Kelly Sheffield's Viral Interview, LOVB Season 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 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. I don't know about you, but it kind of felt...
A bit like Volleyball Overload this week. It
felt hectic. I didn't know what to watch. And
then I thought games that were on Roku would
be a findable post -match. And there were a couple
I wanted to watch that I couldn't. Tune in next
month for those. Yeah. So it was a little bit
of mayhem. What is Victory Plus? No clue. Yeah.
Free streaming app you can download on your smart
TV. Okay. How many do we need here? A bunch.
Anyway. Both pro leagues kicked off. My volley
fantasy team killed me. I'm not doing too bad.
I ended up 51st after week one. I don't even
want to talk about it. I'm less. I'm in the lower
half. Well, let's go. So shout out to everybody
who signed up. We got 220 teams. Not enough,
everybody. Not enough. Let's go. You can still
join. Shout out to NoDiggity, who's in first
place after week one. Dez in second place. And
GoBills, squeaked one out. Currently sitting
in third. We're from near Buffalo, so we can
appreciate that. Yeah, that happened. We will
dig a little bit more into the volley fantasy
league in a little bit. But NCAA men's was happening.
It was like all over the map. But then I think
probably the biggest thing that happened this
week wasn't even any matches. Of course, it revolves
around NCAA women because it always does. We
can't escape it. the infamous Kelly Sheffield
interview. We are going to dive into that. Don't
you worry. And of course, we're very excited
to talk about volleyball with you all. So let's
get started. All right. As we mentioned, there
were so many games this week in so many different
leagues. We had Champions League, Overseas Leagues,
all the American Pro Leagues. Yes, I said all
the American Pro Leagues. NCAA men. So too much
to keep track of, you guys. It's hard. And for
the sake of not making the episodes 10 hours
long, we have to pick and choose. So NCAA men,
noteworthy results. Okay, are you ready? I'm
ready. Lewis beat Stanford 3 -0. I'm a little
shocked by that result. I thought the Stanford
boys would have learned a few lessons from last
year. I mean, Lewis is nothing to scoff at. I'm
not surprised they lost just 3 -0. And you know
what else is really bothering me? The NCAA website
now does have the schedule up. Took them long
enough, but they don't have the rankings next
to the teams. You know, on the women's season,
they have like all the rankings. Listen, it's
coming. It's coming. Give me the rankings next
to the scores. Okay. Thank you. We can do that
next. So that happened. And then Loyola Chicago
beat Hawaii 3 -1 in Hawaii. That's shocking.
Hawaii did win the first match of that series
3 -0, but still. You would think that even if
Hawaii was playing a few of its non -starters.
Well, you're playing in Hawaii. That is like
leaning so heavily in their favor. That's worth
several points right there. Agreed. You probably
shouldn't have lost that one. No, that might
mess up the rankings. Mix them up a little bit.
Yeah, but there's 12 teams now in the playoffs.
So that's a huge positive. 12 teams make the
tournament. So people might be able to have one
little slip and still make it. Theirs is over
now. No more slips. No more slips for Hawaii.
They wasted it a little too early. But those
were the major noteworthy results in MLV. The
team that we picked to be last started off the
season by beating Atlanta. That would be Columbus.
I actually thought Columbus looked pretty good
watching them play. Way better than I expected.
I was pleasantly surprised. Forget everything
we said in the preview episode. I mean, and that's
exactly what it is. It's a preview. You have
no idea how the players are going to gel. You
know we love a prediction. Congrats to Columbus
for starting the season off on a high note. Yes.
Absolutely love Salt Lake v. Houston 3 -0. We
thought Salt Lake would be better. We did think
Salt Lake was going to make some improvements.
And we know how much love loves their five setters.
We've had three in the opening week. We had Austin
over Nebraska in five, Nebraska over Houston
in five, and Austin over Atlanta in five. Wowie.
Here's my thing. is the volleyball in general
and we watched mostly american pro leagues this
week it was sloppy with lots of runs you saw
lots of runs yes lots of six point swings one
way and then the other blown leads shootouts
where one team wins 25 17 that loses 25 17 i
mean in fairness It's the first week of the season.
Setters are still getting to know their hitters.
You brought in your young college players, lots
of who started already. I know, but it's still,
it's not unexpected that things aren't going
to be polished this week. But that being said,
the point swings were a little surprising at
how consistent they showed up in those matches.
So those are the highlights for the week. Just
a little taster of what was going on. Champions
League did have a round in their pool play. But
as I said, we're going to be jumping all over
the place this winter. So this is what our focus
was this week. So we're going to dive into some
of the matches we watched a little bit later
in the episode. Continuing on the love note.
Probably the last highlight of the week is Jordan
Larson announced her retirement at the end of
the season. Yeah, this will be her last season
competing. She has had the greatest career in
American volleyball history, I would say. Yeah,
I think that's pretty undisputable. Four Olympic
medals, including gold in Tokyo. Just... 16 years
professionally for some of the top teams in the
world, a founding athlete of love, now an owner
of Love Nebraska. There's not a lot that she
hasn't done. So undoubtedly a very emotional
season for her as she kind of does her farewell
tour around the country, which I think she absolutely
deserves. And I think it'll be a great way for
her to say goodbye to the sport. in her home
country yeah so that is very big news the sport
is end of an era end of an era everybody go watch
her while you can because one of the best so
in the interest of keeping these episodes under
two hours we didn't do the love season preview
that being said we're queued up we're gonna do
it today that will allow us to kind of see what's
going on in the season so here we go let's dive
in we'll just start alphabetically So we'll go
with Atlanta, who won the regular season last
year. And then... Did they really? Yes. Oh, dang.
And then I believe they lost in the semifinals
of the one weekend playoff. Yes. And they had
a ton of roster turnover this year. So they have
seven new players, and they lost six players.
Players that they lost of note would be... Danielle
Coutinho. I think she played quite a bit for
them. I believe she's in Japan this year. Correct.
And the rest of the players that left were players
around the edges that were filling out the roster.
And Kelsey Cook, who is pregnant. She's on the
injury reserve list, which Love has one of those
now. Which is handy. An undisclosed reason. Except
she's posting on social media. Ludicrous. But
I didn't consider her gone because she was pregnant.
But, yes, for all intents and purposes, she will
not be playing. A whole bunch of additions. Miroslava
Paskova coming in, outside hitter. We have Ella
Mae Powell, who will be setting. She's been in
France, and she's from Washington originally.
