Men's VNL Final 8 Decided in the Last Match, Netherlands is Relegated

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. So we just finished up with week three of
the men's VNL competition and the final eight
are set. Barely set, down to the wire. So last
week, the final day was all about the battle
for relegation. But this week, we saw the final
day come down to who the heck is going to make
the final eight, in particular, the final match
that was played on Sunday. The parody on the
men's side is just unbelievable. Teams winning
matches, losing matches, they shouldn't, in the
hunt, out of the hunt. It was a wild week. Day
to day, it changed who could make it. It was
so much fun, quite frankly. Wild is the word
that comes to mind for me as well. There was
so much movement, teams blowing their ranking,
others making pushes. that you didn't expect.
So it was absolutely incredible. We are very
excited to dive in and discuss what happened
as well as our predictions for the final eight
happening in a couple weeks. So let's get started.
We don't really have any weekly highlights this
week. But just wanted to put it on your radar.
I do know that the women's VNL final eight is
happening. But if you feel like watching something
in addition to that or different, the U19 boys
world championship is happening this week in
Uzbekistan. So matches for that start on Thursday.
Just a heads up in case you want to mix it up
a little bit. But those are also shown on VBTV.
You want to see some testosterone on the court?
You want to see some mental meltdowns and some
bad decision making? Watch the U19 boys. It'll
be a ride. All right, let's get into our VNL
week three recap. So Brazil finished the preliminary
round in first place with 11 wins. They were
followed very closely by Italy with 10 wins.
So literally the same situation as women in reverse
with close to the same number of wins as well.
We had France, Japan, and Poland all finish with
eight wins. There was one point difference between
the three teams. France has finished with 24
points. Japan and Poland finished with 23. And
it came down to a set ratio between Japan and
Poland. Like, this is how close we're talking
here. Yeah, it doesn't get any closer than this.
It's crazy. Crazy. But the most excitement came
with the bubble teams. We are going to be talking
about some specifics. about the bubble teams
later in the episode, but just to give you a
little taster of kind of what went down. So heading
into the last day of competition, Cuba was in
sixth, Ukraine was in seventh, Bulgaria in eighth.
And just a reminder, because we talked about
this and you can forget about it looking at the
standings, is that China gets in automatically.
So only seven teams from the ranking get in.
Those three teams are just vying for two spots.
It's heading into the last day. Yeah. Okay. How
it finished with those three teams was Cuba was
7th, Ukraine 9th, Bulgaria 10th. So we saw Iran
jump from 15 to 8 just by beating Bulgaria in
three. And then we saw Slovenia. I think they
were around like the 10 to 12 range heading into
their match on Sunday. They went from that to
sixth place, okay, by beating Serbia in five.
And we'll talk about this, but their coach almost
threw that match away. It was heartbreaking to
watch. Oh my gosh. Literally, I would have, that
loss would have been at the hands of, anyway,
at the coach. But, so that was literally just
happened in one day of competition. that's how
wild it was okay so at the end we had six teams
finish with six wins so a third of the competition
had six wins and only one of them made it to
the final eight so we're talking about did you
win a match in four did you win in five what
was your set ratio who did you win those matches
against did you drop a set you shouldn't have
dropped like just The margins for getting into
the final for those bubble teams was so slim.
Well, I think the point totals of those six teams
ranged from 16 to 20. Yeah. We also saw Serbia,
similar to the women's side, avoid relegation.
They actually had a very good week three at the
VNL from a results standpoint, but also just
they played much better. And so they ended up
getting two big wins over Canada and Ukraine.
Tough one for Ukraine to avoid relegation. So
this VNL sees Netherlands relegated. They only
had one win. They didn't play very well. Not
a lot of their matches were competitive. So they
will be going down. Which is heartbreaking. You
always just think Netherlands will be in the
mix. Just from a sheer... heightened demographic
standpoint you just think as a country they should
be good and historically they have been good
so well they were like world champions in the
early 2000s like they were top of the world for
a while there honestly the serbian men are almost
completely mimicking the women yeah it was the
country road trip for the vnl so serbia as a
whole survives which And also going back to Netherlands,
given their like sport culture there and how
cutthroat that country is with their sport funding
and stuff like that. Very, very high level like
execution from a training and preparation standpoint.
This is not good. Yeah, if you're not familiar
with the Netherlands, the way they do things
in terms of having sports centers and, you know,
they do have their own pro league. And I think
if you were looking at. The countries going into
this, I'm not sure I would have had Netherlands
at the bottom. So this is a surprise. And not
only, it's kind of the way they did it too. Not
a lot of their matches were competitive. It's
really sad. I mean, I love this aspect of VNL
now. Absolutely. Just to mix it up, but it's
also so heartbreaking at the same time. So if
we look at the final eight, we have the following.
Brazil, Italy, France, Japan, Poland. slovenia
cuba china and we'll get into those matchups
and we'll talk about them later a little later
on but man you look at that list and i'm not
sure predictions who's gonna win it's it's tight
it's real i feel like six out of eight of those
teams could possibly win maybe five that was
just the little rundown of how messy this week
was just a couple teams were comfortable, let's
put it that way, heading into this week. It was
fun to watch, but I think this just shows how
much parity, as Adam said, there is in the men's
game. So congrats to these seven teams plus China
for surviving the gauntlet, pretty much. Yeah,
and you're managing. The crazy thing is you have
to manage your players coming off pro contracts.
