swagger
around if you haven't done anything. Like have
some respect like you said. I understand what
you're saying and I get it. But I actually think
the U .S. needs a little unfounded. Like a stuff
and stare is way different than a swaggy. whatever
you know the u .s needs some unfounded confidence
at this point and she brings she brings that
to the floor see adam's bias because he comes
from the unfounded confidence place so he has
a soft spot we'll see what happens great question
though great question all right it's game time
here on the podcast and we are going to play
one of these things just doesn't belong Was that
a Muppets thing or Sesame Street? Sesame Street.
So I am going to give you four players, teams,
something. Okay. And you have to figure out who
the odd or what the odd one out is and what the
premise behind the selection was. I have no idea
how hard these are going to be. I have no idea
if Sarah's going to have any success. This is
my interpretation. Are you going to tell everybody
what your intention was after I probably get
it wrong? Yeah. So I'm going to start with one
that I think you'll get right away. And it's
kind of funny. I think anyway. San Diego Mojo,
Love Nebraska, Texas, and UCLA. Oh my gosh. San
Diego, Mojo, Love, Nebraska, Texas, and UCLA.
Men or women? Men. Oh, okay. Now I know for sure.
UCLA men. Okay. The rest all have setter, bad
setters. Yeah. The title of that one is teams
whose setters are killing them. Okay. So that
one, that was kind of a warmup one so that you
got the gist. I thought it was UCLA women. And
then you didn't know. And then I didn't know.
Yeah. Okay. All right, I'm just going to say,
we'll just see where this goes. Adam has got
a savage bone in his body, you guys. That's true.
Let's not let this slip, okay? Dallas Pulse,
Love Salt Lake, Long Beach State, Scandici. Dallas
Pulse, Love Salt Lake. Oh, I think I know. Okay.
Long Beach State men? Yes. And Scandici? Scandici
is the odd one out. It is not. Oh, all the other
ones I thought had a Canadian involved, either
coaching staff or on the roster. No. Shoot. This
was stats based. Oh. But mine's pretty good,
right? I mean, it also works. Okay. I was like,
oh, Canadians for sure. We've edited out the
dead time in this because it's taken a while.
Scandici again. Nope. That was a really good
right side. I have no idea. I came up with two
pretty good ones, I thought. You did. What one
did you? So this was the highest team hitting
efficiency in their league. Oh my gosh, Adam,
as if I, come on. Okay, why? That is so, how
would I know that? I don't know. It's just, I'm
pulling some different things. He's like, get
your encyclopedia out, everybody. I just thought
it was interesting. A lot of people, some people
might not even know what an encyclopedia is.
I used to have to do research for my school projects
with Encyclopedia Britannica. So the answer is
UCLA is ahead of Long Beach State for team hitting
percentage, and those other teams are at the
top of their league for team hitting percentage.
The next one. Logan Eggleston, Natalie Foster,
Antropova, and Melissa Vargas. Eggleston? The
other ones have, like, killer serves. Okay, so
you got the category right. Killer serves? Best
servers. Logan Eggleston is actually leading
love in total aces. Okay, then Antropova. No,
Natalie Foster. No, it's Melissa Vargas. Last
option. What? So Federoceva has more aces than
Vargas in the Turkish league. I was thinking
that Natalie Foster hasn't been playing as consistently.
So maybe... Antropova has the most aces in the
Italian league? I was doing aces per set, but
yes. Yeah. And it's not even close. Oh, Eggleston.
I thought her serve was not good. Well, it goes
what I know. Yeah. The stats ones are tough,
but I thought they were interesting. Yeah, what
are you doing over here? Here I was thinking
they'd all be like the first one. I'm like, yes,
they're funny. Wow. Okay, so these last two are
not stats based. China, Canada, USA, Turkey.
We're talking about a volleyball context, obviously.
Women's volleyball context. China. Canada, Turkey,
USA. China. The only place that Giovanni Guidetti
has not tried to coach. Technically correct,
but not what I was shooting for. Okay, shoot.
