Pritchard Makes the Difference in 5-Set Grand Rapids PVF Win, #3 UCLA Gets Revenge on #13 Ohio State

In this episode of Volley Talk, we break down the Grand Rapids Rise's 5-set victory over the Orlando Valkyries in the PVF. We also dive into the NCAA men's rematch between UCLA and Ohio State that happened in Columbus over the weekend. Ohio State dethroned UCLA from their #1 AVCA ranking a few weeks ago.

There is some huge news coming out of Lincoln, Nebraska, Adam gives listeners a roundup of what LOVB and PVF rookies are up to, and we take some time to answer listener questions.

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]!

Instagram: http://instagram.com/volleytalk_podcast

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

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

(00:05):
who want to dig deep into what is going on in NCAA and international volleyball.
I'm your host Sarah Pavin, I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball world champion, former Nebraska
Cornhusker and longtime pro both indoor and on the beach.
And I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international coach and the resident show
stat guy.

(00:26):
It was a week of surprises and shake ups, particularly in the NCAA women's world.
So if you are one of the few people who probably didn't have your social feeds bombarded by
the big news, buckle up because you're in for a shock here in a couple minutes, okay?
I thought we were going to get away from the NCAA women's game this week with the transfer

(00:47):
portal being closed and then there it is.
We're back.
In current league action, we have new teams atop the standings in both love and the PVF.
Same teams at the bottom though, don't worry.
And it was a very fun week for NCAA men's volleyball matchups.

(01:07):
We are so excited to discuss it all with you.
So let's get started.
All right.
In the news that shocked the volleyball community this week, Nebraska head coach John Cook announced

(01:33):
his retirement, which created a sort of domino effect in a couple programs.
So Danny Busboom Kelly will be taking over the head coaching job at Nebraska, which means
Dan Meske, the former associate head coach at Louisville will be the new head coach of
that program.

(01:53):
And as we found out a couple weeks ago or recently, Jordan Larson is out.
So before we talk about this seriously, do you think Dan Meske getting the head coaching
job at Louisville?
Do you think his social media game will be greater or less frequent now that he's a head
coach?
I really hope it's less frequent because I've never seen a coach post social media videos

(02:18):
from their practice as much as he does.
I hope it decreases.
It's just a pet peeve of mine, but whatever.
You played for Nebraska.
You knew John well.
You played with Danny.
You played with Jordan.
Your opinion.
Everybody wants to hear your opinion.
Everybody wants to know what you think and then, you know, maybe I'll put in my two cents
at the end.
I must admit I was caught off guard when I got the news that Coach Cook was retiring,

(02:44):
particularly because he had signed his contract extension to 2028, like last spring summerish.
I was surprised and I was trying to think like there's something else at play here.
Like what is going on?
And watching the press conferences, it's like, yeah, their second grandchild is expected
in the family.

(03:05):
A coach's life is unforgiving.
They miss so, so much.
And I can completely respect the fact that he wants to be there for his grandchildren
in a way that he wasn't able to be for his children.
I honestly think he expected to win a national championship with Lexi Rodriguez and I think

(03:29):
when that didn't happen, it kind of had him questioning like, and again, I am speculating
here.
I do not know this a hundred percent, but when you are so certain that you're going
to win with a particular athlete and you don't, then all of a sudden it's like, okay, well,
she was outstanding and we didn't win.
So how long am I going to keep going searching for this?

(03:51):
Do you know what I mean?
Like it could be never ending.
Yeah.
I was going to ask you if you think the window closing now, listen, Nebraska always has a
chance to win, but if you look at their roster and what they had, if they were going to do
it, it was going to be in these last couple of years.
Now you have a little more uncertainty with other teams and how the conferences and the

(04:13):
tournament looks.
I was curious if that played a part in it.
Well, especially because coming into this season, they had lost zero players.
So they were primed to do it this past season.
I think, you know, he is, if not 70, he's close to 70 years old already.

(04:34):
Like at what point are you just going to live your life?
Do you know what I mean?
And ride off into the sunset.
No pun intended.
I think honestly I was surprised, but I'm happy for him because it's like at some point
you need to move on.
Every coach comes to that point in their career.

(04:55):
When you coach, it's all you think about.
It is all consuming.
You can't do anything else well.
You're always weighing the sacrifices of family, of being around, of doing that.
Everybody comes to that tipping point in their life and sometimes it happens quickly.
And for him, it was probably, he might've woken up one morning and just said, I want
to be with my grandkid.
That's it.

(05:15):
I'm done.
And it can happen that quickly.
Like I don't want to put myself on this level at all, but it's like I can relate to that
with my own recent retirement from playing.
It's like I physically could have kept going.
I physically was capable of still competing at a high level and I loved competing, but

(05:36):
it's like you can't do it forever.
And there comes a point in time where you have to look at yourself and be like, do I
want to keep down this path or do I want to explore new options?
So I can relate to the sort of decision-making of understanding like I am capable of doing
this, but do I want to?
And I feel like it's probably something similar.

(05:59):
And I have a lot of respect for him for stepping away.
He is the winningest coach of this century.
He has created an incredible legacy at Nebraska and he continued the tradition that Terry
Pettit started and built it into this global standard of what women's volleyball can be.
And I think that what he has done for women's sport and women's volleyball in general is

(06:25):
unparalleled.
And so it's the end of an era and it's sad, but I also don't think they could have chosen
anybody other than Danny to take over the program.
So this was the other thing I was going to ask you is do you think having a successor
in Danny who from Nebraska, loves Nebraska, played at Nebraska, great coach, you saw what

(06:49):
she did with the Louisville program.
For me personally, I think handing something that you've built to somebody else for your
whole life is, it's almost intimate.
You want to know that that is going to be in good hands, that it's going to continue.
And I wonder, you saw a bunch of people come through that program, notably, you know, Tyler

(07:11):
Hildebrand, who I thought was potentially going to be somebody who could run that program,
their current assistant coach.
And I wonder if John just wasn't comfortable or didn't feel good about where the program
was going to be.
I think Danny coming in and agreeing to do that probably eases his mind because I think
she's a great choice.

(07:32):
I don't think it could have been anybody else.
And aside from Danny's success and pedigree, it would require somebody very special to
walk into that program, even from a public facing perspective.
Like expectations for the Nebraska volleyball program are high throughout the state, throughout

(07:54):
the country.
And I think to have somebody that is homegrown that they can trust, that the fans can trust
to take that program, like it would not go well, I don't think if an unknown person kind
of came in this part.
Like Danny has history.
She won a national championship for the school.

(08:17):
I just feel like there's that inherent trust from the public in bringing her in and you
might not like it, but that's a big part of it for Nebraska.
So a couple things about Danny coming in from my perspective.
One is, I think, technically, she's taken athletes at Louisville and made a competitive

(08:38):
program.
I think she's going to be able to do that at Nebraska.
I'm very curious to see what she can do now that she can recruit the best athletes.
And I'm not saying she couldn't get them at Louisville, but playing at Louisville and
playing at Nebraska are two different things.
I'm curious to see how she shapes her roster with maybe a little more choice of athlete.

