Men's 2025 VNL Preview and Roster Breakdown

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. It is VNL week, everybody. Giddy up. Week
one. A VNL kicks off Tuesday, June 3rd. The women's
teams are going first, which means that the men's
teams are following close behind next week. This
week's episode will be similar to last week's,
but we're going to preview the men's tournament
and how things are looking on that side, what
our predictions are, what we can expect, etc.
Admittedly, we are not as well -versed. in the
men's side as the women's. Fortunately, the U
.S. aren't bringing back any of their old players,
and there are a lot of college players, which
we just finished watching, so we should have
some things to talk about. Perfect. Okay. We
are excited to dive in, so let's get started.
Okay, to start things off this week, we have
some Love Season 2 signings. Love has been posting
about the athletes that have signed with the
league as they come in. So the ones we have so
far, and I would say the headliner so far, is
Kettle from Brazil. I love how the Brazilians
just have one name. I say Kettle, you know who
I mean. That's it. Cattle. Exactly. But that
is a big pickup for them. She's great internationally.
She's played for top teams. She's still, she's
getting a little bit older, but still kind of
in her prime and competing. That was, that's
a very good pickup for them. I was surprised
to see that, actually. Well, and I mean, you
told me why. So the reasons kind of make sense.
Well, I was speculating why. Her partner in Buisse,
I think that's how you say it. I'm not sure.
The Dutch outside also signed. Those two have
been together for quite a while, but have not
really played in the same country or leagues
that often. So when I saw that both of them signed,
I was like, okay, this makes sense. They kind
of maybe want to spend a season in the same place.
And she's not on the VNL roster, so I'm not sure
if she's done playing internationally, but it's
a nice way to continue playing while being together.
So it makes a lot of sense. Bree O 'Reilly, the
setter for Canada, signed. We have a bunch of
Canadians that have signed, actually. Alexa Gray,
that's a big pickup. She went to BYU, has been
playing the last few years for top teams in Turkey
and Italy. So big pickup there. Jazz White. Another
Canadian played at Michigan State. Andrea Mitrovic,
another one, played at Buffalo and Arizona State.
So the Canadians are slowly making their way.
Ella Mae Powell, who is on the VNL roster this
summer, she signed. Callie Schwartzenbach, former
player for Nebraska, Long Beach State, just won
the Brazilian Superliga. Anika Legros, she played
at Coastal Carolina. She's recently been playing
in Switzerland and France. We have a Colombian
opposite who signed, Ivani Montano. Jess Robinson,
she played for Michigan, recently started playing
pro in France. Argentina Ong is Mexican. You
might remember her from this past NCAA season
playing for Arizona State. played the second
half of the season for Scandici in Italy. And
Julia San Giacomo, she played for Santa Clara
in Northwestern and just finished her first pro
season in Turkey. So we've got a mixture of some
young athletes who are pretty fresh out of college
with one season, maybe two under their belt professionally.
And then we've got some... veterans and some
players who have a ton of experience in alexa
gray brio riley cattle and players like that
so good mix what what's your initial take on
those obviously they're not done we have players
coming back you know we talk about the caliber
of the league looking at that list and what they
put out so far what's your instinct are we looking
More skilled, more physical than last year, similar.
What's your early butt gut feel? Well, my first
feel when I see these, and I think that this
is for sure not the end of the signings, I'm
like, okay, what is the turnover like in love?
You're not going to keep adding players like
this. So I'm wondering who from season one has
decided to leave. It's kind of like a reality
TV show. Yeah, like I know we probably have a
couple retirements, but you're not with only
six teams in the league. You can't keep bringing
in players like some are going to have to go.
So that was my first thought is like, who is
leaving? My second thought, when you're bringing
in players like Cattall, Bree and Alexa Gray,
it gives me hope that the level is going to increase.
But again, those are only three players. But
those three players. I think can make a difference.
So it is encouraging to see players of that level
make the commitment. I like seeing Alexa Gray
there. I think she's automatically going to be
one of the top outsides in the league, probably
cut all lots of international experience. I find
it interesting that they're starting to bring
in more setters. Like that was kind of, you had
a crop of American setters who were maybe on
their way out. I'm curious to see which of those
stay, who's still playing or whether. I have
a hard time believing Bree's going to be a backup
somewhere. No. I would be shocked. But when you
look at the setters from this season, they were
all kind of American staples. Well, I was wondering
which ones are going to take a back seat. I'm
like, okay, Sage and Carly, which one is leaving?
Because I'm pretty sure Bree signed with Austin.
Don't quote me on that. I'm not 100%. But when
you have, like, the teams that had the duo already,
like, you saw Fairbanks and Bug together. As
I said, Lloyd and Sage together. I'm curious
how those dynamics are going to work. If they're
going to move players from the teams they were
in last season and just kind of mix it up. Like,
I'm very curious to see how that goes. Yeah.