So the China, Canada, USA, Turkey is... Turkey
would be the odd one out. Teams, I think, will
finish fifth. Like, outside of the playoffs for
VNL is what I was kind of thinking last year.
I need to be a mind reader for this one, apparently.
Yeah, maybe a little tricky. So, okay. I think
this one is doable. Retke, Ogbagu, Aijidi, Butler.
It's of a similar vein to the last one. I don't
know if I'll read your mind, but I'll say Ogbagu.
And what was yours? She can run a slide. Not
what I was thinking. Okay. But that's a fair
point. I was thinking middles who will be on
the USA roster. So who would you do? Oh, man.
That one was more obvious. Okay. Then I would
do odd man out Butler. Yeah. Okay. That's, that's
what I had to. So I actually, okay. I wish they
were all like the first one. Yeah. Let's get
a little funny. Okay. I actually, I like the
premise of this game poorly executed on my end.
A little, a little tough. So we will put some
answers for all of them. No, you totally did.
It was good. So I will. That's why I wanted to
you to then share what your intention was. Yeah.
A hundred percent. So we're going to do this
again at some point for sure. And I will, I will
adjust the level of difficulty. Accordingly.
I like that one. Yeah, me too. All right. It
is time for listener questions. Here we go. Question
one. What are your thoughts on a Ghanu versus
Vargas versus Hawk? I'd like your analysis of
the three best opposites. So I guess to preface
this question, I would say, okay, this was what
the question was. Yeah, fair. To preface this
question, I would say, do you think those are
the top three opposites in the world? I love
this question for so many reasons. Well, tell
us why. It's always interesting comparing different
players of the same position who play for different
national teams, who have different styles, who
play for different setters. And the right side
position in general is interesting because you
just expect them to hit, which all of those players
can do. But what do you decide is the separator
for how good they are? It's a great question.
Oh, do I think? I think it's pretty close. Boscovich
could be in there. Antropova could be in there,
except she doesn't start for her national team.
So that's a tough sell, but she's legit good.
Yeah, I'm okay going with this question as it
is. Oh, okay. What do you think? I don't know.
I've been so high on Antropova lately. Like when
I think of these players, I guess my first thought
is like, okay, who is like consistently super
high level? Yes. And when I think of opposites
lately, and I've watched a lot of women's volleyball,
who are consistently high level. I mean, everybody
has an off game. Okay, that's fine. I would have
to say Antropova and Hawk are consistently high
level. But then I have to ask, okay, serving.
Who is a great server? Melissa Vargas, for sure.
Hawk. Probably slightly less so than Vargas because
I think her serve is a little more inconsistent.
Boscovich has bailed to a flow serve in trouble
of a very inconsistent serve. Egonu, spin serve,
but I wouldn't say it's as good as Hawk or Vargas.
Okay. Then I'm like, okay, blocking. Honestly,
do I really think any of them are great blockers?
Not really. That's fair. And then I go to defense.
The great separator when it comes to right sides.
None of them are prolific defenders by any means,
but I think Entropova holds her own probably
more than the rest. So who are you replacing?
Are you adding Entropova? No, I'm just, I'm looking
at the five. The five, okay. The five. You know
I like numbers and you know I like stats. And
I think Iganu very rarely passes the eye test.
No, she does. Here's the thing. She does. It's
just you can see a visible difference from when
she legit cares and wants to kill people and
when she doesn't. And I just don't like that
she turns it on and off because I feel like.
But that's not the question. But I feel like
if you're the best, like think of the best of
the best. They were so tweaked that it's like
you can't beat me at anything. I'm going to be
the best every day. Michael Jordan. For example.
