A Look at the Big XII Conference Contenders, Offensive Strategy Breakdown

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 beat. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We're back. More volleyball discussion.
As always, this week we're mixing it up a little
bit. We're doing some teaching. Is it teaching?
Volleyball strategy talk, offensive talk. And
of course, we're going to mix in some NCAA chit
chat this week. Our focus is going to be on the
Big 12 teams. I mean, a few teams and kind of
how they're doing now that we're at the halfway
of conference play. So let's get started. All
right, there was not a ton of eyebrow raising.
jaw -dropping excitement in the ncaa this week
there were a few things but nothing like last
week where i think we had a list of eight matches
that went sideways there were a lot of ranked
versus unranked matches this week conferences
were just kind of going through the motions and
taking care of business yeah check those boxes
you know for the rankings the biggest movers
of the week last week were Louisville dropped
from four to eight which makes sense because
they lost to both SMU and Pitt and so SMU and
Pitt both jumped over them Wisconsin dropped
from nine to twelve Fair. And USC jumped up to
22 from 25. Those were the biggest movers. So
honestly, nothing crazy. But Louisville, I mean,
they kind of deserve to drop below the two teams
they lost to. Can't go to five sets. What have
they not won a five setter yet this year? Four
or bust. The noteworthy slash unexpected results.
There are only a few of them. Kansas crushed
TCU three straight. TCU did not look good this
week. They also lost to BYU in four. But then
Kansas turned around and lost in five to Kansas
State. I feel like no matter what is going on,
that match is always close. In -state rivalry,
the derby match, it's always a barn burner. But
still, you crush TCU. Anyway, we've talked about
these kind of inconsistencies from NCAA teams.
Week after week. The last one is UCLA lost in
three to Oregon. I contemplated not even bringing
this up because Oregon's been doing pretty well,
but they're still unranked. In watching that
match, I liked Oregon. I think they're doing
well given that they had basically a fire sale
with a new coach, 15 new players. They're going
to cause some problems, and I like the direction
that they're heading if they can kind of keep
it together. Good win for Oregon, I would say.
So that's that. The results, the rankings. Now,
we just have a couple things, you know. First,
Charlie Furbringer is apparently over the season
with her shoulder injury. She was back in L .A.
this week getting treatment. That's a big loss.
Everything we've been talking about with Wisconsin
the last few weeks with their freshman setter.
Looks like it's here to stay. Get your passing
on track because you're going to have to play
with this new setter for the rest of the season.
That's a huge loss for them. Massive loss. And
I felt like Charlie was coming into her own.
The team was kind of finally hers, given all
of the graduates that left. Finally hers. She's
a sophomore. I mean, you understand what I'm
saying, though. She was molding it in the way
that she liked to set and run an offense. That's
never fun. Wish her speedy recovery. That really
sucks. Hate to see it. Unfortunately, part of
sport. Dave Shondell, head coach of Purdue, reached
his 500th win milestone. So fun fact, he only
needs 13 more wins to become the winningest coach
in Purdue athletics history, which if you are
a college sports fan, as I am, Gene Cady, the
legendary basketball coach, only had 512 wins
throughout his career. He'll need one more season.
I don't think he'll be able to. Yeah. Unless
they win the tournament. He'll need another season.
Yeah. But that is a fun fact. Congrats to him.
He has been there forever. Pretty sure he recruited
my sister back in the day. We should give props
to the assistant coach too. I believe her last
name is Jewel. She's been there the whole time.
Katie Jewel. Yeah. A tag team duo forever. So
that's a big deal. And we've got Desilies Champion
is going to Wisconsin. I probably butchered her
name. I've never actually heard it read out loud.
That's how I'm saying it. She is a Puerto Rican
player. She apparently was deciding between Nebraska
and Wisconsin and ultimately chose Wisconsin.
Apparently this kid is just like unreal. Is she
on the national team? She is going to like, she's
on the national team. She is an opposite, but
apparently Grace Lopez, who. plays for Wisconsin,
ACL injury, played for Miami last year, is going
to be the national team opposite. So she is probably
going to have to transition to outside. So that
was a big loss for Nebraska. But I feel like
with Adriano and the outsides they have there,
is it a huge loss for Nebraska? I think it's
a bigger gain for Wisconsin. I agree. I think
it's a bigger gain. The team that needed her
more got her. And the team that would have missed
her more got her. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Yes, I agree with that. So we actually got a
question about this. Do you think the we're Nebraska,
we have to have a balanced team mentality is
part of the reason why she chose Wisconsin over
Nebraska? I mean. I don't think she would even
know that about them, honestly. And it totally
depends on the athlete and what they're looking
for. If she's a national team athlete. and she
probably is going to want to have a pro career
she's looking at where can i go where can i play
right away and where can i make a difference
like she's going to want to make her mark she's
going to want a player like that i feel like
she is going to want a guarantee pretty much
that she'll be on the court yeah like you don't
want to if you have national team aspirations
professional aspirations which i believe she's
playing professionally in italy right now You
don't want to just spend four years sitting on
the bench. And I love Nebraska. You guys know
that. They don't need any more blue chip athletes.
I also feel like Nebraska doesn't give any guarantees.
No, you can't. You have national Gatorade players
of the year on the bench at Nebraska. Yeah. Okay.
They don't need to collect any more athletes
to just like pad their bench. Agreed. Trust me,
you guys. You guys know how I feel. My alma mater
here. I want them to be successful, but I think
the team that needs her and the place where she'll
have a bigger impact got her. Those are our little
tidbits. Not just rankings and results this week,
everybody. We just had a few details as well.
So, yeah, that's what's happening. We get a ton
of questions about setters, about... What type
of offenses should you run speed? What works
with this? What works with that? What are the
best options? Today, what I want to do is I want
to break down offensive theory. What are teams
trying to accomplish? We're going to the classroom,
everybody. Take notes. Get your pens and pencils
ready. It's going to be a volleyball nerd session
is what we're about to do. It could get lengthy.
It could get technical. Just a disclaimer. Buckle
in. We're going for a ride. Okay? Get your notebooks.
