Sticking with the Game: Juliann Faucette and Emily Ehman | LOVB in Paris - Serving Pancakes

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Tiffany Oshinsky, and this is serving pancakes with
League One Volleyball. Over the next few episodes, we're going
to follow Team USA's quest for goal at the Paris
Olympics while also talking with talented people in and around
volleyball and women's sports. Today's episode features two unique perspectives
from the world of volleyball, Emily Emon and Julianne Fawcett.

(00:26):
Emily played libera at Northwestern between twenty sixteen and twenty nineteen. However,
she always knew she wanted to work in sports media,
so she pursued journalism while playing for the Wildcats and
is now the face of women's volleyball at the Big
Ten Network. She also covers the professional and international game
and contributes to Volleyball mag dot Com and ESPN. Julianne

(00:47):
is a former three time All American at the University
of Texas, having played from twenty seven to twenty ten.
She's played professionally overseas in Europe and China, and was
a member of the US women's national team in twenty sixteen.
And julian pursued a career as a recording artist and
published an EP then launched a podcast in twenty nineteen.
Now she's coming back to Texas as a member of

(01:09):
Love Austin and as the Longhorns player development consultant. Julianne Emily,
welcome to Serving Pancakes. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
I was so so excited to be here, especially alongside Julianne.
I mean, the list of accomplishments just goes on and on.
This is awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Thank you, right, I mean, Julian, I mean, your career
has spanned multiple years. You've seen everything, You've traveled the
world to play. So what has it been like for
you to kind of take this break from volleyball now
you're coming back.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
So the break initially was to have children, and I
thought I was going to be finished with volleyball, but.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Lo and behold, here I am.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
I had my son in twenty twenty, so during COVID,
and during that time I got asked to out of
retirement and play in Italy and so it was kind
of a weird year obviously, and.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
I decided that it would be really cool.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
So yeah, I was three months postpartum when I got
the contract, six months postpartum when I traveled to Italy,
and so it was definitely a journey, something that was
probably the most difficult thing I had done in the
time that I've played volleyball. I've come back from injury,
but coming back after having a baby mentally and physically

(02:30):
is really difficult. So played the season. Felt like by
the end of the season, I was in a really
good place physically, but I just felt like the toll
of taking your family overseas with a child, with a
team or leagues that maybe don't have as much support
and even knowledge of how to help moms, especially someone

(02:52):
who was the first time mom, I just was like,
I don't want to do that anymore. So, despite being
in shape and feeling like I could continue you playing,
I decided to step away again. And then this opportunity
with Love came along.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
I had just had my.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Twins who are now one and so yeah, I was
just talking with some people at Love and we decided
that we would give it a try. I would see
if I could get in shape and see how my
body felt. And I got to a place where I
was like, I feel really good, and it's obviously a
really exciting time for the sport of volleyball. Having this

(03:29):
new league in America, being able to stay at home
in Austin where I live, where my family and friends
all are, and so it just was a no brainer
for me to try. And I sent in some film
and got a contract literally that same week.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
So I'm really stoked.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
That's amazing girl. I have seen your workout videos on Instagram,
and I mean I had I have two kids, didn't
have twins, but doing that after having two, like twins,
your body and the what you can do, I'm so amazed.
I mean, like that is absolute mom power, girl power,
like eolute dominance.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
It's definitely been a journey and super hard. But during
my pregnancy, I stayed pretty physical and I was in
the gym and I lifted a lot, which was different
from my first pregnancy. I did a lot of yoga
and breastwork, which is great, but this pregnancy, I wanted
to stay strong and I feel like that was a
game changer in coming back to playing shape for sure.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
And Emily, I mean, you've been covering the sport now
on camera in you know, online, what has changed since
you graduated, Because I feel like even though you graduated
in twenty nineteen, you know, seeing like Juliane as a
mom coming back to play right, Like, that's absolutely amazing,
just the growth of sport. Like, what have you seen
in justin these few years since you've graduated college?

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Oh, I mean, the growth of the sport has been exponential.
You know. I think back to when I was in
college and we were just happy to have like a
beat reporter or a student writer at a game, you know,
or happy that a game was maybe on TV. They
were only about you know, twenty five thirty matches back
then on TV at least on Big ten network, and
you know, a far few less on ESPN platforms and beyond.

(05:17):
But I just can't believe how far it's come. There's
more matches on TV than ever before. The viewership has
skyrocketed every year among every single network, and then attendance records,
we're seeing them shattered every single year. It feels like
schools themselves individually are also shattering them every single week.
It seems so the sport is growing so fast. Of

(05:38):
course at the college game, and you look at high
school you know, now it's one of the most participated
in women's sports at the high school level, and then professionally,
I think there's a lot more outlets that people are
realizing that professional volleyball is really fun. You know, there's
platforms like Volleyball World that you can watch, you know,
some of the best leagues in the world. You can
also watch a lot of these summer tournaments now that
you were never able to watch before. So while the

(06:00):
or it's growing, it's been really fun because it's been
growing at every single level. You know, it hasn't just
been the college game. It really has been professionally too,
And to be honest, a really big part of that
was because the team USA women's indoor team won gold
in Tokyo, and that really helped the sport get a
lot of eyeballs on it for maybe people that weren't
volleyball fans before. But the cool thing about volleyball is

(06:20):
once you turn it on TV, maybe you just stumble
upon it, if you're a casual fan or had never
watched before, it's really hard to turn off because of
how fast paced it is. You know, there's not a
lot of breaks. So once you have that game on it,
it viewers stick to it because it's so fun to watch.
And we've seen that grow, you know, a year over
year and it's been really for me just so fun

(06:41):
to be a part of that aspect of it on
the other side of it all.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Right, Well, before we talk about this game between the
US and France, let's hear from twenty sixteen bronze medalist
Courtney Thompson, who is in Paris and was at this game.

Speaker 5 (06:54):
What's up, guys, Corney Thompson here was serving pancakes and
League one volleyball on the street of Paris after a
super fun win. USA three France zero. Was an incredible
match France. You know, it was their last game of
their Olympics here in Paris, so they just showed up
ready to full send and played really well. And I

(07:16):
think because of the way the new pools are, USA
had three days off, which in the Olympics is pretty rare,
and they, you know, had They came out of the
gates with two tough matches versus China and Serbia, so
they couldn't quite find their rhythm, but towards the end
they kind of got in there and it was a
great win. And I think for them to make a
run in this tournament, they're gonna need everybody on the roster,

(07:38):
and tonight was very indicative of that. Kelsey and Jordan
came off the bench in an incredible job kind of
stabilizing the passing lane and also just getting some key
kills in moments, and you could just tell they've been
in so many tough moments and they know how to
show up. And it was great to see Mike and
JT made a good difference, especially in set three, which

