Speaker 1: Welcome to good Game with Sarah Spain, where we can't
Speaker 1: stop looking at photos and videos of Wilma Jean Wrinkles
Speaker 1: celebrating Rose levels one hundred caps at the US women's
Speaker 1: national team game on Wednesday. On today's show, we'll be
Speaker 1: battling whatever the hell evil virus is inhabbiting my body
Speaker 1: while talking all things college volleyball with Emily Emont, former
Speaker 1: Northwestern libero and current broadcaster, reporter and producer. Plus some
Speaker 1: first time goals, injuries that provide context, and tons of
Speaker 1: puppy love. It's all coming up right after this Welcome
Speaker 1: back slices. Here's what you need to know today. In soccer,
Speaker 1: the US women's national team wrapped up the international window
Speaker 1: against Argentina on Wednesday night. Center Back Naomi Germa scored
Speaker 1: her first international goal and then her second in the
Speaker 1: three nail win, with Argentina also contributing an own goal.
Speaker 1: The US women's national team debuted a time totally new lineup,
Speaker 1: with only three regulars starting the game, and goalkeeper Mandy
Speaker 1: HoTT and defenders Eva Gatino and Alyssa Milanson starting and
Speaker 1: earning their first caps at the same time and of
Speaker 1: the game, Rose level was honored for her one hundredth cap,
Speaker 1: which she achieved back in June, and she made sure
Speaker 1: her English bulldog, will Ma Jean Wrinkles got her shine too.
Speaker 1: Wilma showed up in Louisville wearing noise canceling headphones and
Speaker 1: roses number sixteen Jersey Even head coach Emma Hayes shouted
Speaker 1: out the pup, saying she was delighted that Rose got
Speaker 1: to be honored quote in front of her family, most
Speaker 1: importantly in front of Wilma. In NWSL news, it's officially
Speaker 1: the last weekend of the regular season and teams are
Speaker 1: still fighting for position in the playoffs. The top eight
Speaker 1: teams advance, and right now there's a battle at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the table. The number seven, eight and number
Speaker 1: nine teams Portland Thorns, BFC and Racing Louisville are fighting
Speaker 1: for the final two playoff spots. Portland and BAFC control
Speaker 1: their destinies. Both teams secure a spot with a win
Speaker 1: or a draw, regardless of what else happens. If either
Speaker 1: team loses, well, that's where things get interesting and the
Speaker 1: door opens for Racing Louisville to nab that last spot.
Speaker 1: If Bay loses and Louisville wins. Louisville is in full stop.
Speaker 1: Portland's currently beating Racing Louisville by three in goal differential,
Speaker 1: so if Portland loses and Louisville wins, Racing also needs
Speaker 1: to defend well and score some goals to close that
Speaker 1: gap in advance. Wait, there's still more. The Washington Spirit, GOTHAMFC,
Speaker 1: and Kansas City Current have all clinched spots, but they
Speaker 1: could finish second, third, or fourth depending on how the
Speaker 1: weekend goes. And the Chicago Red Stars. That club sits
Speaker 1: at number six right now, but could finish as low
Speaker 1: as the eighth spot. It's a lot, we know, which
Speaker 1: is why we're going to link to our fave data
Speaker 1: viz wiz Alison Gale's playoff scenario breakdowns in our show notes.
Speaker 1: All the action starts tonight with GOTHAMFC paying a visit
Speaker 1: to the Utah Royals at nine to thirty pm Eastern
Speaker 1: on NWSL Plus and Portland hosting Angel City at ten
Speaker 1: pm Eastern on Prime V. On Saturday, we got three games.
Speaker 1: We'll be paying special attention to BAFC at the Houston
Speaker 1: Dash on Ion at nine thirty pm Eastern and Finally,
Speaker 1: on Sunday, two games, including a potentially pivotal matchup between
Speaker 1: Racing Louisville and the San Diego Wave at five thirty
Speaker 1: pm Eastern on ESPN and ESPN plus some WNBA news.
Speaker 1: ESPN's Alexa Philippoo reported that New York Liberty stars Sabrina
Speaker 1: and Escu sustained a hand injury during Game four of
Speaker 1: the WNBA Finals. Per Philipoo, it was a high grade
Speaker 1: ulner collateral ligament tear on her right hand aka her
Speaker 1: shooting hand. Unescu went on to shoot one for nineteen
Speaker 1: in the decisive Game five, with New York still managing
Speaker 1: to pull out the win. Since lifting the trophy, Unescu
Speaker 1: has been spotted with her hand wrapped and a splint
Speaker 1: on her thumb. We'll link to the full ESPN story
Speaker 1: in our show notes. In volleyball News, we got a
Speaker 1: huge matchup on deck tonight between number two Nebraska and
Speaker 1: number seven Wisconsin. The Badgers host their Big Ten rivals
Speaker 1: at nine pm Eastern on Big Ten Network. We'll talk
Speaker 1: more about the history between those teams, and we'll preview
Speaker 1: that game with Emily Emon in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, a pretty cool moment for the Wisconsin squad.
