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Speaker 1: with Adidas. Today, I'm Tiffany Oshinsky and I'm Capbo, and
Speaker 1: this is serving pancakes with League one Volleyball. The inaugural
Speaker 1: Love Season is finally here. Each episode will be going
Speaker 1: over the matches from the week to keep you up
Speaker 1: to date on everything League one Volleyball. Then stick around
Speaker 1: after the analysis for interviews with some amazing people in
Speaker 1: and around the sport with only If you were weeks
Speaker 1: left in the regular season and after a jam packed weekend,
Speaker 1: We're gonna focus just on all the action from week eleven.
Speaker 1: But before we get into the games.
Speaker 2: How are you doing Cat, I'm doing good.
Speaker 3: Long travel day, going to Omaha, Longevelday, coming back, But
Speaker 3: I feel great.
Speaker 2: How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Not doing great? I feel like, you know, I'm probably
Speaker 1: a little more arrested than you are.
Speaker 3: But I'm feeling good for sure, for sure. But you know,
Speaker 3: body still tea. We keep going, We keep going, keep going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's three more weeks, lap, so you guys can.
Speaker 2: Believing for three more weeks? So crazy, I know.
Speaker 1: I gotta say, like this season flew by so quick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm for sure I say the same thing.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's get into it in week eleven.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start with Thursday Night's matchup between White Hot
Speaker 1: Love Madison versus Love Salt Lake at Bruin Arena, and
Speaker 1: Madison continue their hot streak in dramatic fashion, solidifying the
Speaker 1: w in five sets twenty twenty five, twenty five, fifteen, seventeen,
Speaker 1: twenty five, thirty two, thirty fifteen seven. So what was
Speaker 1: Madison doing right to stick out this win?
Speaker 2: Hey, Madison has found their groove.
Speaker 3: Honestly, like kind of shortened the're kind of like long
Speaker 3: term in the game, but now they found a groove
Speaker 3: of the consistent right Now, obviously Annie's amazing.
Speaker 2: They found a connection through Lauren car Leading. So they're
Speaker 2: in a group right now.
Speaker 1: They're killing it, Yes they are. Now let's talk about
Speaker 1: that fourth set. Madison was trailing twenty four to twenty one,
Speaker 1: one set point away from losing the entire match. We've
Speaker 1: talked about previously on the podcast about how the best
Speaker 1: teams find ways to win and can persevere in these moments.
Speaker 1: But what specifically did Madison do at the end to
Speaker 1: not just stay in the game but eventually get the
Speaker 1: win at thirty two to thirty.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I think exeking transition. I think tradition game is
Speaker 3: always very important. If you can defend the ball and
Speaker 3: get the ball hop in the mental court and get
Speaker 3: a great set to do your pins. I think transitioning
Speaker 3: out of system was great. Defending well and just staying
Speaker 3: in those moments, taking one point of the time. I
Speaker 3: feel like Madison wasn't being rushed.
Speaker 2: They're super patient and obviously helped them out on the end.
Speaker 1: Now you already mentioned Annie Drew Schumacher. We can't talk
Speaker 1: about this match without mentioning the great Southpaw. Cannot, no,
Speaker 1: not at all. She has been unbelievable in this wind
Speaker 1: streak for Madison, and Thursday night was absolutely no different.
Speaker 1: A love best twenty six kills, only five errors in
Speaker 1: fifty eight attempts, absolutely insane, and her biggest contribution probably
Speaker 1: came in that fourth set where she had nine kills alone.
Speaker 1: But I actually want to give a shout out to
Speaker 1: outside Jennifer Yaniska, who finished with fourteen kills, including the
Speaker 1: match winner. Those fourteen kills were a season high for her.
Speaker 1: So talk about the importance of being ready to come
Speaker 1: in off the bench and contribute.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: You know, we didn't see a lot of Jennifer I'm
Speaker 3: coming in the beginning of the season, and now she's
Speaker 3: kind of made us stride with the team these last
Speaker 3: five matches. And I love that when she comes on
Speaker 3: the floor, she's bringing in what she does. I said
Speaker 3: last time I talked with her a few weeks ago
Speaker 3: that she's very consistent. So they have a consistent attacker
Speaker 3: on the pan. That is what you need where there's
Speaker 3: ball control, I'm putting a ball away. She brings him
Speaker 3: a much more stable option on the outside because they
Speaker 3: have Annie all day on the right side, so she
Speaker 3: helves them out quite a bit now.
