Italy is the Only Unbeaten Team After Women's VNL Week 2, Serbia Still Sitting at Zero Wins

Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We just finished up week two of the women's
VNL and... As we expected, there were some serious
movement happening, both up the ranks and down.
It was a little mix -up week. So the crowds in
Hong Kong, Istanbul, and Belgrade were amazing,
particularly for the home teams or local teams.
I'll tell you the Hong Kong crowd. Loves a net
serve. Every time a serve hit the top of the
tape, there was an audible gasp across everybody
in the crowd. They loved net serves. They loved
spin serves. They loved digs. They loved big
attacks. They were animated. They were into it.
China and Japan were both playing there. They
loved Japan. They really did. And the Turkish
fans were off the hook. Particularly for the
Brazil match. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. It
was cool to see. across the board. There are
several interesting storylines for us to follow
this week and we got a ton of comments and questions
that we want to address. So let's get started.
There is not a ton to talk about outside of the
play of VNL this week, but there are a couple
tidbits. So there weren't any new love signings
that were posted other than a coach signing.
Sonja Tomasovic is going to be coaching Love
Houston. So she played at Washington. Was part
of the team that kicked the living snot out of
my team in the national championship match my
sophomore year. So, yes, I remember that. Then,
most recently, she was the head coach at Arizona
State and was the assistant coach at Vacav Bank
this past season. So she is going to be joining.
Love Barbellini, obviously, is out. Unless he
switched teams, but I doubt it. Somebody tell
me. Did Barbellini switch teams or is he just
gone? One and done. He did that. Had some fun.
He's like, been there, done that. Let's go back
to Italy. Once we got to the super point, I was
out. You lost me there. Fair though. So a couple
weeks ago, we talked about how there was a lack
of feedback from the USA women's coaching staff
to the players during matches, and we wondered
if that was going to change. This week, I had
a comment posted on YouTube after the USA...
We had tons of comments about that. Fair. But
this one... But this comment in particular was
after the Poland match, and I fell out of my
chair laughing, and I figured that I wouldn't
let all of this hard work go to waste, and I
would share it with our listeners. So this person
said, I listened and recorded every time out
during the Poland match. Here is a list of what
was said. First one. Shrugs. Let's get after
it. Second one. Hey, at some point we've got
to start moving on, right? Third one. We're just
playing into this. I don't know. We're just digging
a hole for ourselves. Next. Next contact. Reset.
0 -0 volleyball right now. And last but not least,
let's come back out and find a little rhythm
here. I'm pretty sure I also heard one. I think
it might have actually, but maybe it was serving.
No, it was the Poland match where he was like,
they basically want to give this to us. So let's
do it. Now, we're having a little bit of fun
here. Yeah, before everybody throws their arms
up, we're having fun. Now, I think we'll talk
about this later on the episode, but I will say,
to the team's credit, they moved back on defense.
They played less of a college style. They passed
better this week, so they could run a bit of
a faster offense. Better than the first week.
Right. And so there were some visible adjustments
to the play. We'll get into it, but I'm just
saying we're making light of this. But there
were some changes from week one. But across the
board, people had the same sentiment regarding
the feedback. And this person actually went out
of their way to record them. So we had to share.
Those are our highlights for the week, though.
The comments, the timeout recording made it to
the highlights because we enjoyed it so much.
There were actually a lot of really interesting
posts. on YouTube this past week and on the Instagram.
So thank you for everybody for engaging with
us. There were some really good thoughts, comments,
questions. It was a lot of fun to read through.
All right. Time for our VNL Week 2 recap. As
I said, the women played this past week. Italy
is now the only unbeaten team in the women's
competition. This past week they played Bulgaria,
Thailand, Japan, and China. So they are sitting
at 8 -0 solo. Poland, Brazil, and Turkey all
have seven wins. So they are filling the 2 -4
ranking. Again, I would say expected for the
most part. Top four right now. We have a set
of bubble teams, and we're going to dive into
the bubble teams. A little bit later, but currently
the teams that are competing in the 7 to 10 spot,
and remember the top eight move on if Poland
is among them. So those teams are Germany, USA,
Czech Republic, and Dominican. And we have Serbia
still sitting at zero wins. And the question
I just keep asking myself is like, at what point
are you planning on using Tijana Boskovic? Like,
what is happening? You guys are facing relegation
in, like, an inch away. It's getting very serious.
And at what point are you planning on bringing
this woman back? Is she injured? I'm wondering
if she's injured. Like, why would you not use
her, especially at home, when you are staring
down the barrel at relegation? I get if they're
arresting her or whatever. Put her in for the
fifth sets. Of matches, so you can just win.
Like, she is, she's a cheat code. She should
be playing. They're struggling, you guys. But
we will get into that a little bit later. And
a very interesting stat that Adam found is...
Kira Van Rijk still leads the VNL with 15 aces,
more than anybody else. And she didn't play this
week, which I thought was pretty incredible.
She's averaging over three aces a match, which
is wild. That's insane. So good for her. So in
week one, she played four matches. Everybody
else has four. A lot of players have played eight.
I understand there's switches, but she's still
leading. The crazy thing is I was watching the
speed gun in that first week, and she's hitting
it in pace or in line with a lot of the male
spin servers. And that just kind of gives you
a reference point for what she's doing in the
female game. It's impressive. So we've seen a
bit of separation. Some teams are really starting
to differentiate themselves here. The top half,
the bottom chunk. The relegation teams. Yeah,
one more week to go, so four matches per team
left. The picture is becoming a little more clear,
but, I mean, the top four teams, I'm not really
shocked. No, they're pretty set, and they both
played well. All right, we've got a few storylines
this week that we kind of want to talk about.