(08:59):
The one thing which I think is going to be curious to see how she handles is at Louisville,
you were always the underdog.
That program didn't-
Didn't get to the end, in the ACC maybe not, but once you get to the final four fair.
I'm talking about national championships.
That's a different mentality than being the one that everybody's chasing.

(09:22):
And how long does it take her to settle in?
How does she handle that?
Expectations are different.
I think that's going to be the hardest part for her coming in is that kind of shift between
chasing and being chased.
And I'm curious to see how she handles that.
Well, I'll also mention it's not just about coaching when you're the head coach in Nebraska,

(09:43):
the media requirements, the public engagement.
Like there is so much that goes into being a head coach at that program aside from what
happens on the court.
And it is a lot of work.
Again, I don't think it could have been anybody else.
I am so happy for her.

(10:03):
I think she deserves it and like on a human level, I'm excited that her and her husband
get to move back to Nebraska and be close to family.
Like I think that's amazing.
It's a new era.
Quick take off the cuff here.
Do you think Dani A wins more matches than Coach Cook by the end of her time at Nebraska?
And do you think she wins more national championships?

(10:25):
My instinct is no.
It is getting harder and harder to win, particularly in the conference Nebraska is currently in.
You know, she's young though.
She's only like 39 going on 40.
She could coach there for as long as she wants.
So she's got a little more runway than Coach Cook did.

(10:46):
That is a hard question.
You don't just like casually become the most winningest coach in the century.
You know what I mean?
Like there's so many things that are at play.
My instinct is no.
Would I love her to do that?
Absolutely.
But that's tough.
Okay.
And the final piece around this is Jordan Larson out as the assistant coach at Nebraska.

(11:09):
What are your thoughts around that?
She must have known this was coming.
Do you think it was Dani's decision or do you think it was Jordan's decision?
I have my own personal thoughts about this.
I don't know what Jordan is planning.
So it's hard for me to answer that.
What is your thought?
Nobody in Nebraska is Jordan with her resume and her playing experience.

(11:30):
I think for Dani coming in for the program to really be hers and for her to put her stamp
on it, I think that's a really tough dynamic to manage because who do you who do you go
to?
They were teammates.
Jordan is again one of the best U.S. players to have ever existed.
If they don't agree on something, there's an interesting power dynamic there.

(11:53):
Like they're the same age pretty much.
I think it's a really hard dynamic for Dani to navigate if they disagree.
And so that had me thinking, you know, did Jordan just step away and say, I'm not interested
if Coach Cook is there?
I would be curious what the conversation and what the dynamic around that was.
But it would be tough to constantly navigate that I feel if I'm looking at this from Dani's

(12:17):
perspective.
I think that's a fair argument, but we'll never know.
Or maybe we will.
Who knows?
We'll find out someday.
But was anybody else getting some fishy vibes last weekend watching like Love Omaha and
things like that?
When Dani was in the stands, I immediately had my radar up and I was like, wait, there's

(12:39):
a reason she's here.
Did I think that the retirement announcement would come like four days later?
Absolutely not.
But seeing her in Omaha, I'm like, wait a minute, signing that contract, something's
going on.
But honestly, as somebody who played a small part in what became an incredible legacy for

(13:00):
Coach Cook, I am very thankful and grateful for the opportunities that he gave me as a
young student athlete, especially in the formative years of my career.
Nebraska changed my life.
And so I'm so thankful for the opportunities he gave me.
And you know, as a former teammate of Dani, I'm so excited for her and I cannot wait to

(13:25):
see what she does with this program because she's amazing.
Hopefully now that everybody's heart rates recovered from that big news this week, let's
get into what has been happening around the volleyball world.
So in NCAA men's volleyball, Loyola Chicago beat Pepperdine and UCSD this week, both in
five sets.
Hawaii and BYU had a back to back series.

(13:48):
Hawaii took both of those matches.
They won in five and four.
Pretty solid because that was a four or five matchup.
So very nice by Hawaii.
UC Irvine and Stanford also had a back to back series and UC Irvine swept both of those.
We actually watched those matches.
UC Irvine is good.
Yeah, UC Irvine was a lot of fun to watch.

(14:10):
They have two former national players of the year on that team.
One's a transfer.
But in the first game, they were clicking on all cylinders.
They looked really good.
In the middle, too, were outstanding.
Middles were good.
They've got they're a big team.
In the second match, their French left side, who's also a lefty, Hanno, he seemed like

(14:34):
he was unhappy with his teammates.
They were still on the first match, too.
Let's not get ourselves.
Well, unless the set was absolutely perfect.
He was storming around the court.
Yeah.
And that was an interesting dynamic to watch.
And his teammates looked maybe a little more frustrated with him in the second match than
in the first match.
They ended up figuring it out.
And at the end of the day, they're just bigger and more physical and more experienced than

(14:57):
Stanford.
Yeah.
My concern, and as we get deeper into this, we've only watched them play once, but their
setter I think is readable.
And even Stanford, and I say even, they're still a top 10 team.
They always generally knew where the ball was going.
They run a super high ball to their right side.

(15:18):
I'm curious how they fare when they play some other big teams that have good blocks and
are disciplined.
They play USC and UCLA coming up in February.
That's going to be a real test to see if their offense, namely their setter, can isolate
some of their hitters and get them going because their outside hitters are very good, but it's

(15:39):
hard to hit against the double and triple block all the time.
Well, Flex in their right side hit like 500 in the first match, and then they held him
to really low numbers in the second match.
So maybe they weren't passing as well.
When they were running that middle, that was outstanding.
Yeah, they definitely-
So good.

(16:00):
They need to run that middle because they set that ball to the outside so high.
And I mean, the hitters are 6'8 and 6'9.
Yes, of course it needs to be high, but come on.
You can run a high set that still has tempo and stresses the block defense, and that wasn't
happening.
So we will see if that offense changes or how that looks.
And don't get me wrong, their hitters could go off and score against the three-man block

(16:24):
for a whole match, but is that the most efficient or easy way to win?
No.
So let's see what happens when they play against higher level of competition.
I just didn't like how different the vibe was from one night to the other.
Night one, they were dominant.
And then night two, it just didn't look as crisp.

(16:45):
So I'm excited to see them play again, but that was a series that I was really excited
about.
USC and UCLA both went 2-0 in Columbus this weekend.
They both beat Penn State and Ohio State.
We'll be talking about one of those matches here shortly, but I think that was a really
cool tournament with all the big 10 teams.

(17:09):
So in NCAA men's volleyball, we still have five undefeated teams.
Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Hawaii, USC, and Loyola Chicago are the only undefeateds
left.
How long is this going to last?
We didn't really have any movement in the rankings this past week, like tiny moves here
and there by one spot, but the top five stayed consistent.

(17:31):
Long Beach State is still number one, followed by UC Irvine and UCLA.
So yeah, we'll see what this week has in store, but this was a very jam packed week with big
matchups.
So it was fun to see.
Looking at Love, the head to head match, Houston beat Madison 3-0.
In the weekend matchups, Atlanta beat both Salt Lake 3-0 and then went on to beat Omaha

(17:57):
3-1.
So it was a good weekend for Atlanta.
And then Salt Lake City beat Austin 3-2.
If we look at the league standings, Atlanta now takes over the number one spot, followed
by Omaha, Houston, Salt Lake, Austin, and a bit of a head scratcher, Madison still in
last place.
I'm still not okay with the fact that the team that I thought would be worse, Atlanta,

(18:21):
is winning.
You know, you just needed to switch your predictions, Atlanta and Madison, just flip flop them.
Like literally flip flop.
I don't know.
I'm just getting kind of, I don't want to say annoyed, but like with so few teams in
Love and how they structure their weekends, I feel like I'm literally watching the same
teams play each other every day.