Speaker 1: They're on a five game win streak right now, two
Speaker 1: more weeks left in the regular season before Love Finals begins.
Speaker 1: Are they peaking too soon? Or is this the right
Speaker 1: time for them to peak?
Speaker 3: You know what, I'm gonna say, it's the right time.
Speaker 3: It's a great time to peak. Actually, I think it's
Speaker 3: better late than never. You do have some teams still
Speaker 3: figuring some stuff out aka Austin and Omaha, but hey.
Speaker 2: We're gonna figure it out. I think it's a great
Speaker 2: tradition game with them right now.
Speaker 3: They found a way to pivot and they're playing well,
Speaker 3: and I just hope they continue to play well. Not
Speaker 3: too well gets this, but like I hope they could
Speaker 3: even good playing well and showing up every week.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Austin and Omaha, perfect pivot to the next match,
Speaker 1: which was the game that you crushed it. Let's go.
Speaker 1: After three straight losses, Love Austin beat Love Omaha and
Speaker 1: five thrilling sets on Friday twenty four to twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty twenty five, fifteen, twenty three, twenty five,
Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen, and you and Middle Chiacobago had had a night.
Speaker 1: I mean, absolutely incredible between the two of you, you
Speaker 1: had forty three points thanks to thirty one kills, eleven
Speaker 1: blocks and an ace, and you yourself had seventeen kills.
Speaker 1: So besides being on the court, what was the what
Speaker 1: was different in this game that helped you ladies get
Speaker 1: that wh.
Speaker 3: And know, I think it's one thing that Chiaca mentioned
Speaker 3: to our press conference, said, like there's just some things
Speaker 3: you just a score on paper doesn't have, you know,
Speaker 3: I think it takes more than just beople to put
Speaker 3: a ball away, be able to kind of feed the
Speaker 3: energy around the players around you. And I felt like
Speaker 3: I was breathing fire into the girls around me.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: It was just it was a great night. I think
Speaker 3: we were bobbing off each other really well. I came
Speaker 3: in with a lot of energy, just trying to, like
Speaker 3: I said, feed into them, feed into logan and try
Speaker 3: to find stop a flextapability on the course.
Speaker 2: So it was just it was our night and it
Speaker 2: was great. It was great.
Speaker 1: I mean, Chiaca mentioned that during her postgame interview because
Speaker 1: she earned Player of the Match honors in this match,
Speaker 1: but I mean she mentioned that you being on the
Speaker 1: court helped create Like you said, you lit a fire
Speaker 1: underneath them, right.
Speaker 4: I feel like today we needed a lot of energy
Speaker 4: and a lot of fire coming on the court, and
Speaker 4: I felt like Kat lit a fire under everyone's part
Speaker 4: of my French ass. And I feel like when she
Speaker 4: was in I.
Speaker 1: Felt more confident.
Speaker 4: So I feel like I could not have done tonight
Speaker 4: without her, without her pumping up everyone.
Speaker 1: So thank you. You two are good friends. So talk
Speaker 1: about the sixth sense that you guys kind of have
Speaker 1: when you get to play with your friend, and how
Speaker 1: do you try to replicate that sixth sense when you're
Speaker 1: not actually lined up to block next to your bestie.
Speaker 3: I think it's the communication. I'm talking to Chi, I'm
Speaker 3: tripping to her em I'm in the back court. I'm
Speaker 3: telling her, you know, give me one, sell me what
Speaker 3: you got, what you could you get her or not
Speaker 3: like somebody like I'm giving her just some like you know, information,
Speaker 3: just like you know, just trying to get her to
Speaker 3: like kind of like perk up a little bit, you know.
Speaker 3: I talked to the girls like they're my friends. I
Speaker 3: don't have a a kind of like a volleyball dialogue.