But overall, I think good moves for them. Good
for love. Yeah, they need to keep picking off
players like Cattle, like Alexa Gray, with experience,
who are still physical and kind of in the prime
of their career. Well, because I think Cattle
you could compare to Bia, but better. Yeah. Like
similar situation, Bia just isn't as good as
Cattle. You know what I'm saying? So it's like
players that are in that age. Alexa and Bree
are a little on the younger side, but... Yeah,
very cool stuff. We'll keep you posted on any
more signings that we see. The VNL Week 1 rosters
are out for women, obviously. The tournament
starts on Tuesday. So this week's matches are
happening in Beijing, Ottawa, and Rio. We have
received a lot of messages about the American
Week 1 roster. So we just wanted to address it
before we got into the men's side. I think it's
fair to say this isn't a great roster. We have
10 players on that list out of 14 that are making
their VNL debuts. That's a lot. That is a lot.
So the four players on the roster who do have
VNL experience are Maddie Skinner, Ronnie Jones
-Perry, Morgan Hentz, and Zoe Jarvis. The other
10 have none. So this will be interesting. I
think my biggest concern is just the lack of
experience. Not from an on -court perspective.
That is a separate thing for me. Normally when
you're traveling and things are brand new and
it's just like a new experience kind of overwhelming,
you want a couple older or more veteran athletes
there to kind of like hold down the fort from
like an emotional perspective and like not even
that they have to play. But just to be there,
to be a steady influence of like, this is how
this works. This is what we're doing. This is
normal. Things like that. I was kind of surprised
to see that there wasn't really any of that.
Because even the players that have VNL experience,
I would say Morgan Hentz is the most experienced
out of all of them. And even then, it's like...
Well, and I've engaged in a few conversations
and I've seen some dialogue this past week of
people saying, well, you know, it doesn't really
matter because the U .S. is going to get the
number one seat in the Olympics in 2028. Like
it's that's just going to happen. So the next
four years don't don't really matter, essentially,
is the conversation. And I very much disagree
with that. I think that you find the U .S., and
we'll talk about this on the men's side, but
both on the women's and the men's side in a period
of transition for their rosters. And, you know,
in fairness, we don't know which women are going
to play Worlds at the end of the summer and who's
coming back. So I think that will be very telling.
But from a standpoint of creating a culture and
expectation and passing down the knowledge that
your program has had. you can't do that when
you have all new players like to throw a whole
bunch of people into one team who don't really
know what's going on or who haven't played internationally
you're learning how to travel you're learning
how to compete in a different situation you haven't
had a ton of time together you don't have any
leaders who know what's going on like it's really
hard to pass that culture on so now you're expecting
people to raise their level without kind of anybody
leading the way and I just think it's really
hard to do that without experience. And that's
my concern with the young roster. Not that they
need to get experience, they need to try it,
but who is kind of guiding that? And you have
a new coaching staff. Everything about this is
new. And that's the kind of question mark or
concern for me. Well, for me, it's like it doesn't
matter. They're going to be the number one seed.
When I hear comments like that, it's just like...
You clearly have never played high -level sport
before because, like, if you are really a competitor,
it always matters. Well, the expectation for
the U .S. It always matters. And the expectation,
like, the U .S. has laid down expectations of
meddling or winning a gold medal always. So it
always matters. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Oh,
don't worry. Just at the end, we'll get the result
we want and we'll be the number one seed. So
who really cares? It's like, no, if you're a
true competitor and you're a program that expects
excellence, you're pushing for those wins all
the time. And I understand, like Adam said, there
is a transition, but like that is not the attitude
that you expect from programs like that. Well,
and the other thing to think about too, and this
has nothing to do with volleyball, but. the programs
from an olympic standpoint generally receive
funding in at least partly in their results and
how they do at world championships and things
like that so you can't just stink you can't just
say oh who cared because yeah funding depends
on so there's a lot there's program expectations
and things like these next two years like they're
not throwaway years you can't just try and get
experience like you have to see what these new
players are and perform at the same time it's
a It's a tricky balance. Well, and I understand
that coaches can't control what players want
to do with their lives. They can't control if
they want a break, if they are retiring. Those
are variables that just happen. But just looking
at this roster in particular, for example, a
Danielle Coutinho. She has been through several
cycles. Do I think that she should necessarily
play? No. But I think having her experience and
being able to share her knowledge and stuff like
that is an asset. So it's things like that that
I find interesting with this roster. But that
being said, there are some reasons why this happened.
Some extenuating circumstances. So as I said,
we got a ton of messages being like... what the
heck is up with this roster? This is not going
to go well. I don't disagree with you. But from
our sources, this is secondhand, so we're not
like 100 % sure about this, but from what we've
heard, here is the deal of why this happened.
Jenna Gray and Rachel Fairbanks are injured.
