#9 Stanford Hands #4 Hawai'i Their First Loss of the Season, Jordan Thompson Comes Up Big for LOVB Houston

In this episode of Volley Talk, we talk about the back to back NCAA men's series between #4 Hawai'i and #9 Stanford. Spoiler alert: they split the series, and Hawai'i lost its unbeaten record. We also take a look at the LOVB Texas Showdown between Houston and Austin.

Mary Wise announces her retirement from Florida after 34 years at the helm of the program, we take a look at the recent NCAA grads playing pro overseas, and Sarah & Adam play a game of Magic GM.

If you have questions for us or topics you would like us to explore, drop us a line on Instagram or email us at [e-mail]!

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YouTube: http://youtube.com/@SarahPavanVolleyball

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
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.

(00:09):
I'm your host Sarah Pavin. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball world champion, former Nebraska corn husker 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.
Another exciting volley week is in the books. I personally enjoyed watching the NCAA men's side of things this week because there were a lot of very exciting matches going on.

(00:39):
We had a lot of fun watching those. Things are also staying pretty steady in the love universe, but we are seeing some movement starting to happen on the PVF side of things.
We have got some overseas updates, a new game for you and a lot more to cover. So let's get started.

(01:12):
Carrying on with the NCAA women's news because you know they just can't stay away.
They refuse to give up the headlines.
We have another retirement this week following Coach Cook's announcement last week.
Mary Wise, the head coach of Florida, announced her retirement after 34 seasons with the program.

(01:32):
She was the longest tenured head coach in UF history.
That's amazing that she was there for so long.
It's wild. And that wasn't even her entire career.
I know.
She coached other places.
It's impressive.
Mary Wise totaled 1,068 career wins, making it the fourth most in NCAA Division I history.

(01:55):
And she is the winningest female head coach in Division I history, which is incredible.
Mary Wise led her teams to eight Final Fours, two national runner up appearances and 25 SEC titles.
There's a lot more. These are just the highlights.
Okay. And amazingly, this is a big accomplishment, I think.

(02:17):
Mary Wise made the NCAA tournament in each of her 34 seasons.
And Florida was not the program it was when she got there.
Okay. When she entered the program, they were coming off of a losing season.
She completely built that program.
So that might be the most impressive stat for me.

(02:37):
Just the consistency to run a program and to be in the hunt every year is an incredible accomplishment.
So we wish Mary Wise all the best.
I am sure she will hand off the Florida Gators program to good hands.
I personally haven't seen anything yet.

(02:58):
Maybe I missed it.
But another big chapter, another huge player in the NCAA volleyball world is calling it a campaign.
Do you think we're going to see her as a head coach of a pro team in Florida next year?
No.
She's done.
I think it's another spend time with the family and the grandkids situation.

(03:20):
It takes a lot of time.
On the NCAA men's side, we had several upsets this week.
Okay, it was a big heavy hitting week with big matchups.
But some of these upsets happened in matches I didn't expect.
For example, Harvard beat Penn State 3-0.
And that loss sent Penn State to be 0-7.

(03:43):
Bye bye to the season.
Not a great start.
But Penn State recovered and got their first win of the season by coming back and beating Harvard the next day.
3-1.
So Penn State is not getting baggled this season.
I was about to say, we'll consider that a win.
It's not a win.
No, absolutely not.

(04:04):
Especially for a program like that.
When we first watched them play and they lost, when they lost to UCLA,
you know, I thought they had a bunch of players sick.
They were traveling.
I expected much more out of them this season.
And I thought, you know what, you're not firing on all cylinders.
I'm going to give you a couple of weeks to get back on track.
But to be 0-7, I mean, your season is over.

(04:26):
You can't come in now unless they win their division tournament and they get a spot in the tournament.
That's the only way.
But that's, you can't start like that.
That's crazy.
That's rough.
Yeah.
LIU beat Princeton 3-1.
I wasn't even sure what LIU is.
Is it Long Island University?

(04:47):
Regardless, Princeton was a top 20 team and they got beat by LIU.
No good.
Long Beach State, this wasn't an upset, but it was just like a public interest type of thing.
Long Beach State beat UCLA 3-1.
We couldn't attend that match, but it looked packed.

(05:07):
I will be sitting down and watching that match as soon as we finish recording this.
Long Beach State, like you know what we think about UCLA.
They've got the potential, but like let's show up boys.
Okay.
And I understand Long Beach State is probably very good.
I still haven't seen them play, so don't hold that against me.
Stanford and Hawaii split their back to back.
Hawaii won the first match in five and Stanford came back to beat them in four.

(05:33):
So that was Hawaii's first loss of the season.
So now I think we're only down to four unbeatens.
We watched both of those games and we'll be talking about them here in a little bit.
Cal State Northridge upset Pepperdine 3-1.
So expect to see some movement in the rankings this week because there was a lot of shakeups.

(05:55):
Honestly, I am shocked that Penn State is still even in the top 20.
I think they should probably be off the pole now.
I would imagine they'll drop out of the standings this week.
They were 17th.
Like your 0-7 at that point is like a courtesy and a respect thing that people are even keeping you on the list.
Yeah, you're giving them the benefit of the dough that they're going to turn it around.

(06:16):
But and I mean no disrespect to Harvard, but you can't lose that game.
I mean, Harvard's not bad.
No, but they're not Penn State.
I think Princeton will drop off the list because they were like near the bottom of the top 20 and losing to LIU.
Like they probably won't be there anymore.
You'll see some movement with Pepperdine and CSUN, Stanford, Hawaii.

(06:39):
Like yeah, this will be a moving and shaking week in NCAA men's volleyball for sure.
Moving on to love the head-to-head match this week was a Texas showdown between Houston and Austin with Houston coming up with a 3-1 victory.
We're going to talk about that match in detail later on in the episode, but that was a good one to watch.
It was close.

(06:59):
It was entertaining.
If we look at the weekend matchups, Atlanta had a good weekend.
They beat Salt Lake 3-1 and Madison 3-0.
So they continue to cruise and they're playing really well.
Omaha had a barn burner with Salt Lake winning 3-2.
And so the current league standings after week five are Atlanta, Omaha, Houston, Salt Lake, Austin and a struggling Madison.

(07:28):
So the standings are the exact same as last week, but now Atlanta is pulling further ahead.
You've got to think that the Omaha fans are loving Madison being at the bottom of the standings.
We're just going to keep that rivalry going.
I'm sure they're not heartbroken about it.
And lastly, let's give you the PVF rundown for the week.
So last Sunday Orlando handed Omaha their first sweep ever.

(07:54):
So that was big news.
Omaha has generally been very strong in one league last year.
Atlanta did have a tough week.
They lost to Vegas in four and then they lost to Orlando in three straight and then to Omaha in four as well.
So they have plummeted in the rankings.
Yeah, not a not a great week for them.
But Orlando is playing well and sweeping teams left, right and center.

(08:19):
Columbus, I'm happy to report has finally won a match beating Grand Rapids in 3-2.
You never want to be the team.
You never want to be that team.
So Grand Rapids gives the team their first win of the season.
Yeah, not great.
So if we look at the top of the league, it's Vegas, Omaha and Orlando.
Omaha has more points than Vegas, but Vegas has a better record.