Here we go. I have mine. If you're listening
on podcast, you can't see it. But if you're on
YouTube, I've got my notes. The first thing you
should always be trying to accomplish with a
good offense is putting your hitters in a good
position. Above all else, no matter what you're
doing, you want to put your hitters in a good
position. You want to put the ball in their hitting
window. So talk to me about what a hitting window
is and then what it looks like. Being in a good
position as a hitter. My definition of a hitting
window would be a set location where an individual
attacker is able to basically do whatever they
want. Meaning they can see the block, they can
comfortably hit angle if they want, they can
comfortably hit line. But the thing is, is every
hitter's window is different. Typically, players
that jump really well, players that are really
big, if they can do both, that's even better.
Their windows are bigger than a small athlete,
usually, generally speaking. So different players,
different types of hitters have different sizes
of hitting windows, meaning the ball can be less
precise to be able to do all the things. And
the other thing I want to highlight is... As
a hitter, you always have the advantage. You
should be scoring. That's the premise of putting
a hitter in a window. If you do that, they should
be able to score. When things go sideways and
hitters lose options or the ball's outside of
their window, you take away their advantage.
In watching some of these college games, and
again, we have setters, which is a very skilled
position. You get better as you get older. But
when we see misses, let's talk about... how those
misses affect what the options are and what you
take away from the hitter. So the first one,
we see this a ton. What happens with a tight
set? The hitter no longer has the advantage.
Basically, it completely limits your attacking
ability, period. Like if it gets tight enough
and you're forced into a tip, you're kind of
screwed. If it's not that tight, you have lost
certain hitting angles. Okay. And that's one
we see often. So let's go. The next one would
be. So out of system sets, no shade to the middles,
but maybe a couple of middle sets where you see
the ball trailing off the net or behind the hitter.
What do you lose in that scenario? Typically,
you lose your vision. You're losing sight. You're
losing sight of the block a lot of the time.
But in the case where you're a hitter that can
see maybe the whole court, you're at least losing
sight of the court. Now, you mentioned being
able to see the court and the block. In your
experience, how rare is it that a player can
see both the block and the defenders? I think
it's pretty rare. Generally speaking as an attacker,
when you're going up to hit, as you're looking
at the ball in your peripheral vision, you can
see the block. You can see where the blockers
are and what is available to you. There are not
as many athletes who can then see the defensive
setup behind the block at the same time. It is
possible there are people that are like that.
But most people, when they're hitting, see the
blockers. On an inside set, what do you lose?
You lose your ability to hit line. Unless the
set is high enough. If the set has a nice loop
to it and you're fast enough, have a good enough
step close, yeah, maybe you can hit line. But
with a typical offense, typical speed, you're
generally only being given the opportunity to
hit angle. And then? A ball too far outside.
Obviously, if it gets outside the antenna, you
can't swing line. Can I just go back? The other
thing about an inside set is if you're not comfortable
hitting a sharp angle, maybe that is taken away
from you on an inside set too. When I like personal
experience, my favorite was to hit angle. So
if it was really far inside, the angle was still
available and it was harder for me to hit line.
But some players might have the opposite issue
where they're not. as comfortable hitting a really
sharp angle, so the angle gets taken away. On
an outside set, you obviously can't hit it outside
the antenna, so you can't hit anything but angle.
The final common error we see is if a set is
too low. Good location, it's not too tight, but
it's too low. What hampers the attacker in that
regard? You're forced into a tip. You're forced
to recycle off the block. You're not able to
get full. power, or trajectory on the ball. Those
are the most common errors we see for sets for
hitters. And I like to think about it like this.
If a ball is in a window, you know, your attacker's
at 100%. They have the ability to make the decision
to hit whatever they want. And at 100%, you're
expecting your attacker to score or at minimum
to put the team in trouble so you're getting
over, you know, a free ball or an easy ball.
Every time some of these things go wrong, you
reduce from 100. Let's say it's inside and tight.
You know, you might be down to 20 % efficiency.
Inside is tough stuff. And again, these things
don't happen in isolation. You can have multiple
of these things happen on any given set. And
so think about it as just taking away the efficacy
of the hitter and their ability to make decisions.
That's how I like to think about it. We're not
saying there's an expectation that the ball is
perfect from the setter every single time. Obviously,
that is the goal. The hitter is responsible for
correcting errors. It's part of their job. We're
talking about ideal scenarios. Yes, this is the
gold standard of what you're trying to hit. That's
basic attacking. We're talking you can run that
in club. It applies at all levels of volleyball,
but those are the fundamentals of setting of
what you're trying to accomplish. The next thing
we start to get into a little bit of the strategy.
From a setting standpoint, your goal is to get
your hitter less than two blocks. Could be one,
could be zero, could be one and a half. And what
we mean by that is it's not well formed. So the
middle is reaching or there's some seams. But
if you can do that, your expectation is your
hitter scores nine times out of 10. As a setter?
As a setter. How do you go about doing that?
And there's a bunch of different ways. And I
want to lay those out and then I want to talk
about some of the pros and the cons and then
how they affect the college game. Number one,
the best way to get your hitters a one -on -one
outside is to run a lot of middle on your side
of the court. So the opposing middle has to stay
with your middle and either hold there to see
if they get set or commit with them. That's the
easiest way to get your outside hitters one -on
-one. Why do you think we say we love a middle?
This is why. We are always talking about running
the middle. This is strategy basics 101. Run
your middle. Hold the other middle. Your outside
hitters have a good chance of scoring. Straight
forward. But your middle needs to score some
points. Yes. If they're just completely whiffing
balls, then the other middle is like, cool, bye.
And so, again, you have to be able to beat the
defense in this regard. But if your middle is
a threat. We need some respect here. Yes. They
don't necessarily need to score. They need to
be respected. That's the first option. The second
option, and we talk about this and we see this
a ton, is the speed of the set, which means the
ball gets outside to the outside hitter faster
than the middle can close. And this is a strategy
that we see a ton of colleges trying to implement.
