Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tiffany Oshinsky and I'm Kat though, and this
Speaker 1: is serving pancakes with League one Volleyball. The inaugural Love
Speaker 1: season is finally here. Each episode will be going over
Speaker 1: the matches from the week to keep you up to
Speaker 1: date on everything League one Volleyball. Then stick around after
Speaker 1: the analysis for interviews with some amazing people in in
Speaker 1: and around the sport. Today's episode features Love founding athlete
Speaker 1: in Atlanta outside hitter Kelsey Cook. But first let's talk
Speaker 1: about all the exciting action from week four. Kat, How
Speaker 1: are you? You were sick this week? How are you feeling?
Speaker 2: I've been out, down and out on Friday, but I've
Speaker 2: been a lot better, so I can't complain right now.
Speaker 2: I was complaining a few days ago, but now I'm
Speaker 2: all good, all good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you couldn't travel, but you got to watch the matches,
Speaker 1: which I feel like is a plus.
Speaker 3: Right, gotta change.
Speaker 2: Watch a lot of video, lots of scouting reports, got
Speaker 2: a lot of synch to do, so it was great.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, let's kick off the week four recafs with Love
Speaker 1: Madison hosting Love Houston with Houston putting on a show
Speaker 1: sweeping made in twenty five nineteen twenty five seventeen twenty
Speaker 1: five twenty one opposite Jordan Thompson shined in the match,
Speaker 1: earning Player of the Match honors thanks to seventeen kills,
Speaker 1: hitting three seventeen plus an ace, five digs, a block
Speaker 1: and an assist. So in the last week's match she
Speaker 1: actually hit negative. So what does she do to turn
Speaker 1: it around in this match?
Speaker 3: Hey, new day, new game, new day.
Speaker 2: You know, I think, you know, connection with micup was
Speaker 2: flowing a lot better this week, I think. And I'm
Speaker 2: also like, you know, maybe stressner's depending on whatever happening
Speaker 2: in your life that day.
Speaker 3: You know, you just have a bad day. But she
Speaker 3: definitely showed up the other.
Speaker 1: Night, you know, I saw that she mentioned that it's
Speaker 1: been a little rocky in the sense that after the
Speaker 1: Olympics she had three months off basically until matches Starry,
Speaker 1: where before she's been playing overseas in Europe during that
Speaker 1: time period. So she's like, you know, it's a little
Speaker 1: bit of a slow start. Do you find it that
Speaker 1: when you're not playing, oh yeah, for that long you're
Speaker 1: that off?
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, first of all, was like all about mindset,
Speaker 2: because you're just on your off time, you're relax and
Speaker 2: you're chilling, hanging out doing whatever you want to do
Speaker 2: for us, like diet and exercise, and to go back
Speaker 2: to compete in a high level and trying to get
Speaker 2: your mind back to go on a certain schedule is difficult, definitely,
Speaker 2: And volleyball you can lose it in three days if
Speaker 2: you're not doing anything. So I'm actually thinking about that now.
Speaker 2: Starting practice tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You'll be great. The sickness just got you a little bit,
Speaker 1: be just fine. I believe in you.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: Madison has lost four in a row and are at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the standings at one in five. Now,
Speaker 1: a lot of those losses actually came when they were
Speaker 1: like fifteen fifteen, sixteen sixteen and they just couldn't close
Speaker 1: it out. So how do you get over that mental
Speaker 1: hump to finish strong and get the win.
Speaker 2: I think it's one thing that all the team are
Speaker 2: bowling right now. I think even last night you saw
Speaker 2: that Austin was up and then just kind of lost
Speaker 2: it in. I think Madison go into each game, but
Speaker 2: depending a lot of on lot on Sarah. I think
Speaker 2: that they were an offense little bit more and get
Speaker 2: the other hitters kind of attacking getting the ball down.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move to the next match. On Friday,
Speaker 1: we saw Love Atlanta sweep Love Salt Lake at home
Speaker 1: twenty five twenty two, twenty five twenty two, twenty five
Speaker 1: twenty back to back sweeps this week. Pretty exciting. So
Speaker 1: let's talk about Atlanta. What were they doing that Selta
Speaker 1: just couldn't stop.
Speaker 2: I think one thing Alana's doing is they're kind of
Speaker 2: getting into that six too. Everybody else is playing the
Speaker 2: sixt two right now. I think its benefiting a lot
Speaker 2: of teams if you can have an attacker that's going
Speaker 2: to go up and hit the ball in the front
Speaker 2: court every.
Speaker 3: Rotation, I think is the best thing to do.
Speaker 2: They use Danielle a little bit more this week, I
Speaker 2: think also, and this test has also been great for
Speaker 2: them this entire season so far. So they're definitely run
Speaker 2: their offense a lot more with having all six players
Speaker 2: out in the court all rotations.
Speaker 1: Speaking of offense, outside hitter Mackenzie Adams was named a
Speaker 1: Player of the match with thirteen kills, six in that
Speaker 1: third set, an ace, a block, and thirteen digs. Now,
Speaker 1: Mackenzie has been an absolute force internationally, but now she's
Speaker 1: making a name for herself here in the States. So
Speaker 1: talk about mackenzie and how she plays, Like, what does
Speaker 1: she do that's so great?