Speaker 3: I'm kind of like, hey, guys, let's go. No I
Speaker 3: talk how I talk normally to them like hey, get
Speaker 3: this ball right now, like shut her down, be in
Speaker 3: her face, like that's the kind of thing I'm saying,
Speaker 3: as well as like obviously the opposing team you can
Speaker 3: hear it too, So you know, just like bringing who
Speaker 3: I am my personally into the court and being able to,
Speaker 3: like I said, feed into the girls around me and
Speaker 3: bring the spirits up is what it's cost me nothing,
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying. So it's a tough job
Speaker 3: obviously come off the bench, but it's what I do best,
Speaker 3: and I was very fortunate. I'm very happy to be
Speaker 3: able to be able to contribute the way I did
Speaker 3: on Friday night.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and after a pretty dominant win in the third set,
Speaker 1: Omaha fought back to win that fourth. So what did
Speaker 1: you say to the team in between that fourth and
Speaker 1: fifth set to keep their spirits up? And what did
Speaker 1: you say to yourself because seven of your seventeen kills
Speaker 1: did come in that fifth set.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I told him, I was like, hey, I was like,
Speaker 3: give me your best Bally ball right now, like fifteen points.
Speaker 2: Everything you have on the floor right now.
Speaker 3: Obviously we're all tired and kind of being like a
Speaker 3: dog fight throughout the tire and nighte I was like,
Speaker 3: give me your best balleyball and the rest of.
Speaker 2: The work itself.
Speaker 3: I think in the fifth set it was connect towards
Speaker 3: the end, I would kept telling myself, but we got
Speaker 3: to get two more points in the last block.
Speaker 2: I told you. I was like, get me one, get
Speaker 2: me a block, and she would and did that. So
Speaker 2: it was it was great. It was great.
Speaker 1: You didn't need just fifteen points, you needed eighteen points
Speaker 1: to when that matche towards me and we were like, dang,
Speaker 1: you're like, let's go. What was the celebration like post game?
Speaker 3: I mean, it was just like I was screaming and
Speaker 3: then like I stopped screaming, and I just like was
Speaker 3: just taking it in the moment of just like hugging
Speaker 3: Chiaka and hugging their girls around me and just knowing that, like,
Speaker 3: you know, the well fought battle was working towards the end,
Speaker 3: you know, it wasn't all for nothing. It sucks to
Speaker 3: go into a fifth set and lose, you know, regardless
Speaker 3: of you're getting you know, it's a good match or not,
Speaker 3: but it just sucks to go all the way and
Speaker 3: not to get the results. So the fact that we
Speaker 3: went all the way and it was at one point tied.
Speaker 3: They were up game. Matt set point fourteen fifteen on
Speaker 3: us and we managed to fight back and you know,
Speaker 3: to be able to be and that moment with them
Speaker 3: was amazing.
Speaker 5: It was great, all right.
Speaker 1: Well, that game was a great win for you ladies,
Speaker 1: But unfortunately there wasn't a repeat in the first game
Speaker 1: of Saturday.
Speaker 2: Shortly normal it's normal.
Speaker 1: A good a good win on Friday. But in the
Speaker 1: end love Atlanta pulled off a sweep over you guys
Speaker 1: on Saturday twenty five, nineteen twenty five, one twenty five
Speaker 1: to fifteen. So what was the difference between Friday night's
Speaker 1: match and this one and how did Atlanta take advantage?
Speaker 3: I mean, what are we talking about here? The difference
Speaker 3: was the team, obviously Atlanta. We held them pretty well,
Speaker 3: I think offensively with our blocking and defense.
Speaker 2: But Atlanta's great. They're a really good team.
Speaker 3: They have really good chemistry right now. Obviously, Kelsey is
Speaker 3: going to be Kelsey every single night, and she definitely
Speaker 3: was for us the player of the match as well.
Speaker 3: I know it's Mackinsey as well, but I think Kelsey
Speaker 3: doesn't kept from the game a lot, and they found
Speaker 3: a weakness. I think we caught onto tips kind of late,
Speaker 3: I would say, in the second set, but I would
Speaker 3: just say, you know, they played the game well.
Speaker 2: They had some really good points.
Speaker 3: Blocking was amazing and like you've either had to try
Speaker 3: to go through them or around them, and they would
Speaker 3: just have touching balls all day long. So we just
Speaker 3: a really good job fars like blocking us and we
Speaker 3: kind of figure out what we were at in our
Speaker 3: offensive speam.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about Mackenzie for a second, because, as
Speaker 1: you said, you know, she won the player of the
Speaker 1: match honors. She scored twelve points from nine kills three blocks,
Speaker 1: but she also had eleven digs. So which part of
Speaker 1: her game do you find the most dominating and hardest
Speaker 1: to stop?
