court captains: a volleyball podcast by KWND Studios
Hi we’re back for free agencyyyyyy!
Congratulations to the Dallas Pulse, MLV’s first ever first-year franchise to win a championship!
Regular season is officially over, it’s time for the championships!
In true us fashion, some pretty big MLV news hit the airwaves about 14 hours after we finished recording… so no responses to the Mojo news in this ep, but we’ll get into that next week.
Sorry for the late post this week - play has already started so some of these playoff implications may be a bit out of date, but we hope you listen anyways :)
It’s getting so exciting up in here, is it not?!?!?! We think 4 teams have the most potential for the last two spots in the playoffs: San Diego, Omaha, Orlando, and Atlanta. We have THOUGHTS - and this is gonna be a huge week.
Hey, Captains! Nikki’s feelings have changed regarding Omaha, we talk about that and her fun visit last week to watch the Supernovas take on Indy. We listen in on some press conference excitement (some of the last we’ll hear from Luka!). As we near the end of the season, who could secure those last two spots for playoffs? We speculate and more!
Hey, Captains! On this week’s episode, we give our reactions to the All-Star game and their weirdo 3-set match / ghost bonus point format, Nikki reviews MORE injury updates and late season signings, we give some updates to team ownership - including Ian reading through some online paperwork and Discord gossip about a guy who may or may not want to buy the Vegas Thrill. Disclaimer: we do not know for sure if this is the same guy, or if this is a legitimate ownership inquiry. We’re entertainers, not journalists!!
Great news! We clicked record this week!
Our Score Corner aka Scorner is Ian's weekly staple on the podcast, and the reason this is our only post this week is because: it finally happened. We got on zoom and talked about volleyball for almost two hours and... no one clicked record.We are hearing this is a rite of passage, and we're grateful to have made 55 episodes without committing this faux pas. Anyways, that lost episode is gone into the ether. Enjoy the MLV week 10 scorner, and wish us luck for next week!
This week on Court Captains, we get to talking about good ol’ LOVBuh, breaking down the possible mascots for their Nebraska team. We’re back to our regular scheduled programming of breaking down this weeks’ matches, including our exciting trip to Indianapolis. Indy is still on top and it seems like they might be unstoppable! Listen in and you might finally get the answer to the question “Is Omaha ok?”.
Kelly is BACK and we’re back on video! Halfway through season 3, how ya feelin?
Audio episode for yall this week - Kelly is out of town, so you’ve got Nikki and Ian’s reactions to recent transactions, news from the league (who’s heading to Dallas for playoffs?!), and match analysis.
Okay, time to talk about the fun little trade. We talk about why we actually think it was pretty good for all parties involved (much to the disagreement of other online entities), and why it's not surprising for Cathy George to be down to give away a first round pick.
Sorry for the delay on this one! A lot of chatter about non-match activity this week, so strap in for some takes.
Lot of volleyball to talk about this week - Indy keeps picking up wins, Dallas has an unexpectedly long road trip, and Omaha is back in their groove.
We have returned from sunny San Diego and are freezing again, but that’s show biz.
Week two review for youuuuuu!
How’d yall like week 1? We thought it was fun.
A little spice throughout this episode… some things just make us heated, you know? But we’re not mad about season three being almost here! We have a fancy new video border and a lot of opinions.
Our pre-season interview is NEW HEAD COACH of the San Diego Mojo, Alisha Childress!
The headline second-half-of-free-agency updates, 2025 Champion Orlando Valkyries going to the Club World Championships, and Draft Day!
WE HAVE A SEASON THREE
Our final episode of PVF Season two! You may have been PVF-less for the last week but we’re here to help you bring back the good times with memories of the playoffs. We talk through the two semi-final matches as well as the championship: Nikki regales us with Vegas tales (including what ABO means), Kelly wonders what’s happening with Omaha next year, and Ian’s microphone was a bit screwed up.
After discussing the all-league team make ups, we come up with our own award categories, mainly based on ~*VIBES*~. Nikki fills us in on some Volleytalk forum drama and we hold a brief in-memoriam for the bottom four teams. Gone, but never forgotten.
Our first Official Media episode that includes press conference Q&A with coaches?! We might be journalists after all.