So the first one is the Turkey versus Brazil
match. So we had a lot of people ask us, you
know, what are our thoughts on Turkey? How are
they doing? And I thought that this match in
particular was really interesting. Now, take
what I'm going to say with a grain of salt, because
Turkey is 7 -1. They have won a lot of matches,
but... For me, it's always interesting when top
teams play each other. And Turkey and Brazil
faced off. And I would say that they both had
their best players in. So Gunas didn't start,
but neither did Gabi. Brazil is missing Rosa
Maria. But we're looking at two teams with very
good rosters, relatively complete, like similar
lineup to what we'll see at World Championships,
I would imagine. And before you say, well, Thaisa
and Karel aren't on the Brazil lineup, they're
not on the wide roster for VNL, so they're not
even in the conversation. Erdem, also not on
the wide roster, not in the conversation. We're
talking about the people who are available. So
the thing that was interesting for me was there
was a dichotomy on the court. Brazil was cool,
calm, and collected pretty much the whole match
and played consistently. I thought that Ana Cristina,
Was very good in that match. But Brazil was consistent.
All the way across. Turkey was interesting for
me. They had runs where they were unstoppable.
But they are such an emotional team. And I think
that's. It's a good thing. You want to see that
passion. They're playing at home. Their fans
are into it. But it's a bit of a double edged
sword for me. Because when things didn't go well.
The team dips with the emotion. The execution
drops with the emotion, whether that's defensively.
And for me, the biggest thing was decision making.
When they had high emotion and they were feeling
good, they were making unbelievable shots. When
that disappeared and there was a little bit of
frustration with one or two players, the decision
making to me. was not on point they made risky
swings they made bad decisions and to me that
was the difference between Turkey and Brazil
was the decision making in those moments so I
would say you know Brazil played at a 7 or an
8 out of 10 of their capabilities but they played
like that the whole match and Turkey was at some
points they were playing at a 9 out of 10 at
some points they would drop below like play at
a 6 out of 10 and I just think that as a team
they're going to need to harness that emotion
and use the good, but figure out how to be technically
sound and make good decisions when there's a
little bit of frustration or things aren't going
the way they want. I feel like the emotional
aspect is part of Turkey's identity. Fair, but
it comes with a downside. It is a little inconsistent
and it's hard because like, I would say that
Zara Gunesh brings a lot of emotion and consistency
to the court. She is somebody who is always pushing
and is fiery and passionate. So bringing her
in for a point here and there, that is kind of
disrupted. So with her gone, the emotional engine,
simply because she is the most... present or
like the most noticeable with her emotion becomes
Karakurt. I want to say that Gunesh could balance
her out a little bit, but when the super high
highs and then the visible frustration is coming
predominantly from one player, I think that is
like very obvious. Contrast that with Melissa
Vargas, who had no emotion pretty much the whole
match, I think maybe in a couple points. set
three maybe when it was really close and they
were they were pushing to win that but yeah it's
it it feels to me that that Turkish team plays
on the edge it's high risk high reward volleyball
if they're all going and they all feel good they're
unbelievable but it's It looked in that match
like there were just little things that could
kind of pull them out of that rhythm and they
weren't good enough or they weren't connected
enough to find their way out against a really
good opponent who was just consistently doing
the right thing. And it just seems, I look at
that and I think, is this the winning formula
for when you need it? Or are you relying on the
emotion? to be there at the right moments when
you can execute. I think about which one is a
more consistent way to win. I wouldn't say that
Brazil was unemotional, though. Brazilians are
never unemotional. No, they were definitely fired
up. They were celebrating, but it was consistent.
Even when they were losing points, when they
were winning, the eye contact was there. All
on the same page, it looked like. I don't know.
Again, it's like Turkey has had success. This
is their identity and they've been successful
playing like this. It's hard to like... So the
thing I think for me that... I like the passion.
I understand that it can't just disappear when
things aren't going well. I get it. I think for
me, it's more the decision -making. When your
emotion isn't there and you don't have that cross
-court bang... How else are you going to get
it? Like for me, the thing I noticed was when
they weren't that emotionally engaged, they made
decisions that weren't correct in the moment.
And it affected their decision making, which
is what I think hurts them from an execution
and point standpoint. So you have to learn how
if I don't feel great, like my decision making
doesn't disappear with my emotion. That's what
I saw watching that match. And again, I'll say
Turkey's just so good that it's not an issue
against most teams. Like this is only an issue
against teams that are equally as physical and
skilled. Italy, Brazil, maybe Poland. I mean,
those three teams you talked about are generally
pretty steady emotionally. And that's kind of
the... But it's a give and take. Because that
emotion propels them to victories that sometimes
if they didn't have it, they wouldn't maybe pull
off. But at the same time, in bad moments, it
can make them worse than they are. So it's just
like it's such a double edged sword here. Like
that emotion and that passion and that fire has
gotten them out of trouble and has like pushed
them to higher limits. But there's the balancing
act of that. I personally think that the difference
in the match was Brazil was just insistent more.
Fair. Like, I think Brazil served them much more
aggressively than they served Brazil. And Brazil
picked up more balls on defense. Turkey could
not stop Anna Christina. She had one blip, what,
at the end of set two or something, where she
got blocked a few times. But other than that,
she was virtually unstoppable. I think she scored
like 27 points in four sets. Yeah. To me, I think
that that's part of the decision -making. Like,
Karakurt would get frustrated and then was nowhere
to be found on defense. Or their position would
break down because it seemed like things weren't
happening the way they should be. Like, that's
the discipline in the decision -making that if
you're not feeling great about, let's say, your
offensive game or your emotion, those pieces
need to stay. I also think they didn't get Vargas
going. I don't think they put Vargas in a position
to be successful early enough. To me, it looked
like she was getting under the ball a lot. They
set her off the net. The balls were a little
too far off the net, and she wasn't adjusting
her approach to stay behind the ball. She was
getting underneath it. Once that sorted itself
out, she was scoring great. Karakurt, she was
mixing in a lot of tips, which were effective.
I also want to say her transition to left side,
she's gotten a lot better. Her passing is so
much better now. That is a tough transition.
So, wow, she is a black hole on defense. I think
that's pretty fair to say. Yeah, I just feel
like they didn't get enough players going at
the same time. Now, was it because of what you're
saying? I don't know. Yeah, it was just, it was
a noticeable stylistic difference from the other
top teams. And I'm curious to see if they can
harness it or if it comes back to bite them.