Speaker 3: McKenzie's an athlete.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we've seen on social media right
Speaker 2: now they're showing her, you know, playing basketball and throwing
Speaker 2: the ball around. I've been able to watch McKenzie since
Speaker 2: she was in college at UTSA, and she'sn't always in
Speaker 2: a phenomenal athlete. I think right now they're finding that
Speaker 2: fastball to her on the outside, which is obviously helping
Speaker 2: out her offense a lot. So she's just been great.
Speaker 2: I think she's a great dynamic player and being able
Speaker 2: to go out there and showcase her abilities and her
Speaker 2: talent as working well for Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Moving to Saturday's games, your team Love Austin could have
Speaker 1: used some cat Bill charisma there, missing the energy.
Speaker 2: They were missing the yells and the screaming and the
Speaker 2: dancing on the sidelines for sure.
Speaker 1: For sure, because they ended up losing a very hard
Speaker 1: fought battle. Let's let's give them a lot of credit.
Speaker 1: But you know they did lose to Love Salt Lake
Speaker 1: in five sets, twenty two, twenty five, twenty five, nineteen twenty,
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty seven to twenty five, fifteen twelve. Now,
Speaker 1: that fourth set was like a game changer, right, If
Speaker 1: Austin could have just held on, they would have won
Speaker 1: the match. Instead, that set went into overtime and they
Speaker 1: ultimately lost the fifth set. So what did your team
Speaker 1: need to do to overcome and pull out a W.
Speaker 2: I think just being a little more consistent and the
Speaker 2: offense once in transition, you know, I think they were
Speaker 2: a little mishaps attacking the ball, little whifs coming now,
Speaker 2: and then also just being smart about location where the
Speaker 2: balls when your setter is Obviously there was kind of
Speaker 2: some tough calls as well. There were some balls that
Speaker 2: may've been in, it may have been out and not
Speaker 2: really sure. It was definitely a well fat battle, but
Speaker 2: just closing out as the biggest thing, I said going
Speaker 2: on for all teams to figure out that huge hump
Speaker 2: to get over and.
Speaker 1: The Salt Lakes wind came after being swept by Atlanta
Speaker 1: the night before in opposite Skyler Fields, was a big
Speaker 1: reason for Saturday's victory. She finished the match of twenty
Speaker 1: five kills. Six of those came during that fifth set,
Speaker 1: six blocks, five digs and an assist to talk about
Speaker 1: Skyler and what she does to be so dominant.
Speaker 2: No, I'm so proud of her. I've bought scholars and
Speaker 2: she was in high school and she's like my little baby,
Speaker 2: you know. And to see her being a dominant opposite
Speaker 2: in this league right now, it's just so early on
Speaker 2: in the season is great. I think she's given the
Speaker 2: outside their money because she's on all ends from the
Speaker 2: four to the from the fourth or to two, she's.
Speaker 3: Attacking how over the block.
Speaker 2: Her offense in the back on the back Grook right
Speaker 2: now is definitely undefeated, connected repolter.
Speaker 3: So she's bringing a lot of heat, all.
Speaker 1: Right, So I want to do something a little different today.
Speaker 1: Love posted this killed by Haley Washington with the caption
Speaker 1: did y'all feel that earthquake?
Speaker 5: It's a slide delivered to Washington.
Speaker 1: It was a sick kill you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Can you break down this play and that swing for us?
Speaker 1: I mean, how does Haley get the power and precision
Speaker 1: to crush a kill like that? And you know in
Speaker 1: case players who are listening want to try to replicate it.
Speaker 2: So if you're an amazing slide attacker, this is a
Speaker 2: great slide attempt to run in front of your cetter,
Speaker 2: something that's been going going on as I was playing
Speaker 2: in high school as well. Hailey Washington's amazing slide attacker,
Speaker 2: So you can get her to run a slide in
Speaker 2: front and behind.
Speaker 3: It's great.
Speaker 2: Obviously she's just taking that quick step just like she
Speaker 2: would do around the cetter. She's going right in front
Speaker 2: of her, hiking that right leg up and going trick
Speaker 2: for the ball. I think it's a hard ball to hit. Definitely,
Speaker 2: definitely to defend, I would say, because she has that
Speaker 2: sharp angle going down the body and then a cross
Speaker 2: corking back.
Speaker 3: Around just like she was going to run a slide.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a great play to use, very
Speaker 2: something very difficult to stop. And she showed that she
Speaker 2: can put the ball away every single time, so it
Speaker 2: was great, m all right.
Speaker 1: In the final match of the weekend, Love Omaha versus
Speaker 1: Love Atlanta. This was my match of the week, and
Speaker 1: I was actually shocked by the outcome because I thought
Speaker 1: the defense it was just gonna end up being a
Speaker 1: battle both offensively and defensively, and I thought it was
Speaker 1: going to go to five sets, super close, but instead
Speaker 1: Atlanta beat Omaha in four sets, twenty one, twenty five.
Speaker 3: Wait, so you want it? You want to Omaha to win?
Speaker 3: Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 1: No, I just thought it was going to be tighter.
Speaker 1: I just thought it was going to be like, like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm playing favorites favorite.
Speaker 3: It's crazy.