(08:01):
was awesome, and Chiaka and Haley getting some offense going
in the middle, which was great, and Chiaka doing her
thing on the block of course. So it will be
a fun, fun few days here. We find out today
where they'll land in the quarterfinals and who's next, and
they could beat anyone and they're gonna have to use

(08:21):
everything they got, so pretty excited to see where they go.
But incredible win, fun night for them, and we'll see
you soon.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Lots of great stuff there from Courtney, And yes, the
US did win in three straight sets, but those first
two were real nail biers. The US eventually won twenty nine,
twenty seven, twenty nine, twenty seven, twenty five, twenty and
are now moving on to the quarterfinals on Tuesday. But
let's talk about those first two sets. What was going
through your minds. Go ahead, de Lane, you start.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
I mean, obviously France being the home team, the host country,
it's tough, the environment, walking into that environment. Everybody there
is much rooting for France despite them not coming out
of pool play, it didn't matter. You know, they had
nothing to lose. So that's a team that's scary to
be is when you know they've got the crowd behind

(09:12):
their back and they don't have anything to lose anymore.
So they played free and they played lights out, and
you know, there was times in the match where you
felt like, oh, okay, we're good.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
USA's got this, but.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
Then they'd come back with an eighth. Tough serves. We
couldn't get in system a lot of the time, and
I think that really hinders us because our middles are amazing,
So if we can't use our middles, then that puts
a lot of pressures on our pin hitters. And I
think any Jurs did an incredible job taking some really
big swings out of system, but I just think that

(09:45):
France put that pressure on. So those first two sets,
I'm so glad we were able to pull it out
because I know we needed just to win one set
to come out of pool play.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
But for sure, when you.

Speaker 4 (09:54):
Go into a match like that, as temusay, knowing what's
at stake, you just want to win and you want
to win well, and so to be able to sweep
that match, that's huge.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
They can go into quarterfinals with confidence.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, I think you put a best at the end
of the day of a win is a win, and
advancing too the quarterfinals is the most important piece headed
into this match, all the pressures on USA. France literally
had nothing to lose. They had not want to set
up until this point during pool play. Through their first
two matches, USA only needed one set to advance. But
really this match was kind of about getting consistency in
their lineup. We've seen so many changes, especially at the

(10:29):
outside position, throughout this entire tournament so far, which is
also consistent from what we saw from Team USA all summer,
rotating lineups nearly every single game during the VNL. So
this was a really good opportunity for the US to
come in and kind of thumb France, which which didn't happen.
Of course, we saw those twenty nine to twenty seven
first and second set wins, but it was definitely a
nail Bider. I feel like my heart couldn't take it.

(10:51):
And you're watching that early in the morning, like, come on, guys,
we already know you can fight. We saw it against Serbia,
you don't need to do it against France. It was
fun to watch just because this team is always kind
of keeping us guessing. I think at this point in
the tournament, not very great position to be in to
keep guessing, like what rotations we're going to use, who's
going to play. But Karch is a heck of a coach,

(11:12):
and you know he knows better than anyone, So I
think when we head into quarterfinals, he's going to start
the lineup that it feels most confident with. To me,
I'm looking at the outsides and who gets that start,
because right now it could be really any combination of
the four.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
M HM and so Julian, you played at this profession,
like the international level. Emily, you've covered it, you've seen
this before. Do you think that because France didn't win
any sets going to this game, do you sort of
put their guard down or do you think it was
just one of those where as you know, you said Emily,
like France had nothing to lose, so they just came
out guns blazing.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
I think USA knew they had to have a really
good match going into the quarterfinals, so I think that
there was no guard that came down. I think was
more the pressure of the crowd and knowing like, Okay,
this is a must win so that we can advance.
And also the pool that they're in is difficult. You know,
China and Survey are playing now, so that's going to

(12:07):
decide who gets first and second and third place in
the pool. And so I think that's the really important
thing knowing going into a match like this there's a
lot of unknowns and all you have to do, as
Temusa is win this as easily and as best as
you can. And they did their job. They came away
with a sweep, even though it was tight in those
first two sets. I think what Emily was saying about

(12:29):
the outside, it's difficult to know going into this next
match that they're going to have which outsides that they're
going to use. But the great thing is is that
everyone's proven that they can do what it takes to
get the job done. And so you have two solid
veterans in Kelsey and Jordan that you know are going
to be super great at passing, They're going to handle

(12:51):
the ball well, They're going to be crafty when it
comes to the swings. And then you have Avery and
Catherine who are hammering the ball and can put the.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Ball away when needed.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
So it's just it's going to be matched by match
what USA needs and so going in, whoever they draw
is what kind of is going to It's going to
come down to and I think Cards and the staff
are going to make the right decisions, but even throughout
that match, changes are going to happen. And I think
that's the beauty of our team is that we're sacked,
we have options, and so it's really cool to be

(13:22):
able to see that they can pull out getting to
the corner quarters with such a difficult pool, and then
exciting to see.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
What happens next.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Julianne, you mentioned kind of the how good this pool is,
and really just across the board, this is the deepest
Olympics that we've ever seen just in terms of talent.
There are so many teams right now that will be
in contention for a gold medal that could absolutely win.
You know, you think of the top teams like Italy
or like a Serbia should be but you never know
it's going to happen, and tim Usa drew this pool,
and honestly, if they were anywhere else it would have

(13:53):
been just as hard, which is crazy to think about
when you're facing a Serbia team that's that good and
a China team that's that good. Came into this one again,
they had all the pressure. They knew this was a
great opportunity for them to try to get a good
win as quickly as possible, to sure up that lineup,
and then to get rest and go home because you
only have, you know, potentially less than forty eight hours
until your quarterfinal match, so they had a lot of

(14:16):
pressure on them. I think you could see it to
those first two sets. They were very tight, looked a
little bit nervous. We saw defensive miscues that we don't
normally see from this team, but that'll happen when you
have players playing next to each other who haven't had
a lot of time to practice. And then of course
you know some players coming back from injury who took
a lot of time off, like Jordan Polter who's been
at the setting position. I think the better ball control

(14:37):
they have, the better position they'll be in because yeah,
she looks good, but at the end of the day,
you know, you don't want to make her run as
much as possible because we've already seen one set or
go down with Lauren CARLINI. We don't need another one
to go down to.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
The one thing I'm like loving about this team right
now is that we are kind of seeing both the
old guard and the new guard come in with you know,
Avery Skinner Kavin Plumber coming in as the outside hitters,
and then again coming in with Jordan Larsen and Kelsey
Robinson Cook, and I feel like, you know, there's also
these two different sides of the team when depending on
who is in as outside hitter, right, Avery Skinner and

(15:22):
Cavin Plummer, you get this hard hitting, insane powerful offense.
With Jordan and Kelsey, you get that ball control that
you you know that they really need, especially in this
match against France, you know, with the service where they're
struggling a little giving up, you know, five points at
a time in both those first two sets, I feel
like seeing how these two teams can handle and how

