2026 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Preview

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 Pavin. 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. Winter slash spring season is winding down.
We have the Italian Women's League finish. NCAA
Men's finishing. Love, obviously, finished last
week. Turkish Women finished last week. We had
the Japanese League finish this week. Our highlights
and happenings are going to be a little sparse.
But it's also a very exciting time because we're
heading into NCAA Men's Championship weekends
coming up. and MLB playoff situation. So there
is still a little bit happening before we switch
gears and focus on the international side of
things. So we are really excited to do a deep
dive into everything NCAA men's championship.
So let's get started. Okay, last couple weeks.
Adam, was your volley fantasy a highlight or
a happening this week? A happening. Unless there's
something lower than happening. How many points
did you get? I think I was at 313 maybe. Wasn't
a great week. Yeah, I had like 326. It was a
bad week. I was like 130 something for the week.
Yeah, not great. I'm 74th overall. So that didn't
do too much damage for me. But my weekly stats,
watch out. You know what my strategy was this
past week? No. I'll tell you. Pick the players
on the teams who are still fighting for a playoff
spot. Because I was like, you know, the ones
who are like locks, they might not play their
starters. So I was like, I don't want to take
that risk. So let me play the teams who are still
fighting. Didn't work out so great. Because Lydia
Martin scored so many points, I should have just
picked her. But anyway, so I'm a little bit upset
about that if you can't tell. Heavy hitter is
pulling away. I'm not sure that they're going
to be caught at this point. I don't think so
either. We've got one more week. So everybody,
let's put our brain power together to really
spice things up and try to make this go down
to the wire, okay, for our final week. Otherwise,
heavy hitter is going to be the grand champion.
My advice, heavy hitter, don't pucker. And everybody
else, don't forget to submit your rosters, okay?
It's the last week, so submit those rosters.
Yeah, you can kind of check out what's been happening
and see what is going on in the Volley Talk League
at playvolley .com slash volleytalk. So playvolley
.com slash volleytalk. I'm sad that it's coming
to an end, but as we said last week, there's
a lot more fantasy to be played in the upcoming
seasons. Speaking of MLV, the playoff teams are
set. So basically all matches this week don't
matter. The four teams who are going to compete
in the championship weekend are Indy, Dallas,
San Diego, and Omaha. San Diego is currently
in third. They've got two matches left to play.
Omaha has one. So not sure how those two are
going to finish up. Feel like Grand Rapids had
a chance, but they really blew it against Orlando
this week. They needed to win that match. They
absolutely needed to win that match. And I didn't
think they looked great. I mean, same story.
We were talking about Salt Lake City a couple
weeks ago. Grand Rapids, this is your chance,
you guys. You gave it away. Yep, agreed. And
it's not even like Orlando's playing well. No,
they were there for the taking. Abercrombie does
not look like her former self. The team in general,
I mean, again, they played decent down the stretch
and in the fifth set, but I thought Grand Rapids
was going to take it and make a push. And they
were not able to. Really looked like uninspired
play by Orlando. Well, there's your chance. Well,
I think they were out at that point already.
Orlando? Yeah. So you needed to just push them
a little bit more. Grand Rapids just couldn't
take advantage. That would have made it interesting.
If they would have won that match, this week
would have been interesting. But here we are.
This week coming up is kind of a write -off,
honestly. The only people who have anything on
the line in MLB this week is us, our community
with the fantasy. We are the ones who care, but
you know what? This could be a real toss of the
dice here because who the heck knows what's going
to happen now that these games don't matter.
It's going to be wild. What is anyone going to
tank for draft pick? Well, that's what I'm saying.
Like, you don't know who's going to even like
be on the court. Agreed. You know what would
be crazy? If somebody picked, like, the most
random players and then they just went off and
then, like, our whole fantasy league just blew
up. Atlanta finishing second last. We had them
finishing, what, in our preseason preview, like,
second, third? Yeah, top three, I think. Oh,
my gosh. Wow. Do you think Kayla Banworth is
going to get fired? I think she has one more
year just because of who she is. You think? Mm
-hmm. Because Atlanta was decent and then she
came in and it was like, oof. But I don't know
any of the owners very well. So you don't know
what they're in two years. You can't generate
a reputation. Some owners are patient. Some will,
you know, make an assessment and make a judgment.
It's really hard to know without more data on
how they operate. You know what I think? Again,
I don't know her contract situation, but I'm
thinking easy transition. Boop, boop. Bird Coon
goes in. Former head coach of Omaha, who's like
on the bench for them now. And Kayla out. It's
possible. It'll be interesting to see what the
offseason shakeup looks like. We'll see. Playoffs
are set. Dallas surprised us. We had them at
the bottom in our preseason poll. We had San
Diego down there. We didn't have Dallas at the
bottom. We had Dallas at like five with the caveat.
We had them in the middle of the pack with the
caveat that their coach could get them in a good
play. And that ranking came out before we knew
they had Mimi Collier. So I think. You remember
we did them and then it was announced that she
was going there. Okay, okay. I'm clearly not
remembering anything. The Atlanta one was a big
miss and the San Diego was a big miss. Yikes.
That is the MLV situation in Italy. The championship
is over. Milano made a push. They took down Conigliano
in match three in Treviso at Conigliano's home
court. which was completely unexpected. So it
went match four. Conigliano came and just slapped
him in Milano. So there you go. Can you imagine
if Milano would have pulled off that first match
upset? I know. They had a really good chance.