Speaker 1: No favorites, no favorite, her favorite.
Speaker 3: Team while I'm on the phone. That's crazy.
Speaker 1: No, no, no favorites. Just I thought it was going to
Speaker 1: be like, you know, twenty seven twenty.
Speaker 2: Five Saturday, I was like, minute, let me make sure
Speaker 2: that wasn't that thought.
Speaker 3: It was okay, okay.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: But the match, the scores were twenty one, twenty five,
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty two, twenty five, twenty two, and then
Speaker 1: twenty five twenty and So now after this win, Atlanta
Speaker 1: is a top the Love leader board at four and one.
Speaker 1: What did they do separate themselves from the rest of
Speaker 1: the league.
Speaker 2: I think they're finding that connection. Have Kelsey Cook, who's
Speaker 2: an amazing outside hitter. She's been doing all them since
Speaker 2: the first match of the season. They're finding an offense
Speaker 2: amongst everyone, I think, and the defense Liberos are playing well,
Speaker 2: so they're finding the rhythm I think coming around all.
Speaker 1: Right, Well, let's talk about opposite Danielle Katino, who was
Speaker 1: named player of the match. She mentioned her in Friday's
Speaker 1: game about how she was stepping up, and in this
Speaker 1: match she had sixteen kills two blocks in a dig.
Speaker 1: And you know, Danielle has been improving week in and
Speaker 1: week out. So what stands out to you about her game?
Speaker 2: You know, I've been watching Danielle for a while as well,
Speaker 2: and I know personally and I think it's just, you know,
Speaker 2: it can be sometimes a mind block. I think Danielle is.
Speaker 3: A great vollball player.
Speaker 2: She doesn't happen to do much to be as awesome
Speaker 2: as she is, Like you know, her trying to show
Speaker 2: her potential. She doesn't even do any that she's going
Speaker 2: to be great regardless. I think just come into the situation.
Speaker 2: It's a different cetter trying to figure out your rhythm
Speaker 2: and different attackers and blockers around. I think we haven't
Speaker 2: seen a lot of her, but I think we'll be
Speaker 2: getting to see her enough coming up soon. So she's
Speaker 2: been great, definitely.
Speaker 1: All Right, Now that we went over week four, let's
Speaker 1: talk about Week five and which matches were So First,
Speaker 1: we got the Battle of the Lone Star State with
Speaker 1: your team, Love Austin hosting Love Houston on Wednesday, then
Speaker 1: salt Lake hosts Atlanta to kick off Weekend with Love
Speaker 1: on Friday, and for Saturday's doubleheader, we start with Love
Speaker 1: Madison versus Love Atlanta, followed by Love Omaha versus Love
Speaker 1: salt Lake. So which match are you excited for?
Speaker 3: You know, I gotta.
Speaker 2: Go with the Long Star Battle just because last time
Speaker 2: we played Houston, as you know, we lost.
Speaker 3: You know, Maddi Keenan.
Speaker 2: Had a good job, did a great job. MICA's an
Speaker 2: amazing centter obviously, so I think it's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a revenge. You know, They're coming into our town now,
Speaker 2: and I'm happing to host them and excited to potentially
Speaker 2: get to win.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm going to actually go with Love Madison
Speaker 1: versus Atlanta. I know Madison is at the bottom of
Speaker 1: the rankings and Atlanta's at the top of the rankings,
Speaker 1: but I feel like there's something in Madison that there.
Speaker 1: This is kind of like, all right, we're done losing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: watch out Atlanta. I don't care how good you guys are.
Speaker 1: The I think that this is going to be like
Speaker 1: a fun a fun step up match for them.
Speaker 3: So yeah, do you watch that? It was me?
Speaker 2: I think Atlanta's bruined something over there. You know, they're
Speaker 2: finding some some heat over there. They're finding connections. So
Speaker 2: it's gonna be be a well fault match. I think
Speaker 2: all the matches don't be really good to watch this week.
Speaker 1: Definitely. All right, Well, we're going to take a break
Speaker 1: right now, but when we return, Love Atlanta's Kelsey Cook
Speaker 1: joins us to talk about League One volleyball, her journey
Speaker 1: to joining the league, and so much more, And we're
Speaker 1: back with Love Atlanta outside hitter Kelsey Cook. Originally from Bartlett, Illinois,
Speaker 1: Kelsey played collegiately at Tennessee and Nebraska, where she earned
Speaker 1: two All American honors. She's a three time Olympic medalist,
Speaker 1: earning a bronze in her Olympic debut in twenty sixteen
Speaker 1: in Rio, a Golden Tokyo in twenty twenty, and silver
Speaker 1: and pair in twenty twenty four. Kelsey has been playing
Speaker 1: professionally for over a decade. While playing overseas, she won
Speaker 1: three Club World Championships, two Champions League titles, five League championships,
Speaker 1: and eight Cup or Super Cup titles. She's also a
Speaker 1: lover of animal and avid photographer, a fashion guru, and
Speaker 1: now she's bringing all those passions and her volleyball dominance
Speaker 1: back to the States playing for Love Atlanta. Kelsey, Welcome
Speaker 1: to serving pancakes.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1: We're very excited to have you. Now. I want to
Speaker 1: actually start with everything. You know, you've been professional overseas
Speaker 1: for all these years. Now we're here in the States playing.
