Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where the college hoops season just ended and the WNBA Draft is in four days. We're not ready, We're exhausted. Frankly, we need a break. Imagine how Paige Becker's and the rest of
the draft prospects feel. It's Thursday, April tenth, and on today's show, we'll be talking to Tiffany Oshinsky, host of the Serving Pancakes podcast, about the inaugural Love Volleyball season, this week's playoffs, and the players who've impressed her the most this season, plus feeling cocky, playing the long game, and an appropriate way to honor a star. It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's what
you need to know today. Let's start with college hoops, where a few big names are on the move via the transfer portal that includes Florida State junior Tonight Latson, the leading scorer across all D one teams this season. Latson announced on social media that she's quote unquote feeling cocky. Translation she's joining Don Staley's South Carolina game Cocks. The move reunites Latson with her high school teammate Raven Johnson,
who had an announcement of her own on Tuesday. She's passing up the WNBA Draft for one more year of college ball at South Carolina. So just so we're clear here, this is a South Carolina team that really needed a go to player in the clutch this season, and now they just got their veteran point guard back for another year, and they went and got the best go to player on the market for her to pass the ball to. And the duo already has built in chemistry, scary hours,
impeccable recruiting from Dawn. Meanwhile, tc YOU announced it signed Olivia Miles from the transfer portal. Miles, a starguard for Notre Dame, made headlines last week when she announced she was waiting to turn pro and instead would enter the transfer portal. She'd previously been projected to go number two overall in this year's WNBA draft. Now she'll look to help TCU continue its rise as a women's basketball power.
The Horned Frogs, who lost in the Elite eight to Texas, are coming off the deepest Toorney run in program history. Miles will help fill the gap left by departing grad students Hailey Vanlyth and Sodona Prince, who finally reached the end of their own college eligibility. Speaking of Hailey Vanlyth, she landed a spot in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition,
gracing the April twenty twenty five digital cover. She joins a handful of other athletes featured in the magazine this year, including the WNBA's Cameron Brink, track and field star Gabby Thomas, Jimnast, Jordan Chiles and Sunny Lee and golfer Nellie Corda. To hockey, the World Championship scott underway and check you on Wednesday, with the US opening its tournament with a seven to one win over Finland. The round robin portion of attorney
continues through Tuesday, followed by the knockout rounds. The PWHL is currently on pause through the end of Worlds, which conclude with the gold medal game on Sunday, April twentieth. Canada is looking for its second straight title and thirteenth overall, while the US last won two years ago. America hoping to reclaim the world title heading into next winners Olympics.
We'll link to the full schedule in the show notes to International Soccer The US women's national team fell to Brazil two to one in the second friendly between the two squads on US turf on Tuesday night. Katerina Macario got the Stars and Stripes off to a hot start, scoring the seventh fastest goal in national team history just thirty four seconds in, but the rest of the scoring
was all Brazil. Former NWSL MVP Caroline found the equalizer for Brazil in the twenty fourth minute, and the game was one to one until the visitors found some real magic late. Amanda Gutierrez cracked open the defense on a two to on one in the fifth minute of stoppage time, giving Brazil the win. The US women's national team now three to two in twenty twenty five. They'll hit the field again on May thirty first against China in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
More soccer news. FIFA announced at the twenty twenty five UEFA Congress that the US, along with Konka CAF partners, were the sole bid to host the twenty thirty one FIFA Women's World Cup. US Soccer issued a statement in response to the announcement. Quote. As FIFA finalizes the number of participating teams in the tournament, we will solidify our
partnership structure with fellow Conka Caffe nations. We look forward to sharing more details and unveiling our full vision for the twenty thirty one FIFA Women's World Cup in the near future. End quote. Twenty thirty one will be the third time the US hosts a Women's World Cup after ninety nine and three, and while I'm super excited for the US to be the home for that event, it's a little bit of a bummer that there weren't more bids to try to get the Women's World Cup, especially
from countries that could really benefit from hosting. To the NWSL expansion side, Denver announced that the club has sold more than ten thousand season ticket deposits just over two months after the city was officially named as the NWSL's sixteenth franchise, good enough to break the NWSL season ticket deposit record. Still, the club has a little bit of
work to do to get those butts in seats. The team still figuring out seating inventory and pricing, and once it does, those who have paid deposits will be eligible
to select specific seats and ticket packages. They're also building not one, but two stadiums before the team starts play next year, it's planning to build a temporary stadium in Centennial that'll be in use for both the twenty twenty six and twenty seven seasons, and the team's permanent stadium, which will seat more than fourteen thousand fans, will be located inside the Denver city limits in Santa Fe Yards that's expected to be open in time for the twenty
twenty eight season. Some Michelle Kang money news in the soccer world. Last year, the Washington Spirit owner pledged thirty million dollars over five years to US Soccer to professionalize women and girls soccer. On Friday, she added to that total. She announced at US Soccer's She Believes Summit that she'll integrate the operations of her Kaniska innovation hub into US
Soccer's Soccer Forward Foundation. Now Kaniska, a science backed platform dedicated to improving how female athletes train, will merge with US Soccer to scale resources at a national level. The move amounts to another twenty five million from Kang to US Soccer, bringing her investment in the federation and its support of girls and women's soccer to fifty five million dollars. Hey Michelle, can we borrow a dollar? Some Olympic news.
