A Full Circle Moment - CC McGraw (MLV Minnesota)

In this episode we are joined by CC McGraw (MLV Minnesota Asst. Coach) and talk about her volleyball journey. We talk about it all! From her years as a youth player, being a part of a National Championship club team with Minnesota Select, winning Ms. Baden as a senior at Prior Lake, anchoring the defense at the University of Minnesota, breaking into the coaching ranks as an assistant with the Louisville Cardinals, and currently returning home to join the coaching staff of the new professional expansion team in Minnesota.  And...CC McGraw will be one of the presenters at the MNVBCA Coaches Clinic on July 29th and 30th at Mounds View High School.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I think for the most part, I was pretty aggressive and vocal back there. I think as a libero, you kind of have to be to be able to wear that jersey with pride and like really take ownership of the backcourt.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Welcome back, Minnesota volleyball coaches. I hope you all enjoyed uh 250th celebration of uh America, right? Pretty big deal, pretty awesome experience. Hopefully you got some uh lake time, got to spend some time out outside with family and friends, play a little cornhole or whatever your go-to yard game is. All right, but that has uh come and gone, and now we are gearing up for the other big event, the other big festivity in the month of July for volleyball coaches at least, and that is our clinic that's gonna be coming up on July 29th and 30th at Moundsview High School. Uh, if you want more information about that, uh you can go onto our website, www.mnvbca.org, and we got all the information out there. But tying into that, one thing we're gonna do today is we have the pleasure of talking with one of our uh clinic speakers who is going to be uh joining us this year. And it's a familiar name. If you're a Minnesota volleyball fan, it is a familiar name for a while here, and we're I'm I'm really excited to have the opportunity to talk to her. Uh so we have on the podcast today, I'm just gonna give you a little bio. I'm not gonna say the name, but I'm gonna give a little bio. Actually, that's not even gonna work because the headline of this podcast is gonna say the name. So I'm just gonna tell you, we got Cece McGraw here today. How are you doing, Cece?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Great, happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Yeah, so for those who don't know Cece, I'm gonna give a quick, quick bio. I mean, it could be a really long bio. We could fill the whole podcast with your bio. But uh, Cece started out, kind of made a name for herself at Prior Lake High School, where she was a three-time All-state selection. She finished her high school career as a 2017 Miss Baden Volleyball Award winner and also an Under Armour First Team All-American. She then stayed local, stayed home, and played for the Gophers for five years, correct? Five years.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, at the COVID year.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

And finished third in program history as a Libera with uh 1,924 digs and multiple All Big Ten honors and ABCA All-American honors. After your playing career, uh Ceci goes on to coach at the University of Louisville uh for a few years. And I'm I'm I'm excited to talk about that experience as well. And now she's coming back home again, all right, returning home again as an assistant coach for the expansion Minnesota MLV uh team that is going to be having their inaugural season this upcoming winter and spring. So welcome, welcome to the pod, Cece.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Thank you so much. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

It it well, you know, so normally I am begging people, like I'm reaching out and asking people, like, hey, do you want to talk on the pod? And and out of the blue, I get a a text message from you saying, hey, somebody forward some information on to me about this podcast. And I'd love to uh you said you'd love to jump on and talk about volleyball and talk about uh MLV Minnesota. And I'm like, we've I've made it. The podcast has made it. People are now begging to get on the podcast. All right. So it took us three years, but we've we've done it. No, but it's awesome. Yeah, it was it was uh it was exciting. And the first time I uh going back a little bit, because we're gonna talk a little bit about your uh playing career here, uh the first time I remember hearing about UCC was uh at a MNVBCA coaches meeting, right? So I've I've served on uh the MNVBCA board for a while. I was a section rep. And one of the things you know that we do as an organization is we recognize uh top players in Minnesota. And I remember being at uh one of these meetings and we are we were discussing the nominees for uh Miss Bodden, and your name, you know, was in obviously in the running. You ended up winning it. And I'm like, and I had never I had I'll be honest, I had not seen you play at this time. But I'm like, this this kid, and I say kid now because you were in high school, but uh this kid must be something special because I think it's I think it is pretty remarkable in in the sport of volleyball to earn that honor as a top player in Minnesota as a libero. Like talk talk a little bit about your kind of your journey as a as a volleyball player, like in high school. What was that like? Were you always like a defensive kid or were you like that that middle that just like like my middles, all my middles want to stay in and play back row and all of a sudden a coach recognized, hey, this kid's got something, something, something special.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, I'll be honest with you. I think the one position I have not played is middle in my career. I think when I first started when I was 11, honestly, I started playing when I was like six, but like I started club at age 11 and I was tiny, tiny, like itty bitty. So I think I was a libero at that point. They put me in that jersey, and I think from that point on, it was my favorite position. I loved it. I like when I got to high school, I honestly just playing high school ball in general. I actually hit. I was an outside hitter starting in like seventh grade, playing nine then on the ninth grade team. And then after that, it was like seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. I was a hitter. And then eventually I flipped over my sophomore year where I was playing libero in club, and then I ended up playing libero as well in high school ball. And I absolutely loved it because um I basically got to I would try to just pass as much of the court as possible. Um, I was able to just kind of run the back row and I really, really enjoyed it. And then I I like set a little bit my senior year. So I was like, I did a little bit of everything, but for the most part, I I was a lot of first contact and defense at the high school level.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

So as libero as a defensive specialist, um and to get because there's a lot of kids that play defensive specialists, but to be the libero, personally, I think there you have to have uh some intangible qualities. And you talk about the idea of wanting to pass, you know, as much of the court as possible, right? Were you always the kind of a a player that was just super aggressive and just wanted, you know, wanted to fly around the court, or was that something that, you know, maybe you were a little more tentative in your your younger years and your coaches had to talk to you about being a little bit more vocal, being a little bit more aggressive. What was that like? Were you just kind of natural or was it something you had to work at?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