Speaker 1: What's it like.
Speaker 5: It's been very surreal. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 4: There's moments where I'm like just packing a normal American
Speaker 4: outlet plug and using my driver's license to go on
Speaker 4: the plane, and just little things like that, going to
Speaker 4: the grocery store, all the things that make overseas what
Speaker 4: it is. And then you come back here in the
Speaker 4: ease and convenience of it all. I'm just grateful to
Speaker 4: be here and help start this thing.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't even think about the whole plug
Speaker 1: outlet situation, did you, guys? I mean, both of you
Speaker 1: played overseas for so long. Did you end up buying
Speaker 1: like appliances like hair dryers and straighteners specifically for the
Speaker 1: countries that you like lived in for a few months.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I think.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm overseas more than I am in America,
Speaker 4: so I actually like have more like appliance as an outlet,
Speaker 4: things just ready adapters, all the things for overseas rather
Speaker 4: than America. Sometimes it's I don't even have the American outlet,
Speaker 4: which is like such a silly thing, but it is
Speaker 4: just part of life.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I recently bought like a really nice blow drawing. I
Speaker 2: was in Japan and I had an adapter and pumping
Speaker 2: into the wall and damn near blue sockets.
Speaker 3: So it's we're still trying to fiure those things out.
Speaker 3: I don't know Volta Jie, I don't know Volta juice.
Speaker 1: So yeah, oh jeez. Well, Kelsey, you are one of
Speaker 1: the founding athletes. Actually, weren't you the first athlete to
Speaker 1: sign with Love?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So how did this come about? How did they
Speaker 1: approach you? What kind of went through your mind? I mean,
Speaker 1: and knowing that you were the first, like what were
Speaker 1: you thinking?
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I'm really good friends with Emily Hartong who
Speaker 4: works with Love, and she was like, hey, let's have
Speaker 4: a conversation.
Speaker 5: I just want to kind of talk to you about
Speaker 5: this new league we're trying to form.
Speaker 4: And for me, I think because I've heard so many
Speaker 4: different leagues wanting to form, I kind of had that conversation.
Speaker 5: As like a favor and just Emily is my girl.
Speaker 4: So I was like, yeah, listen, and I think in
Speaker 4: the back of my mind I had already anticipated just
Speaker 4: probably not being super excited about it, and just it
Speaker 4: is what it is. And then as I was listening
Speaker 4: to it and understanding the why behind, how they were
Speaker 4: going to do it, how they were going to build
Speaker 4: this league, the model, all the things, I got off
Speaker 4: the phone and I said to my husband, I said,
Speaker 4: I think this can work, Like I think this can
Speaker 4: be the way it has to be done. And after
Speaker 4: that initial conversation, I continued to have conversations with Caitlin
Speaker 4: and Rosie and we.
Speaker 5: Had conversations for years.
Speaker 4: So when it came time to sign, it's still nerve wrapping,
Speaker 4: you know, it's still nerve wrapping to be the first and.
Speaker 5: Not really know what that is going to look like.
Speaker 4: Especially I signed two years out, so there was a
Speaker 4: lot of faith and a lot of hope that it
Speaker 4: would be what we had anticipated. But yeah, I'm just
Speaker 4: proud to stand here today, and I think I had
Speaker 4: tears in my eyes the first time I saw our
Speaker 4: home gym and all the hard work that it's taken
Speaker 4: to get to this point. I were always moving forward
Speaker 4: as people, and we always want to make things better.
Speaker 4: But I think I can sit in a lot of
Speaker 4: gratitude for the present moment and where we are today.
Speaker 2: Kind of coming off what you're saying, I just wanted
Speaker 2: to ask you, you know, going through those stresses of
Speaker 2: that pressure and trying to be in a capain of
Speaker 2: your team, you have so much things to do.
Speaker 3: How are you handling that by yourself?
Speaker 5: It's been learning experience.
Speaker 4: I think I wear multiple hats and kind of trying to.
Speaker 4: I think in the beginning, I was carrying a lot
Speaker 4: of because I'm a founding athlete, because I was the first,
Speaker 4: I am responsible for everybody's experience here. And I sat
Speaker 4: down with Rosie and expressed that after it became too much.
Speaker 4: And I think that's one of the things I'm most
Speaker 4: grateful for is my relationship with the women in this
Speaker 4: league that helped formlessly. Because they're guiding me and helping me.
Speaker 4: They never wanted to feel too much for me, and
Speaker 4: they never want any of our athletes to feel that,
Speaker 4: and so to be able as an athlete to go
Speaker 4: to your CEO, the people in charge and be, hey,
Speaker 4: this is what I'm experiencing, and they're going to listen
Speaker 4: to me, and they're going to help provide tools for me.
Speaker 4: It's just such a unique experience because overseas it's sink
Speaker 4: or swim. You're on your own and you make that
Speaker 4: experience what it is and you have to survive. And
Speaker 4: here I feel so supported. I love that they listen.
Speaker 4: I love that this league is about championing women and
Speaker 4: putting women in executive roles, putting women in coaching roles,
Speaker 4: and more opportunities for women to play, so all of
Speaker 4: the things.
