USA Volleyball

... right after we won our match, um, kind of jokingly and... 'Cause I think all four of us were right on the same p- or on the same page right away about not playing, um, or caring to play that match.

Um, so yeah, we decided to do that, and obviously there was some, you know, not unhappiness on the USA Volleyball's front, which, you know, I get, but, um, if we, you know, had to do it over again, I, I don't know I still don't think we would've played.

Uh, we would've found another solution.

Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, like you said, we were both confident in one or the other going to Puerto Rico and getting the bid, and having, uh, to play a third match in one day right before the league champs, uh, especially a crab boil where there are always, you know, gnarly matches and-

I think we play against each other so much and practice with each other so much that w- if, if we can beat one another, it doesn't, it's not saying much-

Right

... especially for a one-off tournament when, okay, you could wake up sick, so you get hurt, and then what? Your Olympic dreams are over because of some random thing that happens on the court, or do we look at the entire body of work that you've done across the, uh, world tour and being, whatever, in the top 16 and proving that you can win in that level, and kinda sticking to what USA Volleyball's motto has always been, is winning medals, or do we risk it to try to make some money for USAV and send someone who can win one-off tournament?

Against five teams.

Oh, yeah

... and talking about USAV and liability-

Liability, yes

... and they're not cleared, and they're not SafeSport and-

All the updates.

What about USA Volleyball? Oh.

Losing to Mexico.

Yeah.

Getting them to see, like, how, how juiced, like, and how, like, whoa, this volleyball thing is a big deal.

Um, the CEO of USA Volleyball, his name's John Speraw.

He used to be a, he's a great Olympic coach and great coach at UCLA, great player.

Um, he, you know, him and I have, I don't think, I'm not gonna say we are super tight, but he's been kinda reaching out to me lately about certain things, 'cause obviously he understands where Nebraska volleyball sits in the volleyball re-

And, um, he was at the match, and, like, he came to our match last year at USC, 'cause he lives in California.

Um, and, you know, he's come to a couple of other things.

He's seen us at nationals and stuff like that at, at USA Volleyball Nationals, at recruiting.

And then he's come, he came to practice Friday, and he's just like, you know, he's a sports guy.

She's less offensive, but she's quicker to the pins and appears quicker running the slide as well.

So Kimora was virtually unknown coming out of high school while Linney played for a top club and was in the USAV pipeline.

What did you guys think about them? What are better numbers, and would you prioritize offense over lateral speed?

I didn't notice Scott as much.

We have four or five people.

So we're bringing in the elite-level staff to take it to another level, again, to the USAV, actually.

We're going back to the USAV.

United States Volleyball Association again.

So we're looking to win some more national championships.

We got smoked that first set, 21-12, and then we came back and won in three.

Um, so I, I think, yeah, and just having that collective, having that unifying experience of USA Volleyball, um, all of that kind of came to fruition and, like, I mean, yes, we beat the number two team in the world, but we did that in the playoffs of World Champs on the Fourth of July.

Like, it was just, like, this really cool, poetic, like, sort of experience.

It was rad.

Like, there is definitely something that Guidetti has seen, I mean, defensively and from a block standpoint, that they are exploiting and oof.

How much do you think that was an F-you from Guidetti to USAV for not letting him coach their team? [laughs]

100%.

Being like, "I'm not only gonna beat you, but I'm gonna play some of my non-starters and do it anyway." [laughs]