#5 UC Irvine Sweeps #1 Long Beach State, LOVB Atlanta Feeling Good Heading into Playoffs

Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley
Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers
who want to dig deep into what is going on in
NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host
Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball
world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and
longtime pro both indoor and on the beach. And
I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international
volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat
guy. We had a couple firsts this week and Quite
by coincidence, these occurrences lined up with
the matches that we were going to talk about
this week. So there's your hint as to which matches
we're going to talk about. Any guesses? You've
probably read the title already, so you already
know. But if you haven't, take a guess. Other
than those things, PVF was heavily backloaded
this week, which unfortunately does not line
up with our recording schedule. We are going
to be a little sparse in that area, but the other
leagues and news are business as usual. We always
look forward to talking volleyball and sharing
our thoughts with you guys. So let's get started.
Okay, as we said, we wrapped up the Champions
League quarterfinals last week. So the international
leagues, if they haven't started already, are
getting into their playoffs now. So we highly
recommend if you have Volleyball World TV or
anything like that, there are some league matches
that you'll be able to check out. Playoffs are
always a fun time. So I know for sure that Volleyball
World TV has the Italian leagues for men and
women, the Polish leagues. Maybe other ones,
but I know those ones for sure. But we actually
got a question this week that was basically asking
if the Champions League Women's Tournament quarterfinals
was last week and the men's and it's another
month before they play again, what do they do
in the meantime? That is what they're doing.
They are playing their country leagues. So as
we kind of explained, Champions League. brings
teams from all the European countries to find
out the continental champion. But in the meantime,
while they're playing that, they're also playing
their championships within their own countries.
So that is what they're doing in the meantime.
The leagues are finishing up and then the Champions
League semis are like the culmination of the
season. On the NCAA men's side, we had some very
interesting results this week. Things were a
little bit messy. So this is very entertaining
given everything that's at stake with the NCAA
tournament. Well, and what Sarah means by at
stake is let's go over the national qualification
process for NCAA men's in case anybody doesn't
know. It's very different from the women's. So
on the men's side, only eight teams qualify for
nationals. As opposed to the 64 for women. A
lot less opportunity here. So there are essentially
six conferences that get an automatic bid into
nationals if you win the conference. And those
last two spots are... coaches pull based off
the ranking of the team, which takes into account
your record, strength of schedule, so on and
so forth. So essentially what we're going to
be looking at is an extra team coming out of
the Big West Conference, which has Hawaii, UC
Irvine, and Long Beach, and then the Mountain
Pacific Conference, which has UCLA and USC. So
those are most notably where those extra two
teams are going to come from. I mean, that's
the assumption. Those are the teams that are
ranked in the top five. And those conferences
are much stronger than the other ones. So it'll
be interesting. So right now, teams are basically
trying to get their position to set themselves
up for their conference tournament. Because even
if you win the regular season, it doesn't really
matter. You have to win the conference tournament
and then do well enough as well. to get the one
of two at -large bids. It's absolutely wild.
It's so hard to qualify. And coming first in
your conference generally makes a huge difference
because if you look at the conference, there's
two or three legitimate contenders in each of
those. So if you finish first in your conference,
you get a quote -unquote easier semi, and you
don't have to win back -to -back tough matches
to qualify. So there's a lot on the line. Which
brings us back to the results from this week.
And let me tell you, some of these teams are
probably really kicking themselves. Let's get
started. Okay, number 14, Ball State. Not really
in the conversation, but they got beat by Quincy
in five. But then they followed that up by beating
number 10, McKendree in four. Now, McKendree
also dropped their second match of the week.
To number 17, Ohio State in five. So going into
this week, McKendree was on top of the Meva.
And they have now put themselves in a really
tough position. And they are tied with Loyola
Chicago. Is that correct? That's correct. And
looking at that McKendree game, not the best.
Sam Hoskin had 33 attempts and hit 061. And Kevin
Schuvel had 35 sets. and hit 171. Those were
their top two players, and those numbers just
aren't good enough to cut it. They hit 199 as
a team. They had 16 blocks and 51 digs. They
didn't play poorly, but their top players needed
to be a little bit better. They kept the ball
off the ground, but they couldn't put the ball
on the ground on the other side, it seems like.
Because if you look at the Ohio players, so Shane
Wetzel, who was their top... guy who got set
the most, had 46 attempts and hit 196, so better
than both of them. Still not amazing, but...
No, but just better than the opposing team. And
then Stanislav Chichinsky hit 286 on that match,
so he was actually the top player in terms of
percentage. Now, the one big difference in that
match was Ohio State had 8 aces to 16 errors,
which is a pretty good ratio, but they only had
6 blocks. compared to McKendree's 16. So McKendree
out -blocked them, but Ohio State out -dug them
and had a better hitting percentage. Ohio State
out -dug them? 68 -51. That is like the highest
dig total in men's volleyball like I've seen
recently. Yeah, so back and forth, close game,
but Ohio State managed to edge them, and that
was not a great week for McKendree. They're going
to want this week back because they're going
to need to get it together or else they're going
to end up matching up with Lewis probably in
the semis for Meva, which I'd rather not. So
that was one thing that happened. Going to the
Big West, number 18 UC Santa Barbara beat number
8 CSUN twice. First in five, then in four. So
this puts CSUN... winless in the conference so
far. And we'll get into this later on in our
game, but they are hurting with those two losses.
I don't want to say I told you so, but like you
guys, we have been asking why the heck this team
is ranked in the top 10 for weeks. Well, their
star player, Jaden Phillips, did not have a good
week. In the first match, he got set 35 times.
He hit negative 057. And in the second match,
he got set 33 times and hit 091. Oh, dear. And
that is just not going to cut it. Now, statistically,
the matches were incredibly close. Across the
board, serving. Well, yeah, they will be close.
A matchup like that, I'm sorry. I've seen UC
Santa Barbara play a few times. They just aren't.
They don't have it. Okay? I hate to say it. They're
just, they're not. that good but I mean to me
looking at this though CSUN it was like they
played two different matches within that first
game they hit 074 in the first set right but
then they proceeded to hit 478 and 464 in sets
two and three and then they dropped to 111 and
163 in four and five there was just no consistency
across that board and looking at it UCSB hit
350 versus CSUN's 234. At the end of the day,
that's the difference. But CSUN is winless in
conference play. And they lost to Loyola last
week on their week off. Yeah. And their conference
is very challenging. So I don't want to say they
were unprepared because I don't know, but that
is not a week you can have in that conference.