(18:42):
It almost feels like friendlies to me.
And it was interesting, we found something out this week that we've been talking about
where the teams were organized ahead of time.
The players didn't necessarily know which teams they were going to.
So it was a group consensus as to what it would look like.
I don't know if that's going to continue moving forward, but that to me has a scripted feel.

(19:07):
It seems like a showcase to me, like a volleyball showcase as opposed to like, let's create
a strong team to win a league title.
Like they just seem like, let's just show good volleyball.
Do you know what it felt like to me?
The analogy that I thought of was it's like professional wrestling.
There's a script and a story and you're putting on a show.

(19:30):
And obviously the athletes are competing on the court and they're trying to win each match,
but it just, it lacks.
I want to see a GM make great moves and be rewarded.
I want to see somebody be in the basement and there to be a reason for that, not a rejigging
so the league has parody.
I want to see some of those rivalries and I just, they're not developing for me.

(19:51):
The volleyball is good.
The athletes are out there playing, no complaints, but there's no storylines.
There's no rivalries that I can feel.
Well somebody submitted a question that was, do you think it matters who wins or loses
the inaugural season of love?
Or do you think it's more about storytelling?
It's storytelling.

(20:12):
I hate to say it, but I don't think love cares who wins or loses, especially because one
company owns every single team.
Like there's no vested interest, you know, in the same way there is with like a franchise
model.
So yeah, they love the story.
Like look what we're doing for women's sport.
Look at the pathway we're creating, which we have said this before is great.

(20:37):
We love that.
But when you get to the pro level, like it's about winning.
Okay.
I hate to say it.
Professional sports is about winning.
It just feels like, you know, the other piece of it, who's playing for a contract?
Did you sign a six year contract?
Well, no.
Okay.
We also got some Intel, some listeners did some detective work.
Thank you very much.
I'm going to send me some messages.

(20:58):
So apparently the salaries for love started at 60,000.
Okay.
So lower than PVF, which started at 65.
And then there were some that were like higher.
Obviously, I'm assuming the founding athletes are making way more than that, but salaries
started at 60 grand and players signed either two or one year contracts.
Well, the other thing for me too, is if you want to start attracting international athletes,

(21:23):
how are you going to sell them on?
Hey, just sign to love and we'll put you somewhere.
Yeah, right?
Like I want to know who am I competing with?
Who is my coach?
Can I win?
What is my chance of winning?
And what are my bonuses for winning?
Please and thank you.
Like I'm not just going to be like, yeah, just put my name in this pool.
I'll, you know what?
Salt Lake City?
Great.

(21:43):
I'll live there.
Omaha?
Sure.
Like no, tell me where I'm living, who I'm playing with, who's coaching me and what are
our realistic opportunities to win here.
Well, and we talked about this last week in terms of Lexi Rodriguez being behind Justine
and I'm not sure she had a choice.
I'm curious.
Would she have gone there if it was up to her or is it just a great story?

(22:03):
She just like was like, okay, I'm in this pool and put me where you want because her
training against Justine in Omaha, like that's a good story, but is she okay being on the
bench all season?
Like it's, it's really interesting.
And again, I'm not saying it's right or wrong.
It's different.
They're trying to do something, but it's has lacked that rivalry to me watching the matches.

(22:29):
And with so many matches in the same weekend, it's just like, I'm sick of seeing the same
matchups over and over and over again.
Yeah, fair.
Okay.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Let's move on to PVF.
All right.
If we look at PVF this week, Indie Ignite got reverse swept by Vegas for their second
straight loss, boosting Vegas to the top of the standings and Indies dropped to fourth.

(22:49):
So we're seeing some movement there.
Omaha and Atlanta continue to take care of business and then Grand Rapids beat Orlando
in five and Columbus is still struggling to get in the win column.
So like I said, Madison and Columbus, the same bottom teams were staying consistent
there.
Vegas jumped from like fifth to first.

(23:10):
Yeah, it was crazy.
Vegas came out of nowhere and finished that reverse sweep.
They've had some interesting matches, but here we are.
Cameron Hanna played well.
She did.
You're seeing more.
We will get into this.
Adam has done some serious work this week, everybody.
So we'll get into this more later.
But the rookies in PVF, you're starting to see more and more of them play big roles on

(23:34):
their teams.
Cameron Hanna played really well for Vegas, I thought.
Charity Looper was on the court.
There was several rookies, but man, that game was...
Undescribable.
Literally, we watched Indie play a couple of times now and it's like, you start great
and then you get really bad.
They cannot finish.
Their warmup protocols are great.

(23:55):
They come out of the gate flying, but they cannot settle in and put a match away.
And the only time that Teeler scores is when they run a combo play.
I don't think I've seen her score from the pin.
I don't even know.
She scores on the combo plays though.
Well, the other thing about that too, and we talked about this, is Sydney Hilly is becoming
more and more predictable as the matches go on.

(24:16):
So you see her being able to isolate her hitters early.
Their scoring efficiency is higher.
They're cruising as a team.
And then it seems like she stops running the middle as the match goes on, just sets the
quote, unquote, hot hitter.
And the defenses adjust, the blocks adjust, and the hitters start to struggle and they

(24:36):
can't close out matches.
And I'm not saying it's all Sydney Hilly's fault, but that's two matches in a row where
I've kind of seen the same thing from a decision making and an offensive standpoint.
And they're going to have to figure that out.
We're clearly very passionate about what is going on in these leagues, everybody.
NCAA men's, we're cruising.
We're loving it.
But the other ones, we've got a lot of question marks here, but it's fun to watch nonetheless.

(25:01):
Let us know what matches you watched, what your thoughts were, but overall a really fun
week.
One of our feature matches of the week is going to be a PVF match and we're going to
do the Grand Rapids Rise versus the Orlando Valkyrie.
It was a Grand Rapids Rise victory in five.
It was a good game, a lot of fun actually.

(25:22):
They ended up winning the second, the fourth, and the fifth set.
And I'm curious what your thoughts were about that match.
Yes.
Um, the way Brittany Abercrombie was going off in set one, I was like, okay, this will
be over soon.
Unstoppable.
She had like 11 kills.

(25:42):
Every time she had touched the ball, she was scoring.
I was like, this is actually insane.
Please stop her or make an adjustment or something.
But then she completely disappeared.
It was confusing.
How do you go from scoring 11 kills in set one and then get six more in four sets?
Not only just six more points.