(15:44):
Karch uses them depending on the situation is just fascinating
to watch. And I feel like a lot of people
don't realize what's happening when those two you know, they
make that switch.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yeah, I mean, it's an important distinction when you have
two heavy hitters like Plumber and Skinner, who you know
can go in and just absolutely rip the ball, but
at the end of the day, you need ball control.
And you know, a lot of that is because they're veterans,
with Kelsey and Jordan, you know, being toward the tail
end of their career, they've had you know, twenty years
of practice passing, where Skinner and Plumber, you know, their
mid twenties, and it just takes time to get that

(16:17):
ball control down. So at the end of the day,
I think we're going to find out whether this team
values ball control more or if they need some hitters
put the ball down. And both totally make sense. Maybe
you have some kind of a balance between them. You know,
we saw what Plumber and Kelsey could do and for
Kinnegliano last fall or last winner rather, they were incredible
for that team. So that's a combination I would like

(16:37):
to see. But it's also a little bit late in
the tournament just to start throwing out combination, So I'm
interested to see it. We'll see what Cards comes up with.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
Yeah, I agree. I think I think you could really
do any combo here. You could put one big hitter
in and you could have one ball control player in
kind of balancing that. What we've seen is he's double subbed.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Both of them, kind of had.

Speaker 4 (16:59):
Kelsey and Jordan together and then Avery and Catherine together
going in, which I would also love to see a
little bit at combo of both just to get that balance.
But you know, they know best, and they know kind
of the chemistry of the team and what's worked in practice.
So I just think it's really cool that you can
have any one of those combinations with a team. It

(17:20):
means that the depth is big and wide and we're
just you know, rallying going into this. And like Emily said,
this is the deepest, toughest Olympics and volleyball that I've
ever seen. And you know, I've been watching it since
two thousand and four, you know, when I started playing,
and you know, pining for my for my first Olympics,

(17:41):
which I did never make. But you know, being on
the national team and knowing kind of each year there's
like two or three that you know are killer teams,
and then the rest you can kind of, you know,
gauge that we can get past them. But this year
is it's insane. I mean there's six, probably six teams
that could take the podium, take top spot, and so

(18:02):
I just think that the depth that we have is
is helpful and going into that, you know, you've seen
such an up and down roller coaster with this team,
but we just don't know how how hard it really
is out there. You know, Tokyo didn't have any fans.
Now you've got fans in the stands and it's a
big crowd and everyone's excited, and everyone loves volleyball, and
you know, the international game of volleyball is popular, so

(18:25):
people know the sport. They're rooting for these all these
different teams, and you know, we saw Italy crush Turkey.
What that's crazy. So you know, it's just like it's
just all of these different things happening within the game.
And so to make it to where we are now
going in I think, you know, fresh start, everyone's zero zero.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
At this point and you just use what you got.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
I think it's cool. It may not be great.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
That we didn't.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
We're not going into this next match kind of knowing
what lineup that will go with. But it's also great
that we've seen the depth and that we've seen the
options that we have so that we know there's no
fear in subbing. I think Karch is knowing that by
now he's making those subs. I think the double sub
is doing fantastic most of the time they go in
and Jordan Thompson and Micah Hancock right now are you know,

(19:13):
bringing points to the board when they sub, And so
that's a huge factor too. So you just have so
many options in our team.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
It's important to be deep, especially in an Olympic pool
that's this deep. You know, you need to have a
deep roster. You only get twelve on that roster, so
you need to make sure that everyone's ready to go. Yep.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
And not only that, but I mean it was a
huge I mean so much credit to Karch for adding
Mica Hancock as that one of the alternates because with
Lorne injuring her back and him being able to bring
Micah is like clutch coaching right there right now. Julian,
because you were on the US women's national team back
when you played, how hard is it to make this team?

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Oh my gosh, it's it's hard, you know, even to
be in the gym as one of the top twenty
four or thirty girls down to the LAS. You know,
roster cut is crazy, so you know it's intense, and
you start at the beginning of a quad so you're
going four years every summer hoping to stay in the gym.

(20:14):
That's literally the goal of being on the US national
team because there's so much talent coming out of college,
but also the veterans are experienced and they've been there before.
So there's just this combination of fresh talent and a
combination of veteran badasses that you just have to be

(20:35):
able to stay in the gym.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
And so.

Speaker 4 (20:39):
You know, the girls up until the last month before
the Olympics are hoping to be on that roster and
could could have been. That's the thing I would say
that not a lot of countries have the talent that
we do in volleyball to be able to decide at
the last minute who's going to the Olympics. We had
girls that got cut that easily could be there right

(21:02):
now with their talent and their experience, and so it's
it's it's tough, and to have been a part of that.
And you know, looking back on my career, I had
an amazing experience and I would say unique opportunity to
be a part of that. As hard as it hurts

(21:23):
when you're cut from a roster or even just from
the national team in general and you step away from that,
it just creates such a resilience in you. And also too,
you're always a part of that. You know, every quad
that goes through. You know, the girls that have been
in the gym since twenty twenty one to now that

(21:44):
aren't at the Olympics are a part of that. They
put in the work, they put in the time, and
they're supporting USA despite not making that Olympic roster.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
And that's what it takes. That's why we won goal.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
In twenty twenty twenty one, because you know, we have
that depth and we have that support, and we're pushing
each other day in and day out in that gym.
That gym is brutal. Numbers matter, and you know every
day that you walk in there, you have to you
have to be prepared and so that mental training too
comes with it. And I think that's why USA is

(22:17):
where they're at for sure.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
And Emily, I was looking at the US women's roster,
and if you include Micah Hancock with the starting twelve
since you know she's playing right now, with Lauren being
an alternate from that switch, but nine of them are
Big Ten graduates, Big Ten alums? Do you play almost
all of those? And I know, like Jordan Larson's you
know a little older, so you probably didn't play her.

(22:41):
But do you remember playing some of these women and
covering them as a reporter?