I mean, let's not kid ourselves. CSUN was not
coming out of the Big West. Period. Unless something
crazy happened, but they're really not doing
themselves any favors. Neither of these teams
are ranked, but you know how much I love talking
about Penn State this season. So Charleston,
West Virginia beat them again. Pretty sure they
beat them earlier in the season, this time in
four. Luckily, Penn State has finally dropped
out of the rankings because I think the voters
were just like, you know what? We tried our best
to keep you here and we just can't anymore. George
Mason. Finally broke into the top 20 this past
week. And then they went and lost to Harvard
3 -0. We are saying just, it was a week of inconsistency.
It is. I was like, this is an insane week. Goodbye,
George Mason. You're probably out of the top
20 again. The last upset, I would say, is Long
Beach State and UC Irvine. They traded sweeps.
with both teams winning on the road. This was
Long Beach State's first loss of the season,
so we have no more unbeaten teams in NCAA men's
volleyball. This was a 1 -5 matchup, but I think
given the sentiment around Long Beach State and
their dominance this year, people consider it
an upset. We'll talk about this game. We're going
to talk about this one. We have been ready and
gearing up for this matchup. Beach playing Hawaii
for a long time. So we will dive into that later
on back on track. UCLA beat Pepperdine handily
in both of their matches. They won in three and
four and USC beat GCU in four in both of their
matches. So there wasn't all unexpected things
going on, but just like the teams. that were
either making strides and needed to keep riding
that wave or the teams that needed to stay consistent
to give themselves a chance, really messed up
this week. And it will be interesting to see
how teams recover from this later. In love this
week, we saw Atlanta and Houston battling it
out for first in the division. Not really Atlanta's
records better. Nobody can catch them. As the
top two teams in the league, and Atlanta beat
Houston for the first time 3 -1. We're going
to talk about this match later on, but I think
that was a really big win for Atlanta. The Weekend
with Love saw Omaha finally getting a win, so
there is now a green circle on the website next
to Omaha, which is great. It hasn't been there
for a while. They beat Austin 3 -2, but then
they followed that up with a 3 -2 loss to Salt
Lake City. At least they got a win, though. I
think that's important for them. It would have
been really rough if they've just been like,
you know what, we lost seven in a row. Like them
and Madison just completely switching places.
So at least they have that little glimmer of
happiness. Madison had a good weekend also beating
Austin 3 -2. So they're continuing to put wins
on the board and trying to solidify themselves
in that third place spot. So if we look at the
standings now, because there's only one week
left in the season before the playoffs, Atlanta
has locked up first. Houston is in second. Madison
in third. Salt Lake in fourth. Austin and Omaha
are at the bottom. They're tied for last place,
so somebody will probably take that spot next
week when they play. Somebody will just earn
that spot outright. Yeah, so we'll see how that
plays out. It's pretty much set, although Madison
and Salt Lake both have a game in hand, and Madison's
playing Houston next week, so they could finish
second. We'll see how that shakes out. They could.
Madison needs to win both. Yeah. And then, yeah,
there's variables that have to happen here, but
there is a chance that Madison could go from
the basement to second. I personally think that's
unlikely, but we will see if they can pull it
off. Finishing up with the PVF, as we mentioned,
there's a ton of games on Sunday. So as we record
this, we don't know what those results are going
to be. But what did happen was Atlanta had a
good week. They beat both Columbus and San Diego.
Grand Rapids beat Columbus in five. Omaha beat
Vegas in three. So the win streak for Vegas is
over. Yeah, that was short -lived. That was like
the Omaha love situation. Correct. They came
back for a brief. spotlight, and then that's
it. So Atlanta has a couple more games than everybody
else, but they are primed to take second over
Orlando shortly. Orlando's looking like they
could be dropping into fourth soon. We'll see
what happens. But if those predictions hold true,
we're looking at a result of Omaha first, Atlanta,
Indy, and Orlando as the top four teams. the
top four go into the playoffs. So this jockeying,
these positions are important as the top four
teams qualify for the playoffs. So as we come
down the stretch, we'll see what happens. Vegas
is knocking on the door. They're going to have
to win. But those top four are looking solid
-ish at this point. Vegas is going to have to
make some big moves if they want a chance at
this point, I think, because... I want to say
the top four all have a minimum of 11 wins, and
Vegas is in fifth with eight. And at least one
game in hand, I believe. So we'll see. I mean,
Atlanta has played so many more matches than
everybody. Yeah. Vegas needs to start winning.
They need a winning streak, period. Yeah, they
need a winning streak, and Orlando needs to stop
losing because they're about to plummet. Our
first feature match of the week is Love Atlanta
versus Houston. What were your initial thoughts
or primary takeaways watching this one? So I
thought Houston looked really good to start.
I thought they served well. They put Atlanta
in passing trouble. Adams struggled to pass.
I thought their defensive system was really good.
They dug a ton of tips. They kept the ball alive.
It looked like they had a strategy of tipping
at Atlanta who could not pick up those tips in
the front court that were kind of halfway in
between position one and position four. I thought
Jordan Thompson looked good. I thought Houston
was going to win 3 -0. Atlanta looked flat. They
looked disengaged like they had already won the
league. Which they have. Yeah, and so I can't
say I was too surprised watching the first set.
And I was like, all right, here we go, 3 -0,
wrap it up, doesn't matter, we're moving on to
the playoffs. What about you? It was a really,
I want to say almost frustrating match to watch
because it was just, like, really messy. Like,
you were talking about Houston serving. I personally
thought that Houston missed a ton of serves,
like, the whole match. It was wild to me, just
over and over again. Atlanta looked like they
were on a different planet in the first set.
I don't want to say not putting the effort in,
but if a player was blocked, people were standing
and watching. If a ball was tipped, people were
standing and watching. It was just not clean,
disciplined volleyball. And after the score of
the first set, it was embarrassing. It was like
25 -13 or something. So I want to go back to
the serving for one point because I think it's
really interesting. Because you're wrong and
I definitely want to tell you. No, you're not
wrong. But so they had 13 errors in four sets,
which isn't terrible. They had seven aces. But
the issue was they missed a serve every time
there was a break or a stoppage in the play.