The Inner National Olympic Committee on Wednesday confirmed the sport program for the twenty twenty eight LA Olympics, and for the first time ever, every team sport will have at least the same number of women's teams as men's teams. That includes water polo, where the women's tournament will grow from ten teams to twelve in line with the men's, as well as soccer, where the women will have sixteen teams up from twelve and the men will now have
twelve teams, down from sixteen. This is pretty big news, considering that just last year, the IOC said it had no plans to change the number of teams in the soccer tournaments. We actually did a what the fact on the topic back in August, after the IOC told Sky Sports quote raising the number of women's teams would potentially trigger requests from other team sports, which would then have an even greater impact on the cost, complexity, size, and
sustainability of the games end quote. At the time, we thought it was a pretty dumb argument, and we still do, and it seems at least some folks that the IOC did too good reminder that sometimes things suck for a really long time and that finally they changed for the better. Wildco But here we are. As for the men's Journey, which you might remember, is a U twenty three competition,
dropping from sixteen teams to twelve. The IOC's quotes on the matter focused more on the growth of the women's game internationally and the fact that the women's tournament features the world's top talent. Now. There have also been a lot of questions in recent weeks about the United States ability to even host these Olympics, given the current administration's regulations on visas, especially for trans folks. So here's to
hoping that complaining about that will lead to change as well. Finally, we've got a star spotting to report, a Hollywood star, that is, Billy Jean King received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. While king star is number two, eight hundred and seven overall, she became the first woman to receive one in the new Sports Entertainment category,
which was created in twenty twenty three. In a post on Instagram, King wrote, quote, I may be the first woman to be awarded a star in this category, but I'm certainly not going to be the last end quote. Just add it to the list of bjk's many first and by the way, shout out to the Queen for delivering on our request from a recent show. You remember we joked about wanting a photo of her holding up her phone to show our podcast playing well. She did it the same day that episode hit. We Love You BJK.
We got to take a quick break. When we come back. We're Serving Pancakes with Tiffany Oshinsky. We caught up with her on Wednesday ahead of the Love Finals, the playoffs which get underway today. Joining us now. She's the host of League one Volleyball Serving Pancakes podcast, part of the Iheartwomen's Sports Network, a three time Emmy Award winning freelance sports producer, award winning podcast host, and development associated NFL Film. She's an NYU grad and a self professed book reader,
wine drinker, and kat obsessor. It's Tiffany Oshinski.
Hi, Tiffany, Hi Sarah, thanks for having me.
Thanks for joining us. I have to go with the most important things first. So what are you reading right now?
I'm in between a few books.
Actually, I'm reading Nosferatu by Joe Hill, which has nothing to do with the Vampire movie, but it's a crowd of vampire Joe Hill, Stephen King's son, so it's kind of like, oh wow that yeah, so it's long, it's interesting. I'm also reading a non fiction book called Chaos, which is about allegedly Charles Manson was a CIA informant.
So I'm reading that and I'm reading.
It's an earnest declaration of that.
Yeah, this guy went down a rabbit hole. I think they actually made a Netflix documentary on that. So there's that too if you don't want to read the book. And then I'm also reading this book called Hidden Pictures, which is just like a fiction thriller, fun book.
Okay, cool, So just depends on your mood, I guess yeah. Dark. I was gonna say, like, your mood must always be to dive right in.