Because they're good enough if they were to just
play on a level. To compete, I think. Now, this
definitely pushes them over the top when it's
all going well, but I'm curious what the counter
on that is. So it was interesting to watch that
match. I wanted to see them play Gunnish more,
honestly. Yeah, yeah. She might be the personality
or the emotional balance of that team. Well,
back, like, Erdem was the, I would say, the emotional
foundation of that team because she was much
older. She was experienced. She kind of kept...
players under control with her presence and now
that she is gone there's a younger bat like who
is going to take on that role yeah i guess but
on brazil's side like they brought gabby in every
now and then as a right side bergman was doing
great anna christina as we said virtually unstoppable
lorena was touching every everything at the net
oh they look good Like, they look very polished.
Hey, we're going to take one of the best players
in the world and we're just going to throw her
into a position she doesn't play and, you know,
here we go. What a luxury. They look very smooth.
They were looking really good. Oh, yeah. So one
of the other teams that we got a lot of questions
about was Japan. And actually, Japan played in
my favorite match of the week. I think our favorite
match of the week was the same match. Yeah, the
Italy -Japan game was a banger. Wow. It was.
Wow. It was so good. It was so much fun to watch.
Oh, my gosh. It was outstanding. Some of the
rallies. Oh, incredible. This Fukudomi, who was
playing Libero for Japan in that game, some of
the balls that she dug, I was like. Is this a
cartoon? Am I watching anime? It was, yeah, her
ability to cover, to extend rallies, to be in
the right place and stab at balls. And Italy
is unloading on her. And she is fearless. And,
yeah, it was unbelievable. So they traded blowout
sets in the middle. Yeah. But then we had two
very close sets. And then the fifth was 1917
Italy. And I think Japan had a point for the
match. So, I mean, let's talk about Japan as
a team to start. Their ability to put service
pressure on opponents is maybe second to none.
Well, they have to. Yeah. So here are the things
that I love about Japan. Their service pressure
is unbelievable. Their ball control, for the
most part, is very good. They run a really fast
offense. I really like their pin hitters. really
good i mean she's only 23 yeah she's fantastic
her arm is so fast she hits a pretty heavy ball
she moves around front row back row she finds
holes in the block i mean wada yoshino and ishikawa
for me are like wow yeah so their outside core
is is very good ishikawa is maybe one of the
best decision makers i've seen play volleyball
she seems to find the best decision in all situations
whether it's going for the hands tipping off
the block hitting at a seam like her vision and
ability to execute what she sees is unparalleled
okay so we actually had a question submitted
about her this week so let's address it now since
you're talking about her already so the question
was I've heard you guys comment on the importance
of height for women's hitters. Basically, we're
talking about how the hitters in love are much
more physical than the PVF hitters. So this person
asked, what makes Ishikawa such a dominant outside
at only 5 '9"? Is it something physical like
her jump or her arm swing mechanics? Or is it
something mental like her creativity or being
able to read the game better? Or is it some magic
that she and her brother Yuki share? I mean,
maybe all of the above. I think she jumps exceptionally
well. I think her arm swing is very fast. Her
vision, as you were talking about. She sees openings.
She takes openings and swings for the court.
And by that, I mean she's looking to score inside
the sidelines when it's available. And when it's
not available, she's very good at getting creative
and using the block to her advantage and scoring
outside the court. Yeah, so there's two things
that I think are really important. The first
one is she has the capability to score inside
the court. So if you know a hitter's only ever
looking for hands and can't blow up or beat a
defense, it makes a shorter player easier to
defend. So she can do that, and it holds the
blockers honest. The other thing that she...
Well, and it holds the defense on us because
they have to dig around the block. They can't
just, like, play, like, you know what I mean?
Yeah. The other thing that I think she does incredibly
well is she always gets her feet to the ball
so that she has all of her options. She very
rarely looks like she's bending to get a set
or moving to give herself options. So when you're
kind of straight up and down and on the ball,
you can go in a bunch of different ways so that
when you see what's open, you're in a position
to take it. And I think she does that really
well. she needs to maximize because of her size.
It's not that I think that hitters have to be
huge. I think we inherently see bigger hitters
have more success just because the height they
contact the ball, the angles that are available
to them. But when you have a hitter that can
jump well like this and that has so many of these
tools at their disposal, it doesn't matter. Yeah.
I mean, you make up for what you don't have,
but you have to be very technically sound. Yeah,
I would say she's an exception to my quote -unquote
rule. Now, the thing I've noticed about watching
Japan over the last couple weeks is that if teams
are in system and can set their middle, that's
when they get in trouble. And so if a team is
really locked in or passing really well, there
isn't a lot Japan can do when they run their
middles in different... including with the pipe
over top. They just don't have the size to be
able to defend that effectively. And so that's
kind of out of their control because they don't
have players on the roster who have that size.
Well, if they have an Achilles heel, that's probably
it. And I think that's what you've seen happen
to them in the matches that they've lost, is
that they've been dominated in the middle. I
mean, I understand that the typical Asian style
is to serve super aggressively, and that is why.
for a very long time, especially in the past,
they couldn't compete at the net with the players
that were so big. Obviously, their game works
and they do have players who can compete at the
net physically now, but they have to serve like
that. They have to take those risks because if
teams are perfectly in system with competent
middles who are very terminal, And they run a
great, like, it's done. Yeah. It's done. So they're
a lot of fun to watch. They keep a lot off the
floor. They serve really well, but that's kind
of what we've seen with the teams that have beat
them. Well, and Italy was very successful running
the middle. Sarah Farr was almost unstoppable.
Yeah, she was all world in that match. She was
outstanding. And to be honest. And just to be
fair, she will do that to teams other than Japan.
No, she's so good. Italy did a really great job
of making her available. I thought that the Libero
who played for Italy did a great job. I think
Alessia Di Gradi played really well, dug a ton
of balls, scored really well. Egonu was solid.
The setter who can be started, the young setter
who came in. Italy was seamless. They got beaten
real bad. In set two. Yeah. So that was a little
shaky. Passing trouble in that set. There you
go. Yeah. But other than that, like, they looked
very good. I mean, Italy is the team to beat
right now. I think them and Brazil in the final.