Like seven aces, 13 errors is not bad. Like for
women's volleyball, that might be like slightly
high. Yeah. But. Yeah, maybe it was that. It
just became very obvious. It was the timing of
the misses. Yeah. And the other thing about this
game, nobody's fault of their own. There were
so many challenges and stoppages in play that
the rhythm and the flow of the game was broken,
in my opinion. Houston challenged everything.
But I was like, how does he keep getting challenges?
Because they didn't win many of them. Well, to
a set, I mean, you can have up to eight and you
have timeouts. It was very disjointed in that
regard. But almost all of their service misses
came after those breaks in play, which I thought
killed them down the stretch. Okay, totally fair.
But after the first set, it was like opposite
day. And then Houston looked completely out to
lunch. And then Atlanta seemed to find their
rhythm. And players started scoring and whatnot.
But it was just really hard for me to comprehend
the massive swing in not just momentum, but just
execution, attitude, intensity, what appeared
to be focus. Just, yeah. I don't know. So there
were a couple things that stuck out to me from
a strategy standpoint. So Adam struggled at the
beginning of that match. I believe she got pulled
in the second set. Yeah, her passing was good.
Her passing wasn't very good. So she came off
the court, and then Houston targeted the libero
for Atlanta. who I think struggled maybe for
the first four passes, but then settled in and
found her rhythm. And I thought passed really
well. The first set in a bit, she struggled,
yeah. But she found her rhythm and passed well.
Adams came back into the match, and Houston never
adjusted their serving strategy to go back at
her. And I know they were pinching her, but I'm
sorry, you can still get her the ball. And Adams
went off. in the rest of that match from an attacking
standpoint. She finished with 18 points, hitting
462 on the match after struggling in the first
set. So you know that that means... So take the
first set away and it's like she hit like 700.
Yeah, it was crazy how well she played. And they
never did anything, in my opinion, to really
slow her down. That was a very confusing thing
to me too. Micah Hancock's serving definitely
caused issues for Atlanta in set one, particularly
for the libero in the passing left side, whoever
it happened to be at that time. But my thing,
and I agree with what you said, is once your
serving target finds that rhythm, you need to
make an adjustment. Because the Atlanta libero
was just dialed in in sets three and four in
particular. And it's like, okay, Kelsey Cook
and the Libero were taking 80 % of the court,
I would say. So they know, obviously. Sure. But
try to serve Adams short. Try to, you know. Serve
the seam between her and the Libero. So there's
at least a decision. Yeah, make a decision happen.
Or like serve the middle short. Try something.
But they served the same person the whole match.
And I'm like, this was a really good plan early.
But they figured it out. It's time to adjust
back. Now, the other thing that I saw was, to
me, it looked like Houston was trying to tip
the ball at Atlanta in that middle court between
the left court digger and whoever was digging
in one. Generally, that was Fairbanks. And they
didn't do a good job of covering the court on
those tip situations. It almost seemed to me
that Houston was so focused on executing that
tip game plan that they weren't swinging at the
ball. They weren't scoring to swing when the
defense moved in on the court and kind of packed
it in a little bit. They didn't adjust in that
regard either. And, you know, Jordan Thompson
struggled after 20. She hit it to Kelsey Cook
directly in six. No movement at all. So this
was really interesting. I thought Kelsey Cook's
defense was outstanding in this match. Oh, absolutely.
It was. And I'm not trying to take anything away
from her by saying that Jordan Thompson was hitting
the ball right at her. No. Overall, Kelsey's
defense kept Atlanta going and kept them in it
because the read she had on the game, she was
covering sideline to sideline. Reading everybody.
It just so happened that after 20, Jordan Thompson
was just hitting to six. And I don't know if
that was on purpose and they wanted to funnel
her to Kelsey, give her a visual maybe of a seam.
But she just ate her up. It's not very often
that the game plan against a top hitter is to
neutralize them with a defender. But that's exactly
what happened. Because when they were in one
or two rotations with Kelsey in the front row
with Jordan Thompson, Jordan Thompson scored.
As soon as she rotated to the back row, Jordan
Thompson couldn't score anymore. She was moving
all over the place. I thought that was... either
incredibly fortuitous that she was in the back
row or a great game plan because... Well, they
probably planned it. They probably wanted Kelsey
defending their best attacker. I thought that
was the difference in the match, quite frankly,
because Jordan Thompson started scoring really
well, and they took that away from her. No, we
made numerous mentions while we were watching
it live, and we were like, wow, her defense is
outstanding. Yeah. She also performed offensively,
too. Like, she found a new level. In set one,
things were a little disjointed, but she found
a new level and was very explosive offensively,
too, which, as we've talked about, Cook's strengths
are her ball control and defense. So, I mean,
obviously her role in love has had to be different
than it has been on past teams, but I think she
was great. Those are the players that played
well. Let's flip the script and talk about...
Can I just say Halasheva's blocking for Atlanta?
That really impressed me too. She... Atlanta
put up a wall on Houston. Once they figured it
out, it was nice. So give me your thoughts on
Coutinho, who had 38 attempts and hit 079. And
at the same time, if we flip sides to Houston,
Jess Merzik had 26 attempts and hit 077. Katina,
I don't know what is going on. It looks like
her timing is off sometimes. Like she has a hard
time identifying. when to wait on her approach
and when to just go and I don't know if that's
like a setter connection issue or if that's something
that historically has has been a problem for
her but like there would be times where she would
jump be on her way down off the net and then
be trying to tip it and I'm like this isn't gonna
work out or she'd be under the ball ball behind
her head trying to throw it for it like it was
not smooth she did not look in rhythm to me Well,
and Atlanta had spurts of passing issues, and
it just seemed like she was never able to identify
those situations and adjust her approach with
those things. And if it wasn't just in the right
place, it was not pretty. It was rough, yeah.
Mirzik, on the other hand, she did nothing. Her
passing was a huge liability. She was missing
serves. She was looking for hands and just hitting
balls into the bleach. She looked off. It was
tough to watch. Seven kills, four errors, blocked
once on 26 attempts. Yeah, she looked disengaged
to me for the whole match. Yeah, I was really
surprised to see that performance from her in
this match. I thought, okay, so let me ask you
this. Who do you think this match was more important
for? If I'm looking at the regular season, which
in love, the regular season does not matter.
