Mark Burik (00:00.526)
Hello everyone and welcome to the Better Beach Podcast. I'm Maren Kina and in today's episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Megan Rice, a former NCAA D1 player from Loyola Marymount and the current ABP Rookie of the Year. Megan dives into her journey of switching from indoor to beach volleyball, shares insights from her college career and talks about overcoming injury to come out on top. But before we get started, I would like to remind you about our upcoming beach volleyball camps.
will be in Scottsdale, Arizona from November 22nd to 24th and in Long Island, New York that same weekend. Plus, you don't want to miss our all-inclusive beach volleyball camp in Punta Cana from November 30th to December 6th. If you're looking for direct feedback on your game from AVP pros, these camps are where you want to be. You can check out all of the dates and details at betterabitch.com. And now enjoy the episodes.
So Megan, can you give us a little introduction about yourself? Tell us a little bit about your volleyball journey and just so people that don't know you know a little bit more. Sure. So I was an indoor girl growing up through and through. Beach was never part of the plan. I went to UC Santa Barbara my first year and played indoor there. Shortly after I transferred to LMU.
Loyola Marymount University and played a year of indoor there. Unfortunately, I hurt myself at the end of my sophomore year, was out for the next season. When I came back, it was COVID. And so basically I started my beach volleyball journey, my senior year of college and ended up playing my senior year and like my super senior year.
And then since then took a year off right when I got out and then decided I wanted to come back and try playing professionally on the beach. So this is my second year doing that. Nice. Awesome. So you mentioned that you started with UC Santa Barbara. What made you transfer? Like what happened? Like you started with indoor. Did you already know you wanted to play beach or what was the thought process at this time?
Mark Burik (02:24.384)
So the thought process behind the transfer was, you know, back then you committed really young. So I committed to UCSB when I was 14 and I'll just chalk it up to, you don't really know what you want when you're 14. You don't know what you want. So I ended up there, just didn't love it for a number of reasons and then decided in the late spring that I was going to take a chance and transfer. And the late spring again,
Back then, the transfer rules were very strict. And so a lot of things kind of just fell into place to put me at LMU. At that point in time, the indoor coach, Tom Black, left and went to Georgia. And when that happened, a couple of transfers left, including Sarah Sponsal, who went to UCLA. And that's what opened up the indoor scholarship spot. And it kind of all just fell into place there. The coach had known me.
from growing up playing, so I didn't have to try out. There wasn't a long conversation. It was just like, yep, we'll take you. And my first meeting on campus went amazing. And I just knew instantly that this was going to be a better fit for me. Wow, that's insane that you committed at 14. I had no idea. That's so young. The rules kind of change now, or that is you have to commit a little later, right? Yeah. You can't talk to coaches nearly as young.
you have to like give your verbal commitments later. And even like your official commitments come even later. So now it really protects the players and I think the schools too, you know, because the schools don't even know how good you are when you're 14, right? Whereas with they wait a little bit longer, they really get to see you mature as a player and see if you know you're a good fit for their program. And if you're, yeah, vice versa, if you think they're a good fit for you.
Yeah, no, I think it's a lot better. Like, I cannot imagine just making a life decision at 14 years old. But I'm glad that you were able to transfer and then unfortunately you got hurt. Can you take us through that journey of what happened? What was your recovery like? And how did you keep the motivation throughout?
Mark Burik (04:49.292)
Everything. Yeah. So I got to play pretty much the full season at LMU. I loved every minute of it. And then in our very last conference game, I remember I was at BYU when it happened. And I think it was a little bit of an overuse injury since it was at the end of season. And I hit a ball in a game, came down just like any other ball, and I blew out
my knee, everything in it. So ACL, MCL, meniscus, even cracked my femur. I don't even know. I don't even know how I did it, but it happened. so I knew I was going to be out for, you know, they tell you eight months is the minimum because of the quantity at which I torn things and the severity of each tear. We knew it was going to be longer than that. So I redshirted that following indoor season.