Oh, do we have an early prediction? Yeah, I think.
I really liked the way Brazil looked against
Turkey. So did I. And they didn't even. They
didn't. I'm wondering how they're going to use.
They have so many competent athletes. It's like
Bergman has been doing a great job. And typically
you would see Gabi play in front of her. I'm
not saying that's not going to happen, but it's
like, how do you utilize these pieces that are
doing really well without disrupting your rhythm,
without like Rosa Maria still is like, there
are so many options. I actually really liked
putting Gabi on the right side because both Bergman.
They weren't setting her back row, though. No.
I was wondering, I'm like, is this a conscious
choice to not make her attack, or is it an attacking
issue from that side? Because she is quite effective
in the pipe, but hitting back row on the right
side is different. But they did move her in to
pass a few times to free up the left side, so
it gives you that, too. I mean, I think that
she's probably still resting from her. She played
a lot of volleyball this year. Yeah, it's nice.
Zeroberto's got a few options on the lineup card
there. I honestly like that early prediction.
Brazil is looking so good. Italy is looking so
good. Honestly, Japan made the final of VNL last
year. If they can create that pressure with their
serve and keep teams off the net, don't count
them out either. It's cool. Yeah, there's definitely...
Four or five teams, I think, can win depending
on who gets hot. But the consistency that Italy
and Brazil have shown for me makes them a favorite.
We have one more week of women's VNL competition.
So with four games left per team, the battle
for the final eight is on. The current standings,
as we mentioned earlier in the episode, are Italy,
Poland, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, China. Germany,
USA. Those are the top eight right now. So let's
look at this and break it down because there's
some interesting matches coming up. So China
sits in the sixth spot with five wins. And then
the following teams all have four wins. Germany,
USA, Czech, Dominican. So there are five teams
there for three spots. Now there's a whole bunch
of teams that have three wins. So you're saying
Italy, Poland, Brazil, Turkey, Japan are locks.
They're in. They're not. There's nothing. And
you know what? China is most likely in as well.
Their fate is in their own hands. So who is China
playing next week? So this is the pool essentially
to come out. So there's five teams there and
four of them are all in the same pool next week.
So you have. China, Dominican, Canada, Germany,
and USA. All in the same pool. Now Thailand's
also in that pool. So that is kind of a straight
win for anybody who plays them. Except Canada.
Well, we're going to get to that because that
might be the relegation match. Oh my gosh. So
China plays Dominican, Canada, Germany, USA.
They're probably going to beat... dominican canada
and germany and they'll probably beat usa although
avery skinner comes that's a different team and
like so that's that's going to be a good match
well dominican won't make any changes they can't
canada same thing germany kind of same story
so the only team that can level up a little bit
is usa and and Germany's a little inconsistent.
China can be a little inconsistent. I would give
the edge to China, but that China -Germany match
could be a good one. I think it could be good.
Because China's young. So again, China has one
more win up on those ones. I'm assuming they're
going to get at least two more wins, probably
three in that pool. So I think China's going
to be in. Okay. So that leaves us with two spots
between Germany, USA, Czech, and Dominican. Now,
Czech is in a pool all on its own. So none of
their competition. So none of their competition.
So they play Serbia, Turkey, Netherlands, Belgium.
Now, Czech is new. Czech is doing better than
I expected. There are three teams in there that
they could legitimately beat. They're not going
to beat Turkey. They're not going to beat Turkey.
No. But Serbia is winless. And depending on whether
Pokeroo shows up for them or not, we don't know.
If you're Canadian, you understand what the Pokeroo
reference. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s,
if not, look it up. That's potential. Netherlands
stunk this week. So we'll see what happens, you
know, with that. And Belgium is kind of on their
level. Like that's a match that I would expect
to go to five. And so Czech could win three of
those matches legitimately. I'm not sure that's
likely. I think it's probably more realistic
that they win one or two. But they could win
three. And then the rest is a shootout. Germany
plays Canada, Thailand, China, Dominican. They
could win three of those matches. They could
win four of those matches, quite frankly. Oh,
dang. USA has Thailand, Dominican, Canada, China.
They could win three of those matches. They could
win four of those matches. This is going to come
down to points or set ratio or something. 100%.
So that pool in and of itself is going to be
must watch because all of those teams are playing
each other. You want to watch teams pucker and
play for those last spots? That is the pool that
I'm going to be watching. Who can handle that
pressure, baby? That pool is nasty. but it's
all but it's not you know what i mean like skill
like if you're like looking at the teams you're
like oh this pool is like meh none of the top
five teams are in it no but it's nasty in the
sense that like all of these teams are in the
same position it's the last week of competition
and it's like which ones of us are gonna make
it yeah so that i love situations like this you
guys it's super interesting how that worked out
and basically for all of these teams, your fate
in making the playoffs is in your hands. You
have to bring, that pool in particular has to
bring everybody they can. Yeah. If making the
final eight is important to them. Right. So I
think that's really interesting and it'll be
curious to see how Cech does against some of
these other teams. Ho, ho, ho. And I will say
that France and Netherlands are close, but France
has Japan and Brazil in their pool, so they're
not going to win those. So they can at most get
two wins, which is going to put them at five.
Adam's crunched the numbers. This is Adam's bookie
business. I love this stuff. Okay, so let's...
The battle for relegation? Yeah, let's go down
to the bottom. Okay, so currently we have Serbia
has zero wins. I'm not even sure how that's possible.
Korea has one win. which was against Canada.
A couple weeks ago I was like, Korea's not going
to win a match. Leave it to Canada to be like,
you can win against us. It's a tough look to
be the team that gets beaten by the bagel. Maybe
Korea will win a match and then it'll happen
to somebody else. Yeah, we'll see. So Serbia
is in last, then Korea, then Thailand, and then
Canada. So Korea and Thailand both have one win.
Canada has two wins. So in Serbia's pool is...
Czech, Italy, Belgium, Turkey. So they're not
going to beat Italy and they're not going to
beat Turkey. Probably not even if Boscovich shows
up. Because they're just not grooving. Now they
had some close matches. But they always find
a way to lose. Even when the matches are close,
they find a way to lose. But you have to remember
all these teams are in the same place with that.