I feel like my life is very like light and fun, so sometimes it's just like I need to change of pace.
Okay, all right, what's your go to wine.
There's a rose called Cotis de Rose. I believe it's called It's amazing. It's dry, it's delicious, It's got a fancy.
Bottle with the okay, cools, on the bottom, so I'll look for that. And what are the names of your cats or cat.
So I have two, although unfortunately Norbert is eighteen and a half and might not be with us much longer. But Bert Norbert is one. He's my oldest. And then my other one is Purdis Granderson.
Amazing, amazing, all right for those of you who don't know Curtis Granderson baseball players, so perdis Granderson.
Yes, and my husband let me get him one.
I did the Kitten Bowl one year and I fell in love and he was like, we can get him if we name him after a New York met I'm like done.
Amazing. I love that. Well, you're here to talk volleyball, mainly because the Love Finals kick off in Louisville on Thursday, the day you're all listening to this slices. We're just chatting a day in advance, and you're here to catch us up on all the Love storylines from the inaugural regular season and get us ready for the postseason. There's so much talent in this league, so much to get excited about. Nineteen Olympians national team veterans from over twenty countries.
These teams are stacked. But before we get to their meetings in the postseason, want a little refresher on Love in its unique format from the youth to pro levels. We've talked about it here on the show, but for those who aren't super familiar, can you sort of talk about the youth volleyball system and how that set the foundation for this pro league that just kicked off this season.
Sure. So, youth volleyball in the States is huge.
I don't know how many people know that, but it's the fastest growing sport. It's the most widely played sport by youth players. There's a study in twenty twenty three they say that over four hundred and seventy thousand girls we're playing volleyball, which is more than basketball, more than softball. So it's a very very popular sport. And there wasn't really a pipeline for these girls to play in the States,
unlike basketball, you know. So they decided Love was like, you know what, let's create a company, an organization from the ground up. So what they did in twenty twenty is they got fifty eight clubs across twenty seven states. It's about over nineteen thousand athletes that they have under these love clubs and they sort of created the system where they are part of the love ecosystem, right, So they started with them and they are now showing that there's a way that they can play pro in the
United States through these Love Pro teams. And then each of these clubs are kind of most of them are based around a lot of the hot spots in volleyball, which is like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Salt Lake City like where byu Is, Texas like Austin and Houston. So they kind of found these areas that were hotbeds for youth volleyball, put them together with the pros. The pros help the youth. The youth get to see the pros, be part of
the pros, and it just creates this system. It's almost like a minor league system in a way that allows these girls inspiration and motivation to be able to one day play pro and be one of them, right, because everyone wants to look up to something that they can be part of. And if they're able to stay in the States, because most of these pro players had to go overseas for many years all over the world, from Japan to Brazil to Puerto Rico to all over Europe.
So this is a way that they can stay in the States.
Yeah, it's really smart. Fifty eight clubs across twenty seven states, nineteen thousand athletes in these youth programs, and when we had Folks from Love come on, they did sort of describe this very cool scene of these younger players getting to practice alongside, not with, but near or in the same gyms or the same facilities, these athletes that they could look up to and hope to one day become.
So they set the stage with that, and then after several years, they decided to launch this inaugural pro season in January. What are some of your biggest takeaways from this first season? Surprises, things that went great, maybe challenges.
I think one of the biggest things, which I don't know if you know the volleyball X counts or anything, but there's an ex account cout well.
Well, I'm working on it. I'm diving into volleyball with all these new leagues that are like propping up everywhere. Yeah.
Right, So there's an account called avid Vali, which I don't know if this person did the research on this or if they found it from somewhere else on the internet, but I found this fascinating and it's the parody in the league, right. So Love wanted to create this even measured league right where anyone could win at any time,
and they kind of got that. So some of the stats that they pulled up that Avid Volley pulled up with that thirty three percent of Love matches have been five sets and only twenty five percent have been sweeps. So if you compare that to like Italy, they had twenty percent of the regular season matches went five sets and forty percent were sweeps. And in China, fifteen percent of the matches were five sets and fifty four percent
were sweeps. So we're seeing this nice even playing field and it's really exciting because you never know who's gonna win.
It's up up in the air.
I mean, we've seen this with Madison this year because they started the season one and seven, and all of a sudden, they went on a seven and one tear. Omaha started off three and oh and now they've had some tough battles the rest of the way. So it's kind of really exciting to see who could win at any given time.