(26:05):
Like there was nothing else that happened.
Didn't do anything.
Didn't get a block.
Didn't get an ace.
Definitely didn't get a dig.
Let me tell you, wasn't digging anything.
Okay.
She ended up hitting 167 in that match.
How does that happen?
How do you go from hitting like 900 to down to 167?
On the flip side of that, the left side for Grand Rapids also played very well in the

(26:29):
first set.
Erica Pritchard or Carly Snyder?
Erica Pritchard.
She was kind of going, I'm not going to say point for point because Abercrombie was unconscious,
but she was the player in my opinion who kept them in the match and kept it close and gave
them a chance.
It was interesting to see and I thought that was going to be the matchup all game as to

(26:51):
who could score more.
But yeah, like you said, Abercrombie just kind of fell off the cliff.
Abercrombie disappeared and Pritchard elevated.
I think she ended with 21 kills, hitting 340.
So if we looked at the match as a whole, in the first set it was really close.
Orlando was leading most of the way, almost gave it up at the end, pulled it out 26-24.

(27:15):
Grand Rapid Rise had a really good response.
They contained Abercrombie and they ended up winning 25-15.
We saw another flip.
The second and third sets weren't great.
Third and fourth were just kind of blowouts.
Yeah, and so there was a bit of a lack of consistency.
It was one team's passing, the other team would go on a serving run.

(27:36):
It would be sets out to the antenna, good defense, transition.
There were a lot of long rallies in this match where Grand Rapid Rise from an eye test seemed
to come out on top of most of those and gain the momentum.
But the fifth set was incredibly close and you saw, again, I thought we had a couple

(27:57):
players from Grand Rapid Rise step up in that fifth set.
Overall you had Erica Pritcher hit 340 on the night, which was really good.
She had 50 swings.
Maren Grote also played pretty well.
She didn't get a ton of sets, but she was really efficient, hitting 538.
Nyah Shemay also played.

(28:18):
She didn't have the most amazing match, but she got 40 swings, scored 12 points.
It seemed more of a team effort from the Rise than relying on one player and not seeing
it happen for Orlando.
Yeah, you have three players on the Rise who had a significant amount of sets, but Snyder
and Shemay hit under 200, both of them.

(28:41):
Whereas for Orlando, Abercrombie had 60 sets and then it was pretty evenly distributed
between four other players whose numbers were pretty good, aside from Adora and Nay who
hit zero.
Well, and she also got the second most sets, so when you look at those two things, then
it's tough, right?

(29:01):
Fair, but when you're looking at Foster, 27 sets as a middle, that's pretty good.
Kaz Brown, 22 sets as a middle.
I appreciate what Orlando was trying to do and obviously if you are usually getting production
from your right side, you tend to expect it.
And so I think the fact that Abercrombie kind of disappeared really made them have to force

(29:24):
the middle a lot more to try to get something going because their producer was not delivering.
But then Nay, who they also is usually their second kind of go-to player hitting zero,
that hurts as well.
So the fact that this match even went five, considering that Orlando's top two hitters
just tanked is kind of shocking to me.

(29:47):
So then do you look at that and go, okay, if one of Orlando's outside hitters, given
they won the middle battle, if one of their outside hitters had played relatively well,
they would have won that match?
Is that your instinct watching it?
Okay, I can't take away from Green Rapids.
They blocked very well, okay?

(30:08):
And hearing the broadcast, like that tends to be one of their strengths.
We haven't really seen them play much.
So they 18 blocks for Ryze to Orlando's 11.
Okay, so I think that's a significant difference.
Absolutely.
So I think you can't take away from what the Ryze did.
Obviously, they identified that Abercrombie needed to be stopped after set one and clearly

(30:32):
focus their blocking attention on her 100%.
If she's the only one scoring, make that adjustment and it worked.
You can see in the number of blocks they were getting, they actually started to dig a few
more balls in the first set.
I was like, your block defense is like on a different planet.
The fact that, and even like you say they won the middle battle Orlando, I think Maren

(30:57):
Grote played very well.
Even though she only got 13 sets compared to the other middles, 20 plus, almost 30.
I didn't think that the middles for Orlando were, I didn't notice them.
Like I'm surprised to see that they got that many sets.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I thought Maren was great away from the ball.

(31:19):
I thought she was a linchpin for their block defense.
She got a ton of touches.
She to me is a player who does things that don't necessarily show up on the score sheet.
And I thought she was noticeable just from a block touch, be an option, hold the other
middle and you know those things you don't always see.
But looking at some of the numbers, RISE kind of won all of the categories.

(31:43):
6-3 in aces for the RISE.
If we look at the attack efficiency, RISE hit 259 to Orlando's 194.
As I said before, they outblock them 18-11.
They out dug them 84-75.
And while those aren't necessarily huge statistical leadings, you're winning in all of

(32:04):
the categories.
And we had some blowouts and players, you know, some of these numbers are inflated because
you have a bad set or you have a great set.
But overall, I think they were a little more consistent than Orlando was.
What I'm about to say is kind of a big difference for me between PVF and love right now is that

(32:25):
there's one person who kind of made a difference.
If you look at the stats and you compare the like Erica Pritchard made the difference.
And it's not like her numbers were off the charts, like 340, that's a good night, but
it's not like an outside going up and hitting like 600 or something.
You know what I mean?
One player was able to elevate her team to take the win.

(32:52):
Carly Snyder didn't attack particularly well.
Nia Chame didn't attack particularly well.
They didn't run their middles a ton on the other side.
Abercrombie got a set a ton of balls, didn't score that many.
Anae same thing, the middles they were producing okay, but like it literally was like pretty
even across the board.

(33:13):
Like if you're looking at the outsides from both sides, the middles from both sides, pretty
even playing field.
It literally took one player to push the difference.
And I don't think you're seeing that in love.
In love you're seeing obviously players have good games, but you're seeing more than one
player needing to step up.
Yeah, and you're seeing more lapses.

(33:35):
We saw a lot of runs in that match.
So for example, in the four sets, Snyder went on a 7-0 serving run.
Like that can't happen.
And the crazy thing too, I was pulling my hair out at this watching that game.
Grand Rapids could not set a transition ball to save their lives.
Well, it's interesting that you brought that up.

(33:55):
So their second contact was not very good, even though they got a bunch of good block
touches.
But on the flip side, Orlando didn't adjust their defensive position.
So when they would be out of system and have a terrible second contact, they would stay
packed into the court and then the grand rise hitters would hit into the back of the court.
As soon as you see that ball off the net, the Orlando defense needed to take a step

(34:19):
back, protect the outside of the court, have the front court left side come in for the
tips and you would have had way more controlled touches.
When Orlando got them out of system or Grand Rapids just didn't execute for whatever reason,
they didn't take advantage of those opportunities.
Grand Rapids was like either getting blocks or if they dug, they were almost sending a

(34:41):
free ball over every time.
I was beside myself watching this transition setting.
You're professional athletes here and you're telling me that you cannot get a hittable
ball up to your hitter after a dig.
I was shocked that they were managing to stay ahead in this match because I'm like this

(35:01):
this is crazy.
Yeah, you they're going to have a week's worth of transition setting practice.
I hope so.
Has to be.
I hope so.
Because on the flip side, if we talk about Orlando's outsides being able to score some
points to win that match, if Grand Rapids can hit some out of system balls effectively,
their block defense is giving them chances.

(35:23):
So you're you're making and you're doing all of the work to get the chance and you can't
execute on the one skill that allows you to transition that success into points.
And it'll be interesting to see if they can kind of figure that out.
Speaking of setting, I was not a fan of either setter in that match.
I did appreciate August Rasky's offensive mindset.