(08:41):
So for those of you who are unaware, there's a multi-point system with PVF.
So they track the wins and losses and that is what is showing up on the rankings page on the website.
But they also accumulate points based on the type of victory.
So if you win in three or four, you get three points.

(09:02):
If you win in five, you get two points.
And if you lose in five, you get one point.
So I'm actually unsure as to what the official ranking criteria are.
If it's just wins and losses or if it's points on the website, it's wins and losses.
But I'm trying to figure that if anyone knows, let me know.
But they do track kind of two of those important metrics in terms of wins and losses, but also types of wins.

(09:27):
I'm also confused because overseas the leagues use the points system
and it's the points that determine the league standings.
I'm personally a big fan of the point system.
I like to me winning in three or four should mean something rather than always going to five.

(09:47):
So that's my personal preference and I love that they're tracking it.
I'm just not sure if that's...
I'm like, is it like a tiebreaker thing?
Are you keeping track of the points as a tiebreaker because the way that you have laid out it is based on record
because Vegas is seven and two, Omaha is six and three.
But Omaha has got 18 points and Vegas has 17.
So if this is Europe, Omaha would be at the top.

(10:11):
I wonder if this is a fan education system because they don't do points like that in many pro leagues in America.
So who knows exactly who's in first place.
We don't know what the standard is.
It looks like the record is the standard, but I wish it would be points because I agree.
That is just like a more zoomed in breakdown of the season.

(10:32):
And like I think if you're winning in a dominant fashion, that should mean something.
Agreed.
Look at that.
Mostly volleyball this week.
As it should be.
One retirement announcement, no drama, easy peasy.
This is the way we like it.
Just spitting facts and results.
So hopefully you guys were able to watch some of those matches,
but we're about to dive into a couple right now.

(10:55):
All right, as we alluded to earlier, our first feature match of the week is Hawaii versus Stanford on the NCAA men's side.
We did actually watch both of these matches.
So we're going to give a full rundown of their head to head overall.
Okay, before we get into the match itself for all of you volleyball fans over there who are currently missing

(11:21):
that women's NCAA volleyball excitement, I want to encourage you to watch some of the men's matches.
You know, we've talked about our thoughts of the women's pro leagues that are going on and they're good to watch.
We've been enjoying that.
But for me personally, they've lacked that.

(11:41):
Firepower.
The firepower, the intensity, the excitement of the NCAA women's season that we thoroughly enjoyed.
And these men's matches have been delivering that for me.
So if you are feeling like you're missing your volleyball fix, watch some of these matches.
I promise you they will deliver that excitement of watching.

(12:03):
I was on the edge of my seat watching these games.
Well, they're completely different than the women's game.
Like when I'm watching women's volleyball, I hate to say it, but there are very few times when I'm just like, wow,
you know what I mean?
It's entertaining.
It's back and forth.
The rallies are long.
Like cool stuff is happening.

(12:24):
But when I'm watching the NCAA men's game multiple times a match, I am like, oh my gosh, that is insane.
Well, and I will be the first one to admit I'm not and have not been a huge fan of watching men's volleyball because you see a lot of errors.
It's very terminal.
It's not it's impressive to watch them physically, but it's not always entertaining.

(12:49):
But these matches that we have been watching, there have been rallies.
There have been lead changes.
People's faces getting taken off.
Yeah, we'll talk about that.
It's been exciting.
So if you are looking for something and the women's pro leagues are just not quite scratching that itch, check this out because fantastic.
So as Sarah mentioned, we're going to talk about the Hawaii Stanford back to back showdown that happened in Hawaii this week.

(13:16):
Now, I know not everybody is watching men's volleyball.
So let's give a general overview of the two teams and then we'll talk about the matches specifically.
What were your thoughts on Stanford start as a team as a team?
Their setter is no good.
I'm not a fan starting with the positive.
I like that.

(13:37):
I like that Sarah style.
It's called an open face sandwich effect.
Okay.
Most people do positive negative positive.
I just leave the top piece of bread off. Okay.
I'm not a huge fan of the setter.
I think Stanford is incredible at fixing bad sets.

(13:58):
They're very good at it.
Hence, they're out jousting and out tipping Hawaii.
Oh my gosh.
Badly in those two matches.
They don't run the middle much at all.
I would say their firepower comes from their left side, particularly one of them Teo snowy.

(14:18):
I really like their libero.
I think Stanford is a solid team.
I just don't think they have enough pieces to really make it to the top.
I would I would agree with all that to me.
Stanford is one of those teams where you know what you're going to get every time you play them.

(14:40):
They are consistent.
They put the same product on the floor.
They make good adjustments.
I will say defensively.
They're very scrappy.
I think their libero does a fantastic job of a digging balls and be being in the right place to get hit by balls.
Sometimes you have to yeah, and that's part of the men's game.
Balloon off the fight.

(15:02):
He is fearless and he gets in there and he makes plays and Stanford keeps balls alive and we'll talk about this in the match.
But Stanford makes you beat them.
Yeah, they're steady.
They're not the team that's necessarily going to go take the match from you, but they're going to be consistent and put a solid product on the floor.

(15:24):
And if you falter, they will still be steady and win.
And I think if I'm looking at that team, like you said about the setter, he does some good things.
But when he misses, he misses and it's unhittable.
And it happens more than it should.
I think if Stanford had a really good setter, that could be a difference maker.

(15:46):
Well, that's that was my question watching these matches.
I'm like, you're a great program.
I understand the program folded for a second.
So the recruiting was an issue, but you're telling me you cannot find a setter that can deliver a better ball than that.
So I think the setter, this is his first season seeing actual playing time.

(16:07):
So, you know, he might need a chance to settle in.
We'll see if he can kind of figure it out.
But for me watching them, other than having just a stud athlete, that was the biggest piece they were missing that I think could make a difference for them down the stretch.
OK, what about Hawaii?
Hawaii is just so fun to watch.
Now they have a very internationally inspired roster.

(16:30):
Their two left sides are both French players.
Their opposite, who is incredible, is Bulgarian and they have an Israeli middle.
So they're bringing in a lot of pieces.
A lot of them are young.
They're going to be very good for a long time.
They're young in their eligibility, but they're older compared to other freshmen, which a lot of them are freshmen or sophomores.

(16:56):
And it's insane.
And so that is a it's a good recipe for success on the men's side because those years make a difference.
And you've got a similar David situation from UCLA going on.
They're dynamic.
They're players.
They've they're big.
They jump.
They have a left side number 23.

(17:19):
This kid, he is just fun to watch.
He does everything.
He makes incredible digs.
He is absolutely dynamic front row back row.
I saw him apologize to more players in those two matches for blowing their faces off than I think I've seen all year in any league.
It was incredible.

(17:39):
They are fun to watch.
Not to mention their biggest player is their setter at 611.
What?
The setter is 611.
Okay, then we'll talk with them.
And their right side, they call him the Bulgarian boom, has a heavy arm and also fun to watch.

(18:00):
Defensive liability doesn't bend his knees, but man, he can hit the ball.
Okay, let's talk about these matches.
All right.
So let's start with Stanford.
And I want to highlight a few things here.
We talked about Stanford being a very consistent team on a read you a couple stats here.
So let's talk about Teo snowy.

