Savvy Simo, UCLA's favorite 'pain in the butt,' returning for one more year
SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter13 Touko 2020

Savvy Simo, UCLA's favorite 'pain in the butt,' returning for one more year

On the evening of January 14, UCLA women’s volleyball coach Mike Sealy had the mic. As he expounded on the tremendous careers of his seniors, of which there were just two – setter Cali Thompson and outside hitter Savvy Simo – he turned to Simo and, instead of gushing about her laundry list of accomplishments, said a joke.

“You’re one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached,” he said.

At least, Simo thought it was a joke. Over the past four years, she had been, by her own admission, a “pain in the butt,” something her beach coach, Stein Metzger, will readily, if not warmly, agree to. But Sealy didn’t laugh. Didn’t betray a single sign of amusement. He couldn’t have been more serious, and afterwards, he’d hug Simo and tell her that she’s the best, and to keep in touch.

That’ll be easier to do than Sealy could have known.

Savvy Simo’s coming back to UCLA for one more year.

When the NCAA initially granted an extra year of eligibility for all spring athletes who had their 2020 seasons cut short, Simo had no designs on returning to Westwood. She’d done her four years, playing both beach and indoor. She’d won two NCAA Championships on the beach, piled up 91 wins, completed her sociology major.

She was ready to move on.

“When I found out everything was cancelled I was like ‘Screw it, I’m not coming back, I’m over college, I’ve had my time, I already feel old, I want to play AVP, I want to do interviews, I want to move on,’” said Simo, who went 13-2 on court one with Abby Van Winkle in the truncated 2020 season.

Already, she had plans to move to the South Bay to room with LMU transfer Iya Lindahl. She was going to play on the AVP Tour, launch what is already a promising career in sports media. Move on with her life. As the reaction to Covid-19 spread, and the economy was shuttered and sports, including the AVP, were postponed indefinitely, if not altogether cancelled, reservation began to take root.

With no AVP to play at the moment, few if any jobs readily available, many of her rivals – Kristen Nuss and Claire Coppola at LSU, for instance – returning to school, her roommate, Lindahl, remaining in college, was there any real reason to move on?

It was a picture painted by Rachel Morris, Simo’s old coach at WAVE in San Diego, that ultimately convinced her.

“Look, Savvy,” Morris, a former setter for Oregon, told her, “next May you’re going to be sitting on your couch watching your team compete for a national championship and, win or lose, you’re going to regret not being there.”

“That,” Simo said, “was the tipping point for me. I was like ‘You’re so right, I cannot imagine watching this team play, knowing I could have had an opportunity.’”

She called Metzger. She wanted to come back. It’s simple in concept, but not in execution. There was the academic side of things to work out, since Simo can’t exactly return with no classes on the schedule, only to play beach volleyball for a few months in the spring semester. There is still the thorny scholarship issue as well, something that schools around the country are dealing with. But there was zero chance Metzger would let that interfere with Simo returning. He’d make it work, because if there’s one thing UCLA could use most on its young and talented team, it’s the Bruins’ phenomenal pain in the butt leader.

“I friggin love Stein, I love Jenny [Johnson Jordan], I think they’re both incredible humans,” Simo said. “Literally yesterday, I said ‘I’m sorry for being such a pain’ and he said ‘You really are a total pain but I love you kid.’ I’m so excited to come back.”

The Bruins will be equally excited to have Simo back as well. Simo’s fellow seniors, Lily Justine and Madi Yeomans, are moving on, making Simo, already the vocal leader of the bunch, the de facto captain of a team that featured underclassmen in 50 percent of its starting lineup: Van Winkle (sophomore), Lindsey Sparks (sophomore), Lexy Denaburg (freshman), Devon Newberry (freshman), Rileigh Powers (freshman).

“I took on the leadership role with the other seniors and it was a challenge but I just kinda took it and ran with it and no program is ever perfect but we were on the ups and it was a bummer it was cancelled but thankfully I’m back and I’m fired up to see the potential this team has,” Simo said.

“Me and Stein, we have a really great relationship and I think a reason why we kinda go back and forth is because I do have a really high level of respect for Stein. I listen to everything he says and he is one of the best coaches I’ve had on the beach and he is so smart and I think especially this year, I wanted to win so bad and I know he did too.

“I’ve learned and matured and figured out when to pick my battles and when to not. Even this year, there were times where I was like ‘Stein we need to be doing more of this’ and agree or disagree, I think we both have a common goal and we want to win. He has so much experience but I also have the side of the players and the team and we worked out a balance to find out what’s best. Jenny also plays an incredible role in that balance as a female figure too. People like Sarah [Sponcil] and people like Zana [Muno] were the same: We all just want to win. And that’s an incredible part of UCLA’s culture and I hope it carries out.”

Jaksot(500)

Kyle Friend: ’Make volleyball easy for everyone around you’

Kyle Friend: ’Make volleyball easy for everyone around you’

This episode of SANDCAST features My Friend, Your Friend, he’s Everybody’s Friend, he’s the one and only Kyle Friend. He’s had a HUGE breakout season, and maybe even, as he’ll admit on the podcast, a somewhat unexpected one, with Tim Brewster. With a seventh at the Atlanta Gold Series and a fifth in Chicago – while also adding a second and a pair of thirds in three Tour Series events – Friend has had the best AVP season of his career. We chatted all about that, as well as: How shagging balls and being a voluntary practice dummy for USA Volleyball was a boon for his career as a player The best lesson he learned from Karch Kiraly about being a teammate Why he believes this year has been such a breakout one for him The benefits of surrounding yourself with the best And, as always, a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