So I guess if you think about it that way, because
like Houston is trying to hold off Madison. Nobody's
going to catch Atlanta. So this one was basically
like, let's hold on and make sure that we can
get second. Whether they finish second or third,
they're probably going to play the same team
in the playoffs. Correct. So it's like Atlanta
hasn't beaten Houston yet, and so heading into
what will likely be the final, if things hold
the way we think, that probably is a morale boost.
Especially after getting hammered in the first
set, I thought that response from Atlanta, just
to know that they can beat them, will be big
going into the playoffs. So if we take this and
we make the assumption that these two teams are
going to play in the finals, who do you think,
I mean, let's say it's Jess Merzik and Coutinho
who need to elevate to give their team a chance.
To me, that's where I think the difference is
going to come down to. Jordan Thompson is a bit
of a wild card in terms of how she plays, but
she's generally been pretty consistent. She's
been good for the most part of the season. And
when Adams... isn't in passing trouble. She attacks
pretty well. Like I think you generally kind
of know what you're going to get from her. So
who do you think has a better chance of elevating
in the finals, Mirzik or Coutinho? And which
one do you think is more important to their team's
success? I think Mirzik has a, from what we saw
from this match, I think Mirzik's baseline is
like better. Basically. And I don't think we've
seen Jess Merzik be this bad that often. Like
Coutinho started the season for Atlanta and got
subbed out, like switched for grubs, like almost
immediately. So this isn't unheard of. I think
so many players for Houston need to be better
than they were. Cause even the way that they
were running their middle. Well, that was across
the board again. It was, it was rough. Like the
middles were getting way too tight. They were
getting in front of the ball. It was hard to
make a connection. They finally got off the net
and were jumping behind Hancock later in the
match, but it was too late at that point. Jordan
Thompson, you're the go -to player. You need
to figure out how to score after 20. Like, let's
move it around, okay? I mean, Rischel was fine.
She's there mostly for passing and defense, and
if she scores points, like, amazing. So she was
steady as always, but they're out of system setting
too. Like, the number of balls. You were talking
about how they were looking to tip. sometimes
I felt like they had no choice. Like the setting
got a little messy from their out -of -system
setters. Yeah, I think those are fair points.
I want to spend a little bit of time talking
about the middles, and that's probably my last
point. I thought Jimmerson did a good job of
bringing energy to the floor. I thought she was
somewhat of a catalyst in terms of changing the
momentum or feeling. Of the match. She was super
excited. She got really good block touches. I
think the middles. All four middles on the court.
In my opinion. were always getting too close
to the net so they couldn't really hit the ball
and jimerson was the one who had i think two
attacks where she kind of stayed behind the setter
came into the ball and made really good contact
if she can continue doing that i think both teams
need to run the middle more they rely so heavily
on their outside scoring that they need to be
able to hold at least a little bit we're talking
the middle's got seven and seven sets for houston
and i think eight and six for Atlanta it's just
it's not enough yeah and in my opinion when this
match comes down to it if one team can control
the middle of the court a little bit better I
think that gives them a huge advantage especially
later on in sets and we talk about Jordan Thompson
not being able to score after 20 and I'm not
saying she never does but it being more difficult
well we've talked about that before in this season
at least yeah it was earlier in the season for
sure and I think that's a byproduct of hey, they
haven't really set their middles at all during
this match. Now the game's on the line. You know
where it's going. We can set up on her. Whereas
if you can run the middle a little bit more,
I think you just make her life a little easier.
So we'll see what happens. I mean, overall, you
could kind of feel this match didn't matter.
I don't know if that's fair to say, but it's
like everybody makes playoffs. These teams are
currently well in advance of everybody else.
Like it just seemed there was less. less urgency
than, and we said a few weeks ago, we liked that
we had seen that increase in love in recent weeks.
And then in this match. Well, it just flipped.
Houston started with. I wouldn't even call it
that. They were just better. I mean, fair. But
then when Atlanta pushed back, they kind of wilted.
And Atlanta was flat in the first set. To their
credit, they found it. But at no point did I
feel like it was intense on both sides at the
same time. Or that there was really anything
on the line. Yeah, fair. Overall, I think this
game, from a playoff standpoint, was more important
for Atlanta to win. I think that the fact that
they came back after being beaten the first set
and won gives them, not that they didn't believe
they could beat Houston, but it's tangible. There's
a result there. So I believe we'll probably see
this matchup in the finals for the gold medal.
So we'll see what's different the next time they
see each other. Our second feature match of the
week is Long Beach State versus UC Irvine on
the NCAA men's side. We watched the first match
of this series that was hosted at Long Beach.
We've been saying for weeks that we wanted to
see Long Beach State play a solid opponent. We
were so excited to see them play either UC Irvine
or Hawaii to really be pushed because let's be
honest, Long Beach State's schedule hasn't been...
The most challenging. Granted, they played UCLA
twice and UCLA was not good. So we were excited
for this. And I don't think it disappointed.
I really enjoyed the match. I was a little surprised
at the outcome. Well, all along we've been saying
if UC Irvine or Hawaii can put it together when
they're playing Long Beach State, I think we
will see some interesting results. And I just
have to say, UC Irvine was flawless. That was
the exact word I was going to use. That is the
performance they needed to put together to have
this result. So yes, they did put it all together
and they won 3 -0. If you are UC Irvine, that
is the perfect game. That is what you are chasing
come... The national championship. I don't even
think it needs to be like as good as it was.
Like Darcy went off on the right side. Okay.
All of their outside hitters, I think had career
night. So I need to go over this because it's
just so impressive. Okay. So let's start with
William Darcy had 13 attempts, had nine kills
and hit 692. That's insane. Heno had 18 attempts,
9 kills, hit .389. And Nolan Flexin had 17 sets,
6 kills, and hit .235. If your three outside
hitters are posting numbers like that, you're
going to win matches, period. They were unconscious.
Every time they were set, they scored. Specifically,
Darcy and Heno. Honestly, we saw the early days
of Nolan Flexin moving to the left side and then
bringing Darcy in. Not the best. Flexin definitely
wasn't looking the most comfortable on the left.
