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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tifney Oshinsky, and this is serving pancakes. Nope,

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Speaker 1: not a podcast about food. This is a podcast about

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Speaker 1: volleyball and more to you. A pancake is a fluffy,

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Speaker 1: syrup drenched breakfast food button volleyball. A pancake is a

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Speaker 1: high effort move when a player flattens her hand against

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Speaker 1: the ground to keep the ball in play. And that's

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Speaker 1: us digging into high efforts that are moving sports forward.

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Speaker 1: Listen in as I talk with the people making the

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Speaker 1: biggest impacts on global volleyball and women's sports perspectives, insights,

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Speaker 1: and behind the scenes stories, all with the side of pancakes.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode features the greatest woman's indoor volleyball player from Indiana,

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Speaker 1: Annie Drews. Annie is an Olympic gold medalist who has

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Speaker 1: been a member of the US national team since twenty

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Speaker 1: seventeen and will be competing this summer in Paris. An

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Speaker 1: All American at Purdue University, she was named the twenty

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Speaker 1: nineteen USA Volleyball Fee Indoor Player of the Year, and

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Speaker 1: she played on.

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Speaker 2: The US collegiate national team.

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Speaker 1: She has played professionally in Puerto Rico, Italy, Turkey, and Japan,

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Speaker 1: where she's been recognized with multiple Best Opposite and MVP Awards.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Annie, how are you are you?

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Speaker 3: Thank you sound blanks for having me already? Did like

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Speaker 3: all the hard words?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, pancakes. They're not too hard to make.

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Speaker 2: You like pancakes, I'm hoping.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I love it.

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Speaker 2: Well, how do you like them?

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Speaker 3: Maybe a little fruit two blueberry pancakes.

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Speaker 1: So Annie, I have to start from the very beginning,

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Speaker 1: and one of the first questions I have to ask

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Speaker 1: you is your name is actually Andrea.

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Speaker 2: So why Annie.

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Speaker 3: That's a really great question. I thought. I'm thirty years old,

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Speaker 3: I should probably know the answer.

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Speaker 4: I'm actually named after a babysitter that my parents really

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Speaker 4: loved for my two older siblings. And I was actually

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Speaker 4: born on Christmas Day, and this like sweet babysitter came

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Speaker 4: over at sixteen, gave up for Christmas Day to be

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Speaker 4: with my siblings. While with my parents went to the

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Speaker 4: hospital at Hackney. So that's why they named me Andrea.

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Speaker 4: But I don't know why Annie. They call me Annie

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Speaker 4: Ann in college briefly people call me Andy for a while,

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Speaker 4: so kind of just.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I like it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Annie's Andrey's very pretty too, But I whatever

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Speaker 1: works for you.

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Speaker 2: I go by Tiff or Tiffany whatever you know people

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Speaker 2: want to call me.

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Speaker 3: Yeah right, yep.

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Speaker 1: So let's go back to your childhood a little more,

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Speaker 1: a little after you were born on Christmas Day.

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Speaker 2: How did you get into volleyball?

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Speaker 4: I feel like I've had a really funny like path

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Speaker 4: in volleyball, especially like through childhood.

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Speaker 3: So I played in elementary school.

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Speaker 4: I played for my elementary school team for a small

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Speaker 4: club team, a local team.

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Speaker 3: Wasn't doing any crazy travel or anything like that. It

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Speaker 3: was very local club in elementary but like just literally

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Speaker 3: like probably two months of like local terms.

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Speaker 2: Amazing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but kids.

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Speaker 4: Now are like traveling all over and getting on planes

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Speaker 4: and doing these big things. So it felt very simple

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Speaker 4: compared to how.

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Speaker 3: Things are now.

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Speaker 4: But then actually I remember going to my parents when

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Speaker 4: I started middle school of being like, I don't.

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Speaker 3: Want to play volleyball anymore.

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Speaker 4: I want to be a cheerleader and I want to

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Speaker 4: be a competitive hip hop dancer. So that was like

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Speaker 4: Karch Loves's story, our national team coach, that was like.

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Speaker 3: My calling for a minute. I love it, and I

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Speaker 3: loved it. I had a lot of fun. I did

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Speaker 3: miss competing.

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Speaker 4: I remember like being on the sideline of a football

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Speaker 4: game and getting like so into it, and then they'd

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Speaker 4: be like, you're supposed to just like stand to be still,

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Speaker 4: you know, wait, but in between cheers and stuff. But yeah,

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Speaker 4: and then I just had a huge growth spurt and

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Speaker 4: I think I just missed the competing aspect of my friends,

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Speaker 4: and so straight out for my high school team and

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Speaker 4: got back to volleyball.

