The Viral Volley Podcast is LIVE!

I’m excited to announce that the “Viral Volley Podcast “ is LIVE!

After working with p1440 and VolleyballMag.com to keep the NCAA Men’s D1-2 Volleyball coverage going, as well as the excitement and personalities coming up through NCAA Collegiate Beach the decision was made to pursue a platform that highlights the up-and-coming athletes in volleyball while throwing in some National Team and international athletes as well!

The “Viral Volley Podcast” will feature men and women who are impacting the games of indoor and beach volleyball— all of which I have had personal connection with— to tell their stories, talk about the “volley life,” be “real",” and have some fun in the process.

At first, I was intimidated to pursue such a venture, however my heart and passion is to allow the volleyball fans around the globe to connect to the athletes who play the great game we follow!

Click in , subscribe and/or follow “The Viral Volley Podcast” and @viralvolleymedia on Instagram for the inside look at the personalities of our great game!

Volleyball Australia's Becchara Palmer, The Viral Volley Pod/Vodcast, 3/31/20

Australian National Team member joins Rob on The Viral Volley Pod/Vodcast to discuss the impact of the recent pandemic in the world with the coronavirus, the now-2021 Tokyo Olympics and some of her pursuits during quarantine time.

Episode is also available on iTunes: Becchara Palmer, iTunes

Off-the-Block Blog Media Poll, Submission for 1/20/20

#1 Hawaii’s Rado Parapunov: 46 Kills in 2 nights in Chicago, hitting over .400.

Upsets in the Top 5 Rock The Poll

Like Taylor Swift drops a hit song every so often there are guaranteed upsets in Men’s D1-2 volleyball. This week losses to teams in the top 5 to unranked teams along with surprising performances by lower and/or unranked teams have caused a decent amount of movement in this Week 3 poll (in my opinion).

Here’s who I’ve got and where:

1. Hawaii (7-0, 0-0 Big West)

Hawaii made the swing to ChiTown and brought a heat wave. Lewis and Loyola both put up good fights, but the Rainbow Warriors made some tweaks and got it done. Rado Parupunov, the sleeping Bularian Beast may have awakened firing 22 and 24 kills on nights 1 and 2 respectively.

2. BYU (6-0, 0-0 MPSF)

Played two at Mount Olive of the Conference Carolinas, mixed up their lineups and got 2 straight-set wins. Their “G-Force Combo” of Sophomore OH Davide Gardini and Junior Opposite Gabi Garcia-Fernandez (GGF) did their thing and led the way for the Cougs.

3. UCSB (5-0, 0-0 Big West)

Scrappy, gritty and talented, this is a fun team to watch. Ryan Wilcox, Randy Deweese, Casey McGarry took down a hot Purdue Ft. Wayne team with multiple international National Team members (PUR, Chile), and Ball State— in straight sets— and easily. If I were in the #1 or #2 spot I’d be watching my back.

4. Long Beach St. (4-0, 0-0 Big West)

Took down a USC team that is on a 4-match losing streak for their lone match of the week. Carlos Rivera has a good OH option in Spencer Olivier, but also having Simon Anderson in the middle isn’t too bad either.

5. UC Irvine (3-1, 0-0 Big West)

Moves up this week due to key losses to higher ranked teams along with a victory over then-#7 Stanford. Joel Schneidmiller a consistent gun as an attacker, but Scott Stadick (MH) is elevating his game defensively at the net garnering most-likely his 3rd consecutive Big West Defensive Player of the Week award.

6. Lewis (3-3, 0-0 MIVA)

The Flyers had a tough go this weekend with 2 losses. On Friday night they put up a fight vs. #1 Hawaii and battled, but the ‘Bows were too much. On Saturday, the Flyers went up 2-0 on #14 Penn St. and dropped the match due to the awakening of Penn St.’s three-headed beast (Wildman, Wildener, Mende).