Speaker 1: Ahead of that game, Vice President Kamala Harris spent some
Speaker 1: time with the Badger's team while stopping in Madison for
Speaker 1: one of her final rallies before election day. So awesome
Speaker 1: and a great time to remind you once again to
Speaker 1: make your voting plan. Election day is Tuesday, November fifth.
Speaker 1: We got to pay the bills when we come back.
Speaker 1: We talked college volleyball with Emily Emon. She's a former
Speaker 1: Northwestern volleyball player, a sports broadcaster for ESPN and Big
Speaker 1: Ten Network, and reporter and producer for Volleyball mag dot com.
Speaker 1: She's a diehard Hoosiers fan, a Southern barbecue plate, hates
Speaker 1: this see year coming, and she's determined to run, hike, canoe, bike,
Speaker 1: skifish and whitewater raft her way through life. It's Emily Emon.
Speaker 1: What's up, Emily? I good.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to be here. That was heck of an intro.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I saw those pictures of those barbecue plates and
Speaker 1: some proof of the skiing, canoeing, hiking, biking triathlon. And
Speaker 1: you're very active. You played volleyball at Northwestern quite recently actually,
Speaker 1: but things have already changed so much in the college
Speaker 1: and pro space in the sport since you graduated. What
Speaker 1: stands out to you about the growth of volleyball lately?
Speaker 1: The growth of volleyball has been exponential. It's crazy thinking
Speaker 1: back to when I played. I mean, I graduated in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and.
Speaker 2: The growth that this sport has seen is astronomical. From
Speaker 2: a viewership standpoint, we've seen the most viewed matches ever
Speaker 2: happen every single year. The networks are getting more viewers
Speaker 2: every year, the matches are getting more eyeballs on them.
Speaker 2: And then from an attendance standpoint, I mean, we're breaking
Speaker 2: records left and right. You know, most people saw last
Speaker 2: season Nebraska volleyball packed ninety two thousand people into a
Speaker 2: football stadium. But it's not even just that big event.
Speaker 2: It's been happening at every single school. It feels like
Speaker 2: every week we've seen attendance records all So, thinking back
Speaker 2: to when I played, it's been crazy to see the
Speaker 2: growth of the sport in really growth of coverage in
Speaker 2: the sport, to see more resources thrown in. The NCAA
Speaker 2: tournament has become a bigger deal with more coverage every
Speaker 2: single year, So those have just been a few things
Speaker 2: that have been crazy night and day from even four
Speaker 2: years ago, and I played, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean it's the benefit of streaming more spaces for
Speaker 1: things to air, but also just investment and coverage and
Speaker 1: care for people to learn the stories and learn about
Speaker 1: the players and teams and then want to come back
Speaker 1: and watch more. And it's really been noticeable in attendance
Speaker 1: and ratings and all those numbers. I want to set
Speaker 1: the stage for this season of college volleyball, tell us
Speaker 1: which teams are this year's standouts.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's been so exciting. What's been really fun about
Speaker 2: this year is there has been since the beginning of
Speaker 2: the season more upsets than we've ever seen. But there's
Speaker 2: also been a lot of dominance. So, for example, They've
Speaker 2: been the number one team for essentially it feels like
Speaker 2: the entire year for now. They went almost I think
Speaker 2: seven weeks without losing a single set. So this is
Speaker 2: a program that has been on the rise for a
Speaker 2: few years. They're the number one team and they look
Speaker 2: like it. And then there's Nebraska, who has won five
Speaker 2: national championships. They are always a perennial powerhouse and in
Speaker 2: contention for an NCAA title. They're definitely up there. Penn
Speaker 2: State has been doing a phenomenal job, which has been
Speaker 2: so exciting for that program. Of the dominance that we
Speaker 2: saw about ten years ago continue to get better and
Speaker 2: better under a new head coach and Katie Schumacher Colli,
Speaker 2: who took over for the legendary Russ Rose. Louisville's been fantastic.
Speaker 2: Stanford's been great. It's been really fun to see Creighton
Speaker 2: really come up. This is a team that has a
Speaker 2: really veteran core and their coach, Kirshenberg Galbooth, is one
Speaker 2: of the best in the country, and it's been fun
Speaker 2: to see that program now get their highest ranking in
Speaker 2: program history. They've held onto that sixth spot for a
Speaker 2: while now and then kind of a I don't want
Speaker 2: to say dark horse because they're always in contention, but
Speaker 2: Wisconsin has been doing a really good job as of late.
Speaker 2: They dropped their first three matches of the season, lost
Speaker 2: their first conference match to Minnesota, and since then have
Speaker 2: been absolutely rolling. So those are kind of the top
Speaker 2: ones right now that we're looking at that I would say,
Speaker 2: I mean there's about six seven teams right now that
Speaker 2: I think could contend for a national title, which in
Speaker 2: years past hasn't always been the case.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really fun to see a bit more parody
Speaker 1: in a sport that's had the kind of front runners
Speaker 1: for a couple years or for decades in the case
Speaker 1: of some of the programs. When you talk about some
Speaker 1: of the programs that are newer to the top, how
Speaker 1: does that happen in college volleyball? Is it one superstar
Speaker 1: that helps change the fortunes of a team and then
Speaker 1: it allows them to recruit better players in the years
Speaker 1: after that. Is it a coach, is an investment from
Speaker 1: the school? Is there a through line that you can
Speaker 1: find to how teams sort of turn things over from
Speaker 1: middle of the pack to joining those teams at the top.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to be honest, a lot of it does come
Speaker 2: down to coaching, and not even just their coaching, but
Speaker 2: really those ability and that ability to get better recruits.
