017: Volleyball 101, College Powerhouses, and Pro Leagues

Welcome to the world of volleyball! Whether you’re a newcomer or a die-hard fan, this episode serves up everything you need to know about the sport. We break down the basics—plus explain the six key positions on the court in superhero terms. We also spotlight the explosive growth of volleyball in the U.S., from record-breaking college teams like Nebraska to the new pro leagues like the Pro Volleyball Federation and League One Volleyball. If you’ve ever wondered how volleyball works, what all those rotations mean, or why everyone suddenly loves college volleyball, this is your starting lineup. Grab your knee pads and get ready to dig in—this is volleyball like you’ve never heard it before! 

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Chapters

• 12:07 - Bump, Set, What Are We Doing?
• 17:18 - If Iron Man Played Outside Hitter
• 22:40 - Setters: Still Waiting for Credit
• 27:06 - Libero Life: No Front Row, No Problem
• 40:01 - From Long Shorts to Spandex Realness
• 43:08 - Lauren Carlini Did Not Come to Sit

Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:01.102)
I'm gonna explain each of the positions like they are Avengers.

You don't watch Avengers movies, right?

Yes I do, you always say that and you have no idea. I love the Avengers. I mean I love Iron Man but I also love Spider-Man.

Who's your favorite Avenger then?

So I'm guessing you, Spider-Man, was Marvel.

Speaker 2 (00:20.366)
I have seen all of the movies.

Yeah, but not enough. You never talk about Marvel's movies.

Get out of here, you have no idea what you're talking about. Can I start now?

Yeah, continue.

Have you ever wondered why people get so hyped about their favorite sports teams? Well, it turns out it's not just about the game. It's about the community. My name is Teryn.

Speaker 1 (00:42.696)
And I'm Ambre. Welcome to Almost Fans, the sports podcast that's fun, a little bit educational, and will give you plenty to say when you're trying to keep up with those diehard sports fans in your life.

Welcome back to Almost Fans. Today we're stepping onto the court and into the fast paced world of volleyball. From the jaw dropping saves to the perfectly timed kills, we're talking all the action, all the energy and all the athleticism that makes this sport such a rush. Before we dig in, you see what I did there? We're hitting up our hat trick segment.

So we agreed on the topic ahead of time. Each of us separately came up with our top three and today we're getting into this topic. The things you were wrong about and didn't find out until embarrassingly late in life. Teryn, what do you got?

So my first one is maybe not so like embarrassingly late, but definitely too late. It's that in Midwest winters, you need to get a car wash. It is not optional. It is essential because the road salt will eat away at your car faster than you can say pothole season. So you have to wash it and then wash it again and then wash it again, even though immediately it's going to get snowy and gross and salty and yucky. Otherwise it...

Russ, I didn't realize that until later. just started getting car washes like this year.

Speaker 1 (02:14.102)
Here's a thought that I don't have about you very often. Wow, that was so responsible of you. Because for once I'm like a car wash. I think I did that about three years ago, let alone Wisconsin, some other anything. Yeah.

I know who knew that I was the responsible one. Who knew? It is. It's a new car. I bought it like right after my divorce was finalized. So it's like my first like big purchase for my, you know, I bought it with cash. like, so I'm taking care of that baby needs to last me. And so yeah, one of my friends was like, you need to get car washes like every few weeks. I was like, what? Come again.

It's a new card. That's why.

Speaker 1 (02:56.91)
You just blew my mind. I think I probably knew that, but was just not... I was trying to black it out. Yeah. Okay. My number three, and I, okay, I realize it's probably later than most people, but still pretty early, let's just say. I did not realize that you couldn't get rid of bangs by just chopping them off at the root.

like

Totally cool. If I get bangs and don't like them, I can just go get another haircut and they're gonzo.

Wait, how old were you though when you figured this out? I need to know.

I think probably like in the 10 year old range, which feels like just a couple years too late. That's sad bangs when I was a kid, right above my eyebrows, straight across. And I just couldn't understand why this wasn't a quick fix when I didn't like them anymore. It's like a realizing experience. I don't think I did. think, you know what? She didn't even, she didn't even entertain it.

Speaker 2 (03:37.492)
That's so funny.

Speaker 2 (03:41.991)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:53.144)
You try to them off.

Speaker 2 (03:57.432)
stopped you from that.

I would be like, mom, totally cool. Like, let's just go get me a haircut and then my bangs will be gone. And she just didn't respond. And she did that enough times after I brought this up that I started to realize that maybe that's not a thing.

strategic of her to not panic a little bit.

Yeah, so I realized that a couple years late.

That's so funny. Okay. My number two thing that I learned a little late in life, this is maybe a little bit more serious than my typical one. And that is you don't have to finish a book, a show or a friendship just because you started it.

Speaker 1 (04:34.03)
I like that.

Yep, if it's not adding to your life, it's okay to quit it. If it's a friendship, this is really what I'm talking about here, And like friendships, even if it's long and it feels very intertwined with your other friendships or it's been part of a particular season of your life, it's okay to let it go. You're not a failure, you're just free. And life is too short to spend time with people who don't love you. So move on.

On a less serious note, what is the most recent show that you quit midway?

Well, I guess I haven't quit it yet. I could still go back to it, but the show Younger, have ever heard of it?