7. UCLA (3-1, 0-0 MPSF)

Had one match in Week 3— after a 10-day break and without the services of All-American MH, Kofi Gyimah. The results? An upset loss to unranked UCSD in 3.

8. Penn St. (2-2, 0-0 EIVA)

The largest leap for me this week. Brett Wildman was unleashed and it resulted in TWO top-15 victories for the Nittany Lions. They’ve got a legitimate 3-headed beast in Wildman, Wildener and Mende. Definitely a game-changer in the EIVA.

9. Purdue Ft. Wayne (3-1, 0-0 MIVA)

The ‘Dons got Pele Vargas and Tomas Gago back— and took down CSUN in straight sets, then lost to #4 UCSB.

10. George Mason (2-2, 0-0 EIVA)

Even with injuries managed to upset #8 Pepperdine. If this speaks to the depth and character of this team look to see the Patriots atop the EIVA.

Off-the-Block Blog Media Poll, Submission for 1/13/20

St. Francis Outside Hitter, Michael Fisher in the upset of #7 Stanford.

Below is my weekly submission to Off-the-Block Blog’s Media Poll. Feel free to comment here, or on my Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

1. Hawaii (5-0) - Still the team to beat— with a LOT of weapons.

2. BYU (4-0) - “GabZilla” or Gabi Garcia-Fernandez and Davide Gardini have been the muscle, but it’s the serving of this team that’s making them even tougher to beat.

3. UCLA (3-0) - Light week for the Bruins after their East Coast run. Coach Speraw and the crew head to UCSD on Friday.

4. UCSB - (3-0) - Have put quite a few different lineups on the court and are winning. Darkhorse NCAA pick? We shall see.

5. Lewis - Impressive play on their West Coast run. They are in the top-4 in the nation for best Middle Blockers/Attackers. Host Hawaii this week— PRETENDER OR CONTENDER?

6. Long Beach St. (3-0) - Undefeated, but challenged by Concordia in the ASICS Invitational.

7. UC Irvine - Split the week with Chicago’s finest— had 5 match point opportunities in the 5th vs. Lewis, but instead had 4 service errors.

8. Pepperdine (1-0) - Not matches this week. Head to the East Coast for matches at Daeman, Harvard and George Mason.

9. Purdue-Ft. Wayne (3-0) - Without the services of All-American Pele Vargas and Tomas Gago, who are attempting to qualify their respective countries of Puerto Rico and Chile for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, have managed to get 3 “Ws”.

10. Stanford (3-1) - Was the 1st big upset of the 2020 season to St. Francis early in the week, but rebounded vs. NJIT and George Mason.

Off-the-Block Blog Media Poll Submission for 1/6/20

The 2020 NCAA Men’s Volleyball season is in full-effect and we’ve got a few of non-conference contests that concluded this weekend. As a voter in Vinnie Lopes’ “Off-the-Block Blog” Media poll I want to reveal my votes for discussion. Here you go! Feel free to chime in below or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (@robonthemic)!

1. Hawaii (2-0) - coming off of two, straight-set wins over the EIVA’s University of Charleston (WV).

2. UCLA (2-0) - East Coast swing of straight set victories over 2nd year program Daemen (Amherst, NY) and the EIVA’s GMU.

3. BYU (2-0) - This BYU team went in and did business at not only one, but two MIVA powerhouse schools, Loyola and Lewis in their houses.

4. Long Beach St. (0-0)

5. UC Santa Barbara (0-0)

6. Lewis (1-1) - Split the weekend with a win over Conference Carolina favorite King, and fell to pre-season MPSF favorite, BYU in 4.

7. Stanford (2-0) - two straight-set wins over NAIA schools.

8. UC Irvine (1-0) - ended 2019 with a sweep of Princeton.

9. Pepperdine (0-0)

10. USC (1-0) - Took down EIVA favorite Princeton in 5 in SoCal.

"Serving Up Style"... AGAIN!

