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KP HERE! The podcast interviews college coaches, high school athletes and other leaders in men's volleyball. The topics that are discussed on the show is how boys' volleyball is growing in the USA, club volleyball, college recruiting and other volleyball topics.
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KP HERE Season 4, Episode 20 Division III Coaches Huddle
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KP sits down with NCAA Division III men's volleyball coaches to discuss the 2026 NCAA playoffs. Joining KP is Glenn DeHaven (Juniata), Evin Giglio (Wentworth), Doug Burchett (Dominican) and Rob Wingert (Misericordia).
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Well, KP here, and welcome to the Kevin Pratt Podcast. We have some awesome coaches, as usual, on the call today. We're going to be talking some playoff volleyball. We also have the All-Americans that were announced today. We record the show on Mondays and it comes out on Wednesday. So we'll be definitely talking about that. We're going to have the coaches make their final four predictions and who's going to win the championship. So uh should be very, very exciting. So we're going to go around the horn and say hello or hello. So uh coach Evan, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm doing okay. Happy to talk some volleyball and some postseason and some awards and uh you know haven't had a show in a little bit, and so just excited to be seeing Doug's face again.
SPEAKER_02There you go. And speaking of the wonderful coach Doug, how are you doing, Coach? And um, why don't you say hello to the listeners?
SPEAKER_04What's up, KP? Uh, things are good here in Chicago, and it's great to see you as well. Thank you. Fun as always. It's kind of weird first first Monday not having volleyball, uh, but we're here to talk some volleyball, so still still getting after it.
SPEAKER_02Awesome, good to see. And you both Evan and Coach Doug, you guys had excellent seasons and it was fun to watch you guys. And then we have uh Coach Glenn, obviously. Coach, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing okay. Once again, like Doug, kind of weird to not have practice today. Our season also ended over the weekend. Uh, shout out to Doug, who's the only one of us that uh won a NCAA tournament game. So good job, Doug. But excited to be here and kind of talk the uh the end of the season and what that looks like.
SPEAKER_02Awesome, good stuff. And again, Coach Glenn, you guys had a fantastic year. It was really fun. I don't know, I did not plan for this, but I ended up seeing all three of your campuses and watching Glenn's team play. I watched Evan's team play. I did not get to watch Dominican Live, but that was pretty cool this year, too. During this year, I got to see you guys. So that was awesome. But congrats to the three of you guys are doing great things. And uh like we said prior to the show, we were talking earlier. It's really fun when I go and on these visits because everyone comes and talks to me about your guy, you guys, and they talk to me about your program and their sons play there, or there's some kind of connection. And it's also really fun when I'm just walking around San Diego or my uh my local gym, and I'll be I have shirts of all your guys' universities, and they'll be like, Oh, you know Dominican, and I'll be like, people know about your university, and I'm like, Oh, yeah, I know the volleyball coach really well. So these are doing great stuff and appreciate you guys. And um, let's move on to a kind of a big announcement uh that was posted on social media the other day. Our uh fabulous coach, coach Rob, and made a life decision. Um, his he's happily married, and his uh wife had a career opportunity to move to Lawrence, Kansas. And Rob, the team player that he is, you know, and I think they made a family decision. So he uh stepped aside from his misrecordia position. He uh put it out on social media, he got a ton of um positive feedback from his athletes, coaches, and volleyball world. There was some really cool pictures that he posted that you could just see him in his element. And uh, you know, I met Coach Rob through you guys. The first person I met out of our group was Coach Doug. Coach Doug recommended Coach Glenn to be on the show, then Evan, and we we kind of got it together. And you guys, when we were forming this show, you guys were like no-brainer, Rob has to be on it. And the more and more I got to know him, and then obviously he worked at camp with me last year, and then we had a lovely dinner at Nationals, and just a really good guy. But I I know how much he cares about his kids. I know he was a tired, tireless recruiter, and he also uh was the head women's volleyball coach for many years. So can't thank uh Rob enough. I think you're gonna find that he's still gonna be on the show a heck of a lot, and he's the type of guy, you guys, that like he wants to come work the Kansas City camp with me now that he's in Lawrence. Like, that's the kind of person he is. I I have a sneaking suspicion we'll see him coaching down the road. I don't know where, what level, but I know he's a great coach, and we're wishing him the best of luck. Coach Doug, do you have anything you want to chime in about Coach Rob?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, Rob is such a great guy, and I think one of the coolest things for us is we've had this partnership, all of us, this this last year or so with this podcast, is like really getting to know these guys, you know, more than just coaches across the net. And you know, and Rob is is definitely a very unique person and uh phenomenal coach and cares so much about his program and uh his players and takes a lot of pride. And I I don't know another Division III coach or coach in general that knows as much facts about the game or what's going on in the world and volleyball. And so I think that's what makes him so special and unique. And I know the Division III men's game is gonna miss him a lot. You know, Rob's way too good of a coach uh to I'm sure say goodbye to the world of volleyball completely. So I'm sure he'll be back in some capacity and whatever that looks like for him. But you know, from for myself a Dominican and and our podcast crew, like we're gonna miss him. Uh, you know, not seeing that misercordia, but you know, I I wish him nothing but the best.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well said, Coach. Um, Coach Glenn, what do you have?
