The 3 Amigchos: Gaucho Game Time

The transcription is a conversation between three individuals talking about their experiences as collegiate athletes on UCSB's women's volleyball team. They discuss game day rituals, superstitions, favorite pregame meals, and memorable matches. They mention the importance of team bonding and share stories of their experiences during away games, including a win against Hawaii and a loss against UCI. They also talk about their favorite memories from the season, such as going out after games and participating in the Big West Championship Tournament and NCAA games. I said some stuff to my face, and I just kind of sat there, and people were like, hey, girl, like, you're playing volleyball right now. For those of you who are diehard Gaucho fans or simply interested in sports talk, you are in the right place. Welcome. You're listening to Three Unique Shows, Gaucho Game Time, your go-to podcast hosted by your favorite trio. I am Jasmine Nathan, and I am here with Andrew D'Antoni and Grace McIntosh to talk about everything volleyball, specifically what it is like to be a collegiate athlete here at UCSB. Today, we'll be jumping right into a hot topic, Gaucho Game Time, where we will first discuss game day rituals and superstitions, favorite pregame meals, and memorable matches against rival schools. Coming up, we're getting the rundown on team dynamics with a fun chat featuring our special guests, Grace Wischbard and Sylvie Rivas. As teammates, they're ready to dish on all the team drama as they share their unique experiences. Stay tuned for the tea. You definitely want to hear it. Now, grab a snack and get comfortable because you're about to hear the inside scoop of the lives of UCSB's own women's volleyball team. So why don't we kick things off, starting with everything we Gauchos do when it is game time. Take it away, Grace. All right, let's talk about our top game day rituals, their pregame meals, and highlight some of our best and worst matches. Angie, what do you think is your number one pregame ritual? Personally, I like when we're all in the locker room together watching smash or pass and then doing our little banging on the locker cheer and other huddles that I like. But other than that, I would say smash or pass is definitely my favorite because it really brings our team together to bond over one thing and it's funny, lightens the mood before going into a tough or intense game. Jaz, what is your favorite cheer? I would have to say my favorite cheer is when someone gets a kill and we have these personalized cheers where it's, say my name's Grace and it'll be like, Grace just got a kill, woo! That's my favorite. That's my favorite, too. My other favorite pregame ritual is when we get our pregame meals because it's free food and it's usually really delicious because some of our teammates help pick us out the meal that we're going to have. My personal favorite is Natural Café and I get the chicken suzu salad. Angie, what do you get? I also like Natural Café and I usually get the NC Power Bowl or a salad, which is really good but I also love Blue Owl and I really like the Sweetheart Burrito or the Strawberry Feta Salad. Jaz, what is your favorite pregame meal? I would say my favorite pregame meal is probably Natural Café, too, except I only get a couple of grilled cheese, but it's pretty light on the stomach and it's also filling. Grace, do you have any pregame superstitions? Definitely. I have to straighten my hair for every single game, which by the end of the season, my hair is dead, but if I don't, I think we'll lose. And I also can't braid my hair because I'll break one of my fingers because that's happened before the one time I've ever braided my hair. And also, I have to use the same hair tie, so by the end of the season, that thing is like a little rag, but it gets the job done. Angie, what about you? Do you have any superstitions? I have a few hair superstitions as well. If we win when I'm wearing a certain hair tie, then I have to wear it again for the next game, but if we lose and I'm wearing that hair tie, then I will not wear that hair tie again for another game. Also, I slick back my hair in a ponytail or a little braid if we're playing a really hard team that we need to win, and usually we win when I have the slick back. There's only been a couple unfortunate ones, like Long Beach at the NCAA quarterfinals this past season, but other than that, the slick back works like a charm. Jazz, what are your superstitions? Well, I have to put my knee pads on before my shoes. It'd be kind of weird if you did it another way, but I also have to have my makeup done just in case we win early and we get to go out after. Have you guys, um, you know Julia's superstitions? Julia, which is another one of our teammates, she has to shave her legs twice the night before and listen to Party in the USA before we leave the locker room to go onto the court. Speaking of that, do you remember Emma's superstitions? What was that? She has to wash her face twice during her night routine. Some of our teammates have some really weird cleanliness superstitions the night before game day, but personally, it's the hair for me. It's the hair for me too. Oh, I have another one about Andy. She said that if we win and she's wearing a certain pair of socks, even if we have another game the next day, she'll wear those same socks again whether she watches them or not. Isn't that crazy? And when we're on the road, like, you can't really wash your stuff, and that's kind of nasty. I'm thinking about another superstition ritual thing. Our hanging milk. That was my favorite. That was my favorite. That was low-key our key to success. Wherever we brought it, we won. We won, and we were undefeated at home, and it was always at home. It was always at home. So there was a box that we put, everyone on the team put something in, and then it was something that could mean something to you or just something goofy, and then