Okay, but do any of these right sides fall into
that category for you? I'm not disagreeing. That's
why I bring up the thing of who is consistently
good day after day or match after match. But
Aganu ends up leading most statistical categories
in most leagues and tournaments she plays. I'm
not telling you that she's not the best. I'm
simply giving you something to think about. Okay,
that's fair. I think I still have to say... this
is the way i look at this question i'm going
into the final four champions league the semi
-finals at the olympics the you know league championship
who do i want as my right side and i think the
answer is a ganu okay yeah i can get behind that
i just because hawk as good as she is in club
her national team Is really bad. And I saw her
play with her national team at Worlds. And she
was not the same player. Because she wasn't surrounded
by the same level of players she is in club.
I honestly don't think. I think they're so bad
that it's not fair. Like the setter doesn't even
set her when she should. And some of the balls
are unhittable. Like I don't. I don't think you
can take that away from her. And I think she
hits the heaviest ball. Out of all of them. But
I still think. Iganu just has angles and can
move the ball around. And plays at a different
level. Than the other ones when she wants to.
I think it's that simple. For me anyway. This
is the kind of question you can debate all day.
It's perfect. I love it. I actually think this
is a more interesting question. Who's your number
two? Oh my gosh. You're kidding me. You don't
have to give an explanation. Just put your number
out there. And I think I know who I would pick.
No this is too hard. Because Vargas has moments
where I'm like. Holy moly. But in Tropova, I
feel like. I think I would pick on Tropova. Hard.
It's hard. These are hard questions. It is. It
is. Anyway, I just thought that was fascinating.
Great question. Question two. Do you guys think
that the NCAA is an interesting option for young
foreigners who don't have opportunities in their
home leagues like Julia Bergman, Marek Malone,
Dahlia Wilson did? Also, do you think that Virginia
Adriano could be more effective? In Nebraska.
Yeah, I don't think she could have been less
effective than she was this year. What? She was
not good. I'm pretty sure her season average,
like mid -season, she was hitting 094. Like,
that's hard to do. She did pick it up towards
the end. Okay, that's fine. But could she be
more effective? 100 % she could be more effective.
Let the girl serve, first of all. She actually
brings it. Set her a bit higher also. Yeah. Yes.
They got to work that out. Okay, the first part
of the question. I think it depends on where
you're from. If you are in Brazil, Italy, Turkey.
Well, Bergman's Brazilian. Yeah, so if you want
to play and you want to develop, I think staying
in your home leagues and playing in those leagues
is better for your development. Are we basically
assuming that you don't get an education anymore?
Yeah. Because maybe she wanted a degree. And
that's totally fair. I'm looking at this purely
from a volleyball standpoint. The other piece
of it, which I think is probably now more relevant
than the education is, can they make more money
in the US than they can training at a professional
team? And I don't actually know what the rules
are for foreigners making money in college. I
don't know if it's any different or not. You
have a student visa, so. I don't know what the
NIL specifics are, but I know like as a foreigner,
you have to pay tax on your scholarship. I don't
know if you're limited by what income you think.
Yeah, it's a great question. I'm not entirely
sure. If there's no limit on income, then I think
a lot of these... Somebody tell us. Yeah, somebody
post that because I'm curious about that. I do
think there is a limit or there's something to
do with money and coming in as a foreigner because
your visa is not... Or school. Yeah. I think
the answer is... different depending on if you
can make money or not so if you're from some
of the smaller countries like serbia czech you
know and you are a good volleyball player but
you're not good enough to get like that third
or fourth training spot in italy or turkey then
coming to the us makes a ton of sense i mean
both ways one you get good competition you get
a free education and you could potentially make
money so i think that there are really good opportunities
for foreign players to come play NCAA. But I
think if you're playing in the top leagues, Brazil,
Italy, Turkey, for your development, Gabi played,
she was 17 when she was with you in Bernardinho
training in that environment. You don't get that
in the NCAA. So it just depends on what your
opportunities are. Somebody did say when Adriano
signed that she was making a lot of money. And
I'm curious. I'm really overthinking this. Yeah,
somebody tell us. So that's my opinion. I mean,
sometimes you're a late bloomer. Yeah. So maybe
you're 17, 18, and you just aren't there yet.