SPEAKER_01Just to kind of give people background on who Rob is, you know, uh Doug kind of touched on a little bit. We posted something uh the day of our CVC championship on our social media, and it was basically the entire background and all the teams that have ever been part of the CVC in its existence. And within like 15 minutes of that post going up, Rob had listed every championship team and the MVP of the tournament. And my guess is he did that without looking it up just because that's Rob, right? Like, so for the knowledge that he's absorbed and the man that he is, you know, for our sport, he's he's been a wonderful kind of sounding board for for anybody who's interested in Division III volleyball. He's been bigger than just the head coach at Ms. Recordia for a long time. Everyone will recognize his voice. It is unique. Um, and it's been at every final site. Um it's been at plenty of pot sound rumbles and all the outdoor tournaments he's announced as well. But we're excited for him and and the opportunity he has with his wife to move to Kansas, and and I'm sure he will find his way back into the volleyball world.
SPEAKER_02Definitely, definitely, definitely. And Coach Evan, who has a great relationship with Coach Rob, I believe Evan was in his wedding or went to his wedding. They they seem to be pretty good friends. So, Coach Evan, what do you have to say about your dear friend uh Rob?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, truthfully, KP, I've never liked him. I just want to now that he's not on the pod, I'm happy that I can finally say that. Never like him. He we played Stevenson when he was I was coaching at Wentworth. He was a member of the team. He didn't even show up to the match. That was my first, I guess not even interaction with Rob. He didn't even show up. He meant he skipped the game to go to a national advisory meeting. So, you know, so we started off on a good foot. Uh I worked a camp with Rob at Kane, and I was like, this is the first time I'd actually met him, and I was like, man, this guy's got a lot of energy. And uh so I went from you know, colleagues to friends. We would worked on the NCAA committee together for a number of years. I was at his wedding. I'm happy to call him one of my best friends today. And uh I do get to see Rob again uh pretty soon. Him and I are gonna be broadcasting for the final four. So he's gonna do play by play, and I get to do color, and we've we've had a chance to do that before together. And so uh it's gonna be uh a very bittersweet opportunity to see Rob to call the game with him, uh, knowing that it's probably the last time that we get to do that together. So but I still maintain I don't like him very much.
SPEAKER_02You two on the call are gonna be incredible. I mean, yeah, you've done it before too. So yeah, I I think for me, I told you guys too, like you know, it it's part of life. Coaches come and go, like that happens. But for some reason, when in our group text he said that, I just was like, because like I I talk to you guys weekly. I I am on a podcast with you, and then we're in a group text. But I have a sneaking suspicion we will definitely be recruiting Rob to continue to be on this podcast just because he's so knowledgeable about the sport and he's gonna follow it, and hopefully he takes us up on that. But and I think he texted us, I think he's gonna try to join a little later in the show tonight. So that'll be great. So let's let's move on. We got playoffs. We're just gonna go and kind of talk about each region and what teams are in the final four, what were kind of like the sp uh surprises. I'm gonna let the coaches just kind of the floor will be theirs. Why don't we start with uh Coach Glenn? Why don't you give a little roundup about your kind of area and maybe some other uh matches that caught your eye?
