LOVB Madison Battles into 3rd Place, PVF Indy Ignite Blanks Supernovas in Omaha

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. The men's Champions League Final Four is
set, and we are creeping closer and closer to
playoff time for Love, the PVF, and the NCAA
men's conference tournaments. We saw a lot of
non -conference play this week on the men's side.
I think it's kind of a weird time with some spring
breaks, some exam time, depending on what system
the schools are on. The teams were traveling
all over the place this week. Love only has a
couple weeks of play left before the season -ending
tournament in Louisville, and there are about
10 regular season games left in PVF before the
Final Four is determined there as well. So we're
coming down to crunch time, everybody, and we're
seeing which teams are rising to the occasion
and which ones are crumbling under the pressure.
We love to see it both ways. We love the drama.
So we have some fun stuff to discuss with you
today and we cannot wait. So let's get started.
As I said, the Men's Champions League Final Four
is set, which means that the second phase of
the quarterfinals took place this week. Zawierce
from Poland beat Lunenberg 3 -1, which means
they won both matches handily, 3 -0, 3 -1, so
they are through. Perugia had a repeat 3 -1 performance
against Monza, so they are through. Jastrzewski
recovered, as we expected them to. They beat
Olympiakos pretty handily, 3 -0. Happy for them
that they had their... Cinderella run at home,
but reality won out in the end. The team that
I feel is, I don't want to say supposed to go,
the team that is stronger is going, in my opinion.
So since Jastrzewski earned one point in their
five -set loss last week, there was no need for
a golden set here because they earned three points
in their 3 -0 win. So the final score... Between
Jastrzewski and Olympiakos was 4 -2. So Jastrzewski
gets to go on free of the golden set. Nobody
wants to play one of those. We did have one though.
We did not get away unscathed. So Warsaw beat
Halkbank Ankara 3 -0. But if you remember from
last week, Halkbank won 3 -1. And since both
of those matches were three -point wins, we had
to go to the golden set. So this match was actually
played in Warsaw. And Hulk Bank won the Golden
Set 15 -12. Heartbreaking. The Golden Set is
always a roll of the dice. It's so entertaining
and stressful to watch. And you lose it at home,
too. Not the best. But, I mean, it keeps it interesting
because, like, it would have been three Polish
teams. And an Italian team. But now we've got
two Polish teams, an Italian team, and Turkish.
So the final four matchups are Perugia versus
Halkbank and Zvezda versus Jastrzewski. So that,
we've got a bit of a wait here, folks. So that
is happening May 16th to 18th in Woods, Poland.
So exciting stuff happening on that front. Love
a golden set. Hate to play in them, but entertaining
stuff. Great for the fans. On the NCAA men's
side, as we predicted last week, Cal State Northridge
had an interesting week, to say the least. You
know that I have been scratching my head about
how the heck this team is ranked number seven
in the country. So we saw that CSUN beat Lewis
in five, and then they turned around and lost
to Loyola Chicago in five. So let's look at just
a few of the numbers from here, because there
are some interesting things to look at. So against
Lewis, CSUN actually hit 216 versus Lewis's 350.
So they probably shouldn't have won that match.
Statistically, Lewis looks better in a lot of
categories, blocking more digs or same number
of digs roughly. But I think the difference here
was where the serving happened. So CSUN had 11
aces and 18 misses. That's actually pretty good.
It's not bad, especially over five sets. That's
like one ace to roughly one and a half errors.
Yeah. That's very good, especially in men's.
But Lewis went eight service aces to 21 service
errors. So even though they hit better, they
struggled from the service line to kind of...
Keep consistent pressure, it looks like. And
Jalen Phillips had 23 kills in that match and
hit .364. I mean, he's their star. Yeah, so he
was very good down the stretch. For Lewis, Oguz
had 25 kills and hit .404, and Max Roquette had
16 kills and hit .359. I mean, the scores of
this one minus a couple sets were close, so it
was a pretty good game. And if we look at CSUN
versus Loyola Chicago, this was a little less
of a serving clinic. We had CSUN had four aces
to 27 errors. Wait for it. Loyola had five aces
to 32 errors. So while this wasn't necessarily
the best game to watch, given the sheer amount
of serving errors that happened, Loyola Chicago
did pull this out 18 -16 in the fifth. Yeah,
because they're missing every single serve. It's
just like point for point. Well, look at this.
CSUN hit 185 on the match. Oh, my gosh. And Loyola
Chicago hit 237. We had 26 hitting errors for
Loyola Chicago and 25. for CSUN I hope they refunded
everybody's ticket to that match oh my gosh it's
just like error fest now if we do so I understand
what Loyola Chicago was trying to do here they
were trying to put on service pressure and get
blocks against CSUN which they did so they had
34 block assists in that match and three solo
blocks so you've got to be joking me right now
that's like 20 Team blocks. Yeah. We are going
to go rip it from the baseline, and we're going
to block, and we're going to take our chances.
Oh, my gosh. Is this UCLA? That's what UCLA does.
The game was a barn burner. Okay, so I'm going
to go with Loyola Chicago scores first in all
of these. 25 -22. 23 -25. 25 -23. 23 -25. 18
-16. It could not be closer. Yeah, so CSUN had
a couple of matches against ranked teams, lost
a close one 18 -16, won a close one 17 -15, so
all of those teams are in the mix. But do you
think CSUN should be ranked 7th? I think they,
wow. What are Lewis and Loyola Chicago currently
ranked? Okay, so as of the week of March 17th,
so the 24th hasn't come out yet. Loyola Chicago
was 8, so we expected that one to be close. And
Lewis is 15. I would say, if anything, Lewis
should probably be a little higher, although
they had a couple bad losses recently. Wasn't
it they lost to Lindenwood last week? So, I don't
know. They're all jumbled together in the middle.
I think this puts those three teams. It should
probably be... 9, 10, 11. Well, this just highlights
what we've been saying, that you've got the top
five teams that are just in a league of their
own. And then the rest are decent, but it's just
not the same volleyball. Yeah. I would be curious
to see any of these teams play, for example,
a Stanford, who in my mind is potentially...
But is also of that ilk. Well, and that's my
question. To me, they're a 1B. And are these
teams a 1B or are they a 2B? Is there a little
bit of separation there? And, you know, you have
Pepperdine, who's got a ton of size. How do these
teams deal with that? So there's a couple kind
of interesting matchups, let's call them, from
those teams who are in the middle of the men's
currently. Ohio State actually had the exact
same schedule as CSUN this week. They just traded.