But skipping step one. Often. Fair. A lot of
teams are like, we're going to run this set as
fast as possible. Good luck. But we haven't run
the middle. We're just slinging balls around
here. So one of the reasons I think we see this
a ton in college is because the U .S. national
team is incredibly good at it. They, in my opinion,
not so much this cycle, but last cycle, set the
gold standard for how you do this. Now, talk
to me a little bit about how this strategy can
break down and where... it can go sideways. I
mean, the faster you set the ball, the less precise
the location is, which goes back to the initial
discussion of putting your hitter in a good position.
You are sacrificing consistent, precise location
for a broken block, I would say, because you're
seeing sets often get too low, too wide, too
tight. like something has to give if you're trying
to set a ball really fast. And so if you're looking
at a loopier, slower ball, you're able to dial
in and the hitters have more choice, but that
comes with hitting with a double block. So you're
picking and choosing the lesser of two evils
for your team. And two things generally have
to be true if you want to run a really good fast
offense. You have to pass well the majority of
the time and your setter needs to be pretty specific.
with their location because it's very easy to
compromise your hitters if you can't do that.
And for me, this is where you see a lot of programs
struggle because the setters just aren't consistent
with that ball. And when it works, it's great.
When it doesn't, it's super ugly. An example
of this for me would be TCU. This week, the matches
I watch for TCU, this was the case. Yeah, but
we can get into that in a bit. But just for some
practical... Adam's like, who can I bury right
now? So speed is an option we see quite frequently
at the college level. Some done well, some not
done well. One of the most common options that
you can run offensively is something called an
overload, where you put more hitters than there
are blockers on the court. So you can do this
in different places. You can either do it in
the middle of the court. You can do it on the
left side or the right side, but it generally
entails running a back row ball on top of what
your middle and or other hitter is doing. So,
for example, let's say we run our middle on a
51. We have our right side ball and the pass
is more or less to the two side of the court.
You can run a pipe or a modified pipe and a D
ball over top of it. Now you have three options
to choose from against two blockers. Now in this
scenario, your setter is the one who's trying
to find the open hitter. It's kind of like a
football quarterback going through their progressions.
Does the middle jump? No, set the middle. If
the other middle commits with your middle, then
you can run the back row ball or set it outside.
So the setter is making the decision trying to
isolate the hitter. The other thing that the
overload does is... Well, you can choose if you
are running a three -hitter system. to bring
two hitters towards the same area and then run
away from those two hitters. So bringing two
hitters into the same area, similar to the overload,
you're forcing the opposing team's middle to
go with them because probability, you know, would
state that you want to go where there's more
hitters. By throwing the ball away, you're forcing
the opposing team's middle to then chase the
ball, which... The goal is to create a seam in
the block or a one -on -one situation. So you
can, like Adam said, have more hitters than there
are blockers. So three hitters against two blockers.
Or you can use an overload by dragging the middle
with the hitters and going away from them. And
in my opinion, I think this is the easiest offense
to run. It doesn't require the same precision
as a speed offense. And generally you have three
hitters closer to you and closer sets are generally
easier to execute. The only piece is the setter
needs to find the open hitter. So to me, this
is one of the easier offenses that you can run
and still be highly effective. Another strategy
that setters will use, and this one isn't always
intentional, but it does, it is effective, is
they'll set the distance set. So what I mean
by that is, let's say the pass is pushed to position
four. you still have your middle coming with
you. So the opposing middle has to follow, but
then they'll run the back set to the right side.
And that just creates a lot of distance for the
middle to have to cover in order to close the
block properly. So you can see that run from
passes from four or from passes to two. You don't
generally see teams passing like that intentionally,
but it is a strategy that you will see setters
use and coaches implement in those situations
where the play is broken down. I mean, yeah,
it's not intentional. You don't want the pass
to be bad, but when a setter is dragged to one
sideline or another, the middle has to follow
because in the chance that they do decide to
run the play that's really close to them, If
the middle hasn't shifted with the pass, they're
not going to get there. So the middle has to
follow the pass a little bit to kind of counteract
that short distance set. They have to chase it.
Now, the tough thing about this is that that
distance set is often very hard to execute well,
especially on the backside. Well, it's not going
to be fast. No. It's got to be higher. Yes. And
then the last thing you can look at, and we've
actually gotten some comments about this because
there are definitely some teams in the NCAA that
run this, is the combo play. Well, we saw Brazil
run it really effectively, the Brazilian women
with Gabi. They would always wait until like
after 20 points and then they would bring her
in on like a meter ball in the middle of the
court and she would hit with like one block,
which internationally is unheard of. But even
like... Teams that run the combo plays with the
left side coming in and hitting a meter ball
in the middle or the right side coming around
in front, they're often one -on -one or one -on
-none. I haven't seen a ton executed at the college
level. I feel like the combo plays run at the
college level are always... predicated on trying
to get the middle to run a slide, and they just
don't have anything else to do with the other
hitter. I was calling the Long Beach State game
yesterday, and they ran a couple with their left
side, and she had literally no block. The combo
with the left side I really like. The combo with
the right side, because you want your middle
to run the slide, I just think you take other
hitters out of being in a good position to score.
Run a right side on a back quick. Run the double
quick in front and behind the setter at the same
time. That could be a trip. If you have a really
big block who like separates their hands well,
that's just a feast for them. But then if you
have a left hand or right side, I would run like
a 31 type set in front of the setter off of one
foot, like a lefty slide. A bunch of different
things. The Asian countries run these very well.
They've kind of gotten away from them recently,
but traditionally they do. When the goal of running
the combo plays is twofold. One, it's to make
the blockers. pick up a new hitter so you're
switching the zone of your hitter so now there's
different blocker responsibilities so you can
create some confusion and you're looking for
seams in blocks so that's what you're generally
trying to do with the combo plays overall those
are the different strategies that you can implement
offensively to try and put your hitters in good
positions the last thing i wanted to go over
was some of the decisions i'm seeing college
teams do and how they affect those different
offenses and when I think they don't work. So
the first one that I take issue with is teams
that try and run a 6 -2 and then run a super
fast offense. My issue with this is a fast offense
requires rhythm. It requires consistency. And
now you're going, okay, I want all my attacking
options all the time. I'm going to switch my
setters in and out and nobody's in rhythm. If
you're going to run a 6 -2, it's because you've
got monsters on the pins who you want to get
the ball to and have big hitters there. Slow
the ball down, trust your hitters, and give them
the option and the ability to be in a good position.