SPEAKER_01So after a really good season, uh I was very blessed. My group was able to host uh a regional for the second year in a row. I was on a path to meet Evan, and that did not work out. And then it did not work out for me, and then it did not work out for Messiah. And honestly, I I think Evan would probably reiterate huge shout out to Wittenberg, talk about peeking and playing some of their best volleyball at the right time, you know, to see the low seed win a region. I believe it's the first time it's ever happened. It very it felt very much like NCAA basketball tournament on the Division I side, right? It felt like one of those 12 seeds upsetting multiple teams. I think the the the run that it reminds me of is that George Mason run years ago where they they went all the way to that that final four. Super talented team. They have really good length. They were absolutely chaos to scout and figure out, and you know, to watch them get kind of better and better and better throughout the weekend was wild. So a really good region of teams. It was Juniata and we we got the winner of Wentworth-Wittenberg. The other side of the bracket at our regional was Messiah versus Randolph Macon. Messiah won their match against Randolph Macon. Wittenberg won their match against Wentworth, Wittenberg won their match against Juniata, and then Wittenberg upset Messiah as well in the final two, head to the final four site. So that was our region. Um, I'm sure Evan can talk a little bit about the Stevens regional, I think is what he was talking about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So we had uh what I would call a long bus ride back from Juniata and nothing but time on that bus. So I watched a lot of volleyball that wasn't my own. And uh I think the Stevens regional was was really uh like maybe the most interesting one in terms of the closeness of talent of those teams with Kalou just getting by in five against Endicott, and then MIT with that upset win over Stevens, right? At Stevens, huge win for MIT, and then those two, and there was play in games both at those those regions as well. And that final, and there was still two fire alarms. Fire alarms went off twice over the weekend. So Bureen may or may not have pulled the first one, it's unclear. I got some people over at Stevens that are looking into it, and I'm hoping by our next pot I can give you a full answer, but it's still under review, so I can't say anything right now. And then uh MIT goes up 2-0 over at Kowaloo, and uh and Kowaloo storms back for another five-set win. It's two five-set wins for them over the weekend. So just a really, really great volleyball, really close, five setters, and just a huge battle. I had predicted Kowaloo to come out of that region on the last pod, but if I I couldn't have predicted, I don't think, how it all shook out with all the five-set wins and delays and craziness.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Kevin Judd runs an outstanding program. You know, Coach Todd over at MIT is doing some really good things. Dan, you know, does a good job at Stevens. And yeah, you did a nice job, you know, giving us the updates on that to talk a little bit about Glenn. Like Wittenberg, unfortunately, and to my fault, we haven't talked a ton about them this year. I mean, obviously they're very good. Hats off to that coach. Last year, I believe she was came in like halfway through the year. I think she was an assistant, and you know, to take a team to the final four, and also Juniana's not an easy place to play at. You know, I've when I was there, like I said, it was Toge Knight, and there was, you know, a ton of community outreach, uh, a lot of professors, a lot of athletes watching. And I can only imagine that for your game against, you know, Wittenberg, there's a good crowd. And then to go, and also we've talked about Messiah at length. Like Messiah, you know, uh, you know, they could have easily won the national championship this year. They are talented. And for Wittenberg to go in there and do that, like, wow. I mean, so they're definitely the hot team, and no uh, you know, I'm sure no one's gonna uh discredit them and they're gonna take them super seriously and they could be competitive. So we'll see what you guys predict on that. But let's move on to another region. Coach Doug, you were part of the tournament this year. Why don't you just talk about that and how your kind of section of the tournament went?