I think for the most part, I was pretty aggressive and vocal back there. I think as a libero, you kind of have to be to be able to wear that jersey with pride and like really take ownership of the backcourt. Um, I think there were moments when I would like start to play up or I got pulled up to a higher roster or whatever. And I kind of have to like there were moments where I kind of had to feel it out a bit. And then like again, once it came to like competing, I think it just naturally kind of took over. I did what I needed to do to make those around me better, to put my setter in a better position, you know, just to have the other teammates be successful. So I think when it boiled down to it, yeah, I was vocal and yeah, I was aggressive, because I think as a Libero, if you're not those things, it's really easy to feel like you're not making an impact at all. Um, because if the ball, like you're that's your job. Your job is to dig the ball and to pass the first contact as much as possible. And if you're not trying to take more court, you could easily feel like you're not doing much on the court. So I was like, I want to be involved. I want to be like want my teammates to be successful. So in order to do so, yeah, you kind of have to take charge back there and have a ton of energy, give a lot of energy to those around you and stay aggressive.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

What was like the biggest like m maybe I'm assuming here, because you play it at a high level. Obviously, you play it at one of the bigger schools in Minnesota, it gets against the biggest schools in Minnesota. You played club at uh Minnesota Select, correct?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Yep. Uh I was at Northern Lights for five years and then Select for two.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Okay. All right. And then you won uh a national title at Select, right? You're going into your senior year, correct?

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Okay. So you've played, you've you've played at a high level. You played against teams at the highest level uh as a high schooler, and then you go on to play at one of the top programs in the nation uh at the University of Minnesota as a as a golden gopher.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Was there was there like a a big transition like moment there where like, man, this is different, or because you had played at such a high level against such high competition, it was just kind of a natural next step?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

I think for the most part, yes. I think even when we were at because I when I started to play up at Select and we were in 18 open, and again, the highest level you could be at in the club realm. But I still felt like, I mean, at that time when we won it, we were all I was a sophomore, the rest majority of the team, they were all juniors. So we were actually younger than the age group we're competing against.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

But we had Scott Jackson and uh George as our coaches, and like I think their approach with us, like we played a lot, we trained a lot, like a lot of our practices were just like they would bring the Concordia alumni and we would just compete. We would just play sixes. Obviously, we did some technical training and broke things down every once in a while, but for the most part, they were like, you're gonna learn more from just playing high-level players. So I think for the most part, when I went on to the U of M, having had that experience really, really helped me. I'll say, like, nothing can truly prepare you for the jump. I think that put me in a better position than most. But at the end of the day, like I think with Hugh learning under him, I really felt like I had to relearn a lot of skills because before that, you know, I kind of just trusted what I what I did worked at that level and it was great. And I didn't have to really think about technique a whole lot. And then I got to Minnesota and it was like, okay, let's reevaluate. Like, look at your passing form. Here's your defensive form. Like, we want to we want you to serve like this. And so that piece was challenging just because I was like, oh, I felt like I was pretty good, like where I was at. But at the end of the day, like he was very adamant that it was like, hey, if you really want to grow in this sport and to be at the best, best version of yourself and you know, get an opportunity in the national team gym and do all these things, like you're gonna have to break these skills down again and relearn it a little bit to be more efficient overall. And I think that piece was really challenging at first because it's hard as an athlete to kind of start from the bottom and build that foundation up again when you feel like you've played for so long and you're already pretty good. But it's like, no, like you can kind of start to. He always told us, like, you're gonna get worse before you get better. And man, that like felt very, very real because it you did feel like you were kind of just, yeah. When you're learning a new skill and learning it in a new way, like it's just gonna feel different. And that's a there's an adjustment period. Um, and really leaning into that like uncomfortable aspect of the learning process was hard. Um, especially when you're competing against people within your position group and you're trying to solidify starting spot and you're also balancing that with just competing in general. Um, I felt like was challenging at first. But at the end of the day, like once we started and we were in season, it was like, okay, let's roll. Like I luckily had the semester where I graduated early and I kind of had that time to relearn a lot of those things, and it was an ongoing process. But once season started to roll, it was like, okay, I did as much as I could with the learning process. Now we just have to like see where we're at, and I just have to compete and like trust trust my training and all that. So I guess the pace of the game was faster, but I was surrounded by such like talented and supportive people that you know, you just kind of roll the punches and you're just grateful to be around such high-level volleyball players and coaches, and it was a really cool experience.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

I want to go back to one of the things that you said there because it was it ties into one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about. Uh you mentioned that you're gonna have to get worse before you get better when you're when you're working on like refining a skill or changing a skill or whatever it may be. And that's something that I I I communicate with my players often. Like if if they're if they're doing something that and they're not finding success and we're gonna we're gonna change this a little bit, maybe it's a little bit in your serving form, maybe it's a little bit in your approach. That is so hard for kids to, in my opinion, in my experience, is so hard for kids to understand and really buy into because they don't want to look bad, right? They don't want to fail, right? And when they're trying something new, they're gonna fail a lot, right? And you mentioned that, that that that can be a little frustrating. So on that, on that note, one of the things I want to know, like through all your years, because obviously you said you started when you're like 11 or so, or played started playing club when you're 11, and then you play at the highest, you know, you know, at the highest levels of the game, uh, some of the highest levels of the game uh for the sport, and then you look back on your training, are there things now that because you work with youth now, and we'll talk about that in a little bit here, but you work with youth. So if you're if you're working with players and you're gonna work on passing, let's just stick with passing. What is something that if you can think of, something that you remember being taught that you're like, there's no way I'm teaching that now? Like it's just it's just different, or the way that we were taught back then is different. Like, is there anything that stands out to you? And not that it's right or wrong, it's just it's different now.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Yeah, I think one notable thing that I was really taught early in my like club career was like passing every ball in your midline. So I think for so long, and that was even a little bit at Minnesota when I first got there. Like they were really big on lead legs and midline, and obviously, like I think what I've learned throughout my whole career now, and then like being at Minnesota, having that coaching experience or like that playing experience under those coaches, and then transitioning to coaching at Louisville. Again, seeing another program that again is a very high-level passing team, but seeing how they teach it in a different way, and that you can kind of train it in different ways where there's no one right way to train passers. And I think every passer individually is different. However, I think that pace the game. It's unrealistic to think that you're gonna pass every ball in your midline. You just can't. So I now I think if you're able to train athletes even at a younger age, yes, you still want them to move their feet and make efficient moves to the ball, but if you they can get more comfortable passing outside their midline and manipulating their angles in different ways, like that'll help them be more efficient. Cause it's like you watch the best in the world do it. And it's like their angle is out early. Sometimes they don't even need to take a step because the ball gets on them a lot quicker. Um so I think that's something that I wish I would have learned earlier in my career because it didn't start to click for me until like my sophomore junior year of college, where suddenly, like, you know, Minnesota's like, you know what, let's try this. Let's think about like really opening up, picking a side early, getting your angle in the line of the ball versus feeling like you always have to get your body behind the ball. And then boom, like it clicked for me. Passing got so much easier, it was way more efficient. Um, so I think if that's something that you can drill into athletes at an earlier age, where by the time they get to college, it's gonna feel way, way, way easier because you're like, yeah, my arms and my angles are a lot faster than my body, and you're able to do a lot more. And again, you still need to move your feet when you need to move your feet. But I think that piece is a major difference. That like, I think just that's where the game has now progressed. I think a lot of people were training that 10, 15 years ago, and now it's like, nope, the game's getting faster every year. The level play gets better. That's just gonna help you be a more efficient passer at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah, I love I love that. That's something that even in in my coaching career, you know, we talked about the midline passing, you know, getting getting behind the ball, but then yeah, we've we've shifted. I mean, obviously there are times you're gonna pass it behind. But that idea of the ones I always think of are the ones that catch a high, right? They catch a high in deep. And if you have to stand up and try to raise your platform in front of you, there's I mean, it's in my opinion, literally impossible to get the ball to target. Yep. You know, so you have to you have to make that adjustment. Where do you stand on uh the the shoulder shrug versus the shoulder pivot? Basically swinging arms or no swinging arms?