Carly DeHog from Austin. Ivani Montano, an opposite
from Colombia, who has played in Italy. Played
for one of your previous clubs in Casal Maggiore.
Don't remind me. Jess Robinson, middle blocker
who originally played at Michigan. Julia San
Giacomo is an outside hitter. And Eva Hudson
is their young up -and -comer on the left side.
What are your thoughts about the players coming
in? Who do you think is going to make a difference?
First of all, we know we kind of did this in
the summer. This is just a quick recap for those
of you who maybe missed that summer episode.
Okay, so yes. Just a quick repeat. I think Eva
Hudson is on a good team if she wants to play,
considering Kelsey Cook will not be playing.
So she does have a chance, I think, to play.
Ella Mae Powell was on the national team this
past summer. Will she beat out Rachel Fairbanks?
That's going to be a healthy competition, I think.
I lean towards Fairbanks, but it's a good backup
option. I didn't like Atlanta last year. I was
like, they are going to be so bad. And then they
were like, you know nothing. We won the league.
So what do I know about Atlanta? Maybe these
are great additions. Well, I think the opposite
position. Grubbs is back. Grubbs is back. She
played the majority of the season until she got
hurt. And that's when Coutinho stepped in. Yeah.
We've got Mackenzie Adams is back. They're returning.
A good number of players who played most of the
time. So basically we're looking for a replacement
for Kelsey Cook. Correct. And then these players
are just filling in around the edges. Exactly.
I still think Atlanta is going to be quite good.
And Coutinho is the only note where they lost.
Yes. Okay. Somebody may step up. We'll see what
happens with Eva Hudson. They're going to lose
some ball control with Cook. So that will be,
you know, can they replace? that ball control
and does their style change if their ball control
is not up to par. So that's what I see happening
with Atlanta. With Austin, four players in, four
players out. They lost Gennari, who was an outside
hitter from Italy. They lost Sage Kahana -Torres.
They lost Chiaka Ogbagu and Anna Hawk. They lost
some good players. Starting setter, starting
middle, starting left side. Coming in. Maddie
Banks, who played for Omaha last year. Bella
Bergmark, who's a middle blocker, played in Puerto
Rico and France. Brie O 'Reilly, Canadian center.
More importantly, she played for Texas, so...
Yes, okay. Fair enough. And Maddalena Jerzyk,
Polish middle, who has played eight years pro
in Poland. What are your thoughts on Austin?
They ended up tied for last with five wins. Won
the league. And then won the playoffs. Jury's
out on... And that was our big knock. Well, one
of our big knocks against Love last year is that
it didn't even matter. Like, why play the regular
season? Everybody makes playoffs, and then the
last place team wins. There you go. One, I think
both last place teams win the final. Correct.
I think Austin and Omaha both had five wins after
the regular season. Yeah, it was crazy. Austin,
I feel like they got an upgrade in the center
position. Bree O 'Reilly is... Very good. Yeah.
Canadian national team setter, as you said. They're
getting a downgrade in the middle. I mean, Jurczyk
is good. She plays for the Polish national team,
but she's not a Gbagu. Agreed. And then I think
they are neutral -ish slash maybe improving a
little bit on the left side with Banks replacing
Hawk. Austin will be interesting. Which team?
We watched them play a little bit. It'll be curious
to see how they gel. I think Brie O 'Reilly will
try and run. But Jurczyk wasn't even playing.
Yeah. It was Bergmark and Ajo Neal. But anyway,
we can dive into that later. Yeah. I'm most curious
with Austin to see, did they have one good weekend?
Oh, and they acquired Eric Sullivan, the national
team head coach. Taye Beneath Park is coaching
there. Pretty sure they just signed another coach
that's on the USA roster. So they are making
Austin national team central. I'm stopping there,
everybody. Thoughts about that, we'll talk about
it on another episode. That is Austin, and we
will see what they are. I give them four weeks.
All right, let's look at Houston. Second in the
regular season with 10 wins last year. Lost to
Austin in the semifinal. They lost two players
in Christina Bauer and Anna Pogany, and they
added... Justine Wong -Orantes, who is also out
for an undisclosed injury, but is pregnant. Did
you see how bad he struggled to wing? Have you
never winged in your life? I did that on purpose.
That was supposed to be like an animated wink,
wink, nudge, nudge. I could only see one eye,
but it looked like both eyes were moving. No,
that was intentional. They added Lauren Briseño
at the libero position. They also added Maya
Sands. So they added three liberos to this team.
Fantastic. They also added Jasmine White, who
is a middle blocker, played for Canada. She's
on the national team. And Logan Lednicki, coming
off her stellar season, is also playing there
as their rookie add -on. What are your thoughts?
I mean, they're downgraded at the Libero, in
my opinion. Assuming Justine's not playing. If
Justine was playing, then they'd be upgrading.
Correct. But, I mean, Rosenio was on the VNL
roster. Yeah, but she's not Pogany. Like, Pogany's...
German national team starter. Yeah, she was very
good. I'll say downgrade Libero. I will say upgrade
middle. Bauer was at the end of her career. She
was on the bench. Jazz White is not playing a
ton for Canada, but she's good. I'm just confused.
Why are you doubling up all these positions?
Why are you signing a libero out of college when
you already have two. Granted, okay, one's not
playing, whatever. And you have an opposite in
Logan Lednicki. What is she going to sit on the
bench behind Jordan Thompson? That's exactly
what she's going to do. Why are you staying to
just sit on the bench? I guarantee you she could
have found something overseas. Totally. Anyway,
that's not the question. This is kind of a wash
for me. Madison was a bit of a yard sale. They
lost nine players and they added nine players.
And there's some really interesting names on
this list. They added Andre Sorokite, who I'm
assuming you played against or know. Yes, I've
played against her since I was like 22. So she's
37. So she's at the end of her career, played
in Italy for a long time, was on the national
team. Rebecca Alec is the rookie going in there.
They added, and this to me is the biggest pickup,
Gong, the opposite from China, who is, in my
opinion, outstanding. I really liked her in VNL.
They added Argentina Ung, and then Anna Pogany
is playing there. Anna Hawk is here. Andrea Mitrovic,
who is a Canadian national team left side, is
here. Callie Schwarzenbach is coming as well.
And then the whole team just left the whole team.