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yeah, well I remember playing against them, and I can
say it wasn't very fun. They normally just took care
of us pretty quickly, and I will say our team
wasn't like amazing, But man, when you're going up against
Haley Washington and Mica Hancock on the other side, you're like, well,
this is gonna be fun. I can't wait to go
home in an hour and a half. No, they were incredible.
I mean it was It's crazy now thinking back to

(23:06):
you know, when we would play against some of these
opponents and you just kind of knew that they were
going to be national team, if not Olympic players, and
thinking back, it's like, I can't believe that I even
had the opportunity to play against them and be like
pretty scared while I was doing it, but you know,
it's pretty cool looking back now on the other side
of it, you know, seeing the personalities behind the players,

(23:29):
because obviously you know when you're scouting them and you
know their names, but at the end of the day,
they're just a number and they're a scout to you.
On the other side of it, it's been really fun
to connect the dots of Okay, what makes this player
so good, and what are they like off the court,
and how does that feed into what's happening on the court.
So I love being on this side of it, and
also thinking back to having played against quite a few

(23:49):
of them, the differences of what I see now versus.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
Then, Yeah, for sure. I feel like, you know, watching
as a spectator these Olympics and seeing Alia Washington or
Chiaka just crush the ball because I was a Labero too,
and I'm like, I don't know if I would ever
be able to dig that ball.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
No, absolutely not. I've seen something like even you know,
if you haven't watched some non US matches, but if
you've been watching like Italy or Turkey or any of
those teams with the crazy opposites they have like I'm
looking at the ball going up there and if there's
a hole in the block or say, god forbid, they
haven't opened at as a back row player, personally, I'm like,
I'm putting a helmet on and running the other way.
Absolutely not. I want no part of that.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Oh my gosh. And like you talking about who these
women are as people that you're able to, you know,
establish now as a reporter, I feel like, Julian, you're
kind of doing that too, being this player development coach
and working with younger girls who are learning. So what's
that experience?

Speaker 4 (24:47):
Like, Yeah, so I actually haven't started yet, but I've
been around the program for quite a while, and you know,
I've recently moved back to Austin recently. I would say
it's been three and.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
A half years.

Speaker 4 (24:58):
Ever since I've been back in Austin, And I step
into practices and you know, hang out with Jared and
the staff, and you know, it's it's really cool to
see the level and just the program that Jarrett has
built since I've been there, and so I'm really looking

(25:18):
forward to being a resource and a mentor to these girls,
especially the new ones, you know, the ones that are
on the tail end of their college career may not
need it as much. They know they've they've been through it,
they've won two championships.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
At point, but you know it's going to be more.

Speaker 4 (25:38):
Of mentorship, helping them with nil, you know, just taking
them out to coffee and asking them what they need,
somebody that they can talk to. You know, Jarrett does
a really good job of making sure that there is
a woman on staff all the time. We have three
brilliant men who you know are great assistants, fantastic sick

(26:00):
volleyball nerds. Know, you know, Eric Sullivan's at Olympics on
the men's side right now helping them out.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
So you know, the staff is.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
Stacked, and you know they're men and they're awesome. But
sometimes the girls just need someone to talk to, and
so to be somebody that can help them, who's walked
through it, who's done it, who's been coached by Jarrett,
I'm happy to help in any way. I know what
it's like, and so I'm excited to just lend that

(26:28):
experience and wisdom to them and then help on the
volleyball side too. You know, sometimes it's little cues that
can help younger girls, especially coming into college who just
you know, they're so raw, they're so talented, they're eager
to learn. So just sometimes just a small little queue
that maybe helped me back when I was in college
or at beginning pro And so I'm just I'm super

(26:51):
excited to be back with Texas. It's kind of a
full circle moment with love Austin, you know, being back
at Texas now on staff, it's like wild what my
career has.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Become since starting playing.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
So I think the thing I love too about watching
these women play and hearing what you're doing and being
part of players and you emily like working with these
women and getting to tell their stories and introducing them
to people, is that yet we're you know, these are
not just players, right. I feel like volleyball has been
such a sport where because it's so team focused, you

(27:28):
don't really know the individual players that much. But you know,
with NIL, with the Big Ten Network, which I think
was in the forefront of really getting women's volleyball out
on television so that people could watch it more and
increase its popularity and visibility. I feel like seeing all
of this is really helped this younger generation be like
I want to be like Julianne Fassett. I want to

(27:50):
be you know, Jordan Larson. I want to beat Chiaho.
What were they calling her Chiago her blogo because she
was just dominating and blocking on the court, which I love.
I mean, I feel like this opportunity to see these
women and to know who they are is so huge
that the sport hasn't had before.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
It's awesome, and it's coming from a lot of different avenues.
You know, of course, you have more games on TV,
so naturally you're watching these players more and hearing about
them more. But you mentioned nil and really social media
in general, that's kind of where we're getting to know
these players. Yes, of course it's coverage from the TV side,
and you know, now reporters that maybe have never covered
volleyball before coming in and writing articles about them and

(28:29):
seeing these stories. But you know, at the end of
the day, a lot of it really is social media
and a lot of these players getting on it and
they're able to tell their stories and you know, the
next generation can see them in a different light. That
isn't just you know, with the number on their chest.
It's you know, when they're off hanging out with their
friends or they're at home doing a get ready with
me or whatever it is. It's been so fun to watch,

(28:50):
you know, especially the generation that's now in college get
that recognition that so many players that came before them,
you know, wanted and craved and would do anything for.
It's been so fun to see that happen. And then
also their response from the players. You know, I've been
think back to a few years ago where it was,
you know, you were kind of hesitant when media would
come in. You obviously really welcomed it and wanted it,

(29:12):
but there was this stigma that you know, they were
trying to get you or you know, have some kind
of story come out. But now it's like these players
love it. You know, they're so excited every time we're
in the gym with them, and you know everyone on
mus have talked to us and get their story out there.
So that part of it has been fun too, not
only to tell the stories, but to have the athletes
really want that and be so open to it has

(29:32):
been fun because it's it's not the same for other sports,
I can tell you that much.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
So going back to the match against France real quick,
because you know, we talked about the twenty nine to
twenty seven matches, which sets which were intense and stressful
stands to watch. But you know that third match twenty
five twenty a little more what we were expecting from
the US. So overall, what impressed you ladies about this

(30:08):
team in this match?

Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah, I think a lot of it was resiliency. You know,
in those big moments, we're seeing this team come through.
We saw it against Serbia during that second matchup in
pool play, and we saw it again, you know during
that second set, US funded off multiple France set points
to eventually get the set. But I think the biggest
thing for me is can we limit runs? You know,
when we get stuck in rotations, are we able to

(30:32):
get out of it quicker? We need to get better
on the passing front to not allow you know, five
point runs like we did in set one, or seven
point runs like happened in set too. We got to
be able to close a match.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Speaker 4 (30:44):
I think overall, going going forward, it's not letting those
runs go. You know, we had big leads in those
first two sets, and even in the third set. You
know you saw a little bit when someone would go
back to serve maybe one or two points go by,
and so it's really about stopping the bleeding as soon
as possible, knowing what to do. Hartch always says we

(31:05):
know what to do every time out. He would say
that when even when I was playing, we know what
we need to do, and it's basically we just need
to get a pass and we need to side out
because when we have that pass, we can do us
and that's runner offense. I'd love to see a little
more back row swings coming out of the back because
I think that it's super effective, but we have.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
To be able to pass.