we would punch it and kick it, and the box was basically falling apart by the end of the season. But if we win conference, then we get to open the box, and if we don't, then we just throw it away and we don't open it ever again. Too bad we never had the chance to open the box, but I think it was a really fun tradition and something that we did as a team to bond, and it really motivated us to win, but I think we should move on to discuss our favorite matches and our worst matches. Grace, do you want to talk about our Hawaii away game this season? So for some background, we go to Hawaii and we play them every year, and it's always like the huge, like the biggest crowd. Do you know like what the numbers was this season? It has to be pushing like 10, 20,000. Yeah, it's like, yeah, between like 10 and 20,000 people, super loud, everyone's cheering for Hawaii, so no one's really there. It's like a small section of parents that are like for us, but really small because it's in Hawaii. And this year, we swept them in three sets, and the third set was actually like kind of terrifying because we were up by like six points, and it was like 21, actually I want to say more. It was like 21-12 us, and then they went on like an eight, nine point streak and came back and they almost beat us, but we ended up pulling through. And then we got to go out in Hawaii after that, and it was so fun. Jess, do you want to talk about that part? Yeah, no, the vibe at Hawaii was just super awesome, and we're like the top two team, so everyone wants to watch, and I'm pretty sure there's a good amount of streamers too, but yeah, it was just really honoring that we won there, and I don't think we've ever done that since freshman year, I guess, but I think that solidified that we won Big West, and yeah, we got to celebrate after, and yeah, it was just a great vibe. We had some great matches, and that was one of them, but Angie, do you want to talk about the loss at UCI? The loss at UCI is a tough subject to bring up for all of us and the entire team, but we were down a few of our starting players due to injuries, so it was a bit tough for us to battle back, and UCI is pretty scrappy, so they definitely proved themselves, and we definitely made a few mistakes that I think could have been prevented. I know Grish has something to say about that. Well, yeah, that game, let's just say I didn't eat my post-game meal because I was very upset after it, but we had a couple freshmen that had to come out of red-shirting, which just means that they weren't planning on playing, and then worst-case scenario, they had to play when our starters got hurt, and so we had a setter hitting on the right side, and she hasn't done that since the year before, so it's been kind of a long time, and a freshman middle also, and another girl that honestly probably could have played as a senior, but she had a concussion all of season starting in August, but we'll talk about that later. But yeah, it was a tough one, definitely a tough one, but we traveled to Fullerton, yeah, the next day, and one of our starters that was supposed to be playing in the UCI match came back, still hurt, but didn't want to face another L, and she played, and luckily we pulled it off. Jazz, what was your absolute favorite memory from season? I know we already talked about it, but the Hawaii win was probably top tier. Also, playing in Big West Championship Tournament for the first time ever, even though we lost first round, but yeah, that was super fun, and just, NCAAs, how could I forget? That was definitely my favorite part, first time we've done that since we've been here, and we got to play at Stanford, and we lost, but that's okay, because it was a great time, and a great experience. Okay, Grace, what is your favorite memory from season? My favorite part was going out after Hawaii again, because we went to a drag show, and we had a curfew, we had to be back by 1, and so we were at this drag show, like got lost in time, it was so fun, and it's like 1, and we're 20 minutes away from our hotel, and we're rushing back, and then we realized, our coaches aren't going to check our room at 1am, so we go back out, and we meet up with some friends, and we end up going some random places, and then me and Jazz got so tired, that we left one of the places, and we were walking around Hawaii, trying to find our way back to the hotel, and at this point, the sun was rising, and yeah, it took a long time, and we finally called an Uber, and we were just so far, we were not even close to walking in the right direction, but core memory for sure. Angie, do you have any other kind of weird anecdotes from season? I was going to add on to Hawaii, I thought it was definitely a core memory, rooming with Jazz and Grace, and being able to go to the beach, and try new food places, and all that, and of course, going out together, but another one of my favorite core memories was when we played Davis away at home, and everyone got to go to my house, it was super fun, got to show them a little bit of my Italian roots, and where I'm from, and we made homemade pizzas, and went night swimming, and practiced at my friend's gym, so I thought that was also a core memory, because I got to show the team where I'm from, and they got to see where I grew up, which was awesome, and a really cool experience to bond with everyone, but yeah, that is one of my favorite memories from season. Jazz, do you have a favorite memory outside of volleyball during season? Yes, we have this one event a year called Volleyween, which is pretty much volleyball's Halloween party, and me and my boyfriend dressed as Remy and Linguini from Ratatouille, and it was a great night. We also, Grace, do you want to talk about Lodge Island? Yes, okay, so me, Jazz, and Angie, we all live in a house, and it's called Lodge, and there's a few other volleyball girls, and a few other students, and just recently, this past weekend, we threw a party called Lodge Island, which