Speaker 3: Surprising dominating, I would say passing. You know, we served
Speaker 3: her basically almost every ball and she kept them in system.
Speaker 3: So that was things that was one thing kind of
Speaker 3: cut us off by surprise.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I think in the past this season Mackenzie has kind
Speaker 3: of struggled in the passive line. I think that's kind
Speaker 3: of all of all areas on every team you have
Speaker 3: one passer who's you know, pretty good and like, you know,
Speaker 3: you can kind of get the ball in a certain way,
Speaker 3: maybe we can kind of catch them at the system,
Speaker 3: but Mackenzie was just passing dimes or catch them the system.
Speaker 3: On top of the said defense, in transition, they're digging
Speaker 3: balls high middle of the core. And then they have
Speaker 3: Maddie Buck who's an amazing center as well, and she
Speaker 3: would keep them and keep them in transition. So it
Speaker 3: was tough, tough to be, very tough to be.
Speaker 1: Week after we keep topalking about how great Atlanta has
Speaker 1: been playing, and they've been atop the standings the majority
Speaker 1: of the season and have already clinched a buy in
Speaker 1: the Love Finals as one of the top two teams
Speaker 1: in the standings. But you've played them three times now,
Speaker 1: we've seen them lose to Houston. So what is their
Speaker 1: achilles heel? How can teams beat Atlanta?
Speaker 3: That's a hard to needle in a haystack. That's the
Speaker 3: hard thing to kind of fine. It's almost like you
Speaker 3: have to kind of catch them on a bad day potentially,
Speaker 3: and even if their bad day is bad, it's not
Speaker 3: that bad, you know. If anything, I would say if
Speaker 3: a team can outdefend them, that helps know, Houston's a
Speaker 3: great defensive team.
Speaker 2: I would say probably the best team in the league
Speaker 2: defensive wise.
Speaker 3: I think Maddi Kingdan Michelle, she's actually the league defensive
Speaker 3: player right now outside even including Livero. So I think
Speaker 3: Houston has done a really good job of far as
Speaker 3: defending them pretty well. And I think, like I said,
Speaker 3: if you could, if you can defend more balls, it's
Speaker 3: going to help you and again transition out and be
Speaker 3: more successful in that.
Speaker 2: It's that's easy, a good way to help you beat Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Well, at Lana was hoping to secure that number one
Speaker 1: spot going into the finals, but they're going to have
Speaker 1: to wait a little longer because number two. Houston secured
Speaker 1: another win beating love Omaha Saturday night and four sets
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty one, twenty five, eighteen, twenty three, twenty five,
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty three. Now you can tell by the scores,
Speaker 1: especially the last two sets, that this was a tough
Speaker 1: match for them to win. So what did Houston ultimately
Speaker 1: do to get that w.
Speaker 3: I think, honestly, what most people can't really see is
Speaker 3: the chemistry that Houston has, Like everyone has a third mesh.
Speaker 2: Their jail is so nice. It's so tight.
Speaker 3: The most Jordy, that starting six are really good friends.
Speaker 3: They have their relationship, but I think it kind of
Speaker 3: relies off the court and it helps them on the
Speaker 3: court as well the communication standpoint. They're able to kind
Speaker 3: of feed into each other the way they can communicate
Speaker 3: with one another, and it's able to help them be
Speaker 3: consistent about the season.
Speaker 1: Those intangibles for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're besties.
Speaker 1: Of course. Jordan Thompson, no surprise here, was named Player
Speaker 1: of the match thanks to twenty one kills, two blocks,
Speaker 1: and thirteen digs. Then, looking at Jordan's stats, her three
Speaker 1: highest kill efficiencies came in matches against Omaha. How does
Speaker 1: she do it when she goes up against that Omaha
Speaker 1: block and defense.
Speaker 2: I think, honestly just being her JT is so athletic.
Speaker 2: She gets so high.
Speaker 3: On top of the ball, and I think it's finding
Speaker 3: that range in motion if she can keep the ball.
Speaker 3: I think throughout her game she keeps the ball off
Speaker 3: of jesting, which helps a lot. So her being able
Speaker 3: to trigger between middle back and right back. Putting the
Speaker 3: ball in those placements placements areas definitely does help.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Just teams won the best of barrels or probably the
Speaker 3: best barrow in the league right now. And if you
Speaker 3: can be able to keep any ball off of her
Speaker 3: will help you off with some game for sure.