I think trying to run a 6 -2, it's hard enough
to have one setter who can run that kind of speed
consistently. Very few college programs have
two where they can do this. I know you have the
substitution rule, but I think this is a huge
miss the most of the time. I mean, there's give
and take with every decision you make. And with
wanting three hitters in the front row all the
time, you are giving up a bit of rhythm for your
hitters. It is difficult to change setters consistently
as an attacker. So, yeah, there's always a give
and take, and that is what you're giving up in
always having three hitters in the front. Let's...
look at the ds situation because this is unique
to college volleyball you have lots of subs and
you have the ability to put a whole bunch of
ds's in the back row pretty much consistently
throughout the match and you know what are the
pros and what are the cons of that ideally the
pro of that is that you're in system all the
time right run your fast offense to run your
fast offense so if you run a fast offense switching
out your back row hitters to me makes a ton of
sense go ahead go all in with your strategy Dial
in your consistency, go for it. What doesn't
make sense to me is teams that put DSs in but
have slower offenses and don't have incredibly
terminal people on the outside. If you're going
to lose your back row option, you need to make
sure that your other players can carry the load
with a more consistent block. I understand you
get more digs and there's other things that happen,
but it's a sacrifice offensively. And I think
that teams need to be aware of this. That back
row option can add a huge amount of value to
an offense, even if they're not scoring all the
time just by being a threat. And I think this
is like really brought to the forefront for teams
that use DSs for one of their left sides and
for their right side. Because then when the setter's
in the front row, you literally have two attackers.
I think the choices of who teams are taking out
with the DS is really important, but not having
a back row attack, it does make... the offense
predictable. So yeah, stay in system, run your
plays or whatever, but it's much more predictable.
And then the last thing I will say on this is
I feel like a lot of coaches have an offense
they just want to run. I run this offense. I
do this. Well, you know what? Maybe you don't
have the pieces to run that offense. I know I
was ripping Dan Meske apart last week about various
things, but... The thing that I do appreciate
about him is he has said that they tailor their
offense and their schemes to their personnel.
They aren't fixated on one particular system.
So I will give him props for that. And I think
that that's huge. You either have to be an incredible
recruiter and only get players who are going
to fit into the system that you want, or you
have to look at the players you have and go,
okay. Here's how we maximize all of our different
strengths. And maybe that's different than what
I quote unquote normally do or want to do. But
I think that speaks to a lack of coaching knowledge.
Agreed. Like if you just run what you run, I
think that speaks to the fact that you don't
really understand the game or what you're doing,
quite frankly. I know that was a lot of information.
I hope you guys enjoyed that. If you have any
questions about what we've said or any clarifications,
we'd be happy to answer them or hop back on and
talk about this again. But we wanted to give
an overview of the options. So as you're watching
games, you can go, oh, this is what they're trying
to do. Oh, that missed and that affected that
decision. And I'm hoping that we've provided
a little. Added benefit to your watching experience
as you go through and watch. A little tutorial
day today. Yeah. A little volleyball. I wouldn't
even say 101. We're at volleyball 301. This is
the advanced class. We've graduated. We had so
many questions about strategy, this, that, the
other. So this was kind of our advanced volleyball
class for all you nerds out there like us. All
right. So we're going to take a look at. The
Big 12 standings as they currently are. We're
going to discuss a couple of the teams. Because
we watched a bunch of Big 12 matches this week.
And obviously we've watched them in the past.
The last few weeks I would say. Yeah. So let's
go over some of the teams. I think we have a
couple teams in top spots that maybe aren't for
real. Or haven't had a tough schedule. So we'll
look at those. Pretenders. Not contenders. If
you missed last week's segment. So let's go through.
Quick opinions. Quick predictions on where we
think the Big 12 will end up because it's a messy
conference. It's up for grabs, kind of. As we
talked about in our conference prediction episode
a few weeks ago, we said the Big 12 was the most
equal across the board and the one where things
could get the messiest. Probably the weakest
of the Power 4 conferences, but the most exciting
if you're looking at the teams playing each other.
Correct. So let's take a look at Arizona State.
They obviously did well last year. They're currently
8 -0 in conference play. I think they're cruising
for another conference victory. They've already
beat Kansas. They beat Baylor. They beat BYU.
So some of the other top teams in the conference,
they are spearheaded by Bailey Miller and Naomi
Glover, who, in my opinion, is a rising star
for them. I've been pleasantly surprised. Oregon
transfer, I believe, yeah. Yeah. And she is a
dynamic opposite who has done fantastic. What
are your thoughts on Arizona State? Okay, I'm
going to talk about these teams in the context
of the Big 12. Like, I don't think they match
up against the likes of a Texas or a Kentucky
or teams like that. But in the context of the
Big 12, I would say... They probably have the
best opposite in Noemi Glover. I can't think
of... I mean, people from Kansas might argue
that their Serbian right side gives her a run
for her money, but I disagree. Super strong on
the right side. I think their middles do a pretty
good job. They're big. They're physical. Their
left sides, they're fine. They're steady. I mean,
there's a reason they're 8 -0, and they've played...
a bunch of the top teams minus TCU. I think they
play TCU this week. I like Glover, and I think
she was a really good addition to that team.
We saw, because Argentina Ung graduated, we're
seeing the setter that typically came in when
Ung was attacking run the show, and so she does
have setting experience. They picked up a lot
of transfer players, actually, from the portal
in the offseason, and yeah, I think they're pretty
good. They're consistent is what comes to mind
when I look at Arizona State. They have a balanced
offense. They're very low error in terms of mistakes
that they make while they're attacking. And they
definitely out -serve opponents in terms of just
keeping service pressure on them. I don't think
there's any massive stars in the Big 12. Not
single players who can generally beat you. And
so the fact that they're so balanced and consistent
night in and night out is I think what's allowed
them to be 8 -0. And I would expect them to finish
top of the conference. Well, and Glover went
down in the preseason, I believe. I think she
had a concussion or something. So they had to
play some other players to fill her spot, and
now she's back. Yeah, they didn't go unscathed
in preseason, but their schedule, I think, was
heavier than most Big 12 teams. Kansas obviously
had a pretty tough preseason schedule, too. Yeah,
now that she's back, it's like she didn't miss
a beat. No, they look good. Let's move to number
two in the Big 12, who... In my opinion, should
not be number two and won't be number two for
much longer. So Colorado is 9 -1. I don't think
anybody expected that start for them. Okay, but
the thing is they haven't played anybody. So
they still have to play Baylor, Kansas, Arizona
State, TCU, and BYU. Oh, so all of the best teams.