We'd be in the fifth match here. Everybody's
just getting upset at home. That would have been
wild. Do you think looking at Conigliano, like
they're getting a little bit older. Do you think
they make, Any changes? Like, do you think Zhu
Ting is coming back? Do you, they have been pretty
much infallible for years, like winning everything.
Yeah. There were, I would say a few cracks in
the armor this year, especially early. We'll
see what happens in champions league, but do
you think they return more or less the same roster
or do you think they make a few changes? And
if they made changes, what do you think they
would change? I mean, I feel like it's probably
set. In all transparency, I haven't like looked
at the market or anything or seen who has signed
where. The only one I do know is Gabi signed
there again. And I know like it's probably done.
So you guys let us know. Hawk is what, 27? Not
that old. Seraphar is a 22. So when we're talking
old, we're talking Moki. We're talking Volosh.
Kirikella is like medium. Zhu Ting. Zhu Ting's
not even that old. Everybody talks about how
old she is. Like, I don't think she's that old.
I think she just like moves older than she is.
Regardless. And Gabi's like early 30s. No, Gabi
is still at the height of her athletic performance.
I guess what I'm asking you is, given the fact
that they didn't, I mean, they were dominant,
but that there were some times where you were
kind of like, hmm, where would you, if you were
the GM, where would you look at the upgrades?
We watched them a bunch this year, and where
would you go, hey, I would maybe look for someone
else here? I mean, I could see them maybe replacing
Zhu Ting. But I don't know. Honestly, I could
see them replacing Volosh with someone, but at
that point, she has been a part of every consecutive
championship. There's the loyalty aspect at that
point. So honestly, I don't think they... We'll
change anything. Unless they already have, I
know you guys will know. So let us know because,
as I said, I don't really dive in. I wait and
see how things play out. Let's dive into NCAA
men's. So right off the hop, the tournament format
has changed. We've talked about it before, but
if you're unaware, there are 12 teams. now competing
in the NCAA men's tournament as opposed to the
eight that were in it in the past. That's a huge
change and the format goes four teams got draws
right to the quarterfinals. There will be a play
-in in the round of 16 for the teams that didn't
get that buy -in. Let's go through. We'll talk
about those first round matchups and then we'll
talk with the teams that got the buys, how the
breakdowns from the conference went, and a little
bit of history on how the conference finals went.
some of the big matches from this past week,
and then maybe some predictions at the end. Let's
actually start with the teams that got buys,
and we'll go from there. So the 4 -1 seeds. Correct.
UCLA won the NPSF. We'll talk about their games
a little bit later, but they get a buy. Ball
State won MIVA. They had a 3 -0 win over Loyola
Chicago in the finals. They also have a buy to
the quarterfinals, and they are in the UCLA side
of the bracket. Then you have Hawaii, who didn't
win the Big West, but came in ranked second.
And then Long Beach, who did win the Big West,
ranked third. You want to get into that now or
later. Can somebody remind me, did this happen
last year where Hawaii won the Big West and then
Long Beach State took the top seed? I feel like
it did, but am I just like... No, we ranted about
this last time, about how the Big West tournament
doesn't seem to mean anything. Why win? Who cares?
What were their overall records? Hawaii finished
27 -5, had the higher RPI than Long Beach State,
who finished 24 -4. So Hawaii RPI ranking was
1, Long Beach State was 3. And I mean, I get
that this ranking is important and strength of
schedule, blah, blah, blah. But at the end of
the day, and again, I understand this doesn't
mean anything. You're 2 -3, you're playing the
same matchups in the semifinal if you win out.
I get it. But there is a part of me that on principle,
if you win your conference tournament, you should
not be seated lower than somebody else in your
conference who you just beat when it matters.
Well, that happened last year too with Pepperdine.
Totally. Pepperdine beat UCLA in the final and
were ranked lower. Now, I agree with you. However,
Hawaii swept the conference series. See, I hear
you, but to me it doesn't matter. Conference
play is important, and Hawaii goes back -to -back
in Hawaii, and then they travel out. Their schedule
in and of itself is a little strange, but winning
when you're quote -unquote supposed to win, or
let's call it a command performance, when you
win in that tournament, it should mean more than
other matches throughout the season, in my opinion,
because you're preparing to win the conference.
That's what matters. Nobody looks back and goes,
oh. Who won middle of the season in 2026? Who
cares? Who won the conference title? That matters.
You're putting a banner up. It's weird to me.
Particularly when we're talking about some of
the smaller conferences, a team could have been
undefeated all conference and then blew it in
the conference championship. And it's a conference
that won't get an at -large. So you're not going.
Yeah, exactly. And the MPSF and the Big West
is not as critical. But yeah, I bet it is kind
of annoying. And I would be annoyed if I won
my conference championship and then they're like,
and who cares? Yeah. I want to know who makes
that decision. The athlete in me, when I look
at that, is like, this is messed up. This is
just not how it should be. Yeah. I actually agree
with this decision. I don't think it's wrong.
But what do you think about Ball State getting
the other bye? over let's say I think Pepperdine
is below them USC is below them USC is below
them I think Miva deserves their their champion
should go into the buy with the extended schedule
so I'm personally okay with it well we'll get
into that next matchup but yeah I mean if you
look at the RPI the top four teams in the RPI
took the top four seeds albeit the order is a
little different I mean, Neva slugs it out all
season. If you come out on top of that conference,
I feel like you deserve something. I agree. I
agree. Because dang, you guys are just like beating
on each other all season long. Yeah. I mean,
I think it's fair that the top three conferences
are represented in the top four seats. I agree.