(35:47):
She really pulled out some interesting swings at the right times, which also has to keep
the block defense honest.
But as far as decision making and set location for these setters, I struggled.
Do you think that has anything to do with the ball control being inconsistent in this
match or just straight decision making?

(36:09):
I will have to watch them play more, but I don't I didn't like their location and some
of the decisions they made.
I was like what I wish I could understand what you were thinking.
So I think one of the things that we'll start to see and we'll get to this later is there's
a lot of turnover on roster spots.
A lot of young players are pushing through and seeing.
So I'm wondering if setters are still trying to figure out who they can set in big moments

(36:33):
and what the flow should be and you know, learning their hitters in game situations
because there's been again a lot of fluctuation in terms of who's playing and who's coming
in.
So I'm curious to see if it's just a general limitation or if there's going to be a personnel
learning curve on some of these teams.
Well because the lineups that we were seeing a couple weeks ago are not even close to the

(36:55):
same.
No, so we were going to I think we're going to see more and more of those first year college
players starting to take roster spots.
My last kind of note from this match before we move on to the men's matches is Orlando
continue to go to the double sub with Lydia Grote and it never worked.
I mean if you're trying to get Lydia some playing time to get her in because you think

(37:18):
that she's going to be able to add to your totals later on, totally fair.
If you're doing it from a strategic position, you did it again and again and again and then
again in the fifth set and I believe she made at least one error in that situation in a
tight match trying to close it out.
I get that the double sub is a good thing but you also have to have a pulse on if it's

(37:38):
working or not in that match and I thought that was a bad decision.
Well particularly like you're creating this double sub to take away a small setter from
the block and I don't remember if I don't recall if she was lined up with Prichard or
no Prichard was lined up with Abercrombie but she didn't block anything.
No.

(37:58):
Like it's not like Orlando was getting extra defensive opportunities because they put a
bigger block up and they weren't scoring more points because Grote wasn't scoring.
So yeah it was interesting that they kept choosing to go back to that.
Maybe they're trying to build for the future, I don't know.
Well and that's to me that's the only way that that's a legitimate decision.

(38:19):
Overall I thought it was an entertaining match.
Some of the sets were blowouts it could have been a little bit closer in the middle of
that match but there were a lot of storylines to follow.
Athletes coming and going, playing well, who you're going to run, who's going to come out
on top.
I enjoyed watching that match.
So we asked the question last week, should we continue to cover men's matches and there

(38:41):
were a lot of people who were very interested in getting coverage and having us continue
to talk about that so we are definitely going to do that.
We watched a bunch of men's matches this weekend notably Ohio State and UCLA which we're going
to talk about now.
While the rallies in the women's game make it I would say a little more exciting, man

(39:03):
watching some of these men's players is it's just incredible what they can do.
Let's get into it but I had a ton of fun watching men's volleyball this week.
This was a particularly fun match to watch.
It was a rematch from a couple weeks ago when Ohio State upset the then number one UCLA in

(39:24):
four so needless to say UCLA was coming out hoping for a better outcome than they had
a couple weeks ago and they did.
UCLA won in four.
Ohio State took the first set.
On the heels of what I would say were just like so many UCLA serving errors.

(39:45):
And hitting errors.
Errors.
Just bad all the way around.
UCLA was either getting an ace or it was like watch out if you're in the stands.
So I'm like okay seeing the first set I'm like Ohio State's passing is suspect.
It was not.
They are not a solid passing team in my opinion.

(40:05):
But UCLA just couldn't keep the ball in to exploit it.
So before we get into some of the tactical and what happened in the match I think not
a lot of people are aware of even the players on some of these teams.
So let's highlight a couple of the key players for each team and then we can talk about some
of the strategy.
Let's start with UCLA.

(40:26):
I think that their strength generally lies on their outside.
So they have two incredibly dynamic outside hitters in Cooper Robinson and Zach Rama.
These are big boys.
They jump well.
Watching them hit is incredible.
They're a little inconsistent but I think that's one of their strengths and their setter's

(40:49):
ability to deliver a tempo high set from anywhere on the court was impressive to watch.
100%.
I agree the UCLA strengths are their setting and their outside hitters.
They were missing their opposite Edo David that match.
The man among children.
Oh my gosh this man's serve everybody.

(41:10):
I know we talked about it a few weeks ago but he was not playing.
He wasn't even on the bench.
As we're talking about that this match keep that in mind.
On the flip side I think Ohio State's strength is in their right side.
Correct his name is Shane Wetzel and he for a right side first of all I'm just going to

(41:30):
shout out he made a lot of digs.
Wowee.
There was a stretch where he was at the service line.
I think they scored five points in a row.
He was unloading from the service line.
He made at least two digs that were playable.
And for those of you who think that digging is impressive or not impressive because you
watch mostly women's volleyball.
Let me tell you two digs from your right side on the men's side and six points game changer.

(41:55):
And he follows up by scoring from the back row.
I was thoroughly impressed with how he played this match.
I think across the board UCLA is just more skilled but in watching this match I think
Ohio State has found a way to maximize the players and the skills that they do have.

(42:17):
Whereas and I thought that they were more consistent overall.
Whereas UCLA was very up and down and I don't know if it was a focus thing or or what it
was but they have the skill but they need to maintain that focus and that intensity.

(42:37):
Whereas Ohio State is maybe a little less skilled but they were doing everything they
could with what they have.
So I think that that's why the match was like so close.
If UCLA can dial in their mentality and just like do work they could be unbelievable.

(42:58):
But the runs and the ups and downs are too frequent.
I completely agree with your analysis.
So a couple of things that struck me.
If you're gonna say that is young men for you because that's always your excuse when
I talk about men's volleyball or college men's volleyball.
Oh yeah that's young men.
I don't care.
I don't care.

(43:19):
So I would say that Ohio State had a blue collar work ethic and they were grinding.
I thought the libero for Ohio State played very well in that match.
The thing that's noticeable is I would say the athleticism.
Now I'm not gonna tell you that the Ohio State players can't jump because they definitely

(43:39):
couldn't.
But when you watch them jump and contact the ball versus the outside hitters for UCLA it's
a bit of a different stratosphere.
They're playing at a different level.
The UCLA boys have that surfer mentality.
We're flipping the hair back on the service line.

(43:59):
We're a little nonchalant.
You know we kind of there's a little bit of swagger there and I agree that it's not business
all the time.
And so you saw in the first set UCLA missed a ton of serves.
It was absurd.
And then their outside hitters were calibrated you know half a foot out of bounds and they

(44:21):
were swinging hard but it wasn't they weren't gelling.
Now I noticed in the second set they took 15% off their serves they kept the ball in
and then all of a sudden.
And Ohio State's passing was still bad.
Yeah but if you look at that match UCLA had 25 block assists on that match.

(44:42):
No solo blocks which meant that as a team they knew exactly what was going on.
They had big blocks on every hit when the ball was in play and that was in comparison
to only eight block assists from Ohio State.
So when they kept the ball in and they still serve tough when they're serving 15% off their
off their hard serves.
I think my wrist would snap if I tried to pass one of those.