(18:21):
And this is kind of the consistency part.
So he hit 349 in one match and 350 in the other match.
Right.
So almost identical.
He had 40 attempts in one 43 in the other and similar like 19 kills, five errors, 23 kills, eight errors.
He was the same in both matches and he is kind of their biggest point score.

(18:43):
I would say on the left side and then on the right side you have Moses Wagner who also was relatively consistent.
He hit 216 one night to 37 the next night 14 kills in both matches.
They're just incredibly consistent.
And I would say the same thing.
They played the same match in both.
They had chances to win.

(19:04):
The sets were all by two points.
They were in every match just couldn't close out the one and then found a way to make those plays down the stretch in the other.
What were your overall impressions of those two matches and what was the difference to you?
Honestly, I think the difference lies in Hawaii's performance.

(19:25):
I think the night that they won I wasn't ever questioning their decision-making.
I was they were playing hard.
It was good volleyball in the match that they lost.
I found that there was a bit of a lack of discipline in certain players decision-making and I think setting choices and execution at times really hurt them.

(19:53):
It's like as you said, Stanford played very consistent, but I think Hawaii took a dip.
They crushed Stanford and set one of that match and then lost the next three.
It was just poor choices.
I think I can get behind that.
They were actually statistically better in their loss than they were in their win.

(20:16):
Well, yeah, they crushed Stanford in the first set and I think that everybody stats got padded in that set.
And then the next three were very close.
I think every set was by two points or something correct.
So and that's the difference is when sets are that close.
It is the one or two bad choices the one or two plays that you lose focus or aren't mindful that makes the difference.

(20:43):
Yeah, and you can look at their mistakes to me were after 20 where they were undisciplined.
They had four net touches in that match to Stanford zero.
I believe at least three of them were down the stretch post 20.
There were stretches where they missed two serves at the end of matches and they just didn't give themselves a chance.

(21:06):
The center was set a completely unhittable wall.
Correct.
No, like the angle that they chose to set was just like as a hitter impossible.
So let's talk about Trey Rosenthal a little bit here.
So he's a 611 setter and anytime you hear about a setter being that big you're excited because they're not a liability when they're blocking.

(21:26):
They're going to be able to generate some points.
The biggest liability blocking for that team though.
I think in general you don't have that size mismatch and but what I want to highlight are some of the difficulties of setting when you're taller than your hitters.
So you can set a really flat ball and that increases your tempo because where you're contacting the ball as a setter and where your hitters are hitting that ball is on the same level generally on the same plane.

(21:56):
And that is really good for running your offense.
And I thought in the first match that they played he did a really good job of delivering those flat balls both to the middle and to the outside hitters.
Now, I thought they also passed better in the first game.
Tred was setting from good places.
He was balanced.
He was able to take the ball well and deliver what he wanted.

(22:20):
In the second game, Stanford did a better job of moving the passers around and playing with the depths of their serves.
We saw Tred setting balls from around the attack line.
Some of them he had to go to his knees and run around setting a bunch of balls in four and in position two.
And I thought that threw off his rhythm.
He wasn't able to get a square.

(22:41):
Some of the balls got tight.
Some of the distances weren't very, very good.
And that put his hitters in a tough position.
That was to me the biggest difference was the passing broke down and Tred wasn't able to fix some of those sets and put his hitters in the same position.
Well, I'm curious if you like as a hitter, you're a tall hitter as well.

(23:01):
You've played with a bunch of setters like does it.
Did you see the same thing?
Obviously, you could see the setter running around, but did I think that the passing was that much more terrible in the second match than the first?
I mean, I think we're saying the same thing.
Like the setting execution and decision making was not as good.
I think with Tred being as large as he is and needing to take the ball at that apex to run the offense as they want, they have to pass well.

(23:30):
And it's harder for him to fix those than let's say maybe a more a smaller, quicker, agile, more agile setter.
And Tred moves really well for being 6'11", but there are just realities to being that tall versus some smaller players.
I didn't think he fixed those balls as well as he needed to.
I am obsessed with Luis Sakonoko, though.

(23:52):
I think that he is the full package.
He generally passes well.
He plays quite good defense.
His attacking ability is incredible.
He sets well out of system.
I was so impressed with his complete game.
And while their opposite, Christian Tetriski, offensively is almost unstoppable.

(24:19):
The buck stops there.
Like he's a very, very typical opposite where it's like my job is to score points and then like you're lucky.
If I'll touch a ball on defense.
There was one play where Rosenthal was blocking.
He saw that the Stanford left side was going to use him.
He pulled his hands down.
So there was no touch and Tetriski.

(24:40):
That was the only ball that he dug was out of bounds and he dug it into the stands.
So not only are you not digging, but on smart plays by your setter, you're costing your team points.
So, yeah, Sakonoko full package, Tetriski point score to the max.
The way that they serve, they are going for it.

(25:01):
Like they're tossing this ball almost to the 10 foot line.
Okay.
And the way they've dialed in their approach every time I'm like, did they step on the line?
I was like, no.
I think on paper, Hawaii is a much better team, a much more skilled team.
They have those dominant pieces that are missing from the Stanford side.

(25:25):
It's just they didn't show up in the same way and their consistency faltered a little bit where Stanford stayed.
Despite having to save almost every single ball that that setter set.
Well, but I do think you have to give Stanford a little bit of credit.
So here are the things that I thought they did better in the second match than in the first one.

(25:49):
I think their serving location was better.
I thought overall Stanford made better adjustments.
So change their serving technique.
They did get some worse passing out of Hawaii.
I thought their defensive adjustments, they had the same number of digs in their win versus their loss and they played one more set.
I thought they were able to extend more rallies in those situations.

(26:12):
And I think it was a bit of game plan in that regard.
They managed to neutralize the second left side for Hawaii.
And while that wasn't only his fault, I think it was part of the plan in terms of where they were serving and what they were trying to do.
And I also think that the setter did a better job of running more middle in that second match than he did.

(26:36):
It still wasn't a ton, but he managed to get Carrera a few balls and he ended up being very efficient.
He had 10 sets overall, but he had seven kills, no errors.
So it was a little.
I don't think I've seen that wainwright at all.
I don't think I've seen that guy hit a ball.
Well, he would have watched multiple Stanford matches.
Yeah, fair.

(26:56):
I mean, he got nine sets, four kills.
He's not particularly offensive, but they did get the other middle some touches and it created a few more seams and a little more one on one or one on one and a half situations for their outside hitters.
So I did like the adjustments that Stanford made from the second match to the first match.
So to sum this up, let's look at kind of position by position who you think won those battles.

(27:23):
So I think you're a fan of the Hawaii setter over the.
I wouldn't say a fan, but compared to the Stanford setter.
Yes.
Who do you think won the middle battle?
Stanford in the first match had 16 block assists to Hawaii's five and four solo blocks to Hawaii's two and in the second match, Stanford had 13 block assists to Hawaii's 14 and one solo to Hawaii's three.

(27:53):
So Hawaii actually blocked much better in the match that they lost in the match that they won.
Well, the commentators were saying the same thing in the first match.
They were shocked that Hawaii hadn't been getting blocks early because they usually do.
I think both teams kind of have one middle that they use more than the other.
I think Neusterer for Hawaii, he kind of brings everything to the court.