I do think he's a true right side. I think that's
where he belongs, period. But, you know, the
coaching staff is probably like feeling like
geniuses at this point for making that switch
in advance of these matches because it worked.
The head coach is buying drinks for the staff
after that move. I mean, Kiriakou, the outside
they had, the passing outside, he just, he can't
compete height -wise above the net with the likes
of Long Beach State and Hawaii. he's a good player
good ball control whatever but like they needed
more size to be able to to push teams of that
caliber so great foresight and they showed I
will say Joe Carlos I am not a fan but I have
never seen the setter for UC Irvine play as well
as he did against Long Beach State. He's usually
pretty inconsistent. His set delivery is medium.
He showed up. He had a great game. And I also
thought that they did a really good job of covering
the liability of him blocking in the front row.
I was worried about that. Yeah, there were a
few times where him and Heno switched so that
he was in the front row with the Long Beach setter.
Not a great matchup. Not a great matchup. He
can hit the ball, obviously, but he's less of
a liability there than he is blocking on the
right side. And then they would run their offense
from four, and Heno was out blocking at the pin,
got a big block in a key situation out there.
So they were creative with how... they handle
their limitations as a team and you know we talked
about them having the small left side they made
an adjustment they have a very small setter in
the front row they're making adjustments like
i've been impressed with how they've analyzed
their team and worked to find the best combination
of players against good competition so kudos
to their coaching staff yeah and it was subtle
like it didn't they didn't do it all the time
but they made sure to line carlos up with nikolov
to give them the opportunity to make it setter
on setter in the front row instead of just like
leaving him out to dry against like skylar varga
or something you know like these little tiny
tweaks they're they're worth only a couple points
but those couple points are big can be a big
difference well and when we're talking about
winning the first set 27 25 to me that first
set was critical UC Irvine pulling out that win
in overtime by two points, that gave them the
momentum to go in. That's a different match if
Long Beach ends up pulling out that first set,
in my opinion. But after that first set, it was
domination. They rolled after that. Well, so
let's look at some of the stats for this match
because they are heavily tilted in UC Irvine's
favor. So as a team, they hit 472 versus Long
Beach's 274. 472 as a team is insane. Yeah, that's
ridiculous. From the service line, which is generally
a Long Beach strength, Long Beach made 22 service
errors and only had four aces. UC Irvine had
eight aces on only 13 misses. Four to 22 is not
okay. But this was the most telling stat for
me. If we look at the blocking numbers, which
I think was the biggest discrepancy in the match,
UC Irvine had seven and a half blocks to Long
Beach's zero. And along with the serving issues
for Long Beach, that's the difference in the
game. And that's why the second two sets were
25 -19, 25 -19, and 2 -3. I mean, Long Beach
relies so heavily on Nikolov serving. He's going
to set the NCAA record for aces in a season,
for sure. And he had two aces right off the bat
in set one, and I was like, oh dear, here we
go. But he had trouble finding it again after
that first service run, and I think that really,
really hurt. long beach state because they do
rely on that so much and watching that match
i was like dang beach's block defense is just
like non -existent they are good like they're
in that particular match they were a good offensive
team they ran a really good offense the balls
are delivered in a very good spot but they didn't
do anything on the defensive side and herstinovich
who is among the top point scorers for them regularly,
I think he really struggled. I mean, the only
player for Long Beach that I really noticed was
Vargas. Yeah, Varga, yeah. He was the only player
that, quite frankly, did anything for them. And
he had a great match. He got set 23 times, which
was more than anybody else on the floor. He had
13 kills and hit 391. You can't ask anything
more. from him in that regard. Because if you
look at the other hitters who got set the next,
it was, like you said, Danil Hercovich got set
17 times, hit 059. Yeah, they're not used to
that from him. Sebastian Sani also got set 12
times, hit 083. Well, Sani started, and Kondev
had to come in. I was curious about the Sani
starting situation, but Kondev came in, and I
think he did a good job for them. Yeah, 12 sets,
hit 417. Like, it was fine. But it's just, like,
this is the thing. It's, like, they've played
such a weak schedule that this could be good
or bad in that they have played so many guys
regularly. Like, if you look at their stats,
like, Nikolov is the only player who's played
every match. And then, like, Varga is a consistent
starter. Herstinovich is a consistent starter.
McRaven in the middle. But then it's like mixed
up and it's very all over the board for who is
playing the second left side, the second middle
position. And so while that's great, cause they're
getting their guys so much experience and like
the whole group is getting experience. It's also
questionable because when you come into a situation
like this against UC Irvine, where you're actually
pushed and your backs are against the wall, you
haven't really. worked through tough moments
together because the lineup has been so variable.
Yeah. I thought UC Irvine put a perfect match
on the floor, and they did a great job. They
couldn't have been better. No, I mean, they only
made four hitting errors on the night as a team.
That's... It's wild. And I'm sorry, like, the
serving numbers, eight aces, what did you say?
Eight aces to 13 errors for men's volleyball.
That is outstanding. So, you know, great for
UC Irvine. They came out. They made the point
they needed to make. Everybody was dialed in
and played well. But we didn't watch it, but
I have the stats. Let's talk briefly about the
next night where Long Beach came out. And it
was close. 25 -23, 25 -19, 29 -27. But they came
back and they beat them 3 -0. And that's a great
response. And I will give credit to UC Irvine.
I kind of felt like Long Beach was going to come
out and have a match. after watching that performance,
and they pushed them and kept it close. But Long
Beach, stats -wise, was just dominant. As a team,
they hit .424. Crazy. Dieris McRaven hit .556
out of the middle, only on nine attempts, but
great numbers. Nikolov decided to take the match
into his own hands, had 14 swing attempts, and
hit .643. Average. I'm going to do this by myself.
Well, he was trying to do that the night before,
and he was trying too hard. Yeah, he was fighting
it. Yeah, it just wasn't working. And then Alex
Kondev came out, had 23 sets, and hit 609. So
this was... But we were saying they are a good
offensive team. What were their defensive numbers?