(45:06):
I have skinny wrists.
It would be fractured.
Well and so when you look at their ability to block and play defense in that regard I'm
curious if their coach is going hey go out on the first set just unload let's see where
our serving goes we're going to work on that for later on in the season and then when they
lost it's dial it back we're going to keep it in we're going to play block defense or

(45:30):
whether they just found it.
Like I'm curious what that adjustment was because it was distinct.
It definitely was planned.
The thing for me when we're talking about the focus and the mentality is when I see
three juicy overpasses be completely mishandled you are not focused and it was happening at

(45:55):
critical times at one point Robinson goes up hammers it out of bounds then twice their
right side Decker faked hitting it and then the ball just landed and then hammered it
into the stands like if you're getting overpasses for me that is a great indicator of where
your mind is at and as a team if you're messing them up you're not focused you're not dialed

(46:21):
in the way you need to be and I will say I think UCLA would have lost without their setter
Andrew Rowan because he was their most consistent player from top to bottom from the service
line for delivery of the set he kept the team together he was the one who was serving for

(46:43):
all these overpasses I can't even imagine what was going through his head seeing these
guys mess them up if I'm a setter at that point and you mess up my overpass I'm walking
up to you and I'm telling you you're not getting sets for five balls figure it out Adam would
never do that he's too nice I would do that.
What you you talk about David Decker and I thought he was a roller coaster he was a liability

(47:07):
well there were stretches where he was all world and he was hitting a thigh I must have
missed those points but he was very streaky so it was either you know seven good swings
in a row and then you know miss miss overpass miss out to lunch and then he would come back
he just seemed to come in and out of the match at different times and that was it was interesting

(47:31):
because you talk about Cooper Robinson missing that overpass so he misses that overpass I
was ripping him in one her mind as we were watching this game and then he knew and then
they set him he sides out and then he goes back to the baseline and rips two aces and
finishes the match and she goes okay I'm fine with that no I was like good you had to make

(47:52):
up for that thank you so much you needed to score those points and we didn't see that
same response from Decker oh no no but my other thing is like Rama when he chooses to
goes over top of the block the the ceiling of but then sometimes he's like bringing it

(48:14):
down into the block and I don't know if that's like an experience thing if it's a attention
to detail thing but it's like when you are approaching hard when you're fully extended
when you're executing you are unstoppable like let's replicate that you know for more
than a couple swings in a row because I love I think he is so good I love that kid but

(48:39):
I'm like let's let's build some consistency so I'm I'm really curious two things I think
UCLA has a ton of high-end potential their ceiling is very high if they can put everything
together and even though their middles are a little undersized they're very dynamic they're
very quick they close the block well they get up early they can score and their setter

(49:00):
uses them well but if they're outsides all three are clicking at once they're gonna be
really really tough to stop because they're also a very good blocking team I'm really
curious to see them play some other high-end opponents and see if they can get to that
level consistently for a whole match I always think that's my only knock on row in the setter

(49:23):
is he could have set the middle more his Rama and Robinson are his security blanket it's
just like oh yeah just give them the ball but I think he needs to set the middle more
I think it's gonna depend on who they're playing if their outsides can dominate the other teams
outsides he'll just set them because he runs the ball fast enough his contact point on

(49:45):
his set and how he flings it out to the antennas it's flat it's high it's on the mark if they
start to move out and teams are putting two blockers on there and leaving the middle he'll
have to be able to find them to open them back up so that will be their kind of struggle
against top teams but I'm looking forward to seeing them play you see Irvine coming
up as much as I loved Rowan I thought Rodriguez the setter for Ohio State struggled I know

(50:11):
he's a freshman okay I'm aware but I thought his delivery was not as clean I did however
like how he ran the middle he forced the middle and he had to because Ohio State didn't really
pass that well so I mean you are putting a freshman setter in a tough place but yeah
he he was outplayed in that match I would say blatantly as we were saying the outsides

(50:36):
for UCLA outperforms the Ohio State outsides I we were saying that the Ohio State right
side battle they won that I think that honestly Ohio State might have won the middle battle
I think that's fair especially from an offensive perspective I also thought they were up their
arm was back they were loaded it was a it was run well and they were very efficient

(51:01):
I would agree with that I also thought Ohio State won the libero battle agreed I didn't
even notice the UCLA libero I thought the passing libero was better than the defensive
one but like I wasn't getting much from them but I thought the Ohio State libero made some
great digs why and he kudos to him he was strapping it on he got hit by a few balls
that were I would have had cardiac arrest missiles it was why and he just stood in there

(51:27):
and dug ball it was impressive to watch I'm curious to see Ohio State I want to see them
play a BYU Hawaii you know some teams I mean the Hawaii State's not small but they're not
playing at that same level as some of those other teams I want to see if their mentality
can grind them out some wins against the like 5 to 12 range opponents so I'm curious to

(51:51):
see how that goes for them because I think they have the makings of a team that forces
you to beat them and if you don't show up they will win like when I watched Penn State
play I thought and again I haven't watched either team a ton but I think Ohio State is
better than Penn State they just can't find a win against a top team obviously they upset

(52:16):
UCLA that is their one win against a top team but like I do think they're capable yeah I
do too they just don't have that high end point score unless Wetzel is unconscious they
need something more from their left sides yeah overall I had so much fun getting into

(52:36):
that men's match and we watched a few other matches it was it was good and after the first
set they didn't miss too many serves so there was some action to actually watch and pay
attention to I will say and we're gonna do my hot take right now oh I have never seen
so many men volley the ball over the net on third contact get get out of there get it

(52:58):
out of the way I don't want to see it I'm not interested it wasn't just this match it
was all the men's matches we were watching we're like when did a volleying jump volleying
it over become a thing tip the ball find a rip take a swing I know you don't want to
make an error but a jump volley get that out of here just like think of how many errors
you're making on your serve let's have the same mentality offensively okay just go for

(53:23):
it I don't want to see you jumping and volleying the ball down that's my rant on on the men's
volleyball that I watched it was fun to watch though all right so instead of a game this
week we had so many people asking about how are the recent graduates from the NCAA doing

(53:45):
in the American professional leagues where are we at what's going on now that we're you
know a month and a bit in what are your thoughts so I did a deep dive into all of the players
who were drafted who are on teams who played in college last year and we're going to go
over some of those we're going to talk about the highlights I'm going to give you an overview

(54:06):
of how many there are what teams they're on and then we'll talk about the ones making
the biggest difference so if we look at love obviously we had the love six so they pulled
six of the recruits or top NCAA players into their league and out of all of them four are

(54:26):
making a significant contribution so Rachel Fairbanks is obviously playing a ton of games
at the center position for Atlanta I think she's doing well the team is cruising along
so instant impact she's doing great I think we both liked her as a setter I'm not surprised

(54:46):
Madison Skinner also played four or five for Austin she is finding her way she hasn't been
amazing she's got 58 points on the season you know 25% kill efficiency you know 120
attacks she's doing okay I think she will continue to get better her ceiling is higher

(55:07):
she's playing a new position feel free to hop in and give your take on any of these
no I agree with both of those Jess Merzik playing all the matches for Houston getting
set a ton of balls having a pretty good season 73 points 24% efficient she is blocking she