It keeps popping up on my Netflix, but I just can't do it. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (05:18.486)
So the problem is I'm in like season four of six seasons or something like that. And all my friends are like, don't quit. It actually gets better, but it's kind of like in the middle part of the whole series of it, guess. And it just is driving me crazy. Like it's causing me stress and I don't need extra stress in my life. So I just like have it on pause until I'm in a less stressful season of my life.

Yeah, which is maybe never.

Yeah, maybe never and maybe I never go back to it. But all my friends have told me to not give up on it and to go back to it. But for now, I have put it on pause.

Power to you. I'm going to follow up your serious thought with actually a more serious thought. And my next one is I thought that C-sections only happened when the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Oh. So I went into birth thinking those were just when you're watching stuff on TV and in movies, were only because the cord was wrapped around the neck.

It's a baby out.

Speaker 1 (06:24.654)
So, and nowhere in my birth class. Now I had been like, I went through the birth class, this is a long time ago, and I think that knowledge and information has dramatically shifted. But in that class and up until I was laboring, I did not understand that a C-section was a thing that actually was incredibly common and doesn't just happen when the cord is around the neck. Busted my world.

I had a certain expectation on how my babies were going to be born and that was not it. I ended up having three C-sections. Yeah, we're four for four. I know, between us. Yeah. But it took a long time to come to peace with that. it feels like something I should have known earlier, not just in the labor and delivery room. Like, oh, oh, that's a thing the doctors are telling me I have to do right now. Yeah.

over here.

Speaker 2 (07:18.516)
So funny. I had one that I thought of, but I'm not going to say it because it's a little too graphic, but it also had to do with when I was pregnant. And I'll just say it has to do with your cervix dilating. I learned things about that. You could probably imagine what I thought was happening and wasn't actually not happening.

We could probably fill an entire episode with pregnancy and childbirth related knowledge that you should have known, wish you would have known before it was happening to you.

100%. 100%. I try not to scare my friends who are pregnant, but I try and be like, hey, listen, it's not scary. Just know that this is going to happen. This is probably going to happen to you. And it's OK. But nobody tells you this ahead of time.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a wild, wild world out there.

It is, it really is. Okay, my number one thing that I learned way too late in life, far too late at this point in my life because, you know, whatever, and it is that duvet covers are a scam.

Speaker 1 (08:20.302)
Okay, but what's the backup plan? have to like wash your comforter in the dry cleaner, you know, what's the alternative?

I you, I hear you that there is a reason why we have them. You have to pull it off, wash it, put it back on. It's the only thing that makes any sense. But nobody talks about the fact that they were only designed for a human being who has four arms or a team of assistants. Cause literally have you ever tried to stuff a king size comforter into a duvet cover alone, alone as a single person? You know the rage. It's like a full body workout.

Just the other day, I realized that the opposite corner of the side that was open had come untied from the corner. It was all bundled into a ball. I wanted to literally scream and nobody to help me.

I hate it. We had one of the ties on the inside come out. And so now there's a safety pin that doesn't actually stay pinned. Somebody needs to invent a better way to do this. And I have no idea where they should start.

The reason I thought of this is I got an ad for something and it was like this duvet cover like it like zips inside of it. I'm like that's genius. Who thought of that? It was something like that. can't remember if it was a zip or something that like happened on the inside where the whole thing like connected. I don't know. It just doesn't make any sense. There's got to be a better way. Or I just need more people to help.

Speaker 1 (09:34.638)
I don't trust it. It's such a good to be true.

Speaker 1 (09:48.398)
I'll come over next time. Just tell me. me. Yeah. I'll pop over. I'll grab a corner and shake it out. My last one is I did not realize until much later in life that, okay, real admitting here, I did not realize until I started thinking about this and researching some ideas, did not realize until then that if you swallow chewing gum, it doesn't actually stay in your stomach for seven years. I wholeheartedly believe that until last week.

It just gets digestion. It just goes through your system and then it's out again. Yeah. It is not saying your stomach at all.

Just the thing that our parents said to us.

Also bonus, if you swallow watermelon seed, doesn't grow watermelon inside of you. All things that rocked my world last week.

Ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (10:35.118)
we're so much wiser now, huh?

I mean, look at us. Car washes and duvet covers, gum. Truly.

in life.

Speaker 1 (10:48.088)
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Speaker 2 (11:38.382)
All right, we are back and today we're diving into a sport, diving, like you did with your dig pun. We're diving into a sport that's equal parts power, finesse and knee pads. It's volleyball, not beach volleyball with the cute or mostly nude swimwear and sunglasses. We're talking indoor volleyball today. So fast, strategic, and honestly kind of confusing if you didn't grow up playing it. So before we get into it,

Ambre, what is your experience with volleyball? Like are we talking Bumps at Spike Queen or you dodge the ball and pray type of energy?

like was forced to participate in gym class in high school, but could never serve overhand and always felt like an underhand serve was the equivalent of a granny shot. So I just sort of mostly avoided. However, now I love watching volleyball. We have a super successful.

Wisconsin Badgers team here in Madison. So I take my daughter all the time. She's tall for her age. So I'm thinking this might be a thing, but now I love watching it, but playing it, no, no, no,

Yeah, and you're hoping to learn a few things because you're like, I'm watching it, but I'm not sure I totally understand what's happening out there.

Speaker 1 (12:53.154)
Yeah, some of the positions, some of the strategy, what everybody does. Yeah, I have a lot of questions. I think you're going to get into it today.

No, that's amazing. I'm so excited to share all of the things that you asked me about and we'll get into that in just a little bit. So for our listeners, whether you're a casual fan, a very confused spectator or just here because your kid made the team and you want to understand what is happening on the court, maybe a little bit like Ambre, we've got you and I'm going to break down indoor volleyball, the rules, the rotation and yes, even the mysterious player in the off color Jersey.

I know Ambre's very impressed in that.

The Baron?

That's the the Baron. No, the barrow. Yeah, no, that's red Baron.

Speaker 1 (13:36.94)
Yeah, that's a pizza brand, isn't it?

Okay, even further off.

All right. So before we get into it, let's keep it really, really simple and get into the basics. So volleyball was invented in 1895, basically by someone at the YMCA. Shout out. Oh, I know. Oh, it's basically four years after basketball was invented. So kind of like at a time when sports were really growing, like indoor and team sports really growing fast. So

even more

Speaker 2 (14:11.468)
The sport is basically each team has six players on the court at a time. The main idea is you want to hit the ball over the net and make it land on the other team's side and stop it from landing on your side. Pretty simple. You get three touches to get the ball over. So usually you hear bumps at spike, but that's a pass, a set and a hit. That's what a volleyball player would call it, a pass, a set and a hit. If you mess up and you let it hit the ground, the other team gets a point.

I just say an epiphany I just had is set short for setup. So that's kind of what a set is, right? Exactly. Like setting up for somebody to spike it over and try to get it.

setting up the hitter to hit the ball over. Yeah. Okay. So the players each have different superpowers and I'll get into that in a little bit. So hold tight. But the game itself, it's played to 25 points, but you have to win by two and it's rally scoring. That means you can score on every single possession they used to play where you had to have the serve kind of like in tennis, but now it's rally scoring.

And usually it's best of five sets. The fifth set, if it gets there, is only played to 15 points, but you still have to win by two. So then it's the best of three sets wins the whole match. So you have sets and then the whole thing is the match. then you rotate clockwise every time your team wins a point. So you stay in your position until...

you lose a point, it goes to the other side, they serve, and then when you win your point back, you continue to rotate clockwise.

Speaker 1 (15:53.442)
But is that how like in college they play like that? Cause I have specific players who have to be in different. You just rotate through who's serving, not where you're standing on the court.

So that's a really good question. You always have to be standing in your position on the court at the time of the serve. Then people move. So as soon as like the serve has been touched, you can move to a new spot.

Yeah, that explains it.

You have to stay in the back row if you're in the back row. Sort of the setter is kind of an exception to that, but I'll kind of, I can get into that a little bit more, but basically like the back row players might just switch like where they're standing depending on, you know, the time of the game. If you're getting served two, you're probably not going to rotate while the ball is in the air. You'll wait until after you pass the ball back over to other side and then you usually switch. So if you're a left back player or a middle back player, you might just like stay in one time in your position and then you switch. Okay. Yeah. Interesting.

Yeah. So you're going to rotate clockwise. Like I said, so kind of everybody, if you're playing throughout the whole game, you never come out, you're going to play in every single position. And then, you know, you get to do a little bit of everything, but basically that's it. You pass, you set, you spike, you don't let the ball touch your side and you rotate like you're on a pizza and celebrate like crazy. When you win a point, that is volleyball. have to celebrate really hard in the center of the court. When you win a point.

Speaker 1 (17:15.562)
give high fives and smack each other's butts.

But smacks are essential. Okay. Now I mentioned superpowers. I'm taking a page out of your book, Ambre, and I'm going to explain each of the positions like they are Avengers.

You don't watch Avengers movies, right?

I do you always say that and you have no idea I love the Avengers I mean I love Iron Man but I also love spider-man

Who's your favorite Avenger then?

Speaker 1 (17:43.598)
I'm impressed you knew Spider-Man was a Marvel.

I have seen all of the movies!

Yeah, but like not enough to, I don't know. You never talk about Marvel's movies. I just watched one last night, the new Captain America, Brave New World. I don't really recommend, honestly.

have no idea what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (18:00.342)
Yeah, I think they've kind of like gotten a little bit, they've stretched a little bit post Avengers.

Yeah. Can you name one female Avenger?

Yeah, Black Widow.

Can you name another female? That one was way too easy. Name another one.

what's her name? She's like the, captain Marvel. Get out of here. You have no idea what you're talking about. Okay. Can I start now? Okay. The setter, this is Ironman or Tony Stark. So the setter is the brains of the team. They're always calculating and making quick decisions. They set up.

Speaker 1 (18:23.864)
Good job.

Speaker 1 (18:29.206)
Yeah, continue.

Speaker 2 (18:44.076)
the big moments, AKA they assist the spike and they keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes. Even when it looks really chaotic. It's without the setter, the team doesn't work. It's just like the Avengers. need Tony's strategy and sarcasm. All of it. Yep. Okay. Next is the outside hitter. This is the person in the front row. When you're looking at the net, they're on the far left. This person is your steady.

Oh yeah, and so are our

Speaker 2 (19:13.774)
powerful all-around solid player. Usually this is like your best player. They play both in the front row and the back row usually because they can spike from the back row. They hit, they pass, they block, they're reliable under pressure, they're your go-to when things get intense. So your outside hitter is Captain America. You want them on the court every time the game's on the line. Is that who you were imagining?

Yes, most definitely. That fits perfectly.

Okay, so then we'll go to our middle hitter or your middle blocker.

Outside hitter, do you have one on both sides?

I'll get to it. That's why I said outside hitter is front left. Yep. So then you have your middle blocker and that's the Hulk. They're big, they're strong, they're fast at the net, their job, smash. blocker spike. Before the other team knows what hit them, this person is going to have to read the other team's hitters and shut them down. They've got to block everyone. Basically middle hitter is just running around trying to block the ball. They're also

Speaker 1 (19:54.657)
left. Got it.

Speaker 2 (20:19.232)
spiking. Obviously this is usually your tallest person. They're all about strength, timing, dominating everything the Hulk is made for. That's your middle hitter. All right. Next we'll do the right side hitter. So this is the person on the right in the front. This is Falcon. This is the unsung hero who does a little bit of everything. They block, they hit, they even set sometimes.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:48.418)
They've got to be versatile, ready to take off, literally. They hit from the air, you know, kind of just like a Falcon. They usually match up with the other team's best hitter. So the other team's best hitters on the outside, they're on the right side, you know, they're on the left, this person on the right. So they're going to block their outside hitter. They're low key, powerful and often underrated, just kind of like Sam is before he got his shield. And then we have our defensive specialist.

Hmm.

Speaker 2 (21:17.218)
This is not the libero. This is a different position. This is Dr. Strange. This person doesn't play the whole time, but they pop in and change the momentum every so often. They specialize in defense and passing. They see the court in ways others don't and they adjust accordingly. They're not always on the screen, but when they show up, things start to shift. Dr. Strange.

Mmm.

And you may be confusing them with the libero. Like I mentioned, they're not the same. They are two different positions. So I will get into that person next. And the libero is your black widow. They're quick. They're low to the ground. They're sneaky good. They can't attack at the net. So they cannot jump over the height of the net to try and attack. But they are your defensive weapon. They dive, they dig, they pass like their life depends on it.

They may not get all the glory, which is basically the kills, know, the spikes into the ground, but they're keeping everyone else alive. And that's what makes this person essential.

You know, love watching a game where the libero does one of those dives, but basically just slides like palm down hand.

Speaker 2 (22:28.699)
yeah, they call that a pancake.

Yeah, that move is so impressive. Also, I feel like it must not feel good, but it is so cool looking.

Yeah, it doesn't hurt that bad. Okay, Ambre, can you guess what position I played in high school?

I feel like you told me this. The right front person.

Close, I was a setter.

Speaker 1 (22:55.47)
Mmm, okay, the brains, okay.

the brains. Remember I told you I can't jump so I'm not hitting.

Yeah, I just thought a setter had to jump too. You're not like, yeah, I can't see you diving one after the other. So I didn't figure you were a libero. I could have seen you be a defensive player too.

I do a little bit. As often.

Speaker 2 (23:16.77)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. I was a setter. I wasn't tall and I wasn't the best passer, I was kind of like meant to be a setter.

That's where I fit in. The brains. The brains.

Okay, Ambre, I know you are probably not satisfied with that description of the libero. So I've got some more details on that position and some of their roles and responsibilities. the libero is wearing that contrasting Jersey because they need to be easily identified. Their Jersey has to be a totally opposite color. Can't even be close. Like if you wear yellow, your libero Jersey cannot be white. It has to be like super contrasting.

they cannot rotate into the front row or attack the ball above the net height ever. So they can hit the ball. So they can overhand hit the ball, but usually we just say like, you just need to stay on your feet when you do it. So like if it's the easiest thing to do to just like hit it overhand, then they can do that, but they just need to stay below the height of the net. And if they're ever close to the net, they definitely cannot be like dumping it over where they poke it over, you know. They're definitely going to be your best passer.

They're specializing in digs and receiving serves. If you're a good server, you're going to try and avoid serving the libero at all times because you know that they're your best passer. They are going to play usually in the back left of the court to dig the outside hitter from the other side. So they're playing opposite of the outside hitter, which is your best hitter because hitters typically hit across the court. That's the easiest hit because you have the most room. Makes sense. Yeah. Interesting.

Speaker 1 (24:50.22)
Got it. Okay.

More about the libero, they can replace a back row player without prior notice to the official. So basically they can just run in and out and replace the player. So they're kind of like coming in for whoever is not the great back row. They're going to play all three positions. They're going to rotate out and then they're going to come right back in for another person right back into the back row. Whereas most people would have to go all the way around the back row and the front row.

Like you don't want your setters and your super tall ladies hanging out in the back row because they're not going to be as agile sort of thing.

if you have a really good setter, they're going to play all the way around. They're going to play, they're going to set from every position. So then, you know, this libero is coming in for either your right side hitter or your middle player. Okay. Yeah. But they're coming out for one rotation and then coming right back into the back, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then fun fact, the term libero means free in Italian.

It reflects the player's freedom to substitute in the back row without a formal substitution procedure. They've actually been credited to adding to volleyball's longer rallies, making the game more exciting to watch. So they noticed that the rallies got longer and it was more exciting for people. So that helped clear things up a little bit about them.

Speaker 1 (26:09.356)
Yeah, it does. And they wear a significantly contrasting jersey so that the official can know who they're watching for because they have those extra sort of parameters on where they can go with it. That makes sense.

can do. That's exactly.

Speaker 2 (26:27.0)
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Okay, so I wanted to take this next section of the podcast to do something we've never really done before, but Ambre wanted me to answer some questions for her and questions probably many of you have as well. So she gave me a list ahead of time and I'm going to answer all of her questions now. So it worked out well. It was kind of some of the stuff I was already looking into anyways. But her first question for me was how much has volleyball grown and why? So I'm going to talk about college and pros. So until about 20 years ago, there were

a lot more opportunities for girls to play sports like basketball and soccer. But in the last 20 years, the number of junior clubs for volleyball with USA volleyball has nearly doubled. So it went from about 1700 in 2024, 25 to 3800 clubs in 2023 and 2024. So the increased participation, it's probably coincided with the fact that the United States has emerged as a world power.

of sorts in volleyball. Team USA has meddled in five straight Olympics, including gold in 2020 and then silver last year in Paris. And the amount of exposure that college volleyball receives on television and social media is kind of unprecedented compared to prior years. I read one stat that said that colleges are saying that their third most popular sport for attendance is volleyball. Football, men's basketball, then volleyball.

Speaker 1 (28:34.616)
No.

yeah, I know. according to AP News, volleyball has actually been the number one sport that girls participate in the United States for almost a decade. And I could not mention college volleyball without hitting on one of the most prominent volleyball schools in the NCAA. Ambre, do you know which school I'm talking about?

I mean, I'm hoping you're talking about the Badgers, but maybe also Nebraska.

Yeah, it's Nebraska. Their powerhouse when it comes to volleyball, they have sold out, listen to this, 306 consecutive regular season matches. The Huskers have led the nation in attendance every season since 2013. And eight of the top nine crowds in NCAA volleyball history are matches that involve Nebraska.

It's phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (29:26.35)
It also helps that they're often going to these later in the season games, but yeah, they're massive. A perfect example of this phenomenon, you could call it, was in August of 2023, 92,000 fans showed up for an outdoor match in Nebraska's football stadium. It was a volleyball match that they did in the football stadium. Yeah. So their football stadium is called Memorial Stadium and its official capacity

is just over 85,000 for football, but that number was obviously higher for this event because they put seats and standing room on the field. they got to 92, I think it was 92,003 people.

That's amazing. And I bet you probably bigger than most of the crowds that actually came to the football games.

almost certainly. So for this match, there was actually a D2 matchup that happened first. Then Nebraska took on Omaha, which it's not like even this is like a massive matchup, you know, just an in-state little rivalry, I guess. And then they swept them in three matches and then Scottie McCreary performed afterwards. It was a whole spectacle. What a night. Yeah, I would love to do that. Yeah, it was really cool. It was like some pictures online.

on social will pop some up because they are, it's really cool to see it. Okay, so now I want to move on and spotlight some of the professional leagues in the US. So first is Pro Volleyball Federation. So PVF. This one launched in just 2024. It features eight teams all over the US, 14 players per team. It's got a 28 match season.

Speaker 2 (31:10.744)
Their salaries range from about 60K to 175K per year. And they also get benefits, like medical benefits, which is great. You're not going to be a millionaire playing this pro volleyball, but you're going to earn a living wage, which I think is really, really cool. They also have opportunities for more money with bonuses and whatever, performance, sponsorships, obviously sponsorships, of course.

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:36.847)
But the team wins a million dollar prize if they win the championship and you have a one in eight chance.

was gonna say, that's not like that far of a reach.

No, not at all. So that's pretty cool. Interesting. I don't know if this is everywhere in Pro Volleyball or not, but the PVF had a really good website. It was very informative and it was talking about how they are using a high amount of technology throughout the game, which I thought was cool. The coaches have tablets that they have on their benches and they use them to call timeouts to sub players and to request challenges. Also interesting.

I know they don't have line judges because they are using technology to call the balls in and out. Which I can personally say is amazing because I used to be a line judge. Like they make you like line judge at tournaments and stuff. And I also used to be a volleyball official and that is stressful, especially in pro volleyball when it's coming down so fast. The other weird thing about that is like you're standing on the court with the players. So if they're, they don't like your call, they are like,

this close to you straight in your face.

Speaker 1 (32:42.094)
Yeah. You know what else is cool about that is probably the rate of game is faster because there's no like, no, we challenge, I mean, I there's probably still challenges on other things, but when it comes to the line call, nah, a computer called that and a computer is more accurate than the human eye. at least it kind of just keeps the, I imagine keeps the game flowing a little bit more smoothly.

I'm sure. Yeah, absolutely. For the PVF, the matches are broadcast on major networks too, like CBS, which is really great for these ladies.

Can you just name some of the PVF locations?

Yeah, so there's Atlanta, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indy, Omaha, Orlando, San Diego, and Vegas. So it's really all over.

all over. A lot of them like right kind of here-ish in the Midwest though.

Speaker 2 (33:37.368)
Which is cool. I feel like volleyball is such a Midwest sport. I don't know why.

I mean, in college you have like the powerhouses, Nebraska, state. So I guess.

10 really. Yeah. in what world are you going to put a professional team in Omaha except for professional volleyball?

Yeah, I mean that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, for sure. I'll get into it in a little bit, but in our other professional league, there also is one in Omaha. So it's very interesting. So the next pro league, I mentioned that there's another one I wanted to talk about, and that is a little bit closer to home. There's one here in Madison and that is League One Volleyball. So L-O-V-B, and they actually just call themselves Love. Their inaugural season launched just this year, January of 2025.

Speaker 2 (34:27.745)
and they're backed by a hundred million dollars in funding, which is cool. There are six teams in this league and they are Atlanta, Madison, Houston, Salt Lake City, Austin, and again, Omaha. So yeah, this league integrates professional play with a vast network of youth clubs across 26 different states. So they kind of play and work alongside as kind of like a feeder system.

Speaker 2 (34:57.186)
for love. It's a little bit different than how the Pro Volleyball Federation works, which you could tell was a little bit more traditional in structure. They seem to have more of a reach out towards college volleyball athletes to get plugged in with their system. There was a lot of information on their website for the players and for coaches to understand how to get their players involved.

You know what's interesting about, sorry to cut you off, about both of these is to think when we did our soccer episode a couple of weeks ago, we just talked about how European soccer, there's this amazing pipeline, youth soccer, kind of college all the way up. And that in the US we have that with football, youth leagues, then NCAA football. I love to hear, it seems like that setup.

is key to ensuring a sports long-term success at all these different levels, including professional. So I love to hear that there's sort of pipeline, that the youth programs are exploding, there's all these new clubs. Obviously here in Madison, we know that college volleyball is a big freaking deal. And then it's just really cool to hear how all of those are connecting up to the professional level too. just feels like the sport has a better shot at

long-term lasting.

I hope so. Cause yeah, they're pretty new. that's, it seems like they started with the base first, which is helpful. Yeah. In this league love, all I found was the minimum salary, which was also 60 K. and they had a availability for bonuses and team for team performance. They also mentioned that transportation and housing costs are covered during the season and they also get health and dental insurance, which I'm, it's kind of.

Speaker 1 (36:26.214)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:44.94)
Irrelevant, but I think it's good. I think it's important to say this because this is brand new. And a lot of times these women's sports, they're missing out on all these benefits, know, like paid time off, paid leave, you know, stuff like that. And it seems like these two specifically are doing a really good job making sure that they get to have a living wage and they can actually support their families and do the things that they need to be a professional athlete, a legitimate professional athlete.

Yeah, I love that and I'm also surprised.

Yeah, pleasantly surprised for sure.

Speaker 2 (37:20.664)
So yeah, that was a very long answer to your first question. But your second question that you asked me was, do these players mostly play in leagues in the US? So once they go on from college and they want to play professionally, are they playing in the US or are they oftentimes going overseas like basketball players do? And the answer was, yeah, they went overseas. So in Europe, they have the European Volleyball Confederation and it oversees

all of the volleyball, is traditional indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, as well as this emerging sport in many of the Scandinavian nations, which is snow volleyball. Yeah, I'm out on that. I'm out on that concept. Is that exactly what it sounds like? I don't know. I didn't really look into it, but it doesn't sound like something I'd be into.

Excuse me.

Speaker 1 (38:07.95)
That sounds hard being agile, wearing a lot of clothing, diving onto.

Yeah. I have no idea. That is me just purely speculating. have no idea. look into it at all. just thought that was interesting. But yeah, so they basically in Europe have like a pro volleyball premier league kind of like in soccer. The most prominent leagues are in Italy, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, and France. It's interesting because in Europe, they start learning volleyball at a younger age than they do here in the US.

future episode.

Speaker 2 (38:41.304)
when we kind of play it for fun, but I think they start like playing competitively younger there and it's just got deeper roots. It's weird because we invented it here in the United States, but Europe has really like taken hold of it and developed it a little bit more than we have. A lot of things I read about that was just more so that, you know, in the U S we're really just all football, basketball, baseball. We're really just focused on that and don't tend to.

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:09.78)
stray away from our things.

But in Europe, I think they're really big on soccer, football, European terminology, and then cycling. Volleyball just does not hit my radar in terms of one of those really popular sports in Europe. So that surprises me.

Yeah. In terms of the Olympics, I think only recently we became even relevant. You know, I think it was the mostly European countries that were kind of winning in volleyball prior to, you know, in the last decade or so. Um, so yeah, I think it's cool that there's lots of, you know, different ways for people to get involved and they do tend to get paid more over in Europe. So that's something, an area where we could continue to grow. Okay. Your last question. And then I am done with my volleyball segment.

It is booty shorts. Her question was, are you required to wear booty shorts spandex? And that's a great question. Volleyball players don't have to wear shorts spandex anymore.

It's a time for booty shorts.

Speaker 1 (40:16.878)
Is there a competitive advantage to having your booty out?