Yeah, and with every team getting a chance in the playoffs, you just never know. None of them have been elimited, despite slow starts or hiccups during the season. Any challenges I know. Ann Marie Anderson came on the show and talked about some of the in season adjustments from Love, whether that's camera angles after the first broadcast, maybe how the broadcasters talk about the games. There's a little bit less of the interjecting and explaining in a little bit
more of the straight broadcast style. Did any of the n season changes stand out to you as Love sort of learned on the fly in this first season.
You know, the big one that I saw was the camera angles. I feel like that was such a big thing. And it's a new league, right, There's gonna be challenges. They're still learning. They wanted to try different things, which I think is great. That's what you should be doing, right, it's a newly You want to see what people like, what people don't like, and you adjust on the fly.
So I remember that first week on X there were so many people who were talking about the camera angles and what is this and why can't they just stay on the wide shot and all that, and then adjusted to that, And the best part was that the Love account was replying to these people and interacting with them in real time, being like, look, we hear you, we understand, we're going to work on this. This is a brand new thing, and we want to make it so it's
the perfect product for you. And so I think that that was probably the biggest thing and the best thing that showed a we're listening and that we care and we want to make sure we're putting out the best product, but also like, sure, there's going to be some hiccups and that's just kind of the way it is.
I have an idea for you. I don't know what your plan is for the off season of Love and This podcast or what you're doing, but I know you have done a lot of video episodes, especially the ones with the Delicious pancakes that I watched that made me very hungry. But I would love to see you and a player sit down and watch a game and talk
about it in depth. You know, a former game, so not a current game that people need the actual broadcast language around of this is what's happening now, but say this is a game we're watching from this date, this team beat this team like this, and then during it, talk about how you're watching as a professional and what you're looking for, because I think one of the big steps up in being a fan is when you can go from like that was a hard ace or that
was a good dig to really understanding whether someone was in the right position or why a team is beating another team, and so taking an old game that you could just sit down and we can see the game while you're watching it and talking about it, like Mystery Science Theater three thousand or whatever it's called, with your popcorn telling us how to watch. I think that would be a really cool thing in the off season to get us ready for next year. So just a free
idea from a Nube who needs some more tips. Love Houston claim the inaugural N season tournament, the Love Classic, and they've been a top team all season long, so maybe not a big surprise that they took Classic honors. But was there any surprise from you about how that first n season tournament went, whether it was just sticks infrastructure or who came out on top.
I mean, I actually think that a lot of people thought Atlanta was kind of going to be the one who won that tournament, just because that they've been so dominant all season and at that point too, they were first in the standings. But I think just the way that it went down and the fact that it was at the same time as the Triple Crown Tournament in
Kentucky or sorry, in Kansas City. I feel like having all of that and all these kids being able to watch them, right, and then they get to go out and put on this show, right.
So I feel like all of that was just a great spectacle basically.
I mean, it was some of the top players who played and Houston who came out on top. They're the only team to have beaten Atlanta like all season, and they have a winning record over Atlanta. So it's one of those things where it's kind of like we're starting to see even though it was week six of the season, it's sort of like, all right, well, there's a little bit.
Of interesting dynamics. To me.
I say that Atlanta Houston is like the biggest rivalry, so being able to watch them perform at the highest levels great.
But also the fact that that.
Tournament they let the other teams who weren't in the finals still play on Sunday, so even if you missed, you know, a chance to watch Omaha play earlier. You could still watch them on Sunday because I actually played in that tournament when I was younger, and so like, if you got eliminator, if your pool ended early on Sunday, you could go to this tournament afterwards, which I wish
was a thing when I was there. But you know, so it's just a it was really cool the way that they did it in allowing all these people to view them. But yeah, yeah, I mean Houston is a fun team to watch.
Yeah, I mean, we love those storylines that we can attach to, especially early in the league when there's not a lot of history and rivalries and things to look at, being able to say, Okay, we know that Houston's kind of got Atlanta's number and they seem to be the only one that what does that mean going forward when we look ahead to the postseason. Before we get to the postseason, I do want to talk about a couple
of milestones from the regular season. In the last few matches of the regular season, a couple folks past some pretty notable things. Are there any that stood out to you or that we as fans will keep in the back of our heads as we're going to watch postseason games.