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Speaker 1: Then, So the love of dance and being a cheerleader

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Speaker 1: did that come from an early age? Did you love

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Speaker 1: dancing when you were a little kid.

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Speaker 4: Honestly, No, I come from a big basketball family. My

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Speaker 4: brother's seven years older than I am, and so in

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Speaker 4: elementary school I watched him play college.

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Speaker 3: Basketball, and I just remember seeing.

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Speaker 4: High level cheerleaders and dancers that like have to at

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Speaker 4: something that I was like, they're like so pretty and

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Speaker 4: they look they're having so much fun and it is

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Speaker 4: a really cool skill, like just learning how to do

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Speaker 4: the tumbling and the stunts and things like that.

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Speaker 3: But learned quickly that it was not.

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Speaker 4: Something I was the best at, and then found my

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Speaker 4: way back to volleyball and definitely haven't regretted it.

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Speaker 2: I can understand.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I did gymnastics when I was little, and there

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Speaker 1: was a point when I hit eight, like I think

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Speaker 1: I was eight years old, and it got very competitive,

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Speaker 1: very fast.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And at eight I was like, um, I'm good.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I just saw I mean, I saw the cards.

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Speaker 4: I was like, you know what, I am six foot two,

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Speaker 4: I've got big feet, I've got big hands.

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Speaker 3: This is gonna go downhill quickly for a girl like me.

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Speaker 4: And I was like, I can be much better suited

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Speaker 4: in a different sport.

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Speaker 1: Hey, guys, let's talk hype for a second, because volleyball

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Speaker 1: is definitely a tall person's game. On the current US

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Speaker 1: Women's Olympic volleyball roster, the average height is six feet

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Speaker 1: two and a half inch, with middle hitter Dana Reki

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Speaker 1: the tallest at six foot eight and libero Justine Wangarantez

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Speaker 1: the shortest at five foot six. Gotta give a little

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Speaker 1: love to the short players who are usually Libero's right,

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Speaker 1: and Annie is just above the average at six foot four.

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Speaker 1: I also just want to point out, real quick, Annie

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Speaker 1: isn't the only player who pursued other sports before a

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Speaker 1: growth spurt derailed their plans. Both Jordan Larson and Ronnie

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Speaker 1: Jones Perry competed in gymnastics, but how to stop dude

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Speaker 1: being too tall? So thank goodness volleyball gave them a

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Speaker 1: place to compete all right. Back to Annie, how old

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Speaker 1: were you.

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Speaker 2: When you hit your growth spurt?

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Speaker 4: Probably freshman year of high school, maybe the end of

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Speaker 4: eighth grade.

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Speaker 2: Was that awkward for you?

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Speaker 1: Or were there other girls that were the same height

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Speaker 1: as you that you kind of like fit in? Because

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Speaker 1: I have never been tall. Yeah, I was the only

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Speaker 1: time I was ever tall is in first grade. I

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Speaker 1: was in the back row of my class picture, and

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Speaker 1: then every other year after that, I was always sitting

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Speaker 1: down there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I don't know if it was awkward.

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Speaker 4: I came from a really tall fan, so I felt

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Speaker 4: very normal around my family, and then once I found volleyball,

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Speaker 4: I kind of played my freshman sophomore years, I was

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Speaker 4: playing on an eighteen's team, so I was playing with

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Speaker 4: a lot of girls who were also maybe a little

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Speaker 4: taller or around.

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Speaker 3: The same height. So I think once I found my

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Speaker 3: niche in volleyball, I felt very normal.

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Speaker 4: I will say I think it's gotten a lot easier

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Speaker 4: now with fashion. I remember like crying trying to find

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Speaker 4: a prom dress long enough, and I think as time's

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Speaker 4: gone on, it's gotten a lot easier for tall girls.

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Speaker 4: Being a tall kid twenty years ago or fifteen years ago,

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Speaker 4: I think that holy was just maybe logistically harder to

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Speaker 4: find things and fit in. But I found my confidence

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Speaker 4: with it pretty early and realized it could be a

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Speaker 4: huge advantage in the sport. And also being left handed,

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Speaker 4: so I saw it more as an asset than like

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Speaker 4: a confidence breaker.

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Speaker 1: And before you got to volleyball, because you said that

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Speaker 1: your family was a big basketball family, did you feel

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Speaker 1: pressure to play basketball at all or did you just

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Speaker 1: know that volleyball was kind of the sport that you

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Speaker 1: wanted to be part of.

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Speaker 3: I tried basketball. I was just so.