(28:19):
Like he scores, he puts up a decent block, he serves well.
Carrera, same thing.
He's steady.
He is obviously used more in a blocking sense.
But and then there's the other Hazan for Hawaii and Wainwright for Stanford who are more blocking middles and Hazan is quite a bit smaller than Rosenthal.

(28:42):
So the connection there is kind of missing.
He's almost setting down to him.
Yeah, Rosenthal is setting it down and he misses a lot.
Like the mismatch in height there is just really tough.
So they don't really set him all that often.
But I would say the middle battle was I would give it a slight edge to Hawaii.
I think Neusterer pushed it over the edge for me.

(29:05):
Fair enough.
I thought the Stanford libero was better than the Hawaii libero.
Is he okay?
Oh, I don't think I've ever seen somebody get hit in the face as hard as this guy did.
Okay, here's a little context.
Obviously, you guys can't see this.
I'm sure there's a highlight reel somewhere.
But we had Sakunoko coming out of the back row right over top of a middle run,

(29:29):
which both players committed on and the libero for Stanford took it straight in the face.
No hands, no nothing.
I think Sakunoko may have landed on the other side underneath the net when he landed from that attack.
It happened so fast.
It was wild.
I think I almost passed away.

(29:51):
I felt that impact from my couch.
Wow.
And to his credit, he got up.
Didn't even touch it.
Didn't even touch his face.
There was a mandatory quick little check on him and he was back out and made a dig right after that.
Like that to me was impressive to watch.
So I liked him.

(30:12):
Just let everybody else know Sakunoko also took out Moses Wagner in the first match and Tred Rosenthal took one so hard in the beak.
Oh, he had to cover his face with his jersey during the rally.
Like the number of bombs that these guys took to the face.
There was some head hunting going on.
Wow.
Wow.
It was crazy.

(30:33):
Of the teams that I've watched so far, I really, really enjoy watching Hawaii.
I think like I said, the team as a whole has so much potential.
They're a full package.
They have personality.
They are skilled, they're athletic, dynamic, like they make digs, you know, except for Tetris game.

(30:53):
Just kidding.
But like they are playing full well-rounded volleyball and they're really, really fun to watch.
So hopefully this is a wake-up call for them and they're able to bounce back.
Stanford, like I wouldn't say they're a fun team to watch.
They're steady.
They execute well.

(31:14):
You know, they're methodical in what they do.
And they make teams pay attention and execute their game plan because they're that team that like will sneak up on you
and then the game's over before you notice.
So I'm curious to see how this progresses.
But that back-to-back series was so fun.

(31:36):
Outstanding.
Our second feature match of the week is Love Houston versus Austin.
What is your take?
I thought the volleyball was really competitive.
It was an entertaining game, very close.
We had the first set was 33-31, I think.
The second set was also incredibly close.

(31:56):
So it was definitely entertaining.
We saw a right side battle, I think, between Maddy Skinner and Jordan Thompson.
So that was interesting to watch and, you know, a storyline in terms of current Olympic opposite
and maybe a future Olympic opposite.
So there were some storylines to watch and I thought the volleyball was pretty good.

(32:18):
We saw leads being blown.
Correct.
In every single set, it seemed, except set four.
Like teams would be a big and then poof, the lead is gone.
Well, it was interesting.
You had, I think Maddy Skinner had 10 or 11 points, maybe 10 kills in one service or block point in set one.

(32:39):
And they ended up losing that set, which to me was crazy.
I mean, Jordan Thompson played well on that first set as well, but Maddy Skinner was untouchable.
I mean, 10 points in a set.
Granted, it was like a set and a half because it was like 33-31.
But I felt like she scored most of her points at the beginning of that set because towards the end,
like when we were in overtime, she wasn't that effective.

(33:02):
She had a, I think she got blocked.
She had a hitting error.
She was dug twice and she scored once.
Like if you have a player who scores that many points in one set, you need to capitalize on those performances.
Like what is the rest of the team doing?
Yeah, it was.
If one person is scoring a third of the points, like you guys, let's just get a couple more each.
I thought in general, the setting for Austin was lacking, for a better word.

(33:29):
When I was thinking about what I thought the difference makers were,
I think it was honestly the setting in the right side.
I think that those were the pieces that kind of pushed Houston over the edge.
I think the left side battle was pretty evenly matched.
I don't really think the left sides for either team did much.

(33:50):
Logan Eggleston came in and did a very good job.
I will give her that.
Correct.
But until that sub was made, the left sides for both teams, I was like, man, this is a struggle.
And the middle is kind of the same thing.
You're not seeing a ton of production.
And I'm like, why is Austin not setting Ugg Bogumore?

(34:10):
That's a head scratcher.
But we've talked about this with Austin kind of all season long,
is that they haven't found a starting lineup that has stuck for them.
They always seem to be rotating players in and out.
We saw the setter switch from the first set to the second set with Carly Lloyd coming in.

(34:31):
They would do the double sub and then not take it out and leave it.
It just feels like they...
Someone also mentioned Hardman was playing, and I think it was only her the second match that she ever played.
And it's like, where is this coming from?
Yeah, they haven't...
They're clearly scrambling to find something that works.
And then in the middle of the match, taking out Molly McCage, putting in Asia O'Neil,

(34:53):
they are just in and out trying to figure something out.
Like the only consistent player is Zoe Jarvis.
Well, and yeah, fair.
Maddie Skinner was on the bench for a set and a half almost.
True.
You said consistent player in terms of them being on the court.
And I just...
You would think after five weeks, you would have either figured out who needs to play

(35:18):
or built in some consistency towards having six players on the court.
Because they should be, in my opinion, with the roster that they have, winning more matches than they are.
I...
I mean, I say this all the time.
I thought Madison would be good.
I thought Austin would be near the top too.
Like I thought their potential was definitely there.

(35:38):
But you have Jarvis who's passing pretty well.
Eggleston, I know she's working on her passing.
She's a traditional P1.
She's your point scoring left side.
But you have a decent passing left side in Hawk, in Janari, who can be that other piece.
It's like why are you putting in Hardman?

(36:01):
Like why are you...
Well, Hawk...
Just the... Hawk's offensive ability was not...
She wasn't there this match, I thought.
She definitely wasn't.
But like if you're passing well enough, you can run your middle more.
You can run your right side comfortably.
You can create seams.
You can do this thing.
Like you don't have to be a left side that is scoring a ton of points.

(36:26):
That's not every left side's role.
Well, but she struggled to pass too.
They picked on her and she was only passing in system balls 16.7% of the time.
You need a left side on the court who can deliver some passes because right now your
only one person who's doing that is your libero.
Well, and then I see that as it's a two-fold problem, right?

(36:48):
So if your passing is not amazing, your setters need to be able to fix those balls and put
your hitters in good positions.
But they are struggling to pass consistently and their setters have not found a rhythm
yet.
Carly Lloyd is... still looks like she's trying to find her footing.
Well, Tora started.