Speaker 1: And we talked about Madison being on a hot streak
Speaker 1: and if they're peaking too early, but with Omaha, we
Speaker 1: kind of have the opposite right they've lost nine in
Speaker 1: a row. Now, do you think this slump might get
Speaker 1: to them enough to actually turn it around before the finals?
Speaker 3: You know, going to the finals, I think it's anyone's game.
Speaker 3: I think right now, it's almost like you know, chess,
Speaker 3: it's okay, we win this game. Who do we want
Speaker 3: to play in the SMIs on the quarterfinals?
Speaker 2: Who do we don't want to play? Kind of thing.
Speaker 2: Like I said, it give me anyone's game.
Speaker 3: Hopefully Omaha going into the finals can find some type
Speaker 3: of like stinch together and kind of will together to
Speaker 3: come to the final chemistry. But it's tough, but I
Speaker 3: think they can come of manage their game and manage
Speaker 3: their mindset and manage each other. They will be able
Speaker 3: to kind of pull it together.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Well, now we only have two weeks left in the season,
Speaker 1: so we're gonna look ahead to week twelve and which
Speaker 1: game we are most excited for? So the lineup we
Speaker 1: got for Week twelve. On Thursday night, the top two
Speaker 1: teams face off for the final time in the regular season,
Speaker 1: with Houston hosting Atlanta and Atlanta looking to clinch the
Speaker 1: top spot in the finals. Your team, Austin hosts the
Speaker 1: Weekend with Love, and we start with you ladies playing
Speaker 1: Omaha on Friday night. Then it's Love Salt Lake versus
Speaker 1: Love Omaha in the first match of Saturdays doubleheader. And
Speaker 1: we end with you guys Austin facing off against Love Madison,
Speaker 1: who are on a five game win streak. So which
Speaker 1: game are you most excited for?
Speaker 2: I would say Love Madison.
Speaker 3: The last time you played them, it wasn't the best
Speaker 3: volleyball and now be able to be more in of
Speaker 3: our home court advantage, so to speak. I think we
Speaker 3: have a little bit of about that game. We were
Speaker 3: not as a team, we were not happy about that match.
Speaker 3: So I think I'm excited to see what we come
Speaker 3: up this week. Durham practice unfair for that and for Omaha,
Speaker 3: but yeah, that's my match of the game for sure,
Speaker 3: match of the week.
Speaker 2: That's what I'm thinking of. I like it.
Speaker 1: That's definitely going to be a really good match, and
Speaker 1: I can't wait to watch you guys especially. I mean
Speaker 1: the way that you guys played Friday night. If you
Speaker 1: show up like that against Madison, who's white hot, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a really good match exactly. But
Speaker 1: I'm also I mean, I've been saying this weekend and
Speaker 1: a week out, but I just Houston Atlanta for me, rivalry,
Speaker 1: that's not that's not officially a rivalry.
Speaker 2: But to me exactly, I think it is for everyone.
Speaker 2: I think we all do the same thing. One would
Speaker 2: always be a rivalry for sure.
Speaker 3: And I think also I think this is the game
Speaker 3: to secure the spot for number one, right mm.
Speaker 1: Hmm yeah, because if Houston wins, then they're tied with
Speaker 1: so because there are two games back, so it'll be exciting.
Speaker 1: I'm pumped.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Well that's to be it for this episode of Serving Pancakes.
Speaker 1: Say tune next week where you and I will recap
Speaker 1: Week twelve. Wait lea go. Serving Pancakes is an iheartwomen's
Speaker 1: sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by League one Volleyball.
Speaker 1: I'm your host Tiffany Oshinsky. My co host is kat Bell.
Speaker 1: Amya Alvarez is our senior producer. Our executive producers are
Speaker 1: Carrie Stett, Tamaradike, and Lindsay Hoffman. Our marketing lead is
Speaker 1: Juara Parker. Sound editing and mixing by Daniel Gonzalez. Our
Speaker 1: theme music is Pancakes by Eric W.
Speaker 2: Mass Junior.
Speaker 1: Next week we'll recap Week twelve. Thanks for listening.