The Viral Volley Podcast

Episode 307, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Week 15 Recap, 04-13-2026

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:04:02 -0700

It’s a MEGA episode this week with special guest contributor, Nickie Sanlin of McKendree. Nickie has been one of the most influential coaches in the game not only in the NCAA but in the USANTDP and is what some may classify as a “mover and a shaker.”

Our almost-2-hour discussion delves into all the panelists’ matches, key performers and the state of where their teams are at in conference play as some head into their final weekend of regular season play, while others are opening their conference tournaments this weekend.

As always, we pick a handful of top-20 matches that caught the nation’s eye with exciting play, upsets to shake up seedings, and standout performances by some great student-athletes. Still much to be sorted out this last week in relation to conference seedings, so we know ALL matches this week are worth watching to see the exciting conclusion!

The panel drops their “Ballers of the Week” and fire off on “Jay’s Quick Hits” or “Hot Takes” to round out the episode!

Episode 306, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 14 Recap, 04-06-26

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:01:25 -0700

This week's format is an open-forum for the coaches' panel to select the matches and topics we discuss from Week 14. Everything from multiple red cards to "Libero of the Year Award" for the AVCA!

With Hawaii sweeping the series vs. UCI, the Bows appear to be in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the Big West Men's Volleyball Championship. The MIVA will be entertaining to see how it settles before that conference tournament, with Ball St. narrowly leading Loyola for the top seed. EIVA is not a lock-- yet-- especially since the Nittany Lions finish up their regular season at 2nd place George Mason.

Episode 305, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 10-ish, Week 6 Recap with Kelly Belardi

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:37:11 -0700

This week Kelly Belardi rejoins CVW Beach to recap the week that was for the Stanford Cardinal that had them reclaim the No. 1 AVCA Coaches' Poll ranking for 3rd time in 2026. Kelly also gives some insight on couple of the top 10 teams to watch in the final 3 weekends of regular season play. Last weekend, Kelly achieved the 100th Career Win milestone so she also shared how important her teammates were in accomplishing that feat. In addition, Kelly and partner, Avery Jackson were honored as the AVCA National and MPSF Pair of the Week! The Stanford Cardinal are "gunning for the top" hoping to defend their MPSF Beach Tournament Champion title but are aware that teams are better and deeper than ever!

From there, we break down a couple of the hot teams during Week 6: #5 Florida St. & #3 Texas.

Episode 304, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20 Week 13 Recap, 3-30-2026

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:49:32 -0700

In the Week 13 recap, we saw a week were there were no upsets in the top 10, however it didn't mean there was a shortage of action! Long Beach St. took down Theo's Matadors twice, while Brad and his Tritons were in the battle but UCI found a way to get it done in 3 and 5 sets accordingly. Dan and his Flyers only had one match for the week in the Battle for Chitown on Rae Strong Night, where the Ramblers came out with the win in 4. UCLA is at 20-0 and looking unstoppable, while Pepperdine had a very important pair of wins Provo vs. BYU that cold prove important if an At-Large bid is on the line. Just a few samples of our discussions before we pick our "Ballers of the Week,"

NOTE: For those requesting time-stamps, we apologize for not posting them. Rob has to get the episode up within an hour of recording so we have to turn the episode around REALLY FAST.

As always, thanks for watching or listening!

iTunes: https://bit.ly/4uODVab

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Podbean: https://bit.ly/40LqYQV

YouTube: https://youtu.be/7bl1wmnhPiw

Episode 303, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 10-ish, Week 5 Recap, 3-24-2026

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 23:24:39 -0700

This week saw top teams like UCLA, Stanford, USC and TCU idle, however that didn't stop the rest of the other top teams from pulling off big wins, like #9 Cal over #4 Texas, and #16 GCU over #12 LSU. University of Hawaii's Sydney Miller and Rob review and recap Week 5 of the NCAA Collegiate Beach season as we inch closer to conference tournament time and begin looking at At-Large berth scenarios! Throughout the episode we discuss a few career milestones for some Mustangs, Seminoles and a Sundevil!

Thanks for watching or listening!

Episode 302, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20 Week 12 Recap, 3-23-2026

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:04:21 -0700

This week we remember Ann Davenport after her unexpected passing last week. She was truly a volleyball pioneer helping the game grow in so many aspects.

In our “Social Media Shoutout” segment, @lewismensvb is recognized for their viral post of the week—a celebrity doppelganger with one of their current OHs, Daniel Haber.

We got through our Week 12 recap focusing on some of the top 20’s matches that received national attention, spending some extra time on the No. 2 Long Beach St. vs. No. 3 Hawaii matches, picked our players of the week, then dropped some “Whatcha Watchin’” matches for Week 13.

To end our episode, “Jay’s Quick Hits,” brings some interesting questions about team culture and must-have equipment as the panel responds in not-so-lightning-quick speed.

Episode 301, College Volleyball Weekly Top 10-ish, Week 4 Recap 03-17-2026

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 23:06:14 -0700

After a two-week break, Sydney Miller of Hawaii and Rob Espero breakdown some of the top tidbits of the top-10-ish teams in the most recent AVCA polls. There were minor shifts in the top 10 this week, but all within expectations. A lot of discussion on East Meets West in Manhattan Beach and the FAU Invitational where a few unexpected results arose involving USC, Florida St. and TCU.

Thanks for listening/watching and following!

Episode 300, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 11 Recap 03-16-2026

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:11:50 -0700

As always, we start off "shouting out" some of our Men's Volleyball digital content providers, and this week it's Lee Feinswog of 900 Square Feet and @flicksbyry_!

In the 300th episode (on Viral Volley Media) we’ve got an NCAA Men’s Championship Volleyball Recap in Week 11 that saw No. 1 UCLA remain undefeated—which beckons the question, “Can the Bruins be beaten?” Also, Penn St. makes a West Coast swing vs. Long Beach St., Pepperdine and USC as Coach Pav continues his retirement tour. Stanford snatches a couple wins against No 7 BYU that could prove to me huge come MPSF Tournament time while celebrating Volleyball Day in the Bay. The then-No. 11 UCSB Gauchos split their Big West series vs. No. 4 UCI behind George Breuning and the mustache-clad Cole Schobel. The Coaches’ Panel chat about a few other matches, then we go into the new HOT segment— “Jay’s Quick Hits,” and this one is a doozy!

Thanks for listening/watching and following!

Episode 299, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 10 Recap 03-09-2026

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:56:02 -0700

In Episode 299 CVW Men’s Top 20 is graced with the guest appearance of Princeton Head Coach, Sam Shweisky. Sam joins the crew to talk about some of the top 20 matches during the 10th week of the Men’s Collegiate season. Each week, the MIVA seems to have more mayhem as teams jostle for positioning for post-season play. The Waves split with the Bows for an entertaining series, Belmont Abbey and Mt. Olive are vying for the top spot in the Conference Carolinas, while the “Battle for LA” proved that the lone defeated team in the nation can turn it on in crunch time.

From there the crew selects their “Ballers of the Week,” and matches they’ll be watching in Week 11. We finish the episode with a new favorite segment, “Jay’s Quick Hits,” where the coaches answer some interesting topics in Men’s Volleyball!

Thanks for watching and/or listening! #NCAAMVB

Episode 298, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Week 9 Recap, 03-02-26

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:59:39 -0800

This week, we go through our normal routine of recognizing digital content creators in the Men’s game. This week it was reported that the Official Fan Account for NCAA Men’s Volleyball, @ncaamvb surpassed 22.6 MILLION views! Great news for #ncaavb, but even better news for Men’s Volleyball! In our news segment we remember Steven Lee Sander, father to Taylor and Brenden, two wonderful personalities in Men’s Volleyball. Other news for the week, had former Stanford All-American Matt Fuerbringer being named as Head Coach of the USAV Beach Team as well. From there we go into the “Elephant in the Room,” that highlights the Coaching Panelists’ matches in Week 9, “Eye Catching Matches” of the week and finally, the panel’s “Ballers/Players of the Week.”

New this week, is “Jay’s Quick Hits” segment where we bounce a handful of NCAA Men’s Volleyball questions/topics on the spot for a hot take!

Thanks for listening and following! #ncaamvb #ncaamvolleyball #ncaavolleyball

Episode 297, College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20, ASU, Week 1 Recap 02-24-26

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:27:13 -0800

This week’s episode brings on Arizona St.’s Arden Besecker and Kendall Whitmarsh fresh off the most recent AVCA poll and the first named conference pairs of the week across the nation! Arden and Kendall discuss last year’s journey for the Sun Devils as they had another great season under Head Coach Kristen Glattfelder being on the verge of heading to Gulf Shores!