I feel like one of the biggest ones that really stuck out to me was Kelsey Robinson Cook surpassing two hundred digs, being the first player to surpass two hundred digs, mainly because she's, you know, she's an outside hitter, but she's also an older player. She's a veteran who's been around for a while. So I feel like seeing someone like her who's not a libero, who's not a defensive specialist, getting that two hundred dig mark before anybody else is really cool.
And to see somebody like her.
Who as someone who is older and still likes to play you know, adult beer league volleyball, I'm like, I love this, Like that's an inspiration for me to still go out there and bust my ass on the court, even though it's not for you know, an actual championship like the Love Finals. But I mean, Kelsey Robin and
Cook is just phenomenal and so fun to watch. And also I have Kat Bella as my co host on Serving Pancakes, and Kat was pointing out also when we kind of talked about milestones, about Madison Skinner opposite On Austin, who reached two hundred points and she's the youngest player to reach any of these milestones. Ambry gd she reached two hundred points as well, but like they're a little older, they're a little more experienced. Madison Skinner just came straight
out of college and she's putting on a show. I mean, her and Jess Murziic are absolutely amazing, but Madison's the only one who's reached one of these milestones. So I mean, props to Madison for how amazing she's been.
Yeah, there's such a quick transition to the pro game for those who are listening. Just in case you don't know, a libero is a specialized defensive player in volleyball. So basically they have to wear a different jersey and identify as a libero because they can't go into the front row. They have to stand in the back row. They can't serve,
they can't block, but they are the defensive specialists. So for someone to get to two hundred digs first that isn't a libero means that despite their ability and the rest of the game, they are also a really great defensive player who's been in the right place at the right time a lot of times, two hundred times to be exact, or Kelsey Robinson Cook. You mentioned your co host. I was listening to a handful of episodes, and she's
in an interesting position because she's currently playing in Love volleyball. So, you know, you guys have some fun with it. You know, when you're predicting who's gonna win, she always says, well, if we miss our plane or we all get food poisoning, I guess maybe another team might win instead of us. But she plays for the Austin team, yes, and she sort of has to wear her analyst hat and her
player hat. You know, this podcast is backed by the league, So how have you dealt with wanting to talk about different storylines or wanting to talk about how the league is doing in its first season while balancing your editorial vision, your journalistic integrity, and also the fact that the league sort of is the one running the podcast.
Well, you know, it's actually really funny because I've asked a lot of girls who have come on as guests about, you know, love and if there are rivalries because a lot of these girls know each other already, right They've either played with them in college, or they've grown up idolizing them, or they played with them overseas, So I'm kind of like, is there trash talking, you know what kind of happens And they're like, you know on the court, yeah,
like you want to win, you want to win. But it's kind of like League one call themselves love and the love is spreading, like everyone kind of loves each other, and so it's really funny to listen to these girls talk about that.
So when it comes to.
My job and like trying to talk about anything that could be quote negative, it almost feels like there really isn't anything negative because everyone is so determined and so wonderful and so nice that I can't find really any negativity behind it.
And everyone wants to win.
And so like talking with Kat who needs to wear these two hats, you know, if you listen to her, there's always like a positive to everything, Like even though oh, Maha might not be winning, it's like, yeah, but they still got Jordan Marson, they got Justine Wangarantas, they got Lexi Rodrigue, Like they have all these players who are
really good and that they can figure out. If they can figure out what they're doing wrong, they'll be amazing, right, So it's kind of an interesting thing where it's like you kind of want to talk about that, right, because the stakes and that kind of makes the stories. But the stories are just that everyone's great, and everyone's working hard, and everyone wants this league to succeed at least this first season.
Who knows it can change going to say, I feel like, especially now, everyone's just really excited to have a well built, well funded, well promoted league for them to play in in their own country, not traveling overseas. And then eventually maybe there'll be more demands for this or that or something to be done differently. But right now, it's making your job easy because you don't have too many people coming to you trying to get you to editorialize and
speak out about stuff. But we'll see, We'll see you never you never know as things go on. But yeah, all right, let's talk about the finals first. I want to clarify. Why are we calling the playoffs the finals? This is very confusing to me. What am I missing?
Well, it is the finals, right, someone's gonna finally win the whole thing.
I get, yeah, but finals usually means like we've made it through the semis and the quarters and the whatever, and we made it to the finals. But they're calling the finals.
Everything that's fair.
But I also think unlike other leagues, like the NCAA tournament for example, it's not Yes, this is a tournament, right, and everyone's gonna pare down eventually there's going to be two teams, right, But the whole league is in this tournament, right, so anyone literally could be the final. And so I think that's just kind of why. I mean, I didn't come up with the name, but this is kind of like my guess, and it to me.
My first complaint about Love. Take it to the people at the top. I just wanted to be called the postseason or the playoffs, and then the finals can be between the final two teams. That's It's just going to confuse me every time I say Love Finals, and then I'm like, and then the quarters of the finals, okay, but let's talk about the quarters. On Thursday, Love Atlanta entered the final week of the regular season with the
number one seed. They had already clinched and earned their bye, but the race for the remaining positions came down to that final weekend. Houston swept Madison, which ended Madison's seven match win streak. They were surging and that gave Houston the other quarterfinal by so those two teams get a chance to rest and wait up. That sets up the two quarterfinals of Love Austin versus Love salt Lake and Love Omaha versus Love Madison. So let's start with the
first one. Four thirty Eastern Thursday. Salt Lake finished their season seven and nine, Austin five and eleven. What are the keys to a win for each of these teams?
So, Salt Lake has some amazing, amazing players. I mean, specifically to me, Minami Kojima, who is there liberro is one of the best liberos in the world. I know, Justin Wangmurantas won that distinction at the Olympics in twenty sixteen. But she's I mean, Minami's just amazing to watch. She does not let the ball drop. So I feel like a combination of her on defense. Plus you have Ronnie Jones Perry, who's an outside hitter who is lights out. I mean, that girl every single time she I just
imagine it's gonna be straight on the ground, right. So I feel like you have your outside hitter who's going to be super dominant with your setter Jordan Poulter, who is an Olympic medalist as well. You know, those two combined, it's just absolutely insane to watch at the net. Plus you have Manami who's gonna dig everything that you can imagine. So I feel like salt Lake just needs to be able to keep that up and keep that pressure up.
Plus you got you know, Haley Washington's going to be absolutely amazing and Skyler Field's on opposite, she's also great. She really stepped up her game because she's also young. She's this is her second year playing pro for Austin. I feel like they are an interesting team because they have kind of struggled a little bit right They've gone back and forth between sometimes being great and sometimes not
being great. Salt Lake and Austin have actually played the most five set matches out of the whole season, and this is actually a rematch of just last week, so they kind of are coming off fresh. So they know each other very well. But Austin is unique because their depth is it's very deep, their benches very deep. So they need to figure out still what is their winning lineup.
I feel like they sometimes mess around with who's going to start, who's not going to start, who's going to come in and later sets, who's going to sit?
And I feel like if they.
Can just figure out that winning formula, they're gonna have it, because, like we talked about Madison Skinner earlier, Madison Skinner is just absolutely on fire. She's so fun to watch. Logan Eggleston for Outside is just so great to.
Watch as well.
Plus obviously Cat and your co host like host and you got.
Chiako Bago in the middle.
Who I mean, that girl is a wall at the net when it comes to blocking. So I feel like they just kind of need to figure out what is this winning formula to.
Actually get well. And salt Lake probably feels pretty good coming in because they came back from down to win in five sets in that last matchup between the two of them in the last week of the regular season. So really no matter what happens, either they come in really confident, they get a lead and they hang on to it because they feel like, oh, we just beat this team, or if they get behind fresh and their minds as the fact that they were able to come back and win just a week ago. So Austin's got
their work cutout for them in that one. Okay, the second matchup right after that seven pm Eastern. Madison finished the regular season eight and eight, Omaha five and eleven. Now you mentioned Madison started one in seven, so finishing eight and eight tells you that this is a team that has figured things out down the stretch. They've been almost unbeatable except for that last matchup that we just heard about where their seven game win streak or match
streak ended. What needs to go right for Madison and Omaha for these teams to get the DUB.
I think they just need to be fresh and ready, which I think they will be. Honestly, that loss against Houston in week thirteen was coming off of a short break because they played the night before, so I feel like they were just a little tired. I think that they're going to be just fine though. Any Drew Schumacher is an absolute beast at opposite.
She is an Olympian as well.
She's the only player in the league to win Offensive Player of the Week three times, so she is going to be a lot of fun to watch and is always so fun to watch from the front row, from the back grow, wherever she's hitting.