(37:09):
And I didn't think she was very good.
Like there's just too much in and out.
They've got to find some consistency because they have the pieces to be good.
And like you said, they need to find a Baugu more.
She needs to be a bigger offensive threat.
She is great at the net.
She's getting blocks.
She's affecting the game that way, but you need her to be a centerpiece of what you're

(37:31):
trying to do.
And either you're passing your setting needs to be better.
Honestly, watching that match, I'm like, how did Houston win?
Because like Merzik was very quiet.
Average.
She hit 0-70 on the match.
She just like was having issues.
Richel, same thing.
From the eye test watching, I'm like, is she doing anything?
Like she passes, she was digging some balls, but like from a point scoring perspective,

(37:55):
I was like, eh.
That's interesting that you say that because she had 19 points and hit 316.
Fabulous.
Excellent.
But that's her role as a left side.
She's not super dynamic.
She's not flashy.
She moves the ball around and makes plays.
She's one of those players that if you don't really notice her, she's doing her job.

(38:16):
And so she quietly was their second best attacker.
And if you're going to win consistently against good teams, that probably can't be the case.
Well Merzik needed to be better.
Well they won.
But still, like the standard that she has set for herself for her capability, she was
far under that, I would say.

(38:38):
Jordan Thompson, however, she's been very up and down.
And I think that she played well this match.
She was the reason that they won.
So she went head to head with Skinner in the first set and then down the stretch in overtime,
she scored points.
She was the difference maker in that, in my opinion.

(38:58):
And I also thought that Micah Hancock had a really good game.
I liked her offense.
She was serving well.
I think her decisions to attack the ball were good.
I really, really liked her in that match.
And here's a big difference.
I know we've gotten a ton of questions.
Jordan Thompson versus Madison Skinner, blah, blah, blah.

(39:18):
Here's the difference that I noticed between those two players in this particular match.
Jordan Thompson was going up and hitting angles.
Sharp cross, high seam, down the line, deep corner.
Madison Skinner was hitting straight.
And that is not going to cut it as an opposite, as any, as any hitter.

(39:42):
Okay?
Because you get to a higher and higher level, hitting straight is not going to do it.
So that was the difference for me is Jordan Thompson was finding angles.
Madison Skinner got lucky because she got some broken blocks.
She got some seams sometimes.
She had to like throw the ball around to fix tight sets, whatever.

(40:03):
But that was my takeaway watching the two of them.
Well, and let's talk about, because we get lots of questions about US national team,
about internationally, and this is the progression for athletes as they move kind of from one
phase of their career to the other.
So in college, Maddie Skinner is just physically dominant compared to the players that she's

(40:24):
playing.
She can just go up, jump high, swing hard and deep, which she does really well and score.
And she is still seeing that success at the love level.
And you have better athletes, bigger athletes, but you don't have international caliber national
team athletes.
And so we're, and we're going to address this question later, but that is going to be one

(40:48):
of the things she's going to have to learn how to do if she wants to compete with, let's
say a Jordan Thompson for a national team spot is find some angles, find some consistency
and be able to move the ball around.
I also think for Houston to continue to become a dominant team, they also need to run the
middle more.
Also, yes.

(41:09):
I mean, I know that's something that we talk about a lot.
If we, that is the one consistent thing we say every episode, run the middle more.
You know, in fairness, it looks like Micah Hancock and Amber Ajid's connection is getting
better.
She had 13 points, but she's only getting like 14 attempts.

(41:30):
She hit 500.
Like, there's no reason to not be able to get her the ball a little more often.
And I actually thought that for the most part, Houston passed pretty well because you had
like their libero and a Pogany.
She's passing a lot of the court and she's doing a great job.
She played better than I have seen her play in the past.

(41:51):
I thought that she had a good game.
Yeah, I would agree.
And I think that Jess Mirzik wasn't great offensively, but she almost passed.
Like, she's at 36% in system passes, which, you know, it's not amazing, but it's getting
better.
You can tell she's focused on that part of her game and that's only going to help.

(42:13):
I thought Houston missed a ton of serves though, like in the middle of the net.
Yeah, I agree.
They did miss a lot of serves.
But again, when you have their setters struggling and their passers struggling, you just stay
aggressive and you're going to turn points and you're going to get chances.
There were definite issues on both sides.
The games were very tight, very back and forth.

(42:35):
Do I love seeing a big lead blown?
Absolutely not.
But in a tight match like that and looking at the difference makers, I do think that
the, like we said, the things that pushed Houston over the edge were their setting ability
and Jordan Thompson.
Well, you think about after 20, what are the most important things?

(42:56):
It's decision making and it's execution.
And when you have Micah Hancock touching the ball every second contact and making good
decisions and putting hitters in positive situations and then Jordan Thompson executing
on top of that, she just knows where to put the ball.
And they're, like you said, better decisions down the stretch, especially when it was close.

(43:17):
Okay, I have a question for you actually.
Okay, so we know how the Austin team keeps pushing this narrative of the lovehorns because
so many of them played at Texas and during timeouts, you could actually see them putting
their hands in the middle like this.
Do you think that that is a factor in their lack of success?

(43:42):
Oh, that's a great question.
To me, they're missing cohesiveness and identity.
And I think that things like that can definitely play a role.
That was my instinct too.
Because I know you're in Texas.
I know you all went to Texas, but you have more players on your team than just that.

(44:06):
And it becomes, it's hard to enter into an environment like that where you know you're
an outsider.
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the personalities on the team, but you're
always, like you don't identify as a Longhorn.
You've got more than half the team who is just playing along for a narrative.
And the coaching staff, it doesn't, there's no connection.

(44:29):
Yeah.
Well, not to mention this isn't college anymore.
This is professional volleyball.
You can definitely be proud of where you went to school and that can always kind of be a
part of your pride and your identity, but to bring that into a professional environment,
I think is like holding you back a little bit.

(44:49):
Well, and you can't control the narratives that happen outside of your team, but you
can control what happens inside of your team.
And for that to be, when it's such an interesting dynamic, because love in general doesn't create
like team cohesiveness, your love, Austin.

(45:11):
And so, you know, maybe it's a way of trying to create some team unity, like the thought
process around that is their own, but you're in using the Longhorns because so many of
them went to Texas.
It could possibly be creating even unknowingly a rift or...
Well, I'm just like, if you go overseas and you are talking about like, yeah, I am a Texas

(45:32):
Longhorn, people will be like, who cares?
You know what I mean?
It's like, we're here to play volleyball and we're here to win, like, congratulations,
but like, come on.
And let's be honest, we're not talking about this if they're winning, but the fact that
they haven't found a consistent roster and they seem to lack cohesiveness, maybe.
It's an interesting, I hadn't thought about that, but it's an interesting question.

(45:54):
Well, I just noticed it at one of the timeouts that like a few of them were putting the horns
into the middle and I'm like, you've got to be kidding me right now.
Like, come on, no.
I as well see how it plays out.
Overall, I thought this was an incredibly entertaining match.
I always love a good overtime.
You have players feeling the pressure, decision making.

(46:17):
I think it shows what teams are made of.
It was Houston coming up on two of those matches that were very tight with, again, good setting
and a good right side hitter, I think.
Overall, I was entertained.
I enjoyed the volleyball.
I thought it was a good high level match.
All right.
So we are coming up on not quite the halfway point for the love season.

(46:39):
I think it's 16 weeks and we've completed five, but they are heading into their mid
season tournament.
And so I was thinking today we are going to play Magic GM.
So if you were the GM for all of these teams and we'll go through them, you're out trying
to make your team better, you need to pick the position.