Speaker 2: You know, you have one good year and all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, maybe you're flipping a few of those recruits
Speaker 2: that are freshman sophomores in high school that are going
Speaker 2: to come up through the program later. So a lot
Speaker 2: of that does start at the coaching level, and it
Speaker 2: helps when you get you know, some superstar into your program,
Speaker 2: that's definitely going to turn a few heads. But for example,
Speaker 2: for a program like Pitt, you know, that was a
Speaker 2: team that was always in contention for an ACC title.
Speaker 2: They've won it so many years now, but now we've
Speaker 2: seen them make three final fours in the past, and
Speaker 2: that really started with their head coach, Dan Fisher coming
Speaker 2: in and just changing the way that his program thought
Speaker 2: about success. You know, it's really difficult to come into
Speaker 2: a culture, not that this was the case with Pitt,
Speaker 2: but really any culture that isn't used to winning and
Speaker 2: flip that switch with the athletes of Okay, we're walking
Speaker 2: into these matches that maybe we're playing a top team
Speaker 2: in the country. In the past, we might have just
Speaker 2: handed them the win and come out flat. But it
Speaker 2: really comes from the coach instilling that mindset in their
Speaker 2: athletes of we can not only hang with the top teams,
Speaker 2: but we have the ability to beat them and we're
Speaker 2: not losing from the time we start the match at
Speaker 2: the time we walk in the door.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, that kind of approach is hard to do,
Speaker 1: but a coach that can do it, that will completely
Speaker 1: change the fortunes of a team going forward. Are there
Speaker 1: any unexpected teams, maybe some true dark horses making waves
Speaker 1: this season that we should keep an eye maybe not
Speaker 1: to win at all, but just it feels like the
Speaker 1: start of a program making a move. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2: I feel like Creighton is a perfect example of that.
Speaker 2: This is a program that in years past hasn't necessarily
Speaker 2: had the massive names that you might think of. Of course,
Speaker 2: they're not playing in a power conference, so it's obviously
Speaker 2: a little bit different there, but they have some absolute
Speaker 2: ballers on their team. They're not a top five team
Speaker 2: right now, but they absolutely look like they could be.
Speaker 2: They're coached again by one of who I think is
Speaker 2: one of the best coaches in the country, cares in
Speaker 2: birth All Booth, and they have a stud of a setter.
Speaker 2: I mean, she can just fling the ball around. She's
Speaker 2: pretty undersized, but honestly probably one of the most athletic
Speaker 2: setters in the entire country that we've seen in a
Speaker 2: really fun outside to watch in. Nora assists that when
Speaker 2: you have one of those X factor players that can
Speaker 2: completely take over and go off for twenty five even
Speaker 2: thirty kills in a match, it changes the way that
Speaker 2: your program's thought about, because you have a player that
Speaker 2: can just absolutely go off, and it's not even norrisis.
Speaker 2: They have a lot of other pieces to that team
Speaker 2: that can take over in different ways. And I would
Speaker 2: say Creighton is a team that probably won't earn a
Speaker 2: top four seed for the NCAA Tournament, meaning they're not
Speaker 2: going to host a regional. But they're not a team
Speaker 2: that you want to see in the regional semis or
Speaker 2: the regional finals because they could absolutely steal one from you.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Big Ten. We're halfway through conference playing. Nebraska
Speaker 1: and Penn State are tied for first at ten, and oh,
Speaker 1: how will their upcoming schedules play a role in who
Speaker 1: might take and hold a lead?
Speaker 2: I mean, it's crazy when you look at the Big
Speaker 2: Ten title race right now you have Nebraska and Penn
Speaker 2: State ten and oh you have Wisconsin right behind them
Speaker 2: at nine to one. But the schedules are drastically different
Speaker 2: when you put them on paper. So Nebraska's schedule is
Speaker 2: heating up and Penn States gets a little bit lighter.