We’re back! There was a lot of volleyball to cover over the last 2 weeks. That’s overwhelming, so we barely talk about that! Ian tries to keep us on track with his bucket organization system as we discuss the final push for the last playoff spot. Kelly admits to some infidelity and Nikki gets fired up about some jewelry.
Warning to the listeners, Nikki is mad this episode. She’s mad at Orlando’s staff, she’s mad at Vegas’s coaches, and she’s mad at the PVF transactions rules. She’ll be back to her optimistic cheerleading ways next time, maybe.
Surprise! In-season player interview! And a rare video pod for yall! We LOVED getting to chat with Courtney Schwan of the Orlando Valkyries. We start this episode by getting to know her a bit better, and then review ORL’s Week 12 match against Indy with her.
Today on Court Captains, Ian teaches all of us a new phrase!
Spoiler: some of us DO think we’re journalists!
A lot of chatter chatter in this episode. Nikki loves to love letter in this podcast, so first she begins with a little ode to Kelly being a great volleyball player. Then Ian matches our adult volleyball league commitment with a commitment of his own - reading the many rules pages of his upcoming fantasy baseball league. Wish his team luck!!
We are just about halfway through PVF season two if you can believe it! We do a little check-in on the commercials (and their soundtracks) that Ian asked so nicely for in his Dear PVF. Per usual we review transactions, Ian’s scorner, and week 8 match analysis.
Reactions to week 7 of the PVF comin' at ya! We review transactions (we’re a day behind the live transactions, Mojo basically undid everything they did last week so, sorry about that!), speculating on injuries based on instagram activity, Ian’s scorner, and talk through our thoughts from the all-star game. Nikki instructs all her little sisters - um, we mean the players - to not look at social media comments. You’re all doing so good! Don’t worry!
Today we’re talking all about Nikki’s valentine’s gift mishap – oh and some volleyball, sure.
Did yall see that transactions page drama this week? We chat through that in the context of some official word from the league on the 24-hour practice squad claim period. Spoiler alert, Omaha wants to keep all 3 of their setters! We also do a fun little bit about potential player movement and our thoughts on trades in this league. Nikki thinks there needs to be a fun little trade next month, for the sake of the league. JFYI… she is mostly kidding. Don’t come for her. Megan Lush is definitely staying in Columbus.
We’re talking Sunday Funday this week! All teams played on Sunday, taking advantage of the no-NFL-Sunday. We had some great sweeps and surprises (Mojo took a set from the Vibe for the first time EVER?!)
As Ian so aptly put it, no new professional volleyball leagues were announced this week, so we’re back to business as usual recapping the PVF action!
Hey Captains. Business as usual around here. Nothing to see. No Notes app announcements to decipher. All is cool.
Captains, hello. PVF is here. Are you not entertained?
Hey Captains! For the first time in PVF history, the second season is about to begin!!!
Welcome to Court Captains! We’re happy you’re here.
SEASON TWO IS UPON US, CAPTAINS.
Our fourth and final guest of the 2024 off-season is Morgan Lewis! A southern California native, Morgan started playing volleyball at 9 and dreamed of playing professionally. She played college volleyball as an Oregon Duck, and was happy to be drafted her rookie year by Coach Haneef-Park - to play in her hometown for the San Diego Mojo in the inaugural PVF season.
Our third guest is M’Kaela White of the Orlando Valkyries! Born just outside of Washington DC, M’Kaela started her volleyball journey at the age of 16. Since then, she’s filled that journey with both natural talent and plenty of extra hours of hard work - after playing her college career at JMU, she went on to play pro overseas in Finland, Italy, and Romania. We talk about the cultures of those places and what it was like to navigate agents and the pro world.
And for our second guest: Hannah Maddux of the Vegas Thrill! Hannah hails from San Antonio, Texas, and yes, she has seen Wemby in the flesh. A University of South Alabama Jaguar, we talk with Hannah about her experience getting that “you’ve been drafted” call upon graduating from a mid-major league school and her rookie season that followed.
Captains… we’re in our interview era.
Hey Captains, it’s nice to see ya again!
Hey, Captains! It’s the FINAL week of the FIRST regular season of the PVF.