She's just great.
And plus you got Lauren Carlini, whose sets are like butter I mean every time I watch I'm just like, oh my god, what I would kill for her? At my own set from Lauren CARLINI I don't know what I would do with that ball. So I feel like, you know, watching them, they're gonna be just fine in the end. For Omaha, you know, as we mentioned earlier, they lost a few matches near the end after starting off really hot, but they have a great team. I mean, Jordan Larson's been great. Obviously, there's one.
Time Olympic medalists basically basically the goat.
Exactly, the Governor as they call her.
She's amazing.
But like on opposite a player who you might not have heard of or the Americans might not have heard off as a German player named Kimberly Drevniak who's absolutely phenomenal on opposite, And so then you got their setter is Laura Daikma. She also is great and knows how to spread the ball around to the pins to get these players ball. So I feel like, depending on who's in the front, it's just going to be a really good matchup. I think Madison does have the edge just
because they're a little more on a hot streak. They figured out how to win, especially now that Annie has been back because she was injured those first few weeks of the season when they were on that losing streak. So I think that they're going to figure it out. And again mentioning Lexi Rodriguez and Justina Wangarante's in the backcourt is also just.
A sight to see.
Madison also might get a little bit of a bump because they've got two University of Louisville graduates on their team. So you've got two players coming home to your old stomping grounds. I presume there will be a lot of Louisville representation there cheering them on now that they're onto the pros, So maybe they'll get a little bump there.
Yeah.
Actually, I just interviewed Claire Chasse, who is one of those Louisville players, and she said she's very excited, but she said that she's got to focus. She's very excited to be back, but she knows she has to focus because the point of being there is.
Yeah, Yeah, you can't go all year old haunts and throw any back with your friends. You've got to focus on the off first, and then if you win, you could celebrate. Claire and then Anna Hall, the other player from University of Louisville that gets a chance to go back, which is cool. Okay. Top seed Atlanta finished thirteen and three and the number two seed Houston ten and six. They're awaiting the winners of those matches. They'll face off on Friday. What should we know about the league's top
two teams before the postseason starts? Give us a little scouting report for Atlanta.
So Atlanta is another I mean, like I said, they're all just so fun to watch. So I keep saying that, right, Like, they're such a great team to watch. But you got Kelsey Robinson Cook, who we mentioned with how amazing she is on defense and as a hitter. You also got Tia Jimerson, who's their middle blocker. She is so fun to watch. I mean, like you think Chiaka's fun to watch, Tia Jimmerson is so great too. She's got this personality and she's just fiery and I love watching her.
She reached fifty blocks.
She was the first player to reach fifty blocks in the league, although Chiaka then ended up surpassing in that and has the most blocks in the league. Speaking of the two, but I mean Atlanta Leeds in total points, in aces, pass efficiency. They just kind of figured it out. They have a really good team, and especially after losing the very first match of the season, which is not just the first match, first Serve in Atlanta, I feel like they've kind of turned it around and been like.
Ah, that was just a little fluke. Watch out. We are on fire. So they're great.
What about Houston?
So, Houston has been a lot of fun to watch. I love Jess Murzick. She's a Penn State player. She literally went from winning the championship the NCAA Championship in Louisville to going right to love Houston and has been one of their best players. She's I think the second player on their team with points. So she's just been on fire on the outside. And then you got Micah Hancock, who is the only player to have reached twenty aces.
Her serve is absolutely insane. If you ever watch it, she does this top spin jump serve that is just I don't know how people defend it, but somehow they are able.
To pass that.
And then Jordan Thompson too big offensive weapon for them.
Yes, and I was gonna say Jordan Thompson has also been on fire. Another player actually who was a little slow to start. She wasn't really putting up a lot of points. She kind of attributed that to coming off of the Olympics and kind of having that amazing run and just being a little tired and needing to get her body back and you know, ready for another tournament season. But since I think it was week five when she kind of found her groove again, she has been liked out.
That girl can find a hole on any team. I don't know how she does it, but she can get over a blocking, get through a block, she can tip and find the campfire in the middle of the court. You know that she's just a great, great player to watch too.
Tell us about the campfire? Can you explain that?
Yeah, So, I actually don't know if this is an official term, but I used to call it that when we were in high school. So, a campfires when you tip the ball and it lands right in the middle of the court and no one goes for it because everyone's watching it like a campfire.