is like a little spin on Love Island, and it was super fun, everyone got like leis, and they brought a date, and we just hung out at our house, listened to music, danced, partied, and it was a huge success, and I feel like that will be the new tradition that we'll carry over for spring. All right, let's switch topics now, over to some of the more mundane, but also important stuff. Angie, what are your top tactics for balancing school and volleyball at the same time, especially during season? I think being a college athlete, it really helps you learn how to manage your time well, and since we have practice from basically 8 to noon every day, and that includes Lyft, it's good that we get practice out of the way, so then the rest of the day, I usually, I don't like working on my schoolwork or studying at night, I like to get it done during the day, and so one of my tricks is just to do it right after practice, just so I can get it done and have the evening and night to myself, in case I want to do anything. Also, I get really tired at night when I'm doing my work, so I'd rather just avoid that at all costs. Also, really keeping a list of what I need to do each week helps me stay on top of school and volleyball at the same time, but those are mainly my tips and tricks. How about you, Jazz? Well, us student-athletes, we're lucky enough to get priority pass time, which means that we get to choose classes earlier, and I think that's also key to academic success, is obviously scheduling classes around practice time and game time and lifting, and also choosing classes that are considered easier in the fall, because that's when we compete, and honestly, just, yeah, keeping a schedule of when things are due, and just keeping up with schoolwork and trying to attend office hours when needed, and turning things in on time. Yeah, great. What about you? I think it's also helpful our coaches make us fill out these academic sheets at the beginning of each quarter, which, they're kind of a pain, but, like, when you're filling them out, but it's also helpful to stay, like, on top of what you have to complete, especially during season, when you're, like, traveling and practicing games and everything just gets kind of in the way a little bit, and you have to miss more class, but, yeah, then you know, like, what you're missing, and you can, like, talk to your teachers about going to office hours and making things up, and usually the teachers are pretty accommodating, so that's good. Has there ever been a time that you haven't been able to make something up, and it's, like, messed with your grade, Angie? I personally haven't had that problem, but I remember one instance when our two teammates, I remember it was for sure Z, and someone else had to take their quiz in the airport in between our layovers, and our head coach had to monitor their quiz, which is kind of funny, because, you know, he's super chill, and he went to Harvard, so he has high academic standards, but, you know, he wants us all to succeed in school, so I think that was nice of him to monitor it, but it was also difficult to do it while traveling and at the airport. They also had to finish it on the plane during takeoff and stuff, which is really annoying, and I know another example, maybe we can talk about it with Woosh later, is Econ has super strict rules, and one of her finals was during a game that we had, and they wouldn't let her make it up, and they were just saying that her midterm would count as double, which is really hard and annoying, because Econ is really hard. I personally haven't had to struggle with that, but I know people have, Jazz, have you? I personally have never experienced something like that, but I definitely have had to make things up because of volleyball, but it has never actually been an issue, I've been able to make it up, which is super lucky of me, but I think we should talk about traveling and what that's like. Grace, remember that time when no one was awake to take us to the airport, and we had to sit on our suitcases in line? Do you want to talk about that? So we had a flight out of LAX at like 6 in the morning, this is when we were flying to Hawaii, and yeah, so obviously no one's awake to drive us, literally in the middle of the night, it was like 2 or 3 AM, and so we had our suitcases, and we didn't want to bike because we didn't want to leave our bikes at the Thunderdome, and we couldn't drive because we don't want to pay for parking for almost a week being gone, and so we decided, we live on the 6-8 block of Ivy, so it's definitely kind of a mob to get to Thunderdome, so we decided to get on these Lime scooters with our suitcases, and like sitting on them, and it looked like we were playing Mario Kart, just like running around Ivy, but it was hilarious, and got us there in good spirits. And speaking of traveling, this year our coach, he actually was our assistant coach for the past two years, but he became our head coach, and his main goal was for everyone to be able to travel, which was like super cool, because then our whole team is there, and before it was only 17 of us that could travel, and now it's all 21, and I really appreciate it because that means that everyone's there, and like the bench is always like super fun, and super excited, but Jazz and Angie, you guys have more experience with this, how was not traveling your freshman year? The whole freshman year I redshirted, which immediately meant that I wasn't going to travel, which makes sense, but I did feel like it was, I felt like an outsider, like one instance I was going home while the team was traveling and playing UCSD, I think it was Halloween weekend, and I had asked the previous head coach if I could go home that weekend, and she said that I could come to the Servan Pass, which is basically a practice, and then watch the game, but I felt really weird being in the crowd of my own team, but yeah, not traveling sucked, and the new rule of everyone traveling