And I mean, if you're a good volleyball player,
but you're not going to make a living doing it,
then getting a free education is totally worth
it. I think everybody needs an education, period.
So even if you can make NIL money, go at least
get a degree. You can't play volleyball forever.
True. Unless you're Jordan Larson. Then you can't.
Okay, regarding MLV is better this year. Last
year, I thought Love was clearly on another level.
Watching Love, I thought they... could play in
the Italian league and not be in danger of getting
relegated. This year, I don't think any team
in love could be wash for green and most of the
time struggle against Perugia. Am I just biased
one way or the other? Also, what do you think
about a US championship love champion versus
MLV champion? I'd love to see that. Who should
be afraid? I'm not going to lie to you. I don't
watch the bottom of the Italian league. just
going to be completely transparent so i'm not
sure i can speak to this with a ton of like accurate
information yeah but i think it's an interesting
question it's a very interesting question i definitely
don't think any of the love teams are in the
top half of the league well we've got like a
boost or cco who's like last time i checked they
were sitting in six let's say loves for sure
not making playoffs yeah that's for sure i would
i would agree um but the top half is probably
not getting relegated Okay, so who's the best
in love? Salt Lake. Salt Lake. Salt Lake is a
legitimate team. No, but think about it. Think
about the Salt Lake roster versus an Italian.
I mean, I don't know who exactly is. We're not
sniffing the top half. Let's look at Madison.
Madison's not winning games. No. In love. No.
But I think Salt Lake could probably hold their
own in the middle of the pack. You have Alexa
Gray. Jordan Poulter is setting for them. If
they would ever switch out Kostak Paula for Torrey
Dixon, I think they're stronger in the middle.
Kojima is libero. That's a legitimate roster
that could compete. Again, they're not competing
with Scandici or Conigliano. But in the middle
of the league, without watching a ton, I think
they could fit there. I think it goes downhill
from there. Like Austin? They're going to have
trouble passing in that league. It's going to
be a lot of triple blocks. Yes. Okay, I think
the Salt Lake roster we could make an argument
for. Well, it's ironic that we're talking about
this because the Austin roster is so many of
the national teams. But you saw how they finished.
Fifth? Better than we thought. Not about where
we thought. Tied for fifth. They didn't play
it out. I think we could make a case for Salt
Lake. Yeah. But I'm not sure you're making a
case for many other teams. The other thing that
is different is the level of preparation and
ability to execute game plans and make adjustments.
Like the Italian League is so good at that. You
have to, if you were to just plop the love teams
in for like a home and away in the middle of
the season, I don't think they would fare very
well. Just because the Italian League's... Ability
to make adjustments to prepare to do those things,
I think, is is better than love. You see far
more adjustments and things like that. I think
if you let love some of the love or Salt Lake
settle into the league and compete a little more,
they would. That's kind of where they would end
up. What about part two U .S. championship MLB
champion versus love champion? There's still
too much of a physicality gap in my mind. I agree.
And a setting gap. Those two things make a huge
difference, purely from a volleyball standpoint,
not from an entertainment standpoint. They're
just bigger and physical, and the setters are
better across the board, I think. Yeah, I think
Love would win that handily. Yeah, I think most
Love teams would beat, I think Indy's at the
top right now. Like, most Love teams would still
beat Indy. Like, Azani Teeler, Lecter, remember,
they're good volleyball players, but they're
just not playing at the same level as... A lot
of those other starters are. Okay, question four.
Why is it so hard for announcers to learn how
to properly pronounce players' names? Well, I'll
take this one because I can't pronounce names
to save my life. You're also not getting paid
to say people's names. Okay, well, that's fair.
No, we're definitely not getting paid. We can
dream. I just tried to manifest that. Maybe one
day. Manifestation. They're selling manifestation
kits at the store down the street. It's not working.
Okay, continue. I understand that there are lots
of foreign names to learn, but how hard would
it be to just go through a voice file of the
names and get a clue? It seems a little disrespectful
to not even make the effort. MLV, Love, and especially
the Brits on VBTV are all guilty. Okay, here's
the thing. Okay, go ahead. You actually broadcast,
so I should be just sitting here. So there is
a chance that I have said somebody's name wrong.