So now let's go back around. We'll go to the
play in round. And so top of the play on round
is. UC Irvine versus Penn State. Okay, winner
of that will play UCLA. Penn State beat Princeton
3 -0 in the EIVA division. They went 22 -7 on
the season, 12 -0 in conference play. They will
play UC Irvine, who lost in the semis, to Long
Beach 0 -3. And the winner of that, like I said,
will play UCLA. I'm predicting UC Irvine to win
that quite handily. Never forget last year. When
Penn State kept being ranked and we were just
like cheering for them to be unranked. Looks
like they got it together, everybody. Okay, good
turnaround. 12 -0 in conference play. Last year,
didn't even sniff. Didn't even sniff the tournament.
I'm happy for them, but I do think UC Irvine
is going to beat them. And then, I mean, once
we get to the regional. Okay, anyways, keep going.
Yeah, we'll circle back to the regional finals.
So next round. We have Pepperdine, who lost to
USC in the MPSF semifinal. Serious payback because
USC got swept by Pepperdine twice in the final
week of regular season play. So I actually want
to touch on that game later on. So we'll talk
about that. But they're going to play Fort Valley
State, who won the SIAC division. They beat Central
State 3 -0. They were 14 -12 on the season, 8
-0 in conference play. So they're coming out
of that division. Again, we haven't watched them
play, but I have to assume that Pepperdine is
probably going to win that one relatively handily.
And then we're going to see a Pepperdine all
-state matchup in the quarterfinals. I agree.
They do very well. They were in the tournament
last year. But I think Pepperdine, that's a tough
matchup. You know, and we talk about this all
the time. When you get to play... better teams
more often. Even if you're kind of equal, and
I'm not saying they are, it's just, it's harder
to be as sharp. And so I think being in the conferences
that UC Irvine and Pepperdine are in, they're
just, they're more battle -hardened and ready
to go. There can always be an upset, but that's
my prediction so far. Looking at the next round,
USC, who finished second to UCLA in a barn burner
in the MBSF final, is playing Belmont Abbey.
who won the Conference Carolinas. They were 20
-5 on the season, going 13 -1 in conference play,
and they beat Mount Olive 3 -1 in their final.
I actually think USC is my dark horse team. They're
playing really well coming into the stretch.
I think they're going to take this one, and I
think they're going to give Hawaii a run for
their money. I mean, Belmont Abbey is 15 in the
RPI. USC is 10. I mean, USC is picking a good
time to, like, come on strong. They've been ranked
top 10 in the ABCA poll all year. I mean, I think
that USC will take this match, yes. And next
we have Loyola Chicago, who finished second in
MIVA, losing to Ball State 3 -0. They went 20
-8 on the season, 12 -4 in conference play. And
they're playing St. Francis from the NEC division,
who went 18 -11, 10 -2 in conference play, and
they beat FDU 3 -1. I've liked Loyola Chicago.
We've watched them play a couple times this year.
I like them in this matchup moving on to play
Long Beach in the quarterfinals. Agreed. I mean,
you obviously have to play the game, you know,
MPSF, Big West, MIVA, like at this point in time,
the competition they're getting in their conference
play is just consistently stronger, which I think
really helps them come tournament time. And I
mean, I feel bad. Like I don't want to take anything
away from these teams. The men's game needs to
continue to grow so we can like continue to develop
these conferences, you know, but. And this is.
going to be one of the benefits of expanding
the Nationals is that you need to go, and we
talk about this all the time, you need to go
play against the best so that you understand
where the gaps are. And as these teams get to
go every year, they will get better and better
at understanding what they need to do. And it
won't happen right away, but I bet you in five
years, these aren't gimme games anymore. These
teams coming out of these conferences are going
to be better. And so I love this for the growth
of the game. Well, and even like expanding to
12 teams and expanding to 16 teams, it's like
all of a sudden a bunch more schools have the
opportunity to compete for a championship. So
maybe we'll start to see the talent like disperse
a little bit more instead of having like 18 top
recruits on one team with all of them sitting
on the bench because they want to win a national
championship. Now that more and more schools
are being included in the tournament, I think,
yeah, we'll be able to see the talent kind of
spread a little more. And yeah, the rosters change.
And maybe schools invest in these programs. Now
that you're going to have a consistent conference
winner going, some school might be, hey, we want
to have that conference banner. We want to go.
We want that prestige. So we're going to put
a little more money into it. I hope that happens.
It's always when you expand, there's some. water
down teams that are there to start but this is
how you make it better and more competitive a
couple matches i want to talk about in full transparency
like i said we were in canada we couldn't get
these matches so we are still catching up on
them i i took a deep dive into some of the matches
i was really interested in in terms of some of
the stats and some of the close matches from
the top conferences and i just want to throw
these out there and get your thoughts on the
results so let's look at usc I mean, I knew it
was going to be a big game, but I probably thought
Pepperdine was going to have the edge in that
one. And they end up losing 16 -14 in the fifth.