is awesome. Angie, what do you think? Well, my experience even joining the team at UCSD is very different, I started on as the manager, where I knew I wasn't going to travel, I just went to every single home game, went to every single practice, and shagged, and helped the team out, and the coaches in any way I could, and I was able to go to all the home games, which was nice, but I wasn't able to travel, so I had a bunch of free time to just focus on school, and meeting friends outside of the volleyball team, but then in winter, after freshman year season, I tried out and walked on, and my sophomore year, I also didn't travel, so I had the same feelings as Jazz, I felt like an outsider, because there was only like three of us out of like twenty who didn't get to travel, which honestly, I felt was a little bit humiliating, like kind of embarrassing, that I just didn't feel like I was fully part of the team, because there was only a few of us who didn't travel, and it felt very isolating, but I know that Jazz and I had a bunch of fun times, like bonding ourselves when we didn't travel, which made it just so much better, and also, one of our other guest stars, that will be coming up soon, her name is Grace, we call her Woosh, but she was not traveling with us also a couple times sophomore year, so us three had a bunch of great times together, where we watched the games at home, had pizza, just vibed with each other, and kind of stuck with one another in the times that we weren't able to travel, but definitely this past year, my junior season, I felt very special being able to travel with the entire team, and I felt more a part of the team, and I felt a completely different culture shift than my first two years here as a volleyball player, but now I agree that the rule that all of us get to travel is just so awesome, and I've had so many great experiences with that. Grace, do you have anything else to add about traveling your freshman year and sophomore year? Yeah, I think freshman year, it was like a little bit, definitely took some getting used to, because like, my best friends on the team were the other freshmen, and Julia, which is another girl in our class, or our grade, didn't travel also, and so it was me, Jazz, Julia, and Angie, and so then at that point, I was the only one traveling, so it was kind of hard, because I wasn't really as close as the other girls, but also in the long run, it helped me to become closer with all of them, so I was really grateful for that, but in bigger terms, like in how Matt kind of implemented everyone traveling this year, I just want to talk about how Matt was just, I think he's a great coach, and a great person has really changed our program. Jazz, what do you think about that? Yeah, I definitely agree. Matt is on the younger side, and he's more understanding and personable than I think our previous head coach was. I think he's a game-changer in terms of inclusivity, and just rationing with everyone, and making sure everyone's feelings are accounted for, and I think he's done a great job just building team culture again, and setting the standard for future endeavors. Angie, would you like anything to add? Yeah, I've had a couple pretty terrible experiences with our previous head coach, where I just felt small, and not welcomed onto the team, due to the way I got onto the team in the first place, so I felt like that always was something that she used against me, and the way that Matt has made me feel so welcome, and that I actually have a role on the team now is just completely a game-changer for me, just throughout my years here so far, and I am really looking forward to our next season with him, especially losing so many seniors and so many starters. I think our season this year will be very interesting. So, I've already shared my experience on how I joined the CSP Volleyball team. Jaz, do you want to talk about the recruiting process for you, and how you came here? Yes, so initially, I did not plan on going to college for volleyball. I did reach out to a couple of schools, and I did hear back from them, but then Chad, who just recently became our assistant coach, again, he reached out to me, and things fell into place, and I was offered a spot on the team, and I thought to myself, how could I say no? UCSB is a great school, and you know what, why not try it out and see how it goes? It checks all the boxes, and I wanted to choose a school that had high academics, a good volleyball team, and a great school in general, and I think that, yeah, UCSB checks all the boxes. Grace, do you want to talk about your recruiting process? Yes, so mine was a little bit different, because there was a new rule that got implemented our freshman summer, after our freshman year of high school, where high school athletes couldn't talk to colleges until their junior year, and so I was talking to schools my freshman year before all of this, and we knew that the rule was going to be going into place, and so at the last minute, we kind of rushed to get to UCSB and go on an unofficial visit, and I had talked to a few schools before that, but none of them were ones that I really was super interested in, or I loved everything about them, so then luckily I came on to this visit here, and same as Jazz, I fell in love with everything, and I was like, okay, I can totally see myself going here, and then luckily we got that into the door before they kind of shut down all recruiting for freshmen and sophomores in high school, so yeah, and it was like, it's good to know throughout most of my high school experience where I was going to be, and that I was going to go to school, because then, it probably wasn't good, because then maybe I honestly slacked off a little bit more in high school, but it all worked out in the end. Okay, we've talked about all the basics surrounding game days, but let's switch gears to the juicy stuff. Team drama. Angie, do you want to kick us off with that, and tell us a little