While I've been broadcasting. And I apologize
if I have. But here's the thing. Is like I do
mostly NCAA. There are voice files. For the like
difficult to pronounce names. For the majority
of schools. And I've listened to every single
one of them. You're right. It's not hard to do.
Look it up. There are schools however. That do
not have voice files. before games when I'm searching
for their sports information director and they
tell me, oh, we don't travel with one. And I
say, can you run me through a pronunciation guide?
And they say, they don't have one. Then you're
stumped. And me and the play -by -play person
are trying to figure out what the heck is going
on. Number seven. So there are situations where
you are not set up to succeed. However, at the
professional level, come on. I agree. They need
to say names correctly. Or just like, especially
VBTV, you are literally staying in the same hotel
as these athletes. You are eating in the same
dining hall as them. Just walk up to the staff
or to the player and say, please, how do you
say your name? Simple. For you guys, this is
my nightmare. I could prepare for days on end
and get it wrong. Because then all of a sudden
they have a serving sub that comes in that you
forget. Who they are. That's why you do your
preparation. Well I know. The number of times
this man has said schmreck. And I have. You guys
I have tried to correct him. And said it's schmreck.
It does not stick. And she grew up in my hometown.
Back so. I mean I just I can. I would never go
into broadcasting. Because I suck at this. But
I can understand how it's challenging. I agree
with the question asker. If you're getting paid
to do it, do it right. Question five. Can you
talk about the pros and cons of playing with
the national team? You mentioned people sometimes
turn down the offer. Why wouldn't someone say
yes? I'm assuming this person is American. Well,
generally. Just in general. What are some reasons
that somebody would say no to playing for their
national team? Your national team sucks. That
wasn't one of the things I was thinking of, but
sure. No, but think about it. You go and you
play. all year round in a pro league your body's
beat up and then you want to go they expect you
to go play a lot of the times for free i think
that could be said if your team sucks or not
hammered sure but i'm saying you're asking for
reasons like every young player wants to play
for your national team once but if you've been
a pro for 10 years and you know you're going
to go to a tournament and get kicked you're like
no i think i'll pass on or like is this dream
goal and then you actually get there and you
realize it's not all it's cracked up to be and
you're like wait yeah i mean You can speak to
that. I'm not saying that happened to me. I'm
saying potentially. No, but it was always a,
I guess not a question, but you switched to beach
because you weren't going to get to your goal
with the indoor team. They just weren't good
enough. It wasn't worth, not that it wasn't worth
playing for, but it was not going to get you
where you wanted to go. Okay, so there's that
reason. Adam said you play pro for nine months
and then national team season is right after.
As you do it enough, it's like, when? am i gonna
get a break yeah so there's that a lot of national
teams do not pay yeah more time away from your
family more time away from your family you're
already playing pro and you're missing just life
in general and then you just do it again maybe
you don't like the coach that would be a possibility
i think the big ones are probably your team's
not very good so it's not worth your time like
if you're a standout and for a country that doesn't
have a good team and then You just need a break
because it's a grind of a season. Or you know
you're going to do that and you're the fourth
left side and you're not going to play. Maybe
that math doesn't make sense for you. You're
there all season. You make a good living, but
you're never going to see the floor. So maybe
not worth it. There's a bunch of reasons. I said
no in college too because I stayed in college
conditioning and doing classes and stuff. Because
winning a national championship was more important.
Yeah, basically. All right, listen up. Question
six. You recently spoke about players like Lexi
Rodriguez and Kami Weiner choosing to play pro
at very different types of programs. There's
constant talk that players should potentially
leave a program like a Nebraska that is just
like stacked. so that they can get playing time
earlier in their careers than waiting until they're
like a senior. Is it not the same argument to
say that a player such as Skylar Pierce, who
hasn't played much, is getting exponentially
better than if she left for a program where she'd
play immediately because the roster isn't as
deep? The original days of college were rare
to see super young athletes on the floor early,
and it feels like athletes leave for playing
time versus development. I would argue that Skylar
Pierce is going to need only a year or two of
solid playing time to prove that she can hang
pro and will benefit from this hard work now
in a competitive gym. Did we say that? That players
should leave? I completely agree with this question.