All of the good teams. So they're not going to
finish 9 -1. Are they going to go? Oh, fur. Against
all these teams. There are a few other teams
sprinkled in there. Those are just the big ones
that they have left to play. No, but against
these teams, do you think they're going to win
any of them? I don't think so. So I want you
to look at these stats that I pulled for them.
For opponent kills, they're 10th. For blocks,
they're 6th. And for digs, they're 13th. How
are they winning games? They don't stop anybody.
And they haven't played the good teams. So they're
not getting any chances. They are big across
the board. In every position they have, they're
at least six feet, including their setter. So
they score well and they serve well, but they
can't defend. And when you're bigger than the
teams that are below you, you're going to win
matches. But they're going to have problems against
these good teams who are also big, but I think
more skilled. But better offensively than them.
Like if their stats are that bad against the
mid to low level Big 12 teams. The higher level
Big 12 teams are going to decimate them. Where's
your block defense at? Yeah, it's non -existent.
They're going to finish fifth or sixth, probably.
Maybe sixth or seventh. You want to know something
else, though? I think they have a huge advantage
when they play at home. When I played at Nebraska,
we were in the Big 12. And Colorado was in the
Big 12 as well, obviously. It's hard to play
there. First of all, you're at altitude. And
secondly... They play with that ridiculous Nike
ball. I don't know if anybody has an opinion
about the Nike volleyball. I sure do. It's awful.
Okay, we used ours when we had to go to a Nike
school. We obviously practiced with them. Otherwise,
they were the balls we used in the serve machine.
And if you know anything about serve machines,
they destroy volleyballs. So that's how we felt
about those. But the Nike balls are awful to
play with. So the Nike ball, like combined with
being at altitude, a recipe for disaster. So
I think a lot of teams just really get messed
up going there. Fair. But again, I don't think
the teams that they have left to play are going
to get messed up going there. The year we won
the national championship, the only match we
lost was at Colorado. Fair enough. It's an equalizer.
It will make it seem more equal than it is, perhaps.
Okay. Fair enough. But I still don't see them
beating these teams. It's like the wind in beach
volleyball. Big equalizer. So that's Colorado.
I don't think they're going to beat the teams
either. Okay. Adam's getting sassy today. Like
this is a new look. Currently standing in number
three, the seven and three conference record
is Baylor. Give me your thoughts on Baylor. I
don't like Baylor. Okay. Give me something a
little more than that. big, but I don't think
they're particularly skilled. I've watched them
play several times and I just, I get confused
how they win games. Here's some interesting things
that work in their favor. He set me up for this,
everybody. I didn't. So what you see is their
two outsides in their libero are all freshmen.
So they have some inexperienced ball control
happening on the court. The general serving target
in Rachmanchik. She has spurts where she really
struggles to pass. So that really hurts them.
However, what I do like, and I know you'll appreciate
this, is both of their middles are in the top
four attempts on the team. I do appreciate that.
So even though they're not passing amazing. Top
four. So one of the left sides gets set less
than them. Correct. But Rachmanchik got set 523
times so far. Then their middle's their second.
So Bippen Bay is their second most set player
at 444 attempts. Then it's another outside in
Bailey who's... Actually, okay, I will say I
do like Bailey. Correct. I like her too. She's
dynamic. I think she's pretty good. They're inexperienced
at key positions in terms of passing and their
libero. So that's going to continue to get better
as the season goes on. I like Bailey. She's dynamic.
They try and run the middle of the court. The
fundamentals aren't quite there yet, but they're
trying to do the right thing. And that's fine.
But I think that they're better than Colorado.
I don't think that they're better than Arizona
State. And honestly, I think BYU and TCU and
Kansas are all better than them as well. So you
have them five. I do think they're better than
Iowa State. I haven't watched Iowa State yet,
so I'm not sure. Again, interesting team. I like
what they're trying to do. They're a little experienced
on the passing and ball control side of things,
but they also have a really big opposite who
comes in at Grace Curl. She's 6 '5". She's also
starting to play a little bit better. There are
pieces there. It's not quite there, but for me,
they're a team that might be really interesting
next year. Well, they also bring in a Cameroonian
right side as well. Or is that Bipinbe? No, Abibembe's
in middle. But she may play some right side.
Yeah, I feel like they kind of maybe, don't quote
me on this, maybe they use her on the right side
sometimes. Okay, they're fine. Yes. Just comparing
them to the other top Big 12 teams, I don't think
that they're it. Yes, I would agree. Again, I
think they're going to finish ahead of Colorado.
I think they'll finish ahead of Iowa State and
behind the rest. So probably five would be my
guess. Iowa State is next. I haven't watched
them a ton, but they also haven't played anybody.
But also keep in mind, like a bunch of these
teams, they haven't played the same number of
matches. Like some teams have played nine. Some
have played 10. Some have played eight. Like
they're kind of all over the place. So these
standings are also based on an unequal number
of matches. Yeah. But currently Iowa State is
six and three. TCU is six and three and Kansas
is six and three. So they're in, they're in the
mix in that regard, but they'll. They will be,
them and Colorado are going to fight for 6 -7.
Sure, Kansas, they're all 6 -3. Kansas bringing
up the rear in that group because their overall
record is worse. But Kansas' strength of schedule
was way higher than in Iowa State. So moving
on, we're going to skip over Iowa State. We haven't
seen them. They haven't played anybody good in
the conference, really. So they're going to end
up below the schedule. But I'm curious what your
thoughts of TCU are. We watched both their matches
this week. We watched a lot of TCU this season.
Okay. I have said like from early in the season,
they surprised me. They were on my list of biggest
surprises in one of our early NCAA season episodes.