They had a lot of foreign players who I don't
think are playing anywhere in love again this
year. And then, you know, Taylor Sambuthi went
and is playing MLB. My one knock about all of
this is that we have no clarity on who chose
to leave, who didn't have their contracts renewed,
why they made player switches. For me, half the
fun of. sports is watching what management does
in terms of roster construction and things like
this and we just have no no insight into what
happened so it's just straight Sarah Franklin
went to Italy Annie Schumacher just said she
wasn't playing this year yeah so there's that
and both like you said MLV and Yaniska I think
retired okay but then the rest I have no idea
yeah so tons of turnover and key positions so
I actually like the roster better this year than
last year. I think Alec will be able to do something
right away. I think they upgraded in the opposite
position. Some people might disagree, but I think
so. Yeah, I think they upgraded the opposite
position. Who do you think, Pogany or Wang for
Libero? Do you think that's a wash? Wang didn't
have a stellar season, so I think Pogany is probably
going to do a bit better. Mitrovic, for me, is
hit and miss. Sometimes she's... Very good. Sometimes
she was awful in VNL this year. I'm curious to
see how she does in the pro league here. What
are your thoughts on Halle Schwarzenbach being
here? I mean, she played for Osasco in Brazil
last year. This roster, I think, overall is a
bit better, but I didn't love Madison last season.
Agreed. And they were up and down, and they played
better at the end, but I don't think they won
at the beginning. barely at all they went on
a streak where they lost like 87 matches in a
row yeah the middle pair of i'm assuming it's
going to be alec and schwarzenbach maybe bia
stayed didn't she she did stay do you think she
starts over well and then anna hall had a baby
in like september but was saying that she was
going to be back so i don't know yeah it'll be
interesting to see what madison a puts on the
floor and how they look all right let's look
at omaha Finished last in the league last year
with five wins, but second in the playoff, as
we mentioned, losing in the finals. So they lost
six players. Justine left. Both the Stiveren
sisters left. They're playing beach now, I believe.
Sammy Francis is in Japan. Chimaka Wokolo is
also gone. And then Maddie Kubik -Banks switched
teams. In is Iga Vazilevska. In is Anne Buies,
who's a 34 -year -old. Dutch national team player
Carol from Brazil is here. Alexis Hart, who is
played in Germany from Minnesota originally,
outside hitter. And then Julia Hansen is the
outside hitter playing here as the rookie. Thoughts?
I definitely think they got better in the middle.
I think Carol is currently injured, but she'll
be their best middle. Better. I mean, Carol,
yeah, she's good. I think they got worse overall.
I mean, Jaylee Winters and Jordan Larson are
the outsides. Everyone knows how I feel about
Jaylee Winters. But the pickups that they made,
I'm like, I don't know. They couldn't score points
last year. Jordan pushed that team to have a
really good weekend. And she was outstanding.
I'm not sure she's going to do that for a whole
season. And I don't think they added enough pieces.
Yes, they might be better in the middle. They
have the ball control to run the middle, but
I still think they're going to struggle to score
points. I think they're closer to the five -win
team, season team, than they are to the second
-place playoff team. I think Jordan willed that
team to have a good weekend, and I'm not sure
she's going to be able to do that for a whole
season. Well, I think everything's going to be
the same because the only reason they brought
Sammy Francis in is because Herrera got injured
last season. So she's back. Paquero is there,
so sure. Yeah, better in the middle. But then
you lose your 6 -2 opposite who was coming. Like,
Stevens was the opposite coming in with Gabby
Blossom. Yeah. But then everybody else is the
same. Yeah. And they did really bad last year
until the end, like you said. So for me, this
is a meh, meh offseason movement. Yeah, and I
don't think they're going to have a great regular
season. And then finally, we have Salt Lake,
who finished fourth with seven wins. They lost
in the quarterfinals to Austin. I didn't mind
watching this team. I thought it was an entertaining
team to watch. I didn't like their left sides.
Fair. I think as a team, I enjoyed watching them.
It was what I was going for. And their decision
of who they played in the middle was really head
-scratcher. Well, that still might be a head
-scratcher. Their team is mostly the same. They
had two players out, three players in. If Anacost
Paula is playing here as the middle blocker,
she's the rookie coming in. I hope she plays.
They added Alexa Gray. Hold on. So they have
Haley Washington, Serena Gray, and Tori Dixon.
Haley Washington was injured a bunch and didn't
play a ton. So we'll see where that ends up.
Yeah, I think Anacost Paula needs to play. 100
% she needs to play. And if she doesn't... I
don't know what they're doing. Alexa Gray comes
on the outside. Another Canadian national team.
She's very good. She will make them better. And
Maddie Bug is there as the setter. She'll be
the backup for Jordan. They lost Tamaki Matsu,
who was the Japanese libero. And they lost Miller.
I believe she retired. I personally think this
team gets a huge upgrade with... These players,
massive upgrade. Yeah, they are... difference
makers, in my opinion. Considering that I didn't
love their left side situation, Alexa Gray is
going to upgrade that big time. I liked Salt
Lake, like you said, except for a couple, like
I think the second middle, I had a few questions
about, and they could get better on the outside.
But to me, if I'm a GM, these are the moves that
make my team much better. So I would look for
Salt Lake to be much more competitive this year.
So those are the... team kind of changes and
highlights going into the season. Who is your
prediction of best and worst? Do you think regular
season? We're not going to talk about weekend
tournaments. Best. I hate to say it. I'm probably
going to say Austin. Okay. Like they upgraded
in the center position. I thought, which is critical.
Like that can be game changing to have an upgrade
in the setting role. And they're, like, coming
off of winning the league last year and not a
lot of on -court changes aside from that. Like,
I hate to say it, but, yeah. I think Austin.
And then worst, Madison or Omaha. Yeah, I would
say I think Atlanta or Austin will win the league
again this year. And I think Omaha will probably
finish last again. Yeah, so those are our early
preseason predictions. We'll see what comes of
that league. But you forgot. One thing we're
excited about is the format change. No longer
a headliner match and a weekend with love match.
It seems like they are all just playing one match
at a location, traveling around, I think. So
this is, I appreciate this change. I'm fine with,
I mean, this is obviously a new endeavor. They're
trying to make things work. They tried something
in the first year. It didn't work very well.
According to us. Well. I mean, clearly it didn't
work well. Good. They made a change that we didn't
like. If they decided to change it, it wasn't
working. And I think that a lot of people felt
the same way. It just didn't have a professional.
It was real hard to watch by the end of the season.