How are they feeling? Who's going to play? It's
not a crazy amount of volleyball. You get a week
off, but you're playing four matches in five
days. This is where you build your program, so
you want young guys to get a chance. There's
so many things to think about and manage in the
VNL while still trying to make sure. your country
qualifies. I mean, the margins were so small
because we were coming into this week, we were
looking at some of the bubble teams. You had
Germany, you had the US, you had Ukraine, you
had Cuba, you had, I think we thought Slovenia
was kind of on the bubble, but they were generally
pretty good. Bulgaria was there, like so many
teams coming in that could have made it. a bunch
of teams who quite frankly blew their chances
in my opinion by having one bad match which we
will get into in a little bit yeah but every
day you're looking like oh man i can't believe
they i can't believe they lost that match or
oh that was a big upset it was so much fun like
sport at its best in my opinion so what was your
favorite match of the week honestly i'm not sure
i can pick one match i think my favorite The
storyline of the week was watching Cuba. So Cuba
was in tough. They had the matches they had to
play to get in. They had Bulgaria to start. And
we were curious how that was going to go two
weeks ago just because we didn't know if Nikolov
was going to be back or not after potentially
spraining his ankle. He was back, so they were
at full strength. So Cuba played Bulgaria. They
played Poland. They played France. And then they
had China last, I believe. And so you're looking
at that lineup going, well, Cuba can struggle
passing. And all of those teams outside of China
are great servers. They could legitimately go
one and three in that stretch and not make it.
But let me tell you, they brought their big guns
to the event. I would say that we saw the big
boys across the board from the majority of teams.
When I say Cuba brought their big boys, they
brought their big boys. Yant and Simone are massive
human beings. And they were so fun to watch.
So Cuba starts out winning a five -setter against
Bulgaria at the beginning of the week. And Cuba's
middles were unbelievable in that match. They
led the scoring. for Cuba's team. So it was Simon
and Concepcion. And they were unbelievable. Simon,
I think, had the most kills. He had six blocks.
I think he had a couple aces. He was patrolling
the net, staring guys down. And the match was
so much fun to watch. They were banging. They
were blocking. It was high level. You could feel
the stakes in that match. It almost felt like
that was the match to get in. for both teams
and at that point yeah it was if you have a chance
to go back and watch one that one was so much
fun I think Nikolov the outside hitter played
unbelievable I thought all week I actually I
thought Mone struggled setting this week there
were a couple things that I noticed teams picking
up because they they were also in the same pool
obviously so it was they played some good teams
his left side balls were trailing tight and Masso
and Simon made life difficult for the outsides
for Bulgaria, and he got a little predictable.
And he actually got subbed out kind of as the
week went on, and the other setter came in to
run the offense for Bulgaria, which, you know,
I think hurt them. But that was one of my favorite
matches. I also had a Cuba match. Okay. Cuba
versus Poland. Oof, that was my second. I also
enjoyed watching Cuba play, and even though they
went 2 -2 this week, lose to france in five which
valuable point yeah because they were one of
those six teams so that extra point was like
very important and then their last match they
lost to china which i thought was unexpected
but at that point they were safe i didn't we
didn't watch that one so i don't know if they
just you know didn't care or it wasn't as engaged
they knew they were in but yeah i expected them
to beat china I just, like, I loved the Cuba
-Poland match because, like, Poland, they were
playing at home. So that is obviously a level
up automatically. Poland, number one team in
the world. They have that, you know, experience,
that history. You know, Leon is a former Cuban
national. So there's that interesting dynamic.
And he didn't play that well. He played. Not
great against Cuba. And, you know, just to see
the Cubans play free and just go for it against
a team. Okay, Poland didn't play their best volleyball.
I'll give them that. But it was so entertaining
because you have this team who has everything
stacked against them. Poland was probably going
to qualify. Cuba's fighting for their lives in
Poland. they're so athletic the way that they
were able to be fearless is they're passing the
greatest no but they managed they managed to
pass well they managed to turn points the final
like set four or something or set three one of
the sets it was like 24 20 for Poland And it
was the most impressive sequence of points and
so exciting. Cuba ended up winning the set. These
guys just sacrifice their bodies on defense.
They get hit by the ball, but they put themselves
in a position to be able to either take it off
the chest or make an athletic play. And that
one for me was very exciting. Yeah, and again,
their match against France. same like they're
playing number one and two in the world and battling
it out swinging high and hard and just leaning
into their identity it was they were fun to watch
and simone scores points when his team needs
him to score points he he wins clutch player
of the week to me but like not just like going
up and ripping an ace or not like score like
blocking cuba needs a point he will get a block
which is even more impressive to me because that
is something that the hitter has more control
you know so it's just like the fact that he was
able to impose his will so frequently this week
in such clutch times i was just like bow down
well in that game against poland yant who's an
outside hitter hit 440 and maso who's the right
side hit 380 Like, their outside. It was really
interesting. Against Bulgaria, the middles were
the star. And then against Poland, their outsides
played better than. Which we haven't. He hadn't
been traveling or playing much. And so having
him on the court, too, helps. Like, dang. So
good. Another game that was maybe not to the
level of excitement of, like, the Cuba -Poland
or Cuba -Bulgaria match, but. was exciting just
for its implications was, for me, the Serbia
-Slovenia match. Agreed. Serbia crushed a few
dreams this week. Yeah. And it really looked
like they were going to knock Slovenia out of
the finals. So, like, going for context, going
into that match, Slovenia needed to win to just
make it. They just needed to win. If they...
lost in five or whatever it wasn't going to be
enough they weren't going to have enough points
to catch Cuba so they needed to just straight
up get the win to push them to seven so a lot
was on the line as we talked about Serbia has
been just out to lunch all VNL managed to get
two wins to save themselves from relegation but
like this match for them was just basically pride
to to win Another match. Like, nothing was going
to change for them. But everything rode on it
for Slovenia. And they were in Slovenia. Which
is also crazy. And the Slovenian fans were...
I mean, there was so much around this match.
So the Slovenian fans were off the hook. They
had a player who is retiring. from their national
team after playing 200 -plus matches for the
national team. Everybody from the country was
there. After the match, they were listing off
all of the delegations were there. It took five
minutes, and they panned to 20 different people
in the stands. It was a moment, and you could
feel the gravity of it while you were watching.