Okay, so that's why we're seeing Sage and Ella
Mae Powell on the setting list. Mackenzie Adams
and Allie Franti also injured. Avery Skinner
and Kalia Lanier haven't shown up to training
yet. So they were probably given some extended
time off after their pro season. Dana Reckie
just arrived in California to train this week,
which probably not enough to then turn around
and go to VNL right away. And then Lexi Rodriguez's
sister is getting married. Okay, so with all
of those things going on, the players that are
technically available who weren't selected are
Jordan Poulter, Breon Butler, Taylor Mims, Amber
Igied, Asia O 'Neill, Danielle Cattino, Lauren
Briseño, Tia Jimerson, and Steph Samity. And
that's not to say, like, this is the information
we had. That's not to say other people aren't
injured or bagged up or whatever. This is what
we have heard, and we're just sharing it with
you guys. If you're assuming all things are equal
and those players were available, what surprises
does that leave you with? I'm like, where's Jordan
Poulter? Fair. What is she doing this week? I
think that she is a veteran. She is in a position
that could influence a lot of what happens this
week, being a setter, obviously. She automatically
stabilizes that roster. So I'm wondering where
the heck she is. I think Breon Butler, I'm kind
of wondering where she is because while she might
not have a lot of international experience, she
has been playing pro for a little while. And
so I'm thinking that she could have potentially
been an asset. Danielle Coutinho, I already mentioned
my reason for her of where I'm wondering where
she is. The word on the street is that Logan
Lednicki and Olivia Babcock were just the highest
performing opposites in training. So if you're
a Samity fan or things like that, that apparently
is the reason why those two are picked. But I
would say those that like even Asia O 'Neill
has a bit of experience. The big one for me is
Poulter. Yeah, it's going to be really interesting
to watch this roster perform this week. You have,
for a lot of these young kids who are out there
for the first time, if you get a chance to play,
it's going to be intense and nerve -wracking.
These are your chances to prove that you belong
in the gym when the world's roster comes along
for the rest of the years. You are in tryouts
this whole summer for a potential spot. And I'm
just curious to see. how they deal with the pressure,
how they deal with the new team, how they deal
with new opponents who are bigger, physical,
more experienced. I'm very excited to watch them
play this week. Well, and they don't have an
easy week either because they've got Italy and
Brazil in their grouping, and Italy is showing
up basically with their Olympic roster. I think
Brazil's missing Gabi this week, but yeah. It'll
be a good test for these kind of young professionals
to see where they stack up against good competition.
So there you go. That is kind of the explanation
of why this roster is the way it is. And yeah,
we'll let you know some games that we're excited
about at the end of the episode. All right, so
moving into the men's VNL roster. Last week we
went over how VNL works. So if you didn't listen
to that episode and you have some questions about
the format, it's the same for the men and women,
but they just alternate weeks. So give last week's
episode a listen. All of the information is there.
Again, this is a little bit of a repeat, but
as the host country for the next Olympics, the
U .S. automatically gets a berth and is automatically
ranked number one. Which apparently, who cares
then? No, just kidding. I'm being a jerk. the
men's VNL roster compared to the Olympic roster.
The men are in a very similar spot to the women
in terms of they are returning far fewer players
from their Olympic roster than any other country.
Well, I think the men and the women are returning
the same number. We have three returning men's
athletes. From the last Olympics. So we have
Jendrik coming back, who's a middle blocker.
We have Ma 'a setting for them. But apparently
he's coming back, so he's there. I'm assuming
he's going to be setting. He was the backup last
year. So on the team, but didn't play a ton.
And then we have the lifelong libero in Eric
Shoji back for another twirl. Another twirl.
Well, the alternate, too. And the alternate.
So my kind of four came back and Singh on the
right side. And so there's not going to be a
lot of experience on the men's roster. And just
for a little context, we'll go over some of the
other countries who we're expecting to be good
and how many players they're returning. So Brazil
returning six. Now they've turned over their
setter and a couple key players, but they've
still got experience on the roster. So we'll
see. what they end up looking like. They've turned
over some lifers. Yeah. In Bruno, in Lucas, Leao's
gone. So, like, those are some staples. They've
been around the program for a long time. But
they are definitely in their late 30s, so I'm
not shocked. And then Argentina's returning eight.
Canada also returning only five. So a little
bit of roster turnover for Canada. France returning
12, so they're going to be good. I thought Engapeth
would call it quits. No, the man is father time.
He just keeps coming back. The only player that
France lost is Tilly. I mean, good player, but
that whole team is back. I wonder if Engapeth's
vertical is increasing with age. Right? But,
like, Argentina. Facundo Conte and Di Cecco are
gone, which are, again, two... Program staples.