No, this person wrote on Instagram and I wrote
them back and I was like, I can get behind everything
you're saying. Well, I believe what we said about
Skylar Pierce is it's unfortunate that someone
of her caliber won't get to play until she's
like a senior. I don't think we said she should
leave. I think I said it says a lot about her,
but also how deep the Nebraska program is, that
a Gatorade National Player of the Year, whatever
she was, will not play until she's like a senior.
So I think there's a couple factors here. One
is what your long -term goals are. So that kind
of affects how you make your decisions. Let's
stay with the NCAA specifically. If you're in
a program where you are getting equal training
opportunities to develop your skills and the
coaching staff is invested in helping you get
to the best version of yourself, there is 100
% value in staying and playing on the B side
and playing against the best athletes. and understanding
like ideally these programs are teaching you
how to train properly they're teaching you how
to win they're preparing your body for the load
of all of those things that are happening like
in my mind that's what a college program should
be that was my college experience whenever you
jump levels the fastest way to learn is to learn
from somebody who's better than you and who's
done it for longer than you there is immense
benefit to being in that environment day to day
and sitting on the bench in my opinion And that's
not to say you can't earn a spot and you can't
go ahead. If you keep getting recruited over
or you're on the B side and no one's paying you
any attention, you're not getting any video sessions,
you know, you feel like. Or meaningful reps.
Yeah, or meaningful reps in that regard. Or feedback.
Yeah. Then it's a different story. But I wholeheartedly
believe that the best way to learn is to have
a senior. tongue in cheek smack you around a
few times to let you know like what's up and
how it actually works at the next level it's
just part of learning i 100 agree with everything
you're saying my only question in a situation
like this though is like if you are hoping to
go play pro and you have no video yes who is
gonna take a flyer on you yeah nobody yeah so
it's like balancing that out now if you are if
she's going to get a chance to play her senior
year and get stuff to actually be able to go
play pro sure but simply being in that gym for
four years and never sniffing the floor i'm not
sure there's a lot of pro teams that'll be like
yeah absolutely yeah and and normally if your
recruitment cycle is working the way it should
and the portal has kind of screwed this up a
little bit but ideally you come in as a freshman
you know this is how it used to be yeah you sit
on the bench for a year Your next year, you get
some playing time against trash teams, assuming
you're a good program. And then you're, you know,
you're replacing the senior who graduated two
years later and you're starting your third and
fourth year. Like that is the ideal development
pipeline for young players. Which it isn't like
that anymore. No, but again. But no, in theory,
I agree with everything about this question.
Except for. if the goal is to play pro somebody
has to actually want to take you and for a pro
team to want to take you they need to see that
you know how to play yeah fair that you can't
be like hey trust me in high school i was really
good yeah okay last question what are some drills
i'm of the opinion that the drill generally doesn't
matter it's i mean there are definitely some
bad drills but in general the benefit of the
drills is the feedback you're getting and how
you're doing them. It depends on what skill you're
looking at, but I think that's more important
than the actual drill you're doing. Wow, Adam
just bailed on that question. I have a couple.
A couple that came to mind immediately. I don't
know what level this is in reference to, but
I would say if you have skilled players or older,
like older high school. A good one that I like
is this blocking drill. It works on when the
blockers are overloaded with hitters. And so
if you have coaches that can stand on boxes and
swing or you have athletes that are controlled
and skilled enough to do it, basically you stand
them on a chair or box. You have your setter
setting and three blockers on the other side.
One sequence will be the setter can set either
a 31 or a gap set to the middle, an outside ball
over the top, and basically the hitter, coach,
or the player hits the ball out of the air while
standing on the box into the blocker's hands.