Were they better? They were better. So 17 serving
errors still, 5 aces. Better. Better. Than four
and 22. But most importantly, they had eight
and a half blocks. Okay, there we go. And 22
digs compared to UC Irvine's six blocks and 19
digs. So like close. It would have been a good
game. I wish we could have watched it. We had
to go to the LA Kings Leafs game because Adam's
a diehard Maple Leafs fan and we could not miss
that. Priorities. So. I will probably go back
and watch this at some point just because I want
to see what happened, and I enjoy watching high
-level volleyball. But I'm not surprised that
Long Beach came out and made a statement after
this. Now, the interesting thing is that in their
conference, the Big West Conference, there are
three very good teams. So you have Hawaii, you
have Long Beach, and you have UC Irvine. And
coming first in this division is going to be
so important because you avoid that 2 -3 matchup.
It will be really interesting to see what happens
down the stretch. So that split is massive for
UC Irvine, and there's going to be some really
good matchups coming up. Well, Hawaii beat UC
Irvine in both matches. If they can take one
match out of two against Long Beach State, they'll
probably go into the tournament as the one seed,
and I'm pretty sure they're hosting it. Yeah.
It will be interesting to see what happens in
this conference down the stretch. You know, I
think it's really hard for a team to have an
unbeaten season. You have to be so good night
in and out. And let's be honest, Long Beach didn't
play that poorly against UC Irvine, but you're
not going to beat a team that makes four hitting
errors on the match. Like UC Irvine was almost
perfect. And so... They got their loss. They
got it out of the way. Nobody's thinking about
a perfect season anymore. They can focus at the
job at hand. Great response from Long Beach coming
out 3 -0, even though the matches were close.
So this will be really good conference play down
the stretch, and I'm looking forward to it. All
right, it's game time. That was a cheer. We're
going to pull one out that we've done before,
but I like this one. I think everybody liked
this one. We're going to play level of concern.
And so if you don't remember, I'm going to go
through the levels of concern, and then I have
a couple questions for Sarah, and she can tell
me how she feels about these. So level of concern,
not too worried. Number one, losing your assistant
coach to head coach of a new program. So it happens.
It happens. Not a big deal. Number two, losing
a top recruit to a rival. Not ideal. Manageable.
But you're somewhat concerned about that. Level
three, being in a five -match losing streak.
That's pretty bad. It's not good. Number four.
Pitt losing Tori Stafford to another school before
she graduates. Oh, we're bringing this one back.
I thought we were updating the levels. We are
keeping the levels of concern the same here.
Wasn't that the worst thing that could happen
last time? No, the worst thing is Nebraska having
a losing preseason. Losing preseason? Yeah. When's
the last time that happened? How are the Nebraska
fans? Probably when I lost to Florida A &M my
freshman year. I'm just kidding. I lost seven
matches my whole career. Lay off me. I just flexed
a little bit, sorry. Those are your levels of
concern in this game. Oh, dear. Okay, so question
one. We're wrapping up the first season of Love.
And so if you are Love ownership management,
what is your level of concern that the PVF is
winning the attendance battle and the eyes battle
in the overlapping cities of Omaha and Atlanta?
Oh, wow. That's a good question. Now, have you
looked up the attendance records or numbers and
stuff? So I did a little dive into them before
I asked this question. Now, Love has not published
their attendance records for the season yet.
So I don't have them. We only have kind of anecdotal
evidence from watching the matches online. We've
had some people post about what attendance has
been like who have gone to both. And I want to
say when they're happy with it, they post it
on social media, but it doesn't happen often.
Yeah. So I can tell you that I believe Omaha
for the PVF set a record of having 13 ,486 fans
last season. And I believe they beat that. this
season. And when I was looking at some of the
Atlanta numbers, I think it was between like
an average of three or 4 ,000 people, a match
there. So, I mean, obviously much bigger in Omaha,
but take that however you want it. There's a,
do you think love kind of reached their expectation
and compared to what you've seen, what would
your level of concern be? Well, I don't know.
I feel like love kind of selected smaller venues
than the PVF did. So just inherently, even if
they're at max capacity, which watching, it doesn't
look like they are. But I think even at their
max, they wouldn't be able to hit those numbers.
And I think it was strategic that they picked
smaller venues because they wanted it to look
more packed. So I would say... Sorry, I'm just
looking at your... I would say they're probably
sitting at... losing a top recruit to a rival
level of concern because the way they set it
up, they probably expected because they're pushing
like Olympians, best athletes in the world, things
like that. They probably expected to draw fans
away, but people watched both. Fair enough. Okay.
Now, the next couple of questions are going to
be about... NCAA men's volleyball, and we've
talked about a couple of these, but I'm curious.
So you are the coach and the athletic director
at CSUN men's volleyball. What is your level
of concern that you will finish last in the Big
West? So currently you're 0 -4. You have to play
Hawaii, UCSD, and UC Irvine. Those are your last
conference matches. They probably feel like they
can beat UC San Diego. They probably also thought
they'd beat Santa Barbara handily. Well, UC San
Diego, I believe, already has two wins. No, they
do. Because you have to think that CSUN, looking
at the start of the year, had their sights set
on finishing fourth in that conference. Fourth?
I mean, realistically, if their coaches were
candid, they weren't going to beat. Well, isn't
Santa Barbara in that conference? Yes. So finish
ahead of San Diego and Santa Barbara. Yeah. Oh,
got it. Okay. I think, I mean, given how they're
performing and the trajectory they're on, I'm
going to say losing Tori Stafford level of concern.
You don't want to mess around. You lost a great
opportunity with Santa Barbara. Now what? Pressure's
on. Yeah. And I think that, you know, you have
to be realistic about your expectations and obviously
Hawaii, UC Irvine, Long Beach are great teams,
but when you sit down and you look at your season,
you're like, okay, here's where we can realistically
be. And I, they have fallen short of that. So
I would agree with you. Would CSUN ever have
expected to be ranked in the top 10 this season?
I don't know. Like that's a legit question, but
like maybe they moved up the ranks and then they
started to feel like. overly confident. I don't
know. That is just speculation. I would agree
that it's a very high level of concern in the
CSUN head offices these days. All right, question
number three. What is your level of concern as
McKendree, having dropped two matches this week,
that you have put yourself in a position that's
going to cost you the conference championship?
Nebraska having a losing preseason level of concern
because you literally had this in your hands.