I'll tell you. So the rule changed in 2020. It was updated again in 2024, which made it clear that players can choose what kind of bottoms they want to wear as long as they are all the same color. So now you can wear spandex, gym shorts, long pants, or even cool lots, which AKA the flowy comfy pants, if that's what you're into. Yeah. So great for people who don't want to wear them. I assume prior to that rule change, if you had a

like a religious reason to not wear them. You could, but it was required. What I found the reason, and I can attest to this, even though probably it's just the fact that this is what I always wore when I played volleyball, but the reason that people are typically wearing spandex is that the shorter, tighter shorts allow for greater range of motion and flexibility when you're jumping and diving and having those quick explosive movements around the court.

I'm going get that booty out.

Speaker 2 (41:14.73)
It also used to be that if your clothes touched the net, you could get called for a net fault. Nowadays, it has to be a physical body part. So at least when I was officiating volleyball, I wouldn't call someone in the net unless I was absolutely certain that their arm also touched the net. If it just looked like their shirt kind of grazed it, which again, most of the you're wearing something tight all around you. So like if your shirt touches, you're probably touching it too.

But yeah, so it used to be that if your hair touched, if your shirt touched, it was a net fault. so I think that was the reason why they were like, keep it tight so that you don't get called for that. Now they've changed that rule since. So yeah, I think that's kind of the main reason.

feel like booty shorts, would just be constantly removing them from... be constantly adjusting and pulling and tugging. Yep, exactly. Interesting. Booty shorts for the win.

Yeah. You stop because you love to wear spandex and you would be just fine.

I do love spandex, but in front of like, you know, like a lot of spectators, I don't know. That just feels like a different level of spandex wearing.

Speaker 2 (42:23.884)
Yeah. And even when I played, you could get as short or as long ones as you wanted. So if I wanted to get like mid length ones, which I didn't, but I could have. I wanted to get bike shorts. could have. Anyways, that's a wrap on volleyball. We hit the basics. We cleared up the libero confusion. We even debunked the spandex situation. So whether you're joining a rec league, cheering from the bleachers or just trying not to look confused at your niece's game.

Yeah, yeah,

Speaker 2 (42:52.386)
You've officially got some solid volleyball cred. Just remember, talk to your teammates, move your feet and try not to get your serve to your face.

great wisdom. Should be a coach.

Maybe someday.

Speaker 1 (43:08.398)
All right, now we're on to our She's Got Game segment. And Teryn, you knew that I couldn't take this outside of Madison, Wisconsin. I mean, why? Why would I? There's no reason. So I stayed right here at home and choosing our highlighted female athlete of the day. Her name is Lauren Carlini. Have you heard of her? Okay. Well, she played...

I have not.

Speaker 1 (43:37.006)
Yes, for the Wisconsin Badgers when she was in college. She's also an Olympian. I know you touched on this a few minutes ago and currently a pro volleyball player for none other than Love Volleyball right here in Madison. But let's rewind for a moment because I want to tell you about Lauren's awesomeness in chronological order and where I'm going to start might surprise you. I'm going to start in 1995, which is when Lauren was born.

but she started playing volleyball before that because her mom played volleyball when she was pregnant. Her mom played volleyball when she was in college. Lauren basically was playing volleyball before she was even born. And then after she was born, she considers herself a gym rat. Her mom kept playing in women's leagues. so Lauren was just always in the gym. She used this term that you'll understand, and I had to look up, but she was just kind of

peppering by herself. So usually I think that's a volleyball against a wall, just kind of like hitting, hitting, hitting. Cause you know, mom's playing and I'm bored and I'm in a gym and I've got a volleyball. So let's do the thing. So yeah, a gym rat from a really early age in the year 2000, Lauren is a kindergartner. And this is when she officially started playing actual volleyball, not just hanging out as a gym rat.

This is also when she drew a picture, a little bit of foreshadowing for you. This is when she drew a picture of herself on the Olympic medal stand wearing Jersey number seven, which is the Jersey that she wears even now. And she still has this picture, which makes me feel really validated about hoarding my children's artwork as well. We're literally going to an art show this afternoon and I it's, yep, I'm going to come home with.

just more things to go into the closet anyway. Yeah. So from an early age, she, and listen to this, she's been asked before, you know, what did you want to be when you grew up? And she's basically said, it was just always volleyball. She never, because she started playing and again, saw her mom doing it from such an early age. There was never anything else in the picture.

Speaker 1 (45:48.366)
Okay, fast forward 2012. Now she's in high school. She wins the National Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year Award. We've talked about the Gatorade Player of the Year Award. We know this is like a really epic accomplishment. It means you're not just good at athletic stuff in high school, but also academics, community service, et cetera. She's a setter, which we've learned about today what that means. She's the brains. She says that she loves that position, just like you, Teryn.

Well, this part's not like you. She's a control freak. You're like 40 % control freak. She's a self-admitted control freak, which is why she likes being a setter because she says in that position, she gets to be a part of most of the plays, all of the plays. Yeah. She's central to the whole thing. So she loves having her hands on all the different things, all the different plays and points that are happening. So a setter. Okay.

Supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (46:45.294)
2013, she graduates from high school and heads to the good old University of Wisconsin-Madison. This is also the year that coach Kelly Sheffield becomes head coach at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He's still there right now. And he talks about looking back how, and again, it was a change in the program because he was a brand new coach, but having Lauren come in at that moment was really pivotal for the program and really helped them grow a lot.

during her time with the Badgers, she was a four time all American and also a big 10 player of the year. She was crushing it. was like, totally crushing it. Also super funny. Somebody asked her, you know, so she's from the Chicago area and they were like, Chicago's like pretty happening. You know, you went to Wisconsin. Why, why did you choose Wisconsin basically? And she said, but didn't say the party life, the night scene. She's like, you know,

I really liked all the things you could do off the court. Yeah. Party school. Okay. So 2017, she's graduating from college and she transitioned just like you talked about today to play overseas. So she joined some elite leagues. She initially played in Italy, but also Russia and Turkey. And she was over there for seven years. Well, really long time. Yeah. Um, she talks about the things that she missed the most.

And those things include, in this order, Jiffy Peanut Butter.

cheese curds. No.

Speaker 1 (48:17.004)
No, actually. mean, maybe if the list had gone on, I bet it would have made it. But Jiffy peanut butter, vanilla extract, and good smelling laundry detergent.

because we put a bunch of fake stuff in our.

We put a bunch of crap in our detergent. Europeans do not. So those are the things that she really missed from the U.S. Okay. It's 2020 now. She's been playing overseas for a couple of years and it is about that time for Summer Olympics. This is Tokyo to be specific. However, heartbreakingly, she misses the roster, I think by one spot in 2020.

And she talks about how, you know, they're all training together and they're in a bubble because it's 2020 it's COVID time. So they're all in this really close knit area and she gets notified that she didn't make the roster and the coach said to her, and then these other alternates who didn't make the cut, you know, it basically said, Hey y'all, you know, if you, if you don't want to come to practice tomorrow, you just got this news. You don't have to, we totally get it. It takes some time to yourself. She and the other alternates basically stacked hands and we're like, nah.

We came here to do the hard thing and this is going to be a really hard thing being this disappointed and still needing to go to practice. But they were there to help make their other teammates better, the ones that were chosen. So they decided to do the hard thing, even though it sucked and yeah, keep training and make sure that their teammates could be successful. And they were, they won gold, like you mentioned, which was the very first time Team USA has ever won gold.

Speaker 1 (49:55.694)
in indoor volleyball. So that was super cool. Okay. So Tokyo games ends great team USA wins school. That's awesome. She's got two weeks off and then she basically is right back in the gym training and thinking about 2024 Olympics essentially. And also, you know, playing overseas, she's back with her team, her international team now. Do do do do it's 2024 it's the Paris Olympics. And this time miss Carlini is indeed on the roster.

She talks about the vibe of Team USA and basically my words, not hers. It sounds like the coolest sorority ever, except everyone is really athletic, very tall and probably can back squat at least 200 pounds. So, but it sounds like it's just a total party. They walk away with a silver medal, which is awesome, which means that by this point in time, at the time of her getting a silver medal,

in Paris, but also at the time of this recording means that USA is the top country in the whole world when it comes to women's volleyball teams with the most medals. So super cool. We might've been a slow start in terms of, you know, national uptake compared to Europe, but when it comes to the Olympics, we've got some hardware hanging up in the trophy case for sure. So as 2024 Paris Olympics wrap up is right about when she got that phone call.

that sounded something like, hey, Lauren, here in Madison, Wisconsin, we're thinking about starting a pro volleyball team. What do you think? And her response was essentially, send me the contract right now. Yes, yes, yes. Anything, yes and yes. So super cool. She got to stay home then. She doesn't have to go overseas, right? She can spend more time closer, family, friends, et cetera. Family friends can come and watch her play. It's like,

and how much.

Speaker 1 (51:49.454)
basically being back in her hometown because she went to college here. She was honored in 2025 as the Love Volleyball best setter. So that's among all of the teams in the Love Volleyball League. Also low key because she's not busy already. She's coaching the Badgers volleyball team too, an assistant coach. To be specific, she's an offensive analyst and strategy consultant. Those are very long words for I think what boils down to

scouting and watching film and helping really be smart about playing each team every game. So she wants to keep playing volleyball with Love Volleyball for as long as she possibly can. I love that we get to watch more Badgers continue to play professionally here in Madison. Here's what I want to end with. She was asked, where do you hope to see volleyball in the next five years? And she basically responded with this.

She wants to see volleyball on national TV. She wants to see volleyball being played in huge arenas. She goes on to be like, and Jumbotrons and yeah, da da da da, for sure. She wants to see volleyball be an amazing fan experience to keep really excited people coming back year after year. She wants to see volleyball be the next big thing is what that basically boils down to. And she's.

Helping it along the way for sure between the Olympic career, coaching Badgers, playing herself professionally. So really, really awesome lady. I do plan on trying to find where she might live and see if I can run into her at a coffee shop or something. Because she's right here. I know, low-key soccer. She's like right here in Madison. I will definitely be watching her when I go to see Badgers volleyball games with my daughter this fall.

It's like we-

Speaker 1 (53:38.872)
For all of these reasons and many, more are why I chose to highlight Lauren Carlini as our She's Got Game lady today.

you

That's a wrap for today's episode. Whether you're a player, a fan, or just getting into the game, we hope you found something to take with you. We've seen the reviews coming in and seriously, thank you. Your support, your kind words, and even just taking the time to leave a few stars for our podcast means the world to us. If you haven't yet, drop us a review wherever you listen. It helps us grow and reach more Almost fans just like you.

Until next time, keep watching, keep playing and loving sports in whatever way works for you. We'll see you soon.

you