SPEAKER_01 15:52

I feel like there's a balance between the two personally. I I don't think one is better than the other. I feel like when you watch the best passers in the world, they do both. It's dependent on the serve. But again, what might work for one passer might not work for another passer. So it's also a matter of like that's repetition. So again, like sometimes I worked with the liberos at Louisville, and like what works for our starting libero didn't quite click for, you know, our other DSs, and vice versa. So it's like you kind of have to feel out what works for them. And again, I had it drilled into us at Minnesota that like we shouldn't shrug our arms at all, and it was all it was all arms versus like using our body. Our body was not allowed to move at all at the moment of contact. However, you go on to what like again, transitioning to Louisville and stellar passing team, you have Elena Scott, you watch Elena pass, you watch those other passers pass who are high level and they barely use their arms. It's like a little bit, it's like a perfect blend. They use a little bit of arm, they shrug, pivot. So again, I just feel like finding a nice blend of the two is better than one versus the other. Because I felt like when I just used my arms at Minnesota, there were times I felt kind of stiff or like the ball would go over and it was hard to get a good feel. So yeah, I don't know if that like answers your question, but no, it it does.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

It uh and I like what I hear because I think early on, I'm thinking early on in my coaching career, like, hey, there's one way we're gonna do it, and we're gonna we're just all gonna get really good at that way, and we're just gonna be very disciplined in what we do. But over time, like you say, like what works for one kid doesn't work for another. You know, it's kind of like to the extreme if it was basketball and like, hey, everybody we're gonna make everybody's gonna shoot right-handed, right? Because that's what because we can teach it that way, and and obviously natural lefties are gonna struggle with that, right? You know, so finding finding the way that I mean, obviously not having complete freedom to do whatever you want, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

But showing options like, hey, here's one way we could do it, here's another way you could do it. Both you'll see people be successful both ways, which way is gonna work for you? And let's let's try to just get really good at that. So yeah, no, I I really like uh what I'm hearing there. I also you kind of also mentioned the I don't know if this is what you were implying by this, but the idea that your body can't move for many years, like the like I kind of had the idea that we you need to be stopped, right? You need to be stopped. You need to get to beat the ball to the spot and be stopped before you pass. And then the more that I watch, and the more, you know, even that I play a little bit, don't play as much anymore because we're getting old and bad hamstrings and bad lower back. But that if you watch the best players, like they they move, they're moving through contact a lot, not even just on the ones that they're they're running up towards net in order to kind of scoop it side to side, moving back at angles. There's a there's a lot of movement while passing. And aside from maybe like a free ball, you know, or a serve that, you know, comes right at you, um, you know, argument can be made. You're probably moving more uh at the moment of contact than you're standing still. What are you what are your what are your thoughts or where do you stand on that?

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah, I think again, yeah, like I never want to take any credit for Elena Scott because when I rolled up to Louisville, like that Libera, she's she's legit. Like she was a setter her whole career, showed up at Louisville, got the starting spot there. And again, she's someone you can learn a lot from because she naturally just has this like feel, just great feel of like again, she's not the most like technically sound. Like when you watch her, it's like, okay, she's moving, she's grooving, like her arms are kind of sometimes she's swinging a little bit, but she's relaxed. And I think that's a really important piece of passing because again, I found that like when I'm trying to have everything so proficient and like just my platform's locked, my feet are set, like my body's not moving at all. I felt like these balls would be overpassed, I'd shank them. I just felt stiff. And it wasn't until I was like, you know what, just make good contact on the ball, everything else would fall into place, just hit it good. Like I had to really dumb it down when I would be in servicey because I was like, at the end of the day, like I'm gonna be moving a little bit. I'm gonna be like sometimes on my heels. And it's you're not always gonna be in this flawless position, but again, making good contact, and I think that's the most important piece when you watch the best passers in the world. It's like they're everyone has their own like pre-serve routine. They might be loop moving a little bit. Some have like that happy feet where they kind of feel like they get quicker because I don't know, they're taking a million steps. And at the end of the day, like I think the contact is the most important piece and being relaxed is huge. So yeah, I mean, I'm I'm right there with you. I think again, that the same could be said. You watch like Kelsey Robinson, again, very, very impressive passer, one of the best passers in the country. She doesn't move at all. Like, I feel like when you watch her, she's loose in her shoulders, but she's not adding any extra movement really at the moment of contact. But then you have other passers who are stellar and they move. So I think again, it's like you got to figure out what works for you and what's gonna make you be in the best position to like make good contact in the ball and just trusting that a little more. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Yeah, that word you used, uh relaxed. I think I have uh my youngest child, my daughter, um, she's a volleyball player going in eighth grade. And all through like just her personality is if if you're if she's told how to do something, she's gonna try to do that exactly how she's told. And she becomes very focused on like all the all the intricate, you know, details of a movement, right? Well, what I'm finding is because she does that, especially in passing, she passes very rigidly, like she just looks like stiff. And it as the ball, as the speed of the ball is picking up, you know, as she's getting older and playing against older players, it like that's something that I'm noticing, and that's something now that we're trying to, you know, work on is trying to be more relaxed, trying not to think so technically about every movement because it becomes so robotic like that the that the game the game becomes difficult as the game picks up the speed. So I like that. Relaxed, gotta be relaxed. Hey, so you mentioned some experience at Louisville. So, first of all, we gotta get this uh squared away. Is it Louisville or Louisville?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I know I learned pretty quick how it's Louisville. Like I don't even yeah. Yeah, I said Louisville the first few weeks. And they're like, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Okay. I l I love that. Because I say Louisville too, but maybe it's a Minnesota thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah, I i it might be. Yeah. I think most people here say Louisville, um, but they yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

All right. So when uh tell me, share with that experience, how how the Louisville position came to be. You know, you finish your career at the Gophers, what's your next step?

SPEAKER_01 22:23

So I was initially kind of exploring some pro options. Uh I I wasn't sure if I wanted to play a little longer. I knew I 100% wanted to coach. And there were, again, as a libero, there's just not a lot out there in the US Leagues hadn't started at that point. I was one year too soon with my graduation. Uh but then I found out like I had to get double knee surgeries on both my both my knees. So I was like, you know what? I think that kind of solidified it. I was like, yeah, I'll have Minnesota cover my surgeries, get those done, and then boom, let's time to coach. I was just excited for that. So I started interviewing spring of 23 for some jobs, and there were a few that I was really interested in, and then I was actually about to accept one job when my shout out to my stepdad, but he was like, I really think you should reach out to Danny Busboom, reach out to DBK, and I was like, okay, she's someone that I had previously had a great relationship with. She recruited me when she was at Nebraska back in the day, and she was someone I always just admired and really looked up to as a player and as a coach. Like, I just always loved the way she led. She was just a fantastic coach. Um, and someone obviously that I was like, this would be an incredible mentor. So I actually totally crazy, but I I ended up reaching out to her, and like that same night she got back to me and we got on the phone, and she was like, actually, our volunteer at the time was interviewing for the UNC job, and he's likely to get it. And I was like, Okay, so it kind of was in the works and ended up working out. He got the job. I moved on to Louisville, and then I was a volunteer for the first couple months, and then it ended up ended up being a paid position starting that summer. So I was officially like one of the assistants on the staff, which was incredible, and I was so so fortunate to even be in that position. Uh so moved there in April, and it was yeah, three years, three years at Louisville, and one of the best experiences of my life. Um, I was able I'm fortunate enough to obviously learn from DBK, and after two seasons with her, was there for the whole transition when she went on to Nebraska and again had another year of learning from Dan Meskie, who again is another incredible coach and an incredible human. So um, it was cool to kind of learn from do two different coaching styles and be there through it all.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Yeah, uh obviously DBK, you know, I don't even know if I can call her DBK. I feel you have to know like know her in order to uh get away with coach Coach Bus Boom Kelly. Yeah, in incredible run at Louisville there. You know, while you guys were there. I know you guys were in at least one national title match, right? Couple final fours.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yeah, I was there for yeah, first year was Elite Eight, and then a final four or national championship, and then this past year we lost to AM in the Sweet 16, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

But it went on to a couple four. A M just yeah, they they just rolled. They rolled. They were fun to watch.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Yeah, like I say, if if if you don't have a horse in the race, they were they were fun to cheer for. But yeah, let's go in that experience. So it was your your primary focus with defensive players, passers, liberos, correct?

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Yeah. So we each had a positional group and I was with the liberos. So that first year I got there, we had six liberos on our roster, actually. So it was actually quite a bit. But um, yep, so I I worked with them and then assisted Dan Meskie with the scout and just defensive prep.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

What was it like working with Dan? Because I I follow I follow his kind of online presence. They put out a lot of stuff, just you know, short little YouTube shorts or Instagram videos or whatever it may be about uh some training stuff. What what kind of what kind of stands out to you about uh Dan's kind of approach to training and coaching?