Speaker 5: I just feel inspired daily to be here.
Speaker 1: Not to jump ahead in your career, because I want
Speaker 1: you to keep playing volleyball as long as you want,
Speaker 1: but are you thinking of that next role, like potential executive?
Speaker 1: And you know, maybe I will say I am very vocal.
Speaker 4: I think everybody knows that, and I'm not afraid to
Speaker 4: like have the hard conversation. So I think they're people
Speaker 4: are instilling belief in me and like what I could
Speaker 4: be beyond the athletics side, and I feel very excited
Speaker 4: about that.
Speaker 5: I would say I would be happy to explore.
Speaker 4: Opportunities potentially in like ownership or running a team.
Speaker 3: I know it.
Speaker 4: I know to me, I know what it takes to
Speaker 4: be successful, and not just as an athlete or winning,
Speaker 4: but I know what like a great club looks like
Speaker 4: and how they treat their players and employees, and I
Speaker 4: think that's essential to success.
Speaker 5: So I feel that it would be it would be.
Speaker 5: I guess the next step for me is how I
Speaker 5: would feel about it.
Speaker 2: I just feel like this is just so important to
Speaker 2: like have you guys be back here and be part
Speaker 2: of that so people can know your experiences overseas and
Speaker 2: you'll be able to bring those positive aspects of the
Speaker 2: game back here to the States for the other girls
Speaker 2: to have the opportunity to experience that.
Speaker 3: It's just really amazing and we thank you for that.
Speaker 2: And I also know because being a founder athlete, you
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, help us out and talk about
Speaker 2: things and maybe we can't have a voice to speak
Speaker 2: up about that kind of thing. So we are definitely
Speaker 2: like thankful for you guys and do that for us.
Speaker 5: We really do appreciate that I appreciate that cut.
Speaker 4: That means a lot, because I think there's days where
Speaker 4: all for sure that I'm not failing or I'm not
Speaker 4: doing all that I can.
Speaker 5: And at the same time.
Speaker 4: If I'm not full, if I'm not one hundred percent,
Speaker 4: I can't do those things.
Speaker 5: So it's been unbalancing and I'm trying.
Speaker 3: To do I'm about to cry.
Speaker 4: I think, just like embracing the challenge and learning, like
Speaker 4: trying to learn and like do the best that I
Speaker 4: can every day and like be better for everybody around me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's also like super human to you know, feel
Speaker 1: that you're going to have high and lows. It's not
Speaker 1: going to be perfect every single time. But I feel
Speaker 1: like the fact that you put your best foot forar
Speaker 1: and you have people like Kat and all the other
Speaker 1: girls in the league on your team who can see
Speaker 1: what you're doing, and even like the club girls, you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like having somebody who's willing to put their
Speaker 1: foot forward and show that they really care is such
Speaker 1: a huge you know, it's it's a role model. It's inspirational,
Speaker 1: and it's attractive for everybody, no matter what age you
Speaker 1: are or what you're doing.
Speaker 3: And it's definitely. It's definitely noticed.
Speaker 2: Like I've followed you since you're at tennis See, and
Speaker 2: I think that's what you've been doing this whole entire time,
Speaker 2: your current tire career is putting that best foot forward.
Speaker 2: And like seeing you go from Tennessee to Nebraska and
Speaker 2: witness your career abroad and like national team, like you've
Speaker 2: done some really really big things. I think that maybe
Speaker 2: you didn't have how many people expect you to do,
Speaker 2: and you've just been a rock star. And I think
Speaker 2: it's been great obviously you coming back here and be
Speaker 2: able to bring your teammates from the national team and
Speaker 2: compete against them.
Speaker 3: It's also fun too.
Speaker 5: Got to see no I appreciate it.
Speaker 4: I think we see success and we see you know,
Speaker 4: if you look at my career on paper, like I've
Speaker 4: been really blessed and lucky to have such wonderful experiences,
Speaker 4: but going through it, it's not like bring bows and better.
Speaker 5: It's like there's so much that there were days I
Speaker 5: wanted to quit.
Speaker 4: There were years I wanted to quit, and there were
Speaker 4: days that I hated the sport. I was trying to
Speaker 4: make the game as fast as possible so I didn't
Speaker 4: have to like be there. And success isn't an upward trajectory.
Speaker 4: It's the ability to stay consistent over time and to.
Speaker 5: Know like why you're showing up.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I think we're all imperfect and our experiences
Speaker 4: can be challenging, but like I said, the ability to
Speaker 4: like continue to show up.
Speaker 1: What do you say to yourself or what do you
Speaker 1: do to get over that hump when you do have
Speaker 1: those loves?
Speaker 5: I think for me it's always been about like the people.
Speaker 4: Whenever I have challenges on the court, or if I
Speaker 4: am feeling like I don't know that I'm not performing
Speaker 4: well or I'm just not enjoying it, whatever it might be,
Speaker 4: I make it about like everyone else around me. So
Speaker 4: I'll go in with the intention to make it about
Speaker 4: a player who maybe doesn't see the court, or who
Speaker 4: works really hard every single day and doesn't get her
Speaker 4: shot or whatever.
Speaker 5: It is not always that player, but like somebody who.