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, my team was up at Carthage for that regional. Um so we had a play-in game against the Yale College. We had a really, really strong season. We played them on Thursday night and had a 3-0 win. Uh that moved us to play Carthage on Friday. Playing Carthage at Carthage is always a tough thing. They're a really strong team. So they had beaten, they beat us Friday night, and then the other match was Boris and Southern Virginia. And the interesting thing about that match was Southern Virginia was up two sets to none. Start of the third set, there was tornado warnings going off in Kenosha. And the the interesting thing was the the event crew had told us way earlier in the day, because we were the first match, that there could be possibilities of that happening. Our match was fine, but we were back at the hotel at that point, knowing that there was like tornadoes coming. Uh, so there was about a 30-minute delay in that match with weather, with uh teams having to go to the locker rooms because sirens were going off. Not something you see every day in in an indoor sport compared to uh you know outdoor sports, such as you know, baseball and football and whatnot. So I thought that was kind of unique. But yeah, Loris ended up winning that third set, and then Southern Virginia ended up uh you know winning the match in four. The uh the final match on Saturday of Carthage, uh Southern Virginia, Carthage controlled that pretty well um and ended up you know punching their ticket to the final four. So really good volleyball, a lot of great great teams being represented uh in you know in that region, and uh, you know, Carthage is is the one representing in the final four this weekend.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then um the last region, did anyone happen to pay attention to Springfield's region? What they're yeah, yeah, Evan?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can talk about that. I want to say two things before I get to that. First, I don't like the term play-in game because it makes it seem like they we were like not in the NCW tournament. I'm just gonna say first round. So that's number one. Number two, I don't want to I didn't say anything about Wittenberg, and I don't want it to make like I'm bitter. Like they played tremendous, they were so good. I got nothing but good say things to say about that squad. And uh um like tremendous, tremendous week. So I don't want it to think I'm like in the bitter barn over here. Like they played great, and they obviously were were doing great things. So but yeah, I did watch a lot of the Springfield regional as well. The first round game was NJCU versus Buff State, and uh that went to five sets and uh congrats to Carlo Eldra. Just a huge, just a great career in NJCU. Unfortunately, that is their last match of that school's existence. Uh, but to get them in the NCAA tournament, I think, is is really, you know, again, as he's done before, is is really, really cool. And uh so Buff State advanced uh and they played Springfield uh and Springfield uh was mostly in control, pretty pretty close early, but Springfield won that match, and then a UVC conference uh matchup, uh which will not be the UVC anymore. I guess technically those teams will have to play in the new Mac and while uh SUNY New Palitz and New Politz uh took that one, setting up a Springfield New Paul final over there, which is always a heated rivalry. If you know anything about the history of Division III, those two teams uh have battled each other in some national championships. So big match there, and and Springfield took that one and uh you know they're they're in the final four, they're hosting the final four, and you gotta think they've got some pretty good home court advantage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, thanks for that update. And while you were getting an update, the famous coach Rob is going to join us, which is awesome. Coach Rob, we actually were singing your praises a little bit, and we were talking about how you made an awesome life decision, and you and your wife are venturing out to Lawrence, Kansas. And we talked about the post you made on Instagram and the guys, uh, we all went around the horn and talked about how much you've uh helped the game and helped the podcast and everything, and now it's all good. And then, but um, we now we have you on here, we definitely want to talk to you about playoffs. But before we do that, is there anything that you want to say on the podcast? So I know you kind of made that national news in the D3 world about you know, earlier this week. Anything about that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I appreciate you guys saying nice things. Uh Glenn and Doug, I'm I'm sure you had some great things to say. Um, Evan, I'll probably hit the 30-second fast forward over your part. But in all seriousness, you know, if I had a dollar for everyone who reached out to me today to to say something nice, uh, Renee could actually resign from her job tomorrow the same way I did, and we'd be good to go. But I've been so lucky for for what Division III Men's volleyball has brought into my life over the past 14 years, you know, from my freshman year at Stevenson all the way to where we are today. Um, and even though professionally, it looks like I'll be taking a step away from volleyball. Certainly plan on staying included in the scene and and still, you know, sharing some unsolicited opinions and thoughts with everyone on what I'm seeing on the court and everywhere else out there. So just thank you to everybody.