Speaker 4 (31:28):
I do think our transition game can also get a
little bit better. There was a little hesitancy on defense
this match, but I saw from Serbia and China we
were digging a lot of balls, but then we weren't
getting good swings out of those digs and so to
be able to transition. I always say, as a coach
I've coached at the high school level for at a

(31:48):
little while now, I always say defense wins games, but
defense transition is where it's at. Like you have to
score points off of defense. You can't just get the
ball up and then freeball. It not at this level
so we've got to get really good SLINKs and I
think i'd love to see especially when Catherine and Aber
are in a little more back row out of the pipe,

(32:09):
and then obviously Andy Drew's going from the right side
in the back. I think that could really help us
and be more effective in these next few games. So
we're gonna need it. We meet everyone on deck at
this point, and I think that's what we've seen.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
I think that's what.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
The major takeaways are, especially from this last matches, that
we need everyone, you know, subn Kelsey and Jordan and
that second last second set at the last second, and
then they start the third set and they finish it,
and so it's just showing that anyone can play, and
anyone can do it, and anyone can.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Get the job done.

Speaker 4 (32:40):
Now we're just going to need to get some consistency,
stop those runs and play our game.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
So slate tangent from this third set. But Karch called
a challenge in the middle of a rally, which I
did not realize was a thing actually until I saw it.
How annoying or frustrating is it when you're in the
middle of an intense rally to all of a sudden
have it just be stopped because your coach called the challenge.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
So there's some plays that you have to call the
challenge in the middle of the play. For example, if
you think a ball is down, say it's a pancake
that you might have thought was down, you have to
call that right away. You're not able to call that
at the end of the point. So that's something that
you know. Of course it's frustrating, but as a coach,
you have to do it. Otherwise, you know, you give
up potentially losing that point when you could have won it.
I'm on a miss call.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
It makes perfect sense. I'm still just when I was watching,
I was like, well, what cause I think it took
a while before he called that challenge. There was like
a back and forth maybe like four times before it called.
I was like, oh my god, can you imagine putting
all that effort in and then all of a sudden,
it's like you can't finish the point.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
You know, And if you've only watched the college game too,
there's a lot of rules that are different, so it's
you know, it's something that I think, you know, Paul
Slim and Kevin have done a good job of explaining
the rules that how they are different, because if you
haven't watched a professional game, you might be like, well,
what the heck was that you can't do that? So, yeah,
there's there's some discrepancies and differences just in you know,
challenge play, some rule things, but for the most part,

(34:03):
I think, you know, the commentators are doing a pretty
good job of explaining it for sure.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
So now, like we said earlier, the US is moving
on to the quarterfinals, which is very exciting. We're not
sure who they're playing at at the time of this recording,
but because there are still matches going on. But who
do you think I know that you said that there
are six teams that are like the top of the top,
But who do you think will be the biggest challenge

(34:29):
for Team USA if they get paired with them in
the quarterfinals?

Speaker 3 (34:32):
Italy? Yeah, I think Italy. Italy is a team to
be They just won the V and L. I think
they are the best team in the field right now.
You know, we've seen them kind of go up and down,
but they just had a pretty good dump in of
Turkey earlier today. And I don't know if that's a
team that we match up particularly well with. They have

(34:53):
really incredible middles that I think both Washington and Bogu
could handle if they play their best. But man, they've
got you up front that are just absolutely incredible. And
then they have who I think is the best player
in the world in Paalaaganu. She's a right side. She
touches eleven four, So even if you have Plumber lined
up against her, she's probably gonna go right over her.
We saw her do it all summer. We've seen her

(35:14):
do it for years now. You know, she's just twenty five,
but she's an absolute rock star. You know, she's earned
pretty much every MVP on her in the book that
you can accept an Olympic MVP. So she's a player
that I would never want to face on the other side.
And to me, Italy has the best chance of at
least moving on to the gold medal match, if not
winning at all. So you know, whatever draw we get,

(35:35):
I'm hoping that Italy is nowhere near us, hoping it's
you know, a potential Poland or Brazil situation. But that's
a team that is very fine tuned. They played pretty
much their entire starting lineup all summer, so they've got
those connections down and they are just rolling right now.

Speaker 4 (35:52):
Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't Yeah, I wouldn't want to
see Italy anytime soon. I think that they they've had
a rep go at it and on Olympic runs, but
this one seems like they're hungry, they're focused. This is
a team that's been together for a while now, and

(36:13):
they know each other really well. That connection that they have.
And like Emily said, Paala is she's unreal. I've played
against her and many times and it's it's really hard
to play against her. When she's hot, it's it's hard
to beat. So I would say she's the best player,

(36:33):
best opposite, hands down in the world. And their team
across the board I think is just very experienced. They
pass the ball well, they run the middles well. Their
middles are very technically sound, good blockers, They're outsides are
very good. And then you have Pawa so and they're

(36:54):
Libero is arguably the best libero in the world. Also,
hands down, I would say that I see them going
for gold. I think Brazil's good when they're when they're on,
I think they're a hard team to be Also, Poland
could be tricky. I'd rather pool them early though, and

(37:15):
see I think that we could match up well with them,
and so yeah, it's it's tough. You know, China has
been playing pretty well. Serbia has the ability to take over.
You know, they also have a crazy opposite, So yeah,
it's tough.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
It's cool.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
It's a great time for volleyball.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
I would not want to play Serbia again.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
No, no, they they probably want to. Yeah, they'll come
back with a vengeance there. I think they definitely felt
that they missed out on that match. But it's it's
an amazing time for volleyball. I think it's some of
the best volleyball I've ever seen in the world, with
just all of these amazing teams.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
So it's cool. But you know, let o.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
USA like we we have the opportunity need to defend
that gold medal, albeit as a little different circumstances time
with our team. I feel like last Olympics there was
just a little bit more dominance coming into it, and
we weren't number one in the world coming into this,
and so there's there's a little bit more of a
back against the wall. But that's a cool spot to

(38:18):
be in too. You know, we have to go in
with that mindset of like, hey, we have nothing to lose.
Everyone's good. We just have to put everything we have
in the court because that's the way that they're going
to do it.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
For sure.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
Yeah, I think when we talk about how deep this
field is too, if you haven't watched anyone except the
US play, you've got to turn on some of those matches,
you know, especially in the quarterfinals and semifinals and on, like, Yeah,
these teams are so good and they're so fun to watch.
I mean, there's players that you'll just absolutely fall in
love with and want to keep watching. So if you haven't,
definitely make sure you're checking those matches out because they

(38:49):
are they're so fun.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Definitely. And Julian, because you've played in multiple countries professionally,
do you notice a different style in the way that
they practice and the way that each league is run.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Definitely.

Speaker 4 (39:02):
You know in Europe and I played in Italy three years,
three seasons, so you know, volleyball is a gift there.
They are very talented, their coaches are very talented. There's
a lot of technique, a lot of skill involved, and
you know, I would say that the practices anywhere you

(39:26):
go are going to be different. The culture is different.
When I played in China, we prepped for long hours
a day. When I played in Japan, we practiced long
hours a day, very minimal time off. In Italy, I'd
say there's a similar style to how we train, and
maybe that's because we've had girls go over there many
seasons come back. We kind of see what works what doesn't.