Both the Sun Devils share a little about their 2026 team and recap their 1st week of play which grabbed the attention of the voters in the most recent poll, as ASU thrusts up 2 places from #11 to #9. Along with the climb, Arden and partner, Zoey Taylor, and Kendall and her partner, Olivia McElroy went 4-0 on the weekend. The latter were named Big 12 Pair of the Week!

We discuss what matches and results grabbed their attention in Week 1– which all happened on Queen’s Beach in Waikiki, HI at the Duke Kahanamoku Classic!

Thanks for listening/watching!

Episode 296, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 8 Recap 2-23-26

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:31:12 -0800

In our Week 8 recap of the 2026 season the Coaches’ Panel (minus Dan out with the flu)

discusses the action that happened in D1-2 Men’s Volleyball at our half way point!

But first, we shout out our Instagram content creators @1stseedvolleyball’s John McNallly and

Holly Wong of @hykchora for putting out excellent and engaging content in Men’s

Volleyball!

From there we discuss the start of a new D2 program at Mercy University, career milestones

for Kevin Burch of Ohio St. and Shawn Olmstead of BYU. As always wee flow into

our “Elephant in the Room” segment to our matches of the week and our Ballers

of the Week.

Our conversation flows into “Whatcha Watchin’” in Week 9 and we end with dropping a “Volleyball

Hot Take”—for which I recommend you take a good listen!

As always, thank you for watching/listening!

Episode 295, College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20: AVCA Preseason Polls and Watchlist, 02-17-2026

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:19:30 -0800

As we kick off the 2026 NCAA Beach season, Sydney Miller of Hawaii jumps on to chat with Rob about the first-ever AVCA Player of the Year Watchlist while breaking down the top-10-ish teams in the AVCA Preseason Poll. Of course we drop a lot of names because that list could have been bigger, but there is such an abundance of talent on teams' rosters-- to a point where some did not get mentioned!

CVW BT20 will change format for this season (listen to the episode to find out why), but no matter what we'll have at least Sydney on the show for a chat of the Top 20 Tidbits/Results!

Thanks for listening/watching! #NCAABEACH

Episode 294, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, 2/16/26

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:25:07 -0800

Our Week 7 recap mean’s we’re coming upon the half-way point of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Collegiate Volleyball season! Tteams are turning heads as conference play in the EIVA and MIVA have made us expect the unexpected! Meanwhile, Non-conference clashes have teams butting heads to keep records unblemished, establish nonconference superiority and get quality wins under teams’ belts! The CVW crew runs down the Week 7 recap all the way down to the No. 1 team in the nation, but not before our special guests from the MPSF join us!

From there, the guys pick their Ballers of the Week and drop the matches they’ll be keeping dabs on in “Whatcha Watchin’!”

Thanks for watching/listening! Spread the word, and click on subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and/or on YouTube!

Episode 293, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, 2-9-26

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:33:04 -0800

Illness and technical difficulties made this episode a little choppy but it didn’t matter as the Coaches’ Panel dropped their recaps, insights and opinions on an action-packed Week 6!

Discussion includes “Social Media Shout Outs” to Vinnie Lopes of Off-the-Block Blog and a family of digital media creators of the Zapanta family (Jay, Rachel and Noah)! From there we chat about some of the top matches of the week, highlight play and other news items—like Penn St Head Coach Mark Pavlik’s 700th win and the debut of the first-ever AVCA Player of the Year Watchlist.

As always, the guys pick their “Ballers of the Week,” and conclude with matches they’ll be keeping an eye on in week 7!

Thanks for listening/watching!

Episode 292, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 5 Recap 02-02-26

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:49:07 -0800

"No Average Joe" episode!"

This week we bring on Men’s Volleyball Influencer, Joe McCurdy (@jtmvball on Instagram and TikTok) on the show to talk about the happenings in week 5 of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball season from a digital journalist perspective. Joe and Rob bounce between select matches of the top 20 and highlight key performances in those matches. Of course they take a stab at top athletes of the week, then pick out some of the top matches to look out for in Week 6!

Week 6 "Social Media Shout Outs" to @nekobavisuals and @buhlmedia and, @thevolleyballrecap!

Episode 291, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 4 Recalp 1-26-26

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:56:21 -0800

The Coaches' Panel is back after a busy week for Rob (apologies for no episode) at the Southwest Boys Classic after the First Point Collegiate Challenge!

Rob mentions a few news items for the week with some first-ever victories for first year programs, (but he forgot to say, "Congrats," to Ohio St. Head Coach Kevin Birch for his 100th victory).

The panel discuss the top 20 matchups that caught their attention during Week 4 play, From there they, pick some other matches that just were eye-catching outside the top 20 as well! Of course, they always pick there "Ballers of the Week," then the matches they'll be watching in Week 5!

Thanks for listening/watching and tuning in!

Episode 290, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 2 Recap 1-12-26

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:35:51 -0800

Episode 290 of Viral Volley Media’s, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20 for Week 2 of the 2026 Collegiate Men’s Volleyball season is coming in HOT!

This week we acknowledge two content creators covering the men’s side, then go to the “Elephant in the Room,” which discusses our coaching panelists’ results from last week’s play. From there we venture into the “Eye-Catching Matches” of the week followed by “The Panel’s Picks,” highlighting any other matches around Men’s Volleyball in any conference, at any level.

Of course, the guys have their say in CVW Ballers of the Week with the top performers while finishing with “Whatcha Watchin’” for Week 3!

#ncaamvb #ncaamvolleyball #ncaavolleyball

Episode 289, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20, Media-Coach Mashup and News Update, 12-29-25

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:55:09 -0800

In this week’s episode we catch up on A LOT of news from the last 6 months with special guest, Men’s Volleyball Influencer, Joe McCurdy and George Mason Head Coach, Jay Hosack.

Firstly, we honor and remember Glen Lietzke, who passed away on Christmas morning. Glen was a generous supporter of volleyball who impacted thousands by his love and support of the game.

From there we hit on the news of announced retirements, program discontinuations, movements and “resurrections.” With all the growth we also delve into the addition of the GLVC Conference and the expansion of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship to 12 teams for 2026!

To close out the episode we discuss the first 2026 AVCA Preseason Poll, then have the panelists make bold predictions for 2026.

As always, thanks for listening in! Apologies for a “basic format” episode! I’m on travel

Episode 288, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20: Long Beach St. Head Coach Nick MacRae 12-11-25

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 17:19:37 -0800

With the unexpected retirement of Long Beach St.'s 22-year, Hall of Fame, Head Coach Alan Knipe, Beach did not have to look far or too long to find who would succeed Al. New Head Coach Nick MacRae has been in Long Beach his entire life, and with the 49ers/Beach for 14 years!

Nick takes some time to discuss his experience at Long Beach St., his relationship with Alan, how he plans to continue the winning ways of the beach in the near and distant future!

Viral Volley Podcast, 2025 Big West Women's Volleyball Championship Interview: UC Santa Barbara

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:53:24 -0800

The Gauchos were on a mission to start 2025-- to get back into the Big West Women's Volleyball Championship-- which they have done. They're running one of the best 2-setter offenses in the land with potent attackers all-around. OH Eva Travis and MB Layanna Green talk about the season so far and what Gauchos potential could be in this year's championship.

2025 Hawaiian Islands presents the Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship Interview - Cal Poly, 11/25/25

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 08:52:33 -0800

The Mustangs had a strong and talented group of athletes coming back for 2025, and with that the goal of playing in their 3rd Big West Championship! Talking about their Cal Poly team with the No. 2 seed of the Hawaiian Islands presents the Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship are Kendall Beshear and Ally Elif Hurriyet.

Be sure to jump into ESPN+ November 26th-29th to watch the action! Rob Espero and former Long Beach St. standout, USC Beach National Champion, and pro beach volleyball athlete Hailey Harward are on the call!

Viral Volley Podcast, 2025 Big West Women's Volleyball Championship Interview: UC Davis

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 11:22:15 -0800

In 2025, UC Davis has completed their first-ever conference championship and made Head Coach Dan Connors the winningest coach in Aggie volleyball history. They've got a solid core of athletes at each position who have been competing together for years! Talking about their team with the No. 1 seed of the Hawaiian Islands presents the Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship are Mia Starr and Ally Chandler.