bit about your experience with Mahana? Yeah, so my experience, as I said before, was a bit different. I came on to the team differently than anyone else, so I already felt a little bit like an outsider originally before I even set my place on the team, and this one girl, Mahana, was a junior, I think at the time, and she is from Hawaii, so their standards for sports over there are very tough, rigorous, they take things very seriously, and she brought that over to UCSD when she transferred from, I think, a D2 school, but her background just, her background and her personality were stricter and hardcore than probably anyone else on the team, and as a transfer that was really bold to bring in, but with our old head coach, their cultures and their philosophies sort of aligned, and since she was our captain, that was basically how our team culture was. It was very drama-filled and hardcore and messy, and for me personally, Mahana, for some reason, it seemed like she had it out for me, even though she was way older than me, was a completely different position, I'm a DS libero and she's a setter, and there was this one time where she called our own little therapy meeting to discuss drama about two other girls on our team that had nothing to do with anyone, and this is when I wasn't traveling, it was a Hawaii drama, me and Jazz weren't there for that, but Grace was, and she can talk more about that after, but in the middle of this random therapy session that had nothing to do with me, she just brought up the fact that she thinks that I should have worked harder than anyone because of the way I joined the team, and she basically called me out in front of everyone and really embarrassed me and made me cry, and it was super rude and messed up to do to someone who kept their place and, you know, stuck to themselves a little bit, but she just really put the spotlight on me in the worst way possible and for no reason at all, and ever since then, oh, completely forgot, I was roommates with her the summer before I came to UCSB, and she was barely in her room, we never talked, we had some nice little interactions, but she was way older and her family lived in Santa Barbara, so she was never in our dorm, and for some reason, when she got a concussion, she thought I was being super loud when I was trying to set up our refrigerator, but I was just trying to plug it in, and, you know, despite me offering to her mom and her anything I could do to help or be there for her in any way or leave the room whenever just to give her some quiet time, that was completely overlooked and the only thing she kept from that was me being super loud with our refrigerator, which I don't even remember happening, but for some reason she just always targeted me and would just always make snarky comments and wouldn't respect me as a teammate or really a person, which made me feel terrible, especially as a freshman and sophomore and underclassman, and I know she had some other impacts on other players, like Grace, do you want to talk about your thoughts about her being brought back to the team? So she's graduated, and our coaches were thinking about, because she does have good knowledge about volleyball, but our coaches were talking about bringing her back to be a coach, and that just really spooked me because my freshman and sophomore year when she was on the team, I'm in the same position as her, and I just felt like I couldn't reach my full potential, and honestly, last year, sophomore year, in preseason, I got the yips, which is basically a golf term, where they just forget how to putt or whatever, but I got it for setting where I just could not set a ball to save my life, and so obviously it's a huge personal and mental and emotional thing, but I do attribute part of it to Mahana because she was always on my back about setting and was always just like, never really let me thrive, so when the coaches were talking about bringing her back, I was like, uh-uh, I do not want to go back to that, I'm such a different player now, but luckily, we're getting an Australian girl instead, and she seems to be really, really cool. But Jazz, did you have any personal beef with Mahana? Not that I can really think of with Mahana, besides little snarky comments, but her aunt, Adley, who was our assistant coach last year and the year before, she definitely had a personal vendetta against me. We had a couple of instances where we were out having a fun time with our friends, and we did have this drinking rule, where we could not drink 24 hours before practice, 48 hours before a game, and there was this one time where it was Sunday Funday, and I had one mimosa at like 9am, and somehow, I had accidentally posted a photo of myself with a drink in my hand, and the next day, I was completely fine from practice, honestly thought I had a great practice, and afterwards, I had an academic meeting with Adley, and it was supposed to be about my personal self and academics, but she ended up turning it into a completely different conversation, and had asked me, well first, she said I had the worst practice of my life, and then proceeded to ask me if it was because of what I did the day before, and I was like, well what do you mean? And she just pressed it out of me, and I told her I had one mimosa at 9am, and she thought that was completely disrespectful, and the last time we had a conversation about this, they said if you drink before practice or a game, you're going to get kicked off, and so I decided to quit, and then they had a team meeting, and they said I was indefinitely suspended, but eventually, I made my way back on the team, and then Adley retired, and yeah. And the whole preface to Jazz getting kicked off was from the time before, where it was one of our teammates' birthdays, and it was super awesome, her parents got a catamaran for us to go on around Santa Barbara, and it was like, not the whole team, a good chunk of the team, but the freshman went there, and a couple