Speaker 2: During Nebraska's first ten matches of Big Ten played, they
Speaker 2: only saw two ranked opponents, and they had both of
Speaker 2: them at home, and Nebraska has probably the best home
Speaker 2: court advantage in all of NCAA volleyball. They sell out
Speaker 2: nine thousand every single night, So when you're not playing
Speaker 2: these ranked teams on the road, it's a massive difference
Speaker 2: for the Nebraska program. So when you look at their
Speaker 2: upcoming schedule, they have five ranked teams left and three
Speaker 2: of those are on the road, so they have an
Speaker 2: insanely tough schedule. Penn State, on the other hand, they
Speaker 2: only have three more ranked opponents and two of them
Speaker 2: are at home, and that's another environment that does really
Speaker 2: make a difference, especially later on in the season when
Speaker 2: there's a lot on the line. So you have two
Speaker 2: teams ten and zero, Penn State has much easier road
Speaker 2: to get there. And then you have a Wisconsin team
Speaker 2: that is heating up at the right time. They lost
Speaker 2: their first match of conference play, but they've really found
Speaker 2: their rhythm. Every single statistical category you look at, I mean,
Speaker 2: they're just exponentially better, leading or second in the conference
Speaker 2: and pretty much everything. They still have five more ranked
Speaker 2: opponents left and three or home, two or away, So
Speaker 2: Wisconsin Nebraska much more difficult schedules than you see from
Speaker 2: this Penn State team that you know it's been about
Speaker 2: seven or eight years since they've won a Big Ten
Speaker 2: title because it's gone to either Wisconsin or Nebraska for
Speaker 2: the past few seasons. So the Nitney Lions feel like
Speaker 2: they're in a good spot potentially to take it this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah. One of those tests coming up for both Nebraska
Speaker 1: and Wisconsin is when they face each other this weekend,
Speaker 1: a huge matchup. What are the stakes and what are
Speaker 1: the biggest storylines in this one?
Speaker 2: The stakes are great because these two teams for the
Speaker 2: past five seasons have won the Big Ten title. Wisconsin
Speaker 2: won it four of the last five and then Nebraska
Speaker 2: came in last season and kind of took it to
Speaker 2: Wisconsin early on. So that's what's on the line. It's
Speaker 2: a Big Ten title, and what a Big Ten title
Speaker 2: normally means too, is you're earning one of those top
Speaker 2: four seeds to host through the NCAA tournament. That's something
Speaker 2: that selection committee. You know, they're not saying they're specifically
Speaker 2: looking at, but it does make a difference if they're
Speaker 2: winning titles in what is the best conference in college volleyball,
Speaker 2: So you not only have the Big Ten title on
Speaker 2: the line, hosting rights on the line, also these two
Speaker 2: programs just hate each other in a great way. You know,
Speaker 2: it's become this really fun rivalry in college volleyball. Of
Speaker 2: they play against each other. In the twenty twenty one
Speaker 2: NCAA Tournament, it was one of the most epic battles
Speaker 2: that we've ever seen. Wisconsin ended up taking down Nebraska
Speaker 2: in five sets. So you have that on the line.
Speaker 2: We saw last year what was dubbed, you know, the
Speaker 2: greatest college regular season game ever when Nebraska and Wisconsin met.
Speaker 2: It was number one versus number two, undefeated. It was
Speaker 2: a bloodbath, came down to literally the last play. So
Speaker 2: it feels like every time these two teams meet, it's
Speaker 2: a bloodbath. They want to get absolutely after it, and
Speaker 2: it's always created one of the most fun environments in
Speaker 2: college volleyball because also in Madison at the field House,
Speaker 2: I mean, they're rock in that student section. They get
Speaker 2: into it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned that you love covering this particular matchup.
Speaker 1: Take us behind the scenes, tell us what makes it
Speaker 1: so special?
Speaker 2: That's fun. I think it's one of those rivalries that
Speaker 2: it really feels like fans get into just as much
Speaker 2: as the players. You know, on Twitter, you see constant
Speaker 2: chatters throughout the year, like when Nebraska loses Wisconsin, fans
Speaker 2: are jumping on them and vice versa, which makes it
Speaker 2: is so much fun. The atmosphere of this match, it
Speaker 2: feels like a national championship in a way because it
Speaker 2: also has the level of play and the feel of
Speaker 2: a national championship. So I mean, behind the scenes, you know,
Speaker 2: you're talking to the coaches, you're talking to the players.
Speaker 2: They have a different focus coming into this match than
Speaker 2: at least what I've seen in the past from them
Speaker 2: coming into different matchups. This one means just a little
Speaker 2: bit more because the stakes are so high and because
Speaker 2: the level of play is so high on both sides.
Speaker 1: I love when you talk to athletes, they'll often be like,
Speaker 1: we just take it one game at a time. They
Speaker 1: all matter, and it's like, you're live. Have you circled
Speaker 1: us on the calendar When the season starts, you get
Speaker 1: up for this and it's so fun to watch. We're
Speaker 1: going to make sure we put in the show notes
Speaker 1: where people can watch that, and now that they've got
Speaker 1: the storylines, it'll be all the more fun to catch
Speaker 1: that on television and watch those teams go at it.
Speaker 1: What do you think the best college volleyball atmosphere in
Speaker 1: the game is is it still in Nebraska?
Speaker 2: Oh? Best atmosphere? Yeah, it's Nebraska. You know, they have
Speaker 2: the greatest home court advantage in NCUBA volleyball. There are
Speaker 2: nine thousand fans consecutively sold out for the past I
Speaker 2: think they're nearing it on three hundred and fifty sellouts,
Speaker 2: which is the longest streak in Division one athletics, not
Speaker 2: even just women's volleyball, Division one women's athletics. So that's
Speaker 2: been so fun to see for this program and the
Speaker 2: support that they get. And there might be environments that
Speaker 2: are maybe a little bit louder. For example, if you're
Speaker 2: at Texas, that's one of the craziest environments. If you're
Speaker 2: playing in a really top team Perdue, they only pack
Speaker 2: twenty five hundred people into Holloway Gym, But that's one
Speaker 2: of the loudest environments that I've ever been a part of.