Viral Volley Podcast, 2025 Big West Women's Volleyball Championship Interview: Long Beach St.

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 15:10:42 -0800

Long Beach St.'s Elise Agi and Madi Maxwell discuss the 2025 season and their path to the 2025 Hawaiian Islands presents the Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship.

Episode 287, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 19:10:28 -0800

Episode 287 features 2025 AVCA Fall Pairs Champions from Long Beach St., Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah. The San Diego County products have been the work-horses for the Beach and have been almost unstoppable their entire first three years at Long Beach St.!

We discuss the start of their partnership-- proof that nobody can "ghost" Taylor-- even Malia, their natural success together, winning outside of collegiate beach ball and their road to the 2025 AVCA Pairs Championship!

Episode 286, CVW Men's Top 20: The "Since May" Recap, 11-03-2025

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 09:33:48 -0800

The "Salty Guys" of College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20 are BACK! Heaps of news has come about since the last ball drop in the Natty match in May so the band got together to talk about SOME (yes, we've got to do a part 2) of the news that has hit D1-2 Men's Volleyball!

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:30 AVCA Hall of Famer: Alan Knipe, Long Beach St.

00:06:00 2025 NCAA D1-2 Coaching Changes

00:34:20 NCAA Tournament Expansion

00:46:00 MPSF & Big West Previews: Others in the Making?

Episode 285, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20: John Hawks, USA Men's U21 Head Coach, 9-9-25

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 21:53:38 -0700

This summer the USA Men’s U21 team had an extremely talent roster that literally could have run far deeper than the 24 athletes who made the “official” roster– and it was composed of some recently graduated and a lot of current NCAA D1-2 players! What’s that mean you ask? We’ve got a young crew getting ready to take on the world as potential senior national and Olympic team players!

In this episode, Head Coach of the history-making USA Men’s U21 team jumps on College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20 to talk about this talented group of guys that he, Donan Cruz, Matt Pollock and Donovan Martinez had the honor of training through the Men’s U21 World Championship in China and receiving the USA’s first-ever medal in the U21 World Championship!

From there, we discuss the expansion of the NCAA Men’s D1-2 Men’s Volleyball Championship to12 teams– which we are all EXCITED FOR! John also takes time to discuss the importance of the Championship’s growth, as well as the recent news that in the last 10 years boys’ participation has grown over 76%!

We close out the episode talking about John’s UCLA team, the expansion of the MPSF and what competition could look likein 2026!

Episode 284, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Anhelina Khmil, TCU/Ukraine, 07-24-25

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:34:40 -0700

Big 12 standout Anhlina Khmil of the 2025 NCAA Collegiate Beach National Championship team, TCU jumps onto CVW Beach Top 20 to discuss her happenstance beginnings in indoor volleyball, then making her way over to beach.

She also shares about her home and family as Ukraine was being attacked by Russia during the time she was making decisions about competing in Beach Volleyball and attending TCU.

From there we recap her career during her Freshman through Junior years, TCU’s uprising and the continued improvement of her play resulting in groundbreaking performances for Lina year-after-year!

We then focus on 2025– where Lina and her history-making team won the National Championship in Gulf Shores. She shares how the dual points were dropping and how she was running to all the courts to root her teammates on, then finally celebrating with “The Spaniards,” Dani Alvarez & Tania Moreno as they claimed the “Championship Clinching” dual-winning point!

We move into what she’s been doing this summer on the Beach World Pro Tour, CEV’s and what we should expect to see with the 2026 Sandy Frog team with their player and coach additions!

Thanks for watching and/or listening to College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Viral Volley Podcast!

Episode 283, Viral Volley Podcast, Geena Urango & Avery Jackson, 7/9/25

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:00:33 -0700

First episode for the summer after some time off we jump into the AVP Contender Series event, the Denver Open!

Heading into the Rockies is always a special event at The Island facility where we would find an unlikely tandem teaming up for this event—Stanford Beach Freshman All-MPSF honoree Avery Jackson, playing her 1st AVP event with former USC standout and long-time AVP star Geena Urango—playing her 86th AVP event! The 2025 Denver Open Champions did not face any resistance until the final—where we saw one of the top comebacks in the game to win the $10,000 and automatic berth into the main draw at the Manhattan Beach Open. See/listen what Geena & Avery had to say about competing this last weekend!

Thanks for listening in! Be sure to support these athletes by following the on social and supporting their sponsors and programs!

Episode 282, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20 - 2025 Finale 5-21-25

Thu, 22 May 2025 10:38:20 -0700

In this final 2025 episode of College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, we briefly recap the 2025 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship match, then jump into some of the top news stories of the 2025 season. The topics discuss include "The Moni Effect," Nickie Sanlin, Head Coach at McKendree, the USA Volleyball changes in leadership and National Teams, the explosion of digital content on the Men's D1-2 side, the sudden discontinuation of GCU Men's Volleyball and the impacts, as well as what we learned/saw and/or bold predictions for 2026!

We're all extremely thankful for your listening and watching in 2025! We'll hit a few topics this summer as they arise! Stay tuned!

Episode 281, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20, NCAA Championship Episode, 5-12-25

Mon, 12 May 2025 11:02:00 -0700

It's NCAA Championship Day to see who becomes the 2025 National Champion! Will it be the "Moni Effect" of No. 1 Long Beach St. claim the hardware, or will No. 3 UCLA "Three-Peat?" Before we discuss that we discuss some of the news items from this last week, the semis and THEN items related to tonight's Championship on ESPN2 at 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET.

Episode 280, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20: NCAA Championship Episode 5-7-25

Tue, 06 May 2025 22:49:18 -0700

The NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship has begun and we are down to the quarterfinals with the top teams ready to go into battle. The CVW Coaches' Panel break down who we should watch for, what players will/can go big with stellar performances.

The panel attempts to make their NCAA predictions but to be honest, most of the pale was hesitant!

All this with a few tangents here and there en route to a few laughs as well!

Episode 279, CVW and CollegeBeachVB.com Collab - NCAA Collegiate Beach Weekend 05-06-25

Tue, 06 May 2025 22:29:08 -0700

CollegeBeachVB.com's (and UCLA Alumna) Jaden Whitmarsh jumps on the show this week to talk about the recently finished 2025 NCAA Beach National Championship inh Gulf Shores, AL. There were plenty of BIG and clutch performances along with a few unexpected results mixed in. All in all, never-before crowned champion is going to emerge with the NC hardware.

Episode 278, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 9 - Postseason Chatter, 4/29/25

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 16:12:28 -0700

For the first time this season EVERYONE on-screen! Marilu Pally of Cal, Sydney Miller of Hawaii and Kylie Wickley of Texas gather to discuss their conference championship tournaments and what grabbed their attention throughout all the action. Stanford made a "statement run", while USC is heating up. Texas won their 1st CCSA, what will end up being the last CCSA tournament EVER. From there we discuss the brackets for the National Championship in Gulf Shores. Kylie and Marilu's teams face off in the single-elimination dual in the first round.

Episode 277, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Grand Canyon Response, Brad, Dan & Jay, 4/29/25

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:12:40 -0700

Breaking last Monday was the devastating news that the top-10 Lopes of Grand Canyon University announced the discontinuing of the Men's Volleyball program. As more details emerge the team was not notified or prepared for this major decision by GCU Athletics Director, Jamie Boggs (@jamieboggsjd). CVW Coaches' Panel of Dan Friend (Lewis), Jay Hosack (George Mason) and Brad Rosstratter (UC San Diego) share their takes on what has transpired and try to shed some insight into this reckless decision by GCU.

Jamie Boggs, Athletic Director: 602-639-6307

#SaveGCUMVB: https://gofund.me/408615c7

Episode 276, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, GCU Program End, 04-29-25

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 22:30:59 -0700

Breaking yesterday was the devastating news that the top-10 Lopes of Grand Canyon University announced the discontinuing of the Men's Volleyball program and making it available as club program. CVW Contributor, Theo Edwards of CSUN shares his take on what has transpired and tries to share some insight into the situation.

Episode 275, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 17 Guest - JTMVBALL

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 14:01:26 -0700

In this special NCAA Championship episode, the Coaches' Panel had to take care of "house affairs" so Rob brought on NCAA Men's Volleyball Digital Content Creator and influencer, Joe McCurdy. This University of Tulsa graduating senior has a high-charisma, entertaining and hi-volley-IQ inherent in all of his social posts that have created a great deal of buzz from athletes, teams, broadcast personalities and fans throught the NCAA Men's Volleyball world!