of other girls, just because she wasn't as close, and it's her birthday, she can invite who she wants, and she invited like us, and a few of the basketball guys, and just like some random people, and we were like drinking on the boat, and it was a Sunday, but this was in September, so in pre-season, I think our captain was on the boat, both of them, three of them, all three, and they were participating in the same stuff as us, and yeah, then they found out about this boat, the coaches did, the next day, because one of the people who wasn't invited went to them, and was like super upset about it, but then we had to run a touch six for every person that was on the boat, and that was like 127 lines before practice, and it was everyone on the team had to do that, and they said like, even the people that weren't even there, even the people that weren't there, like kind of messed up, but also, they snitched, that's what happens, but yeah, so that's when they said that we can't drink before practice, and if anyone does again, they'll get kicked off, and so I really feel like they just had to follow through with their word for that, like even though Jazz literally only had one mimosa, but they had to make it like a big ordeal. Just to bounce off the boat thing, I don't know, that was a big starter of team drama, because our friend Cam, who hosted the party, invited like her close friends on the team, and our team had about 22 to 23 girls, so it's kind of hard to invite everyone on this boat that has a maximum amount of people that can be on it, so of course she invited probably a little less than half of the team, which is almost like nine of us out of 23, which is a big chunk of people who weren't invited, but I think you should be able to invite whoever you want to your birthday thing, like just because we're a team, it doesn't mean that everyone has to be best friends with everyone, and especially with the drama and the lack of closeness, I feel like our freshman and sophomore year, it was a bit difficult, and it was definitely difficult and overdramatic, the way our seniors were acting about not being invited to a sophomore junior's birthday party, like I'm not sure why it was so blown out of proportion, but you know, that's girls, and girls are drama, especially college girls who play sports. Jaz, do you have anything else you want to add about team drama? I honestly think on a volleyball team, it's very clicky, and you find your group, not everyone is the same, there's different values, and people are coming from all different types of backgrounds, and I think that was a big issue on the team, especially in previous years, I just think people get offended easily when they're not invited to things, however, they can also ask to hang out, I don't know, Grace, what do you think? Yeah, I think that after all that happened, that people were like, actually we talked about this in team therapy, how when you start inviting everyone to stuff, but that's like, people were saying that people who live by themselves, they're like, don't ask to hang out as much, and we have events where the whole team's invited, and yeah, I agree with Jaz, it's literally just like everyone has different things that they like to do and ways to spend their time, and it just so happens that a lot of us like to spend our time the same way. Alright, to continue talking about team drama, we would now like to welcome special guest stars and fellow teammates, Grace Wushpard, aka Woosh, and Sophie Rivas, aka Reeve. Woosh, to continue our conversation about team drama, I would love it if you kicked us off with your experience with Nia. Can you talk about a little bit what happened last summer? To recall last summer, I think a majority of our drama just came from competitiveness, which showed, I think, in how we treated each other. I would say last summer, it was more of a power dynamic, and Nia wanted to show her power over me being older, and she got frustrated when I would try to do anything or say anything that got close to her sort of standing on the team, and it's understandable, and I think we worked it out, but I think that's where a majority of our problems came from last summer, and then to end off the summer, we did have a pretty big conflict that got resolved just by talking with each other, but yeah. And today, would you say that your and Nia's drama is fully resolved? Yeah, I think, honestly, it was resolved like a month afterwards. She was injured and got a concussion, and to say if it was a real concussion or not, I think she needed that time off, and I think she reflected on how she treated the situation and I got to, and there was no bad blood towards each other personally, and I think, again, like I said, it was just the competitive nature of the sport that got ahead of us in the moment, and whenever I see her now, we're more than kind to each other. That's good to hear. Now, Reeve, do you have any outside perspective on this incident between Lush and Nia that you would like to talk about? I mean, I got to see it happen firsthand, and obviously, like, living with Grace, I got to see a lot of her perspective, and obviously, I think Nia, especially because she lives alone, maybe didn't have maybe people to talk to, so I think part of her frustration came from feeling like she might, I think she felt like she was alone in her situation, which might have been like the reality, and obviously, a lot of us were like, I mean, I don't want to take sides, but obviously, a lot of us were like, supported Lush because it wasn't her fault, but yeah, I think a lot of it was Nia feeling maybe a bit excluded when that wasn't, like, purposeful. That was just kind of how I expected it to go. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Jazz or Grace, do you have any questions about the Nia situation that we should ask them? So, can you go a little bit more into detail about what happened at the practice when she originally blew up? Because she blew up on me first, because she hit the ball at me. It wasn't even on the court, and then she just kind of started spiraling. Can you tell us a little bit more about, like, what the conversation was? Or not even a conversation, but... Yeah, basically, we were playing a 6-on-6 drill, and the way it works is one middle can play at a time, and my team only had one middle, so I got to play the entire time, and her team only had two middles, so she had to switch off when she could play, and that's just how it was written. It was nothing intentional, just the way it goes. However, her team kept losing, and my team kept winning, so she didn't get to play that much, and I was playing a lot, and so she asked if the other middle could just take my position so she can continue to play, and I told her that I'm sorry, but that's the way the plan was written, and I'm not going to step off the court, and she got a little upset with that, and was kind of building up on the sidelines, and I could tell, and as soon as my team came off the court, she came up to me trying to say something, was going to say something about it, and I did take the initiative and was like, hey, I'm not going to let you boss me around. I was put on that team, and I want to play, and I'm sorry you have two middles, but that's just how it is, and she got pretty upset, and I would say I said it with a little more attitude than I just explained, and she got a little upset with that. I mean, this is last summer, so I can't really recall what was said, but I knew to just step away from the situation, so she was still screaming at me. I walked away, and I remember being a little upset, and I was on the sidelines while her team was playing. I was off at this point, and with my teammates, I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that just happened, and she kept looking over, and I was not trying to say a lot, but I was also super upset, and she stormed off mid-play, said some stuff to my face, and I just kind of sat there, and people were like, hey, girl, you're playing volleyball right now, and then that's when she got the concussion somewhere in between that, and that's basically what happened. At any point, did you think she was going to hit you? I don't think that girl has it in her to hit somebody. She is a gentle giant, I will say, and I mean, she was aggressive, but would she actually throw a punch? Probably not. Yeah, and from my perspective, Nia was on my team, and we did keep losing, and I think it might have been Sandy, who was our other middle at the time, and they had to keep switching off, and I remember mid-play, she walks off the court with her little walk and starts sassing you, and I was like, oh my god, we're in the middle of the rally, like, what are you doing, and then I remember clearly, like, clear as day, the block touch went off Tasia's arm and skimmed the side of her head, which was apparently her concussion for over six months. She was out the entire fall season, and we believe that it is because she was scared to face everyone after confronting Woosh like that. There's no reason for her to sass Woosh like that at all, and that was my opinion as an outsider and on Nia's team, that six on six, but does anyone else have anything about Nia? If not, then we can move on to team therapy, which we touched on a little bit earlier, but Reeve, I would love to hear your take on what you thought about team therapy and what your favorite and least favorite parts were. It was really interesting because Grace and I were very new to the team, like, we were freshmen, I think we'd been there for maybe, like, I don't know, like, four months when we started team therapy? I don't really remember the timeline, but yeah, probably not even, but it was interesting because obviously the problems were lingering, but a lot of the issues I hadn't, like, experienced firsthand because we'd only been there for such a short amount of time, and, like, we'd only been with the coaches for, like, a few weeks at this point, so when we started team therapy, I was almost like, what did I get myself into? Like, everyone was very frustrated, and at first I was like, okay, well, if there are, like, some issues that need to be addressed, maybe this is, like, a healthy way to go about it, but then as we got to, like, the second five-hour-long therapy session, I was kind of like, I don't really have much to contribute. It was, I don't know, it was really interesting to hear everyone, like, express their opinions and try to understand kind of what had happened before we'd gotten there, but I think the benefit of it was that it allowed the staff to see some of the issues that maybe wouldn't have been discussed otherwise. As for my least favorite part, I would probably say that, so kind of, like, I feel like the point of therapy, from what I thought, was that each meeting that we were meeting with Holland and Amy, the therapists before the coaches were there, was kind of, like, leading up to everyone being able to, like, express their grievances towards the coaches, so I feel like a lot of, there was, like, a lot of prep, but then on the one day that everything was finalized and people were able to, like, speak directly to the coaches, maybe it wasn't five hours, maybe it just felt like it was that long, but it was very long, and there were a lot of tears and coaches crying and people crying, and I, it was, it was just really interesting because I, like, it wasn't necessarily things that I had, like, I was, like, yeah, I support you guys, but, like, I also don't really know these coaches very well, but, yeah, I think, I think for a lot of people it might have been cathartic. For me, it was just, like, interesting to observe, I would say. Yeah, and just to give a little bit more background on the reason why we had these therapy sessions is because girls, like, five years before our time, were trying to get our original head coach, before we had Matt take over, they