And I think there was a lot of pressure on Slovenia.
They could feel it. Well, they went down two
sets to one, managed to squeak out the fourth.
Barely. Yeah. Well, and not only that, they had
to bring in their children. And when I say children,
I mean children. Because they brought their big
boys too this week. Yes, they did. And so the
setter and right side, the 19 and 20 -year -olds
that we've been seeing, were coming in as a double
sub because the big boys were there. But these
kids came in and turned things around for them.
That right side, he's cold. He's 20 years old.
Mujanovic, I believe, is his name. And he was
serving. He was attacking. He was fearless. Man
bun and all, just ripping it up. It was front
row, back row. He was fun to watch down the stretch
because it didn't feel like the moment got to
him at all. Well, that's what happens when you're
19 or 20. Fair. But he brought a jolt of energy
on that floor when they put him in to stay. But
here's the kicker. Set five. Oh my goodness.
Slovenia is up 13 -9. Okay. It was 8 -8. Slovenia
rules and takes five points in a row. It's like,
oh my gosh, crazy stuff. Serbia finally sides
out 13 -9. And Serbia has blown both their timeouts
at this point. Because they were losing so many
points in a row. So what does the Slovenian coach
do? calls a timeout right when Serbia sides out.
So it's now 13 -10. No, it was 13 -9, and he
called a timeout. It went from 8 -8 to 13 -8.
Serbia sides out to make it 13 -9, and Slovenia
calls a timeout. Which is wild. Your team has
been playing so well. They have all of the momentum.
Let's just kill my team's momentum here. And
not only to mention that, we listened to the
timeout. There was no good information given.
All he said was, if we don't score on the first
ball side out, try to get a triple block up in
transition. Obviously. No kidding. They've been
doing that all game. Like we always do. It was
the most bizarre decision I've ever seen. So
then Serbia turns the point 13 -10 now. He called,
Slovenia calls in their second time out. Right
then and there. It was. I was shocked. And then
after that, this is even, so he's got two challenges
left. And after that, he then challenges two
balls in a row that are about the ball being
over the plane. Which was very obviously not
one they were going to win. Yeah, one on their
side and one on Serbia's side. So in a matter
of these four points, he's blown both timeouts
and both his challenges, all, in my opinion,
terrible decision -making. And Serbia came back
to 13 -13. Yeah, he's panicking on the bench.
You're up 13 -9, and you're siding out. You give
your team at least two chances to side out before
you call a timeout because you have all of them.
It was crazy to see. I was sitting on the couch.
watching going if they lose this match this is
on him told totally his fault he made you are
taking your belief made the team nervous feel
the gravity of the moment instead of just letting
them play free like they'd been doing to get
to that point and i was like dude not your time
to step in and try to take control here let your
boys play anyway what was it 17 15 or something
yeah slovenia ends up winning 17 15 but it was
i was like The fact that this guy single -handedly
ruined his team's momentum when they were up
four points. Like that almost cost them a trip
to the final. I was losing my mind. That is grounds
for dismissal right there. Like that's a fireable
offense in my opinion. So anyway, for the fifth
set alone, that one made the list for me. The
drama was unbelievable. Okay. I don't think we
can let this episode go by without talking about
some bubble team mess ups. There were a few head
scratchers. Oh, man. Okay. As you recall, we
talked about what the standings were heading
into Sunday, the final day of competition. So
why don't we start with Bulgaria? Heading into
the final day, they were in eighth. They were
playing Iran, who was 15th. beat Poland in five
the day before, which is huge. So I'm like, oh
my gosh, they're feeling themselves. They're
playing amazing. They beat Poland in Poland in
five to give themselves a chance. The game against
Iran, they like just keep it together. They did
not keep it together. They were brutal though.
The game wasn't even close. They had zero chance
of winning that match. But they didn't even look
like they wanted it. No. And it was, I mean,
again, it was a roller coaster, right? You come
in, you lose to Cuba and you think, man, our
chances are down. And then you beat Poland in
a massive upset in five to be alive again. And
then, I mean, Iran's a good team. Well, every
team is a good team. But that's, again, they're
not playing for anything. You have the ability
to come out and win that match if you're engaged
and prepared and they could just, they just couldn't
get it going. Because here's the thing. If they
had won in three or four, they would have had
seven wins, 20 points. Which would have put them
even ahead of Slovenia. Yep. Who ended up sixth.
Like, you literally... I don't want to say you
had a gift for a final match, but like... You're
not having to face Brazil in your final match.
Do you know what I mean? Your destiny is in your
hands. Exactly. And it's a winnable match. It's
not like you're playing one of the juggernauts.
Like teams that have not been losing at all.
And honestly, I think they thought they were
going to roll in that match. They exhaled. They
beat Poland and they thought, we're going to
make it. And they exhaled. And I don't, obviously.
You know, you hope they prepared the same way.
I'm sure they did. They're all professional clubs.
But it was flat. I was like, you have a chance
to make the final eight here, and you guys just
are dead. No emotion. You just look so perplexed.
Like, you're like, oh, man, here you go. Take
it. Yeah, that's one that they're going to want
back, and that was, honestly, that was a tough
match to watch. Argentina. I feel like is another
bubble team that had blew many opportunities
this week. They were sitting pretty heading into
the week. What were they like six, seven, something
like that? Yeah. They lost to USA in four. They
went five with Turkey. Lose to Japan, lose to
Brazil. Okay. We didn't expect them to beat Brazil
or Japan. We knew those would be tricky. I thought
I figured the Japan game would be close. Those
styles are, I mean, obviously Japan is fast,
but Argentina's got those kind of greasy players
too. And that match was close. It went five,
but it was a reverse sweep. Argentina came out,
won the first two, and then couldn't close the
game. Again, they're playing in Japan. That's
not an excuse. Don't get me wrong. But again,
at that point, they had to win. Because they
had lost to the U .S. And you're up to, like,
you've got to find a way to win those matches.