A lot of the players that they have playing were
on the bench last year in, you know, Evan Hendricks,
Becca Kelly, their middle played last year. They
lost their biggest player in Melanie Parra. And
I have thought that they've been pretty good.
this week watching their games was a dumpster
fire. Well, there were two things. Like, I don't
think the hitters even knew where the ball was
going when they played Kansas. This setter, Edward
Scissorhands, I'm going to say. But it started
before that because Volpe, their libero, was
a literal black hole. Volpe. She was. I think
she's in there for passing maybe because defensively.
But passing -wise, she got aced off the court
too. Nothing's coming up. She watched balls drop.
She shanked balls off the side. She was not good
defensively. Their libero and their setting was
not good. I've seen Volpe pass too many balls.
You know that's a red flag when your libero is
getting targeted on serve. But I will say her
passing is better than her defense. The other
thing with TCU is they like to run that really
fast offense. So when the passing breaks down
and their setters come in and out quite regularly.
Rewind to that last segment. We talked about
this before. All of the things that could go
wrong with running a fast offense went wrong
for them this week. My question. I have never
seen an offense be so broken. Broken. It was.
A car with no wheels. I saw somebody jump and
swing at a ball and miss it. Literally miss it.
The Kansas match, rough. If we had done this
segment last week, I think I would have had TCU
at two. Behind Arizona State? Behind Arizona
State. After this week, I'm on shaky ground.
I'm trying to figure out, did both the libero
and the setter have the same illness, sickness,
or whatever was going through? This is Adam trying
to be funny. But if that's going to continue,
They're going to struggle. I cannot express to
you how bad this was. It was painful to watch.
The wheels fell off and were rolling down the
hill. And I like Evan Hendricks. I think she
does a good job. I like their middles. I think
they do well. Becca Kelly is having a good season.
I think their hitters and their pieces are there.
You just have to give them an opportunity. So
maybe let's slow it down a little bit. I think
they need to play a 5 -1. They need to find some
consistency. And if they can do that, I think
they're the second best team in Big 12. I'm liking
BYU these days. We're going to get there. I'll
say at this point in the season, that kind of
stuff shouldn't be happening. So from where I'm
sitting right now, I'm going to put them at third.
Okay. Well, you mentioned BYU, so let's go there.
What do you like about BYU? I don't think either
of us were very high on them at the beginning
of the season. Well, they were struggling, but
I think we saw TCU kind of take a tumble down
a hill this week, and BYU has been steadily improving.
They were, what, 2 -4 in Big 12 play, and now
they're 5 -4? Yes. They're gradually getting
better, and they're picking the right time to
do it because they're doing it against the better
teams. So I don't know what the heck happened
there. Somebody tell us because we haven't been
following them too, too closely. Like maybe there
was an injury situation or whatever, but I, something
I like about them is Suli Davis. She, and I'm
curious to know if it just took her a little
bit of time. As a freshman. To settle in as a
freshman. But she has been unbelievable this
last little while. She's really good. And I like
her attitude. She is fierce. She's a grinder.
She's a competitor. Yes. She is serious. Like,
no fluff. No, like, let's be friends, which I'm
all about. This kid can swing. And she's playing
six rotations, which I'm also a fan of. I like
her. I also like Camavor in the middle. I think
they're starting to use her well. She's big.
She hits very high. She's been pretty much unstoppable
in conference play when they get her the ball.
So that combo and them, I think maybe finally
setting her high enough. It's a little bit of
a slower middle attack, but she's getting the
height on it and she's really strong. So I think
she's come on and done a really good job for
them. Yeah, my issues with BYU last year were
their setting. I think their setter Bauer was
a freshman last year, so she seems to have kind
of found her own and has hit a rhythm there.
And how heavily they relied on Claire Little.
I thought they were missing a piece on the outside,
and I thought they were missing a good right
side. And I'm liking the Suli Davis addition.
I think their right side has picked up compared
to last year. And now we're seeing Claire. little
kind of she's number three for me yeah i know
she still leads the team but she can do it from
a place of not everybody yeah exactly not everybody
knowing where the ball is going so i again i
think they've done good things they're on a positive
trajectory for me yeah i'm gonna put them at
honestly one or two when i originally heard that
they were pre -season number one in the big 12
i was like you've got to be kidding me because
they were not doing well i can kind of see it
now So I'm going to put them at one or two. Yeah,
I don't think record wise they can catch Arizona
State at this point. That's true. That's true.
I think they'll probably be two or three. That's
true. Depending on whether TCU continues to play
without any wheels. And the last team I wanted
to look at here. Talk to me about Kansas. Honestly,
I like Kansas. They're kind of gritty, I want
to say. They're like blue collar. They're good,
but nobody expects them. They're underrated,
I would say. I like Reese Patak. I liked her
last season. I think she's gotten so much better
this season. She's running the slide very well.
They've brought on a Serbian right side who is
doing well for them. They lost El Nadi, who was
a huge factor, but they've... They've found the
pieces and like Matt Ulmer coming and bringing
some Oregon girls too. I think that has helped.
I'm liking them. I think their libero does a
really, really good job. Yeah. The record kind
of surprises me. I thought they would be a little
bit higher. They seem to drop bad matches. Like
their losses are. bad losses and I don't know
if that's a consistency issue to unranked teams
as opposed to like the ranked ones yeah so they
lose matches like to Kansas State and again I
know I say this no offense to Kansas State but
that's not a match that they should be losing
if they play well they win so it's games and
performances like that which kill you in conference
play when everybody else is racking up wins against
those teams like Colorado's not losing to those
teams You know, that's the one thing. And with
a new coach, maybe there's some changes in the
style of play and things that he wants them to
do that create some of that inconsistency. But
for me, that's going to cost them this season
in terms of their ranking here. Midway through
conference, what are your standings for Big 12?
I'm going to go Arizona State. I'm going to say
TCU figures it out after this week. So TCU 2.
BYU three, Kansas, Baylor. I'm going to do Arizona
State, BYU, TCU, Kansas, Baylor. And then Colorado.