Notable stats from that match is Pepperdine made
30 hitting errors to USC 17. And they were out
blocked 19 and a half to eight and a half. You
are starting to see USC take on the persona of
Jeff Nygaard. They are. They are blocking machines
out there because their stats in the finals were
also, you know, pretty impressive. So I think
you're starting to see an identity here. You
saw Ryan Barnett hit 091 on 33 attempts. He made
10 errors. You saw, which is unusual because
he is usually steady Eddie and it's heart key
that is going up and down. You saw Foley Sterling
hit. 429 on 35 sets in that match. And the USC
middles were outstanding. I think both of them
hit over 600 and had 13 kills each. So they are,
they're running the middle. They're getting blocks.
I'm assuming they're passing well if their middles
are running that much. So they are clicking on
all cylinders and they just outlasted Pepperdine.
So if they beat Belmont Abbey, they play Hawaii?
Yes. Oh. Are you predicting an upset? I am. I
think they're going to beat Hawaii. Really? Yeah,
I do. Let's look at Long Beach State versus Hawaii.
So Long Beach State beat Hawaii. They beat them
in five sets. They won 15 -11. The other sets
were super close. The statistics for this match
were, again, incredibly close. 65 kills each,
seven aces each. Long Beach out -blocked them
17 to 14 .5, but over five sets, like, that is
minimal. 42 to 32 digs for Long Beach, so they
had a few extra opportunities. But for all intents
and purposes, a super tight match. You had Gajic
hit 489 on 45 sets, and Vargas hit 237 on 38.
So Vargas kind of held his own, but Gajic looked
like he played unbelievably well. And then, you
know, Tetriski hit 293 on 41. Not bad. Roar struggled,
which I think is going to be their Achilles heel
down the stretch. He only hit 175 on 40 balls,
and Louie hit 353 on 34. First name basis over
here, everybody. Sakonoko. My boy Louie hit 353.
I like Louie. They're going to need all three
of those players to play really well, I think,
and I'm just not sure. Normally when we watch,
Roar doesn't play well. We didn't watch, Roar
didn't play well. So who knows what's going to
happen there. Yeah, Long Beach outlasted them.
Gadget played really well. And I mean, again,
this is one I want to go back and watch. Tight
in the fifth set and all the way through. But
they just couldn't pull it out. And that's happened
to them a few times this year. And then the last
match is UCLA -USC. And that went the way we
thought. But... The sets were super tight. All
of them were by two, except the second set was
won by three points. Two of them went to overtime.
The stats were unbelievably close as well. UCLA
had six aces to three for USC, but USC outblocked
them 12 -7. Statistically, the UCLA hitters didn't
have great nights. Rama only hit 186 on 43 balls.
Kelly only hit 207 on 29. Decker was their best
hitter at 400. I mean, I still have picked them
to win. I think they're unbelievably good. Well,
no. USC was clearly like, we're going to make
David Decker beat us. Yeah. Like, shut down the
two guys who are hitting 400 on the year. That's
an exaggeration for Zach Roma. Ron Kelly legit
is. And David Decker was like, okay, I will beat
you. Bye. And we've talked about this. That has
to be the strategy going in. And if Decker hits
400, you lose. And with a match that close, like
Sterling again had a good game, hit 438. So he
had an unbelievable conference weekend. Dylan
only hit 167 on 30 balls. Hold up. You called
him Foley Sterling before. His first name is
Sterling. I screwed that up. First name basis
on people, last name basis with others. But now
he's first name basis with Dylan too. It depends
which stat sheet I'm looking at. You know, he
played unbelievably well. Dylan's going to need
to step up if they're going to beat Hawaii. But
let's dive into the quarterfinal predictions
now. Well, somebody sent me a message saying
that Dylan Klein is not going to play volleyball
after college. Like he saw the person saw a video
somewhere. I'm wondering if that's accurate because,
wow. I mean, if he doesn't want to play, he doesn't
want to play. But like, that's a shame. He's
very good. Maybe he's got a sweet job lined up.
I mean, yeah. And maybe he's just volleyball
is not his passion. Who knows? Those are the
matches that I'm the most interested in watching,
so we'll do that this week. If there are any
other good matches that you guys watch that are
worth going back and taking a look at, fire it
into the chat. We're always looking for good
games. Let's quickly go over our predictions
for the quarterfinals. The men's tournament is
different this year. They're playing it in two
segments, so the regional finals will be at the
Top Seeds facility, and then we will come to...
UCLA for the semis and the finals the week after.
I think we both agree UC Irvine over Penn State.
And then what are your thoughts UCLA versus UC
Irvine? I think it'll be a good match. I think
UC Irvine can push them, but I think UCLA is
going to win. I'll say that UC Irvine will take
a set. Do you think they hold UC Irvine to under
20 points in any set? Yes. Okay. I like your
prediction on that one. Oh, thanks. We have Pepperdine
beating Four Valley State. Then we have Pepperdine
going to Ball State. Do you think that affects
the outcome at all, or are you Pepperdine all
the way on this? I'm Pepperdine all the way,
but I think Ball State will take at least a set.
Do you predict, who do you think will be the
best player for Pepperdine in that match? Barnett.
Barnett, okay. But actually, Hartke's from Illinois.
which is just like a state over. So maybe he'll
have all his friends and family there, and then
it'll be extra pumped. What Sarah really meant
to say was, we'll see a little more peacocking
than usual. Yeah. Okay, I agree. Pepperdine in
that one as well. But Barnett's from up there
too, so. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I think Barnett's
from somewhere in New York. But you know what
I mean. Okay, so I think we agree. USC over Belmont
Abbey playing Hawaii. In Hawaii, what are your
thoughts? I mean, you've made a good argument
for USC, but I think playing in Hawaii, it will
be very difficult to overcome that environment.