But again, you have two opportunities against
bubble teams. And you go five with Turkey. So
you left a point on the board. And then you lose
to USA, who, yeah, it could have gone either
way, sure. But again, we're talking about a situation
similar to Bulgaria where you would have been
ahead of Slovenia if you'd taken care of it.
Yeah. Yeah. And then you look at the flip side.
You had the U .S. come in who were, you know,
a little bit of dark horse to get into the final
just given where they were with their roster
and the turnover. They win their first two matches.
So the U .S. comes out strong. They beat Turkey.
They beat Argentina. You're in really good shape.
And then you have Germany and Japan left. Realistically,
Japan's a tough matchup for them. The styles
don't match up. They're not tight enough yet
to beat Japan. So you're probably not going to
win that one. But you've got to beat Germany.
Again, all the teams are good, but that's a winnable...
But what do you think about that match? Because
we saw some players playing in that match for
USA that had not played much at all. And you
had some athletes on the US who were playing
really well who didn't even play and then were
thrown in in the fifth set. And I'm like, why?
Yeah, there are very few times when I look at
the decision that Karch makes and I don't. I
get you want to watch your players and I get,
you know, all of that. And we don't know injury.
We don't know any of that stuff. But you've won
two matches in a row. Your guys have to play.
I think you put the same lineup in and you try
and win that game. And then, you know, maybe
you do that against Japan. But the tough thing
about that is. You put these players in who haven't
generally played. They're up 2 -1. So you're
like, okay, we gave you a chance. You rose to
the occasion. And then they got smacked in the
fourth set. It wasn't even close. So at that
point, you're putting in, you switch the right
sides, trying to get Garcia going. They didn't
put Cooper Robinson in, which I thought was...
In the fifth set, they did. But again, they didn't
put him in the fourth set. So Karch made wholesale
changes in the fourth set to kind of warm up.
some of his starters didn't do that for Cooper
Robinson, but then started him in the fifth set,
which is a super tough position to put him in.
It's just, I mean, again, we don't know what
value they're putting on qualifying for the finals,
but you have to think that you're, that's gotta
be a goal. And so I just, I didn't understand
why they didn't keep playing their top lineup,
which was winning. Well, and to be fair, I don't
think winning that Germany match would have.
qualified them anyway well no it would have it
gives them seven wins yeah it gives them seven
wins they would have come in last like in the
seventh spot yeah had they pulled off that win
and that's again germany is a good team but that's
a winnable match so i mean germany also showed
up with most of their big boys too yeah and the
final one and this one's like probably the most
heartbreaking to me is ukraine So they were doing
great. They finished their last two matches of
the preliminary round were against Serbia and
Canada. Okay. Again, that's the softest schedule
you can have. That is so soft to be able to qualify.
You have six wins. Okay. You have a soft schedule
to finish. And realistically. finish with eight
wins, which would put you from, like, three to
six, okay? You came into the VNL for the first
time, and you have a chance to finish with Poland,
Japan, and France, like, in that realm, and you
can't get it done. And they didn't beat either
team. Like, and the crazy thing is they didn't
even get a point. yeah off of either team they
lost to serbia what three straight and they lost
to canada and four like that that breaks my heart
probably more than all the other ones because
it's like you were playing two of the weakest
teams in the tournament and it all again they're
playing a lot of volleyball you're coming in
you have to prepare you know it's it's tough
but And those losses in those fashion, to me,
speak of an exhale. And you can't be on all the
time. I get that. But you have to learn how to
take care of the matches that are going to give
you a shot. And again, coming in, not having
this experience before, you know, maybe that
plays a part. But you're going to look back on
that and think, man, we left that on the table.
I mean, obviously, politically. And things happening
in both Iran and Ukraine. More important than
sport. More important than sport. So who knows
how those things affected them in those matches
or whatever. I don't know what that is like.
But I understand that that was happening. Yeah.
And again, we're talking about this from a pure
sports perspective. Those are situations. that
you want back, that you want to take care of.
You know, you need one of two against the two
bottom teams. If Ukraine is coming into the VNL
going, hey, you are going to be able to play
two of the bottom five teams and you need one
win to go to the finals, they're going to take
that every day of the week. So that's... I mean,
overall, great for Ukraine. They had a great
VNL. But man, it just could have been so much
better. So those were the, in our opinion, bubble
mess -ups. Again, this is why sport is so great.
Because this stuff happens all the time. It's
so fun speculating, looking at match -ups, seeing
what could have been. But again, it's why you
play the game. But dang. Yeah, they're going
to be thinking about those matches for sure.
Let's just wrap this part up and just say Poland
and France played for fun, for world domination.
Yeah, winner takes number one ranking. And that
match was a high caliber of play. Poland squeaks
it out in five, holds on to their number one
ranking. Olympic gold medal rematch. That's going
to be a battle. That is going to keep playing
out over the next little while. And Adam has
a huge man crush on Nikola Gromitsch. I mean,
okay, let's. I do too. The Poland coach is a
quote machine. I am going to listen to every
one of his. I just love these former like world
-class athletes coaching because they deliver
the real stuff. If you think we're mean on this
podcast, I'm going to quote Gerbich. Poland loses
to Bulgaria. You know, the announcers come up
to them after the match and they interview the
coaches. And he said two things that I thought
were absolutely hilarious. The first one, and
it's an accurate statement, but it's not something
you generally say about an opponent. Well, it's
what you say if you've played at a high level
and you get it. He said, Bulgaria did a whole
bunch of things. that we had never seen them
do before, and they did them very well. What
can you do when a team does that? And it was
just, it was matter of fact, and it was just,
he's basically saying, I'd like to see them do
that again to us, you know, when we have a chance
to prepare and see that. They did some things,
they caught us off guard, they won the match.