(39:48):
I think that's honestly not to segue, but that's the
beauty of love and this league in America is that
we get to keep our kids, our athletes in America.
We have been going over to other people's countries to
play volleyball and giving our knowledge and our best volleyball
to them, and then coming home and having to play
short summer with our national team. And you know, I

(40:11):
think for many reasons, that's why we didn't win goals,
because we just we couldn't get our team together and
be cohesive. But now we have this opportunity to have
all of our athletes, our best athletes, stay in America
and play together, and our coaches be there to you know,
give feedback and help. And I think it's just a

(40:31):
great time for our country and that and that aspect
because all these other countries have been.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Doing that Italy.

Speaker 4 (40:37):
They don't have to go anywhere, right, That's where the
best volleyball is being played. Turkey, same thing, and so
it's kind of like we're giving our knowledge and wisdom
to these other countries when we're going overseas and we
learn stuff too. One thousand percent we take away a
lot of things. So that's just a cool exchange. But
I do think it's a great opportunity that love is here, so.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Sure, and the love Austin Deine's going to be really
interesting to watch because you have eight Texas alums all
under Jared Elliott. So I think they have a pretty
good idea of how they all play.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
Yeah, that's I mean, it's really I've been talking to
some of the girls and we've been saying it's every
Texas fans dream team. Obviously, there's not everyone is on
the team that could that is a fans dream, but
eight of us from different generations even, I think it's
a pretty cool opportunity.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
I've always said.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
That man I wish I could have played with her.
Man I wish I could have played with her. You know,
as I've graduated and gone on and seen the talent
that would come in and now I get to do that,
and I'm like, this is nuts.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
So yeah, what a cool thing.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
Yeah, it's so fun. When you said the generations, that's
something that sticks out to me. I mean there's players
that I'm sure you know, grew up watching a lot
of those players. Now get to play with them, you know,
coming as Texas alum that is you know, that's a
dream for all these players. And I can't even imagine
how excited they are to finally, you know, get in
the jam with it all.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
Yeah, for sure, it's going to be so fun to watch.
Now for both of you, you know, you have interesting
paths because you were competitive volleyball players. Obviously, Jillian you
will be back playing volleyball competitively, but you know, Emily
you became a broadcaster and Jillian you took a break.
You pursued music, hosted a podcast. So for both of you,

(42:25):
what was it like stepping away from this sport that
you devoted so much time and energy and love too.

Speaker 4 (42:32):
I think that it was needed for me. I didn't
know when I stepped away that I was going to
come back to the sport. So originally when I did
my EP and wrote music, I actually was injured. So
that was a really cool outlet for me because I
was wanting to come back from injury. I hurt my
knee and have some time off, and I was like,

(42:53):
you know what, I'm going to do this thing that
I have been wanting to do for a really long time.
I love music, It's a passion of mine. There's you know,
no pressure here like to be anybody, you know, a superstar.
I'm just you know, I want to do this. And
so that was a really cool outlet. But when I
stepped away after I had my first child, I didn't
have any thoughts of coming back because I just thought,

(43:17):
once I have kids, I'm I'm not going to be
able to do it. And I talk about this a
lot when people ask me what it's like to be
a mom and then also play volleyball.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
I've done it.

Speaker 4 (43:30):
I was a first time mom with one kid, played
in Italy. I told you guys about that experience a
little bit. And so when I stepped away, that's that
second time thinking for sure, I'm not coming back because
it's just it's not plausible for me. It doesn't feel
like it would be a good experience. I don't want

(43:51):
to put my family through having to move and go
overseas and like, you know, where will they go to
school if they get older? It just like the whole
thing just made me feel more like I need to
sacrifice my love for this game and my desire to
keep playing for my family. And so in doing that,
I took up coaching I which I absolutely love. Which

(44:15):
is a funny story because I was like, I'm never coaching,
like I will do private lessons, but like team coaching
a high school team, Like are you kidding me? I'm
so above that literally, Like I know that sounds bad,
but I think like that was the thought processes, like
there's no way I'll enjoy that, Like it's you know.
And so then when I decided to do it and

(44:37):
I was say, okay, I'll just give it a try.
For one year, I was obsessed with it, and I
was obsessed with the way it made me feel in
how giving to these kids who you know are so
eager to learn and then they do it right and
then see their excitement and see the approval that they're
looking for for me, and like just this whole thing,
and also when you're in a tight match as a

(44:59):
coach and you're making these decisions and you're like, dude,
that feels like and there's there's adrenaline there and I
didn't realize that that could translate. So I kind of
got my fix of competitiveness through being a high school
coach for the past three years. And you know, that
was kind of like the path that I took. And

(45:21):
I always knew that I wanted to either mentor or
give back to the sport that has given me so much,
you know, with camps, clinics now coaching a team, and
I think on just a broader scale, just like having
that one on one mentorship and giving back to, you know,
kids that can learn from my experience and knowing that

(45:41):
my experience wasn't for not like I did something cool
and now I can turn it around and give a
little bit back. And so yeah, that's kind of like
what it felt like to step away. I never missed
playing because I feel like I filled it with the
coaching aspect and the mentorship aspect. Now that I'm working

(46:03):
out and playing and getting myself ready to play again,
there's this like buyer burning that I thought had gone away,
and I thought that would just disappear. But I'm like
more eager than ever, especially as a mom with like
some a little crowd of three watching my every move.
It's like there's so much motivation there, but there's also

(46:27):
no pressure.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
To like be perfect.

Speaker 4 (46:29):
Whereas when I was younger, it was like I have
to be this in order to get this, and I
have to do it this way and if I don't,
then I'm missing out on my chances to do you know,
something big, Whereas now it's like I've done this and
I still get to do it, and I'm like, this
is awesome. I'm so excited. And even the younger girls

(46:50):
coming right out of college or maybe playing their first
or second year pro, it's like I love that.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
I want to help them. I want to be like
the mom of the two team.

Speaker 4 (47:00):
And like whatever you need feedback wise, like obviously I
want to step on the court and be competitive, which
I'm gonna but yeah, yeah, it's also this this like
team feel of like how can I give as a
teammate because I'm just in such a different place as
a mom and having done this for a lot of

(47:20):
years now, and so yeah that was long, but that's
how I feel.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
I love that because I have two kids and I
play in just like an adult beer rec league, which
I love my team and we have so much fun together.
But when I'm able to bring my kids to watch us,
even though it's adult, you know, wreck I like love
it because they get so excited and I'm like, yes,
Like I have my little cheering squad. And I always
ask my daughter, I'm like, do you want to play volleyball? Yeah?

(47:49):
And I'm like, that's generation. Let's go so fun.