(47:03):
We're not going to say the player, but that you would address at, let's call it the trade
deadline for love.
So I'm going to give you a team and I will do this as well.
You tell me what position would be your highest concern that you would want to address to
finish the season.
So I just pick one position.
Pick one position.
Okay.

(47:23):
So we're going to start from the top of the league in love and we're going to go to the
bottom.
So we're going to do love this week and then either next week or the week after we will
do the same thing for PVF.
PVF season's a little bit longer and they have a few more teams.
So I want to see a few more matches from all the teams before we do this.
So that's why we're choosing one over the other.

(47:44):
But let's get started with this.
Let's start with Atlanta.
They're at the top of the league as the Atlanta GM.
What are you looking to do?
Oh gosh, it's been a while since I've seen Atlanta play.
Hmm.
They're doing well though.
If a team's doing well, should you just like leave it be?
You're the GM.
You can make any decision you want.

(48:05):
I mean they're cruising.
I wouldn't touch it.
I had the exact same instinct.
I am sitting back.
I'm watching matches from the suite.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I've got a couple beers sitting beside me and I am just enjoying watching my team play
well.
I wouldn't mess with the chemistry.
I wouldn't change anything.
I think they're cruising.

(48:26):
Let's go to Omaha in number two in the league.
What are you looking at for them?
I like Omaha's chemistry.
I think they're doing pretty well.
If I had to think of positions that could use work, it would be maybe one of the outsides

(48:47):
or the setter.
I would switch up an outside.
I had the same instinct.
I think if you look at Omaha's metrics as a team, they are winning.
I think a lot of that has to do with the experience that they have on their roster and they're
able to sort out situations.

(49:08):
Long term, I think they need a go-to hitter.
They need somebody to score points for them.
Whether that's on the left side, whether that's on the right side.
They have Dravignac who scores on the right side.
She's not really at the top of the league on inconsistent...
I'm not going to lie.
When I was saying outside, the player I was thinking was Winters.

(49:31):
I know people love her.
I'm not a fan.
If you're going to be that inconsistent with your ball control, you better be scoring a
ton of points.
You're thinking a Sarah Franklin or a Jess Merzick level of point production.
Yeah.
I think she has a great ball control from Jordan as the second outside.

(49:51):
Jordan's finding ways to score, but I think a big time left side point score.
I think that's fair.
I think that that's going to be... If they run into trouble down the stretch, it's going
to be because they can't generate enough points that way.
All right.
What do you think about Houston?
I would probably pick up a LeBaro.

(50:15):
Oh, interesting.
Pagani, I know I said she played well in the Austin match, but generally speaking, I haven't
loved her defensive ability.
She hasn't been picking up... If I'm looking at Kojima or Juan Orantes as the standard,
she's just not there.
She's not digging nearly enough balls in my opinion.

(50:38):
I think Houston has the pieces, but I would make a switch at that position.
I'd pick up a second middle.
I'd want to be a little more of a threat.
I think they've got one great middle, and that's where I would go with their team.
Moving on to Salt Lake.
What are you thinking?

(51:00):
If I was Salt Lake, I would get a second left side.
I know what you're going to say in the middle.
I think they have the pieces for the middle.
I don't necessarily agree with who they're playing in the middle.
That position that's on rotation with Danny Drews, and then they're bringing in all these
people, that is the position that I think is their Achilles heel.

(51:22):
You are right.
I am leaning to a middle.
They have not found consistent production or rotations with their middles.
I think they have a good outside core.
I think they have the ability to weaponize the middle with Jordan Poulter.
I think they could.
I know you are not a Torrie Dixon fan, but they have Serena Gray.

(51:45):
I think that Serena Gray was doing pretty well when she was getting set the ball, but
then they just aren't playing her, and they're favoring Dixon over her.
That's why I said I think they have the pieces.
I just don't agree with how they're using the pieces.
How they use the pieces is the coach's job.
As a GM, I'm looking at the middle of the court, and I'm saying we need to be stronger

(52:06):
here.
That's what I'm looking for.
I think down to the bottom of the barrel here in terms of the love teams, we just watched
them play, so I think I know what you're going to say.
But if you're the Austin GM, what are you looking at?
A setter.
A setter.
Yeah.
Hands down.
I think you have a great roster.
In my opinion, you are underperforming.

(52:28):
A really good setter changes the game for you.
Are there any Texas Longhorns setters out there who want to join the team?
Torres.
They've got one.
Maybe another one.
All right.
And, you know, with Atlanta, we chose to do nothing.
With Madison, I'm going to limit you to one choice, but what are you doing if you're the

(52:50):
Madison GM at this point?
Right off the top of my head, I'm like switch your middle or your right side, but I'm going
to do middle.
I'm leaning to opposite, personally.
Thomas I.
Lara was doing okay.
Annie Schumacher is the disappointment for me.
Like you have that experience, like I expect more.

(53:12):
But the middles.
Either just do something.
Yeah, fair enough.
But I think I think stacked up against the other teams opposite is where is where they
fall the most short, in my opinion.
All right.
Well, that was a quick game today.
Just a little snippy snappy.

(53:32):
Yeah.
And I think it's good in terms of looking at the teams, you know, they're a decent way
through the season.
We've seen a whole bunch of matches.
They're coming into their midseason tournament.
I think at this point you have a good feel for where the teams are, what they've been
trying to do, what they've been able to accomplish.
And I don't know if there's any movement during the season.

(53:52):
I don't know if they'll trade any players because it's not a team thing.
It's a league thing.
But that's what I would be looking at.
Those are the areas of improvement I think are needed across the board.
I've been loving the feedback I've been getting for some of the different games that we've
been playing.
I know the one last week in terms of level of concern was a seem to be a big hit.
So if you like the Magic GM, let us know if you have other ideas for what we should do

(54:17):
when we attack PDF in kind of this manner in terms of roster construction.
Let us know.
I'm always open for for new ideas.
It is time for listener questions.
Our first question is multifaceted.
So I'm going to read the whole thing and then add them.
I put them to work again to do some research.

(54:40):
So the question was, and we got this question from a ton of people.
So thank you very much.
Can you tell us how the recent NCAA grads are doing with their overseas pro teams?
And then I got an email with some more specifics.
What calibers of player went to Europe versus love and PDF?
What might going to Europe mean to their careers versus those who stayed in the States?

(55:05):
And how is the caliber of the European teams they went to compared to love and the PDF?
Lots of information to dive into there.
So let's start with this.
I took a list and shout out to the avid volley Instagram feed.

(55:25):
I pulled some of the information and some of the contracts from there.
So they do an amazing job.
If you're looking for Instagram updates, I would follow them.
Thanks guys.
Really appreciate it.
But I went and looked at a bunch of the different players who we kind of recognized from this
year's NCAA season.
And I'll break down what teams they went to, what place those teams are in.

(55:47):
And then maybe you can speak to the caliber of the league of those ones.
So first, let's stay close to home.
We'll look at the Puerto Rican league.
So we had three players go there.
Jalen Hodge from Arizona and she joined Valencianas.
They are in last place in Puerto Rico.

(56:08):
Now let me tell you, the Puerto Rican league website is not the easiest to navigate.
So I was...
And Adam doesn't speak Spanish.
Do they have a translate feature?
No, they don't.
So the team is in last place.
However, she is playing and I looked at some of the stats from the last three matches and
she's playing and she looks like she's one of their leading point scorers.