(55:27):
is serving aces she is digging they're nowhere without her in my opinion and so I think we
both really like Jess Merzik we talked about her finding hands and being able to swing
against a bigger block and that was going to help her transition I think that's definitely
true finally Sarah Franklin played six of six matches she has the most points out of

(55:50):
any of the rookies at 84 she's 28% efficient 78 kills she's been set almost 200 times since
they've started passing relatively well not as effective on the blocks and aces as Merzik
is but she's making a lot of digs too so I would say that's been a pretty successful
transition I'm honestly surprised that Franklin and Merzik are when they grabbed the ball

(56:14):
and graduated I thought that those two I had question marks about how they would transition
into the pro game and they have proven me wrong I personally think Merzik is playing
outstanding I think she is the top rookie in love right now but we actually did have
a question of why are so many rookies playing over veterans or team USA players and honestly

(56:42):
I think it's because they're playing better and there's not the same hierarchy necessarily
in pro that you sometimes see in in high school or college as we were saying we do have some
issues with kind of like the vibe of love but at the end of the day the pro game is
about winning and the college players came into these seasons game ready and I think

(57:08):
that's a huge they had been playing for four and a half months already and there's something
to say about walking into a team being game ready and having that playing experience very
recent as opposed to having taken an entire summer and fall off so I think there are a
couple things that play like I just mentioned the the readiness piece but also I think that

(57:34):
these young players are playing better than some of the veterans who may be they have
something to prove they are trying to build their career they don't have that same reputation
and clout to be able to fall back on so they've got something to prove and I'm curious if
these veterans are going to push back or if they're like cool and I also think from a

(57:58):
coaching perspective you know you had some of those vets out there earlier but you give
them a chance the rookies come in they haven't been with the teams as long as the other players
but as they start to find their rhythm you've given your vets a chance you have done your
due diligence in terms of kind of honoring their experience and doing that and now it's
earn it like show up and play and the rookies have had a chance to fit into the team dynamics

(58:22):
to understand the systems and you're seeing them play more and more in both leagues.
Okay that was only a fraction of your research let's hit us with the juice.
All right so then the last two you have Lexi Rodriguez who we've talked about at length
and is seeing no playing time other than a sub or two and then Sophie Fisher who's playing

(58:43):
for Salt Lake she's been subbed in and out but hasn't been a regular contributor to the
lineup so she's only had you know 22 points 27 attempts so she's still figuring her way
out there in Salt Lake City.
Now as we transition to PVF it gets a little more let's call it messy there are 45 total

(59:07):
first year rookies in the PVF league.
That's crazy.
Not all of them are playing or making contributions so we have about 10 that are seeing regular
playing time.
The reason I broke this down was you had to have played in more than half of your team's

(59:28):
matches and not just in a substitution standpoint.
So I kind of I want to do this real quick we'll go team by team and I'll tell you how
many first years they have and then who's playing.
So if we start with Atlanta Atlanta has eight rookies on their roster the ones who are seeing
playing time are Merritt Beeson and Corey Lewis so they've both played all of their

(59:54):
matches.
Beeson's putting up great numbers she's got 85 points she's hitting almost 24 percent
she's had 200 swings six blocks five aces 46 digs she is exactly what they expected
her to be at this point.
You also have Corey Lewis playing in the middle also played all of the matches 46 points hitting

(01:00:15):
almost 50 percent she's got nine blocks she's making digs those two have been staples for
that team and done a really good job.
And then Mia Tuaniga is like coming into the roster now but like hasn't played as much
as the other ones.
Correct.
So if we look at Columbus they have five total players.
Kaylee Cox is an outside hitter she's played six of six matches also doing a good job 74

(01:00:41):
points 31 percent efficient she's taken 190 swings she's adding 12 blocks making digs
so she's been a real bright spot for Columbus even though they're not winning any matches.
And then you have Abby Walker middle blocker from Cincinnati played six of six matches
has decent stats but is a regular player for them.

(01:01:05):
Looking at Grand Rapids they have five rookies none of them are playing so you have a couple
subs Jenna Ortec from Purdue has been in a bunch of matches they have a couple of barrels
also in Elena Ogilvie.
Nia Shumay has been kind of there she's breaking through I think you're going to see her starting
to play more she's had 120 sets and she's hitting fairly efficiently but they haven't

(01:01:30):
those rookies haven't broken in and are consistent starters at this point.
Moving on to Indy seven rookies in this one also to making contributions you have Caroline
Crawford not unexpected here she was coming in she played for Wisconsin she's been in
four or five of their matches 30 points 32 percent efficient you know 51 attempts blocking

(01:01:54):
really well at 11 so far and she's a staple for them along with Nina Chayich who's also
played a ton for them she's racked up 62 points hitting almost 29 percent efficient she's
had 190 sets so they're relying on her she's done a really good job for them also defensively
with 45 digs.
We're almost there Omaha seven rookies none of them really playing.

(01:02:19):
Not even Baton-Horst.
No Baton-Horst has she's played two of their five matches she's been okay 27 points 84
swings no blocks no aces eight digs she's coming in she's played recently we'll see
where she goes but I wouldn't say she's been a huge contributor at this point.

(01:02:41):
If we look at Orlando we have Natalie Foster from SMU playing middle she's been in five
of six of their matches 60 points 47 percent efficient so she's been scoring really well
they've been setting her more impressively it's 13 blocks 10 aces 12 digs we saw her
serve in the college game and it's transitioned for her really well so she's been really good

(01:03:03):
and then San Diego's got three Layla Blackwell the third middle from Nebraska playing all
of their matches you know 28 points very efficient at 38 getting set 61 times five blocks seven
digs she's been stable for them not a superstar but I think what you expected of her and then

(01:03:25):
finally if we look at Vegas they also have five Cameron Hanna has played five of seven
matches 61 points very efficient at 37 percent 144 swings she's blocking serving aces making
digs and then Charity Looper also an outside hitter so interestingly they have two rookie
outsides she's played four of seven but she's also 54 points 42 percent 150 sets digging

(01:03:54):
blocking serving aces so that's kind of your rookie roundup that's where they're at I think
we've seen some of the players we saw in the NCAA play really well making a good transition
in the PVF and I would expect that to continue I think you'll see more and more of these
young players who we didn't talk about you know notably Anna DeBeer is there you have

(01:04:18):
Elena Scott who has a chance to come through and a few other high-end college players who
I think we'll see make a difference on their teams down the stretch so of all the people
who came in from college we're seeing about a third of them little less than a third of
them making significant contributions to their teams so we'll see how many you know kind

(01:04:39):
of stick it out for the long run how many will start to make more contributions later
in the season and and how that will go but we can post Adams sheets on Instagram if you
guys want to take a closer peek we got a lot of listener questions this week so I have
them all recorded so if we don't hit your question this week don't worry I have them

(01:05:04):
all down but I've selected a few to discuss this week our first question is now that has
been a couple of weeks has your view of the level of play between PVF and love changed
now so I'm gonna go into it a little in a little more detail than just the know you

(01:05:26):
got from Sarah I think if anything it's gotten more the the chasm has widened for me so I'm
seeing two things I'm seeing one just the size and reach of the athletes is is pretty
different from league to league so you know if you look at like let's take Tealer and