Speaker 2: But there's something special about Nebraska and just the love
Speaker 2: that those fans have for the sport because they're there
Speaker 2: to watch of course Nebraska, but they also just love volleyball.
Speaker 2: They are really intelligent about the sport. They understand what
Speaker 2: high level volleyball is and so to me that makes
Speaker 2: it the greatest in ncublea volleyball.
Speaker 1: Is there a surprising place that's kind of taking big
Speaker 1: leaps or becoming a big draw.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been really fun to see over the last
Speaker 2: I would say two or three years, because we're seeing
Speaker 2: that those kind of situations pop up around the country
Speaker 2: where maybe it wasn't a place that had a big
Speaker 2: volleyball job before but now it is, or they're just
Speaker 2: getting more fans there. I mean to be honest, every
Speaker 2: week it feels like we're seeing records broken again. I
Speaker 2: would say a place that you maybe wouldn't think of
Speaker 2: as having a great volleyball atmosphere is Purdue and West Offia.
Speaker 2: I mean, again, it's not the most daunting crowd, it's
Speaker 2: only twenty five hundred, but for the big matches they
Speaker 2: always sell out. And I think they have the best
Speaker 2: student section. Yeah, best dodent section in the country. I
Speaker 2: mean they know everything about you, you know, they know
Speaker 2: your mom's cousins, dogs, whatever's name, and they're yelling stuff
Speaker 2: like it's so much fun. They do their homework just
Speaker 2: as much as feels like the players in the court
Speaker 2: do so that's a place, you know, if you're in
Speaker 2: the Midwest in the area, touch a volleyball match there
Speaker 2: because it's a load of fun.
Speaker 1: Another big storyline this season in college volleyball has been
Speaker 1: San Jose State University. Five teams have now forfeited matches
Speaker 1: against the program. They haven't explicitly said why, but reportedly
Speaker 1: the presence of a transgender athlete on the San Jose
Speaker 1: step team is believed to be behind the decisions. San
Speaker 1: Jose has said that every athlete is eligible to play
Speaker 1: based on the rules established by the NCAA and the
Speaker 1: Mountain West Conference. Are you hearing people in college volleyball
Speaker 1: talk about this and how are they reacting to this
Speaker 1: story and the forfeits.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's obviously a massive story in CAA
Speaker 2: volleyball right now. I think it's definitely being talked about,
Speaker 2: But I don't know if it's necessarily being talked about
Speaker 2: in the way of you know, x'es and o's volleyball.
Speaker 2: It's more of a political discussion and where people fall
Speaker 2: on that. And obviously everyone has their everyone has their beliefs,
Speaker 2: and both are very valid and I completely understand, but
Speaker 2: I think when it comes down to x's and o's.
Speaker 2: What I think is also important to realize about this is,
Speaker 2: you know, San Jose State isn't necessarily a top team,
Speaker 2: so they're not getting talked about other than this. You know,
Speaker 2: it's not like they're rolling through the conference and that's
Speaker 2: a big, big deal. So I don't know, I think
Speaker 2: it comes down to, at least from my perspective, give
Speaker 2: what your political belief system is and where you fall
Speaker 2: on that line in terms of actual volleyball. No, that
Speaker 2: team and what's happening isn't necessarily being talked about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does feel like it's very much being centered
Speaker 1: so that people can use it to argue what has
Speaker 1: become sort of like a political cudgel. It's really unfortunate
Speaker 1: for all the players on that team that aren't able
Speaker 1: to play, and unfortunately because, like you said, that team
Speaker 1: is not dominating in a way that stands out from
Speaker 1: the rest of the volleyball in college and that player
Speaker 1: has been on the team for multiple years without it
Speaker 1: being an issue. So it does feel like it's being
Speaker 1: manipulated for political gain in a way that's really just
Speaker 1: harming the players, not only on that team, but the
Speaker 1: ones that forfeit that don't end up playing matches. You
Speaker 1: only get so much time as an athlete in college.
Speaker 1: You and I both know that as former college athletes,
Speaker 1: and so missing out on those opportunities to compete is
Speaker 1: a real bummer in service of something that frankly, players
Speaker 1: and teams shouldn't be used to argue. We just had
Speaker 1: Cassie Lickman and Molly mckage from AU Volleyball on our show,
Speaker 1: and I know you've worked with AU Volleyball. How are
Speaker 1: you seeing college players be affected by the existence of
Speaker 1: pro leagues like AU and PVF and the upcoming Love
Speaker 1: Pro Volleyball League them seeing that those multiple opportunities exist
Speaker 1: beyond the college game.