Even if, like, nobody probably expected McKendree
to be in the conversation for winning Miva. And
they were handily in the lead. Even if they had
lost one match, it would still be, like, a game
in hand. But to lose two? Like, granted, you
played ranked opponents, but, like, my... friends
you're ranked number 10 like you have to play
ranked opponents so yeah I'd be concerned because
now your back's against the wall you don't want
to finish second or third because then you're
playing Loyola or Lewis probably Lewis yeah it's
uh the alarm bells are going off Emma Kendry
and they need to snap out of it I don't I didn't
look at their schedule of who they have left
but yes you want to finish first in that conference
you are this was not a good week for you My final
question moves us to PVF. Vegas snapped their
losing streak, won a match, and then lost again.
If you are Vegas, what is your level of concern
that your chances to make the playoffs are slipping
away? And before you answer, I will give you
this. They have 10 matches left. They've been
slipping away. Yeah, but I mean, they have 10
matches left. They have a game in hand. I believe
they're three wins behind. They have four matches
versus teams above them left and six matches
with teams below them. And I believe they play
San Diego three more times. How concerned are
you of where you're standing and your birth to
the playoffs? How concerned are you as a head
coach that you're going to be fired if you don't
make the playoffs? Well, that can be a 1B. Honestly,
I would say Nebraska losing in preseason. level
of concern because you guys started out the season
on fire you were number one and then you just
took a dive I don't know I don't think that there's
no glaring reason why this should be happening
and to go from like dominant to fighting for
your life that is very concerning And I'd be
even more concerned if I was the head coach and
I was like, am I going to be fired after this?
That's fair, because if you're the GM of that
team, you're looking at the roster and going,
we should be doing better than this. And looking
at the panic that seems to be happening with
the substitutions and everything else at Vegas,
yeah, they should be playing meaningful games
down the stretch to get into the playoffs. And
that has not been the case recently. Anyway,
those are your level of concern questions. I
was pretty concerned almost across the board
today. Yes. Well, there are some dire situations
that have been developing in the last two weeks
in the volleyball world. I think my barometer
was a lot higher this time than it was last time.
I was pretty chill last time. Anyway, we'll have
to bring this back. Maybe this will have to be
a monthly game. I like this one. Because I think
this is a lot of fun. Let us know if you want
me to update. The level of concern criteria.
I kind of like these ones. Tori Stafford leaving
Pitt is always going to be on the list. I'm sorry,
but that was just so out of left field. We just
can't ignore it. It's that time, everybody. Time
for listener questions. We have a good variety
this week. I really like. All of these questions,
very much. So let's get started. Question one,
why is passing such a hard skill for outsides
to develop? This person said, I feel like outsides
are divided between terminators and passers,
and there haven't been many who are able to do
both at an elite level. And they referenced Logan
Tom as being one of the most recent they can
remember. I mean, accurate. She was incredible.
So fair that you would remember her. Yes. So
there's a couple of things at play here for me.
One is it's generally easier to pass the ball
the lower you are to the ground. So if you are
generally a little bit shorter and this doesn't
go across the board and I'm not taking anything
away from. shorter players who are good passes
but you have a little bit longer to move with
the ball to get a good angle and to follow it
down and it's just a little bit easier when the
trajectory is kind of high to low where you're
passing now if you're taller the serves come
at you in the women's game specifically at a
very high to low angle so getting down and creating
that angle and getting underneath the ball is
generally a little more challenging for taller
players and the taller players are generally
the better attackers. So again, there are different
circumstances for different players. But for
me, this is one of the generalizations. I'm about
as tall as some of the tallest women players.
I'm 6 '5". I have tried to pass women's serves
on that low net. And the trajectory that the
ball comes at you, it's just, it's challenging.
to get low enough and to follow it when you're
that height. So there can be many reasons for
this, but I think across the board, that is probably
one of the generalizations I would make. What
do you think? I would build on that to say, and
this is specific to the American system, the
way that they have structured club volleyball
and college volleyball with the substitutions
available. You aren't developing players to have
a complete skill set anymore because the positions
are so specific now because of the in and out
with everybody. There's no sense of urgency to
train your bigger outsides to be able to pass.
It's just like, we want to win right now. You
see it at the club level in particular, like
we want to win right now. So like you just hit.
And we'll get these players to pass. And it allows
more players to get into the game and have an
impact on the court. So I think because of that,
there is less emphasis on developing a full skill
set. And then you see it when you start progressing.
A lot of players who maybe are really good in
college have trouble making the transition to
the international game because they haven't had
to do that. If you look on the international
side, you see more players who are capable of
doing both. Granted, they are usually stronger
at one skill than the other, but I think particular
to the American system, it's just designed to
kind of limit that development. I think that's
a very good point. Question two, why is it when
players are getting ready to serve and there's
a delay in the ref blowing the whistle? that
the serving player will get rid of the ball to
get it out of their possession? Why don't they
just hold on to the ball for however long it
takes the ref to blow the whistle? This is a
great question. I love this question. So serving
is all about routine and rhythm. And you will
watch certain players stand in the court at the
baseline until the ball person... tosses them
the ball, at which point they will walk to their
serving spot and do their routine and serve the
ball. And it's the same thing. When there's delay
in the game, and we should talk about this with
the Houston match, and they did very poorly at
this, but as a server, you do the same thing
every single time. That consistency is what lends
itself to you being good and getting the ball
in. It's like a free throw routine in basketball.
And you have eight seconds from the time you
get the ball to when you serve. So when you're
holding on to the ball for 30 seconds, 40 seconds,
everything goes haywire for you. And so you toss
the ball away. When you're ready to go, you get
the ball and you can reset and do your rhythm
and your routine. And that's why they throw the
ball away. Routine is everything. That is why.
The next question, and I'm curious to hear your
answer on this. How do you project Cameron Thorne's
career? Can you really have a national team middle
at that size? And could he be moved to the pin?
So the person who wrote this question alluded
to the fact that Cameron Thorne transferred to
UCLA to be able to get in front of then national
team head coach John Sparrow every day. That
didn't work out. This is a very interesting question.