Because Canada also is finding ways to lose.
Canada's great until they're just not. So it'll
be, I mean, I still don't see them. They're not
going to be Italy. They're probably not going
to be Turkey. So Serbia is going to come out
with at most two wins. Okay. Okay. However, they
already have five points. So up to seven points
or sorry. No. You think they're going to win
in three or four? I think if they win in three
or four. So max 11 points. So they could get
to 11 points. Okay. And then if they push Turkey
to five or whatever else, like they're not in
as bad a place. As you might think. Okay. I mean,
they're in a bad place, but it's not good. Compared
to the Serbia we're used to seeing, this is like
opposite day. We're in the twilight zone. So
Korea, I think, is probably not going to win.
They have Poland, Japan, Bulgaria, and France.
France is playing well. Maybe they beat Bulgaria,
but I see them sticking at one point, and they're
probably going to end up at the bottom. That's
my prediction. Thailand plays Canada. So I don't
think Canada's probably not going to beat Germany.
They're probably not going to beat China. They're
probably not going to beat the U .S. But they
play Thailand. And Thailand probably not going
to beat the U .S. or Germany or Dominican. So
that match is going to come down to head -to
-head who wins. If Thailand wins, they're tied
for points. And the tie -break procedure is...
wins losses so they'll be tied and then it comes
down to points and then it comes down to set
ratios so canada has way more points than that
don't they so as it stands canada has six points
and thailand has five points but one less win
yeah it's going to come down to that match so
if that match goes five they'll be tied and thailand
wins yeah so we will see I don't think Serbia
is going to get relegated. I think it's going
to be Korea and then either Thailand or Canada.
And it's going to come down to that one match
unless Canada can maybe beat Germany. Or push
a team to five. Or push a team to five. Well,
Thailand might push a team to five. Yeah. Oh
my gosh. I think Korea is going to be relegated.
I think Korea is going to be relegated as well.
I think that Canada is better than Thailand.
I thought Canada was better than Korea, and they
managed to throw that game away. Totally fair.
So that's what we're looking at in terms of possible
relegations, qualifying for playoffs. And again,
it's interesting, Thailand and Canada in the
same pool. So that pool is to get in and also
to be relegated. So all of those matches are
going to matter. Didn't this similar situation
happen in Canada last year with Netherlands,
where it was like, oh, if we beat you in this
VNL match, we will go to the Olympics, and then
they completely folded. So you think, who do
you think is going to squeak out from the bubble
teams? You thought it was going to be... Who's
going to make the playoffs? Between Germany,
USA, Czech, and Dominican. I think it's going
to be China, Germany, and the US. So you think
Czech and Dominican aren't going to make it?
Yeah. And then you think that the relegated team
is going to be Korea? Okay. That's Adam's prediction.
Let's see what happens. So on that note, I actually
have a question for you. Oh, dear. I've watched
several teams. So we talked about Serbia not
having Boscovich. We look at Canada, who doesn't
have... three of their players, Van Rijk, Gray,
and their setter. What do you think are realistic
expectations? How do you think that factors into
this when you look at the big picture? Because,
you know, Italy left two good left sides at home.
Brazil's not playing, you know, Gabi and Rosa
Maria. Like, other teams are leaving or missing
players as well. How do you think that reflects
on those programs or what the expectations are?
Like, how do you look at that situation? I think
when I see situations like that, it makes me
think of the future of the program. Programs
like Brazil and Italy that are able to rotate
players a little bit and still have success,
the program is going to be fine. And that can
speak to... their youth development that can
speak to, you know, their junior national team
programs, the strength of their leagues and the
training that they're getting in the professional
environment in their country. Like it could speak
to any number of things or the quality of coaching
in their countries. But the big thing for me
is just like it shows the health or the potential
health of their national team program in years
to come. Like if you're losing a couple starters
and your team literally is in the tank, your
future is not looking great. But if you are able
to swap players and do that and still find ways
to win, like that bodes really well for your
future. So that's a perfect segue into our final
storyline of the day, which are who made the
biggest improvements and who were the biggest
downfalls. I love this section. Do you want to
start with the biggest improvements? Sure. Probably
for me, I would say France was the first one.
People might be shocked to hear mine, but USA.
And I'm going to put Czech. I also had France,
but my additions to yours would be USA and Czech.
I think that's fair. I think we can give credit
where credit is due. I thought the French captain
played really well this week. French cazote?
Yeah. And their right side? Yeah. Outstanding.
Jelin, their libero is also solid. Yeah, I thought
France, both France and the Czech Republic pulled
off wins that I did not think they were going
to. Yeah, they were gritty. They grinded. They
came together as a team. Their main players stepped
up and scored points when they needed to. I thought
overall, I would agree with you. Both teams won
matches. they probably quote -unquote shouldn't
have, but it was good team effort and execution
down the stretch. USA, I know I've been ragging
on them, but they looked a lot better this week.
Yeah, and I think specifically having Dana Recchi
there. Dana Recchi made a big difference. And
they had Maddie Skinner on the right side. Yeah,
who also played very well. She did very well
on the right side. So there's two things going
back to... Dana Rickey and I noticed the defense
was different so my question to you or my thought
was does Dana allow them because she blocked
phenomenally well like she is a she has a presence
and a force at the net for sure does having her
automatically push the defenders back because
I noticed that they were deeper they were deeper
this week or did the coaching staff make an adjustment
you mean did they listen to our podcast and take
our advice obviously 100%. I don't know. I hope
that the coaching staff watched video and noticed
it and made an adjustment. Yeah, fair. Who knows?
I would love if that was the case. But Redke,
with her size, they also could have been like,
oh, she gets so many more touches. Let's back
it up. But Amber and Jade was blocking really
well, too. Fair. Yeah, I'm not sure, but their
defense was different. Yeah, it was. much more
effective people were in good places they were
able to extend way more rallies than they were
the first time uh or the first week and dana
actually she attacked well on the slide so she
gave them an option there and again they didn't
play any banger teams this week like all of them
were kind of yeah fair poland so we'll see what
happens there but they took care of what was
in front of them and they and they came up with
a good record and i thought that they played
better. I think there's still question marks
on the left side for them. But, you know, they
solidified the middle. What did you think of
Butler? I thought she was fine. Would you have
played her over IG? No. Really? You would have
played IG? I like IG. I think IG's been doing
pretty well. But, again, I don't think that it's
not a huge. Yeah, it wasn't like a huge difference.