We explore his beginnings, take a peak at the early part of the 2025 season then transition through the rest of the season recaps before talking about the NCAA Committee and the 2025 NCAA Collegiate Channpionship in Columbus, OH!

Episode 274, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 8 Recap, 4/23/25

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 23:10:21 -0700

Week 8 only saw one team get upset-- three times-- otherwise there were only "baby steps" made for two other teams. Kylie, Sydney and Rob break down the Top 20 and talk about teams’ chances at winning their conference tournaments (8 conference automatics) or receiving one of 8 available At-Larges into the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship!

Episode 273, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20: Tania Moreno-Matveeva, 4/22/25

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 23:37:14 -0700

In this BONUS Beach Episode, TCU's Tania Moreno jumps onto the pod/vodcast to discuss her beginnings in volleyball with a pro-beach volleyball Mom and starting her volleyball career in the sand chasing volleyballs as a toddler.

We also talk about her competing at the international level in Europe at a young age and connecting with Daniela Alvarez (Dani). From that relationship at the Spanish Federation, Tania found her way to TCU to be a part of a lot of program firsts-- that included a first-ever No. 1 ranking for TCU. In addition, she discusses her journey to the Olympics, coming back to TCU for her Senior season, and what we could expect to see in the 2025 CCSA and NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships!

Episode 272, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 16 Recap, Into the Postseason!

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 15:34:57 -0700

This week we jump right into the post-regular season coverage discussing the early 2025 Conference Champions out of the SIAC, ECC and IVA--(some of which don't receive automatic berths to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship). From there we break down teams and conferences that are in Conference Championship play or about to begin. Only a few topics, but LOTS of content within each of the matchups!

Tap on bios for @therobonthemic or @viralvolleymedia links to either YouTube or podcast episodes. College Volleyball Weekly is available wherever you get your podcast episodes.

Episode 271, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 8: UCLA Head Coach, Jenny Jordan

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:09:02 -0700

For Week 8, we thought we'd change it up and talk to one of the top Head Coaches on the current top team in the nation, Jenny Jordan of UCLA Beach. Rob and Jenny discuss her transition from Assistant, Associate and now Head Coach of the Bruins. We discuss the many roles she serves outside of the position like being a wife and mom to incredible athletes, and how some don't realize that her daughter can ball also-- Jaylen at Long Beach St.! We also discuss the formation of her staff, expectations of the program now that she's in Year 2.

Of course we delve into this year's squad and how they are developing for a post-season run. "Triple J" is always a fantastic guest so be sure to listen in!

Episode 270, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 15 Recap, 4-14-25

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 11:36:44 -0700

This week some teams conclude conference play like the MIVA, Conference Carolinas, SIAC and IVA. Other conferences like the Big West, MPSF, NEC and EIVA still have battles with post-season conference tournament and At-Large implications. There was no shortage of action as we saw big wins in unexpected places and high-flying performances by pin-attackers across the nation. We saw 10,370 fans each night in the Long Beach St./Hawaii series (SO GOOD FOR MEN'S VOLLEY), who were treated by insane and clutch performances across the board.

Additionally, we'll take a look at players of the week, matches to watch and jump back to our "Hot Mic" moment-- but it took us over an hour so be ready to listen or watch!

Episode 269, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 6 Recap 04-08-25

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:33:56 -0700

In Week 6 most of the the top 20 teams were either a) in Tallahassee, FL for the Florida St. Unconquered Invitational, b) in Laguna Beach, CA for the Best in the West, or c) idle for the week.

The CVW student athletes with Rob discuss what they saw this last week primarily in the top 10, but touch on a few other teams. From there, Rob asks the athletes to summarize where the top 11 teams are at as far as competition!

Episode 268, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 14 Recap, 4-7-25

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 13:58:22 -0700

Week 14 brought about unexpected upsets, split series and marquee performances by the usual suspects. Three of the top 5 teams were not immune to the upset bug, but recovered on night 2! With all the upsets the races are getting tighter in each affected conference! Along with upsets were the expected results in the other matches as we near post-season conference play!

From there we hit up some of the top performers of the week according to the coaching panel. Also, we throw down some "Hot Mic" segment then pick some matches to watch in Week 15!

Episode 267, College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20, Week 6 Recap, 4-1-25

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:12:57 -0700

It's a BEACH BOW TAKEOVER!

This week's episode has Hawaii's Sydney Miller and Alana Embry jumping into the weekly recap of Collegiate Beach Volleyball! The Death Volley Invitational-- which gathered 8 of the top 15 teams in the nation-- took center stage as a couple upsets transpired along with breakout play by pairs/athletes. In other action, top ranked teams did what they were supposed to as they head into Week 7. From there we all choose our top athletes/pairs of the week, then finally discuss where the Beach Bows will be at this weekend-- another BIG TIME tourney down in Laguna Beach! The Best In The West Kicks off with UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal Poly, Hawaii, Stetson, UNF, Long Beach St. all brawling on the beach!

Episode 266, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20, Week 13 Recap, 3/31/25

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 12:12:28 -0700

The 13th week of the D1-2 NCAA Men's Volleyball season and it was full of upsets, incredible action, and fantastic highlights. There are no more undefeated teams and jostling for conference titles and post-season seedings are shifting on a weekly basis in some cases.

Through all the chaos, the CVW Coaches' Panel shares what caught their attention around NCAA Men's D1-2 volleyball. From the upsets, five-setters to the walk-off aces, they guys break down the play and offer their take and their players of the week. Also in our discussion this week: The "Moni Effect" on and off the court and St. Francis transitioning from D1 to D3.

Note: Due to the hyphenated availability of Rob we weren't able to get into it as we normally do. We'll have the "Hot Mic Moment" back next week!

Thanks for listening/watching! #NCAAMVB

Episode 265, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 5 Recap 3/25/25

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 23:49:19 -0700

The Collegiate Beach Volleyball season just surpassed the midway point and we're seeing shifts from 2-5 without a lot of big changes in the rest of the AVCA top 20. A lot of the top teams were idle in week 5, but the ones that weren't saw solid action at the Big West Challenge in San Luis Obispo, CA and East Meets West in Austin,TX.

Although teams may have split their duals this last weekend, without a doubt the teams are developing in a beneficial way as we move closer to conference tournaments. The athlete panel chats about then No. 10 Texas' upset of then-No. 2 LMU, and the quality of each their flights. In addition, we discuss the dynamism of Cal Poly and how interchangeable their entire lineup is.

From there we discuss the top teams we've seen this last weekend and even drop the names of top performers!

College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 12 Recap, 3/24/25

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:29:28 -0700

🚨 EPISODE DROP 🚨 College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 12 Recap, 3/24/25

This week our coaching panel (except Brad) were really "salty," so we start off on a grumpy note.

Week 12 saw MANY 5-set battles-- particularly involving many MIVA teams honing their skills and talents to mount a surge as they continue MIVA conference play. With that we saw Theo's Matadors ride into Chicago splitting their top-20 matches with Dan's Flyers and Shane's Ramblers. As expected, we tangent away from volleyball and into Chicago Cuisine-- and the tangent only got worse. We jump into our discussions about top 20 teams in NOVA/DC, Long Beach St. and what we could be seeing as teams are gearing up for the remainder of conference play.

As always, the guys pick their Players of the Week, and share what they'll be watching in Week 13. For the "Hot Mic" moment Brad starts us off on a light note, then the "salty guys" take over!

Thanks for listening/watching! #ncaamvb #ncaavolleyball #ncaamvolleyball

Episode 263, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 4 Recap; 03-18-25

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:26:07 -0700

SHE'S BACK! Kelly Belardi of No. 7 Stanford rejoins CVW Beach for a very detailed analysis of the top 20 this week.

From looking at the duals and invitationals there was nothing but hot action no matter where you were watching from! From there we discuss some of the top performers last week and in 2025 so far. We end the episode discussing what duals we'll be watching for this weekend (or for Kelly, how she's going to enjoy life after her Finals are done)! #NCAABEACH

Episode 262, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 11 Recap; 3-17-25

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:16:51 -0700

This show is dedicated to Cindy Luis, pioneering Hawaiian journalist and passionate writer/follower/fan of volleyball who passed unexpectedly this last weekend. If you would like to send notes to her son, Tiff Wells, who is a UH Broadcaster, please feel free to email Rob at rob@robonthemic.com. Rob will forward Tiff's contact info to you.