I'm like, I feel like this is, I'm watching,
it's a groundhog day. Yeah. I will say kudos
to Love for making an adjustment there. I think
it's a positive one. Now, you know, we'll just
wait and see. If the presentation and my pet
peeve of the announcing and the best players
in the world always being there has been addressed
or not. Jerry's out. We'll find out. The piece
of volleyball content that is breaking the internet
this past week. I cannot tell you how many messages
and emails and you name it. I got about the Kelly
Sheffield podcast. YouTube, everything, the comments
and people wanted to know what our thoughts would
be. Triple digits. Totally. Okay. Thank you to
every single one of you who sent it to me because
that just proves how invested you guys are. So
we appreciate it. I think there's two conversations
to be had here. No, but first of all, if you
haven't listened to it or watched it, you have
no idea what I'm talking about. I have it linked
in the description box or the show notes below.
So if you haven't listened to the podcast yet,
go do that and then come back here. So I think
there's two conversations to be had here. One
is the portal as a whole and some of the issues
that Sheffield raised. The second piece is a
little more specific to Wisconsin and some of
the things that he said regarding the transfer
portal. Correct. I do appreciate how candid he
was. I appreciate that he kind of let his guard
down, I guess, because these coaches are all
like professional. Not that this wasn't professional,
but like there are parts that weren't. But like
they're trained to respond in a certain way,
to be so PC, to dance around the hard questions.
I do really appreciate him just laying it out
there. I agree. And I liked listening to him.
And for the most part, I like a lot of media
that he does. But don't kid yourself. There was
a narrative out there that he wanted to be in
control of. 100%. 100%. Let's start the conversation
taking everything he said at face value and talk
about the role agents are currently playing in
college sports. Okay. Let's do it. I'm feeling
a lot of feelings about it. What are you thinking?
I think that it's important for players to have
representation because now that there's money
involved in other things, these athletes have
very little experience navigating a contract,
knowing what their value is, and I'm all for
players getting what they can. Totally on board
for that. And I think it makes a ton of sense.
So I do think there is a place for agents in
the game. You guys know I don't love NIL. We
know that. I can look at my own personal experience.
I am my worst negotiator. I understand myself
all the time. My feelings about NIL aside, given
that it is here and it is the reality, I think
that people need individuals to negotiate on
their behalf. Because I'm like you. I hate talking
money with people. I hate being like, this is
what you should pay me. Your agent earned you
way more money than you would ever make on your
own. Like, me? I'm like, I'll just do it for
free. It's fine. No, people need this. The number
of times Sarah will ask me, hey, should I invoice
this person for that? As in, she just wasn't
going to charge anybody for doing things. Anyway,
moving on. They are a necessary part of the NIL
economy. I think we're agreed in that regard.
My issue comes with... Unaligned incentives.
Look at Adam just throwing out these terms. Well,
I think Sheffield's point to the agents make
money every time they sign a contract is completely
true. And getting 15 % good for the agent, they're
ripping that kid off. Okay, just for context,
he said that Lauren Carlini's agent takes 5%.
I will say when I played, my agency was a very
reputable Italian agency. They took 8 % of all
of my contracts, but they negotiated that with
the club on the side. So I did not have to pay
that. Whatever my salary was, was mine. And then
the club had to pay the agency on top of that.
8%. 5%. Anything 5 % to 10 % is... reasonable
three to five i mean i think like nba salaries
so it depends on the size of the contracts to
make it worthwhile and so on and so forth you
feel like the athletes may be getting taken advantage
of a little bit there so like 15 is it's high
is crazy and if that and it's coming out of the
athlete's pocket so you are preying on young
men and women and you have no integrity It seems
that this particular agent he was talking about
has no integrity. Again, assuming what he said
is true. Assuming what he said is true. Yeah,
you want these kids to transfer. And if you see
kids who are like not playing or on the bench
and you're like knocking on their door being
like, hey, want to transfer? That is a complete
lack of integrity. But if you're an agent trying
to make money, that's exactly what you would
do. I would go down the list. If I was an agent
and if I was in this agent's shoes. No, I would
not be able to. I wouldn't be able to do that.
I understand. And I would never do this. But
I'm just saying to make money, that's 100 % what
you do. And again, these kids, for the most part,
lack experience in doing these things. So you
come in and I can definitely see how this works.
You put a bug in their ear. You've got this.
Hey, I've got a deal for you. You know, all of
that. There needs to be, you should need to go
through a process as an agent. And I don't know
if you do, but to get certified, there needs
to be guidelines around when you can do those
things. Well, you're seeing certain players in
other sports, and he highlighted football, transferring
every single year. I mean, we talked about what
we would do to fix the transfer portal last episode.
And this is one of the things. The agents, it's
in their best interest for the athletes to move.
which is not generally in the athlete's best
interest. Again, I don't know how you police
it. The NIL has opened a wild, wild west here.
Those kids getting bad advice, and I'm not saying
it's always bad, but it's tough. And I don't
know how you fix it, but it's not, it's ugly.
It's gross to me, honestly. And the fact that
these adults are just using... Young people to
further their own financial gain. When at the
end of the day, this should be about an education.
I know it's not anymore. And when he was asked
about that, he literally laughed. And then the
guy was like, is this even about, do kids even
get an education anymore? He laughed, but then
gave like a PC answer after that, like fixed
it. But I'm like, okay, that says it all. Thank
you so much. He laughed and threw football under
the bus and didn't talk about it. He said enough.
Totally. If that is true, it's disgusting to
me. And I'm seeing it. I was sent an Instagram
for a European agency that specializes in scholarships.
The number of European players, I know there's
a ton of everyone, but like European players
are transferring a ton. This one agency had like
all of the Kansas foreign players. Shocker, they're
all transferring. It's just. I am so disturbed
by it, really. Yeah, it should not happen this
way. And there should be, to me, it's up to the
NCAA and the universities to protect these kids,
to protect their athletes. Because right now,
in this situation, they're being preyed upon.
And they're being given bad information. That's
how I see it. Let's get into the Wisconsin -specific
piece of this. This is the part that I'm meaning.
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle
somewhere of something. Sure. So I think there's
a couple things. I think you need to look at
pattern of behavior to set a bit of a historical
context. And for the most part, I think Wisconsin
loses quite a few players to the portal. Can
somebody pull up the numbers for us on this?
We didn't do the research, but this year, as
we know, it was six. Last year, they lost pretty
much all their DSs as well. Yeah, I think it
was five or six athletes. There's going to be
the case where athletes show up. They think they're
going to be able to earn a starting spot. You
know, it doesn't happen. They don't play. They
want to play. They transfer out. I totally get
that narrative. And the better the program, the
higher the chances are that that happens. I think
some of the things I heard Sheffield say in terms
of roles with players, pathways to playing time,
those kind of things, those conversations are
important and hard to have. And nobody's in the
room, but... I doubt the players feel that way,
that they have a clear expectation of what's
going to happen if they're leaving kind of en
masse like that. Again, we're not in the room.