Yeah, so I think they're almost interchangeable
for me offensively. I think Ajit is a little
better blocking -wise, a little more stable.
I thought Lexi Rodriguez set better than Hentz.
I think we can both agree on that. I think she
passed fine. You were mentioning about her defense.
Her defense, I just think she's not accustomed
or used to the range of these athletes. In college,
things are very straightforward. Players... hit
what they hit. A lot of them hit in line with
their body, but you, so you could see her like
being in a defensive position that is very college
and would probably get her digs in college and
then looked surprised when the hitter like used
the wrist and like wrapped it around the inside
of the block and went a little deeper or was
able to hit a sharper angle. So I just think
that she hasn't seen this type of physicality
and attacking. range before but I do I agree
that her setting was so much better than Hentz's
yeah and I think that they passed well as a team
this week and again you're not playing Italy
and Brazil so you know take with a grain of salt
but they were in system and their offense was
a little bit faster to the pin so I think all
of that helped I mean I think they dropped the
ball though on bringing if you're going to use
Madison Skinner as a right side don't bring three
right sides Like you dropped the ball, you could
have brought another left side. Yeah. Because
Ronnie Jones -Perry was a massive liability.
Just got aced, got blocked when it mattered,
just completely fell apart at the end of sets.
I don't really, she didn't score well, but that
was your only left side option on the bench.
Yeah. If I'm picking my left sides for next week,
it's Lanier, Skinner. Adams, Franklin. I mean,
Eggleston's been scored. She scored pretty well
this week, but. But I don't think you're going
to need her. You're going to need passing, right?
Maddie Skinner is scoring points. I think you
bring Lednicki or Babcock. I don't think it matters
because Skinner's going to play. You have, the
middles are fine with Retke there, but you need,
you're going to need to pass well. Okay, what
about the biggest downfalls of the week? I have
two teams for me. I thought Netherlands had opportunities.
They were not as good as the first week. I wasn't
impressed watching them. They looked discombobulated
as a team. They were not fun to watch. Serbia
is a dumpster fire right now. I don't know what's
happening. with them like they're in matches
and then and then they just and then they can't
win can't close and actually Canada this comes
down to the expectations right you're missing
your three best players but you're in matches
against these other teams like I mean no offense
but like you should be able to beat Korea yeah
right and you're losing matches like you lost
to Korea 13 or 15 -13 in the fifth you lost to
Belgium, 18 -16. You're there, but you've got
to close. That's to me about a mentality. That's
disappointing. Well, all of the scores against
Brazil, two of the three were within two points.
The last set against Turkey, 26 -24. There's
just an inconsistency there that's hard to watch
because they're either getting smacked around
or they're making bad errors at the end of sets.
Those three teams were the same teams on my list
too. I had Canada, Netherlands, Serbia. I agree
with you. Like if you're losing those matches,
if you're losing that many matches by two points,
it's a mentality. It is a mental issue. It's
being worried about making mistakes down the
stretch, potentially playing safe, potentially,
you know, I saw a girl serve a ball under the
net at 23 all, like being terrified, not like
mentally prepared. scared like you name it but
it's not it's clearly not a physical thing it's
mental yeah and three of your players who have
helped the team develop and who have like experienced
success aren't there like is winning is a skill
and this is actually maybe a blessing in disguise
for them because if this didn't happen And let's
say you're going and you're playing at Worlds.
Everybody knows Alexa Gray or Kira Van Ryker
are going to get the ball in key moments. If
you are now forcing some of these athletes to
be able to score, maybe you have more options
down the stretch. Now, you better hope you don't
get relegated, right? But I don't know. Thockboom,
I think, has been consistently pretty good. She's
been the biggest surprise to me in a positive
way. I've enjoyed watching her. And then I think
Gusen has also been... decent she's like 19 this
is her first i mean your 19 year old shouldn't
be the one holding it down okay so i think that
i think that she has some potential now again
you come out nobody has video on you you know
you play free there's a whole learning curve
for her there but In the small sample size where
she's been on the court, I've liked her attitude.
I've liked how she swung and been fearless. So
we'll see what happens there. But yeah, I think
overall it was a disappointing week for Canada.
Lastly, about Canada, just because we're Canadian.
What do you think the expectation should be when
you lose O 'Reilly, Van Rijk, and Gray is not
there? What is reasonable? What do you expect
from this roster? fair well you've still got
two starting middles from your last few years
you've got a starting left side and you're starting
libero so you've got four of your seven starters
from the last seven years there granted those
three players missing i think they represent
at least half the team probably more i would
expect you need to win the matches that you should
i don't i don't ever think that anybody should
win a match i don't think that that is fair to
teams but teams that are within your wheelhouse
I think the expectation needs to be that you
take care of it so they needed to take care of
Korea this week they needed to take care of Belgium
this week like those are not out of the realm
of possibility to win like you can't be satisfied
getting close against those teams you know what
I mean I will say the most disappointing part
to me with Canada is their complete lack of on
-court leadership and emotion or fire. I know
you were talking about Turkey's emotion earlier
in the episode, and they take it to the extreme.
Canada, they're not fun to watch right now. They're
a bunch of flatliners. Some of them look like
they would rather be anywhere else. They look
absolutely miserable. If you don't want to be
there, go home. I hear what you're saying, but,
and as athletes, you know, you want to play within
your personality, not everybody's rah -rah. No,
I am not a rah -rah player either, but like when
you're playing a Korea and you're in the fifth
set, like, do you want this? Do you want this?
You can't be a negative drain on the team's energy.
And I think some of the players are like that.