Week 11 of the NCAA Men's Volleyball season did not disappoint! Upsets happened, athletes rose to the occasion and teams tightened up races and rattled the At-Large discussion in their battles across the nation! Also, the Outrigger Invitational went OFF in Manoa, Hawaii this last weekend and it did not disappoint!

The CVW Coaching Panel discusses the results that caught their eyes and pick their Players/Personalities of the Week, pick their players of the week, share what they're watching in Week 12 and drop a couple "Hot Mic" topics.

Thanks for listening! #ncaamvb

Episode 261: College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20, Week 3 Recap: 3-11-25

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:53:30 -0700

The CVW BEACH T20 crew discusses the action at the TCU Invitational and MPSF Rumble with a few other big tournaments thrown in. Along with the results (with some upsets), they pick out their top athletes/teams during the week 3 action.

On this episode Kylie & Sydney pick topics to discuss: internationals in Beach VB and the NCAA Collegiate Beach Championship format!

#NCAABEACH #NCAAVOLLEYBALL #NCAABEACHVB

Episode 260, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, "Theo's Thoughts" Week 10 Recap, 3-10-25

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 14:48:33 -0700

This week, it was confirmed that there were no upsets to be had in D1-2 play, but some pretty significant statements about teams who are heating up during conference play. CSUN Head Coach Theo Edwards starts off with Rob discussing some of the top matches of the week, while Jay Hosack of George Mason drops in HOT, with Dan Friend of Lewis just minutes later. The guys make it in time to pick their "Ballers of the Week." From there we talk about the top matches to look for in Week 11 and the popular "Hot Mic" segment.

We close out the episode finishing up the leftover fan questions from Episode 258 that we did not get to!

Thanks for listening! Be sure to spread the word and follow your favorite teams, programs and resources in D1-2 Men's Volleyball!

Episode 259, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 2 Recap 3-4-25

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 12:47:50 -0800

This week our athlete panel of Kylie Wickley (Texas) and Sydney Miller (Hawaii) with Rob discuss what was a week with only a couple upsets, but interesting movement in the AVCA Top 20. The panel discusses eye-catching results, top teams/pairs/athletes during the week!

New this week, Cal's French Net Force Marilu Pally joins in her own segment, "Marilu's MPSF Memo" discussing the climate of the MPSF as one of the top conferences in the nation (since there is no longer a Pac-12)!

Episode 258, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20: Week 9 Recap-- Coaches' Takeover

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:11:31 -0800

It's a "Coaches' Takeover" at College Volleyball Weekly as we recap most of the action of Week 9 in Division 1-2 Men's Volleyball. No. 4 Hawaii flexed their muscle all-around on then No, 2 UCI-- and made a STRONG case as to why they should be in the discussion for the post-season. In Week 9, the Battle for Chicago and Battle for Jersey all occurred to name a few. From there, they guys pick their players of the week and matches to watch in Week 10.

As promised, we run into our "Fan Questions" segment of the show-- one that can always go long. Tap in to see what was asked! We'll most likely cover the remainder in a later episode!

Thanks for listening and watching!

Episode 257, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 15ish, 02-25-25

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 21:50:49 -0800

After one week of play the action did not disappoint!

Kylie and Sydney give an update of what their teams (Texas & Hawaii) did this last weekend competitively. From there we get into the nitty-gritty! Taking center stage was the Outrigger/Duke Kahanamoku Tournament that featured nothing but top 12 teams-- which brewed a handful of upsets! We then take a peak at other eye-catching results, top teams and top pairs for the week. As always, we pick a few tourneys and/or duals you fans may want to pay attention to in Week 2!

Episode 256, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20: Week 8 Recap 2-24-25

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 16:04:28 -0800

Week 8 of the NCAA Men’s D1-2 season brought about the emergence of the Bearcats of McKendree, the rejuvenated Bruins, and streaking Matadors! In addition to the teams that are grabbing the headlines, there is MIVA madness as the teams tussle in the first half of conference play. Then there is the EIVA– where teams are flipping the script on historic powerhouses while others are waiting to see how teams find their rhythm.

From there the guys pick their “Ballers of the Week” and matches to look out for in Week 9. The HOT MIC moment brought a great amount of discussion topics– that we ran out of time for. For the next episode, the panel wanted to entertain questions from Volleytalk and/or through Social Media! Send your thoughts/questions via DM if you want to drop a few!

Tap on the link in the profile for podcast and/or YouTube video, or type one of the URLs below!

Thanks for listening in and/or viewing!

Episode 255, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20: 2025 Preview

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:46:23 -0800

And the 2025 NCAA Collegiate Beach season less than a few days away and the chatter and buzz are running HOT! College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20 brings some of the top athletes in the game to "talk shop" on their "Sandy Colleagues" across beach courts throughout the nation! One returner is back-- Kylie Wickley of Texas, whos program is starting out in the top 15, and newcomer Sydney Miller of No. 12 Hawaii.

The CVWBT20 crew discuss the Preseason AVCA Poll, and touch on the TruVolley Poll. From there Kylie, Syd and Rob discuss the top 15-ish players on rosters to start 2025, along with some top athletes to watch. As always, we end on "Whatcha Watching" in Week 1!

Episode 254, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 7 Recap 2-17-25

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 14:49:38 -0800

Week 7 has been one of the most intense weeks of the the 2025 season with 8 upsets and boatload of 5-setters. With those results we witnessed some teams levelling up while others stumbled. With that, the CVW panel discusses some of the top 20 results, teams and performers of Week 7!

The panel picks some matches to watch out for in Week 8 and only Jay decides to drop a "Hot Mic" thought!

Thanks for viewing/listening to College Volleyball Weekly!

Episode 253, College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20, Sydney Miller, Hawaii Sand Bows

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 22:44:06 -0800

As the season gears up in the next few days Rob chats with some of the players to watch during the 2025 season.

Sydney Miller of Hawaii chats about her beginnings in volleyball through her decision to play Collegiate Beach at Hawaii. We then discuss her first two seasons with Chandler Cowell and Anna Maidment through her two seasons so far. Sydney

An All-Big West honoree and 2024 AVCA Top Flight recipient Sydney is looking to help the Sand Bows get to another post-season appearance! Be sure to watch until the end for an announcement regarding College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20!

Episode 252, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 6 Recap, 2/10/25

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 11:09:14 -0800

The CVW Coaches' Panel recaps the play from Week 6 of the NCAA Men's Volleyball season that included SIX upsets, the start of some conferences' play and a lot of GREAT ACTION. The guys pick their players of the week as well as p Week 7 matches to be on the lookout for! Our shortage of time had us do a "shorter" "Hot Mic" segment, but we still "kinda" jump into the ESPN+ vs. B1G+ discussion. I'm sure there will be more in upcoming weeks!

As always, thanks for listening and watching!

Episode 251, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Special Guest: Foti Mellis, MPSF Commissioner, 02-06-25

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 23:32:54 -0800

Only the 2nd Commissioner ever to lead the MPSF, Foti Mellis joins CVW to discuss the status of the MPSF Conference in Men’s Volleyball. Episode 248 & 249 brought multiple questions from the Coaches’ panel and listeners/viewers regarding the competition format of MPSF conference play, the addition of DII teams in the conference and the utilization of the B1G for promotion, marketing, broadcast and streaming of Men’s Volleyball. Foti addresses each of these in detail in this episode of CVW!

Episode 250, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Preseason Special Episode with Foti Mellis, MPSF Commissioner

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:53:23 -0800

In 2025 a new Collegiate Beach conference takes the sand-- and it's the MPSF. With 4-Peat Champions USC (6-time winner), 2-time winner UCLA, along with Cal, Stanford, Oregon, and GCU we're talking about a GAUNTLET of a conference!

Foti shares how the MPSF Beach Conference formed, its upcoming 1st-ever MPSF Beach Championship, the potential of adding more hardware and news that broke just hours before the posting of this episode! The addition of 4 more POWERHOUSE teams in the MPSF for 2026!

Episode 249, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20: Week 5 Recap, 2-3-25

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:27:26 -0800

Week 5 of the NCAA Men's D1-2 season was a DOOZY! Great matchups in abundance and phenomenal battles occurred across different platforms and live in-arenas! This week we recap the 5 remaining undefeated teams and discuss where the top 20 teams are at as far as 2025 competition so far. Conference play is beginning in the Conference Carolinas, MIVA, and EIVA so the heat will be turned up!