I don't want to put people into a box, and I
hate saying what people are and aren't capable
of. But I will say it is very highly unlikely
that Cameron Thorne will have a national team
career. When you look across the board, you're
seeing middles that are 6 '10", 6 '11", 7 feet
sometimes, you know. And while Cameron Thorne
might be able to touch high, he's 6 '4". It's
just he's small for an international outside
even. So it's just even though he can jump, the
foresight and the anticipation skills that he
would have to have to be able to make up for
that height difference and the timing in his
jumping to be able to compete above the net with
the seven -foot middles he would be playing against
is just so highly unlikely that I can't see them
taking him. I know Karch was considered an undersized
left side when he played indoor. So maybe he
will give him a chance. Like, I don't know. But
I don't think he has the skill set to move to
the pin because I don't think he has the ball
control. And not to mention, he does not put
enough pace on his serves to impact the game
internationally. That is my take. I love Cameron
Thorne. This is nothing against him. It's just,
yeah. It's a numbers game. You have three middles,
maybe four, on the U .S. national team, and that's
just a really hard roster to crack. I think he
could be a very good pro. I think he could have
a very successful career. I can see them letting
him in the training gym. He brings a different
element that guys could play against, but cracking
that starting roster for the U .S. is going to
be challenging. All right, question four. Why
do some programs like Nebraska run shorter beach
seasons during the winter? I do have a theory
on this. And while I cannot say for certain that
this is what's happening, I have a feeling. So
there are limits as to how long you can train
as a team, both in season and out of season.
And I believe... This might not be correct, but
I believe in out -of -season times, you can only
train eight hours per week. And in a team setting,
you can only have a maximum of four players in
the group at a time in order to receive instruction
from your coach. In order to get around that
and to be able to have more time together while
staying NCAA compliant, I think that is why it
happens because if they are technically running
a beach team, they can train as a team for 20
hours a week instead of just eight. And the coaches
can be present to give instruction to the whole
group instead of just like an individual basis.
So again, I'm not saying that this is 100 % what
is happening. But I have a feeling it is a sneaky
way to stay NCAA compliant while making sure
you get more training. Sarah pulling back the
curtains there and airing the NCAA dirty secrets.
Again, I'm not saying that this is what's happening,
but I'm like, they wouldn't shock me. Our last
question of the week is in reference to love
and PVF. And this person asked, do you think
the reason why certain teams aren't using specific
athletes is because coaches want to let everyone
have a chance to play and get court time? Absolutely
not. Maybe I don't know who this person is referring
to in general. I'm wondering if it's like a Lexi
Rodriguez situation, an Asia O 'Neill situation.
Yeah. I'm yeah. Yeah. That's who I jumped into
my mind. So I, let me elaborate on the love side.
It's a little different. You have one league
owner, right? The coaches. have generally had
very good careers. They're here. There may be,
and I'm not saying there is, but directives from
the leagues to play some players. I don't know
how that would work. That's a possibility in
that case. Also with the love schedule, having
the back -to -backs, I think if athletes have
minor nagging injuries or whatever else, those
may have an influence on some of those decisions.
But the coaches are coaching to win. and they're
not just putting people in to get playing time.
I will absolutely guarantee this is not the case
in the PVF. Those teams are owned by individual
owners. They want to win. Those coaches are coaching
for their life, for their jobs. For their life,
it's on the line. Their careers, right? The example
that pops into my mind is Vegas. He is not rotating
through players so that everybody gets equal
playing time. He is trying to find a way to win.
Specifically in the PVF, we're talking about
professional sport. It's not fair time. It's
not everybody gets a chance. There may be some
small cases where... the owners are saying hey
we're looking towards the future like we want
to sign this player maybe a little more long
term let's get them some playing time let's see
what they look like maybe maybe but for the most
part all of these coaches are trying to put winning
rosters on the floor because winning matters
and you know maybe part of this question is coming
from the fact that we've seen such drastic roster
or like starting six changes in these leagues
throughout the season like you rarely see that
in international leagues like the starting six
you generally ride that for the whole season
it's very rare to change it and so I can see
maybe this question is coming from the fact that
we have seen just wild changes and different
starting sixes like match to match and everything
because like I've even been scratching my head
at that sometimes well one thing to think about
with this is that the league started very soon
after the college season ended so there will
have been an influx of players who are trying
to become pros they're trying to switch gears
the coaches didn't have a preseason with them
don't know what they're expecting so there would
have been a certain level of experimentation
trying to get these young players up to speed,
injuries and those kind of things that affect
those decisions. But trust me, the decisions
are about fielding a team and making the playoffs,
not about fair playing time or getting people
playing time just for the sake of it. As always,
thanks to everybody who submitted questions.
This is actually my favorite part of the show.
seeing what people are thinking about, what questions
they have, where people's heads are at, and I
enjoy discussing these answers. So thanks for
taking the time to send those in to us. All right,
let's look forward to your next week of volleyball.
So last week, a regular season for love, and
our head -to -head match is going to be on Thursday,
8 p .m. Eastern between Omaha and Atlanta. Penthouse
and basement, baby. Yeah, great way to end the
season on that one. That will be on Love Live
slash YouTube or DAZN. Adam has a hate on for
Love Live. That's why he always says slash YouTube.
Well, I was trying to use Love Live first and
then it never works. Such a bad platform. It
never works. Anyway. The Weekend with Love finishes
up this season in Salt Lake on Friday and Saturday.
The Friday matches can be watched on ESPN Plus
and the Saturday matches are on Love Live or
DAZN. Slash YouTube. In NCAA men's action, Stanford
and BYU have their series this Thursday and Friday,
9 p .m. Eastern on Big Ten Plus. I think those
will be very good games. Stanford, BYU, I'm very
curious about, yeah. And then we have Pepperdine
and USC are playing Thursday at 10 p .m. Eastern
and Saturday at 8 p .m. Eastern, also on Big
Ten Plus. UCLA and GCU play Friday 9 p .m. Eastern
and Saturday 8 p .m. Eastern, also on Big Ten
Plus. The MPSF has got all the good matches this
week. It wasn't like a conscious choice to just
pick MPSF matches. The other ones I feel like
are going to be... Straightforward, but after
this week, who the heck knows? And for anybody
who's interested, I think you can hop onto the
Big Ten Plus app or streaming service for $12
for the month. So if you're interested in watching
any of that, I know we did that and it's worked
out quite well for us. For the PVF, the only
PVF matches this week are being played on Saturday.
So if you're looking for one game specifically
to watch, I think the Orlando and Omaha game
at 7 p .m. Eastern is going to be really good.
And you can find that on Volleyball World TV.
That concludes this week's episode of Volley
Talk. There's always something shaking in the
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you
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