The next one was directed toward his own team,
and I believe to Leon. I thought it was directed
towards Leon as well. who didn't play very well.
And so the announcer asked him, you know, what
did you think of that match? And he said, tactically,
technically, we were pretty good. I'm not sure
I have anything to change. Mentally, well, I'm
not an expert in that. And quite frankly, I don't
have the time to deal with that. They need to
find their own confidence. That's not my job.
And that was the end of it. And I just, you know,
in an age where... we've gotten sandwich feedback
let's call it positive negative positive and
i know we're talking about sports at the highest
level it's just it's so refreshing to hear an
analysis of something and say you know it just
wasn't good enough and you see a lot of the top
level coaches doing that you know you listen
to karch you listen to bernard genio you listen
to You know, those... Garbage. You listen to
the Vignarski with the German team. Like, just
the players who have played at the top level,
they understand what it takes to get there. And
it's not like trying to be mean. It's just like
facts. This is our goal. This is what it takes.
This is the expectation. And we can talk about
it. And it doesn't mean I don't like you, and
it doesn't mean this, that, and the other thing.
It's just this is what's required to get to our
goal. And I loved that. I thought it was fantastic.
But we were also kind of talking about this too.
We see former top -level players coaching a lot
on the men's side, not so much on the women's
side. You don't see top -level women's athletes
coaching much. I mean, it has happened. I'm sure
you'll be giving me a list. But you see the top
-level men's players coaching the men, and then
you see men who are interested in coaching and
who have built a career coaching, but not necessarily
on the playing side, coaching women. Typically.
Obviously, there are exceptions. So I find it
really refreshing to watch the men's game because
to get that kind of feedback. Those players know
how to see the game. They've been there. They
understand what the adjustments are, what is
happening on the court. And yeah, you miss that
sometimes on the women's side. Yeah, the players,
you can't lie to them. And the coaches are just
direct and you listen because they know what
they're talking about. And even the timeouts
are fun to listen to in those situations. All
right. So for the final eight, these are the
matchups we've got. We've got Brazil versus China,
Italy versus Cuba, France versus Slovenia, and
Japan versus Poland. Brazil versus China, I'm
taking Brazil. Yeah. And I don't, you know, China
didn't earn its way in. It's hosting. The wheels
have got to light themselves on fire for Brazil
for this match. to not work. They're better in
every position. You know, China's at home, I
get that, but they just don't have the experience
and they don't have the horses to compete with
Brazil. I just, I think that one's going to be
3 -0 and pretty lopsided. Italy versus Cuba.
This one is interesting. I feel like any game
that Cuba plays is potentially interesting. Cuba
is always a dark horse just because if you get
three guys from Cuba feeling themselves, they're
very hard to stop. And they have difference makers
in the middle. They can apply a ton of service
pressure. Their Achilles heel is can they pass
and the consistency piece of that. I mean, if
you look at this, Italy, they're more technical.
They're probably more tactical. They're more
consistent. They're better volleyball players.
Cuba are just, they're good volleyball players,
but their athleticism just blows everybody out
of the water. It'll be interesting. I mean, Simon
was the top middle blocker in the Italian league.
He's played against these guys. He understands
that level, but the rest of them are a little
under -seasoned internationally in that regard,
like as a core. If Cuba passes well, and they
get going, this is going to be like a five -setter
and a flip a coin. But if I had to put odds on
them, Italy's consistency is going to wear them
down, and they will probably end up winning in
four close games, making plays down the stretch
would be my prediction. Well, I mean, out of
system, I think Cuba wins the out -of -system
battle. I think their hitters are able to find
ways to score and do things that people don't
expect in uncomfortable situations. So I think
if it becomes an out -of -system battle, because
Cuba is capable of just beating the crap out
of people with their serves, I think Cuba has
the edge if it comes down to an out -of -system
battle. Simone in the middle, he can hold it
down. He's a great blocker. Janelli, hands down
a way better setter than Gomez. Yes. Not even
close. But because Gomez sprays the ball around
sometimes, his hitters are kind of used to it
and they like find ways to make it work anyway,
which is so hard to defend because you don't
know what's happening. Italy is going to need
to not get frustrated when Cuba scores weird
points and they're going to need to stay disciplined
and allow Cuba to make. errors also on those
weird points but if they start trying to adjust
to maso jumping backwards and swinging at a ball
that happens to land you know inside the 10 foot
line because he hit it off his thumb that is
where they can't play that game with cuba they
just need to be consistent, take care of the
balls that they should take care of and just
acknowledge that Cuba is going to do some Cuba
things. But I feel like teams when they play
Cuba, because Cuba serves so aggressively and
they hit so hard, I feel like teams sometimes
try to match that. That's kind of what I was
trying to say. Oh, okay. Like Italy has to play
their game and not get dragged into that. Like
you don't have to hit the ball way harder on
your serve. Just be smart with it. Yeah. So I
feel like Cuba draws teams into that trap sometimes,
which is exactly how they want to play. And other
teams who are maybe more tactical or technical,
it's not their style. Just stick with your style.
That is the quarterfinal matchup I am most excited
to watch. Really? Yeah. Okay, so France versus
Slovenia. I feel like they're similar teams.
Similar styles of play. France is just better
at it. Agreed. Both teams are quite crafty. They've
got outsides who like to volley the ball over.
And they set really fast in there. They move
the ball around. They look for the block. They're
kind of slimy. But France is just a little bigger
and a little more consistent. And I just think
they're going to play a similar game. But France
is just going to be better. We're agreeing a
lot today. Okay, Japan versus Poland. This one.
These styles are very different. I think this
is a flip of the coin in terms of where it could
go. And again, I think similarly, how is Poland
going to handle Japan's speed? How are they going
to handle the offense? too differently to connect
with or to counter what Japan is doing. And we'll
see. Japan's going to need to get them in service
trouble. I think if Poland's in the system and
can run their middles early and often, it's not
going to be close. Because then I don't think
Japan really matches up well with Leon at all.