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I have a sneaking suspicion that you'll land some like I don't know. I I think boys' volleyball is getting big in Kansas, they're gonna try to sanction it. I think the world's your oyster, you might get involved in high school club. Do I see a world where maybe some colleges start up men's volleyball out there? Maybe, you know, Lawrence is a really cool time. Obviously, the Jayhawk women's volleyball staff has a ton of Division III ties. I'm sure you know those guys really well. But yeah, the type of guy you are, when you made that announcement, I you know talked to you right away. And you and I are trying to figure out how you're gonna work uh the camp when I'm out there, and that's just who you are, and that's how great you are. But um, so what do you think is going on with the playoffs, Coach? Like we all went around, we talked about each region. Any thoughts that you had on Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, it was really cool to see. I used to watch Power Rangers a lot when I was a kid. And for those of you who don't remember the conceit of the show, they would always have a big villain that they couldn't defeat one-on-one. But then they would say it's morph in time, and they would become something you've never expected and be so much bigger than the sum of their parts. And that was Wittenberg this weekend, man. It was really unbelievable. And I feel bad because you know, I'm looking at Evan and Glenn, and they were both the victims of it. But, you know, to have to have a team that had, I think, two first team all conference guys, no all region guys, and to just see them take off and you know, a really balanced attack was really cool. And and the energy that you can feel it through the screen happened down in Memorial Gymnasium. It was pretty special. And Division III Men's volleyball has seen upsets now the past two years, but we've never seen a run like this before. And to do it across three straight days is really tough. So that was piece one, and piece two, there they didn't make it to the final four, but MIT with four freshmen getting to the brink of making a national semifinal is really impressive. And a wise person once told me that MIT uh student athletes peak his first years because they don't have the weights of academia pulling them down yet. But I don't know, those guys seemed wired a little bit differently. I've never seen a kid go out there and physically dominate a Stevens team the way Nathan Toth did. He did whatever he wanted. And I've had some pretty physical kids take on Stevens, and they were completely out of sorts with what Nathan was bringing to the table. So even though they won't be represented in Springfield this weekend, I'm really excited to see what the future of MIT men's volleyball looks like. When you think you've got the number one ranked university in the world, you should be able to field a pretty competitive men's volleyball program. So maybe you know, seeing them in the next few years. But those were kind of my two big takeaways from from watching a lot of ball this weekend.
SPEAKER_02I'm really glad you mentioned MIT because I was just on their campus and I'm good friends with their coach, and like he's he's pretty modest, but like when we were going around and he's giving me the tour, a bunch of like coaches and him, he's like, these ones are wired differently. He's like, and he's like, in the past we've had some good teams, we've had some excellent young men, but he talked about these guys' like weight room habits, how they conduct themselves in the weight room, how dedicated they are to the sport, and he seems pretty optimistic about this group, as I think you do too. So that'll be fun. I I think you're right. I think MIT has a lot to offer, and we can all argue it's a great school. And and uh that's definitely a school that I think that could be in the thick of things the next couple years for sure. But um, we uh that was a great playoff recap. We're also gonna do some predictions at the end of the show. But today was a big day. The All Americans were announced. I know that um, Coach Glenn, what do you got for us?