Hey, Captains! We’re reviewing week 15 (and a teeny bit of week 16) of the PVF. A few updates from the top including our final speculation on VNL departures (we think we’re done with those) and injury updates (from what we’ve heard around the block). Keep your eye out on May 20th for roster announcements from the teams, as that’s the day any unsigned 2024 players will become free agents (and we’ll likely hear about any resignings).
Welcome back! We’ve got a big episode for the Captains this week.
Welcome back, Captains! Ian and Kelly are hosting solo this week as we cover week 13 of the PVF. Another seven match week. Atlanta drops a match, but secures their spot in the PVF Championships in May. Thrill, Rise, and Fury each won one and lost one and Mojo barely dropped a tight 5 set match to Omaha.
Welcome back, Captains! PVF had six matches in week twelve, so we review transactions made before the trade deadline (spoiler, no trades were made) and get right into match analysis. We continue to see Atlanta crushing, San Diego going up in the standings, plus the fight for 3rd and 4th keeps getting interesting.
Welcome back, Captains! This week we’re coming at ya with all you wanted to know about the VNL… from people who had never heard of the VNL. We also explain what court captains ARE! Can you believe we’ve never done that? Our namesake! We can’t wait to see you in Grand Rapids!
Welcome back, Captains! This week we talk about how you CAN get good sushi in Omaha. Really! REALLY. You have to believe us. We also chat about some disappearing transactions and Nikki’s idea to make the schedule less grueling.
Welcome back, Captains! This week we start by talking about the increased player salary details shared by PVF CEO Jen Spicher in a recent match at Vegas. Then we discuss some waiver/practice squad definitions so you can track movements and make sense of the PVF Transactions page.
Welcome back, Captains! We have a BONUS episode for you. Now that we’re halfway through the inaugural PVF season, we picked our all-star rosters based on the first 8 weeks of play. Here were our rules: - 14 player roster, just like PVF regulations - “Standard” starting roster, plus one backup for each position - Two wild card spots, can be any position Let us know what you thought of our picks! Comment on our Bonus Episode instagram post @courtcaptainspod with your reactions. Into data? We love this stats sheet courtesy of r/pvf! Got a question? Email us at: courtcaptainspod@gmail.com And as always, look out for us in the PVF YouTube livestream chat!
Welcome back, Captains! Big trade news in the PVF this past week as Tori Stringer of the Atlanta Vibe was traded to the Columbus Fury in exchange for two first-round draft picks. We review how that looks in the context of current trade policies, and discuss some of our theories / implications.
Welcome back, Captains! Ever wonder what a PVF travel day looks like? This week we imagine the insane travel weekend Orlando had, on an extremely detailed level. We also politely request that Grand Rapids’ and San Diego’s bird mascots get together for a little rumble. And: do you know what the Yellow Pages are/were? Ian drops some knowledge.
Welcome back! This week on Court Captains we… had sound issues :( We’re accidentally doing a Goldilocks thing with our audio on this episode (Nikki’s too loud, Kelly’s too quiet, Ian’s just right) so bear with us and maybe keep your volume down - we’re sorry! We’re learning!
Welcome back! This week on Court Captains we’re chatting about week five of PVF matches. We witnessed our first “swappy” as Nikki has demanded we call them, Mojo picked up their first win (not just any win - a HUGE upset against the #1 team), and Columbus climbed the standings on an impressive 3-0 hot streak.
Welcome back! This week on Court Captains we’re talking through a very busy week four of PVF action - EVERY team played this week, so we have much to discuss.
Welcome back! This week on Court Captains we’re talking about the week three PVF matches - five of the league teams played two matches. And, we got to see Vegas Thrill for their first two matches of the year.
Welcome back! This week on Court Captains we’re talking about the week two PVF matches. We got to check out San Diego Mojo twice, against Atlanta Vibe and Omaha Supernovas.
Welcome back! For our second episode we’re talking about opening Pro Volleyball Federation week observations - we saw two thrillers and a sweep!
Welcome to Court Captains: A Volleyball Podcast! For our first episode we’re telling you: what is the PVF and who the hell are we? TLDL: the PVF is the Pro Volleyball Federation - a new women’s professional volleyball league in the US. With this podcast we are planning to bring you weekly episodes reviewing the action of the PVF. We’ll bring our takes (they’ll be various temperatures), our opinions (we typically have many), and our feelings (also many).