Speaker 2: Sarah, It's so cool because when I was in college,
Speaker 2: no one even really thought about playing pro unless you
Speaker 2: are maybe the best on your team. And even so
Speaker 2: you might not even know that pro volleyball exists outside
Speaker 2: the USAGEM. You know, before five years ago, even four,
Speaker 2: three years ago, if you wanted to play, you get
Speaker 2: shifted off to Europe and then you maybe play for
Speaker 2: two or three years, realize it kind of sucks, and you're,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of on an island out there. And
Speaker 2: you come back. The coolest thing ever has been talking
Speaker 2: to these athletes now, and there are so many players
Speaker 2: that say they want to play professionally, they want to
Speaker 2: play for a league in the US, and they now
Speaker 2: know this is an opportunity that either growing up or
Speaker 2: even in high school, those opportunities didn't exist. And now
Speaker 2: there's a clear trajectory of if you want to stay
Speaker 2: in the sport, you know you can play for so
Speaker 2: many years after college and stay in the US, which
Speaker 2: is such a benefit to these players and kind of
Speaker 2: I think it makes them more excited to play at
Speaker 2: the college level because they're getting that exposure to these
Speaker 2: leagues and saying, Okay, I want to play really well.
Speaker 2: Of course for my teams, you know, to win a
Speaker 2: title nationally like whatever it is, but also because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm putting game film out now for these coaches and
Speaker 2: scouts and people that are actually going to see it.
Speaker 2: Whereas you know, if you want to go play in
Speaker 2: Europe or Asia or another league overseas, it was really
Speaker 2: hard to get connected right away, and you're probably unless
Speaker 2: you're a top top player, which is normally not the
Speaker 2: case coming out of college. You're playing on a team
Speaker 2: that is probably pretty average. Maybe a handful of them
Speaker 2: speak English. You might not be able to communicate with
Speaker 2: your teammates, you might be halfway across the world the
Speaker 2: time change that's in. It's not the most ideal situations.
Speaker 2: A lot of college players have better resources than a
Speaker 2: lot of professional players do, so just the conversations have
Speaker 2: been really cool in eye opening to see these college
Speaker 2: athletes now seeing that there's a path for them, and
Speaker 2: watching it on TV and seeing it all over Twitter
Speaker 2: and Instagram and all of these platforms. It has been
Speaker 2: so so cool, even just in the last two seasons,
Speaker 2: to see that as an option for these players.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, NIL allows for the promotion of
Speaker 1: players starting at the collegiate level. We get to hear
Speaker 1: about them and see them, which then helps them try
Speaker 1: to hopefully carry that brand over into the pros. It
Speaker 1: also helps professionalized college players, so young athletes get to
Speaker 1: see players at the college and professional level in advertisements
Speaker 1: on television, in social media. How do you see or
Speaker 1: do you see I guess youth players training differently. We
Speaker 1: were just talking about this at the espnW Summit. High
Speaker 1: school college or basketball players learning how to dunk and
Speaker 1: trying to train to see the things that they're seeing
Speaker 1: at the higher levels that didn't really exist the same
Speaker 1: way in the past because it wasn't visible at the
Speaker 1: highest levels. Is the volleyball actual game changing as a
Speaker 1: result of you being able to see more of the
Speaker 1: upper level players.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm sure it changes just the way that
Speaker 2: these players are learning about the game. For example, when
Speaker 2: I was growing up, you know, there were a handful
Speaker 2: of matches on TV. I remember watching Nebraska and Penn
Speaker 2: State play every year, or of course I was watching,
Speaker 2: you know, the national semifinals in the National Championship, but
Speaker 2: there wasn't a way to really watch the sport the
Speaker 2: same way that little boys grow up and watch NFL
Speaker 2: or you know, the MBA, or now players have access
Speaker 2: to the Wnbabor college basketball. It's very different in volleyball
Speaker 2: because you don't have a way to learn about the
Speaker 2: sport other than playing. So if you're playing a bunch
Speaker 2: of twelve year olds, you know, you only know as
Speaker 2: much as the other twelve year old next to you,
Speaker 2: Whereas now these young players have the ability to watch
Speaker 2: the sport and you know, have analysts and studio people
Speaker 2: break it down for them. And explain to them what's
Speaker 2: happening on the court and what they're seeing, which you know,
Speaker 2: the more you watch something, the more you're going to
Speaker 2: retain and the more you're going to learn about it.