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Yeah. Um, well, first off, I still remember we had a Brazil trip like right as I got there, got the job. And at that point, I think he had like 300 Instagram followers and he was like, you know what? I'm really gonna commit to this Instagram thing. I'm just gonna post every single day. And like he got like the little mini mics in Brazil, and he was gonna just start filming some content and all that stuff. And we were like, okay, Dan, like whatever you say. And he really committed to it. And I think the social media stuff, like, we all kind of give him a hard time, but truly, like, he did it out of the he did it because he wanted to grow the game. He's just like, you know, wanted to share knowledge. I meant, I mean, very much an open book of just like this is just transparency of like this is what we do at Louisville, this is how we train, here's our approach with skill breakdown, all the things. Then again, I can't tell you how many people come up to me and come up to him at tournaments and are just like, oh my god, you're the Instagram guy. Like, we love using your drills. And it's just like it's cool you see it at every level. Like, people are pulling his stuff from, you know, with the young'uns. Because a lot of the stuff that we did at Louisville, it's not like, again, there's only so many things you can do volleyball training-wise. Like, it's not this crazy, crazy stuff. But I think as far as training goes, like we always said, like, the bored don't get ba the best, don't get bored with the basics, because truly, like, we would do a lot of the same stuff. We would add different layers to it. Cause again, like, I think at the end of the day, like you can't be doing the same exact stuff with your players every single day. Like, you they need a variety, you gotta mix in some fun drills, you gotta, you know, mix in some competitions. And I think that was kind of his approach was like, we're all here because we wanna, like, we love the game and this is fun. So, like, let's this is fun, let's make it fun. So the atmosphere in the practice gym was just that. Like, even if we were doing the most basic drills, like we were goofing around with them, it was a perfect balance of like, again, fun and goofiness, but also like we're competing and we're getting better. We're we're we're locked in and we're focused. Like it was a very nice balance between that. And I think he did a great job of just like creating an atmosphere of like, again, both of them included were just stellar at that. Um, and practices were upbeat, they were fast-paced. Like, we did this like competitive cauldron thing after the first year where we basically tallied wins between drills and 6v6, and we kept a whole tally for that entire semester. So our athletes would be like we'd star the drills that were for a cauldron point, and they got so into it. Um, and again, it was just I think we'd celebrate the winner at the end of the year, we got them like a crown or whatever, and just something fun. Um, but yeah, I think overall like Louisville itself and Dan especially, like a brilliant, brilliant volleyball mind, but again, just very down-to-earth and so, so passionate, so incredibly passionate about growing the game. He was never a yeller, none of us, none of us were yellers, um, but someone that you the athletes just trusted. And he was just very like creative at the end of the day, like just a very creative mind in the way he wanted to train things and understanding, like I said earlier, like there's no one right way to like train the liberos and train their passing technique. He's it was the same for him, like get creative, make adjustments if something's not clicking for a particular player. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Yeah. The the phrase you used, I heard him say it on a podcast one time, and I started using it with my team. The the best don't get bored with the basics. I love that. I love the simplicity in that, and it it's so true, right? And you hear like these, you know, these uh Hall of Fame athletes from other sports, and you you hear about what they do, and a lot of what they do is just the basics over and over and over again in order to get really good at them, you know. And then you also mentioned the creativity there. I just saw a video yesterday in which, and I thought, once again, when you see this stuff, you're like, man, that's such a good idea. It's such a simple idea, but why like why didn't I ever think of something like this? And it was a so it was a defensive uh reaction drill, essentially, and it's basically helping defensive players, liberos or whatever it may be, uh, be able to be prepared for the hard shot, but be able to react to like a deflected shot, like a deflection off a block or something, right? So, and and maybe they were doing this while you were there as well. They just set up uh it looked like the jumping boxes, like the padded vertical boxes, and they'd stack a couple of those up so they're about five feet, you know, five feet tall or something. And then there'd be a coach that would be standing behind it, and the coach would do one of two things either hit over the top of it, so it is an untouched ball coming right at the defender, or they'd hit right on on top of it, which would then cause it to bounce and act like a deflection off of a block. And it's such a simple, simple setup, easy to set up if you have that, if you have those boxes, which you know maybe a lot of schools do don't, but I mean you could replicate that somehow.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

For sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Yeah, but I thought that was such a creative way to to teach that, right? Uh because you don't really have uh from from my from my viewpoint, you don't in that particular case, the the defender doesn't really know which of the two is gonna happen, and that's what you want. That's what you're kind of training in that particular case. So like that that was just one example that I saw recently that kind of you know echoes what you were saying about kind of the training at at Louisville there.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Yeah, I think the other thing too that was really cool, like they would do like as far as like skill work and stuff, like we would do different progressions. Like if we were doing passing, we would start with stations where we really break it down, and then we would do like SPOB, which our girls were addicted to, but it was literally serve pass off boxes. So they would be in two groups and just serve at each other off the box. Um and they needed it, like they loved it. Every single day they do it. Um for they do it before practice, after practice, and then during practice. But even within that, like we uh we used to call the one where they stack the boxes mega box. We would do like short burst stations, like defensive stations at the beginning. So it was like quick, quick bursts, you hit your skill. It's not like you're doing something for 25 minutes straight, and then maybe we'd come back to it. Like, I think that part was really cool. It was just interesting to see a different flow of practice of like, okay, we used to call it like Todd's 10. The assistant coach was his name was Todd, but like serving every day. We would do Todd's 10, 10 minutes of serving, and whatever he like switched up within that of like, okay, we're gonna hit the edges, we're gonna drive it deep, whatever it was. He would mix it up each day, but regardless, we had 10 minutes on the clock, and that's the work we were getting into it. So it wasn't just this monotonous like 20 to 30 minutes of like, okay, we're still serving, which really helped, especially just like the current current era of athletes too. Like, I think that really helps them with like quick bursts. They don't need to be paying attention for 40 minutes straight and with one particular skill, uh, but they're still getting a lot out of it.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Right. So you spend uh a number of years at Louisville, right? And then move kind of going through your volleyball life here, right? We now get an opportunity to get to your current position. So as I mentioned in the in the intro, you are now uh officially the assistant coach for a Minnesota Major League Volleyball. All right. So first question is Minnesota Major League Volleyball gonna get a like a mascot or a name, or are we just gonna be Minnesota?

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yeah, no, we will have a name, don't worry.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Okay, all right. I was looking at the all the teams, and like most of the teams have names, but the expansion teams don't have names yet.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Yes, our name will be coming out this summer very soon. Very, very soon.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

All right.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

I'll try not to have you let it slip on uh breaking news on the MMVBCA pod, but no, it's been a it's been a long process, but it's been something that like again, you only get one shot to get a name and the branding and the logo, and you you gotta nail it. So I think the marketing team has done a fantastic job, and so we're we're super excited for that to be out so we can start getting some merch.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Yeah, so tell us this story. How how did it come to be? How'd you become the assistant for Major League Volleyball Minnesota?