(56:28):
So she is on her way.
She is making a difference and we'll see where that team ends up.
Also playing in Puerto Rico is Emma Grome from Kentucky.
I'm going to apologize ahead of time because I'm going to butcher all of these team names,
but she's playing for...
Cangas de Naranjito.

(56:50):
Thank you.
Sarah's going to do the pronunciations because she speaks four languages and I don't only
speak one.
Spanish isn't one of them though.
Yeah, but it's better than my Spanish.
So she is also, again, like I said, in Puerto Rico, that team is three of six.
She looks like she's setting all of those matches.
She's playing right when she got there.
So again, also making a difference.

(57:11):
And finally, Savannah Coleheed from Arizona State playing for...
Manz de Guayanaba.
There you go.
They are five of six in league standings.
But again, she is also playing every match and one of the top point getters.
So all three of those players, while they're not playing for the best teams in Puerto Rico,

(57:33):
are starting every match and contributing in a meaningful way.
For reference, Puerto Rico, not a great league if you're looking on the world scale.
I mean, the level's not great.
I would say that it is historically, it's been very typical for American college players

(57:53):
who graduate to spend the winter and spring there.
But it is a very comfortable place to get a start.
And there's only six teams.
The level is definitely, I would say, is probably closer to PBF than Love.
And am I expecting these careers to skyrocket after playing in Puerto Rico?

(58:19):
Not usually.
Let's move on to Italy.
So I found two players who went to Italian A1 leagues and then another player who was
in A2.
And these are people that we have talked about extensively on the podcast.
There are more, but we, Adam chose to narrow his focus to players that we've talked about.

(58:39):
So I had lots of questions about her specifically, but what is Anna Smirak doing from Wisconsin?
Adam really struggles with her name, you guys.
So she actually went to Vero Vali in Milano.
They are in second place in the Italian league.
I believe she's been there for six matches.

(59:01):
She's gotten into two of those matches.
She scored seven points, but it's a front court for three rotation type situation that
she finds herself in.
So she's not seeing a ton of playing time.
And I would have been knocked out on the floor if she did see extensive playing time because
she's playing behind one of the best players in the world in Paola Egonu.

(59:25):
Vero Vali is loaded with Italian national team players, outstanding.
They keep advancing in Champions League.
So very good.
I think it's a really good situation for her.
She has a chance to see what players at the highest level look like, train like, what's
their ball control like.

(59:46):
All of those things will benefit her if she wants to make a career internationally.
This will be a good barometer for her.
This is by far the best team that anybody this year went to.
To be quite honest, I feel like given Anna Smreks skill set, that will be her role for

(01:00:08):
any team she plays for.
Anna Smreks not necessarily fast enough to be a middle.
She's not dynamic enough to be a right side.
And the reason I say that is because in international rules, the right sides need to play all the
way around.
The girl struggles to pass a free ball.
So you're not going to see her playing defense against top players.

(01:00:31):
You won't see her hitting out of system balls or hitting out of the back row or serving.
Her skill set is so particular and so limited that no matter what team she goes to, I feel
like her role will always be come in with the double sub, go across the front row one
time to block.

(01:00:52):
Well, and that's, again, a little bit of a byproduct of the American system with the
subs and the DSs.
So she hasn't had a chance to do those things.
And again, this is here's what the expectation is.
You're playing behind one of the best in the world.
This is what she does in all facets of the game.
Can you get there?
If she doesn't get better playing with this team, then she's just not going to cut it

(01:01:13):
because like that environment is the environment where you sink or swim.
And yeah, it's the best place for her to be if she wants to keep playing.
We also have Argentina from Arizona State playing at Savino del Bene Scandici and very
good team.
They are third in the Italian League.

(01:01:35):
Very good.
I have not seen her play at all at this point.
I mean, the top Italian teams that bring players in at the transfer window, they're not looking
to bring people in to necessarily play.
They're looking to bring people in to be on their B side because the good teams are loaded.

(01:01:57):
So I was actually really shocked that she signed with this team, but she is for sure
like the B side setter.
Well, and again, if you have big aspirations in the sport and you want to see like how
good can I be, you go to these teams and you're on the bench.
You're in amazing training environments every day.

(01:02:18):
This is how you figure out how good can I be.
So good for her.
And then finally, Michael Vernon from ZOO is in A2 Italy.
They're in third place out of 10 of the teams in that league.
She is getting playing time.
She's played about four matches.
She's had about 60 swings.
Her numbers are decent.

(01:02:39):
So she is making an impact in A2 Italy.
Honestly, I think A2 is a good place for Michael Vernon.
I think that's a good level for her.
I would say that A2 might be similar to love, slightly better.
So I think that that is a really good spot for Michael Vernon to land.

(01:03:02):
And I think that it can help her develop her game for sure.
OK, let's move on to a couple athletes who are having great seasons overseas.
So first we have Reagan Rutherford from Texas, obviously.
She is playing in France for?
Moll House, Alsace.

(01:03:23):
So they are currently five out of 15 teams in that league.
She is playing.
She is doing really well.
She was player of the match this week.
It looks like she has landed on her feet.
She is contributing in the league to her team and playing really well.
So great for her.
Yeah, I would say the French league is probably in between the PVF and love levels.

(01:03:50):
It's not the strongest league, but I think having a good season in France could be a
good springboard for her to go to maybe A2 Italy or maybe to Poland, a slightly better
league.
Do I think Rutherford is an A1 caliber player?
No.

(01:04:10):
But I think that this was a good move for her career because even though the level isn't
crazy high, I think getting that exposure in Europe can help her get a better contract
later.
There's lots of players who do that in the French league because France is a volleyball
country.
They understand the game.
You get good training.
They just don't have the money that some of the other leagues have, but it's a very professional

(01:04:33):
environment.
So good for her.
Julia Orzel from Wisconsin obviously went to Poland.
No shock there being Polish.
I'm for Chemek Policja.
Yeah, so they are right in the middle of the league.
There are six out of the 12 teams that compete there.
She is also playing right away, starting for them, also player of the match this week.

(01:04:58):
Her stats look good.
She is continuing to perform and play at a high level.
She will make a difference for them for sure.
And I feel like she could be a Poland league lifer.
In the European leagues, there are foreigner limits.
And so being a Polish national, she will be free to play there without restrictions forever.

(01:05:21):
I think that's great.
The Polish league is not the top, but it's pretty good.
And I think this is great for her.
I think she's exceeding my expectations for sure.
I've got two more on the list that we will highlight who had notable NCAA careers.

(01:05:42):
Melanie Schaffmaster from Minnesota is playing at AON Amazons in Greece.
That team is 12th out of 12 in the Greek league.
They're not doing so hot, but she is playing and starting for that team, not surprisingly.
I haven't seen them play, so I'm not sure what the caliber of players around her are,

(01:06:05):
but the team's not doing very well.
The Greek league is not great.
I would say it's definitely lower than France.
I mean, the listeners know my feelings on Schaffmaster.
I feel like that's where she fits.
And finally, Sofia Maldonado-Diaz from Louisville took a contract in Colombia.

(01:06:27):
I did a little research on this.
There wasn't much to find, but I think they just launched their league.
I saw a notification on the FIBB website about that.
I couldn't find a website.
I couldn't find many stats or any stats.
So I'm not sure what's going on there, but that's where she's playing.