So I will say Hawaii in five. I'm going to stick
with my guns. I'm going to say USC in five. Hawaii
has shown me a few cracks this year in the armor.
But you are also a proponent of the cracks and
losing games. I am a proponent of losing games.
Not more than one, though. Hawaii and UCLA are
not the same team. They are. I don't ever question
whether Hawaii is going to show up with energy
and intensity, which has been an issue. The laissez
faire approach that we've talked about with UCLA
in the past. I'm concerned that some of the matches
I've watched with Hawaii. They don't have all
three of their pin hitters firing at the same
time. We've watched matches where my boy Louie,
my first name Louie, is not playing super well.
And Roar plays well and vice versa. I think Hawaii
is the better team when they are all firing and
playing well. And that includes Tread's set location.
I think USC is playing well enough right now
to cause them some issue. So I'm going to ride
the hot streak on that. Okay. All right. I think
we're picking Loyola Chicago over St. Francis.
What are your thoughts about Long Beach versus
Loyola Chicago? I'm going to go Long Beach. I
think Long Beach is playing really well right
now as well. So I am, they mean business. I think
that's probably going to be a 3 -0. I think it'll
be close. Like, Loyola Chicago is a good team,
but I think Long Beach in 3. There you have it.
We'll see how our predictions hold up after this
week. We'll look at the results next week and
make our final four predictions after that. All
right, time for everybody's favorite segment
of the podcast, listener questions. Question
one. I have a question for the volleyball community.
As someone that primarily watches national team
volleyball, where should I start in terms of
watching league play? Any leagues people recommend?
I know a lot about football or soccer to the
American audience, but I'm a relative newbie
when it comes to volleyball. Shout out to all
the Haikyuu fans out there for getting me into
volleyball. First of all, yes. If you have ever,
like, no. I was going to say if you're an anime
fan, check out Haikyuu. If you're a volleyball
fan, check out Haikyuu. It is a Japanese anime
about volleyball and man does it hit. Very good.
No pun intended. Very good. It had me in tears.
Multiple episodes. Double digits at least. Double
digits. So check it out. But anyway. This was
put out to the community at large, but I felt
like we should answer it too. So Adam, take it
away. Well, I think it depends on where you're
from and which national team you like to watch.
But if you're looking for a high caliber volleyball,
I think you start with the Italian League. Generally,
like the top teams are the best in the world.
They're always competing for Champions League.
You said you're familiar with soccer, so it would
be kind of the same situation. So I would start
there. Or Turkey, but Turkey's harder to watch
if you're in North America, I would say. Turkey,
the games are harder to find. VBTV is probably
the best place if you want to watch volleyball.
They have the Italian League, they have the Brazilian
League, and they have the Japanese League. And
the Polish. Do they have the Brazilian League?
They do have the Brazilian League. Okay, they
have the Polish League, too. Excluding the American
Leagues, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Japan, and Brazil
are all pretty good volleyball. With Italy probably
being my favorite or at least the highest production
value. I enjoy watching the Italian League. I
just, yeah, they've been doing it for a very
long time. And then obviously watching Champions
League during the season is always a highlight.
Eurovolley .tv. Yes, Eurovolley .tv is where
you can find those. very inexpensive for the
three months that you can watch it so that's
where i would start and then if you're interested
in the north american leagues you have love and
mlv which you're never quite sure where you can
find them but a lot of them are on youtube when
they always specify which channels are on but
those would be the ones that i would start with
kind of find your style see what you like and
then go from there i honestly feel like if you're
into national team volleyball and you're looking
to dabble or get into pro leagues vbtb is I think
it is, it has gone up in price, but it is worth
the subscription fee in my opinion, because you
get all the national team stuff. You get all
the leagues we mentioned, plus all the beach
volleyball. Like I just think it's a good deal.
If you like volleyball, if you're going to watch
it. Question two, when players watch film, do
they watch entire games? Do you take notes or
is it coaches pointing out plays and tendencies?
I would say the good players watch full matches.
And I think there's two parts to this question.
And I don't know if this is a beach person or
an indoor. I think it's indoor. Okay. I'm going
to split these. If you're a beach player, you
100 % watch full matches. There's just more feel
and you can see situational awareness and things
like that. You need to watch the matches start
to finish. On indoor, it's less important because
you're watching more for tendencies and rotational
things. I would say coaches watch matches all
the way through or should be. And then we're
distilling those down for the players in terms
of what we want them to focus on. Really an indoor
because the coach can be involved quite a bit.
You want your players familiar with the situations
that they want to take advantage of. So you're
showing them generally rotations and individual
player tendencies. And then you kind of have
more of a feel for the match, I would say. Now
you've played for some of the best. Tell me if
it's different, but that's generally how I, how
I would approach it. I think if we're speaking
about indoor from a player's perspective or like
from this player's perspective, I would watch
matches. But if I was watching to, you know,
familiarize myself with a team that we were playing,
I would watch myself attacking and stuff against
them. to see how they defended me but then for
our team's defensive system I would more wait
for the team sessions because so much has to
be coordinated as to what the blocking schemes
are going to be how like we're going to defend
as a unit yes the coach kind of dictated and
determined how that would work and so we all
had to be on the same page with that But as far
as like my own personal play, I would watch myself
attacking to see how they were defending me.