Yeah, again, there are some players who are like
Karakurt, who are like in your face, I'm going
to scream at you, I'm going to stare across the
net, I'm going to cheer to the crowd every time
I score. There are players who are very subdued,
like a Paola Eganu, who is just like all business,
but like she gets her job done. But you can't,
like you said, take away from the team's energy.
If it's not in your personality to be rah -rah,
don't do that. But be in neutral for your team.
suck the energy away and that's what i'm seeing
right now yeah yeah anyway you slice it i don't
even know if that's a saying but it sounded good
in my head anyway you slice it week three is
going to be interesting i'm watching one pool
everybody tune into that one pool okay do or
die who's going to make the final eight but these
were our kind of favorite storylines of the week
we wanted to touch on turkey we wanted to touch
on japan So, yeah, I'm really curious to see
how this all plays out. All right, let's hit
the listener questions, my favorite part of every
episode. Okay, are you ready? I'm ready. Question
one is about Madison Skinner. This listener said
it seems like she hasn't really found her true
home yet position -wise. How do you think this
might impact her long -term success and her likelihood
of making the Olympic roster? roster is moving
her around doing her a disservice or is she not
standing out enough at either position for coaches
to feel confident developing her there you know
if the if you're getting your best case scenario
and the Skinner sisters can pass well having
both of them on the left side I think is your
gold standard for that team I think That gives
you an incredible duo on the left who is dynamic.
They can hit out of the front row, out of the
back row. They're very physical. You know, I
think that's your best case scenario. If they
can pass. But I don't think that Madison's passing
is there, and I'm not sure it's going to get
there. Well, quite frankly, seeing her, I think
she's attacking better on the right side right
now. So that's the flip side, right? 4 000 or
a 40 000 foot view like that's where higher than
i'm playing everybody we're going super high
that's where you want it to be but i'm not sure
that that's realistic i think she played very
well from the right side i think that her physicality
gives her lots of options on the right side she
comes out of the back i think she hits better
out of the back row than she does 100 i agree
so there's obviously room for her to grow i think
when she plays Teams who aren't as physical as
her, her ability to tip the ball fast to the
ground over top of the block is really good.
She's going to need to learn to score out of
system against well -formed blocks. That's kind
of the area where I think she's going to need
some work hitting on the right side. Do you think
coaches are doing her a disservice by moving
her around? Or do you think it's a her issue
in that she hasn't stood out enough or proven
herself elite enough at either position? If she
could pass, she would play on the left side,
period. But USA doesn't have a right side right
now. She's competing against Lednicki and Babcock,
and I think she's better. Both of whom can't
even play Worlds. Right. Because they're in college.
I think she's better than both of them. So I
think Madison has found her home on the right
side for at least the next year, and they are
always going to have her work on passing to try
and force her into that, would be my guess. Okay,
question two. This person said, I am watching
the France -USA game right now. And there is
not a lot of defense being played. Is this normal
internationally? Or is the USA just not in the
right position? Yeah, I think that's the case.
I don't think they've started game planning well.
I don't think that they're reading situations
particularly well. Let's be honest. Last week
they were playing a college -style defense. Against
Italy and Brazil. Yeah. And so they've made a
great step to moving everybody back and being
a little more disciplined because for the most
part they were on a perimeter defense, which
I thought was good this past week. But they're
not at a point where as a team they're reading
situations, they're adjusting defensive positions.
I don't think they're talking about percentage
breakdowns of sets and different rotations and
who's taking what responsibilities and if the
balls inside make this adjustment. they've moved
their base position back and they're kind of
playing defense from there. I just don't, they're
not that tight or close or operating. Well, none
of these players were good defensive players
in college even. Right. You know what I mean?
Like Eggleston, Skinner, Franklin, like none
of them were like standouts defensively at the
college level. So now that they're all on the
court at the same time, I'm like, oof, watch
out. There's a lot of work to be done there.
But it is not an international trend. If you
want to see elite defense, watch Japan, watch
Italy, Brazil picks up a lot. Watch those teams
and you will see that it's a USA thing and not
a trend. Yeah, they're just not operating on
that level yet. Question three. You mentioned
how the Japan men's style of play was very different.
Can you expand more on that? And what different
styles of play are among the national teams?
What are styles of play that don't mesh well
or make it difficult for better teams playing
worse teams? So the goal of any team is to maximize
your strengths, right? So, you know, we hinted
on it talking about the Japanese women, right?
they're not as big as everybody else. So how
do you maximize that? You serve well. You make
sure you don't have a ton of options. We're just
similar to the Japanese men. The Japanese men
and women play a similar style. You run combo
plays to distract the block. Yeah, lots of options,
really fast. And again, you've got to maximize
what you have. That's your kind of coach's job
is to figure out what personnel you have and
what style works well. You might have really
big players that can't hit fastballs because
it takes away the angles that they can hit. So
you slow it down so that you can use kind of
what they're innately good at. Now, that's not
to say you don't work on things, but different
players have different things that are successful
for them. different strengths some teams serve
really well some teams block really well so you
don't have to serve as hard you keep the ball
in play it's all about kind of maximizing the
players that you have yeah so typically you see
smaller teams they try to hit the crap out of
the serve to keep teams off the net They run
their offense very, very fast, use distraction
tactics to try to create openings and holes for
their hitters to try to help them score. Bigger
teams, you will also see them create a ton of
service pressure because of their sheer size.
As Adam was saying, the offense is maybe a little
bit slower. they'll use you know triple blocks
more because their defensive skills aren't as
strong like there's a lot of different ways that
you can see teams using those strengths for big
slow teams playing a team like japan is not ideal
yeah you find the blockers often late they're
not pressing fast enough so the hitters who are
really good at getting the hands are finding
you out of position there's holes in the block
it's really hard to play teams that are super
fast with quick arms if they're in system on
the women's side a lot of the times you'll see
really big physical teams maybe not be as strong
from the service line because they are relying
on their size at the net but that doesn't work
against a team that's really fast either because
then your block gets taken out of it due to the
speed so it's a very interesting cat and mouse
game like a chess game of like let's look at
what we bring to the table And what we want to
maximize. What does this team want to maximize?
And what can we do to try to counteract that?