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Speaker 2: Not good at it.

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Speaker 1: Before Annie continues explaining why she chose volleyball over basketball.

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Speaker 1: The reason I brought this up is because her family

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Speaker 1: has a history of amazing basketball players. Her dad was

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Speaker 1: a star player at Ball State University and coached at

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Speaker 1: Elkhart High School for ten years. Her brother, Derek remains

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Speaker 1: the all time leading scorer at Elkhart, then went on

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Speaker 1: to play at Western Michigan, and her grandfather, Dwayne Peterson,

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Speaker 1: averaged a double double his final two seasons at Michigan.

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Speaker 1: State after seeing a sectional scoring record at Elkhart High

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Speaker 1: back in nineteen fifty two. But Annie's choice to step

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Speaker 1: on to a different court seems like it was the

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Speaker 1: right one, given that she's about to compete in her

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Speaker 1: second Olympics.

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Speaker 2: All right, now, back to Annie.

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Speaker 4: I just felt like the coordination was just so not

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Speaker 4: natural for me, and all of the running. I remember

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Speaker 4: really not enjoying running, and so I think volleyball was

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Speaker 4: a way to still use my height and to use power,

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Speaker 4: but it felt just a lot more natural for me.

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Speaker 4: So never really had the pressure to play basketball, but

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Speaker 4: I definitely tried it and learned pretty quickly. I was like,

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Speaker 4: it's not for me.

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Speaker 2: So you started volleyball in high school.

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Speaker 1: So it's kind of like a late bloomer in a

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Speaker 1: way when it comes to joining the sport, because nowadays

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Speaker 1: you hear kids, I mean I started at twelve, A

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Speaker 1: lot of kids start when they're younger. So do you

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Speaker 1: kind of feel like a role model for the kids

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Speaker 1: who start sports late?

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Speaker 2: In a way?

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Speaker 4: I definitely would have classified myself as, yeah, like a

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Speaker 4: late starter maybe in some ways a late bloomer.

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Speaker 3: And I think even.

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Speaker 4: Through college I had a good college career, but I

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Speaker 4: think when I got to the national team, I was

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Speaker 4: definitely one of those people who had a lot of

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Speaker 4: potential but definitely was maybe a skip and.

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Speaker 3: A beat behind.

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Speaker 4: So not just like in high school, but throughout I

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Speaker 4: feel like I've had a really unique path to my success.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, I definitely think that I.

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Speaker 4: Hope that I've been able to make other people feel like, oh,

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Speaker 4: maybe there is a chance if I just stick with

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Speaker 4: it a little longer, if I look at it from

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Speaker 4: a different lens.

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Speaker 3: Because that was totally my reality.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, I definitely think being a late bloomer is

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Speaker 4: very possible and pretty common, especially for tall girls that age,

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Speaker 4: so I would hope.

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Speaker 1: So, so, what was like the recruiting process for you

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Speaker 1: to go to college. Did you know that you wanted

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Speaker 1: to go to a Big ten school? Did you know

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Speaker 1: that you wanted to play? What was that like?

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Speaker 4: So I grew up in a small town in northern

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Speaker 4: Indiana near South Bend, so really close to Notre Dame,

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Speaker 4: and I think maybe my college interest started there. Knowing

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Speaker 4: Notre Dame at the time, that was where our high

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Speaker 4: school and club teams would go and like watch some

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Speaker 4: of their games and kind of saw volleyball like on

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Speaker 4: the big stage or at like the big level, and

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Speaker 4: so I think that's kind of how it started. But

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Speaker 4: I learned quickly Northern Indiana is the hub of Big Ten.

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Speaker 4: Like you drive two to three hours in any direction

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Speaker 4: and you're at like a Big ten school, and Big

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Speaker 4: Ten at the time and still to this.

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Speaker 3: Day, was one of the strongest, if not the strongest

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Speaker 3: volleyball conference.

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Speaker 4: So I think I just realized that there was a

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Speaker 4: lot of good volleyball really close to home, and that's

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Speaker 4: kind of how I started learning. Due was one of

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Speaker 4: the first schools I looked at for do A Notre Dame,

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Speaker 4: and then I kind of expanded the search from there.

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Speaker 4: But ultimately I think I ended up choosing Prudue for

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Speaker 4: a lot of reasons, but it felt like a place

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Speaker 4: that could develop me well, but also I could have

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Speaker 4: a lot of chances. Especially early on, I think I was,

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Speaker 4: you know, to that late bloomer aspect. A lot of

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Speaker 4: places wanted meet a red shirt, kind of develop and

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Speaker 4: wait my turn, and I just really wanted to play,

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Speaker 4: and I wanted to play all the time from point

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Speaker 4: one my freshman year. And you know, I think I

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Speaker 4: commend people who have patients at that age to think otherwise,

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Speaker 4: but I was.