As always, our CVW panel selects their eye-catching performers of the week, pick their "Whatcha Watchin'" matches in Week 6. Of course we close out with our "Hot Mic" Moment!

Episode 248, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20: Jeff Nygaard USC 01-30-25

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 16:38:52 -0800

Second Men's Volleyball Episode in 3 days! It was a great opportunity to catch up with USC Head Coach Jeff Nygaard whose No. 6 USC Trojans are off to a fantastic start in 2025! The Men of Troy stand at 6-0 and have "bought in" to the team philosophy and mission!

Jeff shares about the Trojan's start and why they've clicked. As the Trojans await their first match in the Big 10 Challenge in Columbus, OH, Jeff talks about the remaining non-conference schedule and what we could expect to see in the MPSF.

From there, we chat about USC's and other MPSF teams' partnership with the Big 10 Conference and Network and how that could encourage growth in men's game. Additionally, we talk about the format for MPSF competition between the D1 and D2 teams and why the schedule worked out the way that it has for 2025.

Episode 247, College Volleyball Weekly BEACH Top 20, 1/29/2025 – Lindsey Sparks

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 10:00:00 -0800

To kick of the 2025 NCAA Beach season Rob brings in one of the top athletes in the last 7 seasons in Collegiate Beach Volleyball, Lindsey Sparks of Cal Poly. Lindsey has garnered Regional and State Championships indoor, but has also been an outstanding Beach player wherever and whomever she competes with!

From committing indoors, decommitting, then committing on the beach fulltime we discuss where her collegiate career has taken her. From the lows of battling an eating disorder to the highs of a National Championship at UCLA, then suffering a career-threatening injury, then finding physical and emotional healing with a PT who helped bring her body back to compete again. In a new role and school as the team “Grandma,” Lindsey is looking forward to what 2025 has in store—along with her freshman sister, Dani, who is also on the Todd Rogers coached Cal Poly Beach team!

Episode 246, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Week 4, 1/27/25

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:08:02 -0800

Four weeks in and there are 6 remaining teams with unblemished records in D1-2 competition! The CVW Coaches' panel discusses what is making these teams successful early on in 2025. Prior to that discussion they discuss teams without conferences and why certain MPSF teams are not playing against other teams within their own conference.

From there, we go through our normal discussion of the week's results, players of the week and matches to watch in Week 5. Taking a risk on a new segment-- "The Hot Mic Moment" where our coaching panel sounds off on whatever they want to. We'll see how that goes-- all on this week's CVW Men's Top 20!

Episode 245, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Week 3 – 1/20/25

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:08:40 -0800

NOTE: For some reason this episode was "doubled-up" in length. Need to contact tech support. Will upload a "singled" episode in a few hours, and will keep this one up. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The CVW Coaches' Panel dives into Week 3 with another FULL week of Men's D1-2 Volleyball news from the Hawaiian Islands to ATX to the East Coast. We are in full effect!

Many great non-conference matches on tap with teams rising up early-- like the Cougars of BYU, while others are holding their own like Long Beach St.. While in the MIVA we are seeing a very competitive climate as they grind through early play with certain teams taking down top teams in ATX.

With that, we go into our normal recap, banter, players of the week and Week 4 matchups to watch! Somehow, we also dabble in the amount of foreign players on rosters-- which was totally impromptu and could be an entire episode of it's own!

Episode 244, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Big West Takeover | Week 2 – 1/13/25

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 12:15:53 -0800

In this "Big West Takeover" Episode the Big West Panel discusses the devastation and tragic results of the recent fires that plagued the Pacific Palisades, Eaton and Hurst communities in Southern California. 150,000+ people, with many in our volleyball community have been directly effected by total property loss and irreparable damage. As promised, here is a starting point for resources. I will update as needed: https://lafd.org/news/palisades-fire-0

As we headed into the 2nd week of the young NCAA D1-2 Men's Volleyball season there were 65+ matches to track with great battles and results to discuss. It's hard to say, "There were upsets" especially when the season is only 2 weeks old so let's just say it was an exciting week of competition, first wins for programs and A LOT of matches!

As always, the guys pick there top performers of the week and reveal matches they'll be keeping an eye on in Week 3!

Note: Hoping for a Part II of Week 2 with Dan & Jay later!

Episode 243: College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20, Week 1 – 1/6/25

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 11:11:02 -0800

The CVW crew is back for 2025 and are ready to ROCK for the NCAA Men’s Volleyball season!

This week we discuss all the transitions and changes throughout USA Volleyball and Collegiate Men’s Volleyball— for which there were A LOT (you have to listen to find out)! We’ll touch on format of the NCAA Championship and its new format with the NEC now receiving the 7th automatic berth. From there we go into the opening weekend of competition discussing the Top 20 teams in action across the nation with a good portion of matches occurring against our Canadian neighbors to the north.

As always, we’ll discuss top performers and matches to watch out for in what will be a very HEAVY week of matches in Week 2! #NCAAMVB

Episode 242, College Volleyball Weekly: Izzy Starck, Penn St. 12-26-24

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:47:42 -0800

Izzy Starck, freshman setter of Penn St. has had a remarkable rookie campaign in 2024. Izzy and her Nittany Lions went through a gamut of emotions to start off the season but found their inspiration in their mission: "Bigger than us." In it they were inspired by Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley's perseverance in "the fight," and the legacy of the Penn St. Women's Volleyball program.

In this special Christmas/New Year's episode we chat about the regular season, the journey to the NCAA title match, the numerous individual recognitions she received as freshman, having her big sister alongside her on the team, the remarkable in-house crowd and viewership, ALL of the history that was made from the NCAA Championship, and other tidbits along the way!

Episdoe 241, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20: Pav and the Hawkman 12-23-24

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:34 -0800

Special guests Mark Pavlik of Penn St. and John Hawks of UCLA jump on this special, pre-2025 season episode as we gear up for the 2025 NCAA Men's Volleyball season after a historic, record-breaking 2024 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship. In this episode we'll discuss various topics and potential impacts of the women's championship and how it could potentially benefit all aspects of volleyball-- including encouraging youth, high school competition and growth of NCAA Men's Indoor Volleyball. From there we discuss all the movement on the men's side from the USAV level and through all the conferences.

Episode 240, College Volleyball Weekly, Men’s Top 20: John Hawks, UCLA Head Coach 10-14-24

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 15:22:25 -0700

In only the 3rd time in program history the UCLA Men’s Volleyball team named their Head Coach—and they didn’t have to go far from the Bruin family. On October 9th, 2024, the former Loyola Head Coach and former UCLA Assistant Coach under John Speraw, John Hawks steps into the role to continue the Bruin Men’s Volleyball legacy. In his first interview since the announcement last week John sat down with Rob to chat about going through the news of Speraw’s new position at USAV, what that meant for UCLA, the interview/hiring process, and having to say “Goodbye” to the excellent team Hawks assembled n Chicago.

In the episode, John talks about a recent run in he had with a State Trooper driving the Midwest while potentially being interviewed!

Episode 239, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20: Paris Olympics Preview 07-24-24

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 13:54:38 -0700

The CVW crew jumps back into the bandwidth to discuss some of the news that has dropped since the last NCAA MVB Championship ball dropped in May with coaching changes, hirings and other MVB related news.

From there, Brad, Dan, Jay & Theo discuss all things Pairs Olympics style! We'll recognize some former D1-2 athletes representing other countries. The guys then jump into the nitty-gritty breaking down the pools, athletes and medal contenders. Spread the word because we're diving into USA Volleyball!

Episode 238: Paris Olympics Episode with USA Volleyball's, Haleigh Washington

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 08:00:00 -0700

The USA is heading back to the Olympics as reigning Gold Medalists in Women's Indoor Volleyball. Part of that history-making team in the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics was former Penn St. standout and current Paris 2024 Olympian Haleigh Washington!

In this Paris Olympics Episode Haleigh comes back onto the Viral Volley Podcast for a second time to talk about her collegiate and professional volleyball journeys through Tokyo, VNL 2024, the upcoming USAV Cup series vs. world No. 8 Netherlands, and the upcoming League One Volleyball movement kicking off in November 2024. Haleigh recently announced on social that she signed with LOVB Salt Lake City!

In a very high-energy and informative conversation, Haleigh tells it like it is in her own special way-- with just a little humor sprinkled in!

Episode 237: Paris Olympics Episode with Spain's & TCU's Dani Alvarez, 6/26/24

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 23:01:34 -0700

TCU has become a national powerhouse in Collegiate Beach Volleyball in large part due to Spanish sensations Tania Moreno and Dani Alvarez. This same pair has now become TCU Beach's program-first-ever Olympians representing Spain!

Dani joins Rob to discuss her beginnings in Beach Volleyball (from Tennis), trying indoor for 9 days, connecting with Tania and WINNING in Europe. Dani shares about how she found herself going to the USA to play Beach Volleyball and how she, Coaches Hector Guitierrez and Majo Orellana convinced Tania to follow her to Ft. Worth, TX. From there we discuss her 3 years at TCU, and the path to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Episode 236: Paris Olympics Episode with Latvia's & USC's Tina Graudina, 6/16/24

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 23:45:37 -0700

(College Volleyball Weekly/Viral Volley Podcast Crossover)

We are just mere weeks away from the 2024 Paris Olympics-- and with that there are a handful of former College Volleyball Weekly, both Beach and Indoor who will be representing their native countries. One of those atletes is first-ever Viral Volley Podcast guest (December 2019), Tina Graudina of Latvia and USC!

Tina and Rob discuss her beginnings in volleyball in Latvi playing indoor, then transitioning out on the beach. Afterwards, we discuss Tina's Collegiate Beach Volleyall career at USC (by the way, she only has 7 career loses!), her pride in representing Latvia and her loyal fans all over the country for the first-time ever at Tokyo 2020. We then discuss her experience so far now that Tina is heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Tina concludes the episode by sharing 2 pieces of wisdom she has learned from her experience in volleyball.

Episode 235, College Volleyball Weekly, Beach Top 20, Post-Season with USC's Ashley Pater, 6/6/2024

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:22:42 -0700

In this special post-season episode of CVW Beach T20, Rob connects with a first-time National Champion, Ashley Pater, who was one of only two freshman starting for Head Coach Dain Blanton's 4x National Champions USC Beach Volleyball.

During Ashley's pre-collegiate career she had an enormous amount of success on the beach with multiple first place/gold medal finishes, with maybe 2 or 3 2nd/silver place finishes-- LITERALLY. Ashley was privileged to receive the offer letter and risked jumping from the East Coast to head West and continue the Trojan legacy of "Natties."

Ashley shares about her first year experience at school, training, playing with different partners, through a battle-filled season and her first-ever National Championship.

Episode 234, Viral Volley Podcast: Brooke Nuneviller, PVF Champion, Omaha Supernovas, 5/21/24

Tue, 21 May 2024 21:21:10 -0700

As we enter the summer Viral Volley Media will be doing episodes for relevant news for athletes, teams, coaches and/or other volleyball personalities from the National Teams (the "Road to Paris 2024"), Pro Volleyball Federation, Athletes Unlimited, NCAA Men's/Women's/Beach, and/or etc. Who knows, we may even throw in a couple AVP/FIVB athletes, top recruits and more!

Episode 233 will feature a member of the first-ever Pro Volleyball Federation Championship team, the Omaha Supernovas' BROOKE NUNEVILLER! Rob has interviewed her a few times during her indoor and beach careers at Oregon. She was named to the All-PVF First Team and now has a championship trophy, but before all that she had an illustrious career with the Ducks (indoors & beach), USAWNT, and Nilufer (Turkiye) and now Omaha!

Hear what Brooke had to say about the last few years of her year finishing up with the 2024 PVF season and what comes next!

#ncaamvolleyball

#ncaavolleyball

Episode 233, College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20, Special Q&A Episode, 5/20/24

Mon, 20 May 2024 13:00:52 -0700

The CVW Coaching Panel wanted to get this Q&A Episode together because it's what our listeners wanted!

Today we explore the expansion of the MIVA, formation of the GLVC, new teams and Division 1 & 2 expansion. Naturally, we flow into the rise of the portal and how coaches/teams view some of the different perspectives of it's availability to the athletes. Sprinkled in there are questions about ball pressure, "poachable players," favorite venues to play in and some friendly banter. Keep in mind we tangent every once in a while!

Episode 232, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, NCAA Recap 5/7/24

Wed, 08 May 2024 00:22:42 -0700

In this 2024 season finale, Kelly Belardi of Stanford Beach Volleyball and Kylie Wickley of Texas Beach Volleyball with Rob Espero discuss the AVCA All-America team honorees, along with the AVCA Top Flight recipients. In addition, the CVW crew discusses the happenings at the 2024 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores (that moves to Huntington Beach, CA in 2025).

Special thanks to the ladies mentioned above along with Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA and Alli Hansen of Florida St. for their contributions during the 2024 CVW season! Without their efforts the CVW BEACH T20 would not be possible!

Episode 231, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 19: NCAA Recap, 5/6/24

Mon, 06 May 2024 12:10:58 -0700

The entire CVW crew of Brad Rostratter of UCSD, Dan Friend of Lewis, Jay Hosack of George Mason and Theo Edwards of CSUN talk all things National Collegiate Volleyball Championship week! From the opening quarterfinals, All-America Social, semis to the finals. The guys break it down for all volleyball fans alike! They guys talk about A LOT in this mega-80-minute episode.

Additionally, the remaining crew dives into a more recent trend in Men's Volleyball-- the transfer portal. Know that we ran out of time and will most likely have one or two more episodes to address our fan questions from weeks ago (and apparently, the portal will have even more athletes jumping in)! Stay tuned...

Episode 230, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 4/29/24

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 21:37:27 -0700

The NCAA Collegiate Beach Championship is all set. Nine auto-bids and eight at-large berths. There are top dogs in the mix but there are a bunch of upstarts chomping at the bit for the Natty hardware! Among those teams were 3 first-ever appearances for UT Chattanooga, Washington and Arizona St.!

Instead of our normal panel we thought we'd jump on a unique opportunity-- two sisters whose teams could not be more different-- Kendall Whitmarsh of Arizona St.-- the "first-timer" and older sis, Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA-- who has been to the "Dance" every year since donning the blue and gold. The "Whitmarsh Takeover" is a great conversation of a family who loves the game-- and are REALLY GOOD AT IT!

Episode 229, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 18 4/29/24

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 17:01:54 -0700

THE NCAA MEN'S D1-2 TOURNAMENT IS ON! 3/4ths of our coaching panel dive into the matchups, but not before discussing the recently release AVCA All-America teams, the Freshman of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and the Coach of the Year!

See what Dan Friend of Lewis (at least for half the episode), Brad Rostratter of UCSD and Jay Hosack of George Mason had to say today about what could be an EXCITING NCAA Championship in Long Beach! BE SURE TO WATCH OVER AT NCAA.COM for quarterfinals through the semis, then over to ESPN2 for the Championship match on Saturday!

Episode 228, College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 17, 4-22-24

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 13:51:42 -0700

With the conference championships concluded the CVW Coaches' Panel will review some of the many eye-catching results and standout performances by teams and athletes. With the auto-berths awarded and the At-Large berths made known we ask the controversial question: "Did the NCAA Committee get it right?", and of course, "Are the seedings correct?" As always, some side discussions arise with tournament expansion along with other tidbits of discussion that give you insight to the what we could see during "The Natties."

Episode 227, College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 4/17/24

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 08:55:58 -0700

We're about 10 days out from conference tournaments around the nation in Gul Shores, AL.

Kylie Wickley of Texas and Jaden Whitrmarsh of UCLA discuss the Texas' season finale as the Longhorns get their first-ever top-20 program win. From there we run into the top 11-ish and focus on the Center of Effort Challenge which saw a handful of upsets while UCLA continued to assert itself at the top.

Episode 226: College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 16.2, 4/15/24

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:19:35 -0700

Our missing panel member, Jay Hosack of George Mason couldn't make the earlier recording didn’t so we decided to do a “CVW After Dark” episode discussing the final week of conference play and the upcoming conference tournament matches. Jay brings attention to some of the top performers, looks at potential AVCA National Player of the Year candidates and even goes out on a limb to say who will win certain tournaments—all this with beer in hand 😊.

Episode 225: College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 16, 4/15/24

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:09:22 -0700

As we conclude the regular season for the remaining 5 auto-NCAA berth conferences the coaching panel of Brad Rostratter of UCSD, Dan Friend of Lewis and Theo Edwards of CSUN discuss some of the top matches in final week of the conferences’ play. Will a new number one emerge in the AVCA poll? What did we see in the quarterfinal rounds of the MIVA? What teams could shine in post-season play? As always, the crew names their “Ballers of the Week (CVW’s Players of the Week).” Rob then poses the question to the panel: “What’s the At-Large situation going to look like?”

All that and more on CVW Men’s Top 20! BTW, Rob will post the Jay-inspired brackets on Volleytalk soon for download!

Episode 224: College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 14 Recap/Week 15 Preview, 4/8/24

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 15:48:44 -0700

Week 14 saw a great docket of top 5 teams squaring off, regular season champions in some conferences and in one case a tournament field and seedings set. The CVW crew breaks down what happened in Week 14 and inserts their insights, opinions and in some cases, complaints.

In addition, we discuss Jay's 1st-ever Conference/NCAA MVB Tournament Bracket, pick our "Ballers of the Week," and discuss some of the key matches in Week 15 to watch out for!

Episode 223: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 6 Recap/Week 7 Preview, 4/2/24

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 23:10:08 -0700

With Week 6 in the books and a handful of top 20 teams idle the student-athletes drive the discussion-- which essentially ended up being a "Death Volley Invitational" summary/recap episode and chatting about how the top teams are getting it done. With that, we discuss some of the key performers during the week, athletes with milestone achievements-- like CVW's own Alli Hansen who has amassed 100 career wins. In our discussions, Cal Poly has been beyond good-- and the Mustangs have done it under the radar with an over 80% winning efficiency at each of their flights. After all that we'll drop some top duals to watch for the weekend!

Episode 222: College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 13 Recap/Week 14 Preview, 4/1/24

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:41:29 -0700

Things are "kinda" sorting out across the conferences, but still not secure with surprise results, injuries and adjustments playing key factors to what we're seeing in the final few weeks of the 2024 regular season. As always, the Coaching Panel runs down summaries of what's happening in each of the NCAA-tourney bid conferences, The Big West, Conference Carolinas, EIVA, MIVA, MPSF and the SIAC. The coaches then take over and direct the discussion to tourney selection, All-America selections and other interesting factoids. Or course, they always end on their "Players of the Week" and "Whatcha Watchin'" in week 14!

Episode 221: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 5 Recap/Week 5 Preview, 3/26/24

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 21:48:52 -0700

The CVW BEACH TOP 20 Student-Athlete panel chimes in on the action in Week 5 that saw yet another handful of upsets ranging from No. 18 GCU of No. 10 LSU all the way down to Big West teams in the top 10 hammering away at each other. The CVW crew mentions top performances by TCU and USC pairs as well as Arizona St. From there the crew talks about the upcoming Death Volley Invitational where #1 USC, #4 TCU, #10 LSU, #5 FSU, #2 UCLA, #17 FAU, #3 Stanford, and #6 Cal all battle in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for what could be a preview of the NCAA Collegiate Beach Championship!

Ep. 220: College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, Week 13, 3/25/24

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:03:40 -0700

In Week 12 it seems March Mayhem has re-entered the scene with the MIVA Conference seeing a handful of unexpected results! With only 2-3 weeks remaining in the regular season and conference tournaments around the corner, expect more mayhem! Not excluded from the mayhem is the Big West Conference—with only one matchup during the week that resulted in an upset-split of the No. 2 team in the nation. As always, our coaches’ panel discuss the weeks they’ve had as well, but we also chat about what each of the conferences is looking like at this stage of the season.

The Coaches’ Panel closes out the episode by selecting their players (or now, Teams) of the week, and what they’re watching in Week 13!

Episode 219: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Week 4 Recap/Week 5 Preview, 3/19/24

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 18:08:25 -0700

Week 4 of the NCAA Collegiate Beach season and East Meets West in Manhattan Beach, CA along with the FAU Invite in Pompano Beach, FL took center stage as a lot of top 20 teams went at it. Kelly Belardi of Stanford, Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA and Kylie Wickley of Texas gathered to chat on what we saw in Week 4 as well as through the mid-point of the season (even though Texas hosted their first-ever home tri-dual today).

As always, we talk some of the top performers of the week, then look forward to this upcoming weekend where the CCSA Midseason Tournament and "Fight in the Fort" at TCU go down!

Episode 218: College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 12, 3/18/24

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:04:59 -0700

Week 11 brought another 1 vs. 2 matchup resulting in what will most likely be new No. 1-- again. With that we discuss a handful of the top matches of the week but try a new piece for our Coaches' Panel: "If You Were on the NCAA Committee" segment! The coaches discuss what the 20243 NCAA Tournament would look like today given the 8-team scenario and also venture in to what that could look like if it were a 12-team scenario.

Tap in and spread the world. We're officially into the last month of the NCAA Men's Volleyball season so it's going to get HOT!

Episode 217: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, Florida St. 3/12/24

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 21:36:37 -0700

This week we jump into our first special episode with the East Meets West in Manhattan Beach this weekend. With that, the Seminoles of Florida St. "take over" the show to talk about their start to 2024, how deep and talented the 'Noles squad is as they've been hovering at No. 4 in the AVCA and CollegeBeachVB.com polls. They're chomping at the bit to make the case to be at the top. CVW Beach Contributor Alli Hansen and teammate Morgan Chacon chat all things Seminole!

Episode 216: Week 11, College Volleyball Weekly Men’s Top 20, 3/11/24

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 13:10:50 -0700

Week 10 saw another No. 1 team go down not just once, but twice at the Outrigger Invitational in Hawaii. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge brought in a battle of 4 of the top 12 teams in the nation. In Northern California, two top-10 teams duked it out for split. The Big West got heated as Long Beach St. and UCSB squared off with emotions flaring. The rest of the top 20 were in good conference battles or travelled to cross-conference opponents!

As always, the CVW crew pics their top performers (“Ballers”) of the week and recommend some of the top matches to watch in Week 11 of NCAA Men’s Championship Volleyball!

Episode 215: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, 3/5/24

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:16:40 -0800

Episode 215: College Volleyball Weekly Beach Top 20, 3/5/24

This week Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA, Alli Hansen of Florida St. and Kylie Wickley of Texas jump into the show (missing Kelly Belardi of Stanford) talking about what they as athletes have seen so far 1/4th into the season (aka, 2 weeks). What's the talent like, what teams are playing well and how are they getting it done?

The CVW BEACH crew then takes a look at eye-catching duals in Week 2, identifying top performing teams and athletes. As always, we end by picking out some duals to look out for in Week 3.

Episode 214: College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 9 Recap/Week 10 Preview, 3/4/24

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:06:41 -0800

This week didn't see a whole lot of shakeups around the nation, however we're discovering the MIVA is getting very interesting with Ball St., and Ohio St. sitting at the top. There was an LA rivalry matchup, GCU dominance, Long Beach St. on a winning streak and Hawaii rolling along, however the guys talk "chirping and chippiness" in the game. The guys chatter about few other things that have come up last minute like the "two-handed attack", or what Rob refers to as "The Shove."

All that and our normal business on College Volleyball Weekly, Men's Top 20!

Episode 213, College Volleyball Weekly, BEACH TOP 20, Week 1 Recap/Week 2 Preview, 2/27/24

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 13:58:39 -0800

While Alli of Florida St. tends to homework, Jaden Whitmarsh of UCLA, Kelly Belardi of Stanford and Kylie Wickley of Texas join Rob on recapping the Week 1 action of the NEW Collegiate Beach Volleyball season! We try our best to talk about the CollegeBeachVB.com Top 20 teams and top athletes. Contributor Kelly garnered Most Oustanding Pair (with Ashley Vincent) at the Duke Kahanamoku Classic, which then became the Pac-12 Pair of the Week, then the AVCA National Pair of the Week! Congrats, Kelly!

Along with the Hawaii Tournament action, there was the Third Coast Invite as well as the Tampa Invite that some some teams skyrocket in the polls and the national eye! We'll touch on some key performers and pick some duals/matchs to keep an eye on in Week 2!

Episode 212: College Volleyball Weekly Men's Top 20, Week 8 Recap/Week 9 Preview, 2/26/24

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:56:56 -0800

In Week 8 of the the NCAA Men's season we are still seeing intense parity as multiple teams visit "Splitsville"-- splitting their pairs of matches during the week. Along with that we're seeing changes in lineups, some intentional, some not. One thing is for sure-- the competitive levels REMAIN.

As always, the guys discuss the results, pick their top players of the week, then dive into "Whatcha Watchin'" in Week 9. All that with some tangented discussion about "beard games," "Karate Kid" references and other salty remarks by the CVW Coaches' Panel.

NOTE: We would have discussed the potential of a D2 Championship but we 1) ran out of time, and 2) Dan of Lewis had to leave the episode early.