Speaker 3 (47:53):
Julian, it's really cool too to hear to hear about
the perspective change that you had, you know, after you
had your first kid, and then obviously after the twins,
like one, I can't even imagine coming back to playing now,
and I, you know, have done nothing of the sort
of just out of shape, but thinking about getting back
on the court is so impressive. And but before I
get on, I kind of just want to know from you,
like how do you possibly balance all of that? What

(48:15):
was it like initially starting out when you started working
out again, Like what the heck did you do? Did
you have the kids in the gym with you?

Speaker 4 (48:22):
I mean, yeah, it's funny because in the beginning, when
I first was cleared to work out after the twins,
they came into the gym with me and their strollers.
I would put a little span in front of them.
They would take a nap, and when their newborns, they
sleep a lot, so it was easy. Once they started
getting bigger, it became more of a challenge. They would

(48:42):
be walking around the gym while I was like doing
power cleans and I'm having to like throw the weight down, run,
make sure they're good, come back. So it's definitely a challenge.
My mom moved here from San Diego, California. I'm a
single mom, so I'm doing this. I mean I would
I have a village. I mean there's no way I
could do it. Even with a full family, you know,

(49:05):
a partner in this, it would be so difficult. But
I have a village. I have my mom here, my
stepmom lives down the road from me, family friends, I
have the best friends, which we do call ourselves the
village that they have kids, My all my son's age,

(49:26):
they all have kids, and so it's it's just been
incredible to see.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
And I'm not one that asks for help.

Speaker 4 (49:36):
And so when I did become a single mom, I
kind of relinquished that surrender to you know, whatever ego
or you know, independence that I had and said no,
I need help, and everyone in my village came running
and they're there for me. They know that, you know,
I'm going for this crazy dream and I'm doing something

(49:58):
insane and they want to be there and support it.
And so I'm very very lucky. And you know Carly Lloyd,
she's a childhood best best friend of mine who's gonna
be playing on the love Autome team with me. She
has a child, we grew up together, we played club together,
and played a few years on the national team together.

(50:21):
And so she's my very very best friend in this
entire world. And I know her coming here and us
having each other at being moms together, it's like just
another added person to my village and me to hers,
so that we can support each other. So yeah, I
don't do this alone. Some days I feel like this

(50:41):
is stupid and I should not do this.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
It's too hard.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
But then but most days I think, Wow, this is
so cool that I get to wake up every day,
I get to push myself, and my kids get to watch,
and I want to bring them along as much as possible.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
That's so strong and powerful.

Speaker 3 (51:03):
I love that yeah, I mean it's just so inspiring
seeing you out there, seeing a player like Carlie Lloyd.
I remember when Alicia Glass Childress came back to play
for Athletes Unlimited. That was exciting. And I remember a
few years ago to Sheila Castro came back after having
her twins and played in AU as well, and it
was so cool to see the support system that she
had for like eight weeks in a bubble around all

(51:25):
these other athletes, and just to strength it takes to
come back, and like how much of an inspiration you
guys are to not even you know, maybe former athletes
that are coming back, sure, but just in general, I'm
sure moms around can say, Okay, well I can go
back to work. I can do all these things that
maybe I didn't think was possible a few years ago.
You know, when you see athletes at the highest possible
level doing it, it's like, well, we can all do anything,

(51:48):
which is so cool. And I'm so glad that you
know you're now coming back and feel so confident and
feel that drive again, because it is hard when you
stop playing to define that drive. And I think I
was similar in terms of that competitiveness and like adrenaline rush.
That was something that I always really craved, and that's
what I loved about competing. I always knew that I

(52:08):
wanted to get into broadcasting. I never wanted to play professionally,
nor was I good enough to I never wanted to coach,
so I knew I wanted to stay around sports. I
didn't know I wanted to be around volleyball. That kind
of just happened on its own after I graduated and
started to get into the business. But for me, I
think the hardest part of the transition was just not

(52:29):
having a team. Because from the time, you know, I'm
like three or four years old, I was on teams
and you you're given friends, You're given someone who tells
you what to do, you have a planned schedule, and
then when you stop athletics at such a high level,
you're like, one, who am I too? I have to
like actually go talk to my friends, hang out with them.
I can't just see them every day and all these

(52:50):
people that you know, you love so much and you're
in a locker room with And I think that that
family aspect was something that was hard in the transition
out of like, Okay, I got to figure out kind
of who I am, what I'm doing, and you just
miss that that competitive nature with people that you know
you're grinding with. And I think you learn a lot
about yourself and really bonding with others when you're on

(53:13):
a team going through really hard times, whether it's you know,
a really tough loss or you just had like a
really hard practice, and how to run sprints or whatever
it is. You know, those are the things that I
think bond people. And so for me, it was like, Okay,
how do I make those bonds And what can I
do now that I'm not playing anymore to continue to
feel that? And so, you know, I think that was
getting closer to family and friends that maybe I didn't

(53:34):
have enough time to while I was still competing. But
you know, on the other side of it, just that
competitive nature. Whenever I go into a game now, to
call it, to me, it feels like a game day,
Like I'm waking up, I'm doing the same routine. A
lot of times, I'm like eating the same foods. I mean,
I've prepped the same for the most part. I prep
a lot how I scouted in college as well, So
I feel like I get that competitive side from calling

(53:57):
games like when the lights go on for me, that
showtime and you know, I have to put on my
best performance. I had a lot of practice before, but
that that's game time. You know, you want to put
your best foot forward, and you know, give these athletes
and give the game and the teams the recognition and
the credit and just do a good game because they
deserve it. So for me, it's been fun to fill

(54:18):
that competitive void with something that's really similar. But on
the other on the other side of the game.

Speaker 1 (54:24):
Yeah, both of you two have such inspiring stories because
I feel like, you know you even though Julian you
went to go play Emily, you decided not to. Just
this idea of no matter where you're going, when you
do decide to step away from whatever sport you've been
super competitive in, it is finding a family. It is
finding that group of people that you can keep, you know,

(54:45):
keep you motivated, keep you excited, keep you hungry to
do whatever you want to do. And so you ladies
are amazing and an inspiration. And I hope whoever is
listening to this podcast understands that and also gets like
a fire underneath them is excited to go out and
do it. Are they're gonna do because they want to
be like you, guys.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
I mean it's true, like like Julianne, like you can
do anything, truly, Like I think if you have a goal,
you probably need to set it higher because you can
achieve that, Like you should always have something you're looking
forward to it and truly, like I always think this
guy's a limit and if you're going to put in
the work for it, you know you can, you can
get there. So you know, for me, it's always been
about staying hungry, staying humble, and working hard. So I

(55:25):
think that's the biggest thing. And I think that applies
to to pretty much any capacity of our industry that
you're in, whether you're an athlete, whether you're in the
corporate America, it doesn't matter. You know, if you have
that drive and you continue to stay humble, stay hungry,
stay kind like you can, you can get anywhere.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Definitely.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Yeah, wise words, Emily. And so now before we end
this interview, I hope you guys are hungry for a
little volleyball trivia because I have a little volleyball trivia
game for you.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Oh no, here we go. All right, I'm gonna start sweating.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
I don't think the quiet are that hard, but they're definitely,
you know, like the historical trivia. Let's see what you
got and if you have to have a multiple choice,
just let me know. I'm happy to throw in the
multiple choice, but let's see how you do before you know,
we've given some.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
Options to get embarrassed.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Here.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
What year was volleyball introduced to the Olympics in Paris?
Multiple choice?

Speaker 2 (56:28):
Definitely?

Speaker 1 (56:29):
Mu, so multiple choice? Your options are A nineteen twenty four,
B nineteen thirty four, C nineteen forty four or D
nineteen fifty.

Speaker 4 (56:43):
Four, A nineteen twenty four.

Speaker 1 (56:46):
Yes, nineteen twenty four. So villyball was played as an
unofficial exhibition event at the nineteen twenty four Summer Olympics. Uh,
part of my French here at the Jude lanf Oh
pretty good, which is an accompanying youth sports competition. Oh,
thank you. So that's that was when it was introduced.

(57:07):
So one hundred year aniversary right now. So that was exhibition, right,
it was an exhibition. Yes, it wasn't an official sport,
but that's when it was introduced. When and where was
the Federation of International Volleyball established?

Speaker 3 (57:21):
Theican Republic it's curly in Switzerland. Right.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Oh, oh, you're right, Yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (57:28):
Know it's well's curly in Switzerland. No idea where it started.
I don't either, I'll go to Switzerland.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
I'm going to agree with.

Speaker 4 (57:36):
Her because I was thinking of the Pan American North SECA.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
My bad m.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
So the answer is actually France in nineteen forty seven.
You must have loved that exhibition game and Randy, Oh
my gosh. This one's a little tough one, I think
because I I only know of it because I read
a book. But you might if I don't feel like,
if you haven't read this volleyball history book, you might

(58:03):
not know. But who invented volleyball?

Speaker 2 (58:07):
Like?

Speaker 3 (58:07):
Who isn't Is there a person or like a country?

Speaker 1 (58:10):
Yes, yes, there's one person, one person who invented it.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
Oh jeez, I can't remember his name.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
I'll just give you the answer because I didn't write
any multiple choices could take me while to come up
with the fake names. The answer is William G. Morgan,
and he originally called it Mintinet.

Speaker 4 (58:27):
I knew that, I mean I knew I hadn't heard
I had read that before.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
But there's no way I was going to remember that.

Speaker 3 (58:35):
You just say he was American.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
He's American.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
Yes, I know there's a club Mintinet in a like
Ohio area.

Speaker 4 (58:43):
So yeah, that's right, I know that.

Speaker 1 (58:47):
All right, love it. It's good knowledge, it's good background. Well,
next question, where did volleyball originate? So we know it
was made by an a Mayormerican named William G. Morgan.
So where did he invent it? What state?

Speaker 3 (59:04):
Okay, Well, if it's okay, the club Internet is in
well technically like Indiana, Ohio.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
Hm, I'll give you a hint.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
It is not that it's not either.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
Okay, well, then Pennsylvania close, but no, Maryland.

Speaker 3 (59:22):
Close to New York.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
No, in Massachusetts.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Actually that was the birthplace of volleyball.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
What the heck?

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Yeah, he he invented it, because I think I can't
remember exactly what it was. I'm trying to remember this
book that I read, but it was something like he
was looking for a sport for the men who would
come home from work that they could like participate that
wasn't basketball. Because of basketball it was like too sweaty
for them, so they wanted something like that it was

(59:55):
a little easier. And so in the why they created
volleyball and and the rules were insane. I remember. It
was like I remember when you served, if it didn't
go over the net, your teammate could help it over
and that was legal. You played nine innings. It wasn't, yeah,
the nine ines. So sometimes the scores were like fifty

(01:00:17):
four to thirty or something like that. What the ten
foot line was a little different, but you were not
allowed to step in it. It was kind of like
the kitchen and pickleball, all these crazy rules. I feel
like maybe I should do like a video on how
insane the original.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Yeah wait, that's actually kind of cool. Also, the fact
that there's just like so many other sports thrown in
is fun.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Yeah right, it was fascinating, all right. Next question, when
did women's volleyball become part of the Olympics. So when
did it officially become an Olympic sport?

Speaker 6 (01:00:51):
Working back for it's gonna go way later. I was
gonna go like sixties, Hey, seven seventies, I.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
Like where your brain's at.

Speaker 3 (01:01:04):
I was going to guess seventy two only because of
title nine.

Speaker 4 (01:01:08):
I mean, I don't know the Olympic years back that far,
but somewhere in the seventies I would agree.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
So you were closer with the sixties. It was nineteen
sixty four. It yes, in Tokyo, nineteen sixty four.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
Yeah, because I was like, I was thinking, like, oh,
I remember being on the national team and having like
Matt having to know some of this stuff. But like
we talked about things like that. So sixty four sound yeah,
sound great?

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
That makes sense?

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
All right? And here's one that I think you guys
know what was? This is the last one. Also, what
was the most watched NCAA championship in women's volleyball?

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
This one, this past one between Texas and Nebraska.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
That is correct, averaging one point seven million viewers opposite
NFL Sunday, and it represents a one hundred and fifteen
percent increase from last year's championship matches viewership of seven
hundred and eighty six thousand. So well done, ladies. That

(01:02:14):
was really good.

Speaker 4 (01:02:15):
We learned something new.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
And before we say goodbye, I just want to really
quickly plug our social media superstars, Kaylas Stapleton, who played
volleyball at San Diego and professionally overseas for three years,
and Devin Newberry, who played beach volleyball for UCLA. They'll
be posting Volleyball one oh one on our social channels
at love That's at LOVB to help those who are

(01:02:38):
new to volleyball understand the rules, positions, and everything in between,
so make sure to follow so you don't miss out
on that. Well, ladies, thank you so much for being
part of Serving Pancakes, for talking about the Olympics, your backgrounds,
your lives, all of your bad assness, because you, ladies
are amazing, and thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
Thank you, thank you so much. This is awesome. It
was nice to get to know you both a little
bit more too.

Speaker 1 (01:03:08):
Serving Pancakes is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Production by League one Volleyball, I'm your host
Tiffany Oshinsky. Anya Alvarez is our senior producer. Our executive

(01:03:28):
producers are Carrie Stett, Tamaradike, and Lindsay Hoffman. Our marketing
lead is Jawara Parker. Sound mixing by Cody Nelson. Our
theme music is Pancakes by Eric W. Mast Junior. Stay
tuned for our next episode, where we break down team
uses first match in the quarterfinals. Thanks for listening,

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Sticking with the Game: Juliann Faucette and Emily Ehman | LOVB in Paris

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Sticking with the Game: Juliann Faucette and Emily Ehman | LOVB in Paris