And then Colorado seven. I think Iowa State will
finish ahead of them. Okay. Well, for the messy
conference, those are the predictions. Those
are what we were seeing from those teams. I have
enjoyed. Seeing some teams get better, some teams
play poorly, at least this week. This conference
has been interesting just in the progression
of the teams. And there have been quite a few
freshmen who are playing prominent roles in this
conference, which has also been fun to watch.
I love seeing how athletes kind of manage the
shift to a higher league. So it's been fun to
watch. All right, mix it up. We don't talk a
ton about Big 12, so I like that we kind of devoted
a segment just to them. It's been a little while.
But let's dive into some listener questions.
We have gotten, I say this every week, and I
mean it so much. We're almost at 100 questions
sitting in the back. Such good questions, you
guys. Okay, it's so hard for me to pick every
week. But question one, I know this isn't a clinical
podcast, but I'd love some technical primers
on being a good passer and middle blocker. Both
of these skills and roles seem underrated. So
how do you pass well? And with middle blockers,
can you go into some depth about how to block
well in general and how that starts your defensive
strategy? This is a big question. Thanks for
asking the easy one. Passing. Let's start there.
So we're going to have to make this a little
simpler, but it's all about angles, in my opinion.
Obviously, you want to move your feet. You want
to put your body in a good position to pass the
ball. But the only thing that affects the trajectory
of the ball is the angle of your arms on contact.
Everything you do is about being stable with
a good arm angle. And if you can manage that,
the ball will go where you want it to go. That's
as basic as it gets. Make your forearms face
the target on contact. There are definitely several
trains of thought of how to pass. Some coaches
really try to dial in, like, make sure you get
your hips behind the ball. For me personally,
that is not it. Take the ball outside your body
all you want. Just make sure that your forearms
face. where the setter is going to be period.
The other thing that I think a lot of people
do poorly or is a very helpful hint is you don't
want to change the height of your head when you're
moving to pass. So the more your head bobs up
and down, the harder it is to track the depth
of the ball. So when you're moving, if you can
stay. level and consistent as you track the ball
into your platform you'll have a better read
on where it's going how deep it is and you'll
be in a better position to make any adjustments
for balls that float as you move stay level no
bouncing up and down that will also help you
track the ball and get your platform to the right
place pretty sure I had some people tell me that
I never passed I'm here to set the record straight
I did pass for two seasons in college and all
throughout club and everything and one year professionally
so I am slightly qualified to talk about this
the way that I always think about it is to be
do your routine do whatever you need to do but
as soon as the hitter is about to make contact
make sure you're stopped because then all of
your movement can happen from there as Adam was
saying don't stand up stop and keep your position
the other thing I would say is I see so many
people get caught on high balls just standing
up and trying to get them that way. You need
to drop, open your hips and drop your foot back
to create that angle. Standing up taller and
basically getting hit in the chest with the ball
is not how you pass a high ball. You have to
open your hips, drop your foot back and dip your
shoulder to create that angle with your arms.
So those are the tips that I would probably give
for passing. What about blocking? I work. It's
the most important thing you can do as a blocker,
but specifically as a middle blocker. and there's
always a sequence that you should follow and
it's ball setter ball hitter along those eye
progressions you're all you're making decisions
right off the pass you're deciding are we in
system or are we out of system so you're making
that decision so you know where you're going
to have to move if it's a good pass you've got
to stay with your middle If it's a bad pass,
you're looking for the ball to go outside to
one of the pins or maybe in the back row. You
want to eliminate options as you make these decisions.
So that's the first one. So when they go ball,
setter. After you know whether the setter is
in system or out of system, you are looking at
the setter for a hint of where they're going
to put the ball. Don't watch the ball. It's not
going to tell you anything. The setter is what's
going to tell you. Where they're going to set
the ball. So maybe they drop their hands when
they're setting out to the outside Maybe they
only jump when they set the middle there are
tells that you will be able to pick up if you
watch the setter So you're watching the setter
then they set the ball And now you want to quickly
look at the ball one more time to see if it's
a good set or a bad set. It's very, very quick.
And then you're keying in on the hitter that
is getting set. So you're watching them. Where
is their approach? You're watching their shoulder.
You want to know what their speed is. And that's
going to help you with your lineup. But then
it's also going to allow you to be in the right
place and get hands to ball when you're blocking,
which is super important. That's a lot of information.
It's much harder to do. But the one I'm passionate
about mental blocking. All right. The one other
thing I will say, don't dip your head. You've
got to keep your eyes on the hitter. Most people
or a lot of people close their eyes or tuck their
chin. Keep your eyes open. Watch your hitter.
Biggest takeaway. Do not watch the ball when
you're blocking. It does not tell you anything.
Watch the hitter or the setter. The only thing
I would add is if you are playing a more against
a more complex team where the middles are running.
you know, shoot sets or quicks behind or slides
or whatever, and it's a perfect pass, if you
want to kind of a basic way to kind of counteract
that, wherever you see the middle going, kind
of take a couple steps in that direction because
that is the set that's coming fastest that you
have the least time to react to. So as a middle,
you kind of want to follow, slightly follow where
the opposing team's middle is going and then
react after the ball leaves the setter's hand
to the outside should it go there. All right,
question two. I'm a Wisconsin Badger fan now
that I live in Madison, but grew up in Hawaii
and was there for the great Hawaii women's teams
of the 80s and 90s. I'm sad to see the Hawaii
women not in the national championship conversation
consistently anymore. Can you discuss whether
teams from the mid -major conferences can ever
be in the national championship conversation
again, or are the days of Hawaii, Pacific, and
Long Beach State long gone? I mean, I think realistically,
it's tough with the nil and now with the transfer
policy it's tough to get and keep athletes you're
probably not going to see top tier recruits go
to those schools however i think you've got to
create something where people want to come you
have to lean into what your strengths are so
hawaii great place to live great experience you
know you can use that to recruit and then You
need to find a way, and this applies to everybody,
but coaches need to find a way to keep their
players. And you do that by creating experiences
and relationships that they can't get anywhere
else. You have to, it's not just about the volleyball
and getting the kid to come to your school. You
need to keep working on that relationship, which
takes a lot of work, but it is doable. You see
athletes follow coaches when they change schools.
You can create those relationships. It's just,
it's effort. It's caring. Daily, it's not just
volleyball. So I think it is possible, just harder.