We don't know what those conversations are. But
I think that that is one of those situations
where what the coaching staff believes and what
the athletes kind of hear or believe, neither
of those are accurate. And the truth lies somewhere
in the middle. So that would be, or, you know,
these are really young people who are trying
to have these very difficult conversations with
an older man or people of authority. Maybe they
aren't comfortable telling you the real reason
they're leaving. True. You know, maybe they are,
don't feel comfortable giving you the real reason
and are trying to say something safe. You know,
you never know. I'm just saying like being an
18, 19 year old. talking to a 50 -year -old man,
like, it can be scary. And I mean, I think all
of the transfers kind of make sense, except for
Una. This is where... He threw her under the
bus real hard. Yeah, and I have a hard time believing
everything that was said. Just from the sheer
fact of Una was playing, she was playing well,
That one doesn't make sense to me. There was
something happening behind the scenes that made
her want to go somewhere else. And I don't think
it was purely because somebody got in her ear
and said, you should leave. You're going to be
a DS. I'm sorry. If somebody who's not involved
in the program at all is like, this is what's
going to happen to you. Come on now. They have
no idea. Yeah, that line, it just, it smelled
a little bit to me. There's something else kind
of happening behind the scenes there, unless
she got offered just two, three times the amount
of money she was making at Wisconsin. And I think
Wisconsin has money for players. That, to me,
was a little bit interesting. What did you think
of what he had to say about timing of the transfer
portal and how people who make the Final Four
just are at a disadvantage? Well, first of all,
it was boo -hoo, you're in the Final Four. I
know. I was kind of like, no, yeah, too bad.
Except you signed Jayla Auguste, which is a huge
pickup. You're telling me that you didn't know
that was happening? Yeah. Until you were done
the final four. There's no way that he wasn't
looking at the portal and knew what was going
on. He's got coaches that are scouting, that
are running practices. You got Charlie's mom
sending you updates. That was also weird. I need
to check where Ava Travis played club. If she
did not play for Mizuno Long Beach, what the
heck is Charlie's mom doing sending him these
messages? She's the Western Scouts. She's on
the payroll. No, stop it. When he said that,
I was like, that's a conflict of interest. I'm
sorry. I mean, if I'm honest, if our daughter
was playing on a team and there was an athlete
that would make... I 100 % would not do that.
No. That is her life. That is her... You wouldn't
tell a coach, hey, I think this play would be
good for your team. You're a better person than
I am. How do you ever think that that is your
place to tell your kid's college coach, hey,
check out this girl from the transfer portal?
Never. I mean, she runs. My kid goes there. She
runs a club. I am supporting her. I am like doing
what I need to do to support her. And I am hands
off. That is it. You would seriously do that?
If I knew club volleyball. No, you wouldn't because
I wouldn't let you do that. She wasn't a club
volleyball player, Adam. She played for UC San
Diego. I understand that. I'm assuming that Joy
knows her. So I'm saying if she did not play
for that club, there is no reason for it. Anyway,
I digress. Yeah, so the timing piece on picking
up players is, you know. I didn't believe that
for a second. The timing piece about players
leaving is the tough piece, right? If you need
to enter the portal and you're trying to have
those conversations. During preparation. And
I did agree. I did agree with what he said about,
you know, a Texas player he alluded to right
after they lost announced that she was entering
the portal. And he was saying, like, you need
to be where your feet are. You need to be in
the moment and do your job, have that integrity.
I completely agree with that. For sure. Totally.
So for those players who are vacating their team
and you're preparing to play. How do you stay
focused? You're 18, 19, 20. That's not professional.
If you want to make money like a professional,
then you need to be professional and do your
job in that way and go about that process the
right way. Yeah. That part I totally agree with.
And then the other thing I thought was interesting
was the athletes going to compliance first instead
of having a conversation. I can imagine. if I'm
a young athlete and I've never done this before
and I'm I have an agent the other thing that
I think is would be curious to know and I don't
know this for sure is the timing of the agent
picking up these players were they was he with
them before was it really two weeks before the
season ended that piece would be I'm curious
how long they were with this person yeah I would
be curious to know that as well because also
if you're poaching athletes like at the end of
the season you need to be professional too to
be like These girls need to focus on playing
and winning a national championship. I will approach
them later. If you are talking to athletes to
try to acquire them as a client while they are
still competing, you have no integrity. Yeah,
that's totally shady, like super shady. But I
can see as a young athlete, you have an agent
who goes, hey, here's the protocol, like talk
to compliance, do that. You know, you get the
ball rolling. Obviously, the right approach is
to talk to your coach about it first, and hopefully
you're having those dialogues. But I can see
how that would happen from an athlete's standpoint
if that's the advice you're getting. So again,
it comes down to the integrity of who's giving
you advice and what you're listening to. If that
many people did go to compliance all with the
same agent, then I think it's a failure. You
made it sound like it was only two or something.
As a coach, to find out that way would hurt on
a personal level. No, that would bother me too.
I could appreciate that. But again, I think we
come down to expectations of athletes. There
being a disconnect there and people wanting to
either A, make more money or B, play. And again,
I think the transfer portal doesn't always incentivize
coaches to give a ton of time to, you know, players
nine through 18. So I think that that probably
lines up somewhere in the middle of those stories.
Regardless. I enjoyed listening to it. I did
too. When he started going off, I was like, oh
my gosh, keep it coming. I love this. I can appreciate
anybody who's willing to have an honest conversation
about a topic at hand. So kudos to him for going
out and putting that out there because it's,
you know, it's something worth talking about
and it's something that's broken and needs to
be addressed. And thanks to all of you who brought
it to our attention. Yeah. Really enjoyed it.
Okay. We mentioned that there was a lot of volleyball
going on this week. So what did you watch? I
watched the Atlanta Columbus game, which again,
I was thoroughly surprised at how Columbus played.
I, you know what? I don't really want to dive
into specifics of teams yet because I think we
need to give them a little time to breathe. Kind
of some overarching... Like a fine wine, baby.
It's just too early to start picking things apart.
So I will say that I thought Columbus did a much
better job. I liked that they were running the
middle. There was a lot of compete there. I thought
they blocked well. They were prepared to play.
So... Reina Terry was good. Regan Pittman brought
that tood, which you know I love. I wasn't sure
what was going to happen in that match. I thought
there was the potential for it to be a 3 -0 Atlanta
win. I like what they've done with their roster.
I liked they looked prepared. Again, defensively,
I thought they were sound. So I was pleasantly
surprised with them. Atlanta was not as clean
as I thought they were going to be. Their outsides
were... They had Matty Wack. setting yeah rookie
right off of that national championship they're
like you know what you're gonna start and you
know who they but mac pedraza so i like the maddie
whack long term i think having watched her play
extensively in the ncaa finals her decision making
is good listen all of these young players coming
in the game's going to be a little bit different
it's going to be a little faster it's going to
be The athletes are a little bit better. It's
going to take some time, but her decision -making
and as she gets to know her players, I think
playing her is the right decision for them long
-term. I think she's going to be really good.
I don't love their right side situation, but
that's just me. What would you do? I don't get
a better right side. That's what I would do.
Do they have anybody on the roster who you would
put in that place? No, I think that was our question
mark last week was their right side. Maddie can
run the middle well though, so hopefully. We
were saying the right side was, we thought the
right side was her weakest set when we watched
her in college. Agreed. So maybe she just won't
ever set it. And they are missing Morgan Hintz.
San Diego, Orlando. This match was just like
blah to me. I don't know. The game, the MLV games
we watched, I thought just seemed slow overall.
I didn't have that impression necessarily. Absolutely
not. Just like the reaction time on like setter
dumps and decision making. And I remember distinctly
Yovana Bakachevich for San Diego hitting down
the line 17 times in a row, blowing up the defender.
And I'm like, at what point are we going to make
a change here? Yes. Fair. I mean, she's 6 '5",
but she's also 37. So let's take a few inches
off because age just does that. But like she's
bearing the ball down the line. And I just like
wasn't seeing adjustments from Orlando, even
though they won the game. I was. Listen, here's
the thing. We went from watching NCAA where they
were at the end of the season and everything
was crisp to this where coaches are. Figuring
it out, you're focused on your own systems. You're
not necessarily making adjustments. I don't disagree
with your assessment. They need to make adjustments,
but it will come. Overall, San Diego is not looking
good. But we didn't think they would be good.
That's one thing we were correct on last week
so far. Maybe they'll make improvements. Well,
I don't have high hopes for them this season.
I don't love their setter. Yeah, I don't love
their setter. They just, they didn't add anything.
I feel like a bunch of teams got better and they
didn't move the needle at all, in my opinion,
in terms of adding players. And I just, I'm not
sure they're going to get there in terms of adjustments,
in terms of improving. I would just say I have
the least confidence in them improving. Look
at how Columbus has played now. Like they might
finish last. Well, bold statement. Again, I said
I wasn't going to say anything after one week.
There it is. We can't help ourselves. Somebody
did ask us what was the juice on Shannon Windsor
that we alluded to last week. I don't know the
inner workings and I don't want to speculate.
Oh, we will. No. My thing is Canada's program
was she was the women's national team coach.
Their program was not very successful for a long
time. And she came in and. worked so hard with
those girls to almost get them to the olympics
and that team got so much better under her and
then the cycle after you've put in all that work
where you're on the edge of making it you get
rid of her and bring in somebody else that to
me and they did real bad this year and they did
real bad i just think that if you have given
somebody four years to build a program and you
see improvement and they've gotten there, to
not let them finish that doesn't sit right for
me. I understand a four -year cycle. I know how
much work goes in to trying to bring a team to
get to that goal. And again, I don't know the
situation around it, but that to me, just it's
not how a federation should operate, in my opinion.
I feel awful and... I don't believe it was her
choice to leave. I don't know if it was or not.
My instinct is that it was not. Yeah. But I was
excited for the Indy Dallas game too. You want
to know why? Because two of my fantasy players
on Volley were from Indy. And guess what? Anna
DeBeer did me dirty and got me negative points.
I hope you're hanging on to her because she'll
get better. Done. Cut. She lost your money then.
Yeah. Like I alluded to in the intro. I lost
my budget for my team, went down in large part
thanks to her. Should have made better picks.
You know what? For the MLB season, the volley
app for fantasy is going to keep me so engaged.
I can already tell I'm so addicted, even though
I'm doing so bad. I really love how the budget
changes every week, even though Anna DeBeer screwed
me over. But you know who helped me? Nunaviller
and Morgan Hens. Yes. They were both very good.
Epicrombie was... Lost me money. She lost you
money? She should have lost you money too. I
didn't think she did. Well, I had a couple other
players who were, who gained me some cash. So
that was positive. If you haven't joined yet,
be sure to join. It's playvolley .com slash volley
talk. The interesting thing is if you join late,
you aren't penalized. You're given a score that
is like the average. Of the week before. Yes.
So you're going to jump in. And if it was this
week, you'd be ahead of me by a long shot. Is
she below the average? I'm way below the average.
Join. There's a chat function. You were chatting
with some people. I was jumping in the chat a
little bit this week. It was fun to look at the
stats. They do a good job of match stats and
looking at comparisons. Even for this episode,
I was using it to prep. So check it out. If you're
a volleyball fan, it is. Probably one of the
best things out there I've seen. Playvolley .com
slash Volley Talk. Play V -O -L -L -I. Little
twist. Dot com slash Volley Talk. Join our league.
It's a lot of fun. Also, I'm hoping for big things
this week. So everybody watch out. So we did
watch Atlanta Austin on the love side of things,
too. I like Brie O 'Reilly. Oh, she's going to
make that team so good. But you know what I think?
I think we are going to have the same assessment
here. She is running a very nice offense, very
fast. Her sets are on the money. But these athletes,
same ones that we were talking about during VNL
season, having trouble hitting Poulter's sets,
are having difficulty. But you know who isn't
having difficulty hitting Bria Riley's sets?
The middles. They are rejoicing because they're
actually getting set a lot. And good sets. She...
was noticeably good in this match. And I know
that Skinner scored a lot of points, but she
did not look in rhythm. She tipped a ton of balls.
So here's, I have a question. I don't know if
Love cares about the national team, but I'm very
curious. There seems to be a lot of coincidences.
The national team coach is in Austin. Coincidence.
They have a lot of players who I believe they
think can make a difference in the next Olympics.