Speaker 2: So I think just the level and that volleyball IQ
Speaker 2: that young players are having is probably exponentially better than
Speaker 2: like when I was playing and growing up, because again,
Speaker 2: I was learning from the twelve, thirteen, fourteen year olds
Speaker 2: that I was playing next to. There wasn't anybody to
Speaker 2: watch and really break it down for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's kind of strange, but I also feel
Speaker 1: like I'm watching women's college, professional, every level. Really, athletes
Speaker 1: of every sport have a different kind of swagger when
Speaker 1: they play, and it's not just performative and fun to watch,
Speaker 1: but I think it trickles down to the larger like
Speaker 1: your confidence in yourself, your willingness to go all out,
Speaker 1: your desire to be competitive. You're not worried about being
Speaker 1: nice and friendly. You want to win, and being able
Speaker 1: to witness that at the highest levels across women's sport now,
Speaker 1: I think allows younger athletes to be more committed and
Speaker 1: passionate and determined than before, where we didn't used to
Speaker 1: see women that way anywhere, and we just used to
Speaker 1: only see like male athletes behaving that way. And I
Speaker 1: love watching the swagger. I love watching women athletes have
Speaker 1: the same kind of reactions to their big plays and
Speaker 1: get the crowd involved and get people to like hype
Speaker 1: them up. Like all of that is a part of
Speaker 1: a larger, I think transformation of women's sport, beyond some
Speaker 1: of the rules or the expectations for women their behaviors
Speaker 1: in the past. Women's volleyball in the US is bigger
Speaker 1: than men's, Like there are more people watching college, there
Speaker 1: are more professional opportunities. Women is sort of the default
Speaker 1: for the US when it comes to volleyball, and yet
Speaker 1: there are still cases where we see it sort of
Speaker 1: as a stepping stone. Last week, USA Volleyball announced that
Speaker 1: Karch Karai, who coached the US women to three state
Speaker 1: Olympic medals, is taking over as head coach of the
Speaker 1: men's national team for the twenty twenty eight LA Olympics.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction to that news, especially knowing that
Speaker 1: coach was paid more as head coach of the women's
Speaker 1: team than the previous men's national team coach was paid,
Speaker 1: so him taking this move isn't about money. So what
Speaker 1: was your reaction to see that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, my reaction was split. I was really excited for
Speaker 2: Karch because he's such a good guy and just having
Speaker 2: formed somewhat of a relationship with him over the last
Speaker 2: few summers covering their tournaments. He's a person that is
Speaker 2: constantly striving for more and more. You know, he's won
Speaker 2: so many medals. He's one as a beach player, he's
Speaker 2: one as a beach coach, he's one now as a
Speaker 2: women's indoor coach. I mean, this is kind of his
Speaker 2: opportunity to say, Okay, let's go get a medal in
Speaker 2: another sport because he has the ability to do it.
Speaker 2: He's one of not just the greatest volleyball coaching minds,
Speaker 2: but really one of the greatest coaching minds in general period,
Speaker 2: in the entire sport. So I was excited for Karch
Speaker 2: of course, because I was like, Okay, it's another stepping stone,
Speaker 2: and he'll probably go in a medal because he's Carch
Speaker 2: and he could take a you know, he could take
Speaker 2: class of preschoolers and go win an Olympic medal, like
Speaker 2: he's that good of a coach. But then the other
Speaker 2: side of me is Okay, of course I'm bummed because
Speaker 2: I know with him in charge of the US women's
Speaker 2: national team, they're not a shoe in for a medal,
Speaker 2: but he's going to do their best to make sure
Speaker 2: that they get it. So I wouldn't necessarily say I
Speaker 2: think it's different case than of course most other sports,
Speaker 2: because as you mentioned, the women's game in general, as
Speaker 2: specifically mostly in the US, is a lot bigger than
Speaker 2: the men's game that changes country to country overseas. But
Speaker 2: I was excited that he had now has his opportunity
Speaker 2: to coach the men and and to be honest, there's
Speaker 2: so many great coaches coming up, either through the NCAA
Speaker 2: game or elsewhere that are going to make a really
Speaker 2: good coach for the women's national team. I would guess.
Speaker 2: I mean, in the US, we're breeding good coaches right now,
Speaker 2: so I think we're in a pretty good spot still.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And the one thing that's kind of cool about that,
Speaker 1: if I step back, is we've seen in the women's
Speaker 1: say basketball, that there are really high level women coaches
Speaker 1: who have coached at the NBA level and then wanted
Speaker 1: to be able to coach fellow women athletes. But needed
Speaker 1: to wait for the game to catch up. Becky Hamon,
Speaker 1: for instance, the first million dollar coach in the WNBA.
Speaker 1: She was coaching on the men's side, making more money,
Speaker 1: getting more status, having the kind of experience that she
Speaker 1: deserved as the Kyle Burth coach that she is, and
Speaker 1: when the w caught up and she was able to
Speaker 1: go take her skill set to the women's game, she
Speaker 1: could do that. And in some ways it's almost like
Speaker 1: that with kirch Kuri and the men's game. He obviously
Speaker 1: is a men's player. He grew up playing, and so
Speaker 1: for him to get to let the men's game, I
Speaker 1: guess catch up enough for him to decide that he
Speaker 1: wants to go lead them and help them find some
Speaker 1: glory is actually pretty cool for him as one of
Speaker 1: the legends of the game, as someone who's been around
Speaker 1: forever and has already done so much for the women's team.
Speaker 1: So I guess it's less of a stepping stone if
Speaker 1: you're stepping backwards. It's more of a I'm going to
Speaker 1: use my influence to help raise the level of this
Speaker 1: thing that hasn't gotten as much shine. Emily, thanks so
Speaker 1: much for educating us on this We're so excited to
Speaker 1: watch your coverage of the big game this weekend, and
Speaker 1: we're going to keep checking in with you as we
Speaker 1: get closer to the end of this season and we
Speaker 1: see some of these big name teams battle it out
Speaker 1: in a really truly, genuinely exciting season for college volleyball.