Program staples, but on the older side. You know,
Italy returning 10 players, Poland returning
8, Serbia returning 8. And this is kind of what
we talked about in terms of, you know, you keep
those older players along and bring in younger
players, and they kind of learn your system and
your philosophy. The wholesale change is here
for the U .S. on both the men and the women's
side. And Canada. is it's interesting. It presents
a unique set of problems or challenges. You definitely
want that overlap. 100%. In a team sport environment,
because even if the older players are kind of
past it from a physical perspective, just like
having that overlap in the gym creates just a
much more seamless transition. Yeah. Well, I
mean, if we compare this to professional sports
and you had a... you know, a GM looking at roster
management, like you don't want all your players
to leave at the same time. And again, you don't
have as much control because players can make
their own decisions, but it is something you
should be thinking about as you construct your
roster year to year. And to see this turnover
on both the men and the women's side is, it's
interesting from a planning standpoint of how
that's worked out. Well, and it's like, how often
do you see athletes want to kind of be? altruistic
for a lack of a better term like how many athletes
do you see want to kind of take the time to pass
the torch and it's like if this if there's nothing
in it for me like what am I going to do here
why would I stay and I'm not saying that that's
what happened here but it takes a very passionate
person who like really loves the sport and is
willing to kind of make those longer -term sacrifices
without the direct payoff to be willing to do
that. Now, that being said, with the senior athletes
knowing that the Olympics is in the U .S., I'm
going to be, this is the very beginning, and
I think we'll have a clearer picture come Worlds
and next year as to if anybody is kind of on
the fence as to whether they still want to play.
So I think that the men's situation is slightly
different than the women's in that the men's
Paris roster was pretty old. Like we had a lot
of guys in their late 30s. In going through that
roster, there were only like four names that
popped out to me that I was like, they could
be back for LA. And that was Taylor Avril. TJ
DeFalco, Micah Christensen, and Aaron Russell.
All of those guys are, by the time LA rolls around,
will be in their mid -30s at that point. I think
Christensen will be 35 maybe. So, and he's the
oldest. So I'm... There's a pretty good chance
we'll see at least some of those guys come back,
maybe even for Worlds. But those were the only
four names when I was going through the Paris
roster that I was like, interesting that they
didn't come back for the summer. Interesting
that they're taking the summer off because they
are in that age that I think will probably be
back. Whereas the women, the women veterans were
a little bit younger. I mean, you could see Jordan
Thompson still playing. You could see... Justine
Wangerontes. You could see Ogbogu. So I think
there are more potential athletes from the women's
side that will make a comeback versus the men.
Yeah, I think that's fair. So on this roster,
we have, as Adam said, three returning from Paris,
four Olympians, period. Eleven athletes have
competed in previous VNLs for the U .S. Seven
have competed for the U .S. in continental events.
And then we have eight brand new athletes to
the national team. Freshies. Fresh meat, you
know. I love that Eric showed you him back. He's
35, like 36 now, I think. He's a guy that just
loves volleyball. He's infectious. You can't
help but just. Him being in the gym, I think,
is amazing for the program. I mean, he makes
bank off of volleyball content creation, so he
needs to keep that rolling. You know what I mean?
He's like, what am I going to do if I take time
off of volleyball for a whole summer? I'm just
kidding. We're going to be missing the TikToks.
Yeah, exactly. But it's nice. That veteran presence,
I think, is very important. You do see... Eight
UCLA or former UCLA athletes on this roster.
Oh, not from Texas? Have we switched schools
on the men's side? Well, Karsh is a UCLA alum.
So is Eric Sullivan, but he coached at Texas.
Eric Sullivan hits both the buckets. Exactly.
So, yeah, lots of UCLA, a lot of young guys.
We do have a lot of winning experience. Do I
think it'll necessarily translate to the international
side? Winning in the NCAA does not equate with
winning internationally. Let me just say that.
Well, here's my first concern. These guys who
are in college, most of them are still a little
spindly. True, yeah. I think this is less of
an issue on the women's side because you see
kind of women mature a little faster. And I think
that physical gap from a strength standpoint
isn't necessarily as big from college to professional.
But these college guys, they haven't been lifting
a ton. They're still a little long. They're probably
not hitting the ball as hard as some of these,
we'll call them grizzled vets from some of the
other rosters. My initial instinct is we might
see a little kind of boys against men. It's definitely
possible. Even looking at David from UCLA compared
to some of his teammates, he is a man and some
of those other guys, they just need a little
time to kind of fill out and find some strength
within those long frames that are going to be
very beneficial down the road. But I think if
you line some of those young players up, against
the italy's against their grocer yeah it's it's
gonna take some getting used to and that's i'm
expecting to see a little bit of a physical discrepancy
with how young the roster is compared internationally
that's that's was kind of the first thing that
jumped out to me you know when we start talking
about the men's long list for vnl i'm not sure
that there are many surprises or many snubs.
Like there just aren't as many athletes competing
for those spots as there are in the women's side.
But I was glad to see, you know, Cameron Thorne
get on the roster. Okay. That surprised me. You
know what? Here's the thing. Let's go through.
Let's just go through position by position here.
Okay. Okay. All right. Let's do it. Okay. So
for setters, we have Quinn Isaacson who played
for Ball State. We have Micah Ma 'a, as we said,
played for UCLA. was in the last Olympics. Andrew
Rowan, also UCLA. And Tred Rosenthal, who plays
for Hawaii. We also have Michael Wright, who
plays for, or played for Ohio State. I don't,
I mean, I don't think we're missing anybody that.