Skinner, Eggleston. They brought in an international
setter who runs a fast offense, I think, to try
and help them get accustomed to running that
style of offense. I know that Love has a holistic
view, and I know those players were from Texas,
but I can't help but wonder if this is all at
least thought about to help with the national
team program. I don't know. It crossed my mind
watching that match. I'm not... I like their
libero Inoue, the Japanese girl. She better play
over Zoe Jarvis. Oh, Jarvis came in and was playing
in Nebraska. I didn't watch much of that. But
the parts I watched, she was playing. And came
in as a serving sub today. But they need to stick
with Inoue because I think she is really good.
Outstanding. I think Bree pushes that team over
the top to be the favorite. I really liked what
she was doing. She runs a really good offense.
Chiako Bagu is watching this year being like,
well, geez, you didn't set me at all last season,
you guys. I leave and look at this. She is literally
setting these girls so often. I think it's great.
If Eggleston and Skinner can figure out a fast
offense, they're going to be next to unstoppable,
I think. You know how we feel about good setters.
What did you think of Atlanta? They seemed to
really be searching for the left sides that would
step up. I felt like they just kept subbing out
every single left side trying to find something
that would stick. Landed on Eva Hudson. I will
say I thought the best player watching was Tia
Jimerson. She had a good season last year too.
She is coming on. She played well with the national
team. She's here. She's been impressive and she's
kept it going. And I think Fairbanks will run
her quite a bit. Well, they had LMA Powell starting.
Fairbanks came in on the 6 -2 sub with Montano.
I think she's going to end up taking the spot.
I was not loving Powell's setting. That continues
from my V &L opinion. But I thought when Grubbs
came in, did a good job. I thought Eva Hudson
started out. a little deer in the headlights.
She looked a little tentative. You know what?
Like she had a lot of swagger and attitude and
college deserved. She was the show. I do appreciate
how she kind of toned it down entering that environment.
Just like, let's get the lay of the land here.
I'm the new kid on the block. You guys have done
a lot more than I have. I like that she was respectful
and was like understanding. her role as a rookie
and she gradually worked into the game and got
better. But at the beginning, she was like a
little nervous. It looked like. Yeah. I think
that actually shows really good maturity for
Hudson. She was a leader in the one team and
then she comes in and, you know, self -awareness
to know that maybe her style could rub people
the wrong way, especially if she's not, you know,
the best on the court. So I have a lot of respect
for how. It looked like she handled her transition
to the pros. And I don't think that's always
easy to go from being top dog to, you know, coming
in and trying to find your place. And I thought,
again, like you said, well done by her to kind
of integrate that, know your own personality,
know how you fit in. I think that's going to
serve her well and endear her to her teammates
for when she gets comfortable because she will
have to find. herself to play that way because
i think she plays best when she's like that but
just i think working into it is really smart
by her i also thought nigretti did a good job
the italian libero for them i thought she was
solid you thought it would be austin atlanta
at the top right yes austin I can definitely...
Atlanta's going to need to work into it. I need
to watch more of the other teams in the next
couple weeks to really get a feel, but... You've
got to watch at least three matches of a team
to kind of understand who they are and where
their players are and what their moves are. So
again, this is all kind of off -the -cuff first
impressions, but I think Atlanta will be a good
team. I watched a match that you did not watch.
Hit me. I watched UCLA McKendree, NCAA men. called
that game. Let me just say UCLA is looking real
good. That's a positive because they had a tendency
last season to start a little slow or not finish
off opponents efficiently when they were capable.
Well, they were efficient. McKendree got better
set after set, but I think UCLA hit 550 as a
team. That's impressive. I mean, if you can hit
550 as a team. You're winning matches. Honestly,
yeah. There's not much an opponent can do in
that circumstance. I think the only thing, and
I was calling this game, and the only thing that
I had to say about McKendree is I thought they
needed to take more risk on their serve. UCLA
was in system for the majority of the game. That's
tough. And Zach Rama jumps out of the gym. And
he has found a new level of playing, I think.
There were some balls that Rowan said that I
was like, oh, maybe not. And then he just came
out of nowhere and was like unstoppable. And
then Rowan was running the middle so well. And
then their new right side, David Decker, was
playing. They can't be in system. And so if you're
McKendree, take some more risk on your serve.
Be okay missing some. So that the ones that come
in, go in, they don't have four options. Yeah.
And you came home and said something interesting
to me was that the UCLA team looks like men.
They did some weightlifting and some growing
up over the summer, it seems. And this age in
college sports for men is. you can see a huge
difference from one summer to the next and I
that was your opinion that you said to me was
they're just they're built different this year
than they were last year and I think that's going
to end up being huge for them in the long run
because they were close last year and if they've
taken that step they're going to be dangerous
this year yeah I'm curious to see how they progress
as the season goes on that was a 1 -15 matchup
McHenry did a good job they just when UCLA's
in system I think against anybody in the country
it's not going to be pretty and shout out to
the McKendree boys who came up and found me after
the game and told me that they were huge fans
of the podcast and I was shocked quite frankly
I was like wait people who are actually still
playing volleyball listen to this podcast I was
like wow gotta be kidding me we'll be following
your team now Checking out what the games look
like. Yeah, I was so touched. I told them they
made my day telling me that they loved our podcast.
I was like, wow, sorry for everything that we
say. Good luck, boys. Okay, let's go through
some listener questions. Question one. If you
were handed a team with unlimited money and recruiting
power, what order would you recruit or draft
positions? Basically like a real life fantasy
draft. Would you take a specific position because
there are less elite players at that position?
Or would it be a specific position because the
skill set of that position is the most important?
I am not the authority on this because I always
do so bad. But if I were to answer this, I'll
let Adam answer second because he's way better
at this than me. I would take strategy two. In
volleyball, with the skill set that's the most
important, I like to draft the setter first and
then the point scoring, whether it's the opposite
or outside. But I like to do the setter first
and then the opposite or point scoring left side.
I generally agree with your strategy. I think
the one caveat would be it depends how many good
players are in each of those positions. It depends
which. league you're looking at which group of
players so the answer is both of the scenarios
that's what i don't do well yeah so you i mean
again i like setters and and point scoring left
sides are probably the most valuable and the
hardest to find and then it just depends on you
know can you get the best setter and then what's
the drop off after that or how many good left
sides are there so but in general those two positions
are probably what you're looking at first Question
two, MLV rosters seem to prioritize recent college
grads, whereas Love totes something like 75 %
current past future national team players. Do
you agree? And if so, which league strategy do
you think will survive long term? They're just
trying to do different things. I am probably
the most excited for this MLV season. Just I
really like the influx of young talent, of good
college players who are going there. So personally,
I like that. I think that they also had some
players who there was ability to have vast upgrades
bringing in the young players over some of the
roster players that were in MLV. The bottom of
the MLV rosters, your 10 through 14, was not
great from a skill level. So I think these young
players are really bolstering the MLV rosters.