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Speaker 3: Like, I just want to get out there.

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Speaker 4: So Perdue was this awesome opportunity that allowed me to

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Speaker 4: kind of have both this like high level program and conference,

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Speaker 4: but also get me on the floor pretty early. And

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Speaker 4: not only that, it was two and a half hours

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Speaker 4: from home, so knowing I had friends from high school,

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Speaker 4: friends from club volleyball going there, whether it's to be

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Speaker 4: students or to be student athletes, and knowing my parents

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Speaker 4: could be pretty involved, I could see them a lot.

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Speaker 3: It was like it became kind of a no brainer

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Speaker 3: at some point.

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Speaker 2: That's so nice. Does your family really close?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say so.

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Speaker 4: I have an older brother who's seven years older, and

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Speaker 4: I'm an older sister who's two years older.

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Speaker 3: And my brother, I think just being a little bit older.

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Speaker 4: You got married when I was like in high school

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Speaker 4: or maybe my freshman year of college. So having another

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Speaker 4: sister and then his kids also now are eight and four,

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Speaker 4: and so just having them kind of be alongside me

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Speaker 4: in my career through college but also professionally made me

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Speaker 4: like kind of put a new importance on volleyball and

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Speaker 4: just like I'm not just doing it for me or

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Speaker 4: for the paycheck or for the glory. It's kind of

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Speaker 4: to show them like what's kind of out there if

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Speaker 4: you work hard at something. So definitely very close to

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Speaker 4: my family and excited that they'll get to see me

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Speaker 4: play a.

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Speaker 3: Lot more life.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so sure.

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Speaker 1: Now I've read that you weren't actually sure if you

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Speaker 1: wanted to play pro and keep going after college. So

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Speaker 1: what did you want to do when you graduated? What

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Speaker 1: was kind of your thought process if you didn't go pro.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I was a hospitality and tourism management major, so that's

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Speaker 4: basically kind of like a business and managerial degree for

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Speaker 4: hotels and restaurants and launching events things like that.

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Speaker 3: And I definitely enjoyed that side of things.

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Speaker 4: And I think a lot of college athletes, after spending

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Speaker 4: four years totally dedicated to something, you kind of do

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Speaker 4: wonder what's like on the other side. So I definitely

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Speaker 4: like flirted with the idea of not playing and looked

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Speaker 4: heavily at that. And I got an offer to play

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Speaker 4: professionally in Puerto Rico right after college, which was pretty

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Speaker 4: common at the time to leave like right after Christmas

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Speaker 4: and the holidays your senior year and go play in

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Speaker 4: the spring in Puerto Rico. And I think, honestly, with

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Speaker 4: the pro side of things, I for a long time

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Speaker 4: time wasn't sure like how long I wanted to do this.

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Speaker 3: I still struggle with that sometimes how long I want

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Speaker 3: to do this?

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Speaker 4: But I feel like I'm very connected to my faith

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Speaker 4: and I feel like God has put small opportunities in

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Speaker 4: front of me and just like nudged me to say yes.

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Speaker 4: And so it wasn't looking at my career ten years

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Speaker 4: ago being like I want this decade long pursuit of

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Speaker 4: an Olympics, and it wasn't like that for me. But

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Speaker 4: it was a lot of little moments of God being like,

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Speaker 4: here's this opportunity and let's think about it.

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Speaker 3: And then like nudging me in that direction. And it's

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Speaker 3: been beautiful.

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Speaker 1: It was gonna say, are you glad that you have

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Speaker 1: chosen this path and that you're still doing Absolutely yeah.

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Speaker 3: And every year it takes on new meaning.

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Speaker 4: I mean now with all the opportunities coming up to

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Speaker 4: play at home and all the opportunities for college players,

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Speaker 4: just my hope is that this next year I can

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Speaker 4: help in some ways like lay a brick into something

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Speaker 4: that in the future my kids or my niece. They'll

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Speaker 4: have options to pursue playing after college in a lot

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Speaker 4: of different ways.

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Speaker 3: There's not just one one route to do it.

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Speaker 4: And so I'm super grateful of the career I've had,

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Speaker 4: but I think just super grateful of the ways God's

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Speaker 4: used volleyball to teach me more about like the world

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Speaker 4: and like myself and what all this can look like.

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Speaker 3: So I hope that makes sense.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.