I mean, you have your setter. You're missing
Micah Christensen. Sure. Yes. Okay. That's, that's
a given. Missing Micah Christensen. Micah Ma
'a. Okay, he has the Olympic experience. I think
good transition without a huge gap. I mean, Micah
Christensen is absolutely unbelievable. I'm not
talking skill gap here. I'm talking, you know,
we have somebody who has experience. He's been
in the gym for four years. He understands the
program. Has been playing for great clubs, Final
Four this past season with Ankara in Champions
League. Okay, and then you also have your transition
to the future. with Rosenthal and Rowan. Which
I think are the right picks. Like, we'll see
where Rosenthal goes. He's a massive human being
in general. So having him, if he develops the
ability to run the offense and do that, like,
that's a huge piece moving forward. Like, you
want those two guys. I think Rowan is just super
cerebral. And just technical. Yeah. So, I mean,
I'm not... Rowan and Rosenthal need to put on
some weight. Yeah. And this is what we talked
about, right? They need to spend... this summer
with men understanding how they lift, how they
prepare, you know, all of those things, understand
the level, but those are good choices to me.
On the outside, we've got Caleb Janess from Ball
State. We've got Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State, Cooper
Robinson, UCLA, Nolan Flexen, UC Irvine, Ethan
Champlin, UCLA, Jordan Ewart from Stanford. I
mean, to be honest, I'm not super familiar with
any of those outsides other than the ones who
played in college this year. I'm assuming a bunch
of them are playing pro overseas right now. That
is kind of a question mark to me about how their
outside hitting core will be. You're missing
TJ DeFalco. Real bad. And you're missing Aaron
Russell. You've got to hope that... Your two
guys from Paris are missing. you've got to hope
that DeFalco enjoys a month or two off and then
is itching to get back into the gym for Worlds
because he makes a huge difference. Well, I'm
pretty sure he wasn't starting in Paris and then
he came in to a couple matches and just completely
turned things around and then kind of solidified
his spot. Yeah, I believe that is accurate. They
have to be hoping. that he's coming back, and
I'm assuming that Karch is having some conversations
with him. Does anybody surprise you? Again, I'm
not as familiar with some of these. Nolan flexing
a little bit. He was a little inconsistent for
me this season. Well, he got thrown over to the
outside, partly near the end of the season. I
felt like he was a more natural opposite, personally.
Agreed. But if they can get him going at 6 '11
or 6 '10 or whatever he is, he's probably 6 '9.
The range is there, you know what I mean? Yeah,
and again, I was a little surprised to see him
on the roster, but I can see, like, he's your
project, right? Can you teach him how to pass?
Can you get him in there? Let's get him into
the gym, see what his attitude is like. I know
that Karch is... very much about kind of attitude
and what your habits are and you know doing things
right so if he fits that mold and he's willing
to work like in my experience Karch always has
time for players who are willing to work and
get better so physically I think it makes sense.
Cooper Robinson I think that he will be integral
in the future so I think it's good that he's
getting his start now but they are definitely
going to miss those two on the outside this summer.
100%. On the opposite, we've got Camden Gianni
from Grand Canyon. Kyle Ensing, who was the alternate
for the Paris Olympics from Long Beach State.
Kevin Cobreen went to UCLA and USC. Gabby Garcia,
he went to BYU. He is of Puerto Rican origin.
Kyle Hobus from CSUN. Zach Rama from UCLA. And
that is it. and they are looking for the next
Anderson. Well, okay, Gabby Garcia played in
Italy this year. He is solid. So I think this
transition, yes, you have to find a new Matt
Anderson, but I think with Gabby Garcia and with
Kyle Ensign, I think they've got a solid transition
in place there. Yeah, they're not going to be.
I don't think that's going to be a position of
weakness for them. No, like Garcia's good. Yeah,
but I also think that the position is up for
grabs. So who is going to be, who's going to
come in and solidify that spot? And, you know,
right now I think it's Ensign and Garcia who
are going to fight for that spot. But you've
got some interesting young kids coming up as
well. I'm surprised Rama's on the list, to be
honest. Again, I think that there were a lot
of looks to the future. I think that... Okay,
so let's go back to what we said about UCLA this
season, is that they were a little inconsistent.
They were a little nonchalant. I think Rama weighs
less than I do, and that's... I'm not a massive
person. Pregnant or pre -pregnant? Pre! And so
I think when you look at... The physical capabilities
of a lot of the UCLA players, I think there's
potential there. And my guess is that you want
to get them into an environment where instead
of being kind of the best where they've always
been, they're the worst. And they start to understand.
what it takes to play at that next level. Like
if I'm in Karch's shoes, I'm doing the exact
same thing. I want those guys who I think have
physical potential to compete at the next level
to understand what it takes. So I'm not surprised
that those guys were included. In the middle,
we've got Jeff Gendrick, who was in the Paris
Olympics, went to Loyola Chicago. We've got Shane
Holdaway from Long Beach State, Patrick Gassman
from Hawaii, Cameron Thorne from UCLA, Merrick
McHenry from UCLA, Michael Marshman from St.