And yeah, sometimes your style of play, even
if you're a really great team, just does not
go together with your opponents. And even on
paper, if you are better, but you just like their
strengths are able to be maximized more that
day, like you'll, you will lose. Question four.
And this is an interesting one. Is it on? Karch
that the U .S. women's program has next to no
athletes ready to step into the shoes of veterans
leaving. How could this have happened? Shouldn't
it be a constant rotation of players ready to
step in to avoid having the level of play just
plummet like it has in the VNL for 2025? Do other
countries have this same problem? Is this just
a unique circumstance with a specific group of
veterans? I don't think that it's on Karch that
the women's program is where it is. I honestly
think it's on club coaches and college coaches
and decisions that athletes make professionally.
The way that the club and college game is structured,
you don't have to be a full, well -rounded athlete.
You don't have to be good at every skill to be
able to be an All -American because there's so
many substitutions. Your weaknesses can be hit.
hidden so easily. Internationally, you are exposed
because there are barely any substitutions. You
need to be a full, well -rounded player. And
I think it's just the American youth development
system and college system that are creating those
issues. Yeah, that's my initial thought. You're
like, I disagree. I took this in a completely
different manner. Oh. Looking specifically at
VNL. You have a whole bunch of veterans who could
be playing now and have chosen not to. There
are a whole bunch of people from the last roster
who aren't going to retire and who are going
to come back when it's convenient for them. Jordan
Thompson could be playing. Annie Drews could
be playing. Kelsey Cook. Kelsey Cook, any number
of setters. They have decided they don't want
to play for whatever reason. And that's maybe
they want a break. Maybe they're going to retire.
There's any number of reasons. Okay. If you're
taking it in that direction, I mean, a lot of
the players that are on the VNL roster were on
B team rosters and stuff in the past. I don't
know how their training works. Like if the A
team just trains with the A team, B with B, whatever.
But if you want all of your athletes to develop,
your B team and A team need to mix. to get that
kind of experience. I don't know. Yeah, so I
don't, like they have enough athletes. If they
really wanted to, if this V &L was important
to them, they could have brought in other athletes
and been just fine. They have capable players
who, and I'm assuming a bunch of them are going
to be at Worlds or play next year. So whether
that was a program decision, whether that was
an athlete decision. I'm not sure. The other
thing you have to remember about this VNL is
that the U .S. is an automatic birth into the
Olympics. So they have the luxury of this VNL
means, quite frankly, absolutely nothing to them.
Unless they got relegated. Unless they got relegated.
But they're getting a chance to evaluate young
players in pressure moments. So again, it's a
mix of different things, but it's not on Karch.
Last question of the day. I'm new to VNL. I understand
now that teams rotate their rosters for the preliminary
rounds. But why? Fair. So two part question.
Do we really expect a player to not be able to
play the entire tournament? And two, why wouldn't
teams have a strategy to go all out with their
strongest teams against the weaker opponents
in week one to maximize their points? Then they
could rest those players in the middle weeks.
As long as they get into the best eight, that's
all that matters. Yes. I mean, there's lots of
nuance here. So one is you have to remember that
it's not about lasting for the tournament. It's
the fact that all of these athletes are playing
professional seasons that go all year long and
then showing up and playing on their national
teams. You do need a break if you're nursing
injuries from your pro season. Like there is
some load management that happens here. They
fully could play the whole VNL. Yeah, that's
not it. I don't think that's it at all. Totally.
So that's number one. Number two is if we're
looking at tournaments in order of importance,
VNL is at the bottom, right? So Olympics, World
Championships, which are later this year. You
know, VNL is something that you play. VNL is
third, and then I would say continental stuff
is last. Exactly. So VNL is the area, especially
in the first couple weeks, where you get a chance
to play. your younger players and get them some
experience. And like we talked about in the last
question, build up your youth so that they have
some opportunities to understand what your culture
is, what your systems are, what international
looks like, you know, specifically for those
who aren't playing in really good pro leagues.
So there's a balance from an overall national
team experience that you're constantly thinking
about. Between winning and development. Exactly.
And again, it's like you said. We got to make
the playoffs and then you load up your roster.
So how can I do that? How can I get experience
in all of that? But if you're a deep team and
you have, like we mentioned today, Italy, Brazil,
whatever, you want playing against the weaker
teams. You don't want to play your best players
necessarily against the weaker teams. Because
if you're deep enough, you're... second string
players are probably going good enough to beat
the weaker teams. You kind of want to save your
top players to compete against the top teams
because that is where you're going to see that
differentiation. So is it any shock that Italy
took their top roster to the tournament to the
right week where they had to play Brazil and
USA? No. Because historically, Brazil and USA
are two of the very top teams. And so they're
like, we're going to bring our best roster to
play against the best teams, not knowing that
USA was going to bring who they brought. So it's
definitely looking at who's in front of you,
historical data, being like. Do we need our top
line to play this team? Can we get away with
developing our younger players and still potentially
win against these weaker teams? It's interesting.
Well, I hope that answered all the questions.
These were great ones. Great ones this week,
everybody. We always enjoy kind of looking through
these and answering. But looking ahead to next
week, we're in week two of the men's VNL. It's
tight. Any team can qualify, could be relegated
at this point. I think all the teams have wins.
So I think this week is going to see some separation.
We're going to see the kind of groupings settle
in a little bit, I think. So I'm looking forward
to what's happening. The matches are going to
be in Belgrade, Borgas, and Chicago. So we should
see some very good matches. There are so many
good ones. It was really hard for me to pick
just three, but here we go. So here are the ones
that we've highlighted that we think are going
to be good this week. Wednesday at 1 .30 p .m.
Eastern, we have Italy versus Poland. Thursday
at 8 .30 p .m. Eastern, Canada versus USA. That
will be interesting. And then Sunday at 5 o 'clock
Eastern. Watch the replay. Slovenia and Japan.
We got some highly ranked teams. We got a continent
rivalry. And again, Japan and Slovenia should
be a good one as well. It's going to be a crafty
match, I think. So yeah, those would be the ones
that I'm watching for sure this week. That concludes
this week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always
something shaking in the volleyball world, and
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