(01:05:47):
member Mena for example super physical athletes you know technically sound but they're five
nine they're five eight and you're seeing the outside hitters in love are six four six
five they're your Sarah Franklin's they're your Jess Merzick's and then you have you
know your Thompson's they're just bigger athletes and it's less about the volleyball per se

(01:06:13):
and more about the physicality of the game I would say
and the consistency and and the consistency but the other piece of that too is the setters
are just so much more experienced in love and when those experienced players are touching
the ball every second contact they can fix a lot of things they can make good decisions
they put their hitters in better places those are my two kind of stark observations from

(01:06:39):
these first several weeks and I think something to keep in mind is like because we're saying
that the level is different it doesn't take away from the entertainment factor or the
enjoyment of watching one versus the other the love athletes are better volleyball players

(01:07:00):
they are more polished they're more consistent they're bigger they're more physical the PVF
players like we said a few weeks ago are more of an extension of the college game these
are the players in PVF who probably wouldn't make a great career overseas who probably
wouldn't be able to make a living for like a good living playing overseas but they have

(01:07:23):
been given this opportunity because these players are playing against athletes of a
similar caliber it is entertaining but I think if you were to take a random PVF team and
put them against a love team it would not be fun to watch because it would be very one-sided
so each league the volleyball is fun to watch in its own way but you cannot compare the

(01:07:47):
level that the game is being played at and the height if you under if you truly understand
volleyball and you have actually played the game you know what I'm talking about and from
a fan perspective that is what makes volleyball so beautiful is like you don't have to understand
the game and you don't have to understand how technically sound or physical players

(01:08:12):
are to derive enjoyment from it and so I think the the levels are completely different and
that is totally fine but if anything I think the difference in the abilities is is more
clear now than it was earlier I will say I really like the competitiveness and the intensity

(01:08:36):
that the PVF has managed to generate in their league and that goes back to you know what
we talked about in terms of owners trying to do things and players going back and forth
yeah so I've enjoyed that but that's that's what I'm saying.
Our second question is how does the subbing work in the leagues?
So great question let's give a little context college is 15 subs unlimited you can do whatever

(01:09:00):
you want international is six subs in and out once per athlete that means once you've
come off the bench onto the floor and you go back onto the bench you cannot come back
in so love and PVF both have eight subs per set now the difference is in love it's similar
to the college rules where the players can go in and out and in and out so you see Omaha

(01:09:24):
doing the double sub and they can do that because you can come in and out PVF also has
eight subs but they play the international rule so you'll see a player come in maybe
serve once and then come back off the floor and can't go back in you're seeing that with
an Elena Scott for example so while they have the same numbers the rules around what you
can do are slightly different.

(01:09:46):
And our final question of the week is what new athletes do you think could make the US
2028 Olympic team?
First and foremost I think you have to understand how the US plays volleyball internationally
generally they are middle dominant their middles have been incredibly talented and at the top
of the world for several cycles now they seem to pump out middles who can score who can

(01:10:10):
block at an incredible rate in order to utilize them your ball control needs to be on point
so you are seeing left sides like Jordan who are ball control Justine Wong-Arantis who
has great ball control is the libero there they need to be in system to be successful

(01:10:31):
and so as everybody's kind of looking at Jess Merzik and Sarah Franklin and saying are
we going to see them make that jump and I think one of those two could potentially be
on the team on the bench to come in as a sub in 2028 when they need a little size unless

(01:10:54):
their ball control improves greatly they are not going to win and I say they the US is
not going to win at the Olympics if those passers are passing at the attack line and
then having to hit out of system so that's on the left side I think Maddie Skinner so
the one thing in my opinion that the US has locked is a super terminal opposite and Maddie

(01:11:18):
Skinner has the potential to be that because she's physical enough but I'm not there to
say she's not going to be her I think it'll be Olivia Babcock I think at the international
level and the way the international game is played Olivia Babcock is the type of opposite

(01:11:38):
player you want on the court the US has always fallen behind other powerhouse countries in
the opposite position they haven't had a beast terminal opposite like you see from the Italians
the Serbians the Turkish teams like as Adam said the US has gotten by with incredible

(01:12:02):
ball control running an incredibly fast offense and having dominant middles I think to get
to that next level I think Olivia Babcock will step in I think Jess Merzik could be a typical
like outside there I feel like the US system in the way that they play is going to change

(01:12:23):
oh interesting yeah I think Alexey Rodriguez could be on the team as a backup libero because
you do need to but I haven't seen any middles I think Andy Jackson potentially could be
on the US team in 2028 I think compared to some of the middles out there she's a little

(01:12:48):
smaller internationally do you see Dana Retke being on there do you see oh Dana Retke is
already on the team okay that's what I'm saying do you see her as I think Retke could step
in I think I was thinking like current or recently graduated college players totally
fair that just popped into my head out of curiosity as you were talking about Jackson

(01:13:10):
okay so yeah Retke I think so Jackson I think Babcock I wouldn't be surprised if Rachel
Fairbanks enters the system because Carlini stepped away Rodriguez I think could there's
there's a few but I think the US definitely needs to step up their right side game and

(01:13:30):
they need to I mean Avery Skinner has kind of stepped into the similar role that I just
outlined for Jess Merzik so I I'm not sure Merzik will beat her out but those are the
players that come to mind for me yeah I think that makes sense I wouldn't write Maddie Skinner
off just based on how physical she is if she steps in there and she can be that dynamic

(01:13:52):
but I also I wasn't thinking about Babcock I think that's a good choice too so it'll
be interesting to see if they get chances and how they perform this summer even in some
of that play again thanks so much to all of you who submit questions if I didn't get to
your question this week don't worry it will be coming but we also answered some throughout

(01:14:13):
the episode so if it wasn't in the actual section we may have addressed it throughout
the episode but thank you so much all of you who take the time to write to us all right
looking forward to the week coming up here's what we have our eye on here's what we're
going to be watching on Wednesday the love head-to-head match features Houston and Austin

(01:14:33):
so we got a little Texas showdown that's at 8 p.m. Eastern on love live hopefully we don't
get any black screens and the women's sport network the weekend with love will be in Salt
Lake City this weekend the Friday match will be on love live and the zone and Saturday
matches on love live and the women's sport network as we get into the NCAA men's action

(01:14:56):
if you want to stay up late on Thursday and Saturday at midnight Eastern Stanford plays
Hawaii that's too late for me that should be a good game I might be up to watch that
one on Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern UCLA plays Long Beach State I think that's going to be
an incredible match I want to go I'm excited I haven't seen Long Beach State play yet I've

(01:15:18):
I've wanted to but their games have been hard to find yeah so that I would circle that one
on the calendar as being we might go to that one live yeah so we'll see we'll see and then
in the PVF on Friday at 10 Eastern you got the Vegas thrill playing the San Diego mojo
on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern the Omaha Supernovas play Atlanta vibe and those matches can both

(01:15:42):
be found on YouTube on the PVF channel I will say occasionally the PVF matches show up on
the volleyball world TV yeah we've been going through it lately yeah short notice I was
looking for it on YouTube and then somebody posted that it had moved station so if you
can't find it on YouTube check volleyball world TV that concludes this week's episode

(01:16:05):
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'd be
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sure to let us know by reaching out to us on Instagram or at info at Sarah pavin calm

(01:16:30):
thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back next week