It is with great excitement I announce that I’ll be serving as the MC/Host for the 2019 AVPFirst “Serving Up Style” event to be held Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 at the Pasea Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach, CA.

The “Serving Up Style” event serves as a fundraiser for AVPFirst. AVPFirst is a “…501-3c nonprofit organization with a goal of inspiring healthy lifestyles and creating a lifelong connection to the sport of volleyball in youth and their families. Regardless of where they reside or their economic status, AVPFirst gives children the access, opportunity, and resources to beach volleyball through clinics, community events, and training.” Read more…

I had the honor and privilege of MC/Hosting the event in 2016, the inaugural year, in the absence of AVP MC/Host, Mark Schuermann. The event was held at the Lyon Air Museum and featured a runway— not of planes, but of AVP-pros-turned-models! The event concluded with Olympic Gold Medalist and current Cal Poly Beach Volleyball Head Coach, Todd Rogers, being the first to be inducted into the “Hall of Champions.”

This year, Olympic Gold Medalist and USC Head Coach, Dain Blanton, and perennial AVP finalist/champion and UCLA Beach Volleyball Head Coach, Jenny Johnson-Jordan will be inducted into the "Hall of Champions.”

It will be a great honor to present these two personalities— who have contributed significantly to both beach and indoor volleyball with this AVPFirst honor.

I’ll be posting as I’m able on social media and news so stay tuned!

AVP Hall of Champions

• 2016 - Todd Rogers

• 2017 - Sinjin Smith

• 2018 - Misty May-Treanor

• 2019 - Dain Blanton | Jenny Johnson-Jordan

2018 AVPFirst “Hall of Champions” Inductee, 3-Time Olympic Gold Medalist, Misty May-Treanor

2019 AVP Season Hits The Ground Running on Day 1

Sun, surf, sand and volleyball— there is no better combination than that in Southern California, particularly in Huntington Beach, CA, where today the AVP professional beach season kicked into gear! From reading players’ Instagram, Twitter and Facebook posts there was no doubt this anticipation was going to result in high energy play with teams wanting to start off the 2019 right!

In the Men’s Bracket, all the top seeds did what they were supposed to do and there were no upsets, and all the teams that were expected to drop into the contender’s bracket did so. The largest upset happened in Match 25 where Webber/Honer, seeded 21st, took down Frishman/Marciniak, seeded #11, in 3 sets. The most energetic match of the day on the Men’s side happened in Stadium Court featuring Rafu (Roberto Rodriguez) and “The Rat” (Ed Ratledge), battling former NBA standout Chase Budinger and the electric Casey Patterson. Rafu was coming up with defensive saves that had the crowd in awe. Chase Budinger showed off his “Wrist On A Swivel” attack as he blasted a ball cross-court and bounced it within 5 feet of the other side of the net. After this jaw-dropping kill, Patterson made the gesture of dislocating his arm in funky positions that involved dislocating wrists, shoulders and elbows to emulate Budingers’ recent circus shot attack! Let’s just face it— Casey Patterson was born to entertain not only with his excellent level of play, but also for his vibrant personality!

Audrey Nourse on the attack in their victory over Smith/Wheeler.

In the Women’s Bracket, most of the top seeds also won as they were supposed to, except for the newly formed team of 21st seed Maria Clara Salgado and Traci Callahan who defeated #12-seed Allen/Schuh, then #5-seed Claes /Wilkerson, then finally dropped their 3rd Round Main Draw Bracket match to #4 Emily Day/Betsi Flint. Other than that, the twin youngsters from Newport Beach, Audrey and Nicole Nourse qualified for their 1st-ever main draw! They are just a mere couple of 16 year-olds. Ironically, the were eliminated by another set of 16 year olds who also qualified for their first main draw, Megan Kraft and Delayney Maple.! On a personal note, my favorite player to watch on Day 1 was Brandy Wilkerson who was either rejecting attackers or swatting balls for put-aways!