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Speaker 1: And you get to travel to all the different countries

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Speaker 1: to play. So what has kind of been your favorite

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Speaker 1: location if you even have one, Can you give me

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Speaker 1: an example of something that you absolutely loved or an

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Speaker 1: adventure that you got to go on from traveling and

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Speaker 1: playing internationally with these teams.

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Speaker 4: We have like our pro seasons, which are about six

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Speaker 4: to eight months, and then we spend the rest of

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Speaker 4: the time with national teams. So I preface that because

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Speaker 4: if anyone's listening and they don't really know about how

337
00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,320
Speaker 4: the schedule works, half the year is in a foreign

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Speaker 4: country with foreign teammates and you're playing for like one club,

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Speaker 4: and the other half is typically traveling with Team USA,

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Speaker 4: and that's where we represent, you know, the United States,

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Speaker 4: and where we try to pursue things like an Olympic

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Speaker 4: gold medal, So two.

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Speaker 3: Very different experiences.

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Speaker 4: I've loved overseas playing profess because learning to live in

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Speaker 4: another culture, in another country is just the most eye

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Speaker 4: opening thing, the most humbling thing you can ever do.

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Speaker 4: Like you think you know something about yourself or about

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Speaker 4: the world, you live somewhere else and you're like, oh

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Speaker 4: my gosh, like I have so much more to learn.

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Speaker 3: So I think that part's been really cool. Obviously. The

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Speaker 3: glamorous side is people see what we do on off

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Speaker 3: days and they see us on like a.

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Speaker 4: Boat in Italy or like on a food tour in Japan,

354
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Speaker 4: and it's like, oh my gosh, I want to do that.

355
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Speaker 4: But the day to day is really hard but really rewarding,

356
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Speaker 4: so I'm glad I got to learn those lessons. And

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Speaker 4: then with national team, yeah, we've just we've really been

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Speaker 4: all over and getting to see different styles of volleyball

359
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Speaker 4: has been really fun. How to do different countries run

360
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Speaker 4: their offensive and defensive systems, but also how they just

361
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Speaker 4: like develop their youth differently and what they prioritize.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, that's more of a volleyball answer, I guess,

363
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Speaker 3: or a life answer.

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Speaker 4: But the travel has been amazing, but just like I've

365
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Speaker 4: learned so much along the way, and I feel like

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Speaker 4: I'm always still learning.

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Speaker 1: What is a day today life like as a professional

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Speaker 1: walklleyball player.

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Speaker 3: Oh that's a good question.

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Speaker 1: I always wondered that because I'm thinking because I mean,

371
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,120
Speaker 1: I played club and I was going to play in college.

372
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Speaker 1: I was recruited to go to Penn State, and so

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Speaker 1: that was like the dream.

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Speaker 2: But then I got into film.

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Speaker 1: School and I was like, that's that's you know for me.

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Speaker 1: I graduated high school in O four, so there was

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Speaker 1: no to me that I did not know about professionals.

378
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Speaker 2: So I went academics over athletics.

379
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Speaker 1: And then I always think back now, I'm like, huh,

380
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Speaker 1: could I have done that?

381
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Speaker 4: But it would have likes so cool and you're doing.

382
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,480
Speaker 3: Get like a volleyball capacity that's like really cool.

383
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and I'm loving this that was, but you know,

384
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Speaker 1: there's always that thought like what would life have been like?

385
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Speaker 1: So I'm always curious, like what would my life have

386
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Speaker 1: been like had I played professionally like you are, you know,

387
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Speaker 1: attempted to even try to play at the US well,

388
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Speaker 1: which I don't think I could have, But I.

389
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Speaker 3: Think that's an interesting question. There's a lot of variants.

390
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,720
Speaker 4: It depends on like what country you're playing in or

391
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:56,920
Speaker 4: if you're talking about like a professional day versus like

392
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Speaker 4: a day with TV USA. But generally for being I'm

393
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Speaker 4: typically a pretty early riser, Like I'm a morning person.

394
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Speaker 3: I'll wake up, have coffee.

395
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Speaker 4: I like to do some like devotional journal prayer time.

396
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Speaker 3: Before I leave the house.

397
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Speaker 4: That to me is like have like kind of a

398
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Speaker 4: slow morning at home for myself, and.

399
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Speaker 2: Then it's very nice like meditate that morning for you.

400
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Speaker 4: It's I just I love being up early and it's quiet.

401
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,439
Speaker 3: And then I think, for me, when I can make.