Francis, Matthew Nignig, I don't know, from Vassar,
and Daniel Wetter from CSUN. Oh, and Parker Tomkinson
from USC. Okay, you've got one with experience
who played in the Olympics in Gendrick. Correct.
And then after that, I don't recognize a lot
of those names. McHenry was first -team All -American
for the UCLA Championships. Okay. Like, solid
player. Parker Tomkinson, we were hoping. We
were like, he has a bright future. He's only
going into his sophomore year. That will be...
Huge just to be in the training environment.
Do I necessarily think he will travel? I'll be
surprised. No, the game was a little too fast
for him internationally. I think he's going to
struggle block -wise with that. But again, I
like where Karch is at in terms of trying to
have some experience, bring in young guys who
he sees might have a potential. I think overall
this is a very thoughtful roster in terms of
young players' experience. I'm curious to see
how he weaves some of the younger guys into the
VNL roster. Is he going to go some rosters all
young? Is he going to kind of bring them in,
let them play one at a time? I'm curious to see
how he manages. Well, he made sure to hold on
to experience in every single position. I think
the only one that's missing is the outside right
now. But he held on to a setter with Olympic
experience. There's a middle. There are two opposites
who have a lot of experience. The libero list,
Eric Shoji, the staple. Eric Shoji can help stabilize
the young outsides from a passing standpoint,
which will help. So I'm curious to see. Going
back to the middles, I'm glad Cameron Thorne
got a chance. I think with the way that he's
played so far in his collegiate career, he's
earned a shot. I think our concerns are still
valid in terms of how he will compete internationally.
But I think from a work ethic and performance
standpoint, as a program, you want to reward.
those players who do the things that Cameron
Thorne does is he going to get to play maybe
not but acknowledging what he's accomplished
so far I think I think it sets a good message
and a precedent for the program well Eric Shoji's
named the captain actually too yeah there you
go makes sense so we got Shoji Jacob Riley who
played for Pepperdine this past season Kyle D
'Agostino who played for Stanford and Mason Briggs
who played for Long Beach State Yeah, going back
to Cameron Thorne, he is a surprise to me. Am
I surprised? Jacob Riley showed up in the last
half of the NCAA season. I think he definitely
deserves a shot. My favorite NCAA liberos were
all, like, freshmen. They were very young, so
a little more time for them. I prefer even though
this roster is very young I feel like it is more
well thought out than the women's roster because
you do have a core group of guys and you have
someone who can clearly step up as a leader in
each of the positions because you do set break
up into positional training like frequently you
have that of at least one guy per position who
can kind of hold things down. And set expectations.
Set expectations. Again, the outside is a little
up in the air for me. I think they have potential,
but yeah. This construction, like I said, seems
more well thought out, even though they're not
returning. Hardly anybody. I'm... curious to
see how this goes for them. What are your predictions
of how this team will do, or who are the main
contenders for you for men's VNL this year? I
mean, I think that France is still going to be
top dog. I think that Italy is going to be good.
Poland is going to be good. Brazil is probably
still going to be good. Bernardinho, back at
it, baby. Yeah, you can never count him out.
I mean, Argentina will be solid. Serbia will
be solid. So Adam's just listing every single
team. So I will break it down, and I will say
I think it's going to be between Italy and France.
For the win. Adam's like, all the teams that
I listed. I was thinking about the teams that
the U .S. is going to have to beat to make the
finals. They're going to have to beat some of
those. Do you think this American roster will
make the final eight? Yes. Really? Yeah. But
I think it's going to be squeaking in. All right.
The final eight is in China for men. So final
seven. Yeah. You know, it's not like the Poland
situation with women where it's like, nah, Poland
is legit. They would likely finish top eight.
China's not on the radar for final eight for
men, okay? So we're looking at, like, will they
make the top seven? I think they will. Interesting.
You know who I don't think will make the top
seven? Canada. Canada. Yeah. That roster, I am
very concerned, okay? Yeah. Well, and again,
I'm Canadian and I didn't even recognize like
hardly any of the names Vargas on the list. Skylar
Vargas there. Okay. But yeah, I was like, I mean,
this is not good. Canada lost Demienko. They
lost Mar. They lost Van Berkel, Arthur Schwartz,
Lepke, like literally. Schwarz was on the right
side. Lepke was the left side. Maher was the
left side. Demyanko was like the middle. Hogue
is not playing. Hogue is out. Well, no offense.
I think he should have been out for a while.
Yeah, but from an experience standpoint, I mean,
and then they have a whole new coaching staff,
you know, which is. Our Canadian hearts are bleeding
looking at this roster. We are not hopeful. And
listen, part of me when I say the U .S. is going
to make it is because I think that Karch. is
an incredible coach. I think he finds a way to
motivate his players and to get the best out
of them. Well, when you're like one of the best
ever, your players have no excuse but to completely
buy in. You know, it's not like he's some guy
that's like, hey, everyone, I'm so happy to be
here. He's like, no, I legitimately was the best
at beach and indoor. At everything. And I win
wherever I go. So I think it's going to be a
battle. I think they're going to be fighting
for that last spot, but I think they're going
to make it. Maybe. We will find out. As we said,
the women's VNL starts this week, so we will
see. We'll find out who the week one roster is
for men this week, but they will play next week.