For me, this is a tricky question to answer because
I think the Mojo's issue at the beginning of
the season was setting. And I think that, you
know, Alicia being a setter, she was in a unique
position. to make that better so I think she
did a fantastic job getting Montserrat into a
place where she could help the team reach their
potential when your setting is that much of an
issue you don't really notice the other changes
so much it's not fair for me to say one way or
another like I think she made the outsides better
I think she made you know this and that I just
don't have enough data to go yeah, I love what
she did or no, I don't think she was very good.
I will say in the position where she had the
most experience and the team had the greatest
amount of need, she managed to improve that player
and make the team very competitive. And at the
end of the day, that's your job at any given
time. So kudos to her for understanding what
the problem was and making it better. And the
team is playing well. So she's obviously got
good preparation and she's got all the players
moving in the right direction. Great job this
season, I would say. But also, like, I'm not
sure how much they were kind of sewered by injuries
at the beginning. Like, Sanbothi wasn't playing
early on, came back wearing a cue collar, so
did she have concussion issues at the beginning?
I'm sure you guys know. I don't, like, dive into.
the discussion forums and stuff to find this
stuff out the choice of like bringing her and
putting her on the court for matches like she
had some really good games I think Grace Loberg
really showed up like I'm surprised at the season
that Loberg has put together for her team my
fantasy teams when I pick her are very thankful
so that's wonderful especially because she's
been like coming off the bench for a lot of her
career who would have thought that Tabron would
have like Kind of had those moments, you know,
the decision to switch up and bench Brock Hochevich
and put Lewis in. Like, those are coaching choices,
too. So I think. that there's something to be
said for that as well. If we're going to look
at who we would give coach of the year, nobody
predicted them to be in this position, I don't
think. Well, they were like, we predicted them
to be at the bottom. Right. And they started
off at the bottom. Yeah. 100 % this year, she's
done a great job. Hands down, credit where credit
is due. If you're asking me technically, like,
can she take players to the next level and hitters
and all of those things, I need to see one more
season. of it being now we're competing at a
high level. Can they beat Indy? Can they beat
Dallas? Are they making adjustments? Like those
are kind of the next level of coaching, but man,
she did a great job getting her team, getting
the most out of the players that she had this
year and kudos to her for that. Okay. Question
four, you guys have mentioned before that winning
is a skill. Do you think that that had anything
to do with the outcome of the love championship
game? It feels like certain Austin athletes such
as Madison Skinner, Asia O 'Neill, Logan Eggleston
are players that turn it on when it really matters
and find that way to win. Maddie Skinner winning
five championships in six years is crazy. Do
you think that gives her an advantage over Jordan
Thompson? It's been concerning that her team
has been at the top for both of those years and
lost in the semifinals. Okay, so multifaceted
question here. There's a ton to unpack. Let's
go in order. You go first. Do you think it had
a, an effect on the outcome of the game? And
do you think that those three are winners? Like
mindset wise, being in those situations has helped
them. Okay. I don't know them as people. Like
I don't know them personally, so I can't speak
to, you know, their mindset and stuff like that.
Watching them, obviously they have had success
at the collegiate level. They've had success
in the love, you know, domain. I think what we
saw in the championship, we talked about it last
week, just Salt Lake gave it away. So I wouldn't
necessarily say that Austin went and took it,
but there has to be a certain level of mental
toughness and a certain like take it attitude
to hang in there. and not crumble. They delivered
when they had to. They did what they had to do
to stay steady enough while Salt Lake is imploding
to keep chipping away. So I do think something,
they have to get credit for that. If Salt Lake
had been playing well and maintained that level,
would they have found that way to turn the dial
even more? I don't know. I don't know. But from
all they can do is what is in front of them.
And I think that what they showed in that moment
to stay steady and keep chipping away an argument.
Yes, an argument could be made that they do have
a winning mentality. Yeah. And I think familiarity
with your emotions in those big matches allows
you to handle. you know, those situations better.
Were they all world? No. Maddie Skinner did some
great things down the stretch when she needed
to, you know, kudos to her for blocking was good
from everybody. Yeah. The short answer in the
college and love conversation, I think is yes.
I think it does give them an edge. They know
how to be there. They know how to prepare themselves.
They know how to manage their emotions. Quite
frankly, the players on Salt Lake should know
that too, given how long they've been playing
didn't happen. Good for them for doing what they
need to win. Absolutely. Let's hop to part two
of the question. Do I think that winning five
championships in six years gives her an advantage
over Jordan Thompson? No. I still think that
Jordan Thompson is the better opposite. We saw
Austin turn it on when they absolutely needed
to. Good for them. It worked for them. They won.
But we saw Jordan Thompson be absolutely dominant
for the majority of his whole season. And we're
talking like teams are preparing for you because,
quite frankly, she was the engine of that team.
And, you know, everybody played their role, but
she was the one scoring points. Good for Madison
that she's been winning in recent years, but
I still think that Jordan Thompson should be
the forerunner for opposite. I agree, but my
reasoning is slightly different. So we talk about
winning as a skill, and I agree with that. But
looking at these three athletes specifically,
they win or the winning they have done up until
this point has been in an environment where they
are physically dominant than their opponents.