402
00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,480
Speaker 4: Volleyball feel like a part of my day versus my

403
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,919
Speaker 4: whole day. Typically I tend to like hold things a

404
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,399
Speaker 4: little looser and feel more relaxed to them.

405
00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:34,240
Speaker 3: Make sense, So.

406
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,720
Speaker 4: Slow morning and then head to the gym. Typically starts

407
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,360
Speaker 4: with some like warm up and like rehab activities.

408
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,200
Speaker 3: So as an opposite, that means get your shoulder ready.

409
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,160
Speaker 4: I've had some foot and heel problems throughout my career,

410
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,359
Speaker 4: like nothing major, but just make sure I'm getting a

411
00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:51,480
Speaker 4: good warm up for those things activating well. And then

412
00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,760
Speaker 4: typically we'll have ball practice maybe in the beginning part

413
00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,760
Speaker 4: where with more like people in your position, and we're

414
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,040
Speaker 4: doing more like skills specif work like we'll have an

415
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,320
Speaker 4: attack period of time and I'll have a blocking period

416
00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,720
Speaker 4: of time and a serving period of time, and then

417
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:07,080
Speaker 4: as the day goes on.

418
00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,440
Speaker 3: We'll do more like six on six volleyball or competition willeyball.

419
00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,520
Speaker 4: And then after that typically we'll either go right into

420
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,639
Speaker 4: strength and conditioning where we have a weak program and

421
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 4: a little bit of cardio, or we'll have lunch and

422
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,680
Speaker 4: then do that and then yeah, in the evening, maybe

423
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,880
Speaker 4: take I don't know, late afternoon and take a nap,

424
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,399
Speaker 4: get a coffee. I like to take an afternoon walk

425
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,359
Speaker 4: just to kind of shake out the body after the

426
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,639
Speaker 4: longboarding of moving, and then cook dinner and watch some

427
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,080
Speaker 4: film a lot of days just to kind of see

428
00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,000
Speaker 4: how you did that day, or watch some things about

429
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,400
Speaker 4: your next opponent, and then chill time like do my nails,

430
00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,040
Speaker 4: watch a movie, visit with friends, play games, things like that.

431
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,040
Speaker 2: It's your like go to movie genre.

432
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,240
Speaker 4: Honestly, I feel like my husband and I have really

433
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,760
Speaker 4: grown to love like Netflix documentaries.

434
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,479
Speaker 3: I like nothing that like specific.

435
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,000
Speaker 2: But just learning things.

436
00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,159
Speaker 3: Yeah, and some of these are just so wild you

437
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,240
Speaker 3: just can't look away. And I'm like, I love that.

438
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 4: I think Apple TV does a lot of great shows,

439
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,119
Speaker 4: So yeah, I guess maybe less movies and more like

440
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,320
Speaker 4: find a show and whether we're together or doing long distance,

441
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,800
Speaker 4: like Okay, tonight, we're watching episode four or something like that.

442
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Speaker 1: So you got married a month after you won the

443
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Speaker 1: gold medal in Tokyo.

444
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,040
Speaker 2: So what was that like?

445
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,919
Speaker 1: Going from training trying to make the twelve man roster

446
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,640
Speaker 1: making it Olympics, ending up playing a.

447
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 2: Lot and then winning gold. Yeah, and then a month

448
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,800
Speaker 2: later getting married, Like what but what was that realer?

449
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:47,119
Speaker 3: Closer?

450
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,399
Speaker 4: I like, it was like the most chaotic month, Like

451
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,760
Speaker 4: I look back and it was seriously such a blur.

452
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:55,280
Speaker 3: I think my husband and.

453
00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,280
Speaker 4: My support system and my planner we kind of said,

454
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,320
Speaker 4: once July hits and planning is off the table, I

455
00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:05,120
Speaker 4: don't need to know anything, like if my caterer quits tomorrow,

456
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,159
Speaker 4: I will find out when we get home. So we

457
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:08,959
Speaker 4: kind of just put the wedding on the back burner

458
00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,800
Speaker 4: and just made it all about the Olympics.

459
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,200
Speaker 3: And then, yeah, the Olympics.

460
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:17,200
Speaker 4: Obviously we had a really amazing story and experience there

461
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,640
Speaker 4: and then it was just probably a week of just celebrations,

462
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:22,880
Speaker 4: media like.

463
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,080
Speaker 3: Chaos, Like everywhere you went. It was like we had paparazzi.

464
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,879
Speaker 4: But I remember being like in Costco and people being like,

465
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 4: I just saw you, like on NBC, you just want

466
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,480
Speaker 4: this gold medal and it was just so funny. But yeah,

467
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,840
Speaker 4: some media stuff, phone calls, things like that, and then

468
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,200
Speaker 4: a week of chill time in Indiana with my family

469
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 4: just kind of off the grid, and then we just

470
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 4: flent right into.