More to come on Day #2 of the AVP Huntington Beach! Check back in tomorrow!

College Volleyball Weekly: Week 9 Summary

Big Dogs in the Big West Established

After 9 weeks of the Men’s NCAA D1-2 Collegiate Volleyball season two things stand abundantly clear as to who the big dogs are: Long Beach St. is the number one team in the nation, and Hawaii is the number two team in the nation— and how it stands in this talent-heavy conference. It also goes without saying that the ‘Bows have the potential to threaten The Beach’s quest for back-to-back National Championships.

Long Beach St. continued in it’s winning ways collecting their 15th straight win—and doing so with only dropping one set this season to USC weeks ago. Hawaii has had similar success but have not dropped a set this season with 12 straight wins. Up until this last weekend many were questioning the strength, talent and ability of this Rainbow team because they have not had as worthy of opponents as Long Beach St.’s. After witnessing firsthand the back-to-back sweeps of #3 UC Irvine, IN IRVINE, I can firmly state that this Hawaii team is a SERIOUS contender to be in that National Championship match come the first weekend in May.

Yes, we’ve heard about SVT (Stijn van Tilburg), and Rado Parupunov—they are offensive juggernauts for the ‘Bows, but what makes them different this year is SVT doesn’t have to have a superstar performance every night for Hawaii to win. Rado has improved significantly from last season and it is readily apparent in his confidence on the court in all aspects of his game. Hawaii has two bona-fide scoring options WHO TERMINATE the ball consistently, however one cannot overlook the phenomenal setting of Joe Worsley and extraordinary defense of his brother, Gage, at Libero. One cannot overlook the rise-to-the-occasion play of high-flyer Colton Cowell—because if teams ignore him they will be in a world of hurt. They’ve added on some potent power that can inflict damage from the service line in Jakob Thelle who subs in for Gasman/Solbrig. This 6’6” setter from Norway fired off lasers off the bench keeping Irvine out of system challenging the Irvine receivers.

UCSB, is still a hot team to watch being that they are on an 11-match winning streak, and will most likely get their 12th vs. Lindenwood this week behind the arms of Wilcox and All-American candidate, Corey Chavers. After that this Gaucho team takes on #1 Long Beach St. for two. You know Coach McLaughlin is eye-balling those dates and has his team thinking “Upset Weekend.”

UC Irvine will be looking to recover after their back-to-back losses to #2 Hawaii, but it’s not going to be easy as they travel up to Provo vs. BYU for two. With the ‘Eaters’ newfound wisdom from two humbling losses many are eager to see how this team responds and their ability to challenge the top teams in the Big West.

Bruins Lay Claim at the Top

UCLA given their multiple injuries, adjustments and challenging opponents have to be happy that they sit atop the MPSF at 6-0. Brandon Rattray has come back from injury to lead the way for the Bruins, but the consistent play of Micah Ma’a and Kofi Gyimah, and contributions of Austin Matautia at the pin have secured them that place at the top. Bruins erased a 0-2 deficity to #5 Pepperdine mid-week last week in dramatic fashion, which gave them separation in the race for the MPSF title— for now.

It’s a virtual log-jam for 2nd in the MPSF with three teams, Pepperdine, BYU, and Stanford all have 4 wins, while USC coming off the upset of #5 Pepperdine has 3. The MPSF race will be one to watch closely.

Matches I’ll be watching this week…

Friday, March 8

• #3 UC Irvine at #10 BYU

Saturday, March 9

• #3 UC Irvine at #10 BYU

• # 6 Pepperdine at #2 Hawaii

Until College Volleyball Weekly on The Net Live next week be sure to follow the happenings on your favorite Men’s Volleyball resource— that can be VolleyballMag.com, Off-the Block Blog, and/or Volleytalk. Show that there is a healthy following of volleyball by engaging their sites and social media. It’s as easy as that to #GrowTheGame!