Yeah, the NIL and the transfer portal definitely
make it tough. But you can never say never. Question
three, can you explain why the Cressy -Blackshear
play where Cressy goes on the slide is not a
good play? Is it only bad because they aren't
setting Cressy on the slide and it would become
a good play if they did? Or is it just something
about that play and the dynamics specifically?
Go ahead. So this is a combo play situation like
we talked about earlier in the episode. Sarah
Cressy is not wonderful off of two feet. She
is predominantly used and is most effective off
of one foot, which is the slide behind. Blackshear,
while she does score on that play sometimes,
her efficiency, in my opinion, is not. very high.
I think it could be a good play if you would
actually set Cressy the ball on that play. But
in all of the times that I've watched Louisville
play, they tend to set Blackshear on that substantially
more often than they set Cressy. If you're going
to set Blackshear, keep her on the right side
where she's more comfortable, where she's more
effective, more efficient. Like you're not tricking
anybody at this point. I think in theory it could
be a good play. I think it could be made better
if they actually set the person it was designed
for. Fair. Question four, is Kentucky relying
too heavily on their two outsides and not running
enough of a balanced offense? Is this something
to worry about come tournament time? I actually
think that they've done a better job as the season
has gone on trying to run their middles and with
the right side substitution they made, they do
set her the ball as well. I think they've gotten
better at balancing things out. At the beginning
of the season, it was... It was heavy. Whoa.
I think 107 sets to the left sides in total in
one match, if I'm remembering correctly. That's
crazy stuff. The other thing I will say, though,
is unlike just running a right side, you do have
the ability to run those two out of the pipe,
which they do, which also helps ease things around
the court. So it's not quite the same as just
overusing one player, but yes, middles and right
sides. Need to continue to get set. I don't think
it's something to worry about. Like you said,
they have kind of looked elsewhere. And it's
different with a lot of the teams we've talked
about, like the Pitt, the Penn States, the Wisconsin's,
where it's one player, at least in this scenario.
Worst case, it is two. But like Lizzie Carr is
scoring pretty well. Baltimore's scoring pretty
well. Daly coming in does a good job. So I don't
think it's something to worry about. Okay, question
five. At the power four level, how many unsuccessful
seasons do you think a coach can have before
it's time for a school to look into other options?
That depends on what the school's mandate is.
Let's talk about Ohio State, for example. This
is a major athletic institution. They are currently
baggled in Big Ten play and have not been good
for a little while, just as an example. So if
we're going to talk about that example specifically.
I think it depends on A, why all of her athletes
left because they would have been better. And
B, I mean, this season was going to be tough
because you lost literally everybody you recruited.
Okay. We're not talking about this season. We're
talking about like multiple seasons back to back.
If the mandate is to win, I think it's three
seasons. I think it's tricky though, because
these coach signed multi -year deals and like
to break those deals. I think it depends on how
important volleyball is to the school. Like Ohio
State, for example. Number one football team
in the country for the last couple of years.
Do they really care that much about volleyball?
I don't know. Do they care enough about volleyball
to pay out a coach and fire her? You know what
I mean? Like it's tough. Like how much are you
paying out a coach to break their contract? And
is it worth it to your school to do so? They're
making bank off of their football team. There's
all kinds of factors. If we're looking at straight.
How long do you need to turn a program around?
Like, let's take money out of it. Exactly. Okay.
Taking money out of it. By year three, you should
be seeing improvements in your program. You should
have been able to change the culture. You should
have been able to recruit some of your own players,
you know, creating the identity that you want.
And you should have been able to improve the
technical abilities of the athletes that were
there in three years. You know, all things being
equal, in my opinion. That. is our roster of
questions for the week. Keep them coming. Love
to read them. Again, you guys are making it really
hard for me to pick a handful every week, but
love it. So hopefully you enjoy those answers
this week. As always, we got a few matches that
we think you should watch this week that we will
be watching. So on the docket, Wednesday at 9
p .m. Eastern, TCU versus Arizona State. We talked
about this. This is the one we talked about.
Can TCU... Turn it around and make this a game.
I think it's going to be fantastic. This is your
top two for Big 12. Yeah, I'm really looking
forward to this one. Friday at 9 p .m. Eastern,
we have Nebraska and Wisconsin. That may warrant
a match breakdown next week, depending on how
it goes. Will Nebraska drop a set? What's your
prediction? I'm going to say no because Charlie's
not playing. I know. I'm going to say no, too.
We said that Nebraska would drop a set in Big
10 play, but... I don't think it's going to be
to Wisconsin in their current state. I don't
think it's coming. Saturday, 9 p .m. Eastern,
USC versus Minnesota. I will say, I mean, you
guys know I've had high opinions of USC and where
they could go. I also watched Minnesota play
two matches this week, and I know they were decimated
by injuries, but their freshmen are starting
to play some good volleyball. I think that's
going to be a really interesting match between
young players. And I think that dynamic could
be a lot of fun. And I ripped them apart last
week for the NCAA Top 16. Watching them, they
are getting better. They are definitely getting
better. So I need to say that after I just ripped
them apart last week. Sunday, we got a couple
bangers. 1 p .m. Eastern, Texas, Kentucky. Yeah,
baby. Let's get it going. I want to see how far
Texas can be pushed. I still think Texas is going
to win this one, but I think it's going to be
close. I think it could go five. And then Sunday
at 3 p .m., we also have Texas A &M versus Tennessee.
Battling it out in the middle, top middle. Yeah.
You know, Texas A &M. One B of the SEC, perhaps.
And I've liked Tennessee. I've liked what they've
been doing. So I'm curious to see how they do
against a star player like Nikki. Can they shut
her down? How does Texas A &M adjust? If you've
got the time, those matches, they're going to
be worth a watch. That concludes this week's
episode of Volley Talk. There's always something
shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you
enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow the
show so you don't miss any updates and we'd be
so grateful if you'd leave us a five -star review.
You can also find us on Instagram at volleytalk
underscore podcast. If you have a topic you'd
like us to discuss, be sure to reach out to us
on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks
so much for joining us and we'll be back next
week. Bye guys.