Speaker 4: Like I want to be around, and so for me,
Speaker 4: I try to like celebrate that person because it takes
Speaker 4: me out of myself. So when they get a great dig,
Speaker 4: when they get a great swing, whatever, if I can
Speaker 4: give advice in any way and we win that game
Speaker 4: or that drill. For me, it's about that person and
Speaker 4: then maybe another day it's about another person. But it
Speaker 4: just takes me outside of myself, and that, I think
Speaker 4: is the point. Is like when we play for ourselves,
Speaker 4: when we play with like the vision of how am
Speaker 4: I doing, how am I performing, You're naturally just not
Speaker 4: going to I guess, reach what you want to reach
Speaker 4: or maximum maximize your potential. And I think that's the
Speaker 4: beautiful side of volleyball is that it's a true team sport.
Speaker 4: It's like one of the only works that you absolutely
Speaker 4: need every.
Speaker 5: Single person to make it work.
Speaker 4: So just being able to go outside of myself really
Speaker 4: takes all that pressure in that weight that I feel off.
Speaker 1: Speaking of your team, I mean, you guys are top
Speaker 1: of the standings right now, you guys are dottle bit.
Speaker 1: I mean, how does it feel to you know, to
Speaker 1: eat number one currently? It's been four weeks and what
Speaker 1: has that process been like since you started in week
Speaker 1: one to today? I mean, you guys had the first serve.
Speaker 1: You guys had the very first inaugural match in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: So how has it been in this you know, a
Speaker 1: few weeks?
Speaker 4: I think truthfully, first serve was very nerve wracking. I
Speaker 4: think we all felt it, and it was something that
Speaker 4: was like this is the first the person and it's
Speaker 4: at our home gym and everything. So I feel like
Speaker 4: we definitely were feeling that a little bit, and it's
Speaker 4: taken us a little bit to find our stride.
Speaker 5: I feel like every time people do something well or
Speaker 5: we do something well.
Speaker 4: It's like another feather in our cap of like belief
Speaker 4: and knowing. But I would say, I mean belief is
Speaker 4: so powerful, like whether or not you're the best team
Speaker 4: in the league, or the most talented players or whatever
Speaker 4: it is. It's the team that can believe and not
Speaker 4: just like believe that we can do it, but like
Speaker 4: to your core that even down by two, three, four points,
Speaker 4: by set, down by two sets, like we can still
Speaker 4: do this. And I'm seeing that every game get a
Speaker 4: little bit stronger, a little bit stronger, a little bit stronger,
Speaker 4: and then finding our identity as a team, and I.
Speaker 5: Think finding our strengths.
Speaker 4: I think we were unsure a little bit about what
Speaker 4: we would look like, but we definitely have some huge
Speaker 4: strengths that we can use to our advantage.
Speaker 5: I think the cool part about the league.
Speaker 4: Is anyone can win any given night, like it just
Speaker 4: really balanced. So yeah, we're sitting at number one, but
Speaker 4: anything can happen. Every team can compete, and so that's
Speaker 4: the challenge. Like every night, you don't get a day
Speaker 4: off when you go to play. There's no yeah we
Speaker 4: got this one. It's we're in a battle, and that's
Speaker 4: really cool.
Speaker 1: You guys are playing salt Lake this coming week and
Speaker 1: week five and you just swept them in week four.
Speaker 1: So is when you go into a match like this
Speaker 1: knowing you just swept a team you're about to play
Speaker 1: them again, do you kind of go in with the
Speaker 1: same attitude or are you clean slate like you're a
Speaker 1: goldfish you forgot what happened? Type of situation.
Speaker 4: I mean, for me, never I never go into a
Speaker 4: game like, yeah, we got this.
Speaker 5: I think that is the worst mentality.
Speaker 4: And salt Lake is really good and they have the
Speaker 4: altitude thing going on because we.
Speaker 5: Played there every season. I just like, can anybody breathe
Speaker 5: because I can't breathe. So we'll have to adjust to
Speaker 5: that for sure.
Speaker 4: But I mean, salt Lake has some incredible players, they're difficult.
Speaker 4: Just because we swept them doesn't mean we're going to
Speaker 4: do it again. So I'm just looking to get better,
Speaker 4: Like when we play them, I want to see us
Speaker 4: get better and execute a little bit more. I thought
Speaker 4: we did some things well, but I think there's areas
Speaker 4: that I would like to see us improven.
Speaker 2: How are you guys managing the quick turnaround? So obviously
Speaker 2: you're playing against one team and you have to want
Speaker 2: a certain defense or offense, and the next time you're
Speaker 2: going to get another different team that's like a complete opposite.
Speaker 3: So how are you guys managing switching back and forth.
Speaker 4: I do a lot of scouting myself. I just like
Speaker 4: to have a good game plan and stuff. So I
Speaker 4: chart all the hitters and and then with Paulo's like
Speaker 4: game plan as well, we can kind of like talk
Speaker 4: together and find a system that we want to work
Speaker 4: with with block and defense. But yeah, I think just
Speaker 4: understanding like what is the tendencies, At least for me
Speaker 4: as a player, it helps me to.
Speaker 5: Like direct better on the court.
Speaker 4: And I think the hardest part is that there's so
Speaker 4: many options as a lineup.