They're better athletes at just pure athletic,
how high they get, how agile they are, how strong
they are. compared to, in general, the opponents
that they've been playing, both in college and
in love. Yes, you can prepare yourself and you
have to be in that mindset and you have to execute,
but you do have an advantage. And I think that's
true for probably for all three of those athletes,
specifically Skinner. How does she deal with
being prepared to score when she doesn't have
that advantage anymore, when she can't just go
over top, down the line or tip and score? I haven't
seen her have to be prepared to score in more
creative ways. And that's not to say she hasn't
done it, but Jordan Thompson has done it. She
has that next level experience. And I don't think
that Maddie did a particularly great job last
year at VNL. So there is still a huge learning
curve for her when one of her biggest assets
is neutralized because everybody else is just
as big and physical. Is it a good stepping stone
knowing how to win? Yes, but I think... Now you're
going to have to see if her volleyball execution
can be at that high of a level against opponents
who are preparing for you. And I'm not saying
yes or no. I'm just saying jury's out. You got
to earn it. So I would give the nod to Thompson
still at this point. Okay, question five. I've
played volleyball for about six years now and
have always heard that lefties make great opposites.
But when you and Adam talked about the best opposites
in the world, the majority are right -handed.
Why is it that the best are right -handed, but
everyone talks about lefty right sides being
so good? It's an interesting question. First
and foremost, there just aren't that many lefties
out there who are playing. We're a rare bunch.
The chances of a lefty playing volleyball...
being physically dominant and going up and being
able to do all of those things is just statistically
less probable. The thing that makes lefties,
I don't want to say better on the right side,
but tricky on the right side is that part A is
you don't see those angles very often. So it
takes time to line up the block, to make adjustments.
It's just different. And you have to be very...
in tune with the situation and know what your
adjustments are to block a lefty and to play
defense against them. So there's a bit of an
advantage in just that they're unique. Kind of
like left -handed pitchers. So it's not that
it's left -handed are just naturally better.
It's just if you have a righty and a lefty who
were identical, the lefty would probably have
better stats just because it takes longer to
adjust to those situations and you can hit angles
that... aren't as common and it's harder to prepare
for. That's really all it is. And I think lefties
are better suited to hitting on the right side
and being opposites. And we've talked about this
in the past because their hitting arm is closer
to where the set is coming from. It is inherently
more difficult to hit a ball that crosses your
whole body as opposed to being able to cut it
off early. So that's why it is more difficult
and incredibly rare to see a left -handed outside
hitter because the ball has to travel so far.
That's why lefties are better suited to be opposites.
And as Adam said, there often aren't many lefties
on teams. So righties have, you know, taken more
of those roles just because lefties are a rare
breed. Okay, question six. What are your thoughts
on the AVP wildcard teams? The drama. Who would
you guys have given the slots to? Is this a missed
opportunity to grow the game via Hughes and Batenhorst
who are building their fan base on social media?
Urango and Rice have been slumping and lost in
the qualifiers to pairs who didn't get a wildcard
pick. Okay. So for context in, in late March
into early April, there were qualification tournaments
for the AVP league, which we talked briefly about
a couple episodes ago. Basically the league is,
you know, a man, a men's and a women's team are
assigned to a specific city and cities compete
against each other in quick 15 point matches.
And it's just like, yeah, a fun, different, set
up to the typical AVP tournaments. Only a couple
teams in each gender were automatic entries and
the rest had to qualify through these single
elimination tournaments. In tournament one, for
example, Betsy Flint and Kylie DeBerg won. So
they earned a berth. In tournament two, Kelly
Chang and Megan Kraft earned a berth. And in
tournament three, I believe Maddie Anderson and
Elena Chacon. You know, we had a bunch of other
teams attempting. We had Molly Shaw and Tony
Rodriguez. We had Gina Urango, Megan Rice, Sarah
Hughes, Allie Batenhorst. Like the typical names
that play AVP were competing, but they didn't
win. So they gave two wild card spots. I'm assuming
this is just about the women because I think
on the men's side, it seems pretty cut and dry.
But if you want me to talk about the men. all
around me. The wild cards were given to Molly
Shaw and Tony Rodriguez and Gina Urango and Megan
Rice. And then the rest are just like out of
luck. Aren't going to play ABP league this year.
I think I also gave that context to Adam because
I'm not sure he was aware of what has happened.
I had a little bit of the backstory, but not
much. So that was helpful. It's tough. So I know
all of these people personally. So it's hard
to be objective, I guess. It is hard to, yeah.
Looking at it from an outside perspective, Hughes,
Baton Horse hasn't done anything in the sport,
so that is what it is. And all you people who
are like, oh, but she won a medal, a couple medals
at a challenger, you guys, stop it. There was
nobody playing those challengers. Yeah, she hasn't
done anything in the sport yet. But for Sarah
Hughes to not get... the wild card first and
foremost you should have won and earned your
spot in so you put yourself in the situation
but i'm surprised i am surprised that she didn't
get it just because she's been an olympian world
champion a world champion she like this from
a branding perspective seems like a miss and
I will be the first one to say that the volleyball
world is cliquey. So I don't know who made the
decisions. I don't know any of that stuff. But
from a pure Sarah Hughes is the best player out
of that group who wasn't given a wild card. I'm
shocked, honestly. I mean, whether you agree
with it or not, Sarah Hughes has been the golden
girl of USA Volleyball for a very long time.
You can't deny. The success she's had in the
AVP. She's won a lot of events, world champion.
So Allie Batenhorse, whether she's what she's
done or not, like to me is irrelevant. Like she's
a non -factor here. Like you, Sarah Hughes should
have been given the spot. I think just for the
success and the, that she's had in the player
that she is. And then she can bring her a tag
along partner with her. It shouldn't matter.