So it's basically working for the right side
in that scenario on how to help. on the 31 and
also block the outside and it's just like a live
situation because it's so easy to get into the
rhythm when it's a toss or it's a controlled
situation this is a controlled situation but
it's off a live set and a live swing so you're
working on like actual eye progressions that
you're doing you can also add in a pipe because
ideally the right side is involved in blocking
all three of those And then for the left sides,
you can run it with the middle is running a quick
in front of the setter and there's a right side
or the middle is running a quick behind the setter
and there's a right side attack. Just working
on taking that responsibility in a controlled
situation. I really like that one for blocking.
For like team play, I really like in the error
correct drill. So if you're playing like a wash
drill or whatever, whenever there's an error,
you repeat like it's a fast pace. So like you're
continually going. But when there's an error,
the ball is entered from that error. So like
let's say a player goes up and hits a ball out
and out of system set. The ball hits is hit out.
Right away, the ball is tossed, the same player
sets the out -of -system ball, and we hit it
again. If the player gets blocked, you run the
same scenario, set it again. If the blocker gets
tooled, immediately run the exact same play,
hitter makes the same swing. So it's just like
very fast pace, and you're doing the same action
that an error was made on right away. I like
both of those drills. I think they do a good
job of incorporating. Eye progressions and allowing
you to work on something and being fast paced
with lots of touches. Like those are all hallmarks
of good drills. If we're looking for something
specific, a passing drill I really like. Oh,
here he comes. He's got one. He's like, it's
not the drill. It's not. Again, it is. But those
were both good examples. I like when you're passing
different angles. So passing a ball from in front
of you, passing a ball from the side of the court.
So you have two coaches or players, one and one.
one and five, and they both will serve at the
same time to two different passers who are also
one and five. So the first serve is a line to
line serve. And then right after that, they serve
a cross court serve. So you have two people passing,
two people serving. There's lots of ball movement.
It's pretty quick. Nobody's standing around.
And then after that, you can do an actual live
serve where both passers are working together.
So you're getting three contacts in a short period
of time, one from in front, one from the side.
and then a live arm that you're kind of looking
at and reading. So I think that's also a good
one. You want the ability to make decisions along
with the skill that you're working on in general.
If you're working with little kids, the drill
that I like is, and I'm not a proponent of getting
your hip around the ball when you pass all the
time. I don't think you need to get your hip
squared behind the ball every time. But when
you're a beginner and maybe moving your feet,
isn't natural yet one that I love and I always
do with like little kids is like throw a ball
over the net and they have to like run to the
ball and let it bounce between their legs like
on the fly a lot of fun and so that like works
on eye tracking you know footwork movement and
then like once they can consistently track the
ball and like get there in a stable position
then they can start working on actually passing.
Agreed. Great questions. Just a couple. Great
questions today. It was hard to pick, but there
are still some good ones in the bank. All right.
Looking forward to this week. Wednesday at 9
p .m. Eastern, we have NCAA USC versus UC Irvine.
So top 10 matchups. Should be a good game. Thursday
at 8 p .m. Eastern, also NCAA men's, Lewis versus
Loyola Chicago. So that's another kind of division
rivalry match. So that'll be a good one. Friday
at 7 p .m. Eastern, we have MLV Indy versus Orlando.
That'll be on Roku. So those are both top teams
in that league. One versus three, yeah. Well,
yeah, they're near the top. And then Friday at
7 .30 p .m., we have Love Austin versus Salt
Lake on ESPN+. It is the infamous Love Classic
weekend, everybody in Kansas City. So that is
one of the matches for the Love Classic. I wonder
if they're going to come up with any bogus rules
here. I guess we'll find out. I think that rule
is what drove Barbellini out of the league. He's
like, forget it, I'm out. That was the best initial
matchup of that weekend, so check it out. That
concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.
There's always something shaking in the volleyball
world, and we hope you enjoyed this little fix.
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