SPEAKER_01 33:56

Yeah, uh I was actually um towards the end of our season, honestly, it was after after our season ended. I'd been kind of, you know, I'd always stayed in touch with Pedro, and he actually we crossed over my fifth year. He was one of the assistants at the time, um, my last year, and he was someone that I really connected with. And even after I finished, like just always stayed in touch with him. I'd see him out on the recruiting trail. Um so I'd chat at chatted up with him, and I think he had a feeling I was interested in coming back to Minnesota, and I had voiced that to some extent. Um, but again, I think in the coaching profession, you just never can plan for those things. And I also knew that I was very, very happy at Louisville. I'd actually had a conversation with Dan Meskey like right after our season ended, and he was like, What what more do you want out of this? Whatever, what are you looking for? And I was like, No, like I'm very, very happy where I'm at. And honestly, I wouldn't just take any job, like it would have to be a Minnesota opportunity to bring us back home. And he was like, Oh, I completely understand that, whatever. Cause I was like, I loved Blueable, and like I just know like what a rare experience that was. Like, you just don't get that anywhere else. And so I was like, I just I just wouldn't leave because I just loved them. And I was like, But if it was a Minnesota opportunity, I'd have to explore that. Cause obviously my husband and I being from Minnesota, we missed our family, and yeah. And it was literally like two two days later that Pedro reached out to me uh with the phone call just saying, like, hey, this thing's happening. I'm the head coach, I'll be the GM. He called me and was like, I'd love for you to come to Minnesota. And I was like, Okay, it did not, it did not take me that many days to think about it, but it did wear on me. It was a hard decision, and I bet. Yeah, but I also think I knew I wanted to come home and I knew it was something that my husband and I was also like seeking at some point, and it just made the most sense. And also knowing that I get to be a part of history and about a part of something so incredibly special, and I was like, this is impossible to turn to house. Honestly, I was like, this is just gonna be a really, really cool and unique experience and get to see something built from the ground up is so special. And again, I I really loved Pedro as a coach and knowing that I'd get to work alongside him, he'd be someone that I trust and get to be around and learn from him as well. So yeah, that's kind of how it came to be. And it was like a month later I moved back. So we moved back in January and got to work from day one.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

So yeah, so obviously when you you got your coaching staff in place now, and you know, you mentioned Pedro Mendez is also the like the GM, so there's you know, some other other rules, and I I'm not gonna pretend to know all the ins and outs of how uh a professional organization runs. Uh but obviously yet you need more than just coaches, you need a team, right? So what how do how does that come about? I mean, because I'm looking at the roster right here. I'll tell you right now, you got one of my one of my favorite players that I've ever watched on on your roster in uh Stephanie Samity. So that like how do you how do you how do you put together a team like as an expansion team?

SPEAKER_01 36:52

So it was funny because I think when I first started, Pedro had been there for about a month, but we were actually in the wild offices because the wild is majority ownership of our team. And we were sharing this office and like from the start, I think January is like heavy on the re-signing athletes, building your roster. That's the point where like overseas with all those leagues, that's when they're either re-signing their athletes or signing players from other teams. So from the start, like we were kind of go, go, go with trying to build our roster and making those phone calls, connecting with agents. We knew we needed to get our like core group, and then we kind of put the pieces around that, kind of build around that. And I think Steph, Stephanie was a major, major piece in that. Um was a massive gift for us, and someone that, like, okay, if we can get Steph, if we can get some of these bigger names, we're really gonna be able to put the pieces, fill in the fill in the gaps and create a really, really impressive group. So yeah, those first few months, it was heavy on the phone calls and connecting with agents and signing them. So by by like May, we had probably like nine or ten athletes, and then throughout the summer, we've just signed a couple more.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

So that I mean it I was looking at uh on the website for anybody who's interested, provolleyball.com uh is where you can find the major league volleyball info, and you're looking at the teams and they have news about all the teams. Um, and you can just look filter it, just news for the team that you want to look at, of course. Um but I see like there's even there's a draft for this now where you get where you guys uh was the team created before the draft, or is have you guys been able to participate in a draft process yet?

SPEAKER_01 38:28

No, so yeah, we have not. Our first one will be in November this upcoming fall.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

So yeah, it happens, happens every fall, kind of near the end of the collegiate season. Um and it's been cool because I was obviously on the other side of that with you know, kind of helping the athletes at Louisville navigate those conversations, make some decisions as they kind of try to figure out what they want to do next. And so, like getting to be like because like last year, for example, Kara Cressy got drafted by Indie Ignite. And so we were kind of on the conference call where she had the phone call, we were all there. It's a really cool process, and I think it's pretty sweet that like volleyball kind of gets to experience that now. And there's typically like two or three rounds. Um, I think this year there probably will be two rounds still up in the air. But yeah, so that's kind of how that's gonna help us kind of add our last couple pieces here for our roster.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Yeah, and I mean it's it's so fun to a a sport that we love and to see it grow, you know, just it's I mean, volleyball just seems to be growing every year, whether it's at the youth level, at the high school level, the college level, and now that these pro because you'll I mean, for many years, I mean you know this probably better than most, for many years, your only pro opportunity uh was overseas, right?

SPEAKER_03 39:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

You know, and for for a lot of people, you know, that's you know, that that could be that's a pretty big decision, you know, if you want to continue playing that you gotta spend, you know, much of the year away from your family and friends and everybody that you know. But now this opportunity to have these leagues growing in in the US is is pretty cool. It's pretty fun to pretty fun to watch. So and I'm excited that we got one in Minnesota now that we can have easy access to go to go watch it.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

I know. I it's been so fun for me, like because I think growing up, like in the club realm, like everyone's I mean, I can't I guess I don't want to group all Minnesotans, but like I remember when I was growing up, like a lot of people, everyone's dream was to play for the you. Like it was just like I want to be a gopher one day, I want to play for the staff and like all these things. And it's so crazy now that they can look beyond that and like make a career out of it and still stay close to home. I just think that is so incredibly special and it's cool to kind of when I'm talking to these different age groups and stuff, as I'm doing these camps, like they get to kind of look beyond that and set some goals here and see that pathway for themselves.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Yeah, let's talk about that. You mentioned the camps because uh MLV has Minnesota has some outreach programs and some community programs. So tell us tell us a little bit about how how that works and what that looks like.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Yeah. So with me starting on in January, that was a big, big emphasis for myself. Just again, getting out into the community as much as possible, connecting with a bunch of people. Um it's something that I'm also passionate about. And again, being able to get back to the sport and work with different age groups has just been so fun for me. But a big emphasis for us as well is like being accessible and affordable. Like we really want to make sure we're, you know, I'm doing we've been doing road trips all over the state. Um, we've been doing some in the Twin Cities, but we've done some, you know, we'll have one in Sioux Falls, we have some in Fargo. There's been all these different pockets of Minnesota that I would have never visited. And now I get to like really meet these amazing people. You'll show up to a small, small town, and they have like 60, 60 volleyball players there. Like it's they're getting great numbers, and it's just a really cool thing to see that like again, it just the sport continues to grow. And for our for our team at least, and this organization, we want to be accessible. We wanna, again, we understand that volleyball nowadays is just getting more and more expensive, and it's hard to like for some kids to afford it. And we want to make sure that we can give opportunities to these kids to learn, to train, to be able to work with them and connect with them and hopefully get them to some matches, but ultimately to grow the game and connect with so many really cool people. It's just been really fun to meet so many amazing people.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

So with these camps, are they are they ones that you guys set up and you reach out to these communities and say, we'd like to host a camp here? Or is it something where you know coaches could reach out to MLV Minnesota and say, hey, we'd love for you to come out and work with our kids? Like how how is that currently structured?