SPEAKER_01As uh someone who's been lucky enough to you know been on the All America committee the last couple years, it's really fun and interesting. To sit on those calls and kind of talk through, you know, the the nation's elite, you know, and and comparing numbers and comparing even looking at teams, right? How how guys did against nationally ranked opponents. And you know, there it I think we did a really nice job, honestly. Yeah, I think I think the groups are are super competitive. There are 14 first teamers, 14 second teamers, and for the second straight year there are 14 honorable mentions as well. So lots of teams, um, you know, and and and players represented amongst the group. Um, you know, and and I think everybody's really excited to see, you know, who was chosen for national player of the year, which actually comes out on Wednesday.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's awesome. And on another all-American note, ABCA obviously does an incredible job with it. They're friends of the podcast and uh a big fan of Brad and what he's doing with ABCA. The playout is the majority of the players will probably be the ABCA ones and the middle hitter, but sometimes you get a few little different ones. We're also gonna have a coach of the year. So how I'll do the voting is I'll just you know get about you know 15 coaches and it'll be a middle hitter thing. And this is hopefully what we're trying to do is do this for years to come. Uh Middle Hitter has not done this yet, the website that I am fortunate enough to run.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they got a couple things uh, like Glenn said, He's been on the committee. I've had a chance to be on the committee, I've had a chance to chair the committee for a year. When when people, you know, list comes out, people who say, Oh, where's this guy? How come this guy got snubbed? I think it's always important to remember that we only look at numbers versus ranked opponents, right? And so, oh, this guy hit 390 this year. Well, that's what his surface stats say, but maybe against nationally ranked opponents, he didn't quite hit that. And so that can be sometimes where some disconnect is for guys that don't make the list. Um as for guys on the list, I think a really interesting one is uh, you know, probably with the newcomer of the year being Charlie Clifford from NYU, right? Him and Toth, if I'm not mistaken, are like the same area guy, right? They're both Chicago guys. I think they play for the same club in adversity. So I think what happened was Toth found out that it wasn't him, that it was Clifford, and he said, All right, forget it. I'm gonna go and hang 25 kills a night against everybody. So that was probably the impetus of his of his success there. But you know, congrats to Charlie on on being the freshman of the year. Another guy that I really like on the list is Brain Gonzalez. He did the reverse Giulio where he went to Springfield first and then Moor Park, uh, and then Kyle Lutheran. And so uh I thought he was the best libero we faced all year. So I was really, really glad to see him uh on first team. You know, you can stick with uh uh Springfield with Dylan Mulvaney being a four-time All-American. That's so hard to do. I mean, like think about some of the most talented guys uh to come through Division III volleyball, and almost none of them end up being four-time All-Americans. It's so, so hard to do so. Really impressive for Dylan. Uh congrats to him, and he's on a very, very short list of guys that are four-time All-American in the four years.
SPEAKER_02Good stuff. Uh, Coach Doug, you got anything?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the two things I wanted to mention were what I I liked that we did this year within the committee, and we did the exact same thing last year. So I don't know if this was the second or third year, but we we kept the honorable mention list as the same amount of players as the first and second team. And one of the reasons why we wanted to do that is there's so many guys that are deserving to be all Americans. Um, but one of the make things that that separates us, we thought, compared to some other, you know, uh women's or or men's or you know, different divisions, uh, but what makes division three men's volleyball specific is we wanted to keep it 14, 14, and 14 to really try to keep the list exclusive for and make it feel like that honorable mention is still really, really, really a solid thing to get. And we're not just handing out honorable mention all-American awards to everyone. So that honorable mention list has guys that 100% could be first team or second team. It's just when you have a list of 14 and 14, you know, we we try to you know control that number as much as possible. So that's that's one thing I wanted to make sure that the viewers understood. And then the one guy I wanted to talk about um was um Ethan Um Kazulia from Illinois Wesleyan. He's the program's first uh all-American in their program history. We've talked about Illinois Wesleyan this year, their team that probably should have been in the tournament. They just missed out. He's a sophomore setter and opposite hitter. Don't quote me on it. I think he leads the country in double doubles, but just a phenomenal player and and had a really, really solid sophomore season. But I think it's special when a program gets their first all-American, and and that's something that's really special that he he's kind of going to be the first one ever for Illinois was in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I actually think I saw a feature on Ethan Kazillius. I think he was watching a lot of Colin Ritter tape circa 2018. That's where he's really tried to model his game after. But now, in all seriousness, Doug, he was on my short list to mention. It's really rare to see guys running a natural 6'2 in Division III. Uh, and Ethan is one of them. I mentioned Colin Ritter. I think of guys like Christian Smith who were able to dominate the game in that position grouping. And to see the breakout Ethan had as a sophomore, some of those young Ahaiwo guys are gonna really pop off next year. And, you know, he's a guy who's gonna be in contention for some bigger awards down the line. Two more guys I want to shout out, and I can't believe Doug didn't shout out his own guy, Thomas Hirsch. He's gotta be the first All-American from Idaho. Maybe in any sport ever. Like, that's gotta be true. Some eye-popping numbers from Thomas this year. Really cool for him. And then one last guy, uh, first team All-American from Messiah, Jake Eve. So Jake's kind of got an interesting story. Jake started as a freshman, looked a little bit overwhelmed in the Mac playoffs. I can say that firsthand. It's the only time we've ever beaten Messiah, so sorry, Justin. Sophomore year, loses his starting spot when uh Todd Center comes in as a freshman, and they've got Ryan Givens, all-American middle on the other side. And Jake came back an absolute demon this year. That kid probably put on 30 pounds of muscles, just annihilating volleyballs all the time. Honestly, I thought it I thought it was a new kid on the team. I did not know it was the same kid who had played when he was a freshman until I saw his name. So um I'm always a sucker for a kid who you know goes behind the curtain and puts the work in. And seeing Jake E going from benched as a sophomore to first team All-American as a junior, just a really cool story for him and uh and a kudos to his hard work this year as part of assignments volleyball.