We're all circled around it with their s'mores, exactly feasting on the ball. The Love Finals are going to run alongside a major youth tournament sort of like the End Season Classic did the JVA World Challenge. So tell us about running those events can currently in Louisville and how it sort of continues that theme of connecting the youth and the sport to the pros.
Yeah, so same thing as like we said the Love Classic. It's just it gives this opportunity for these youth players to be able to aspire to something. They get to watch these girls perform at the highest level and say, like one day I could be Jordan Thompson, one day I could be Kelsey Robinson Cook, right, And so I just think that it's great that they're able to watch them. And Love has done a great job providing opportunities for
the fans to interact with the players as well. One thing that they have is they have a friendship bracelet making station in the hall. So I've heard from so many of the girls who have received friendship bracelets from these youth players, right, And then like the signs that they make and then they do the autographs at the end, and it's just kind of like the giddiness that you
see from kids looking out to their idols. It's just so cute and exciting because it's the next wave, right, and you're not going to build your fan base if you're not reaching that younger generation that will continue to love the sport and fallow the sport and the fans are only going to keep growing because this sport is so popular in the United States that I feel like it's just going to keep growing, keep growing, and hopefully
that someday soon. I mean the eighteen year olds who are playing right now in these youth tournaments, in five years, they're going to be playing pro so they could be the ones that are on the court representing these teams.
The Love Woman of the Year award sort of connects with that because it's not really about an MVP or the best on the court. It's about someone that connects with the community in the way you just spoke about. Can you tell us about that award?
Yeah, So a lot of these players have done amazing things within the community, but the teams decided, the players and the coaches decided to vote for one player on each team to be nominated for this Love Woman of the Year. So it's not just about their performance on the field, but their performance off the field and what they do in the community. So They have a lot of different ways that they get involved, whether you know it's Haley Washington who visits the you know, Children's hospital,
Kimberly Drevniak on Omaha. She is actually part of this global foundation called Let's Keep the Ball Flying where they help bring.
Resources to kids.
All over to play volleyball, and she's brought that, you know, also with an Omaha. Logan Eggleston is on Austin and she's she's a fascinating woman. Ever since she was in college, she's been considering like one day running for president and has always been like an activist and wants.
To help people.
So all of these women are doing something within the community to not just make the their I mean, I hate to say that like their brand grow, because that's not what it's for, right. This is them and their hearts actually going out and doing things that they know is good for the community. And so I love this award. I think it's a great idea and I'm excited to see who eventually wins, because I don't know, all of them are doing great things well.
And it's really cool how it does tie then back to what seems like it's at the heart of the league, which is sustainability by investing in what's next to come. And I the more interviews we do with these nascent leagues, the more I think about how different it would have been for people my age and before me if we had had all these different professional women's leagues of all different kinds to really be able to say, like, what do I want to do later and what could I
become later? So very cool that love is a big part of that, and very cool that you came and gave us a little bit of a primer to get us ready for the postseason the finals. If you will and I won't, I will continue to say postseason, Tiffany, thanks so much for the time.
Thank you so much, Sarah, I appreciate it.
We have to take another break. When we return, Schrodinger's Cat meets a recording studio. Welcome back, Slices. We love that you're listening, but we will want you to get in the game every day too. So here's our good gameplay of the day. Watch The Love Finals quarterfinals are today on ESPN Plus. First up, Austin takes on Salt Lake at four thirty pm Eastern, followed by Omaha versus
Madison at seven pm Eastern. The winners of those matches will play on Friday against the two teams that receivedodbye to the semifinals, Atlanta and Houston. Those games on ESPN two and ESPN Plus, then on Sunday the Love Championship, which will also be on ESPN two and ESPN Plus. We'll link to the full final schedule in our show notes. You know we always love to hear from you slices,
so hit us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, and don't forget to subscribe a rate and review, y'all. It's easy watch finding out your audiobook is available for pre order before you've even recorded it. Rating five out of five stars is what you should review it, even though it does not yet exist. Review. I was telling Alex and Meish about my recording schedule for the audio version of my upcoming book Run of the Family, and Alex popped on over to Audible to see if it
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Now it's your turn to rate and review. Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Tiffany, good game, Love, fuck you the fact that we even have to question whether the United States is a suitable host for the Olympics. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm your host Sarah Spain