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yeah. Um so initially I kind of had started building a list and then I was like, hmm, this probably isn't like the most efficient because who knows like what people are interested in or if their school can kind of have the availability for it, all the things. So we eventually just made a post about it and had this like form link for them to submit and if they have any interest in it. So then basically that if they filled it out, it would go straight to my inbox and then I'd reach out directly. And I think the camps, as I kind of connect with them on the phone, I'd kind of figure out like, because it's not like our camps have the set in stone way we're going about it. It's like, okay, if the school is looking for a one session, two-hour clinic, because that's all they can kind of afford, or that's all that makes sense for that group, great, we'll do it. If they want a two-day camp, great, we'll do it. A positional camp, an all-skills camp, whatever it looks like, like we're catering it to what they want and what they need and what what they're looking for with their group. So that was kind of our approach. And I was in a space where I was just saying yes to every single, every single person. So our my my summer schedule is quite busy, but also I'm like, it's something that I'm excited about and I'm passionate about. And I think the community outreach is one thing for growing the game. It's another thing for growing our fan base and getting people connected with our with our team and our players. Like we've had a really cool opportunity to bring some of our players out, fly them out to Minnesota and have them work these camps so they can interact with these. youth athletes and you know kind of interact with them and connect and I think it's a really cool piece for these young players that maybe potentially want to come to a match or watch our matches online. Like now they can say they know Peyton Caffrey or they know Hattie Bray and so they've met them. And but yeah, so it's been it's been really cool for us.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

Yeah. I remember, you know, as a kid going to a you know a youth camp and you know at the time this this kid was probably just like the best basketball player in our area. I don't even know where he went on to play. He didn't go on to play professional, but just that idea that there's a recognizable face that the kids look up to and now they get to work with them in a in a small environment like that. I think that is such an impactful, awesome experience for kids that can just ign ignite you know a passion for for an activity or sport. And I think that that is so cool. So it's I didn't I didn't know if that was something that you guys were doing, if it was just the coaches that were going out. But you know if you're able to get some of those players to uh come up with you, I think that just makes it even even more meaningful, which is which is awesome to hear that you guys are doing that.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

For sure. And I think our athletes just do such a stellar job as well. Like it's something that they get excited about. They love coaching and giving back and like for example last week Pete and Caffery and I drove up to Barnesville, which is like 30 minutes to Fargo. So again, big road trip. It's been a cool way for me to like get to know our athletes better and kind of start building that foundation with our relationship. But also it's like I mean some of those small towns and small pockets like how often do they get that kind of like opportunity to interact directly with the pro player. And sometimes you know they're coaches. I can't tell you how many coaches are like oh it's so great that they're hearing this from you guys because these are the things that we keep telling them and like it's not quite clicking. So like hearing it from someone that does it at a high level you know maybe it'll click and I'm like yeah sure like for sure but we do Q ⁇ A's like it's been fun to see different age groups just asking them questions like their about their experiences, how they got to where they are you know any advice that they may have again just continuing to see that like pathway of like okay like I can look beyond I can make a career out of this and that is like so stinking cool for them to kind of see that.

SPEAKER_02 46:15

Yeah. And I also love how you mentioned that you know by by doing this with some of your players you're able to start establishing those relationships because I mean that's we we know in sports like that's huge to have that relationship that coach player relationship because there are going to be times where you know you're gonna have to communicate some you know maybe challenging some difficult information or whatnot or and having that relationship established is going to make it that much easier for players to be receptive of that information. So that's that that's cool. And especially like your situation's unique where with this I mean granted you do have on your roster you do have a number of uh Minnesota players you know that probably have some connection already but you're basically for for a first time team, you know, you're bringing you're bringing a bunch of people that you know may have never played together, uh don't know each other all that well and that's that's that team chemistry is going to be you know going to be a huge piece to the success for the season. So it's it's cool to hear that you guys are are doing things early and often in order to start start building building those connections.

SPEAKER_01 47:25

Yeah no for sure it's been really fun and I think that was a big piece for Pedro and I as well is like with building the roster we want to be a space for you know we're we're signing athletes that we're gonna genuinely want to be around and want to coach and you're with them every single day. And so it's been so fun to like you know actually spend some time with them and I'm like holy cow you guys are just amazing people. You know they what they do on the court is amazing and they're gonna be very very talented but their outreach work and the interactions that they have out into the community and how passionate they are about that like that's that's gonna be huge for you know when you're starting a team like this and trying to do what you can to get out into the community and connect and grow your fan base and just get people talking about it, you know? So that's been really cool.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

So you mentioned Pedro Mendez, the head coach I mentioned at the very beginning of this a conversation that you guys are going to be at the clinic, right? So you guys are going to come to the uh coaches clinic which we're we're excited uh to have you guys it's it's I'm I'm I'm ecstatic about the uh the lineup we have it's we put together another lineup that I'm excited about but I'm frustrated with because we have so many good sessions that are going on at the same time and I'm just not gonna be able to physically be in multiple places at at at a single time right but that's just it's it's gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

