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00:00Just to kind of start off, like I just said, understand that the championship, the playoffs are beginning this weekend for the PVF.
00:06What does preparation look like for you and the team ahead of Friday's match?
00:11Honestly, the same as it's been all season. I think something that we've preached is just consistency, no matter what match it is, who's on the other side of the net.
00:20I think we've, you know, taken care of our side enough throughout the season that if we continue to do what we're doing, then hopefully it's just another match for us.
00:28But I think we've prepared well enough to have that mindset.
00:30Of course, going in with a great record into the playoffs, reigning champions as well.
00:37What is your specific, you mentioned consistency, game by game preparation look like?
00:42Do you have any individual rituals, superstitions, special socks, anything like that that you wear every game?
00:49I try not to have superstitions.
00:51I feel like as soon as something doesn't go like your superstition is, then, you know, mentally, maybe you're not as well prepared.
01:00You're like, oh, shoot, I didn't do this or something didn't happen.
01:02So I actually kind of try to like change my routine a little bit sometimes, just like slightly, nothing drastic.
01:08But usually if I have a big break between like serve and pass in the match, like a few hours, I'll probably sleep just because I don't like waiting for the game.
01:16So I'll take like an hour or two nap and then listen to music in the locker room before we go out to the court.
01:23But yeah, nothing crazy.
01:24Okay.
01:24What's in the rotation right now in the pregame playlist then?
01:28Usually it's rap.
01:30Rap is usually pregame music for me.
01:32And in your case, of course, you and your team have been here before, having won the inaugural championship of the league.
01:39How does that success kind of, you know, influence your outlook and just preparation for kind of the format, you know, heading into the weekend?
01:48I think there's a lot of advantage and experience.
01:52But at the same time, the team that we have this year is completely different from the team we had last year.
01:57It's only me and one other returner from last season's team.
02:01So with that being said, even though like we won the regular season record wise, I try to remind myself that, you know, this is a completely new team.
02:11It's a completely different season.
02:13And, you know, we've done things to get us in the position that, you know, we finished in for the regular season that was different than last year.
02:21So I think, yes, there's we've been here before, but at the same time we haven't.
02:27And so we're really just trying to focus on honestly having that underdog mentality because the majority of the team like are rookies and they haven't been in this position.
02:35And so we're really just trying to go into every match like we have something to prove.
02:40So you're one of the veterans then, I guess.
02:43Which is crazy because I'm a third year pro, but yes.
02:46And what would you say are some of either individually or you can speak to the team in a broader sense, some of your strengths that you are carrying into the postseason and some things that you want to clean up, you know, to kind of complete the defend the title here?
03:00I would just say so last season we probably had an average age of around 30 for the team this season.
03:09I would say it's probably 24.
03:12And so I think there's a huge advantage in being really young because I said this before the season started that you're going to see a completely different team in our first match compared to our last match.
03:24And that's held true. We have a lot of people on our team that are super, super eager to learn, get better.
03:31And we've improved a lot in that aspect. But I think sometimes our immaturity, just an experience, has played through in the season.
03:39Like we've had times of kind of like mental lapses that we just need to get in the gym and refocus.
03:45But I think this last month has probably been our best weeks of practice where we've really focused on that mental side of the game, maintaining focus.
03:52I think just veterans in general, you know, they have that experience, especially in the pro world.
03:58And, you know, we have a lot of movies. So I think we've worked on growing the mental side of the game a lot.
04:02But I think our youth can be a pro and con. But we just have a massive amount of depth on our team as well.
04:09And, you know, we just beat Atlanta last night and you saw our whole roster play.
04:13And Atlanta didn't make too many subs and we beat them in four.
04:16So we have a lot of talent, a lot of depth, a lot of youth.