471
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 3: All the wedding fun. So it was really cool.

472
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,600
Speaker 4: It was what was really special was seeing a lot

473
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,199
Speaker 4: of my national team teammates and coaches in my small

474
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,200
Speaker 4: town court fields at my wedding, just like three weeks after.

475
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,479
Speaker 4: I think that was just a really special, like visual

476
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,680
Speaker 4: I'll never forget. These people could be like anywhere in

477
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,240
Speaker 4: the world right now and they chose to track it here. Yeah,

478
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:08,679
Speaker 4: so that was like my eyes did not know what

479
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:10,359
Speaker 4: to do with that image because it was like my

480
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 4: world's colliding.

481
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:12,720
Speaker 2: So that's amazing.

482
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was chaos in the best way.

483
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,120
Speaker 1: Speaking of Indiana, did you know that the Indianapolis Star

484
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,600
Speaker 1: they did like a best of sports by the Numbers

485
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,840
Speaker 1: and for eighteen they had Peyton Manning because Peyton Manning,

486
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 1: but you were the honorable mention. If Peyton Manning didn't exist,

487
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 1: you would have been number eighteen for best in sports

488
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 1: of Indiana.

489
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:33,560
Speaker 2: Did you know that?

490
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,639
Speaker 3: I did not know that, and that was my college number.

491
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 1: I feel like that's kind of that's pretty funny, oppressive.

492
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,200
Speaker 1: Out of the whole state of Indiana for number eighteen,

493
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,960
Speaker 1: they chose you. I mean, like I said, behind Peyton Manning,

494
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:46,560
Speaker 1: but that's.

495
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 3: No, yeah, we don't invest.

496
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,359
Speaker 4: But no, it was really cool to see how like

497
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 4: my high school and my town and our state in

498
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,840
Speaker 4: general really came behind and I felt a lot of

499
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 4: support throughout the Olympics.

500
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 1: All Right, one more fun fact for you guys. Along

501
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: with Annie, Indiana has produced a lot of amazing female athletes,

502
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,200
Speaker 1: including w NBA star and Olympic gold medalist Skyler digg

503
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,760
Speaker 1: and Smith, Olympic medalist swimmer Lily King, and US women's

504
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 1: national soccer team member and Olympian Lauren Holiday. So Annie

505
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: is in some great company there, but she does have

506
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 1: a unique achievement under her belt as a volleyball player

507
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 1: from Indiana. So here's Annie to talk about that.

508
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,760
Speaker 4: I'm the first volleyball player to ever be named the

509
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,679
Speaker 4: Olympic in our volleyball roster. So I didn't want to

510
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,959
Speaker 4: carry that lightly. I think it could mean a lot

511
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 4: of cool things for our sport, in our in our country,

512
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 4: in our home state. So felt a lot of support

513
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 4: along the way, which was really cool.

514
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,560
Speaker 1: Well, now you get to play here. I mean, what

515
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:48,159
Speaker 1: does that mean for your family and your husband? Are

516
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: they excited that you're not going away for months? Yeah?

517
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:51,120
Speaker 3: Now?

518
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 4: Yeah. So my plan actually was honestly to retire after Paris.

519
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 4: You know, this League one opportunity came around, and I

520
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,280
Speaker 4: versus no, I think I should retire.

521
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 3: I think I should retire it.

522
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 4: And the more I learned, and the more I saw

523
00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 4: people signing, and it's starting to come to fruition, It's like,

524
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 4: I think I've never really regret not doing it. So

525
00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:12,199
Speaker 4: I remember saying yes to League one and calling my

526
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,720
Speaker 4: parents and they were in the car together and they

527
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,439
Speaker 4: were just so funny, just very happy.

528
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 3: And then an hour later, my dad's like.

529
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 4: Okay, map Quest says it's three hours and thirty seven minutes.

530
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,640
Speaker 3: To Madison, Wisconsin.

531
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,920
Speaker 4: So my parents, along with all of our parents, are

532
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 4: just gonna be total groupies, like in the best way,

533
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:32,400
Speaker 4: which is gonna be really fun.

534
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:33,040
Speaker 2: I love it.

535
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,600
Speaker 1: So what are you hoping that your legacy will be

536
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:39,920
Speaker 1: when it's all said and done, when you finally decide

537
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,399
Speaker 1: that you know the opportunity to finally retire presents itself

538
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:44,959
Speaker 1: to you, what do you kind of hope that your

539
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 1: legacy is.