And you and Pedro are going to be there and you guys are going to be there on Thursday one of the at the one o'clock session and your session title uh first contacts and defensive breakdowns right so if you could give listeners kind of what what uh little sneak peek don't give them all because we you know we want we want people to come and yeah and and watch and listen but kind of what what we got in store so we basically want to cover I mean obviously with first contact I think breaking down the skill a little bit just different progressions with how you can kind of train your athletes just touching on some of our keys that we want to emphasize just some of the focuses I guess with you know how you want to approach passing as a team systematic things that you can kind of consider and then maybe show showing some different like competitive drills throughout that and then with the defensive stuff I think same kind of goes for that with like defensive posture really breaking down technique here are some different stations that you can kind of focus that will kind of give you different things to emphasize within that um and then getting into like a live team defense with like okay Pedro's going to break down blocking a bit you know here are some things that we can kind of focus on with if you're scheming, if you're in a read system backcourt what does that look like? So getting into more like team based defensive setups and then kind of working through some drills within that as well.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

That's awesome. You get that you're gonna be busy in the 50 minutes I know I know we're we're covering a lot. Yeah awesome well we're we're excited to have you uh at the clinic I look forward to uh meeting you in person I know I've been in the same building as you but I don't think I've met you in person. So like I say I was I was excited when you reached out uh to ask if if we could have a conversation for the podcast and talk Minnesota volleyball talk about Minnesota Major League volleyball and just all things volleyball.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

So is there anything anything that we've missed that uh that you want to let people know about or just you want to talk about or you know yeah I don't know I think with the as far as the team goes like I mean we have our first 13 signed I'm sure yeah some people are familiar we got three Minnesota alumni coming back which I'm super excited about and really putting the pieces together as far as like the team name and all that stuff I think as far with the fan base and the volleyball community like just keep your eyes peeled. We're gonna have some exciting news in the next upcoming weeks with all of that. And then I think once the brand is launched, you know it's go time. It's gonna be really exciting and getting our our matches rolling in January our athletes will start kind of they'll they'll be coming end of end of October. So we'll start training in November. So it's gonna come up quick and yeah we're just really looking forward to it. Pedro and I say it all the time but we're just excited to you know coach again be around our athletes and get back into it.

SPEAKER_02 51:26

What's uh what's the season schedule gonna look like as far as how many how many games are are on the slate?

SPEAKER_01 51:32

Yeah we typically we'll finalize our schedule usually it's finalized in October so that'll kind of be solidified soon enough but to two matches a week it'll run from you know January until end of April.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 51:46

So that's kind of how it'll how it'll look but obviously we have to kind of work through the wild schedule first and then and then that kind of falls into place. And a lot of the facilities that are within the league are dealing with hockey are just different. There's it's a shared space so you're kind of working through you're navigating a lot of different schedules.

SPEAKER_02 52:04

Yes yep w with those schedules are there um are most games like single single match events or uh does major league volleyball do many like doubleheaders where they'll bring four teams in um what's what's that kind of look like typically it's just the it's the one team so okay they don't do a lot of doubleheaders but I think as far as the structure goes it kind of looks more similar to like a collegiate schedule.

SPEAKER_01 52:30

I think our our game matches like our actual day matches will kind of look a little different. Sometimes it'll be a Tuesday or sometimes it'll be a Friday. Like I think that will have a little more variance but consistently two matches a week and then different opponents every time.

SPEAKER_02 52:44

And the home and the home court is in the Grand Casino arena, right? Yep.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 52:48

How many times have you slipped up and said the X?

SPEAKER_00 52:51

Too many too many times.

SPEAKER_02 52:52

Yeah we we're we're still we're still adjusting but we l we love the space for the state tournament. I know you played in the state tournament there. It'll be fun to see what it looks like with a single court you know normally for the state tournament you got the two courts with the curtain drop down the middle. Yeah so that'll be that'll be fun to see how that's all gonna how that's all gonna shake up and I'm excited to get to get to a game get some get some kids out to the game and yeah it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01 53:17

It's gonna be a blast. I think yeah I mean it's a fantastic facility they do such a great job there and like you said I mean some of our most fond memories are from the state tournament I think everyone just it's kind of it feels like a full circle moment for me just being back and stuff but back in that space but they it's gonna be really it's just gonna feel like a pro experience rolling into that arena and seeing that court and I don't know it's really really exciting. I'm so happy that you know the wild and all these other ownership minority owners are just so invested in women's sports now it just continues to grow and I think the Twin Cities area is just so passionate about women's pro sports and the pro sport community in general. So it's exciting it's a really exciting time.

SPEAKER_02 53:58

Yeah it's it it's it's fun like like you say um Minnesota fans regardless of the outcome we we show up right yep and it's gonna be fun to have another sport uh to cheer for another protein to cheer for and it and a a sport that like I think and I think Minnesota is a natural location for one of these professional teams just because volleyball is such a popular sport in Minnesota. Not only for the uh high school girls but now with the uh the high school boys teams that are competing I think it's just it is it's a perfect perfect location. I I don't know how it all came about is why how Minnesota got picked as one of the expansion locations, but I think it was a I think it was a a very wise very wise decision.

SPEAKER_01 54:41

100% I mean it was only a matter of time. I think Minnesota fans were getting a little antsy like what the heck it's been three years why where's our team just because the community is so big and continues to grow so we're we're super stoked. I think it's gonna be it's gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_03 54:57

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Well we we wish you nothing but the uh best of luck with this new this new venture uh we're gonna be following along uh cheering you guys cheering you guys on and and as as you mentioned I'd encourage any coaches that are looking to get uh connected with um Minnesota uh major league volleyball and maybe having you guys out for a clinic or a camp sometime yeah just uh is is there still information is there contact information on the website for that it should be it yeah it should be in our Instagram bio okay yeah awesome and I think that your Instagram bio is is linked on the website so provolleyball dot com and then you can navigate your way to the Minnesota team and you'll find the Instagram uh information there yeah and get connected with uh cece and pedro and Minnesota volleyball and and take it from there. Yeah should be fun yes thank you so much yeah thank you thank you cecee uh it was it was fun chatting with you it's it I I enjoy doing this I enjoy uh talking volleyball with uh with all all sorts of different people from different experiences and you know your your experience is unique compared to a lot of the people that I've had a chance to talk with because I've either talked with just players I've talked with just coaches but somebody that's had the experience that life experience so far that you've had through the volleyball world is is pretty unique and feel fortunate that that we got to spend some time with you today.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

So yeah me too thank you this was great.

SPEAKER_02 56:23

All right have a good one Cece you too bye bye