So I think... If Poland needs to control Japan's
service pressure, and if they're able to run
the middle's being system, I think they will
win. That's my thought. Yeah, Poland's biggest
advantage is in the middle of the court, and
they need to be able to use it. I think Fornald
is going to struggle against Japan. Fornald did
not have a great week this week, in my opinion.
I like him a lot, but he wasn't. Even with the
frosted tips? The frosted tips. I try to look
past those. But, yeah, he was not great for me
this past week. So he is actually a player I
was thinking of that could potentially struggle
in that match. Yeah, I agree. But my picks for
all the quarters are Brazil, Italy, France, Poland.
Only one baby upset in the 4 -5 matchup for me.
I'm going to agree with you, but I'm going to
take Japan just because I think with Leon and
Fornell passing in there, I think that there
is a chance. I think Leon might struggle to pass
against Japan if they can execute a serving strategy.
I mean, I'm thinking it's 51 -49 in that match,
but I'm going to pick Japan just so that we're
a little different. Who do you have in the final
and who do you have winning? Oh, man. I was relatively
confident with my female selections. I'm feeling
the same way. I'm going to pick Brazil and France
in the final. I'm going to pick Brazil to win.
Are you kidding me? That's who I was going to
pick for the final. No, you got to pick someone
else. I have to pick someone else? Yeah. Well,
in that case, I'll say France. brazil italy then
because i was like i thought it would be brazil
france in the sim in the final okay fine you
take brazil france i'll say brazil italy and
then just to be contrarian i'll say italy wins
okay you guys are gonna be shocked to hear this
but we have a hot take section that does not
involve me at all it is we are going to talk
about adam's hot takes Pick your jaws up off
the floor. I know you're surprised. I've watched
six weeks now of men and women's, and there's
a couple things that I think need to change to
make the game better. So here they are. One,
if the players want to trash talk, if they want
to stare somebody down when they get a big block,
you need to let them. Okay? It's ridiculous.
We had massive plays that happened. specifically
this week on the men's side, tensions were high,
people were playing, big plays happening, and
all of a sudden something happens and then the
ref is blowing their whistle and telling them
to calm down. They're looking at each other through
the net. I will say it happened more frequently
with female refs than male refs. I mean, fair,
but I don't care. No, I agree. Unless these guys
are going to punch each other through the net.
Let us watch them have some personality and care
about what they're doing on the court. We're
not going to get out of hand. Let's be honest.
We're volleyball players. We're not super confrontational.
It's just absolutely ridiculous, and it kills
the flow of the match, and it's no fun as a spectator
when the ref is constantly putting their hand
around. Guys, turn around. Let them revel in
it. If you go up and you absolutely shut somebody
down, what is the harm in looking at them like
you feel good about it like you want it's not
like you're telling him he's a terrible player
or saying anything you're literally looking at
him like i think that is so cold and i love it
let him go it will be better for the sport you'll
get some great memes out of it and it will make
people have more fun you'll see more personality
from certain players you gotta let it go that's
just my opinion Adam has hot takes and then he's
like, but that's just my opinion. Feel free to
disagree. Well, I think it's the right opinion.
Number two, the challenges are getting a little
out of hand. It's ruining the flow of the game
and they're using them in situations where they're
not intended to be used. They're pulling out
extra timeouts. You're seeing random plays at
the end of sets being challenged just in case
something might happen. It's ruining the viewer
experience and it's ruining the feeling of the
points as they happen. I think for next year
they should do the following. If you get both
of your challenges wrong in one set, it should
cost you a point. And if you call a challenge
for the set point and you're wrong, you should
start the next set down 2 -0. And that way there's
some consequence. around blowing your challenges.
Or maybe if you lose, if you get both of your
challenges wrong in a set, you can only have
won the next set. Something. There has to be
consequences here. And I actually, I'm also a
hockey fan, and I love the way the NHL does it.
If you challenge goalie interference or offside
on a goal and you're wrong, you get a two -minute
penalty. And so those challenges are precious.
And I actually like the challenge because I want
the calls to be correct. But it's being abused,
and it ruins the flow of the game. It is, like,
it's pretty awful, like, when a team wins a set
and they're so excited, and then it's like, no,
no, no, challenge. Like, just let them celebrate
the point and celebrate the fact that they won
the set. Like, come on. Yeah. And the last one
is I hate the jump volley attack. It's just the
ball sits in your hands too long. It's too similar
to adjust. You're throwing it down. You see a
lot of players do that because you're out of
rhythm with the setter. The set is too fast and
too flat. And I would like to see you kind of
have a consequence. If you want to run your offense
that fast, be in system. Figure it out. Holding
the ball to get out of that situation, I don't
agree with. If you want to jump over and it's
clean, It's more about the garbage that happens
that gets you out of tough situations because
you're trying to do something difficult. And
I don't know exactly how you police that, but
there's too many times that you kind of see that
and it works in the offensive player's favor.
And I think those situations should generate
a few more rallies if you're going to try something
like that. I think they need to be a little more
strict on how they call those. Yeah, I think
they look messy. I don't like them. I also don't
like the attack tip, where they kind of grab
it and throw it down. I'm not a fan. I've seen
some calls about that. I think they're tightening
up on that a little bit, which I agree. But those
are my three hot takes about how to make the
game a little more enjoyable from a fan perspective,
given the sheer amount of games that I've watched
over the last six weeks. FIVB, take some notes,
okay? Just kidding. I'm here. If you feel like
reaching out, we can be your consultants. Don't
worry about it. Just hit us up. Okay, it is time
for listener questions. We've got a few this
week. The first one is, what are your thoughts
on DeFalco, Avril, and Anderson playing in Japan
this season? I mean, I don't have any problem
with it. I think it's money. Yeah, I mean, Japan
pays well. But they play a ton of matches. And
they get set. A ton of balls. The foreigners
get sent a lot of balls. It is definitely a move
to do it. Trust me, as somebody who chose to
play in South Korea a couple times, it is a decision.