SPEAKER_00Um, who's gonna win it? That's a great question, Kevin. I'm gonna on when I get on the call, I will remain impartial. Right? I'm not gonna root for anybody. I'm pretty professional, guys. I don't know if you've noticed that, but even pretty tight. But I don't want to go first, man. This is great. I love this right now. I'll say this you know, Kowloo Springfield is an interesting match for me. Uh, because I played for both those guys, you know, and they've shaped a little bit of who I am as a volleyball player and as a coach and how I do some things and how I don't do some things. And so it's really, really cool for me to see that match. You know, Blake Arena with when Springfield is playing in the NCAA tournament is electric. You know, that place is gonna be absolutely rocking. So I think that Springfield's gonna definitely have some some home court advantage, you know, in their favor in that match.
SPEAKER_01According to having only two with yeah, two good teams and then went worth.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I so I didn't get to see Wittenberg play this season. Obviously, just played against Carthage and then played them earlier in the season. Carthage is very well balanced offensively, you know, both pins and then have some solid middle presence and a really good setter with good size. So, you know, if Carthage is looking ahead, maybe Wittenberg can catch them, you know, on a bad night. But I think it would be interesting if of seeing a Carthage Springfield rematch, but this time at Springfield, with Carthage having won 2022, was that the year? Um, which was you know phenomenal game I was at, you know, seeing that national championship. So I don't know. It's uh it's interesting of uh the three of the programs have won a national championship before and and Wittenberg trying to play, you know, dance their way into history. And um, I think everyone likes to cheer for for an underdog, but I think the biggest thing uh being from from region four is we got three really solid Region Four programs that are representing uh in the national championship. So showing that showing some love there.
SPEAKER_01I think Carthage over Wittenberg, I'm gonna say in four. I got Springfield over Kalu in five. And I got Carthage winning the national championship in Blake Arena, and I'm gonna say in four. I'm not trying to impress anybody at this point. We already lost. I I think it's gonna be a fun Final Four, though. You know, I I hope that uh that Wittenberg doesn't have any butterflies and they play like they did this past weekend. Obviously, the the stage will be big, and honestly, they really impressed me with their their size, their length, and their ability to defend and distribute the ball to the pins. You know, if they do all those things, the ceiling's a little different in Blake Arena than it is in uh Memorial Gymnasium. So, you know, I I know Carthage brings it from the line, so hopefully that ceiling doesn't come into play.