Speaker 3: Anyone's running the six to two right now.
Speaker 4: It's you're not just like for me, if I'm charting
Speaker 4: or scouting, I'm not looking at like six players.
Speaker 3: And like the whole roster, yes.
Speaker 5: And most of these games go five. I'm like charting
Speaker 5: like but it really helps.
Speaker 4: It helps me to understand like where is the heat
Speaker 4: of the core, and also like if I can watch
Speaker 4: the game. I am very much a bully nerd, which
Speaker 4: is like I don't like to give that.
Speaker 3: Off, but when it's good, it's good.
Speaker 5: I watch every game.
Speaker 4: I'm watching everything and watching the Italian League and watching
Speaker 4: college and watching this and I just want to have
Speaker 4: the idea for what is going to give us small
Speaker 4: advantages here and there.
Speaker 1: Did you have the time to watch all that stuff
Speaker 1: like all the other leagues when you were playing international.
Speaker 5: I've watched a lot of it.
Speaker 4: I think I didn't watch a lot of college volleyball
Speaker 4: actually when I was overseas if at all, because of
Speaker 4: a the time difference. And then this year, because we've
Speaker 4: had so much time, I've gotten to watch a lot
Speaker 4: of the Endgable life. So it's been cool to be
Speaker 4: back in this world, to be in the youth space,
Speaker 4: to be in the college space and seeing this game.
Speaker 4: And of course there's things that I would like to
Speaker 4: see like change, but for me, the level has been
Speaker 4: awesome to watch, Like, I'm really impressed with the level
Speaker 4: and I'm excited for.
Speaker 5: These players coming up.
Speaker 1: We'll be back with more from our interview with Kelsey
Speaker 1: Cook Makeelsea. I want to ask you a few questions
Speaker 1: about Kelsey the person as opposed to Kelsey the athlete,
Speaker 1: because I find your you know, everything that you do
Speaker 1: is so fascinating. The first thing is your social media,
Speaker 1: your social media presence and TikTok presence and everything. What
Speaker 1: made you want to be kind of like this influencer
Speaker 1: and like put yourself out there that much?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it was never this intention to like.
Speaker 4: Be an influencer, but you know, everybody needs a personality
Speaker 4: hire everyone also. But yeah, So when I was in Italy,
Speaker 4: so I'm a journalism major, and when I was in Italy,
Speaker 4: my first season in Europe, I was we were we
Speaker 4: weren't in Champions League, so we played once a week
Speaker 4: and I was a little bit bored. So I started
Speaker 4: kind of like writing. I used to have a website
Speaker 4: and I would write all my travels. I love to
Speaker 4: travel and I love finding like the hidden jams, like
Speaker 4: local places and stuff, so I would like log a
Speaker 4: lot of that and then naturally that developed into the
Speaker 4: YouTube channel and sharing what it's like to.
Speaker 5: Be a professional volleyball player abroad.
Speaker 4: I think travel was always like my niche, even if
Speaker 4: it wasn't like my audience's niche. I just it's like
Speaker 4: so easy for me to do and like natural. And
Speaker 4: then I've done photography since I was like five, like
Speaker 4: had a camera in my hand the whole time, and
Speaker 4: I think I really enjoy expressing myself on Instagram with
Speaker 4: my photography, and then ultimately I think it turned into.
Speaker 5: Just sharing that we are more than our sport. We're human.
Speaker 4: There's a humanness to us, and I think it's important
Speaker 4: for our ability to play this sport for a long time,
Speaker 4: to feel whole and all that we were doing, and
Speaker 4: to know that there is more beyond, because I think
Speaker 4: we get caught up in the validation of wins and
Speaker 4: losses and making an Olympic roster, making national.
Speaker 5: Team, whatever it might be.
Speaker 4: What I've experienced is there's just so much more, and
Speaker 4: I think we don't talk about that.
Speaker 5: Interesting.
Speaker 1: What was your first camera that you got when you
Speaker 1: were five? What kind of camera was it?
Speaker 4: I had like the old digital ones, But what I
Speaker 4: remember was like begging for this, like DVR. It was
Speaker 4: like an old kind of VHS looking camera, but then
Speaker 4: it had like a little disc.
Speaker 5: To do like a DVD and you could record on it.
Speaker 4: And I used to do like I would make news
Speaker 4: broadcasts and I would like film everything, and then I
Speaker 4: like would enter I had a old little digital camera
Speaker 4: and I would enter like contests as a kid in
Speaker 4: the newspaper.
Speaker 5: Really actually one one. I I just remember the paper.
Speaker 5: It was like you one, that's so cute.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. Did what was the contest? Do you
Speaker 1: remember what? Like the photography like the video was.
Speaker 5: A weekly like a weekly best photo of our little.
Speaker 4: Town in Bartlett, And I just submit my photos in
Speaker 4: one time I won.
Speaker 1: That's so cool. Do you still use like an actual
Speaker 1: DSLR camera for pictures or do you mainly use your phone?
Speaker 4: So I actually shoot only on film now when I'm
Speaker 4: shooting images, So I have like a medium format. I
Speaker 4: have all my cameras right here, but I have a
Speaker 4: point and shoot medium format thirty five. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: like film. I just think it has so much emotion
Speaker 4: behind it, and you have you get one shot. You know,
Speaker 4: you're not like rifling off photos so I think it
Speaker 4: just captures like what I was feeling when I'm looking
Speaker 4: at what I wanted to take a picture of.