And, yeah, I'm curious. Because DeFalco said
on a couple podcasts that he needed a break after
the Japanese season. And that was a big reason
why he chose not to play VNL this year. Anderson's
like 39. I mean, this to me is a, hey, I'm going
to cash out in the last couple of years of my
career and make as much money as I can. I mean,
you can't fault them for that. Oh, I did the
same thing. I mean, again, it's a lot of wear
and tear. They're going to be hitting 100 balls
a match. And they're going to be training a lot.
And again, let's be honest, it's the first year
of a cycle. If all three of those players have
aspirations of playing in the LA Olympics, they
can play in Japan one or two more years and then
take a lighter contract the next year and be
ready to go. You're not going to get hurt any
more in Japan than you are in another league.
It's more wear and tear, so you've got to manage
that. You're not going to get hurt, but it's
more wear and tear. I mean, the chances of an
acute injury. It's exhausting. I will just say
it is exhausting playing in Korea and Japan.
Yes, I totally agree. The sheer training volume
and then the load put on the foreign players
is huge. So for me, I'm like, good for you. Make
that money. But I think that it is a money decision.
I bet you see them play in different leagues
in years three and four of the quad. Question
number two is, who were your top five most surprising
players in the women's VNL? So this was actually
a great question. I spent probably too much time
thinking about it. He spent a lot of time thinking
about it. I thought about it on a walk and I
came up with four. Okay, do you want to go back
and forth? And I think the key thing here is
surprise, right? So we're not talking about people
you know, people you expect. That's a little
bit different for both of us, I would say, because
I'm a little less familiar with all of the international
women's players. So I'm probably going to have
a few people on my list who you're like, well,
how many did you put on your list? It was supposed
to be top five. Yeah, I had I had 17. I had six.
OK, so he took six. I picked four. You can start.
OK, so. I think my first one, the Chinese setter,
Zhang, who is 16. Zhang. Zhang. Dang, she was
on my list. She, setting is a position that generally
takes a little bit of time to marinate in terms
of connecting with your hitters, understanding
offenses, being able to operate in those situations.
And she was a killer. Her decision -making was
good. Her execution was good. She does not set...
Like, I'm thinking about watching 16U volleyball
here in North America. And it's wild. Like, crazy.
So she's number one on my list. Yeah, I was very
impressed with her. And in a position of such
importance at that age. Yeah. So we both had
the same one. I had another Chinese player on
my list. Wu Minjie, the outside hitter. Yeah.
Number one. Michael Jordan, that's how I remembered
the initials. She has a little more experience.
She's 22, but she was also a standout. What did
you like about her? I liked how terminal she
was. I liked how she is the type of player where
you know she's getting the ball and she finds
ways to score anyway. She hits great angles.
And I just really liked her all -around game.
And, yeah, I appreciate players where, A, the
all -around game for sure, but when everyone
in the gym knows that it's up to you to score
this point, you do it. You also love hitters
who can hit good angles. Well, because the offense
is so fast and the balls are so low, you don't
see players hit a sharp angle super consistently.
You're seeing more. off the hands, you know,
stuff like that. And the way that she goes for
that sharp angle, that was my personally favorite
shot when I played, so. The next person I had.
Was that on your list? Was she on your list or
not? Yeah, she was. Okay. The next person I had,
and this is in no particular order, I kind of
just kind of went through the teams and picked
players, but was Paulina Martin, who was the
opposite for Belgium. She's 22. She has also
some club experience, like obviously playing
in Europe, she's been around a little bit, but
she's still pretty young. She played most of
the games for Belgium. She had 135 points on
the tournament, 13 blocks, nine aces, like kind
of coming into her own. And I thought for Belgium,
she was very good, noticeable when I watched
them play. She was not on my list. I had the
Czech right side on my list. Did you? I did not
have her. She's 20, I think. She was probably
better than Paulina. So, yeah, that's probably
a better choice than mine. She's 20, so, again,
pretty young, but she was the go -to player on
her team. She carried a huge load, found weights
to score, even, again, when people knew that
she was getting the ball, was just, like, aggressive.
Even in tough situations, just went for it. I
loved her mindset, her attitude. Yes. I actually
had a Canadian kid on mine, Guzin, who was an
outside hitter. She's 19. She hasn't played any
club. She just played university in Canada, which
is a pretty far cry from international volleyball,
so very little experience. Canada didn't do particularly
well, but when she came in, I liked how aggressive
she was, which is something I thought Canada
needed. I thought she passed pretty well, all
things considered. You're coming from that level
to international. Now, did she make some poor
decisions and were there some gaffes? Absolutely,
but for a 19 -year -old to come in with no club
experience and very little international experience,
I thought she was very good. I contemplated putting
her on my list, but compared to other people
who were like similar age, I was like, I did
like her attitude, her fearlessness, but I left
her off the list in favor of another Canadian
that I thought surprised me more, which was Thakboom,
the middle. This girl played at a small college
in Canada, same thing, like played pro in Belgium,
which Correct me if I'm wrong, it's like a semi
-pro situation. So doesn't have much experience
at all, but I thought she was one of Canada's
best servers, aside from Kira Van Ryk, obviously.
Best servers. When they got her the ball, she
was very effective. I liked how she moved. She
was athletic in the back row on defense. Just
as a Canadian, I had never heard of this girl
before. And watching her play, I was like, oh,
wow, well done. Yeah, that's a legitimate choice
as well. Is that it? Yeah. I had two honorable
mentions who ended up being a little bit older,
but I wasn't sure. I really enjoyed watching
Alsmeier play from Germany. She's 25 years old.