SPEAKER_03I got three predictions and I got one challenge. Prediction number one Springfield students see that Wittenberg is from Springfield, Ohio, get confused, show up to the Wittenberg Carthage match on accident, and just go insane. But Carthage still wins in four. Prediction number two, because the Springfield fans went so insane during that match, they're too tired for the Springfield match, but Springfield still wins in four. So we have a Springfield Carthage final. I think that in an electric arena, Ryan Bart is gonna set the national semifinal and national championship record for aces across two matches. I think he's gonna go absolutely insane, low ceilings in Blake Arena, but it's not enough. Carter Derivage and the flow take it for the pride in five. And here's my challenge, and Kevin, I'm saying clip it now because you're gonna want this on social media. So here's your here's your notice. In 2022, when Evan and I called the national finals at Carthage, it was the most electric environment Division III men's volleyball has ever seen. Over 2,000 fans, absolutely insane. We had to have multiple kids change shirts because their homemade sharpie white t-shirts could not potentially be shown on nca.com for what they said. That environment fueled Carthage to a win. I was like, man, Carthage might be the coolest athletic school out there. They'll prize themselves, literally, pun intended, as a school that promotes athletics. I am challenging Springfield. Break the attendance record. I want over 2,000 people in Blake. I want Justin Beachy to be alarmed by what he sees on these custom white t-shirts and go, they can't wear that on the broadcast. We gotta get him to take that off. I want Springfield to show out and give us a championship to remember, not just on the court, but for the environment, these student athletes to get to play in front of, because no one can ever take that away from you that you're in that environment. So Springfield Pride, it's time to step up right now.
SPEAKER_01The coach is about So typically what I would do with my group is we would stay as a team for the first set, um, and then one of my staff members would would take the group after that. I also think it depends on time of day, right? When do the guys need to eat? Did we eat already? That kind of stuff. But typically one of my other assistants and myself would stay and watch the complete matches we try to build out a scout. We also will get film and and things like that for the match for the next day. And now there's a there's a day off between semifinals and finals, so you you get a big prep day as well. But typically, yes, I think team stays for some, coaching staff stays for all.
SPEAKER_00I've blacked out the memories of losing in the final four twice as to what we did. Because as Rob mentioned, one of those times was at Carthage in that electric environment where we ran out of the tunnel and got booed mercilessly. Um which I it was a really cool experience. But yeah, I couldn't tell you what we did. Try not to think about it. As long as Rob is in, I'm in.
SPEAKER_04I cannot be in if Evan is in, so I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01I like this. I like this. Yes.
SPEAKER_03I'm in. I think it's contingent on us getting an actual house in Lawrence. Uh when I sat down to do this at the dining room table that's pretty much attached to our bedroom, I got a pretty dirty look. So uh let's make sure we get a house first, and then I'll tell you if I'm in or not. She did say she saw KP leave a very nice comment on my post, so that did mean a lot. Evan, did you really say that?
SPEAKER_00I didn't say that. Kevin said that. Just looking really really looking forward to being in person for the final four again, having a chance to call it out with Rob, and hopefully uh, you know, making the viewing experience just a little bit better for those that are tuning in to watch Division III volleyball and and hopefully we can help grow the game and you know and keep it rolling.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I just want to say good luck to all the teams that are participating in the final four this weekend. I loved that the tournament grew to 21 teams this year, and and hopefully we're uh growing even more next year. This and D3 ball is some of the best it's been right now, and and it's gonna keep getting better. Um love being a part of it.
SPEAKER_03Pat Riley has a great quote um teamwork is the essence of life, and whether it is, you know, student athletes listening to this or coaches or anyone in between, having a team that you get to be a part of, even something as simple as you know, the the five of us doing this together makes makes Monday nights worth looking forward to and a lot of different things. So uh always be grateful when you get to be a part of a team. Hold on, I think that was from the Lego movie, Rob. Everything is awesome.
SPEAKER_01Can you please do that in Lego Batman voice, please?
SPEAKER_03Everything is awesome.
SPEAKER_01Uh I mean for me, super excited to to see, you know, the four top teams, the four remaining teams compete this weekend. For me, my I had Springfield and Carthage as my top two. So I'm I'm excited they ended on other opposite sides of the bracket here for a potential matchup in the end. And I'm kind of torn. NFL Drafts Thursday, that or listen to Rob's, you know, whispering sweet nothings. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Thankfully, I have the multi TV set up, multi screens. Um, you gotta do what you gotta do so that we can all watch it happen. But like Kevin said, continue to grow the game.
SPEAKER_03I'm not sure anyone has ever described my broadcast style as a whisper, so thank you for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're gonna channel your inner wolf man Jack. That's why.
SPEAKER_03It's mostly me screaming into the microphone.
SPEAKER_01That's why I said it. Awesome.