540
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,159
Speaker 4: I want to be remembered as like a player and

541
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,120
Speaker 4: teammate who matured.

542
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,240
Speaker 3: Along the way, who was really learned how to be

543
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 3: good in a lot of different roles.

544
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 4: And I think that that's something that I've had to learn,

545
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:57,200
Speaker 4: not always the easy way.

546
00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 3: I just think, you know.

547
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,439
Speaker 4: A lot of your college professional career, you're kind of

548
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 4: like the big dog, and then you get to the

549
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 4: national team a gym and you're just so not a

550
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,440
Speaker 4: big fish in a small pond, if that makes sense.

551
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,160
Speaker 4: So I think just learning, how can I be good

552
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 4: as a starter? How can I be good as a

553
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,919
Speaker 4: non starter? How can I be good as someone who's

554
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 4: coming off the bench for three points, coming off the

555
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 4: bench to finish the game, And not just physically or statistically,

556
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 4: but like mentally emotionally, Like how do my teammates know

557
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:27,959
Speaker 4: no matter what, they're gonna know what they're gonna get.

558
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,440
Speaker 4: I think that is something that I've really worked hard

559
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,520
Speaker 4: on getting better at, and I hope that that's something

560
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 4: I can model well and people can see that, but

561
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,439
Speaker 4: also that I can help people with in the future.

562
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,680
Speaker 1: And what advice do you have for kids who are

563
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,919
Speaker 1: starting up in sports volleyball?

564
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 2: What kind of advice do you have for them?

565
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,760
Speaker 4: Honestly, like, and it doesn't even have to be about sports.

566
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 4: You just have to find something that you really love

567
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 4: to do every day. And I think when you're young,

568
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 4: it can be like my parents sign me up for it,

569
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,239
Speaker 4: or my friends like to do it, but I just

570
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 4: don't know if that's really going to get you very far.

571
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 3: And if you just enjoy it, like that's amazing.

572
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 4: But I think if you really want to see gains

573
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,159
Speaker 4: and improvements and success in something, or you really just

574
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 4: want to be like satisfied and who you are and

575
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 4: what you're contributing, I think you just got to find

576
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 4: something that you really enjoy doing and not do it

577
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 4: just for other people.

578
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: Lastly, sports, women's sports in general has transformed and involved

579
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: so much since you've played, especially since I've played. Where

580
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 1: do you see this sport in just women's sports in

581
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 1: general in five ten years.

582
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 4: If it's where we want it to be, it should

583
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 4: be like pretty unimaginable, Like I don't think we should

584
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,280
Speaker 4: be able to know what that looks like. I think

585
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 4: the cool thing about volleyball, we've seen it grow at

586
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 4: this like exponential level and we're learning quickly that there's

587
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,600
Speaker 4: interest here and how do we capitalize on that, not

588
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,000
Speaker 4: just for a monetary value, but how do we equip

589
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,760
Speaker 4: the next generation so they can match that level when

590
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:52,280
Speaker 4: they get there.

591
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:53,879
Speaker 3: And I don't know.

592
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 4: What it'll look like, but I'm really excited to hopefully

593
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,399
Speaker 4: help lay a brick. And I think it takes a

594
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,160
Speaker 4: lot of talented people and a lot of experienced players

595
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,199
Speaker 4: just saying yes to opportunities and seeing how far we

596
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:08,040
Speaker 4: can take these things.

597
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:08,760
Speaker 2: Amazing.

598
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 1: Well, Annie, thank you so much, cheering. I appreciate you

599
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,959
Speaker 1: joining me pancakes and chatting about Paulay.

600
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:15,360
Speaker 4: Thank you.

601
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:16,360
Speaker 3: I appreciate it.

602
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,119
Speaker 1: Serving Pancakes is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership

603
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,359
Speaker 1: with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us

604
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

605
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Production by League One Volleyball I'm your host

606
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 1: Tiffany Oshinsky. Anya oliverrez Is our senior producer. Our executive

607
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: producers are Carrie Stett, Tamaradike and Lindsay Hoffman. Our marketing

608
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 1: lead is Jawara Parker. Sound mixing by Max Lorenzen. Our

609
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 1: theme music is Pancakes by Eric W. Mast Junior special

610
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,119
Speaker 1: thanks to Annie Drews. We'll be back next week with

611
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 1: Justine Wangarantis, who earned Best Libero honors at the Tokyo

612
00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 1: Olympics when Team USA won their first and who will

613
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 1: be back defending her title in Paris. Stay tuned for

614
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: what we serve up next. H