Speaker 1: Thanks for the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me. I was going to say,
Speaker 2: And if anyone's listening and hasn't watched college volleyball, it
Speaker 2: hooks you in right away. It's a difficult sport to
Speaker 2: turn off based on how fast pace is and how
Speaker 2: fun it is, so definitely turn it on this Friday.
Speaker 2: It's a big one. It'll be fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, once you get into it, it's it's kind of
Speaker 1: hard not to love it. Yeah, and you're helping us
Speaker 1: do that. So thank you, no, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: This is awesome.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Emily for joining us. We got
Speaker 1: to take another quick break when we come back. Prepare
Speaker 1: the red carpet, hang the balloons. It's time for another
Speaker 1: induction ceremony. Stick around welcome back slices in honor of
Speaker 1: yesterday's incredible guest, Merrett Matthias and her retirement and the
Speaker 1: end of the NWSL regular season this weekend, we have
Speaker 1: a new entry into the Good Game Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: That's right, the Good Game Hall of Fame, where we
Speaker 1: honor great moments and women's sports lore, the kind of
Speaker 1: memorable performances and legendary stories you should know, just like
Speaker 1: you know that MLB player Doc Ellis once through a
Speaker 1: no hitter while on LSD, or that Michael Jordan scored
Speaker 1: thirty eight points in the infamous Flu Game. Today we
Speaker 1: induct Merret Matthias's tweets after she tore her ACL in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, tweets that will forever live on in NWSL lore.
Speaker 1: While playing for the North Carolina Courage, Matthias and Houston
Speaker 1: dashboard Rachel Daily made contact. Matthias was initially whistled for
Speaker 1: a foul on the play, but when it all shook out,
Speaker 1: Daily was awarded a yellow card and Matthias had the
Speaker 1: sub out of the game limping with a knee injury.
Speaker 1: It turned out to be a torn ACL, which led
Speaker 1: to this pair of tweets, along with a video of
Speaker 1: Daily causing the injury. Matthias wrote, I did not tear
Speaker 1: my ACL. My ACL was torn for me. I did
Speaker 1: not misstep. My foot did not get stuck. It was
Speaker 1: not a freak accident. My plant leg was intentionally kicked.
Speaker 1: I was awarded a foul and Houston awarded a free kick.
Speaker 1: It is due to a lack of respect that I
Speaker 1: will not be finishing my season with the North Carolina Courage.
Speaker 1: I will be getting surgery while my team takes on playoffs.
Speaker 1: It is because of your lack of respect that I
Speaker 1: can respectfully say fuck you. The tweets went instantly viral
Speaker 1: and even inspired one dedicated nwslfan to do an interpretive
Speaker 1: dance to a reading of Merit's words. We'll link to
Speaker 1: the original tweets and to that dance in the show notes.
Speaker 1: In her recent interview with the Athletics Meglenahan, Matthiah said
Speaker 1: of posting the tweets, quote, listen, it was very much
Speaker 1: an unhealed version of me. There's pre therapy merit and
Speaker 1: post therapy merit. End quote. But she also said she
Speaker 1: thinks players should get to show their personalities and not
Speaker 1: always be nice and sweet. Quote. You get to choose
Speaker 1: your favorite player is based on a full picture of
Speaker 1: this person, not this very curated look. Some people might
Speaker 1: love me for that tweet and some people might hate me,
Speaker 1: but people are still talking about it, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, And that's okay. End quote. That's very okay.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Good Game Hall of Fame, merit. We
Speaker 1: love that you're listening slices, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too, So here's our
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Watch all the NWSL
Speaker 1: soccer this weekend. I feel it in my bone, y'all.
Speaker 1: There's going to be some fireworks. And if you haven't already,
Speaker 1: go ahead and pick a team or a coach or
Speaker 1: players to live for for the next three weeks of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. If you're nervous, good The agony and uncertainty
Speaker 1: is the best part of fandom. If you don't feel
Speaker 1: like throwing up a little during stoppage time, you're probably
Speaker 1: doing it wrong. We always love to hear from you,
Speaker 1: so hit us up on email Good Game at wondermedianetwork
Speaker 1: dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
Speaker 1: two two o four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 1: Rate and review It's easy. Watch Room Temperature Water rating
Speaker 1: five out of five well hydrated stars. Review don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong. A glass of ice cold water after a
Speaker 1: strenuous workout, or a dip in a hot tub or
Speaker 1: a walk through the desert amazing. But there's something about
Speaker 1: pouring a glass and just letting it sit for a bit,
Speaker 1: letting the glass sweat, finally taking a swig once it said.
Speaker 1: It's chaotic, neutral temp, and it's different. It's also a
Speaker 1: little easier on the digestive system. So true, unsung hero
Speaker 1: in the hydration Game. Now it's your turn, rate and review.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, slices, Have a great weekend and see
Speaker 1: you next week. Good Game, Emily, Good Game, Wilma. Few
Speaker 1: to folks manipulating and punishing college athletes in service of
Speaker 1: political statements and false narratives around trans participation. Good Game
Speaker 1: with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
Speaker 1: partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
Speaker 1: us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers
Speaker 1: are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Speaker 1: Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
Speaker 1: Editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradowell.
Speaker 1: Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain