Latest / Set 6: The Official MLV Podcast / Episode 014 | Pittsburgh Maxxing with Kayla Lund and Layne Van Buskirk

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Episode 014 | Pittsburgh Maxxing with Kayla Lund and Layne Van Buskirk · Set 6: The Official MLV Podcast

• Mike Moline: Hello, hello. What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Set Six Podcast. It's the official podcast of Major League Volleyball. This is episode 14. However, you're choosing to listen to us, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, it all works, and we thank you no matter which way you choose to listen to us for making us part of your day. We appreciate it. Before you listen to this episode, coming up with just an awesome chat with. Kayla Lund and Lane Van Buskirk. Please go listen to episode thirteen with Leah Edmond. So much fun chatting with Leah, and I thought it was a great episode. So please go check that out. This show format, we're gonna keep it pretty rapid because we've got ⁓ I think it's about a 50-minute conversation with the two of them, which was ⁓ just so great. So ⁓ before we launch on that, we'll briefly touch on the news because there's not a lot of news, and then we'll go straight into that and then we'll we'll wrap it up in the outro. So let's get right into it. The news is gonna be very quick and simple, and I say that because ⁓ I still have some so much trouble sometimes just keeping everything organized on my calendars. And for some reason I thought that the quarterfinals for the ⁓ VNL ⁓ kind of round that they're in right now was going to be last night slash into this morning, and it's actually for me. Recording here on Wednesday, July 22nd, tomorrow morning. So that all of you will know exactly what happens in the quarterfinals. I'm still waiting to find out. Will I drag myself out of bed at four o'clock in the morning? Time will tell. But for now, I can tell you the news is heavily Orlando Valkyrie centric. And that is because they signed two middles. So first, Juliet Louise, ⁓ the Netherlands national team veteran, 2024 through 2026, spent time in the Japanese League. Really good from the service line is a scouting report there. So really great signing for them on that one. And then also Claudia Dillon most recently played in Brazil and Portugal. And ⁓ some of those in that area at least might remember her being a UCF standout. So it's just some some great ⁓ final additions to that that roster for Orlando and ⁓ great to see Juliet and ⁓ Claudia join that team. So that is the news. And let's preview this conversation. It was so much fun. Producer Mike and I flew out to Pittsburgh last week. And we got to tour the the pit facilities courtesy of Kayla and Lane. And it was just a blast. I think first off, the the pit facilities are unbelievable. ⁓ I've been to a few, you know, quite a quite a few colleges ⁓ in my time covering whether it's volleyball or or other other things. and, you know, I'd like to say a lot of a lot of pretty big ones. And the the pit facilities are unmatched, unrivaled. And I think it was just so amazing to see what kind of access to the top tier equipment, ⁓ top tier facilities that these athletes are are able to have at Pitt. And that also that they're so ⁓ willing and generous to have Kayla and Lane use. One of the things we're talking about with Lane is she was talking about how great it is with her rehab that it wasn't just like, hey, yeah, come in and use our facilities. It was, yeah, we'll we'll help you with this plan. We'll help you on your recovery process. And obviously she's a fair bit away into it when she ⁓ underwent her her ⁓ leg procedure or knee procedure. But ⁓ it was just really great. And every staff member we got to talk to ⁓ was phenomenal. We got to talk to Coach Fisher. we we got to ⁓ chat with a lot of a lot of different people. So it was a a ton of fun. ⁓ just a huge thank you again. I think I mentioned this last episode, but anybody from the the pit facilities, ever anybody from the the pit coaching staff ⁓ that w was part of that, we we want to thank them because it was just so unbelievably great. They let us use our stud their studio too, which you will see ⁓ so that was just awesome. So ⁓ we really just really appreciate them and and all that they did for us. And you'll hear us mention Picklesburg a couple of times. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go because those wildfires from Canada, we got towards the end of the day and it was it was like a choking fog. It was so crazy how much it just kind of took over and the entire at least where we were staying in the city was just kind of like it had the haze hanging over you. I don't know if wherever you were you were ⁓ seeing that last week, but it was no joke. And so ⁓ we were seeing some stuff about the air quality and kinda called it there. ⁓ so that was unfortunate. But yeah, I I got to see that that Lane and Kayla got to go to other days of Picklesburg's that was great. So unfortunately when you hear us talking about that, ⁓ producer Mike and I didn't didn't get to go, but all the more reason to go back ⁓ next year. But it was just so much fun and and as I'll say on the backside of this, I I we're just so appreciative ⁓ to be able to go out there and and And you get to talk to them. We know we have a couple of other things like this potentially in the works. So ⁓ it was a blast. We got to really talk to them about everything from last season, but also a little bit about their process being back at Pitt, what they love about Pittsburgh. They'll tell you a lot about that. And it was just a great conversation. So let's get right into it. Here is our chat on the Set Six podcast with Caleb Lund and Lane Van Busker. Kayla and Lane, welcome to the Set Six Podcast. Lane, welcome back. Kayla, welcome from the the Pit studios. This is awesome. And it is all thanks to you both. First, thank you very much for having us here. But we are so excited to be a little part of your off season and getting to chat with you today. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for coming to Pittsburgh. We are just it's it's a blast to be here. It's hot, but we're right in the middle of of being able to be see the the the pickle fest. ⁓ Picklesburg, and I mean that's that's you know, a whole bunch of stuff that's being set up around our hotel. But then also getting to see you both in your element here with Pitt. Just tell us a little bit about what you're doing right now in the offseason. Yeah, so we're both here in our offseason. ⁓ Lane is here rehabbing every single day, getting healthy, using ⁓ the pit facilities. And then I recently got hired on part-time with Pitt volleyball to help coach in the fall. And it's also the perfect ⁓ off season training. So I've been training with the girls every day. And then we've also been running camp season, pit volleyball camp season every single day. And then we're just happy to be back in our city. It feels like home, ⁓ our second home. And so we're back to like our our true selves. Lane, how how is it being back? I heard you're both living together as well. The the roommate the roommate chronicles are are continuing. Very happy to be staying with Kayla and her husband Meach. We're having a lot of fun and I'm just really grateful that Pitt allowed me to come back and like use their facilities to rehab. We they got a new state-of-the-art Victory Heights facility. It's brand new, just opened this year, and just crazy technology they have. So I'm just feeling like I'm getting a lot better, a lot stronger, faster, and everyone's wanting to help me. And it's just really grateful to be here. I saw one of those really cool treadmills you were on the other day. I mean it looks like it's almost got you suspended in the air a little bit. I what are some of the And then also doing like some of the the weight sled stuff, I believe. Like tell us about some of the the stuff you're doing in your rehab. Yeah, it's called an altergy. It's like an anti gravity treadmill. So I can pick what percent of my body weight I'm using. So I'm like, the video you saw was running on seventy percent of my body weight. So I'll just like gradually keep increasing that. And then they also have a underwater treadmill I've been using. So it's just taking load off the knee and progressing slower that way. Really cool. A lot of cool stuff here. And then Kayla, what your off-season training look like? And one of the questions I had for you was: at this point in your career, have you found sort of what works best for you with the load management and how much jumping to do and all the stuff like that? Yeah, I feel like I just kind of figured that out though. I feel like my first couple years of pro, I messed around with taking a lot of time off and really resting or rehabbing, and then trying to like jump back into it. Some years I've gone, like tried to take no break, and now I feel like I've found a happy medium. Being here at Pitt will 100% be my best offseason training that I've like ever received. ⁓ there's a lot of NCAA rules regarding training with collegiate teams. And so I am only able to train with them in the summers. It doesn't matter. Anybody can train. But ⁓ once NCAA regulates practices, ⁓ then you have to be on staff or enrolled in school to be able to practice with a collegiate team. And so I'm I'm really grateful that they hired me on and so that I can train with the girls every single day and kind of be like a glorified practice player for them. Kayla, you had your own leg injury last year, I believe, and and it was just blew my mind to watch how effective you were, still being one of the top scoring options all the way throughout the rest of the season. And and just, I mean, the fire never left, the intensity never left. And I feel like I don't want to say it went overlooked, but it was just like, Ho hum, and I probably wasn't that way on on the inside. Can you just talk about, you know, what you went through last season to be able to still perform at the high level? And I mean, I just was so impressed by what you're able to do. Thank you. That's so kind. I tore my MCL in season in a practice. ⁓ yeah, I like fell to pop in the middle of practice. And ⁓ my coach Lauren was not happy with me because I didn't tell anybody till the end of practice. ⁓ and then we told Told my trainer, I like practiced through, I was fine. I had never done anything major or anything to my knee before. And so I was like, ⁓ I can do all of practice. Like if I had messed up my knee or did anything to my knee, like I would not be able to do this. And so I just told my trainer after I was like, hey, like I just felt a pop at one point and I'm in some pain, but like I'm fine. And my trainer was like, ⁓ no, like you need an MRI. Like you have one scheduled in an hour. So I went and got an MRI. Torn MCL, but not fully torn. So I took about it ended up being like a little over a month before I was back to playing again. And we just rehabbed the heck out of it, strengthened my leg back up. Yeah, took the rest, ⁓ stayed as locked in as I possibly could. We actually I like learned a lot being at pit with injuries, and it's like such a big part of the pit culture that when you're injured, you can actually get a lot better. And so I've always carried that mindset with me. When we're injured here, we're like still on a box passing. We're still serving if you can. Like they're always you're watching a lot of film. You like become a coach. And so I kind of wanted to have that mindset because I did feel like I was having a strong season and I was really bummed at the timing of which it happened. I felt like I was like starting to find my rhythm. ⁓ and so I just didn't want to lose that momentum. And so ⁓ I was I was really excited once I finally got back on the core and feel like I I was able to pick up where I left off ⁓ with my team, which it it was just so fun after that. Then I was like, all right, let's go. I feel good. ⁓ let's have some fun. So I was happy to be back. Lean, we talked about that at the championship with you, how you were really, you know, just firing on all cylinders when yours happened. But I mean both of you are such great examples of persevering through injury and also I mean, I feel like the mental side of it isn't talked about enough where you kinda have to compartmentalize and so sort of like shift in different ways in different ways for both of you this past season. And I know we had, you know, unfortunately some more injuries in our league throughout the when once the season finished. But also maybe for any younger athletes watching, whether in their college part of their journeys or high school part of their journeys, do you have any advice for them from both of your recent injuries that, you know, helps them get kind of that might help them shift that mentality into that recovery and doing what's best for your body to be able to still come out and perform when you're done? For me, this is ACL is obviously a really long process. So celebrating the little ones has been really big for me and just like keeping a keeping a positive outlook. Like just being able to walk normally again or I just jogged this week. So like those little milestones is really huge for me. Yeah, I would say just for like my short term one, it sounds silly like sitting here next to being like, ⁓ yeah, I tore my MCL and length, like my leg is broken. But ⁓ I I totally agree. The small wins with any injury, any mental setback, ⁓ any setback with sports ever, like small wins really, really add up and take you a long way. And then if you know it's gonna be a more short term one, like staying super locked in and super fast, because you know, okay, once I'm back, like I'm back, it's only maybe a month, maybe it's two months, whatever it is, ⁓ making sure that you're staying sharp and strong. And just being a good teammate to the rest of your teammates. Of course. And hopefully th them supporting you too as well. ⁓ and I would imagine too, part of that rehab process ⁓ for you, Lane, too, is you know, enjoying some of the downtime as well. As we were saying before we started, I've fully enjoyed living vicariously through some of the stuff you shared on Instagram with going to pirates games and concerts and stuff like that. And it seems like Pittsburgh has been a a great area for all of that. Tell us a little bit more about what you're doing when you're not rehabbing in the offseason. Yeah, now that I'm like able to walk and like move about with it without any pain, ⁓ I'm going to a lot of baseball games. I'm I like Sam Pittsburgh Maxing. I just got a 412 tattoo. This is the Pittsburgh tattoo. Yep. Love. I'm just like obsessed with this city, so just like gallivanting around Pittsburgh has been like my my fun. I think that's what we're gonna title this Gallivanting Around Pittsburgh is great. I love it. I love that. More 412 maxing. 412 maxing. I gonna ask Kayla, are you also 412 maxing? Yeah, I'm 412 maxing as much as I can. I'm working a couple more camps than Lane is, so Lane has weekends off, which is perfect. ⁓ I'm working every single one, so I'm not 412 maxing yet to the max, but ⁓ definitely to the best of my abilities. We love this city so much and Not a lot of people know about like the city of Pittsburgh. And then I think they hear us talk about the city of Pittsburgh is amazing and they're like, Pittsburgh, like what the heck is going on in Pittsburgh? And then you get people here and they're on the water all the time. We just went out to dinner ⁓ last night and had a beautiful view of the city and on the water. People don't realize, like, there's so, so much to do here. There's always something going on. There's a concert almost every single week. ⁓ there's pirates games always for cheap. Like there's just There's festivals. ⁓ as you know, Picklesburg is coming up, which is a big deal. so I'm it is a big deal. Nice. so I I s I we just we love Pittsburgh. I'm so grateful to be back living here. Like I I just can't believe it. We ⁓ we have a great place and our like when we were looking at places, we were like, okay, we'll probably be here for maybe for like a year or two or maybe three. We were like, okay, we need to find a place with a view of our city. We just love it. And so that was like our our number one priority when we were finding a place to live coming back. We were like, we need to see that city every day. We just love it. I'm gonna try to remember it off the top of my head, but it's from Pasadena to international. I forget the international, I'm sorry, but then to San Diego, then Indy, now back to Pittsburgh. Mm-hmm. That's a lot of moving around. I mean and You know, I like from grow how are you like for me, for example, I'm an East Coast kid, moved to, you know, ⁓ the s Los Angeles area, Southern California, I'm like, I want to stay. And then, you know, for you all too, you have to move around a bunch, you know, as well. And Lane, I believe, was Germany and France, I believe, before you came over to MLV. Just how do you how do you find your place really? You know, and where where Pitt especially, you know, really and and Pittsburgh really resonates in like, okay, this is my place, I'm coming back here. Yeah. We were just talking about this the other day, also. We Lane more so maybe even more because she then does Team Canada dur Canada during the summer. But I move every single six months and so and have for like the past five years since being in college. ⁓ so yeah, being from California, ⁓ doing five years here at Pit, even coming from California to Pit was like a really big shock to me. And it was the greatest decision of my life. One of the greatest decisions of my life. and Then yeah, I it's it's really unique and it can get exhausting. I mean, you're moving, you're living out of a bag, or you you pack up your place and then a year later you're packing it up, or six months later you're packing it up again. It's it's hard and we're both getting older. And so it's weird being like closer to 30 and like not having a home base. ⁓ but we have we really have always felt like Pitt is a second home. But it it can be really exhausting, but it's so worth it. I mean, how many jobs get to just like train and live out your dream career with your best friends and all everybody go after one goal? We get we get paid to do our dream jobs. And so if like the travel and the moving is exhausting, it's it's always worth it. And both of you, whether the if whether this is your second home or first home or what it may be, if have found homes with the teams that you s were with last year and have both re-signed what went into those decisions. To re-sign with your respective clubs. I mean, I love Dallas. I just it was great to be a part of ⁓ inaugural season and obviously we won the championship, so it was kind of a no brainer. And Shannon being the coach. Yes, I guess ⁓ Shannon being the coach is also really helpful. I've she's been my coach since twenty nineteen, so we have a lot of history and I'm just really comfortable with her and she trusts in my game and she knows that I'll rehab hard and I'll come back. So and and also they've been so supportive to me through this whole process and I Just feel like I owe them. I have a similar answer. I knew that we would. We are both so happy at our teams. Our both of our organizations ⁓ take such good care of us and really prioritize our teams and care so much about building this league. ⁓ we are so lucky to be part of the teams that we are. Indy has just like this has been the happiest that I've been playing volleyball ⁓ probably ever. And even comparing it like two Pit, it's the closest thing that I can. ⁓ similar to Lane, I've played for Lauren before. I played for her overseas in Switzerland, and so I knew what I was getting into. And the second that she signed with the league, I was like, yes, yes, this is amazing. And so getting to play for Lauren and Haley, ⁓ both of them mean so much to me. ⁓ I I feel valued as like a human being and an athlete, and ⁓ I I love our squad. Obviously, everyone knows Lauren has brought back like such a such a solid group. Those are my best friends. Like I we text all the time, like I miss you guys, miss you guys so much. ⁓ and so we're we're already really looking forward to get back into the season. Obviously, ending how it did, that'll keep us all motivated through the offseason for next season. Two very different makeups for twenty twenty-seven versus twenty twenty-six. Lane, I want to start with you. The championship squad is gonna look very different. What was your overall reaction to some of the the key signings? And then you told me last year when we were ⁓ or th last season when we were in ⁓ the at the championship how important Italia was for you with being, you know, able to be on on top of your offensive game. Now w what are your thoughts overall on the way that the team's being built? Yeah, I mean those setters definitely have some big shoes to fill. Nazi is like one of my favorite humans ever and I'm very sad she's leaving. But I'm very excited for the pieces that we're bringing in. I trust Shannon's recruiting and I think that we'll all mesh together really well. Very excited to get in the gym, just see how we roll, but I mean, sucks to lose a championship team, but I think we'll be just as good, if not better. Is it gonna be a lot of trying to instill the same, I guess, core mentality and culture, or is it kind of a hit of full reset? I mean, it worked the first time, so I think we'll try to do the same thing. I like it. Yeah. Kayla, I mean, th they're running it back, and that's awesome. Is it a true run it back, or is it, hey, when we get into the preseason training, we're gonna shift a couple things. We're gonna change some things around. Just tell me how much of it is it truly running it back? Yeah, I mean, we need to be better. And we need it to be better in bigger moments. And I think that's gonna be a highlight. ⁓ even I think if we had continued to go on and win, Lauren would still come in day one, be like, We need to be better. We just do the league is getting more competitive, everybody else is getting better, we need to get better. So it I think it'll be a pretty good mix of knowing we we just need to get better. Everybody needs to get better and and will get better. And also, ⁓ like Lauren has her core values that will still be instilled in us. And so we'll carry those through with us. And then yeah, I think getting into like our systems faster, all of almost all of us will know the systems, other than those joining us. ⁓ and so I think we'll just be able to like get into our groove a little bit faster and just f keep finding ways to get better throughout the whole year. I'm really glad you brought that up 'cause that's what I was thinking about. I for the the b inside volleyball is I got to talk to Lauren last week and ⁓ she I that's what I was saying to her too. I like, I'm so excited to see obviously we have some new teams coming in, building from the complete ground up, doing what you all did last year. And it's like, okay, will those systems and knowing them a little bit, you know, earlier help versus seeing all the rest of the league? And on that, what have you both made of the signings around the league? I mean, you look at, for example, like Minnesota with all the international talent that they're bringing in, ⁓ Omaha changing around some pieces, you know, Lane looking at Indy being like, Okay, they're bringing back the whole squad. ⁓ i from a forty thousand foot view, what have you made of some of the signings from around the league? Yeah, I think it's awesome. I mean, every year the league has just gotten better and better and better and more and more competitive. It's going to be harder every single year to win. And even if like teams or people have favorites at the beginning, ⁓ people will not understand how ⁓ good other teams will be because a lot of the rosters are gonna be stacked. Now getting more international play in will be huge and then also getting some more draftees, everything, just like everybody getting Really competitive and better. So it's gonna be really exciting. It's also gonna be way tougher. Yeah, just excited to bring in more talent. Lane, I I can't let you leave without asking first what the celebration was like last year for Dallas. Please. I only got to see the immediate aftermath of the locker room, which looked awesome with all the champagne and everything. Did the trophy make any fun trips? Did you make any fun trips with the trophy? We definitely went out. I the doctors came with me to make sure I didn't do anything silly, but ⁓ yeah, we had some fun for sure. That's all. That's all gotta say. That's so cool. how will Shannon approach that? I mean, is she gonna kind of be the the mainstay with a lot of the same messages? And and I guess what I'm asking is is what did you learn about her coaching style last year that helped instill the core values of the championship team? Yeah, I think her standard in the gym is just so high. Like she doesn't let us fall or be goofy or I mean, we're goofy to a certain extent, but the level is always high. And once that drops, then Then she's got a problem with us. So just keeping keeping the level up and she's happy and we're happy and I think that's that's the key. Just like making the practice gym better. Lauren said you both are like the coaches of your teams respectively in in the player versions. Or just what was your reaction to that? ⁓ I love it. We we call ourselves Minnie Shannon and Lauren as well, because they've been best friends since they were our age and they played ⁓ together, and so. I don't know how much they actually like that we say that. I don't know. They think they're funnier than us too. They for sure think they're funnier, that they're better, prettier, I'm sure all the things, smarter, like I'm sure all the things. ⁓ but I it's been so much fun. Whenever we played Dallas, ⁓ getting to see like Lauren with her best friend and then I gotta be with one of mine is been like really, really fun. And so ⁓ we're honored to be their minis, even if they won't have it. Sorry guys. What Would you t talk us to us about some of those those key early memories and obviously what was formed here from Pit in your careers that helps you become the successful pros you are? I think for both of us, like just our first years here, there was like just our parents in the stands. So being a part of like the growth of Pitt volleyball has been just so, so special to us. And I think that's why we like love being here so much, because it's just ⁓ just such an important part of our lives. And we just like made this program. We like to Say we like Yeah, we like say we made this. We're like, we walk so you can run. Yeah. Yeah, we neither of us were like highly recruited in high school and club. And so before right before I had gotten there, they had like just made the tournament for the first time when Fish and Fish had just gotten there too. And so Fish came in and was really turning this program around. And so yeah, like Lane said, for us to be a part of something that special. To yeah, like literally having just our parents in the sands and like a couple locals to then selling out and having this amazing facility and so many final fours and all the things. it i it definitely I think like hits a little bit closer to home. We we worked our butts off for what we accomplished. And I think being able to then see those results of the growth has been really special and We've learned so many life lessons here. I mean, we like really say that we grew up in this city. ⁓ it's like the biggest things it just we talk about gratitude a lot, and that's a really big key thing for being at Pit that like we're we're so grateful here. and there's a lot of like cultural things that they'll talk about. the want to versus have to culture, a lot of things like that that we actually like buy into here and that the girls still buy into today, which I think it's just been a testament to the coaching staff ⁓ that they became so successful and then that they've been able to maintain that and get better ⁓ has been really cool to witness. Yeah, and all this culture stuff we learned here has stuck with us for life, and we'll bring that bring those to our MLV teams, and that just makes our team so much better too. Would your advice be to athletes who are starting their college journey, maybe still looking for places that have culture like that? What do you look for? How do you know that you found the right one when you're still on the outside trying to make your decisions? I do feel like that's what everybody should be asking. Like, ⁓ do they have this culture that they want to get better, that they love each other, that they care about each other, that they want to versus have to, that they're grateful to be here, that they're looking to be creative in their volleyball and stay curious with each other, ⁓ and that it feels like a family. I don't know if there is like a correct answer on specific things to look for. ⁓ I feel like for both of us in our recruiting process, it was a little bit of a feeling. ⁓ in talking to fish and talking to the girls here and being like, okay, like, yeah, they they're not just saying this to say it, like they're actually believing it and they're walking the walk and they're doing it every single day. ⁓ everybody on coaching staff believed it, all the girls believed it. ⁓ and so I would say we got we got lucky with finding that feeling in the recruitment process. Not everybody does. And so ⁓ easier said than done for sure. Yeah, I would just say like go on those visits and be super attentive to like how the girls are interacting with each other, how the coaches are, and just you'll you'll have a feeling for sure. Have you noticed just how strong the N Cou A pipeline is, you know, when you're with your respective teams and you're seeing the the new ⁓ women come in and just, you know, whether rather you recognize them from some programs that you played against or you watch some of what they did in college and just I've been impressed by how quickly they can switch to the program, I guess. Yeah, I mean everybody's getting bigger, faster, stronger, better. And so, like I said, this will be my best off season training that I have ever received because I get to be in the gym every day with Olivia Babcock blocking me and our incoming freshman Jess is a phenomenal incoming freshman and our middles everybody. So the college talent is amazing. I mean, all the draftees that we had this year, you saw how phenomenal they did. One in particular. But like that obviously played for Dallas. and so it's really cool. Even like Indy had a like pretty young team. Even Mia just in her second year getting MVP of the league. Like everybody's just getting better and better. So it's really fun. Us oldies, we gotta keep up. Before I get too far away from the Dallas and Indy discussion, how big is the rivalry? Really? I feel like I was picking up notes of a little bit of a rivalry as we were going on throughout the season, specifically with maybe some of the regular season record in D versus. I was about to say never beat you. Lane, you took the words right out of my out of my mouth. You won the one that matters. But I I love the idea of rivalries coming to be a a big thing in MLV and I don't know, it seemed like it seemed like there could be one brewing. Yeah, I think so too. I think it actually started with knowing Shannon and Lauren like really wanted to beat each other. ⁓ and so that I think like trickled into all of ⁓ like all of our brains going in being like, ⁓ my god, we gotta win this for Lauren or we gotta win this for Shannon. And then ⁓ as both of our teams just like continued to be at the top, it was like, ⁓ this is actually like a potentially a really like real rivalry. And ⁓ so it's it was fun watching watching it kind of like unfold. But she does have ⁓ I I give it to her now because they want it all. We didn't know. ⁓ before I promise to get back to fun questions, but just I asked Lane about the immediate aftermath. Kayla, I the immediate aftermath for Indy after the the postseason exit. Can you tell us a little can you pull back the curtain a little bit and tell us what happens immediately? What's the mood like in the locker room? And then I I would love to know more about how much does that switch flip into the offseason. Like I was when I was chatting with Lauren, she mentioned like there wasn't a lot of time to think about it because she had to go overseas and then coach for Switzerland. And then you know, for you, I'm imagining you've got to switch into that offseason mode relatively quickly. Just can you can you kind of shed some light on what happens after? Yeah, even like when you were just asking that question, like I started getting goosebumps, like taking going back to that moment. That that really hurt. I mean, we wanted it so badly, not just because we're like naturally competitive and we worked really hard for it, but we like loved each other. We love Lauren, we love Haley, we love MK. We love our ⁓ owners. ⁓ they have just been like so phenomenal to us. And so we just like felt it for everybody. We love our fans. We we just like felt the pain of like the city ⁓ and everybody in that room. and it was it was quiet in that locker room besides like tears and sniffling ⁓ for for quite a while. ⁓ and then Lauren came in and she said some words and ⁓ some that I think will stick with us like forever. ⁓ and then at the end, like I a couple of us just said, like, hey, we we love each other so much and that's that's why this is gonna hurt so bad. ⁓ I have like equated that losing pain because I I've lost plenty in my life, but I equated it after just one season with Indy, it felt like our final four loss for Pitt. And that was five years in the making of my career at Pitt to to lose in the final four. To then a six-month season with Indy. It like felt like that kind of of pain. And so yeah, and then Lauren had to leave immediately. And so our owners did have us over and we had some like great moments together. And Jim and Dawn are just like phenomenal and loved us through it all and helped us through it all. And we were able to to celebrate the season after a little bit and ⁓ cheers together and ⁓ we were able to find like some light in it. But it definitely is gonna like it has stuck with us for a little bit. But yeah, Lauren went overseas ⁓ and did awesome things with her Swiss national team. And so it it was weird. It's like you lose and then you all go your separate places and you all go to home or you all go wherever everybody's off season training. And so ⁓ It's just like I I think it will stick with us enough to keep us going through the offseason. You know, with that final four and and pit, and and I know this is an indie focused question, but I'd like your perspective on it as well. That's same thing. I feel like that was such an incredible run. And then obviously it ends in a bittersweet way, but you've got to be able to look back right on on the positives, right? I know that's sort of the all everything's sunshine and rainbows. And then, you know, lame for the same thing. Like on the Dallas side of things when, you know. How much is does it stay sunshine and rainbows before you swi flip that switch into the next season? Yeah, I mean we we let the high ride let the Yeah. Let the high ride. For for the night, for the week, maybe for the month. And now we're back in off season, so the grind starts now and we're we're getting ready for next season. And that's that's all that matters now. Like last season does not matter at all anymore. ⁓ maybe we feel like we have some more pressure to win, so it might even it'll be even harder for sure. Yeah, I think having like a bit of a goldfish memory, like Lane is talking about, is really helpful in sports. And looking back on like all of the positives and our strengths and what went so well to like help push us through. Looking back at the negatives, okay, what can we learn from? How can we be motivated by it? I think is gonna really help us into this next season and yeah, like appreciating so much good that happened in the season because even though it like ended in heartbreak, like ⁓ my gosh, it it really was such a special season and such a special group. And I could talk honestly about Indy and our pit crew like for forever. I just had have so much love in my heart for everybody. so really like taking those positives with us and letting it drive us as well as motivating us like on the lost side. Several new teams coming to MLV in 2027. You both are cornerstone members of your respective franchises that are, you know, one starting from the ground up and then getting immediately to the top, another one being, you know, just one of the staple franchises. What advice do you have to players, ⁓ front office staff to create such a I guess number one, a successful franchise, but number two, both of your teams had such an impact on their communities and have had it, just to to be able to Create sort of, I guess, franchises in the similar image as both of yours. Yeah, I think like community outreach is huge. in Dallas and India, it's great volleyball communities. So just connecting with the younger, younger kids and getting out there. And also connecting within your organization. Like we're close with all our owners and staff and just getting to know everybody is really helpful to for building a franchise. Yeah, Lauren talks to us a lot about. like what a privilege it is to be in the position that we are in and that when we get to go out and do either community outreach or just games, we get to put on a show and we get to entertain. And that's like part of the business. And it's fun and this is a dream job. And so ⁓ like how can we market that? ⁓ and I think like our front office just absolutely kills it. I talk about our front office all the time. I brag about them a lot to my like my family and friends and parents. And my parents actually We're like, Halo, like what what the heck is so special about your front office that you're like talking about them all the time? But I know we know all of them by name. ⁓ they hang out with us all the time. They are in there working just as much as we are. They come to our practices. ⁓ they're obviously at every game, they're in there setting up everything. And I'm just like talking about them, talking about them. And then my parents ⁓ met them at the championship week because our whole entire front office came to Dallas and traveled out. And they f they met the front office and after ⁓ my mom was like, ⁓ my gosh, I get it now. Like these people are amazing. They care about it just as much as you guys do. They were screaming their heads off in in the ⁓ our Dallas match in Dallas. and they were just like, Okay, now yeah, we see why you're so obsessed with them now. And so ⁓ just they they work really hard and they're in the community a lot, and they ⁓ have a bunch of opportunities for us out in in the community and they market like crazy and it's really important to our owners that they market like crazy. And I do think it starts like at the top and trickles down. And so having really ⁓ like owners that care a lot has been has been really, really cool. We can have convos with Jim and Dawn about anything and they will take it to heart. ⁓ and they they want our organization to be the best. And that just like trickles down into everybody. I can't help but go back to both of your relationships with your coaches. And I mean, can you share any more of like how often you're texting them? What what what are we talking about? Whether it's like what you're doing in the offseason or you're just talking about like the last movie that you watched? Like how how often are you are you reaching out to your respective coaches? Or vice versa. How often are they checking in with you? I've just been given some rehab updates. That's about it. But we chat, we chat. Lauren is a big ⁓ voice memoer. And so if you can get her on a voice memo, ⁓ you can chat with her about anything. But Lauren does set a very clear boundary. We are not her friend. And so that is ⁓ very important though. Anytime that we're like maybe giggling a little too much with Lauren and she's like, she literally will be like, You need to stop talking right now. you're not my friend. ⁓ like don't think of me that way, like I am your boss. And we're always like, Okay, you're right, Lauren. ⁓ ⁓ but like Lauren and Haley are so cool. I could talk to them about anything. ⁓ getting into like any coaching or stuff, I'm gonna be picking their brains a lot. ⁓ Lauren is a really big volleyball nerd and they all do a bunch of like reports and things like that. And Fish here cares a lot about that too. So I'm gonna be picking her brain with that. Be like, All right, what are you studying? What reports are you doing? Send them over my way. ⁓ but ⁓ they're they're really easy to talk to. So you can talk to Lauren about volleyball, you can talk to about life, Haley about life. ⁓ so they're they're fun whenever you can catch them in their voice memos. Shannon's a big voice memo or Terry. Yeah, I don't know. They just exchange all day. 100% they do. Lane, I thought it was really cool that this to see that you were still I and I'm I'm learning more about the process, but ⁓ named or selected ⁓ for Team Canada, even though you obviously couldn't play, I thought that was great. Can you talk about your experience either, you know, in the past years and then obviously, you know, with this selection to be on the Canadian national team? Yeah, we've Had a pretty core group for a long time. I think this is like my ninth or tenth season with them, which is insane. and we're just really, really trying to make an Olympic run. So we've had this core group. There's a few in and a few out, of course, but we just really, really want to go to the Olympics, and we have a chance to do so this summer ⁓ in qualification in August, I believe. Just the Continental Championships, the winner of that automatically goes. And the USA doesn't count this year because they're hosting. So we have a really, really good chance. I'm sad I won't be able to be a part of it, but I'll be back with them next season and yeah, excited. Have you been watching any of the the V and L run? All of them. Okay. Any any I'm making her watch with me. So so like Team Canada fan by association. ⁓ a hundred percent. Ever since I met Lane, I think all of us definitely became like a fan of Team Canada, specifically wanting to see her succeed. So I I really hope that they make it. Lane, what is what does it mean to be a team candidate fan? Like is does it have to be pancakes and maple syrup like before every match? Like what has to happen? I'm assuming you can't just throw on a Yeah, right? Yeah, I know. Modern a make believe tattoo. Hey, there's still room. You can't the whole hand lost. Yeah. I wanna talk more about the off season, obviously the the coaching I think is so ⁓ f interesting, but like obviously you gotta probably change some of your messaging when you're working with younger kids. What has that been like? Honestly, the message like doesn't change for the kids. Like the standard is so high here. We're like coaching the kids as Fish would coach us here. So it's kind of crazy. Yeah, we do all all the drills that the campers do, we do every single day at Pit. So we take them through like a setting session. Every drill that they do, we do it during preseason at Pit. We all become a setter for a day. We all become a middle blocker for a day. We all become serving for a day. So they're doing exactly what we do. The the standard is high. ⁓ during you know, there's different levels that we have and stuff like that. And so it's been a fun and chaotic ⁓ couple of weeks of camps, but I we're really grateful to be able to give back to a like a community that gave us so much and support. ⁓ th there are a lot of kids that are here that are like in the high school camp that remember us and parents that have remembered us, and so being able to see them like all grown up now and maybe their little their little sibling is in it has also been really special. That's so cool. And then like How do you how do you structure I mean obviously like doing a lot of the same things that you know you all would do, like you mentioned, but ⁓ I I've hearing from you know parents or or club coaches in the past, like structuring a camp always seems like a a pretty big challenge. Like is that something you all are doing? We have like a camp director, Kamalania Keo, who is actually our setter in college, so that's been really fun. But she she basically runs the whole thing and it's very structured, like it's very well put together camp and we're just kind of running our courts. Yeah, we we were just talking about this the other day with Kamalani and we were like, ⁓ pit volleyball camp is like a boot camp. It is like every ten minutes we have something that we all all of us coaches have a game plan. We have our rotations down to which court we're going to. We know exactly what we're doing. We all have it like memorized by now. ⁓ and if you don't, then it's on the paper and we're going, going, going. They they run a really organized camp, as organized as possible that you can. With kids, especially we we go all the way down to like six and seven year olds and so which can be really crazy and fun. ⁓ all the way up to high schoolers and so it's gotta be able to work for everybody. And they I mean, they got it down. It's really it's really good. We totally could run it by now because we've done so many camps, but like not our job. For sure. We're the fun. Come come have fun over here. We'll but we'll we will get on you if you're messing around. Don't mess around too much. But ⁓ we're pretty good cops. Yeah. How much has coaching helped you both as as players and obviously with your your coaching journeys as well? If you're, you know, doing that on the side. ⁓ Kayla, I know you're at Brown and then now with with Pitt. ⁓ but just how has that really helped you maybe at all see the game, maybe from the coaching perspective onto when you're on the court? Yeah, it sounds silly, but just like seeing the basics again, like just going through every step of every skill is just like a great reminder. Like sometimes you just kinda just go through the motions and do it, but really breaking it down is a great reminder. Totally agree. Yeah. Like we have to walk them through their steps and it's like, ⁓ yeah, I'll do it with you actually to just remind myself the correct footwork. And then also I think it's so important ⁓ like the language that we use with coaching and how we speak to them. And we it's really big here. We talk about it as coaches. That you don't just want to say, hey, good job, you're doing great. Like, hey, that was a great arm swing. I love the way that you pulled your arm back and had bow and arrow. Like the way that you snapped through your finish instead of just like, hey, you're doing great. And so, like, as a coach saying that, but then like we can speak to ourselves that way and like speak to our teammates that way and be like, ⁓ my gosh, like that float serve was phenomenal. Lane, like, ⁓ my gosh. So just like learning the importance of language like really matters to human beings. ⁓ and so taking that with us as teammates and like how we speak to ourselves is really important too. Taking away that it's obviously Lauren and Shannon, just you all have have had so many great coaches along your your pathway to be where you are. What kind of style works for you? And my second part to that question is obviously with the new teams coming in. Some of our athletes have had to sign, maybe not necessarily knowing who their coach is, or at least I I haven't. Maybe they've been it they've been told before they sign. But I would imagine that's gotta be a little bit, you know, you gotta be wary of like, okay, is this coach gonna match my style? And have you learned along the way that there is a style of coach that works best for your game? I like a blunt coach. Like, I don't want sugar coating, my feelings aren't gonna get hurt, so I like just tell me how it is. That's what I like. I was gonna say honesty. ⁓ I think we've both have had coaches in the past where they won't be honest and then you're left in this like weird middle ground of what is my role, who am I on this team? What am I as a player? ⁓ and so with honesty, even if it's brutal, like as professional athletes, that's what we need to hear. Even if it's ⁓ hey, you're doing terrible right now. ⁓ that's like you're right I am and I'm gonna get better. Or like, hey, help me. you know, or like, hey, you're you're doing great. This this role that you're in right now means a lot to this team for X, Y, and Z. ⁓ Honesty and being blunt is the best way to go. And then I would say if you're with a coach that isn't rock into your style, how can you be adaptable? Because you are gonna have coaches, you're gonna have teammates, you're gonna have a lot of people in your life that don't do it to how you want it to be done. And that's life. And okay, how can you adapt? How can you still be your best self? How can you still find ways to win? How can you be a good teammate? All the things without people like going to what you think like caters to you. When did you find that? You you hit that point where like, okay, I know who I am, I know what I want, I know how I play. For me, Pitt, like I like became myself at Pitt. I was barely even a volleyball player before Pitt. Like I was going to school for tennis. I was like, this came out of nowhere. So I really grew up here and learned everything from Pitt. I I totally agree. yeah, we learned so many life lessons here, and they make sure that we learn life lessons here. Like they care about that. ⁓ we do a lot of work as like young women to learn all these things. ⁓ so I would say definitely for me it happened. I think like both of us growing up as athletes, we always like had an idea that we wanted to be athletes. ⁓ because I don't think either of us like had strong passion. Like neither of us were like, Let's be doctors or like we we like never had like a passion in school that was like gonna direct us in a way other than athletics. And so then once we like Really dove into volleyball here. ⁓ we learned a lot about like life and everything in general too. Lane, when the knee is fully healed, any any tennis in your future in the offseason? I'm gonna start with pickleball, but then I'll work my way back up to tennis. It's it's competitive. I played pickup the other day and you know I had an older couple on the other side and they're like, Your foot's on the line. I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll I'll get it I'll get together. She's really good. I believe it. Like really good. Like really good. Wait, are we talking tennis or pickleball? Both, but mostly pickleball. Pickleball, I like. crazy dream of mine is to play pro pickleball after I'm done pro volleyball. I think that's more than attainable. I've seen there's I don't know if it's a Netflix series or maybe it was a highlight on the the pro pickleball league, which like again, intensity seems to be a common theme. Yeah, there's a lot of ⁓ tennis players that I used to play with that never made it and are playing pro pickleball now and I'm like I I can do that. Kayla, back to what you were saying. I mean, you're part of an athlete household with your with your husband. So, like you were saying earlier, you were you weren't escaping athletics no matter what. But also, I mean, the I mean, who's the best athlete? I guess I gotta ask in the house. ⁓ gosh, him. Him. We've gone, we have talked about this. We've gone through different phases. So he currently, as we speak, he is. He is making a run at the Olympics, and he's one of the best wrestlers in the country right now. He like literally is ranked really high. And so He he has me beat right now. ⁓ in college, it it was definitely me. He has had a really cool path. He started wrestling in high school. ⁓ he went NAIA first and then became an NAIA national champ. That's how he got recruited here to pit. So he transferred in. That's where we met here. ⁓ and so he had a great college career too, but I had a better one. And now now he ha he has me beat. So I like I am s just so hopeful I could like see the two of them possibly in the Olympics one day. I mean I'm gonna be losing my mind. I'm gonna be like just going crazy. ⁓ so we do have a pretty competitive household, ⁓ but it's it's a lot of fun. It keeps us really busy and and active. Between Between all of you, you know, when you're when you're not, you know, playing, you know, or doing the camps, like is volleyball just like, hey, we're not talking about it. No matter what. Is are we not talking about wrestling no matter what? And is it like we need to just completely decompress, not touch a volleyball? Like I guess I've been talking to some athletes throughout the offseason. They're like, I need three months of no volleyball talk whatsoever. Is that kinda like that for both of you? No, I like being around volleyball. I mean, we I think we balance it very well. Like if we talk about volleyball, it's it's always goofy and I don't know. We we don't take things too seriously, so it's not like Daunting on us. Yeah, when we're talking volleyball, we're more, yeah, like we're talking about Team Canada. We're talking about maybe some like tea going on between the teams. Like we're talking about it in that way. Same thing with wrestling. Like I like to know all the tea, who's married to who and like what drama, who's gonna beat who. So I think we talk about it in like that fun way. ⁓ we try not to escape it too much. I like to take like right after season, we like to go home to California and take like a couple weeks like off off. And then go to my off season training and st start like gearing back up into it. Lane, it's a question that really has nothing to do with anything other than you mentioned it at the at the first time that we talked. Have you beaten your Candy Crush high score since the last time that we talked Well, I'm I'm some slow progression. I play every day. Slow progression. That sounds I mean I don't know. I play every day. Consistent progression. Consistent, yeah. Yeah, I'm still going. I'm at like 13,000. That's I think a thousand more. I think you're at like twelve. Yeah. No, I'm climbing. Kayla, do you ever do you ever see her playing candy girl like Yes, we've been showing up early, like for the camps and stuff, and if we're just sitting there like if I'm like scrolling or if we're talking, she's like candy crushing. Yeah. Big time. ⁓ my gosh. I love telling him about our last interview that it's like my pregame ritual. I sit in the locker room and just crush candy. That's good for your brain, actually. Yeah. Is there a similar similar pregame ritual for you? No. No, no. I no, I actually don't really have anything that I like to stick to. I like to dance a little, have fun, keep it light, keep it. I was gonna say you are couching it because on the sideline you are one of the most like electric people going. I mean the the leading the cheer, always animated, so I mean I I was gonna say I feel like the the low-key mellow pregame routine doesn't really make sense to me. Thanks. I do love to dance. I love a dance. I can't lie. The music is loud. I'll do it right now. No, I love a dance. We all love a dance on a team. ⁓ it just keeps keeps it light, focused. Like it I think it does help me stay like pretty present in the moment too. Then once it's game time, I feel like pretty locked in. But I I love a dance, love keeping the vibes high, getting the energy going. yeah. At pit pregame we would go way too hard though. We would go out on the court and we'd be like drenched in sweat. Like it was not good. It was like a ri Really big thing. We've learned a better balance for sure. Well so like just there there's a point where you can all go too overboard in the really okay. We did. We did we peaked like before the game star that's what we would say here. This is pr pretty darn successful for peaking pregame. We had we had to learn over the years, but there were a lot of moments where we would come out like just dripping in sweat and our like warm up would be really weak and the coaches would be like, What are you guys doing in there? We're literally coming out drenched. What was the pregame playlist to get you so hyped? We can't talk about the songs on here. That's fair. I love to end these ⁓ conversations with just some rapid fire questions that have absolutely nothing to do with volume. So these are gonna be exactly lock in. These are gonna be quick, quick, but first thing that comes to your mind, both of you need to answer b all both questions. We can, you know, bounce back and forth on why you've chosen it, but don't think too much about it, okay? Are you ready? Yes. For both of you, what is the last TV show or movie that you watched? Love Island. What is your current hobby? Rehab. I was gonna say coaching camps and and really like hanging out and going around Pittsburgh. Got it. Pittsburgh Maxing. Pittsburgh Maxing. Anything specific within Pittsburgh Maxing? ⁓ going to restaurants, going out to eat, looking at the city. I'm like into buying Pittsburgh merch right now. Like everything I have is black and yellow, Steel City, like anything. I really want to get like the the old timey hat that they have that like goes kind of up here. It's the baseball hat for Pittsburgh, but it's like Yeah, it's like very cone-shaped, which is a Yeah, there's lot of really good hat selections in pit. Actually, we should take them to the shop district and go shopping. I will take you up on that perfect. Perfect. What is your pet peeve? I guess chomping, loud chewing. ⁓ good. Don't love that. Yeah, I would say this is like too serious for a fun question, but like if you're lying. That's a bad one. I hate liars. Hate liars. I I rediscovered one of mine getting off the plane, which was like when you're two rows behind the people that are in front of you and you're just rushing off and you don't have a connection. Good one. Yeah. That was that was my my new one. Yeah. ⁓ I've I've tried to figure out a way to rephrase this one and I have to your last day on earth. I it would be a lot of seafood, some mashed potatoes, love mashed potatoes. And chocolate milk. Chocolate milk. Good. See, that that that's a Rhode Island meal right there. Really? Yeah. Chocolate milk is like really big there. Wow. Yeah, and seafood. Okay. I would Rhode Island. I would yeah, come on. It's too late now. We'll go back together. ⁓ I would do some sushi, probably like a crispy rice, spicy tuna. Then I think I would do like a really juicy filet with a huge thing of butter on top. And then maybe like some kind of like sweet potato casserole. And then your turn. ⁓ gosh. I can't top that. That's really good. Thank you. I think that's really tough. I think I'd go with my mom makes a really good meatloaf. So I would go with that probably. And then my grandma used to make like this cucumber dish, which was like in Vinegar. It doesn't sound great, but it is good. And I'd probably go with those. ⁓ And pickl yeah, it's it's like like pickles. It's kind of it really wow. Picklesburg. That was a wholesome answer though, because it was your like family cooking. Yeah, I mean meatloaf doesn't sound as exciting as like sushi surf and turf and yeah. My dad loves meatloaf, so he would get down with yours. The only it's the only thing I can make. I'm not a great cook. I don't have enough time to do it really, but it's the one good thing I can do is like I make a mean meatloaf. I don't think that's a good selling point. That's all right. I'm getting myself off topic here. We've got we've gotta keep you rolling with these questions, but not so quick. Who who would she I know, I'm I it's my fault. I'm messing it up. Who would you want to play you in the story in the movie of your life? Kayla. So funny. Why not? She knows we we would know each other really well. Do you want like a famous actor? Well, I was gonna say now, Kayla, I like a lane impression that you would do for the movie. I don't think I could do one. I actually I don't know. Somebody famous. She would say like, ⁓ sorry. Sorry or A. Do I I don't even ha have a Canadian accent? It's r it comes out only when she says sorry. Sorry. An A. Yeah. I love when she says A at the end of the second. I try not to make it a big deal when she doesn't just stay cool. Okay. So it would be Kayla Kayla would be yours. Yep. gosh, I don't know. hmm. An actress though? It'd be anybody. This is this is like I don't know why this is the only thing I'm thinking of, but let's say it's like me in years, it would can I have like my mom play me? Sure. Like in the future. Love it. Okay, cute. Like the the little the one the movies where they have like the different person for the different like segments when they're doing the full. Yeah, I like that. I always like that better when they in those movies when they do that versus like the same actor in like just makeup. Makeup. It doesn't work out. three more. What is the fictional world you wish you could live in? Ooh. I would go something like super tropical, like a ⁓ like avatar vibe, like something like that. I I would say like Moana, but that's like real, I guess. Like based on real. How go Moana? It's not real, but you know it's like based on real. The first thing that came to mind doesn't even make sense is Candy Crush Land. The Candy Crush World. Okay. No, that's the what's the movie Wreck It Ralph Bar. That does kind of make sense, honestly, given our conversation. Like you're just in the world, like playing real life candy crush. I don't know. You're just working. You're just crushing candy all the time. Yeah, that sounds good. For both of you, if you weren't playing volleyball, what would you be doing? Playing pickleball. Mmm. I I don't think I would be like playing a sport. I this would be like my dream life and I would say it's a job, but it's not. I think we would like live my husband and I back home in California with my family, but like on a ranch on a beach, and I would have a bunch of animals. A beach ranch. Okay. Like a ranch overlooking like s picture like Santa Barbara vibe. So you're like up looking down, you're living at the beach, all my family's there. husband's and just like so many horses and animals. That's cool. And I would just be living there every day. I like that. I'm coming. Yeah. That's awesome. ⁓ and last one for both of you. What makes you happy? Pittsburgh. I love it. That's a perfect way to end. Well, Lane, Kayla, it's been just an absolute blast ⁓ to be here with you, to do this Set Six podcast live. We're looking forward to following you around ⁓ Picklesburg tomorrow. So stay tuned to our socials for that. By the time this is out people have already probably seen that, but if they haven't Please go to our MLB socials. And speaking of that, where can everybody follow your offseason journey into the season? I'm pretty active on Instagram, Lane Van Buskirk. I'm gonna get more active on Instagram, Kayla.land. Well, thank you both so much. It's been awesome to chat with you and ⁓ we appreciate it. Thanks, guys, for coming. Awesome stuff. Once again, a huge thank you to Lane and Kayla. it's just great to to really follow them around in a a day in the life. And ⁓ they're they're just they're awesome. They they you know w whether whether they were chatting with us or just kind of doing their thing. It was great to sort of be in their orbit for a day and, you know, just seeing them interact with the kids at their camp was so great. ⁓ you know, getting to see them kind of just joke around in the training room or whatever wherever it was. ⁓ they're a blast. They're they're awesome. So I think if you're a fan of either Dallas or Indy, if they're not your favorite players, they have every right ⁓ to to fight for that spot. And and they they have as much of a as much of a call for that as a as anybody. So they were They were so much fun. And it was, again, just so great to be able to be able to follow them around. It was cool getting to watch ⁓ the practice at Pitt, of course, at this point in ⁓ where they are in the off season, coaches can't be involved. So it's all player run. And ⁓ getting to see Izzy is Izzy Stark and Olivia Babcock there. It was so so cool because ⁓ Babcock came just back from the SBS literally the night before and is still out there, you know, ripping shots over the net, which was insane. ⁓ but getting to see kind of Izzy Stark run the practice and kind of put stuff on the board and and sort of say ⁓ where things should go and how they should be run and and and designing the individual drills. And I gotta kinda sit next to Lane and and kind of pick her brain on what was going on. And that was just that was just so cool. I geek out about that stuff, just being able to see the inner workings of of how these players go about it. And also, I mean, there's there's no no one's taking off any velocity in practice. I'll just say that at least for ⁓ Pitt and in the A A C C. So it was also really cool Lane and ⁓ Kayla showed us ⁓ along the I'm gonna forget what the name of it is specifically, but it is it is a form of walk of fame. And they're there with all of the great players from Pitt. And again, you'll see this in ⁓ please go check it out. There's a ⁓ a day in the life the producer Mike is making of this, and and you'll you'll see this in better detail than I'm able to give you secondhand here a week later. But it it's a walk of fame on the on the wall, and their names are there with some of the greatest athletes from Pitt that they've ever had. And that's just that's so unbelievably cool. We're we're back and we're walking with these athletes who will be remembered there forever. I mean, that's just that's just unbelievable. So that was cool. And then I'm I'm saving this, I was saving this for the back side of this, but we got to meet ⁓ a big Ben Ralphisberger, which was also ⁓ pretty neat. And ⁓ producer Mike is a big ⁓ a big Pittsburgh fan, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. So ⁓ we we we we were joking around with him. ⁓ I I was joking around with Mike, just that ⁓ you know, he was all starstruck from it and and Riley so and he goes, he introduces Hi, I'm I'm Ben. And and I think under underneath his breath, Mike goes, Yeah, no. So it was it was really funny. but it was also really cool. And and ⁓ you know, potentially maybe maybe being able to get him into ⁓ an investment capacity potentially it is it would would be really really great. So ⁓ those are those are all things that happen over my head, but ⁓ It was cool to see him there and I guess that ⁓ his daughter it was was part of the the pit camp as well. So you see a lot of those those professional athletes really, a lot of their daughters are getting involved in in volleyball. I know Tim Duncan, Tom Brady, ⁓ I think I can't I can't remember. ⁓ there was someone else I ran into. ⁓ Will Willie McGuinness, ⁓ former Patriots linebacker. I used to see his daughter at the the USA ⁓ club club tournaments all the time. So there there are so many too. You you'll you'll see them walking around as well. So ⁓ Yeah, that was awesome. That was super cool. So ⁓ hope you enjoyed that conversation. Again, really, really huge thank you to Pitt and to ⁓ Kayla and Lane. It was great. We'll wrap it up with first, we'll do ⁓ a mailbag submission, which was a a question: will there be any content from Ren? I can tell you, yes, there will be. There will absolutely be content from Ren. There'll be a live podcast kind of like this. We'll ⁓ show you some of the jersey process. That's gonna be really neat and kind of the makings of the uniform. We'll talk to some of the folks at Ren, kind of get a behind the scenes at what's going on. And how they make everything. And then ⁓ it's all gonna be happening on the socials. So whether you're following us, I would say primarily look to our Instagrams for that. and and kind of expect to see some of that behind the scenes content. But absolutely, we are flying out. I'm flying out on Sunday. ⁓ so by the time you're listening to this, whether it is Sunday, I'll already be there ⁓ in McKinney. So the short answer is yes, there will be plenty of content from Ren. Please keep commenting and emailing for ⁓ mailbags missions or if you have questions. ⁓ again, you can reach me at the email. That is Severin S-E-V-R-I-N at M-L V B dot com. Or you can just comment and we'll we'll find it. So that is what's coming up this week. ⁓ we'll probably I'll I'll tell you this in a second, but ⁓ we're probably gonna hold that off for another week just so we give producer Mike a chance to edit that before we rush it all out. ⁓ we want to make it look good for you. So that'll probably not be the episode next week. It'll probably be the episode the week after. ⁓ just quickly wrapping it up, what I'm watching, the World Cup review is is what I want to talk about briefly. ⁓ some people said it was boring, but I just had a blast with the World Cup. And, you know, again, I talked about it last week or a couple weeks ago about how I just love the kind of power of bringing people together through sports, and I felt like that's what this World Cup was. And yeah, maybe it wasn't the most entertaining final match and Spain always had the ball, it felt like, but it was like a big game every time. It had that Super Bowl atmosphere every time. I don't know if you all all were watching and where you were watching from, but I just always felt like it was a it was a party. each each time and that was so cool. And ⁓ even for the final the final match we were all we all went out to a place to watch and we've sort of figured, all right, you know, Sunday morning, not a lot of people are gonna be there. And it was packed. And this is in Orange County with a a lot of people's teams that are are out and not a lot of Argentina and Spain fans and yet the they've so many people there and it's such a it's such a I feel like a dormant po fan population that you don't always see. And then the World Cup comes around every four years. It's like, wow, you know, there there are so many people that care about this. ⁓ and again, like I said before, I feel like it's always it would be so neat to be able to tap into that international passion the the same way ⁓ in our in our space here in volleyball. And ⁓ I've seen that happen before at at various F I V B events. ⁓ but also just yeah, it's it's it that that kind of atmosphere is always what I feel like you you chase in the sports environment. So it was awesome. I thought that was really cool. And then I'll give you a I'll give you a mini a mini Odyssey review. That's what I what I watched. ⁓ mild spoiler alert now if you don't want to hear it. But I'm not like the hugest Christopher Nolan fan ever. However, I do think I'd like to think that I'm fair. The Prestige is one of my favorite movies of all time. ⁓ you know, Oppenheimer is is an amazing movie. Memento is great. So I'm not not a fan, but I I always my pet peeve, you know, we were talking about in the episode what what our pet peeves ⁓ were. Mine is when people tell you. Something or you you're supposed to already make up your mind that something is amazing. And it's like, I I want to go in and be like, no, I'm gonna form my own opinion. So my pros and cons, real quick for the Odyssey, and I won't go too deeper because you know you should watch it. But also, how much can I spoil? Everybody knows this story. It was written thousands of years ago. So, you know, there's not a whole lot you can spoil. But for the movie at least, everyone's acting is amazing, which you no surprise. It's like the star-studded cast of star-studded c casts, ⁓ Anne Hathaway especially was terrific. And some people said, Tom Holland's acting was was ⁓ distracting for them. I didn't think so. I thought he was great. So everyone's acting really well. It looks visually amazing. It's it's shot very well. You can see how important it is in all of the the production to be kind of on location and take real shots and and I think it pays off for that. Thought the Cersei sequence is really great. ⁓ trying trying his hand a little at at body horror was ⁓ was Nolan. And so that's that's pretty darn good for at least in a lot of his movies, I haven't seen stuff like that. And I like that they went back towards the end of the movie to the the sacking of Troy. I thought that was that was good. They they didn't gloss over it. They went back to it. The cons for this movie, which I feel like you're not hearing from a lot of people, so I'll give you a couple. I'm still like half deaf in my right ear from watching this movie. I feel like I saw a meme about that where all Chris Nolan's movies are are, you know, just so incredibly loud. So I'm still half deaf from it. Didn't love the pacing at points. I feel like it it wants to rush through the parts that he's bored of. Or that he doesn't really care for just to get to the next scene, particularly rushed through the the sirens in the whirlpool scene. I was like, ⁓ I wanted more of that and just kind of, you know, all right, let's let's get on is kind of how how it felt like for that. And then the costuming did take me out of it. I saw some people saying, ⁓ if you think that, then, you know, you're an idiot and you're focused on the wrong things and hey, maybe that's true. But I don't know, the the Agamemnon the aura farmer I think is very true. It's like, All right, you know, the if the whole point is that he's just supposed to look like Batman, then it kinda it's kind of taken away from who the who the guy was and I mean, I don't know. That was my opinion at least. And then Matt at one point it looks like when they're when they're getting out of the the Trojan horse, Matt Damon looks like he's has has vans on. ⁓ so I I I don't know. The the costuming at certain points took me out of it. But there you go. That is my very brief, hopefully not too spoiler heavy review of the Odyssey. It's worth seeing. The IMAX w was cool. So that's a movie worth seeing. So there you go. That is ⁓ that is everything from this episode. Thank you so much for listening. Of course, as always, thank you to producers Mike. Amy and Jenna doesn't happen without them. And of course, this whole podcast does not happen without you. We've had just so much fun going to eat whether it's these on location episodes or getting jit chat with our players in the offseason. And I'm having a blast doing this. So it's been really cool and we're going to keep it going. So ⁓ next week is probably going to be Lauren Bertolacci, head coach of the Indie Ignite. But ⁓ and then after that we're gonna we're gonna go with ⁓ the Ren episode, live from Ren, and we'll see who we get there. So looking forward to that. But hope you enjoyed this. Thank you so much for tuning in, everybody. Until next time, I'm your host, Severin Lavenstein, and you've been listening to Set Six, the official podcast of Major League Volume.