were trying to get her fired, and the reason why is because she really fostered a toxic culture that was not healthy for any of us, and their solution to that was team therapy, and like Reeve said, we were doing team meetings with just the therapists, assistant coaches with just the therapists, and then Nicole, our head coach, with just the therapists. It was three separate sessions building up to our big session all together, which is where we've just described the tears, and all the drama, and the five-hour-long meeting, but, yeah, that's just a little bit of background around that, but Lucia, I'd love to hear your best and worst moments of therapy as well. Like Sophie said, going into it, I was a little bit confused. They, like, wanted our perspectives on things, and if you have no experience, you can't give perspective, and I think the people that were hired to do the job were not good at it, so I think that really harmed our program, and I don't think, honestly, honest to God, I don't think there was one good thing that came out of therapy. I think more people had tensions toward each other. Our coach barely could communicate with us afterwards, and I think we try to welcome things into the program that didn't need to be talked about. I think a simple conversation with the coach, maybe explaining why we felt a certain way, would have been beneficial, but we didn't have to have three months during our season, may I add, during our season, which is like the worst time to bring up conflict, and have a meeting about that, and basically just tell this one person everything they do wrong in their, like, coaching career, and basically how they treat others. I mean, I couldn't imagine one person being attacked like that. I mean, our coach, she had the best intentions, but I think she just didn't know better, and I truly do think that, and I think the way we went about it, especially to the type of person she was, was not the right way, so I don't think anything beneficial came out of therapy. I do agree with that. Jaz or Grace, do you have anything to add? I would like to add how one of our therapists went on to Thailand on a little trip with one of our coaches and one of our captains, and left them on the trip, and went and found a man who converted her to his cult, and now she believes that this man is God, and this is the girl who got us to hate on our coach, but that's my opinion. Also, that kind of just goes to show how our therapists just weren't credible. Also, our conversations were supposed to be confidential. However, they were fully not, and one of our therapists was best friends with one of our assistant coaches and told her everything, even stuff that was about her. So, yeah, I agree with Luke. There was absolutely nothing beneficial that came out of that therapy. I completely agree with you guys. The only maybe positive thing I can think is that I have a feeling this is one of the reasons that Nicole, quote unquote, left. I mean, I'm not like, however she ended up leaving, whoever's choice it was, I think that realization, like you said, Grace, must have been really difficult, and she probably was like, not only was she probably not necessarily feeling welcome to come back, but yeah, I mean, yeah, I think, and I don't want to say, I know that was a negative experience for her, but I think in terms of the program, that was probably one of the reasons that that decision was made. I don't know for sure, but, you know, maybe. Yeah, and that was, I think, her 10th year coaching at UCSB. She was the second, 10th through 13th year of coaching there, and she was the second head coach at UCSB Women's Volleyball ever. So, I think that was honestly a sign for her to leave, and hearing all those realizations about her was probably super difficult, and, you know, it was her time to leave, and it was a time to shift the culture, because what was happening in the past wasn't working, and now that we have our assistant head coach from that year take over as our head coach, Matt Jones. Lush, how do you feel about Matt and his new coaching philosophy? I really adore Matt, and I love his coaching philosophy. I think he is exactly what the program needed, and I think he also, being assistant to our prior head coach, he learned from her mistakes, and I think that's what has really helped our program. He knows what our team thrives on and knows what our team doesn't thrive on, and he allows us to make our decisions, but he allows us to make it in the way that he says it has to test to benefit the program, instead of just giving us strict rules. He also knows how to coach us, and he is also a supportive person in our lives. Like, he's not there just for volleyball. He's there to talk, joke, be there for you, and I mean, I couldn't have asked for a better person to take his place. Reem, do you have anything to add on Matt taking over? I would agree with Grace. I'm a big Matt fan as well. I think one of his strong suits is that he knows exactly what he wants, and he's kind of like a born leader, just he knows how to accomplish it, and I think something that I've heard about a lot of other programs is like, it's kind of, it's more natural for the head coach to be maybe sometimes more falling back and for the assistants to do a lot of the work, but Matt really does take control of every situation he can, and he's very like involved in the community, and he very much cares about everybody, and I think I think it really shows already with his success. Well, thank you guys so much for joining us today. We really loved having you here and appreciated your inside scoop on being a women's volleyball player at UCSB. That's a wrap on today's episode with the three Meek Joes. Huge thanks to our two special guests, Grace Wishbard and Sophie Revis, and to everyone who tuned in. Comment down below your favorite thing about game day or any team drama you have dealt with. We'll see you next Tuesday. Your favorite trio is tuning out.