14 Syys 20221h 15min

Sophie Bukovec: Surprising herself all the way to the top of the world

Sophie Bukovec: Surprising herself all the way to the top of the world

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Sophie Bukovec, one of the fastest-rising defenders in the world. Anyone following the NCAA beach volleyball system has long known Bukovec is talented, when she won three National Championships at USC alongside Sara Hughes, Kelly Claes, Allie Wheeler, Nicolette Martin, and Terese Cannon, among others. But this good? Silver medal at World Championships good? She’s even surprised herself. We chatted about that, and a whole lot more, including: How Bukovec became the first beach-only player in Canadian history How she came to USC, joining that venerated recruiting class Her decision to switch to defense, and how she and Brandie Wilkerson came to be partners The incredible run she and Wilkerson have had in 2022. And, as always, a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

7 Syys 20221h 26min

Drinking Kona (and Maui Brew) with the Crabbs

Drinking Kona (and Maui Brew) with the Crabbs

This week’s episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is another installment of one of our most popular recurring segments: Drinking Kona (and, in this case, Maui Brew) with the Crabbs. As you may have heard, Trevor Crabb is coming off his third straight Manhattan Beach Open victory – two straight with Tri Bourne – and Taylor Crabb has put together a heck of a season alongside AVP Rookie of the Year frontrunner, Taylor Sander. So we had all the boys on to drink some beers, and chat about all things beach volleyball, including: How a Bourne or Crabb has been in every Manhattan Beach Open final since 2015! How a childhood of pickup games at the Outrigger Canoe Club led all of them to their incredible success thus far on the AVP Tour What ACTUALLY happened between Taylor Crabb and John Hyden at AVP Fort Lauderdale Taylor Crabb’s first year with Taylor Sander And oh, so much more. ENJOY! (we sure did) *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

31 Elo 20221h 20min

Summer Mailbag! AVP parity, Olympic favorites, trash talking, hottest teams on Tour

Summer Mailbag! AVP parity, Olympic favorites, trash talking, hottest teams on Tour

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is our semi-monthly, and always popular, feature: Our fan question Summer Mailbag. There has been more beach volleyball than we know what to do with, certainly the most since we launched the podcast back in October of 2017. Mountains of questions ensued. As always, we thank you guys and gals so much for listening, for asking the questions that are so fun to answer. We did our best to get to as many as we could in just under an hour and a half. A few we did chat about were: Why isn’t Bally’s and the AVP streaming court two? On a related note, why are the stands so small? Talk about Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint winning Hamburg! Are Trevor’s guarantees as good for the team as they are the AVP? What’s up with the tracking devices players wear on center court? Do we like them? How good is Miles Partain? And, as always, so much more! ENJOY! Photo creds: Josh Glazebrook *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

24 Elo 20221h 28min

Kent Steffes: It’s Winning Time

Kent Steffes: It’s Winning Time

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is an absolute treat, featuring BY FAR the most requested guest in podcast history: Kent Steffes, the most dominant player in the history of beach volleyball. In his brilliant, if not short, career, Steffes won nearly half the tournaments he played in, claiming the 1996 Olympic gold medal with Karch Kiraly, as well as four Manhattan Beach Opens. He’s a champions champion, and this episode more than delivers. Steffes and Mewhirter recently published a book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball, that both our guest and host would love for you to buy on Amazon. We talked a whole lot about that, as well as: What the AVP, Bally’s, and Volleyball World could be doing to get beach volleyball back in a financially healthy state What the winning mindset is, and how Steffes became the perennial champion he was Why he loved working on the book so much How massive beach volleyball was when he was a player And so, so, so much more. You’re going to want to listen to this entire episode, we promise. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

17 Elo 20221h 40min

Geena Urango: The newest AVP Champ who’s living life fully in the present

Geena Urango: The newest AVP Champ who’s living life fully in the present

This episode of SANDCAST features Geena Urango, one of the first guests we ever had on the podcast and the newest AVP CHAMPION! Urango and Julia Scoles won the AVP Atlanta Gold Series event, just one week after finishing second in the AVP Fort Lauderdale Pro Series. We chatted allllll about that win, as well as: How letting go of the outcome is what ultimately led to Urango winning her first AVP Making her first AVP final in 2015, and the long wait to finally win her first What makes Julia Scoles so special Why the AVP is the perfect level of commitment for her And, as always, so much more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

10 Elo 20221h 10min

Trevor Crabb and Tri Bourne have their swagger back

Trevor Crabb and Tri Bourne have their swagger back

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the guarantors themselves: Trevor Crabb and Tri Bourne. Coming off one of the deepest slumps of their partnership, what did they do but guarantee a victory at AVP Fort Lauderdale -- a guarantee they backed up without so much as losing a set.  Oh, yes, we chatted about that, as well as: - Why Trevor guaranteed a win after one of their worst matches, in Espinho, Portugal - The coaching change, from Jose Loiola to Leandro Pinheiro, that impact them more than expected  - What actually happened in the scuffle between John Hyden and Taylor Crabb (and Taylor Sander) - Why Crabb and Bourne seem to thrive on a sense of urgency -- the type created by, say, guaranteeing a win ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

3 Elo 202237min

Mark Bucknam, and the making of AVP Uncovered

Mark Bucknam, and the making of AVP Uncovered

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Mark Bucknam, the producer of the upcoming and highly anticipated beach volleyball docuseries, AVP Uncovered. It debuts on Thursday night on the AVP Uncovered YouTube Channel, so be sure to check it out! On this episode, we chatted about: How AVP Uncovered wound up following Kristen Nuss, Taryn Kloth, Jake Gibb, and Zana Muno How Bucknam convinced his two business partners to follow the AVP around for a month with no promise of a return on their investment How the AVP Uncovered idea was born – and the many changes it underwent prior to the finished product The fascinating lives of beach volleyball players off the court And a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

27 Heinä 20221h 9min

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