And Ohio State lost both of those matches. They
are not having a great year. And then BYU and
Grand Canyon had a back -to -back series. They
split. So BYU won the first match in four, and
GCU won the second one in three. Well, that match
was interesting. So we watched that one. The
first one. The first one. And BYU started really
strong. So they won the first two sets. Like
badly. It was like 18 and 18. Yeah, and were
up in the third set. GCU just decided that they
had figured it out at that point. GCU came back
in the third set, played pretty well, made it
close in the fourth, but had definitely found
some rhythm and then just kept it rolling and
swept the next day. It was really, it was kind
of a weird match to watch, to be honest. Yeah,
I would agree. Like we have watched, we watched
BYU early in the season and they had some interesting
roster switches. They were having trouble scoring.
Keone Thim, I think he got blocked literally
straight down 60 % of the time he swung. Yeah,
he had a rough go. I said this when we watched
them earlier this year. They set their balls
so high. And when you have such an undersized
hitter like that, who you want to be your go
-to hitter, you need to give him speed because
he is getting literally munched. It's so hard
to hit against a well -formed block all the time.
And I think he's capable of hitting a faster
set. I think they need to figure it out. But
they haven't yet, so I'm not sure how that's
going to go. Yeah, it was a weird match. To GCU's
credit, they were on the ropes, and they held
it together. BYU had several match points, and
they just kept going. And they had their lefty
spin server come in, save the day. Put together
a string of points when it mattered. It was interesting,
but you got to wonder what's going on here. If
you had to pick between GCU and BYU right now,
who would you pick? If they were to play in the
playoffs? I think they're pretty even. Even though
the scores didn't go five and didn't push, I
think they're pretty evenly matched. I think
GCU edges them a little bit. Oh, man. On paper,
you would think BYU would be better than they
are. Agreed. And they're just... Not. But I think
it's because of how they run their offense. I
don't think they're maximizing the players that
they have. Those balls are so high for everybody.
And GCU seemed to get a beat on their hitters.
By the second match, they knew where to position
themselves. They knew how to set up the block,
what the timing was. They had just settled into
the rhythm against that team. Well, I think GCU
runs their middle way better. Absolutely. And
consistently. And they were virtually unstoppable.
Like I really liked how GCU ran their middle,
which opened things up. It's not like GCU's outsides
are like crazy unbeatable hitters, but like things
open up for them because their middles are so
strong. We always talk about it. Always talk
about it. If we look at love this week, we saw
a third place showdown between Madison and Salt
Lake with Madison winning three to two. Now we
will talk about this game specifically. But this
gives Madison third place outright. So we will
see if they're able to hang on to that towards
the end of the season. In the weekend for love,
Atlanta beat Austin 3 -0. Not really a surprise.
Omaha continues to lose, losing to Austin 3 -2
and Houston 3 -1. So they're winless in their
last, I'm not sure what the number is now. It's
been a while, I think. On the website when they
show the last four matches, it's just red for
Omaha. So they are... They're struggling. Sammy
Francis has joined Omaha and looked to have had
a pretty good turnout. She scored a whole bunch
of points for them, so we'll see. But I think
it's just a little bit too late for Omaha. Well,
it's my understanding that Stiverns is injured
now too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard
that both Condelaria Herrera and Stiverns are
injured, so they had to bring Francis in to have
enough middles. Her and Thader led the team in
points, which I love to see it. They, like, run
that middle, okay? But you need some production
from elsewhere. We also saw Jaylee Winters and
Jordan Larson started the match, were taken out.
It looked like they were running a 5 -1, which,
why weren't you doing that? It was different.
But, yeah, Sammy Francis coming back after a
couple months. since her last game and just like,
hey, I'll just leave the team. I liked her. I
like what she does. I think she's good for that
team. We always talk about running the middles
more, which every team probably needs to do.
But when you run your middles that much, your
outsides need to score. Because you're going
to be one -on -one everybody, okay? But we talked
about this all season long with Omaha's outside
hitting core being questionable in terms of being
able to score consistently. Maybe a little weaker
than some of the other combos out there, yeah.
And now you're seeing that with teams kind of
figuring out how to defend them well. But I'm
sorry, like your middles are scoring that way.
Pretty sure the players who came in were Kubik
and Savard, and they were hitting less than 100.
Yeah. It looked like a rough outing. They need
to figure it out in Omaha, but it's too late.
They're going to finish at the bottom of the
league. They're going to have the worst first
and second round matchups if they manage to win.
So at this point, it just needs to be about building
momentum for that final in two weeks. So if we
look at the standings for Love, currently it's
Atlanta. then Houston, Madison, Austin, Salt
Lake, Omaha. Austin and Salt Lake are tied for
fourth, so we will see how that plays out. That
is now kind of the jockeying for position. Moving
on to the PVF, Orlando got their payback against
San Diego this week. They won 3 -1, but then
followed up with a 3 -1 loss to Atlanta, which
was a match they probably needed to win. We watched
that one. Give me your thoughts. I don't know
what happened to Brittany Abercrombie. She was
useless. So we are going to talk about her in
our game later on, and we'll dive in a little
bit more to where she has been. But she has been
on a slide as of late, and it is not trending
in a good direction. I do not get it because
she was so dominant for so much of the season,
was hitting neutral. She had zero pace on her
attacks. She was hitting negative for a lot of
the match. And the crazy thing is they kept her
in. They would not take her out. And I'm like,
you need to make a change here. This is getting
wild. They have to leave her in because they
need her to score points. She's not scoring points.
Well, I get that, but they need her to figure
it out. Because if she doesn't figure it out,
they're not going to win. Well, no kidding. They've
been terrible in the last couple weeks. they
rely on her and I don't know whether it's just
been a long season. I don't care who you are.
Like at some point, if you're not doing your
job, like let's switch it up. Like I understand
what you're saying. She is their go -to hitter.
She, they need her to figure it out if they want
to be successful, but she's not. So at least
like, let's have some accountability here. Do
you know what I mean? Yeah, no, I hear you. And
whatever their coaching decision is, she was.
Not good. Not good. And they didn't have anybody
else step up in her place to make up for that
lack of scoring. They are going to be in trouble
if they don't figure it out. Well, they were
missing Adora, too, who has been the other main
point scorer for them for most of the season.
She didn't even travel. She actually hasn't been
playing that much as of late, so I'm wondering
if she's fighting an injury. Their main outside
recently has been Vanderweide and Schwan. And
so I'm not sure if Adore has been injured or
if she's fighting something or if she's got something
else going on, but they've been rotating through
those three. So that's, again, something they're
going to need to figure out in terms of who's
going to be able to score points for them. Atlanta
looked pretty good, though. Yeah, they did well.
Beeson is an enigma. To me, she sometimes plays
well and is great and other times is just terrible.
The good thing is they have a backup in Jones
who can come in. I thought Jones did a good job.
Yeah, so Jones came in, played well. And this
to me is actually something that I think is key
in PVF right now. If you have a good backup for
when someone is struggling, there's been lots
of... teams that have inconsistent players in
one position or more than one. And if you have
a legitimate backup that can come in and perform,
those teams have been a little more consistent.
So the Beeson -Jones pair is functioning well.
And I like the strategy they're using. We're
going to put Beeson in. We're going to see what
Beeson we get. If she's good, we're solid. And
Jones, in my opinion, is a little more consistent.
And so you've kind of got a good one -two punch
there. I think Jones's upside isn't quite as
high as Beeson's, but her low side is not as
low as Beeson's. Correct. And I thought Atlanta's
outside combo in Timmer and Edmonds were consistent.
I thought Corey Lewis was unstoppable. MVP. Wow.
Wow. She was very, very good. Morgan Hentz was
solid as always. Yeah. I'm curious to see. Pia
Timmer did well. She was lined up against the
setter, who... Somebody has to be lucky her.
Well, agreed. And to Atlanta's credit, they had
a strategy. They set her a ton of balls every
time that matchup was there, and she took advantage
of it. I'm curious, watching her play against
a bigger block, if she'll score that efficiently.
But you take what's given, and she did a really
good job in that match. In other matches in PVF,
Vegas has finally snapped a seven game losing
streak. They beat Grand Rapids in four. This
puts them outside of the playoff window. Now
there's still a decent number of games to play.
They have games in hand in the teams ahead of
them. I'm curious what Vegas is going to look
like moving forward for these last 10 games.
So they started incredibly hot. Then they stunk
for a very long time. Will they right the ship?
I think they have 11 matches left, maybe 12.
People have like 9 to 11 matches left. So that
is going to be interesting because they're going
to have to fight for that last playoff spot.
We had Indy having a great week, beating Columbus
in 5 and then going into Omaha and winning 3
-0, which I've always liked Indy. You've been
an Indy fan since the beginning. So I like to
see that. We have some unfortunate injury news.
Remember Mena? And Georgia Murphy are both out
for the season. Georgia Murphy ripped every tendon
in her knee. Ligament, but it's fine. Yeah, every
ligament in her knee. And remember, Mena redid
her ankle. Apparently, it's season ending. So
we will see how Indy does without her. They looked
all right in the last game. Yeah, they beat Omaha
3 -0. They beat Omaha. So rallied around her,
and we'll see if we can keep going from there.
There is a pretty good gap between the top four
and the bottom four. Omaha is still comfortably
in first. Like we said, Vegas is in fifth with
a couple games in hand. So they're kind of fighting
for that spot. We're going to talk about this
later on in the game as well. And Atlanta and
Indy are currently tied for third, but Indy is
up in points. So we'll see how that tie break
shakes off. Again, still lots of time. We'll
see how things shake out in the PVF. But it's
actually kind of getting interesting as you watch
the games of who's going to make it. I like it.
And we do have to finish up our weekly happenings,
highlights, etc. We do have some follow -ups
from some recent questions that we answered in
previous episodes. So we have our sources, ladies
and gentlemen. And they give me the details.
So it has been confirmed that mid -season trades
are allowed in PVF. Apparently the deadline for
this season is April 1st. There have been a few
teams that have collected players. So San Diego
has picked up Tara Caesar, who played at Georgia
and Florida. Columbus has picked up Nutsara Tomcom,
the setter for Thailand. She's been playing forever,
right? Yeah, she's very good. Orlando has acquired
Melanie Schaffmaster from Minnesota post her
Greek season. And then Atlanta has picked up
Micaiah White, who played at Texas. So nothing
crazy, but some holes that were identified they're
trying to fill with players who have finished
or didn't make playoffs in their foreign seasons.
But yes, trades are allowed. What I'm really
curious to see, once the playoff race has kind
of settled in, Do any teams trade for players
to bolster their playoff hopes? Does Vegas make
any moves? Somebody did that last year. They
traded a player for an earlier draft pick. I
think two first -round picks. I can't remember
who the player was, but I think she got pregnant
right after that too. So that was two first -round
draft picks for somebody who might be ineligible
for the next little while. Dang. For those of
you who are asking what's up with Kami Miner,
she has been reported slash told to me that she'll
be playing for Vero Volley Milano next season.
She is currently supposed to be the backup for
Alessia Oro, but there is some drama brewing
in that Fenerbahce wants to buy her out of her
contract, this and that. There is some movement
happening, so we will see. But yes, Cammy will
be playing next season. And we talked about our
thoughts on the relaxed doubles calls. Somebody
was like, well, what do you think about the relaxed
lift calls? Same thing. I think it's messy. I
think it's sloppy. I don't like it. Again, I
understand it for... younger players for development
from a tv standpoint but we're professionals
at this point again i agree that it should be
part of the skill development it's always that
fine line between entertainment where you don't
want the rallies to end on that play and keeping
it going and knowing what the skills are i don't
mind it being a little lax but i think it's gone
too far we really extended our weekly highlights
today. So hopefully you stuck with us. There
was a lot going on. Lots of news in addition
to the results. Yeah, it was a big week. Our
first feature match of the week is Love Madison
versus Salt Lake. It was interesting and I think
Salt Lake gave it away. I don't disagree with
you. My initial takeaway watching the match was
that it was a match of runs. Massive. Massive
runs. So I've done some of the kind of going
through the sets and picking up scores just because
I thought it was interesting. So we'll talk about
that as we get into it. Any other overarching
thoughts? I thought that the only player Lauren
Carlini could connect with in this match was
Annie Schumacher. It was a struggle seeing the
left sides try to hit. The middles were not going.
So Annie Schumacher was given so many balls.
And granted, she did a great job. She basically
carried the team offensively. But when you're
competing one player scoring against a whole
team, Salt Lake, you need to figure it out. Well,
I did think that Carlini, figured it out a little
bit towards the end of the match, and that was
the difference. You watched the left sides tip
a whole ton of balls. They physically could not
hit the ball. It was crazy. They were so flat
and fast that they couldn't get there. I didn't
think the setting was much better, but I thought
that she put a little more shape on it for the
outsides in the fourth and fifth set, and you
started to see them swing a little more. So at
least there was an adjustment there. This blows
my mind. Salt Lake has very good middles. Haley
Washington needs to be set more than anybody
else on that team. She's like unstoppable, you
guys. She hit 619 and had 15 points. In front
of the setter, behind the setter, she is scoring
points. So give her the ball. And the other thing
that confuses me, and I've talked about this
before, Gray needs to play. She needs to start.
She needs to play. They finally brought her in.
They set her 10 times. She had nine points and
hit 600. You have the potential to run the best
two -middle combo maybe in the league there,
and Poulter is very good at connecting with the
middles. Those two should be the staple of your
offense, and it will make everything better.
I don't understand why that's not happening.
Me neither. And I agree with you about Gray over
Tori Dixon. We have been saying this since the
season started. She is more physical. She jumps
better. She moves laterally better. She hits
better. She gets over the, like, yes, she's less
experienced, but I will take that physicality
any day. But you, this is the thing that confuses
me. So Haley Washington was out at the beginning.
So fine, put Tori Dixon in. And Tori Dixon. She's
serviceable. No, it's not like she's like a black
hole out there. She's not. She doesn't make a
ton of errors. Like, she's fine. But Gray, she
started the season. How did you not see, hey,
when we get to the end of the season, our way
to winning is to have this one -two middle combo.
It was a short -sighted decision to me. And yeah,
Serena Gray has an untraditional arm swing for
a middle. It's like... A little big. But when
she's jumping that high and is able to hit those
kind of angles. Who cares? Does it matter? Doesn't
matter. I don't think so. So that to me is something
that just should have happened. Needed to happen.
We'll see what happens moving forward. But I'm
a fan of her. I think she should be playing.
Their outside struggled. Dude, Dani Drews was
starting again. And every time I watch her, I'm
like, why is she starting? Like she doesn't.
do anything for them she makes a ton of errors
it's so awkward as a lefty on the left side with
the speed of ball that Poulter likes to run she
has been a liability in every single match I
have watched Salt Lake play she does better on
the right well she came in they finally took
her out and they she was coming in for the double
sub and she was doing so much better so much
better yeah it seems I think Salt Lake's biggest
issue is personnel decisions. When I watch them
play, the lineups they put on the floor just
don't compute for me. Do not make sense to me.
And you've got the best libero in the league
too. A hundred percent. I'm sorry. Like this
woman is unbelievable. She digs everything. She,
her passing is solid. She sets what, like you
have an outstanding setter. You've got a great
libero. You've got an incredible, potentially
incredible middle duo. Ronnie Jones Perry, people
have been saying that they think she's been so
mid all season in love. I disagree. I think that
she has been solid for Salt Lake for the majority
of the season. Skylar Fields was out with an
injury this match, but Casanova didn't do poorly.
I think she did pretty well. So you're missing
one of the top scores in the league and Skylar
Fields for that match. But like you have solid
athletes at virtually every position. I don't
understand. Well, not to mention your strength
in the middle and you talk about your passing.
Ronnie Jones -Perry is a good passer. Your libero
is a great passer. You're in system enough to
utilize that. You should be able to make life
pretty easy for your outside hitters at that
point. And I think the thing, going back to it
about Ronnie Jones -Perry, is sometimes she doesn't
pass the eye test. If you watch her play, it
can seem like... She's not contributing, or she's
not attacking well. But then you go back and
look at the stats, and she's put up solid numbers.
In this match, she had 29 points. She was set
55 times, and she hit 273. If you're getting
set that many times in a match, hitting 273 is
pretty solid. Yeah, I totally agree. And she's
the outside hitter. The P1. Yeah, sorry, she's
the out -of -system option in there. which you
normally do at the right side. So to have that
load as a passing left side as well is even heavier.
So I understand people might think that watching
her, but if you look at the numbers, she's been
good. Okay, before we get into looking at Madison,
I want to go over some of the scores that happened
or some of the runs that happened in this match.
So we'll start set one. Pretty close to start.
Madison is up 17 -14 in the first. I blinked,
and then it was 17 -20. Yeah. For Salt Lake.
So we had two Franklin hitting errors, a Chassé
hitting error, Drew's got blocked, and then two
passing errors by Chassé. You give up six points
in a row, and then the game ended at 20 -25 for
Salt Lake. So you went from being up 17 -14 to
losing 25 -20. Just a solid 11 -3 run. No biggie.
That should not happen. No. You're talking about
three hitting errors from the left sides. They
couldn't hit the ball. I'm not making excuses
for them, but it's highlighting the connection
issues that we were seeing. Correct. But regardless,
as a team, you can't do that. No. So then they
come out in the second set, and we get off to
a 15 -4 start. The other way, yes. For Madison.
I was like, what? And that game ends 25 -15.
Yeah. Like, what is happening in those situations?
It's crazy to me. And again, we start in the
third set, and pretty close, teams battling.
It's 14 -15 for Madison. Then they give up three,
so it's 14 -18. And then they lose 17 -25. And
this is... I'm just laughing because it's just,
like, ridiculous. And at one point they did,
you know, one of those, let's interview the player
during a timeout, you know what I mean? But,
like, not live. It was, like, prerecorded at
their practice. I believe it was Roddy Jones'
parents. She's like, you know what? Something
that I think is so great about this league is
that, like, there are so many runs. I think it's,
like, so crazy. Anybody could win at any time.
You're never out of it. There's always runs.
And I'm sitting here being like, is that a good
thing or a bad thing? Because you're professional
athletes. You need to get it together. That's
a red flag to me. And I know we talk about this,
and I know people don't like hearing about it,
but to me, those runs is one of the things that
denotes top leagues from mid -tier leagues. And
I mean, they happen. They do happen. But I think
the frequency and consistency that we see them
happen in love is just like my mind's exploding.
But let's finish the game here. Okay, sorry.
I remember that interview and I just had to say
it because I was watching it. Like, that's not
a good thing. Well, so if we look at set four,
Madison starts down five to ten. Okay. Yeah.
They close the gap. to 12 -14. So they're within
two points in the middle of the set, which is
fine. They end up being down 21 -24 at the end
of that set. And they end up winning that one.
I think like 32 -30 or something. It was something
high. It was like, yeah, 29 -27, something like
that. And that was on the back of a Schumacher
serving run. Like, good for her to go back. She
put pace on the serve. Like, they earned those
points. But it's so, like, what are you doing?
It's 24 -21. You literally had three chances
to win this match, like three side -out opportunities.
And so you blow that set as Salt Lake, and then
you come out in the fifth, and it's 4 -4. Great,
we're having a good fifth set. It's entertaining.
And again, I blinked, and it's 11 -4 for Madison.
Absolutely crazy. And I will say, from an entertainment
standpoint, You literally had no idea what was
going to happen. None. And it was a wild match
to watch. I thought Salt Lake was the better
team, to be honest. I thought they should have
won that match. I'm like, you can hear the frustration
in my voice. I'm just like, I do not understand
what is going on. Because it makes no sense to
me. And I think from a Madison standpoint. I
don't really know what to make of them right
now. I thought Carlini struggled in that game.
Now, she's very good all around. Good serve,
good defensively, puts up a good block. She digs
a ton of balls. She sets Annie Drews well, which
is important for that team. But I saw her overset
Hall. No, undersell. Hall was like jumping and
hitting from like her chest. But that was after
she had two balls that kind of went over top
of her. So Hall connected well at the beginning.
I was like, okay, good. They're setting her.
This is what they need to do. And then that connection
disappeared. And then the left sides had to tip
a ton of balls. They cycled through. Yaniska
was in. Franklin was in. Chassé was in. It was
a revolving door of those three the whole match.
And I... I didn't think that was entirely fair
because I didn't think the left side's got a
chance to be put in a position to be successful.
There was no rhythm there. And they'll have to
figure that piece out because that's not going
to be good enough to win against the top two
teams if that's their goal. The game was entertaining.
There were good plays. The sheer unpredictability
of it. 100%. If you're not looking at necessarily
what should happen or... the swings and this
is the interesting part for me like if you're
a Nebraska fan and Nebraska plays like this you're
up in arms about the inconsistency about what
you're doing like you have to hold your professionals
to the same standard and or even a higher standard
they're more experienced they're getting paid
I understand college people are getting paid
to play now too but you know what I mean yeah
this this to me And kind of in stark contrast
to having watched the Women's Champions League
quarterfinals like a couple weeks before, there
were some very good rallies, some very high -level
play, but it was intermittent. And the runs were
wildly entertaining and somewhat perplexing.
But that's the thing. If you are a casual volleyball
watcher, you probably will look at that and be
like, this is amazing. wow, look at this comeback.
Look at this like huge lead, blah, blah, blah.
But like for me personally, like watching it
with a critical eye and like I struggle to watch
that because I'm just like seeing these inconsistencies
and these decision -making issues and things
like that that just like make me scratch my head.
From a... High -level volleyball perspective,
a little head -scratching, but again, an entertaining
match to just sit and watch. All right, our last
feature match for this episode is going to be
PVF Omaha versus Indy. Hit me with your initial
thoughts. I thought Indy, having lost their go
-to player, their quote -unquote franchise player,
I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think the
way that they rallied as a team and the way I
saw different athletes step up individually was
really cool. I thought, you know, Teeler kind
of put the team on her back. She played very
well. She was outstanding. Even though there
were some passing and defensive hiccups along
the way, I think their defensive system was solid.
We haven't seen Omaha play for a little bit,
but I was underwhelmed on the Omaha side. I felt
like the players had trouble getting going. Indy
looked dominant to me. Well, and let's highlight
Teeler here. She was... Set 33 times. She had
19 kills and hit 515 on the match. That's really
good. She was unconscious and unstoppable. Really
good. And I have been critical of her this season.
But she stepped up and Omaha did not have an
answer. No. In particular, when they're running
the combo play, like you guys. every single time
Indy runs a combo play, they set Teeler. Like,
let's just be ready for that. Because I was getting
so frustrated. Omaha was not ready for that.
They were not ready for that. Okay. I thought
the other thing, well, this was interesting.
So we've talked about Indy's middles. And I thought
they started running Crawford often at the beginning
of the match. And she was actually scoring. But
then that part kind of went away. She struggled
later in the match. They stopped setting her.
That connection disappeared. She looked like
Crawford from earlier in the season. I like that
they're trying to work on that. If they can figure
that part out, if they have a consistent threat
in the middle, because Martin had a good game,
and if Crawford can score too, I really like
what Indy's doing. I thought Crawford's offense
earlier in the match was the best I've ever seen
her swing. Yeah, but it reverted at the end.
which I think if you're making improvements,
that's to be expected. But the last time we spoke
about Indy, we were saying if they want to be
at the top, they need to run their middles and
they need to get Crawford going because she's
a non -factor. She was putting way more pace
on the ball. She was staying behind the ball.
Work had been done, and she looked way better,
albeit for half the match. Yeah, both her and
Martin got 14 sets each. So it was a conscious
effort, and they need to keep going with that.
But it was noticeable and beneficial, I thought.
And when I'm speaking about Indy's block defensive
strategy, I think their middles are incredible
blockers. I think their right side tandem in
Sidney, Hilly, and Teeler were blocking very
well. I was pulling my hair out watching their
left sides block. You guys. Emily Londot does
not hit angle. Okay. She hits line and that's
about it. And the, they were leaving her line
on every single ball. And let me tell you, it
wasn't getting dug. So it's not like you're leaving
a channel for your libero to make digs, like
shut down the line. I was getting so frustrated.
I couldn't handle it. Player issue or coaching
issue. What's your instinct? My assumption is
that. They planned to leave her the line so Elena
Scott could dig it. But after it happens a few
times and you're not picking that up, you need
to change the plan and be like, hey, let's completely
shut down the line here and force her to go in
a direction she doesn't want to. You can't keep
doing the same thing and expect a different result.
Like, you need to make adjustments. Well, and
it's interesting because Londot's line swing
is not a true line swing. It's about five feet.
inside the court from the sideline and so when
you leave her that space she's actually got quite
a window to hit and they as a right -handed right
side yeah yeah they needed to it was too much
area for scott to pick up and i know she's very
good but there's just it's too much space but
the kicker It's like Omaha was not setting their
middle. Agreed. So like, why are you pinched
in so far as a left side to help the middle that
Omaha does not set? And they didn't run very
many pipe balls. Exactly. It's like, get outside
to make sure you can shut down the line. Like,
what are you looking for here? I don't know.
It just like, it didn't make a lot of sense to
me. Granted, Indy 130. So what the heck am I
even talking about here? Well. Omaha didn't play
particularly well. If they're going point for
point with you, those are the kind of adjustments
that makes the difference between beating really
good teams and beating teams when they're not
playing their best. Because Allie Batenhorst
struggled in that match. She got pulled in the
first set or second set? I think second set.
Early, regardless. I mean, she got 17 sets. She
had three kills. She was blocked twice. Two hitting
errors for hitting negative 059. Yeah. And, I
mean, you just can't. Those can't be your numbers
for your starting outside. Yeah, that's rough.
And they weren't setting their middles. Nunaviller
started, I think in the first two sets, she was
hitting like 500 or something. And then they
were clamping down on her in the third set. And
she struggled a little bit more. Yeah, they figured
her out. She got 38 sets. Hit 184, 13 kills,
was blocked four times. And again. So you're
going from 400 or hitting 500 after like half
the match, it drops to one, whatever, you just
said 148 or something, 84. And that's what happens
when you don't run your middle and you know where
the ball is going. Like if we talk about distribution.
And, I mean, I guess Emily Londot got a bunch
of sets as well. You had Nunaviller got 38 sets.
Londot got 28. And then Reagan Cooper was the
next one at 16, if you don't consider Batenhorst
at 17. She's the one who came in for Batenhorst.
Yeah, so, like, what are we talking about? Middle
-wise, Kayla Caffey got 11 sets, maybe. And I'm
shocked because I do not remember her hitting
that many balls. Like, watching the match, I
was like... Why aren't they setting the medal?
Now, talk to me about their setter. Valentin
Anderson? Yeah. How do you think she did? She
was fine. Watching the game, I didn't necessarily
see her as a huge liability. I feel like you
have the thought. I was just curious of the decision
-making of the offense she run. Do you think
they passed well enough to run more middle? Well,
I understand that the middles that they have
are traditionally blocking middles. They've never
been huge offensive middles, but that doesn't
matter. You can't rely on one or two hitters.
to get the job done like you need to feed them
a little more consistently yeah i agree they
need to they need to figure out how to own the
middle of the court a little bit i mean if i
didn't have the context of the current standings
if omaha wasn't in first place i would say indy
is the better team from a from a one match standpoint
i know that doesn't count i know it doesn't really
mean much but you always measure yourself against
the top team and i i really liked what indy's
doing I can see what they're working on I can
see where they want to head and I mean obviously
Omaha has good outsides and they put up better
numbers but from a sustainable offensive standpoint
again snapshot one game it is what it is it's
just hey we're going to rely on these players
we'll see what happens with that well and it'll
be interesting to see too With these lineup changes
and role changes on the indie side. As teams
get video and have an understanding of what their
game plan kind of looks like now. Without member
mana in the lineup. Like is that going to be
sustainable? Are they going to be able to maintain
that? Because Carly Scott, she's come in now
and then as a sub. But she hasn't really consistently
been playing full matches. She definitely held
her own. She had 19 attacks, 8 kills, hit 316.
Yeah, so she did solid. Is Teeler going to be
able to maintain that level of production? Is
Scott going to be able to stay consistent like
that? Are they going to be able to get CeCe Crawford
going? There's a lot of variables at play here,
but for that particular match, I think Indy looked
really good. I'm curious on the Omaha personnel
side. In the middle, you have Aloeo and Anabonjo.
In the middle, who didn't play. But have they
played at all, all season? Like, have they gotten
in at all? I think Anabonjo has played a little
bit. Really? I'm not 100 % sure. But Phoebe is
not an attacking middle either. Like, Minnesota
did not use her. Anabonjo can score. I'm looking
at the personnel they have and saying, okay,
how... If I'm that team currently, and again,
based off this match, we need to be more of a
threat in the middle. And again, we're basing
it off of this match. Like maybe they set their
middle all the time and they just weren't. But
I don't know. But this, again, this is against
a playoff team. Indy's in the top four. Like
you would think that this is a match that you're
circling and saying, hey, you know, we want to
play. It's potentially a first round matchup
in the playoffs. Well, especially playing at
home, you get blanked. Yeah, we'll see. I enjoyed
watching Indy. I thought they played well. It
was interesting to see them against the top team.
You can feel the urgency coming in PBF, I think,
watching those teams and watching those matches.
And Omaha's in a great place. They have less
urgency than anybody else. But it'll be interesting
to see what happens down the stretch here with
those top four or five teams. All right, for
our game this week, we're going to play... Paven's
percentages. So I am going to give you a couple
scenarios and you're going to tell me what percentage
you give it to be true. Okay. Okay. So we're
going to, we're going to stick and we're going
to start with the PVF. We have a top four in
the PVF currently of Omaha, Orlando, Atlanta,
and Indy. Okay. Now Omaha's 12 and five, Orlando's
12 and seven, Atlanta's 11 and eight, Indy is
11 and eight. Vegas is the next team at eight
and nine. They have 11 games left to play and
Orlando, Atlanta, and Indy all have nine. What
is the percentage that the playoffs are going
to be some combination of Omaha, Orlando, Atlanta,
and Indy? 80%. Oh, that's high. Vegas has been
on like a downslide and to make up that point
differential or that like those matches that
they're behind. I think it's going to be tough
because, yeah, you can win like three matches,
but the other teams are probably going to win
matches too. I feel like the top four is going
to stick. 80%, sure. Okay, I like that. I agree
with your assessment. I think it's probably going
to be a high number. I probably would have gone
75 just because I think Vegas. A whole 5 % less,
wow. Well, Vegas has the potential to be streaky
as we've seen, but I like your assessment there.
Okay, moving on. We talked about this briefly.
Lector member Mena out indefinitely for the rest
of the season. What do you think is the decrease,
if any, that Indy sees in their win percentage?
So basically you're replacing her with Carly
Scott. What do you think the decrease in points
had she stayed healthy be? Because you can never
predict how people are going to respond to a
situation like that. And we've seen people step
up. You see some people crumble. I mean, she
is one of the top point scorers in the league.
Okay, if I'm thinking about what they're losing
and potentially what they're gaining by other
players stepping up, I'll say 15%. Okay. Is that
too high? I don't know. No, I was going to go
25. Whoa! I think she's been that good for them.
I think she allows her teammates to slot into
really good positions. And Teeler did a great
job at the right side, but teams are going to
figure her out. I think it's going to be really
hard. I think both her and Carly played really
well against Omaha, and I think that that's going
to be tough to do. They still have a lot of games
to play. People are excited to play a different
position, a new player come in. I think they're
going to feel that loss down the stretch. Okay,
we talked about this before, but we're going
to go to Orlando's Abercrombie. Okay, I'm going
to throw you some stats here of her last six
matches. Okay, so this is in her sixth match,
she hit 431. Then she hit 318. Then she hit 224.
Then she hit 136, 149, and in her last match,
024. Okay, that is... Incremental from six to
the most recent. It's pretty definitive, yes.
What do you think the percentage chances she
will bounce back before the end of the season
and get above a 250 hitting percentage consistently?
Watching her, I can't figure out if she's been
overused and she's just tired. She has no pace
on her balls. She's not hitting any angles at
all. 250, that's decent. It's not outstanding.
250? What's the percent chance that she'll hit
250? That will be her average from here until
the end of the season. 50 %? I'm lower on that.
I just don't know. I want to be like, girl, figure
it out. I'm 35 % on that. Really? That's a six
-match sample size of you getting worse and worse
and worse. Progressively worse. I want to give
her the benefit of the doubt because she started
the season. But it's not hard to hit 250. I know
that might sound like an elitist statement, but
it's not. Hitting 250 is not unreasonable. Yeah,
I mean, it depends on how they use her. It depends
what situations they put her in. But like you
said, to me, the troubling thing was there just
wasn't a lot of pace on her ball. It's not like
she's making mistakes. that much she's just getting
dug a ton neutral angles not hitting hard enough
i i just wonder if they've either a used her
too much or she's fighting with some sort of
overuse injury it just doesn't it hasn't looked
good and the numbers don't look good all right
in the last it's a two -part question we'll look
at love here what do you think the percentage
chance is that atlanta finishes first so they
have two matches left They play Houston and they
play Omaha. I believe they're two wins ahead
of Houston, who's the only team who can catch
them. What percentage chance do you think they
finish first? Like 85%, 90%. Even if they lose
to Houston, I'm pretty confident they'll beat
Omaha. How many matches does Houston have left?
Two as well, I believe. Yeah, I'll say 90%. Yeah,
I was going to go 100 % on that one. I'm going
to guarantee that. But here's the interesting
part of the question. What percent chance do
you give Houston to win the whole thing? 65%.
Oh, okay, okay. Houston has been my pick since
early, and they haven't let me down. Yeah, I
was going to say probably 60%. I like them a
lot. Atlanta, well, we'll see if they can keep
swinging, and they have a very aggressive outside
hitting core. Matty Boggs has been doing a good
job, but Houston just, they've been able to pull
out the wins when it mattered, and I think they
have a bit of a psychological edge against them.
currently too. So anyway, that's Patton's percentages.
I hope you had fun with that. Um, I liked that
one. It is time for listener questions. Our,
we had a lot of good ones this week, so I had
to save some good ones for future episodes, but
they are coming. So first question is these questions
kind of combined and were related. So it's a
very long two part question, but Have you heard
anything about a conflict and or unification
of love and PVF? What do you think should be
the expectations between major league owners
as the game grows? And that kind of ties into
a question about like, what the heck happened
to the MLV? Are they waiting until the end of
love PVF to come out with more statements or
what is going on? So I haven't heard anything
specifically about a merger between Love and
PVF. If we look at historically other women's
leagues, and I'm referencing mostly hockey here,
is the two different leagues, they haven't been
around long enough to prove which one is successful.
They have two very different models. They have
two very different approaches. There is, in my
opinion, no clear path to joining those leagues
in the near future. It's going to have to be.
who can generate revenue, who can make it self
-sustaining, which model generates fans, TV contracts,
all of that. There's, if I had to guess, a decade
worth of jockeying for position before either
one of them will kind of say, hey, we need to
make this a unified thing for the betterment
of the sport. So then what do you think the expectations
should be between major league owners as the
game grows? Like between Love and PVF, the people
who own the league? Yeah. Nothing. I think that
they can help find places for athletes to play.
But there's just, they're both doing their own
thing. They're both focused on growing their
own game. They obviously are probably talking
and looking and trying to learn from each other.
But I don't think there's any cooperation happening.
I think they want their league to be the best.
But, like, what you see in other countries and
stuff is, like, the National Federation is at
the kind of the top, and then there are branches
of different levels. And I understand USA Volleyball
is, like, at the top of both of these leagues,
but they're, like, completely different entities.
So what I think would be interesting is if they
kind of ran it the way you see overseas, where
you can be... promoted or demoted from one league
to another based on your finish of the year before
and that's what you see like there's typically
like an a league b c d and like if you win the
b you get to play a next year if you come bottom
of a you have to go down to b and i think that
would be cool If like the bottom team in love
has to go to PVF and like the winner of PVF gets
to play in love. But like with the overlap of
cities and stuff like that, like it's just not
realistic. So I don't know. I think they're just
two completely different products and it's hard.
Well, I mean, I agree that that would be a great
kind of tier. Especially because USA Volleyball
is supporting both. You don't have individual
team owners. I know. I'm saying that would be
interesting. I did not say it was feasible. Yeah.
If MLV actually happens and they put as much
money in and all of the promises that they have
said from their one press conference are true.
From their one statement, just bashing everybody.
And they bring in all of the best players in
the world and you have the top league in the
U .S., that with individual owners could be a
tier one, tier two. with pvf yeah now there's
a little bit of sarcasm in my voice around that
but that's a situation i could see going in that
direction but also where did they go you're coming
out and you're literally like gonna stomp on
everything that these other leagues are doing
and then you just disappear so the the person
who asked this question was like do you think
the supernovas ownership will have to go back
to pvf with their tails between their legs can
you imagine it will be pvf season i literally
don't know what happened i haven't heard anything
and again we reached out to them and asked for
an interview or a comment never heard anything
back so and they are apparently starting in january
yeah they better get to work yeah question two
are there any standout players for you guys in
the pvf that you think could play at a higher
level in love or another league Thinking further
ahead, do you think there will be a lot of players
switching between the two leagues and we could
see a level change as a result? Well, there's
a lot of pieces to that question. Okay, without
having done any prep work on this, I think the
first person that kind of sticks out, I think
Brooke Nunaveller could play. Really? I think
she could play in another league. I think she
passes well enough to be a P2, a P2 with some
offensive upside. And so I think that there's
some potential there. You know, you have to get
used to the ball coming a little faster and doing
all that, and maybe she starts as a bench player,
like the third left side and works her way in.
I think she has potential to potentially play
in another league. I would say Morgan Hentz.
Yeah, I think Morgan Hentz has a shot. I think
Corey Lewis, honestly, should be considered.
She's very good. And she has no experience serving
or playing defense or anything, and she's figuring
it out. I just think she's so physical. I think
she could go somewhere else. I think Natalie
Foster. You love her? I don't think. I don't
know. I think PVF is where she belongs. I think
she has potential. I think she's a pretty good
blocker. I think offensively she needs to be
a little bit better. She's got a really good
serve. some teams could use. I'm not talking
hopping straight into A1 Italy, but I'm saying
I think there's a ceiling there where there's
potential. And there are other players who are
good, but I think their size limits them from
going up and playing in the next kind of tier.
I mean, Brittany Abercrombie has played in different
leagues up until this point, I think. If we're
seeing her level from earlier in the season,
yes, she could for sure play somewhere else.
So those would be the ones that kind of come
to the top of my head. Yeah, we didn't. I didn't
tell Adam about this question beforehand. And
honestly, I wanted to go in just like thinking
blind as well. But I feel like a lot of the PVF
athletes are playing at a level where they fit.
Yeah. But there are a few. There's a handful
that I think. Could either pursue something overseas
or try to work their way into love. I honestly
don't really see there being a lot of players
switched between love and PVF. I don't think
we're going to see mass back and forth. I think
the levels of the two are going to kind of stay
differentiated. Love kind of has a mode around
it. they have to be invited into the league.
I think they're going to identify their top couple
college players every year and pull them in and
then see if they can pull in a few international
players. I see that level probably staying very
similar to where it is. The one thing I will
say is I think PVF can do a better job of identifying
college players that have either underperformed
in college or maybe weren't in the best spot,
didn't have the most opportunity, or came to
the sport late. My understanding is they let
a lot of athletes come to them instead of going
out and looking at them. So having a scouting
kind of piece for that, I think would make a
big difference for them. Question three is which
love rookie has made the most improvements so
far this season? Franklin, Skinner, or Merzik?
My instinct is Merzik. That's what mine was too.
I understand Skinner switched positions and it's
different. But you're not seeing her do anything
different other than hitting on the right side.
Franklin, I'm seeing the same things. I'm not
seeing her add elements to her game. I feel like
she's playing the same way she was in college.
Merzik, I think the thing working in her favor
is that she has got a very good and very experienced
coach working with her. And she was crafty and
she was moving the ball around. During the college
season. But I feel like she is finding different
tools to make her game more well -rounded and
more suited to maybe an international style.
So I think with Franklin coming into the season,
what I was looking for is, is your passing going
to get better? I'm not sure that it has. You
know, they sub her out. It's not, it's still
a weakness. And that was, for me, what needed
to happen. I also don't think Carlini sets her
particularly well. So I think that part makes
it challenging for her. For Skinner, I was looking
at her finding some different angles and hitting
against bigger blocks and finding different ways
to score other than just being physical. And
I think she's still kind of playing the same
way. And again, the position change is tough
to judge. But again, I think your assessment
of Mirzik was accurate, and that was my choice.
Our final question of the week is, what do you
think about the volleyball broadcasters? Who
are your favorite play -by -play and color commentators?
For the women's games in the U .S., are you tired
of hearing about NFL and NBA dads, hearing football
terms like red zone and quarterback every single
game, and that you have to win by two? For part
two of that question, yes. I understand they're
trying to keep viewers' interest, but like...
I don't know when the term red zone started being
used so frequently. I mean, they like to talk
about the like famous family members and parents.
Like it doesn't drive me crazy. I understand
that they're trying to, you know, make it relatable
for everybody watching. But it happened. I mean,
those comments happen a lot. I think what I've
realized this year is that. The commentating
for the matches plays a huge role in your enjoyment
of the match. I agree. My favorite, Paul Sunderland.
He's my favorite play -by -play too. He is fantastic.
He does an incredible job of telling you what's
happening and also giving you a little bit of
volleyball knowledge about it. Like that was
a bad set. Yeah, he's honest. Totally. He's honest
about that. And he has a very unique way of highlighting
a player's past experience, making them look
good, but putting it into context. Keeping it
within context of the match and the league that
they're playing in. Yeah, I agree. He does such
a good job and he's so knowledgeable, but it
doesn't seem like too much. Yeah. So he is hands
down my favorite play -by -play guy. Yeah. I'm
not going to include you on my analyst list.
Adam has to say me. Just kidding. I honestly,
I think Holly McPeak does a really good job.
I like Holly McPeak too. And I think she does
a lot of games with Paul. Like their dynamic
is very good. I would say my overarching issue
with analysts is they turn into play by play
after the fact. I don't think the majority of
analysts do a good job of. telling you why something
happened or what shifts should happen. If you
watch other sports, the analysts are talking
about decision -making, what broke down in that
play, how this happens. And I haven't heard a
lot of good analysis in the volleyball matches.
Yeah, I would agree. You hear a ton of analysts
just basically repeat what happened in the play.
And it's like, yeah, we know that was a good
swing. We know that was a good set. What did
that hitter see? Why did they make that decision?
What is the block doing? Those detail pieces
I find analysts have a hard time talking about.
Those would be my top two. Yeah, agreed. We watch
a lot of volleyball, and I know you're going
to be shocked to hear this. We're pretty critical
even of the play -by -play and the analysts.
Yeah, they really can make or break your experience.
And we've been talking about this extensively,
and we'll dive into it probably in a couple weeks
as we do some league wrap -ups and whatnot. But
Paul Sunderland is the best. Hands down the best
one, in my opinion. All right, that was an extremely
long episode. I hope you stuck around. I hope
you enjoyed it. We had fun. If we move forward
and look at what is coming up this week. The
Love head -to -head match is on Thursday at 8
p .m. Eastern between Houston and Atlanta. You
know what? We haven't seen those two teams play
enough recently. So you can see that on Love
Live, which generally is YouTube or DAZN. The
Weekend with Love is in Austin on Friday and
Saturday, and these matches are all on ESPN+.
In NCAA men's action, Pepperdine and UCLA have
their series on Thursday. That's at 10 o 'clock
Eastern and Saturday at 8 p .m. Eastern. That
is on Big Ten Plus. UC Irvine and Long Beach
State play Friday at 10 o 'clock p .m. Eastern
and Saturday at 9 o 'clock Eastern. I'm excited
for those. Those are both on ESPN Plus, and if
you watch no other volleyball this week, watch
those matches. McKendree and Ball State play
on Saturday at 5 p .m. Eastern. McKendree is
the knockoff team or knockout team or the upset
team. The giant killer, maybe. So they're always
fun. They're always fun to watch. PVF, Friday,
7 p .m. Eastern. San Diego plays Atlanta on Volleyball
World TV. And on Sunday at 3 p .m. Eastern, Indy
plays Orlando, playoff implications. And that
will be on their YouTube channel. 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
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