Which is generally how it works. which is generally
how it works. Like if we want to, like if it
was April Ross playing with a high school kid,
you better believe they would have given the
spot to April Ross. Do you know what I mean?
I'm surprised. I honestly don't think I'm definitely
biased. And this statement is definitely colored
by my own experience, but I think it should not
come down to what your social media following
is said by somebody who. hate social media and
never really cared about it. I think it should
be based on your, I understand that the world
is shifting and it's like, how many eyeballs
can we get on this? So I understand that it is
a factor, but I think it should be more about
your play. I am surprised at the wild cards they
gave. I'm even a little bit surprised. I'm so
like Gina Urango, Megan Rice. Yes. Surprised
about that. I'm even like. slightly surprised
at Molly Shaw like Tony Rodriguez because Molly
Shaw was fine when she played with Kelly Chang
but she hasn't done much with anybody else again
I don't know there's all kinds of factors that
come in in terms of who's doing what and how
they make the decisions like at the end of the
day it's one or two people who get to pick the
wild cards so you just you never know are they
helping build the brand have they done things
in the like there's all kinds of factors but
this Without knowing any of that information,
this seems like a very strange omission. Okay,
question seven. Who were your volleyball idols
when you were growing up? I wasn't really one
who, I played a lot of sports growing up and
I didn't watch hardly any. So I'm not sure I
really had an idol. I was fortunate to train
with Paul Durden when I was in university and
he is an amazing human. I really enjoyed him.
He was very nice to us. He was an amazing volleyball
player. I learned a lot and that was a cool experience.
So I would pick him, but I really wasn't immersed
in the sport outside of I'm playing. So that's
all I've got. Logan Tom, period. I've talked
about this a little bit in the past, but yeah,
she did. everything that I wanted to do. And
so I just she was the perfect person to kind
of follow. She made her national team when she
was 16. She had an incredible collegiate career.
She played professionally, national team, etc.
Like so everything she did aligned perfectly
with my own goals. Yeah, I wanted to be her.
Question eight. Question for Sarah. Do you coach?
Why or why not? Today's athletes are way too
soft mentally and emotionally. I'd love to see
hard -nosed players like you back in the fray.
Well, thank you. I agree. I love some personality.
But I want to say, I mean, yes, I do, but also
no. I did a lot of coaching, like private lessons
in small groups pre -COVID. And, you know, obviously
in recent... time I've been taking care of a
little baby so it's a lot more challenging but
I think I answered this question recently like
today I think just for with somebody and I think
for the right situation I would I have Betsy
Flint was coming back and needed some help you
know coming back from pregnancy and so got out
on the sand with her she's a great person you
know I was I was happy to do that I've been approached
by certain other organizations that I would definitely
think about it in the future, especially as our
daughter kind of gets older. But yeah, up until
recently, I was playing so much. So I had no
time because I had my own career going on. And
then immediately after retirement, I could not
be. that immersed in the sport I kind of needed
to exhale and remove myself just just a little
bit but I'm I'm at a point that like once things
settle down I'm ready to dive back in hey last
question for the day why do you typically see
players always serve from the same spot when
it would be more beneficial to move around that's
a great question great question and honestly
one without a good answer I can't answer that
question for you because it's absolutely It's
outrageous that you don't see more players serving
from different angles to put passers in trouble.
And I don't know for the life of me why coaches
don't implement this strategy. You see them go,
hey, serve to one, serve to five, but they don't
talk about a serve from here and make that angle
tougher or look at statistically where people
struggle when the balls are coming. You have
passers who struggle with all kinds of things.
Depth perception with balls coming from right
in front of them. Not dropping their shoulder
when they're passing balls coming across the
seam. Two passers who don't communicate when
the ball comes. Like there's so many things you
could exploit if you trained your players to
serve from other places. And for the life of
me, I don't know how to answer this question
because it 100 % should be done. I have this
question. I will say this applies to indoor.
And I don't know what, I think several teams
do this, but on the beach. This was something
that I really focused on, like because it's such
a nuancy sport, like you look at everything.
So in preparing for games, we would look at like
exactly what Adam was talking about, where to
serve from, what angle to serve to, to create
as much disruption as possible. But like it is
not done enough indoor at all. As always, you
guys, the listeners throw in so many great questions.
Thank you for continuing to listen and give us
your questions and keep them coming. We love
doing this. Coming up this week, Thursday at
2 .30 p .m. Eastern, match one of the Italian
A1 men's final, which is Perugia versus Trevizianova.
That's on VBTV. That is the tongue twister of
Adam White. I struggle with that one for whatever
reason. I even practiced before we got on here
and it didn't help. So that's on Thursday. And
then match two will be on Sunday. Stay tuned.
You can hear my voice in your head as they announce
the team names. Chivitsa, Chivitsa Novi. Anyway,
the sad thing is I lived in Italy for several
years and I still can't say it, but that's what
it is. NCAA men's regional semifinals and finals,
which we spent so much time talking about, will
be Friday and Saturday this week. Tune in. Yeah,
ESPN+. Go celebrate and support men's volleyball,
please. There'll be some great games. Yes. And
then finally, Women's Champions League Final
Four in Istanbul this weekend. First match is
Saturday at 10 a .m. Eastern, and you can find
that on eurovolley .tv. 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
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Thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back
next week.