She's played in a bunch of VNLs. She's played
some decent club, but I hadn't really seen her
on any of the top international teams, and I
thought she was very consistently noticeable
every time I watched Germany play. I don't think
she necessarily fits in the surprise category
because I think a lot of people know who she
is. So yeah, I think those are some of the young,
unexpected successes in VNL, which is why VNL
is so great, right? You have young athletes coming
in who get their chance and what are they going
to do and who's going to step up. So I thought
that was a great question. I love thinking about
it and we'll probably see those players for years
to come. So question three. had two questions
that were similar, but one was more specific
than the other. So I'm just going to kind of
put them together. The first question was, why
do U .S. coaches have the tradition of having
their assistant coaches talk during timeouts?
See, this is really interesting because I never
actually thought about that until this person
brought it up. But it's so true. Yeah, internationally.
Can you imagine Guidetti going, hey, Canadian
assistant, like, take the time out. He actually
did it in their last match. I think he was so
flabbergasted. He was so mad. He was just like,
I need a breather. That wasn't about, that was
about controlling his emotion. Yeah, he's like,
I'm going to kill somebody. So, I think this
comes down to the college system. Because you
don't see. They don't say anything. Yeah, you
don't see Karch doing this. Like, Karch runs
his own timeouts. But when you watch. college
volleyball and a lot of these coaches come up
from those systems you have so much responsibility
kind of outside of volleyball whether it be recruiting
or different things media and you have assistant
coaches who run the offense who run the defense
and you kind of work with them you're not a figurehead
like you're still involved in day -to -day operations
but you have probably very specific volleyball
people underneath you who are working with those
position players a lot. So the other piece of
that too is the way they train in college. You
can only have so many hours on the court. And
so you'll see a lot of staffs break up who they
work with. One coach to work with the middles,
one coach to work with serve -receive, an offensive
coach, a defensive coach. So those... relationships
are already in place. So the language is the
same and all of that. And your head coach in
those situations are kind of making sure that
everything is operating smoothly. So I think
that dynamic comes from the experience in the
college world. So the question that kind of related
to this was, Eric Sullivan has served as an assistant
coach before at big tournaments. Correct. He
was the assistant for the U .S. men's national
team for a long time. And also at Texas, where
he always seemed so vocal. Why now, as the head
coach of the national team, is his energy so
flat? Do you think he's got good buy -in from
the players, or do you think there may be a new
head coach before LA 2028? This question requires
a ton of speculation. He does seem flat, though.
Like, he doesn't say anything. Yeah, it's a good
observation. But nobody says anything. People
talk, but they don't say anything. The jump from
college volleyball to international volleyball
is very high. And even though he was with the
men's national team, the women's game is different.
Volleyball is volleyball, but the strategy, what
teams are capable of, what they're doing, that
is different as well. There is going to be an
adjustment period for him as a head coach of
understanding who his players are. who the opponents
are. I can guarantee you he hasn't paid a lot
of attention to international teams working at
Texas. There's just no reason. So he doesn't
know any of these teams as well as any of the
other coaches. There's just so much for him to
do and absorb and to learn. I'm sure it's overwhelming.
Well, and also in college, the level of adjustments
you're required to make are very minimal compared
to the international game. Game plans in college
are very straightforward, very basic. Players
do what they do. It's very easy to counteract
certain things that are happening. Maybe he doesn't
know how, or maybe he's one of those coaches
that has to watch video before understanding
something happening. Because I've had coaches
that are really good at... seeing what's happening
on the court and understanding what to do and
how to make adjustments in the moment. And then
I've had some that have no clue how to do that
and have to watch video to try to figure it out
after the fact. That doesn't really, it's not
conducive to success on the international level,
but I wonder if maybe that's part of it. Yeah.
Again, however he adjusts to it or figures it
out or what his strengths are. They have to learn
how to work together as a staff as well. And
he doesn't need to talk. If he has two really
good assistant coaches who can make the right
adjustments and connect with the players, fine.
You surround yourself with good people so you
have a good staff. And whether or not he's going
to be replaced for 2028, I think will depend.
You'll know in the next two years. They'll have
Worlds and they'll have VNL next year. And if
there is not, if the U .S. is not, playing for
a medal in the vnl next year and worlds doesn't
go well this year usa volleyball will probably
take a long look at what they have in place but
they knew this was going to be a transition period
they know he doesn't have any international experience
on the women's side they know they're bringing
in a ton of new players they will have planned
for a four -year cycle and what that's going
to look like It will be about how quickly he
brings the team together and what they look like,
whether they hit their benchmarks year to year
to year. So it's too early to say. I will say
he probably didn't make a great impression in
this VNL. I think there were some gaps. I think
there were some poor decisions that were made.
I don't think the adjustments went well. I personally
believe that Worlds will be... Very telling.
We're heading into the final eight on the women's
side of the V &L. Quarterfinals are on Wednesday
and Thursday, and we've outlined those matchups.
Semis are on Saturday. Finals and bronze are
on Sunday. We have a reduced number of matches,
so you can watch them all. Very doable. Easy
peasy. Very doable. So the week should be great.
Two matches a day. Friday off. Go party. It's
going to be a great week of volleyball, I think.
Manageable. Grab your popcorn. A couple hours
a day. We'll see what unfolds. And don't forget,
we predicted Italy -Brazil in the final, Italy
winning. There's been a lot of controversy and
a lot of... comments flying on the youtube channel
which i have there have been italians being like
no italy's not gonna win i'm like dang that's
cold okay i like it though yeah it's it's been
the back and forth has been a lot of fun so i
appreciate everybody putting your comments in
there we definitely read them uh it's great to
see home fans commenting on their teams and what
they say because you guys know your players just
that much so i've i've thoroughly enjoyed that
That concludes this week's episode of Volley
Talk. There's always something shaking in the
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