(01:06:51):
And unfortunately, if anybody else has found where that league is or knows anything about
it, please let us know.
So I think the top NCAA players that graduated went to love.
I would say that the players who went to Europe are probably the middle tier, and then the
PVF players are probably lower.
Would you agree with that?

(01:07:12):
Yeah, and I think part of it is probably also where you want to go.
Are you comfortable going overseas?
So there will be some overlap in that.
And contract wise, some of the contracts for the lower positions in the European league
won't be making as much money as they would be either at PVF or love.
So a few factors there, but I think in general, that's accurate.

(01:07:34):
There's definitely some give and take.
I mean, I think going to Europe is more, especially as a young athlete, if you are coming halfway
through the season, they might not be making as much as they would have in PVF this season.
But I think the potential if they perform well is definitely higher.
So I am a fan of going to Europe.
I'm a huge advocate for it.

(01:07:55):
It's really cool to see some of these young athletes getting playing time and getting
that experience and having success.
So hopefully that answers everybody's question.
Second question, somebody sent in a hypothetical and I would love your take.
Hypothetical USA national team 2028 scenario.

(01:08:16):
Oh, Kennedy Martin and Olivia Babcock are the right sides.
Maddie Skinner moves to the left side with Merzik and Franklin and Plummer.
How do you think that will go?
Oh, there are so many question marks there.
I mean, it's, I definitely see passing.
Well, yes, my question.

(01:08:37):
So I definitely see the thought process behind a team like this.
I'm going to go from a philosophy standpoint first and then I can talk about some of those
players.
So typically the US focuses on ball control and running a very quick off.
We went over this last week.
If you missed that question, go check it out.

(01:08:59):
I don't think that any of those left sides and in fairness, I haven't seen Plummer pass
in Turkey so far.
So she's been having a good I know she's having a good season, but what is that ball control
like?
So if you're going with two of Maddie Skinner, Merzik, Franklin and Plummer, the potential
for your passing to go sideways in their current state as athletes, that would be my biggest

(01:09:26):
concern.
Well, my question is like, where's Avery Skinner?
Right.
So you're not going to you're not going to see Skinner, Merzik and Franklin on the same
roster for the Olympics in the same position.
Fair enough.
I think it's more likely that you're going to see one of Maddie Skinner, Merzik, Franklin
and Plummer.

(01:09:46):
And I would imagine that that conversation has been had already internally at USAV.
And you know, as you're creating your depth chart, we're still three years out from the
Olympics.
Don't forget, lots can happen in those regards.
I would give Plummer the edge there just because I think playing overseas gives you that experience.

(01:10:08):
She's big, she's dynamic, she is solid all the way around, and she's had more experience.
Does that mean injury, you know, the other three coming on?
Anything could happen.
But I would give Plummer the edge there.
Kennedy Martin and Olivia Babcock on the right side is really interesting.
They are the most traditional right sides we've seen for a while.

(01:10:31):
And this is a position that the US has, in my opinion, been the furthest behind the other
top international teams.
So I think this is a real possibility.
I think Babcock has the edge in my mind versus Kennedy Martin at this point.
I read some comments, you have to remember Olivia's graduating in 2027.

(01:10:53):
So that gives you, you know, a season overseas, which could be enough if they get her into
the USA program this summer, next summer.
She doesn't necessarily have to play, but she has to be in that environment.
She has to understand what that is.
So we're beyond the travel roster for V&O for sure.
So I would give Olivia the edge at this point.

(01:11:14):
But I think that the right side is definitely the position that has the most uncertainty
around it leading into LA.
Our third question is which US League do you think will be most affected by the third MLV
League?
Well, I think it's definitely going to be PVF, because the MLV is going to operate in

(01:11:34):
a similar model.
So they're going to be competing for players, they're going to be competing for fans, they'll
be in similar cities.
The setup will be similar.
For better or for worse, Love has their own model that is not really mergeable with any
other league.
It operates two differently.
They don't have franchise owners.
It's all owned by the same company.

(01:11:56):
So Love is either going to succeed or fail on its own.
So yeah, I definitely think PVF and the other league will be in direct competition.
Now you might have some fan fatigue.
If you have three teams in one city or the big markets, people will have to choose and
then it will come down to production value and entertainment.

(01:12:17):
But from a pure league standpoint, I think that's the direct competition.
I agree.
And our final question of the week is, why are some people not moving after the serve
and just standing in their position?
Have they changed the rotation rules?
They have actually.
So you no longer have to, if your team is serving, start or stand in the rotation where

(01:12:43):
you are, you can go directly to your position.
I mean, at this point, everybody knows what the rotations are.
The players are old enough.
That has been adopted internationally now.
Yeah.
So that's across the board.
That's the rule now.
You can just go to your spot.
You don't have to worry about standing and waiting and moving.
I think it's a natural progression.
Everybody knows what's going on.

(01:13:03):
So that is a rule change if you were unsure as to why that happened.
Thank you so much to everybody who submitted questions.
As I said before, I record all of your questions.
We will get to them eventually.
We pick and choose just a few each week, but thank you so much for your participation and
submitting your questions for us to read.

(01:13:26):
So moving forward, let's look at the week ahead.
This weekend, Love is doing their mid-season tournament in Kansas City.
This is coinciding with a massive youth tournament.
Yes, Triple Crown.
So those matches will be shown on ESPN Plus and ESPNU.
I believe you can see.

(01:13:46):
Only on Sunday.
There's one match on ESPNU, one on ESPN2, but across the board, they're all on ESPN
Plus.
Got it.
So tune into those.
They should be good.
It should be a good atmosphere because there'll be lots of kids and coaches watching.
It'll be a fun weekend, I think.
Not sure if this has any implications for the actual league, but is it more of a showcase

(01:14:07):
because there's going to be a ton of youth programs there.
That's kind of the feeling I'm getting, but if you know something I don't, let me know.
And the top two teams in the standings right now get buys in this showcase.
So they will play one last match and go right to the semifinals.
So there's a little benefit to being at the top of the league.

(01:14:28):
In NCAA men's action, Wednesday and Friday, USC plays UC Irvine.
Those will be great matches.
I would tune in.
They're at 9 and 10 Eastern respectively.
And then on Thursday and Friday, Ball State plays Lewis, which may or may not be schools
you're familiar with if you only follow the women's game.

(01:14:50):
So they are top 10 teams, both of them, I believe.
Like they're like an 8-12 situation.
So those games will be at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Again if you're looking for that college fix, tune into those.
Adam is really pushing the men's game you guys.
So just like help us out.
I'm in.
Just go watch a couple, okay?

(01:15:10):
And then PVF, Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, Grand Rapids Rise plays the Orlando Valkyries.
We'll see if Orlando can keep their sweep streak alive in three.
And then on Sunday, the Omaha Supernovas play the San Diego Mojo at 4 p.m. Eastern.
And those can be found on the PVF YouTube channel.

(01:15:31):
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 don't miss any updates and we would be so grateful if
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You can also find us on Instagram at VolleyTalk underscore podcast.
If you have a topic that you want us to discuss, be sure to let us know by reaching out to

(01:15:53):
us on Instagram or at info at sarahpavin.com.
Thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back next week.