Love is trying to be an elite league similar
to Italy and Turkey, and not all of the college
players coming out are slated to play at that
level. So given their different missions and
what they're trying to accomplish, I think they're
both doing what they need to do. Love hasn't
been able to attract top, top talent yet, although
they have the right side from China and Alexa
Gray is there. moving in that direction it's
just harder to do because there's more competition
for those athletes well said question three what's
the actual process of playing overseas do teams
scout players do players send video and what
happens once you accept an offer the majority
of players get an agent not a scammy one not
a scammy one you find an FIVB licensed agent
and they basically sell you to teams and they
have your info they work to sell you i have heard
of people who do it on their own tough and they
send video in but that is really tough finding
an agent is the best route they find you options
one or multiple you figure out the one that sounds
best to you Once you find the one that sounds
best, you sign the contract. And then basically
all communication, at least in my experience,
all communication went through my agent as to
when I would show up. Or the manager of the team
would book me a flight or whatever. But yeah,
I basically go through the paperwork of getting
your work visa to work there. Then you're booked
a flight and you go. Yeah. Pretty straightforward.
The agent should do all the heavy lifting. They
should. Yes. Question four. How do teams find
players on smaller or lesser known teams and
how do they judge if their stats translate? I'm
assuming this pertains to like the transfer portal.
Okay. If we stick with college and assume this
is about transfer portal, I think. Probably given
the sheer amount of athletes that are in the
portal. So I think probably how I would approach
it is I would rank all of the lower divisions
because I think there's 32 divisions. And then
I would start with the highest competitive level
of the ones I'm looking at and find the best
statistical players. And then from there, I would
start to look at video against different competition
to understand, you know, is the touch and the
contact point, will it be competitive at this
spot? Or how do they look against solid form
blocks in different situations? And I think between
those two things, you start statistically to
weed out anybody who won't be able to make the
jump, and then you finish it with video in the
eye test. Question five, what happens if a player
enters the portal but can't sign anywhere else?
Then you make a post about returning to your
previous school. It is a risk. I think if you
leave a program and you don't find anything,
there is a chance that you're done. Your D1 career
is over. You've lost your scholarship. There
are coaches who are gracious enough to potentially
take you back. That doesn't have to happen. So
if somebody takes that risk and can't find anywhere
else, you're risking not playing anymore. And
our final question of the day. Now that the back
row attack has become a big part of NCAA women's
teams, who do you guys think has the best back
row attack slash who is able to execute it the
best? I like how Olivia Babcock runs the back
row. I actually think Harper Murray runs her
back row attack well. I would agree with that.
I think Mimi Collier and Kennedy Martin run the
back row well. I'm not sure. Do you think there
are teams that run the back row well, or would
you say it's more individual players? I think
there are teams that set the back row better
than others. To me, running a successful back
row is you have to lead the hitter, and there
are some teams. I don't want to see you set the
back row on the 10 -foot line. Set it at the
five -foot line if you're a girl. Set it at the
three -foot line if you're a guy. Yeah, and I
think Charlie sets a good back row ball. I think
Bergen sets a good back row ball. Izzy Stark
set a good back row ball when she was playing.
They set her at Kentucky. Oh, I think even Hudson
hits a good back row ball, too. Yeah, they ran
a good back row ball. Yeah, I think there are
players who hit good back row balls, but then
there are setters who... run good back row balls
and team strategies that intentionally include
back row balls. I think the back row too is interesting
because you're broad jumping and the whole court
is kind of laid out in front of you so like your
vision of the court is different your vision
of the block is different the way you jump I
personally preferred hitting back row because
just like the power and like sailing forward
it's just I liked it better. So, yeah, I love
seeing a well -run back row ball. And, like,
I commented a few times. I know it's not NCAA
women, but UCLA men run that back row ball so
well. And it's so important because it allows
you to own the middle of the court. You can run
it slightly pushed. You can run it in conjunction.
They were running it slightly. You know how you
see the push back row in front of the between
the middle and outside? They were running it
between the middle and right side. Oh, I like
that. I was like, thank you. Innovate. Let's
change things up. That was so sneaky. The number
of zero -man blocks on the back row ball, not
just against McHenry, but it happens against
everybody UCLA plays. It's just wild. It's so
effective if you can do it right. Love these
questions. Keep them coming. I had some that
I had to not include, but I'm going to include
them next week. They're wonderful. So thank you
so much, as always, and keep them coming. Okay.
The looking forward section has become the hardest
part of the podcast to do. Says the guy who doesn't
do it. Because there's so much going on. So here
are the matches that we think you should watch
this week. Friday at 8 p .m. Eastern, we have
Love Nebraska versus Madison on Victory Plus.
And again, that's a free app that you can install
on your smart TV so you can find the games there.
The games for love this week are Wednesday, Friday,
and Sunday. Also Friday at 9 p .m. Eastern, UC
Irvine is playing Pepperdine. That's on ESPN+.
That's going to be a really good game. Saturday
at 5 p .m. Eastern, Long Beach State versus Ohio
State, also on ESPN+. If you want to get your
men's volleyball fix in. And then Saturday at
2 p .m. Eastern, Scandici versus Navarro, which
is pretty much must -watch TV. That should be
on FIVB TV. And then Sunday at 4 p .m. Eastern,
Orlando versus Omaha. That's on CBS Sports. And
MLV games will be Wednesday through Sunday this
week. So lots to watch. Put your TV on. Follow
along. And let's see where we end up next week.
I just made my second, my week two roster for
volley. I don't think I'm going to be doing much
better. I put my roster together and I included
some of the younger players coming in. Now that
you could select them, picked a bunch of three
week contracts. I'm excited. I'm excited about
my roster. I'm so I'm doubting myself so much.
I'm scared of the multi -week contract. Now my
I'm predicting big money gains on my budget.
So we'll see what happens. That concludes this
week's episode of Volley Talk. There's always
something shaking in the volleyball world, and
we hope you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure
to follow the show so you don't miss any updates,
and we'd be so grateful if you'd leave us a five
-star review. You can also find us on Instagram
at volleytalk underscore podcast. If you have
a topic you'd like us to discuss, you can reach
out to us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin
.com. Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll
be back next week.