Speaker 1: So we had Mattie Bug on the podcast a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago and she said that you were living on
Speaker 1: a nature.
Speaker 4: Preserve with her.
Speaker 5: Yes, we live in the forest.
Speaker 1: How did that come about?
Speaker 5: I really am big on like where you live.
Speaker 4: It like it's your place, your safe place where you
Speaker 4: find peace and stuff.
Speaker 5: So everywhere I've lived.
Speaker 4: This started kind of in the leader part of my career,
Speaker 4: but I made sure like where I'm living, I'm really
Speaker 4: happy there.
Speaker 5: So when I'm on national team, I lived in.
Speaker 4: Manhattan Beach on the water and I lived there for
Speaker 4: like seven years, and it's.
Speaker 5: Kind of a barge to do that drive.
Speaker 4: But the minute I crossed over to get home and
Speaker 4: I could see the ocean, it didn't matter like what
Speaker 4: happened at the gym.
Speaker 5: It's like, I have this life here and I can
Speaker 5: leave it there.
Speaker 4: And so I think that's super important just for my
Speaker 4: mental health and well being.
Speaker 5: And so I love being around nature.
Speaker 4: We found this super cool place and it's I mean,
Speaker 4: I'm used to ver sUAS in California, where their square
Speaker 4: footage is like teeny tiny.
Speaker 5: So when I walked in, I was like.
Speaker 4: Whoa, And I was so excited for my cats because
Speaker 4: I was like, he'll get stairs and you could see
Speaker 4: them use the stairs for the first time.
Speaker 5: Was like the cutest thing ever.
Speaker 1: Heard, Like, how old are your cats?
Speaker 5: We have guys our oldest he's seven. I got him
Speaker 5: in Turkey.
Speaker 4: He was a little sick boy in is Stumble and
Speaker 4: we rescued him and then I just rescued are He's
Speaker 4: like one. And I got him in Italy last year
Speaker 4: when I played Addiemoco.
Speaker 3: So they're like.
Speaker 4: At this point, I think they're like a bonded pair
Speaker 4: because they're just obsessed with each other's so sweet.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So this is also a very random question, and Kat,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you have any other questions you
Speaker 1: want to ask, but this is a random question that
Speaker 1: I saw when doing my research and your wiki page.
Speaker 1: So is that your nickname is Kesha?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 1: Is this true? And how did this come about?
Speaker 4: It was really like my first probably six years on
Speaker 4: the national team. Maybe the national team was like a whirlwind,
Speaker 4: and I definitely didn't predict that in my future by
Speaker 4: any means. And so coming out of college I was
Speaker 4: just kind of like alone for the rag with all
Speaker 4: of it, and it's like, really, okay, you made a
Speaker 4: rof Stert was like great. So I think I was
Speaker 4: a little young in the mentality of it all. So
Speaker 4: we went to Hawaii one like red white scrimmage that
Speaker 4: we had going versut Brazil, and I showed up in
Speaker 4: like covered in flash chats, like all over my arms
Speaker 4: and you know he remember flash chats, Okay, So like
Speaker 4: gold sparkles everywhere looking back like horrifying, And.
Speaker 5: I don't know. I just was like always like dancing
Speaker 5: and singing and kind.
Speaker 4: Of just like well, so the girls called me Kesha
Speaker 4: and that kind of just stuck for a long time,
Speaker 4: it was. And then in Italy it was easier for
Speaker 4: them to say Kesh than Kelsey, like Kelsey's hard in Italian.
Speaker 5: So Kesh just stuck for a long time. So that's
Speaker 5: kind of the story.
Speaker 1: Amazing. Any any other questions you have, Kat, just for
Speaker 1: the youth.
Speaker 3: You know, what's one thing you would tell your young
Speaker 3: Kelsey self?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 3: Would you tell her today?
Speaker 5: Hmm? I think.
Speaker 4: I would say to learn and practice patients. I'm somebody
Speaker 4: who wants to get better right away, who wants everything now.
Speaker 4: I want to change, I want to be better, I
Speaker 4: want to be great. I want to win now and
Speaker 4: in all areas of my life. And I think just
Speaker 4: learning and practicing that patience and being consistent. And then
Speaker 4: I think to say, I don't think we saved enough,
Speaker 4: But to tell your younger self, I'm proud of us,
Speaker 4: you know, I'm proud of like, look at where we are.
Speaker 4: I think I often get caught up in what's next,
Speaker 4: and so to sit in like, let's be proud of
Speaker 4: the things we've done and it's been hard, but we're here.
Speaker 3: That's great.
Speaker 1: Well, Kelsey, it's been a pleasure speaking with you, and
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us on Serving Pancakes
Speaker 1: and best of luck the rest of the season.
Speaker 5: Thank you guys so much. This is fun.
Speaker 1: Yes, thanks Kelsey. Serving Pancakes is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: 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. Mast Junior special
Speaker 1: thanks to Kelsey Cook. Stay tuned for next week's episode,
Speaker 1: where we'll recap week five. Thanks for listening.