Yeah, I think there's lots of interesting choices
and futures ahead for both the men and the women.
I'm really excited. for the competition to start,
to see who steps up, to see who can elevate from
college to pro against those different teams.
Because it's a different level. It's a different
expectation. It's a different pressure. It's
a different game. Yeah. So I'm excited for the
summer. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
All right. Let's dive into some listener questions.
Question one. If Russia were allowed to play,
would they be one of the top teams and favored
in VNL and the Olympics? Yes. I think on the
men's side, yes. Fair. The women were super strong
like early 2000s. And they kind of were always
good, but not like... In recent years, were good,
but not dominant. The men, however, if they were
allowed to play, I 100 % think that they would
be contenders. You don't think the women would
be in the mix? No, I said that they're like...
Do I think that they would medal? No. Okay, so
yeah, the Russian men are very good. That's what
I'm saying. The men I think would medal. The
women would be in the conversation of making
a top eight or something, but I don't think that
they would medal. Yeah, fair enough. I think
that's accurate. Question two. Do you think most
current college players are too young and unseasoned
to make the VNL teams? Like, why not have a roster
with... Izzy Stark, Andy Jackson, Olivia Babcock,
Kennedy Martin, Brooklyn DeLay, Tori Stafford,
etc. I mean, we've kind of already answered this,
but we'll say it again. You have program expectations.
You have... There's a transition in a process
to going from college to pro. You have to learn
how to travel. You have to learn how to deal
with jet lag. You have to learn how to deal with
all of these things that these college athletes
aren't experienced to. It's not just about the
volleyball. It's about understanding a totally
different lifestyle and expectation. And having
professionals who have done it before help guide
you and mentor you is a big part of making that
transition quicker. and more successful. And
I think that's why you don't just see a college
roster going and doing that. Well, and the other
thing is, if you just had a college roster, you
would see college volleyball. Having players
with international experience, with professional
experience, you, in being immersed in those environments,
forces you to elevate your game, to learn new
tactics, to figure out new tricks and techniques
in how to score and be crafty and figure out
how to be successful. Having that experience
in the gym inherently transforms younger players
to make them raise to that level as well. And
so I think if you had a roster of just college
kids, You'd be seeing college volleyball in the
practice gym every day and they wouldn't get
better in the sense of like learning how to figure
it out. You would see, yeah, high level practices,
but you wouldn't see them take that leap to be
able to play at the next level. Well, I think
Nikolov is a... prime example of that he grew
up in a professional sport environment he came
and he played one year in college was the dominant
player in there and now he's going to go play
pro and he's going to be good but he's not going
to be a difference maker it's not going to be
the best player it's just it's a different level
okay question three in previous episodes you
guys talked about needing to go overseas and
train with the very best players and teams But
how can USA home grow their players to rise up
to that level? How did Italy and Turkey get to
be so good in the first place? They paid money
to bring top athletes to their leagues. Well,
there's that, but there's a fundamental difference
in how they approach athletics at a young age.
Also that, yeah. I mean, that plays a huge role
in... the 1 % of your athletes who are going
to play professionally. Like those athletes,
they don't go to school. They go to school, but
they're training in a professional environment
from the time they're 14, 15, 16. Like there's
no club sports. Right. It's like, if you are
identified as a good athlete, you go to high
school and then you get sent to train with the
pro team. And until that fundamentally changes
in the US, which it won't. because you have such
a big college experience, you won't see US and
Canadian athletes develop at the same rate that
European athletes do because it's not your only
job. It's not your only, it's not the only thing
you do. And you're not playing, like you're not
14 playing with Nebraska, right? That 14 year
old would be incredible being in that gym every
day. It's just not an option here, which is why
you see American players. and Canadian players
generally hit their peaks a little bit later
on. And, you know, love is a great start for
that. And you might start to see some young kids
coming into those gyms to practice and do that,
which I think is the beginning of that transition.
But you're missing that experience for the young
athletes. And I think that's ideally how Italy
and Turkey and the rest of Europe, quite frankly,
build their athletes, which is different than
North America. Like you don't see 16 year olds
in North America finish high school and then
go train with a love team. Like, you know, like
the top 1%. They finish their class and then
they go play with their own age. In Europe, as
Adam was saying, you finish class and you go
train with your top team. And then on the weekends
you go to compete with your age. Huge difference.
Yeah. But. I will stand by what I said. Even
though that system is inherently creating better
athletes, those countries in Italy and Turkey
also made the investment to bring foreign athletes
in and they made it worth their while to be there,
which further increased the level in their gym,
which further increased the level of their young
athletes. They're like... domestic young athletes
so they just don't prioritize post -secondary
education in the same way that North Americans
do and I I am a proponent for academics and education
so yeah it's there it's a pros and cons for both
systems yeah question four I was wondering what
you guys think about Virginia Adriano going to
Nebraska and then we actually had another that
was very closely tied to this. How are foreign
pro players allowed to play NCAA? Because Virginia
Adriano has been playing in A2 and I think most
recently A1 Italy. I asked some questions about
this because I have also been wondering how professionally
paid athletes are able to play NCAA. Back in
my day, We saw some programs get stripped of
their NCAA titles when it came about that athletes
on their team had earned money in Europe. Not
the case anymore, apparently. So I found out
that Italy in particular does not view volleyball
as a professional sport. They only declare basketball
and soccer to be true professional sports because
there are certain... guidelines in Italy that
you have to meet and standards to really be qualified.
You guys, volleyball is a professional sport,
okay? I don't care. Nonsense. They might not
be official, but these women are making money.
I think the NIL has made this very fuzzy. That's
what I was going to say. She is a professional
athlete. I don't care what anybody says. She
might not be making seven figures like some of
the top athletes out there, but she is making
more money than she would ever have as expenses.
She's also not making as much money as Tori Stafford,
so who cares? Well, exactly, and that's the thing.
You're paying athletes to play now anyway. Yeah,
NIL has made this so fuzzy that... Yeah, a Tory
Stafford or a Kennedy Martin who go and sign
these NIL deals are making more than these European
kids were making playing professionally. These
European athletes are very young, so are they
being paid top dollar in the countries they're
playing? No. But they're also, they are pros,
but NIL is paying players more. So I think it's
hard to argue. when that's the case well and
if we're talking about raising the level of a
game like you want those athletes to come over
here and play the nebraska players will get better
playing against her when she's in the gym like
this is similar to what you see in the european
clubs right the young players and not that they're
the same college age but now you have better
athletes in the gym that raises the level and
i agree if the ncaa players weren't getting nil
money this is unfair but now they're being played
paid to play as well so what's the difference
Well, and I don't know this for sure, but I'm
willing to bet that Nebraska offered her more
than she was making professionally because otherwise,
why would she go? Quite frankly, she was in A1.
She had made it, started to make a name for herself.
She was playing internationally for Italy. She
has no reason to come to the NCAA. and pause
her professional career unless they were paying
her more than she was making professionally,
which I would be willing to bet is the case.
Yeah, that's fair. Or she's really smart and
she wanted an education. Given everything we
just said about the priority of education, I
don't know her. Maybe that's true, but probably
not. Yeah, that's a good pickup for them, though.
Yeah. Thanks so much for these questions, everybody.
I say it every week and I mean it every week.
We love them. We love to see what you guys are
wondering about and coming up with. So keep them
coming. So let's look forward to the week. Let's
highlight a few things. VNL is starting. We've
been in a bit of a volleyball lull the last couple
of weeks. But my time on the couch is about to
increase and I'm looking forward to it. So VNL
starts this week. There's matches going on all
day, every day, everywhere in the world. They're
all on VBTV, which you can get a subscription
online for more than you could before. At least
in the US. I don't know what they did to pricing
elsewhere in the world, but they've jacked those
prices for the US, which is shady. Yeah. So here
are the times that you can watch, you know, reasonably.
In the U .S., but there are matches everywhere.
And to be fair, all of the matches are on demand,
so you can watch them whenever you want after
they've happened. But if you want to watch live,
here's a few I would pay attention to. Well,
we picked one match per location for the week
of the ones that we thought would, A, the time
isn't ridiculous, and B, was a good match. So
Thursday, we've got USA versus Brazil at 8 p
.m. Eastern. That's must watch. I'm very curious.
I think these first couple matches for the U
.S. on the women's side will kind of set the
tone. Well, they can't play Italy first first.
Well, yeah, but I mean, that result is probably
written in the books. But against Brazil with
Nogabi and a few other players, I think that
should be a decent match. Saturday at 4 p .m.
Eastern, we've got Canada versus Japan. I'm curious
to see. Very different styles. Yeah. But two
similarly ranked teams. So I'm looking forward
to seeing that one and seeing what Canada can
put on the floor. They got a new coach. They're
in Canada. So expectations will be high. Japan
is very technical, very fast, very good. So that
should be a good one to watch. And then Sunday
at 7 .30 a .m. Eastern, we got Turkey versus
China, which... Turkey's coming off a good year
minus the Olympics, and China is always good.
China's got a little bit of turnover, but they're
playing at home, and Turkey is bringing back
most of their Olympic roster. I'm not sure who
Turkey actually announced for their week one,
though. But again, that should be a pretty good
game. So if you're looking for some volleyball,
there's definitely things to watch this week.
Those would be our choices. But yeah, let us
know what you think as you watch all of the volleyball
that's now available. That concludes this week's
episode of Volley Talk. There's always something
shaking in the volleyball world, and we hope
you enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow
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