For me, I think the reason I was able to successfully come back from such a major injury was I had a lot of patience. I didn't really give myself a timeline. The coaches at LMU were really awesome and letting me have that freedom of not pressuring me to come back, but really taking the time I needed to. And I also think that my PT at the time, name's Chris Graham, shout out Chris, really was a great advocate for me.
really helped me work through not just the physical process, but the mental process of coming back. Wow. Because yeah, to people that don't know, Megan's strength is she jumps to the roof. So a knee injury can really affect you. where you once you came back, did you have where you're scared to jump again? Where was any part of your like your mental state like kind of blocking you to?
play for you again? I think for me, and again, I think that because I was so patient with the process, I set myself up for being successful because I was very OCD about my recovery. So anything my, I injured my left knee, anything my right leg could do in terms of strength, flexibility, mobility, all of it, like I made sure that my left leg could do it just
Mark Burik (07:16.659)
as easily just as it did before. So even as extreme as I can do, I don't know if you guys know what a pistol squat is, but it's an, it's a pretty extreme, like exercise of strength and mobility and I could do it on my right leg. So that was kind of like for me in my mind, like the benchmark is I have to be able to do this. And so when you, you know, are putting yourself through, you know, such a high bar of testing and not just being like, well I can.
play and do this so I can do this. I was like, no, like it has to be everything. And so when I was finally cleared, I felt like I didn't just feel like I was ready, I knew. And that I think helped helped get me through it. Not to say that I didn't have some like flare ups here and there for a little bit past, but I knew I was strong enough and I knew my knee had regained its stability. Yeah.
Not totally. since then, did you have anything back to your knee or do you think that your recovery was so great that and like you gain your strength again? So you didn't have any more injuries towards that area? I never had another injury. I did have a flare up. Let's see, when was it? So I redshirted the following indoor season and then so my sophomore year.
Pretty early on in indoor, John Mayer of LMU Beach volleyball approached me and was like, hey, I don't know if you have any interest, but we'd love for you to come over and play beach, not just indoor. Because at the time, like half the team was playing both. So it was really common. And I told him like, I've never really played, but sure, I'll give it a try. Obviously I didn't make it to that spring, but the following spring I wanted to hold true on that promise and tried.
to go play beach and was just having some issues. think the other thing that gave me the flare up is we were feeling pretty good about where I was at. So my indoor coach sent me to a USA indoor volleyball trap for some of the youth teams, which is basically like three days of double days. So I think that was really the flare up. then it scared me enough to...
Mark Burik (09:37.175)
to be like, you know what, I'm gonna take this spring too and really make sure I'm bulletproof and that way I can get into the next indoor season feeling really, really confident about where I'm at. Wow. Yeah, so talking back on how John and Cameron approach you, what made you decide that you wanted to keep playing beach? Because I know that when I came, I think you were the only indoor player.
that stayed, that were doing both. So there was a bit of a turnover there. So what was, what made you stay? What made you like Beach Volleyball? And do you think he helped you in your indoor as well? I think for me, what made me end up staying was not necessarily Beach itself, because I was not very good when I came over to start working with the team.
But I think what it was is I loved the culture and the girls that were on the beach team. And I just wanted to be around it more. And I think too, I always have more fun when I'm playing for something that's more than just myself and that team needed blockers. And I remember after, when COVID hit, like we had just gotten into our next spring season and
indoor season was going to kind of be a wash because the fall we were just shut down completely. And I remember Aaron Mansfield, the indoor coach at the time, we were having a conversation about it, like, do I train with the indoor team or do I train with the beach team? And he was like, you know, the indoor season is going to be a wash anyway. if like beach wants any chance of doing what they can, you need to get better. So that was kind of the decision point. And I went and trained with the beach train.
team in the fall of COVID and then by the next spring, not that I was amazing, but I was in a place that we needed me to be to have the success we did as a team then. Wow, yeah, no, 100%. I know that me personally, felt like after going to beach, like going back to indoor, I always felt I had more control into my game. think like beach brought a lot of like
Mark Burik (11:58.465)
control and also like the eye sequence, you become a lot more aware of the game. so as to anyone listening out here, I do think that beach player like playing beach helps you being a more, a better indoor player. But do you think by switching between both, because you did basically almost like four years of season, entire year.
And college season is pretty intense that is indoor or beach. And do you think it was, it took a really hard hit on your body at the end of it? Yeah. So it was about three years. Yeah. That I did the indoor beach, indoor beach, indoor beach, like back to back seasons. And I think that what is nice about it is.
Because it's constantly you're constantly cross training. actually think it makes you less injury prone. but the transitions always tough. think coming from beach to indoor is always really easy. Like you're jumping higher. You're, more explosive, obviously moving on the hardcore compared to the sand. It's a big difference. I think going back the other way is extremely difficult. I always would joke like it would take like two, two months to really feel like I had my sand legs back.
But again, kind of like you said, do feel like beach made me a better indoor player. It gives you better court awareness and just being able to see space because on the beach is something you need to rely on whereas an indoor, not that you don't need it, but a lot of it's more peripheral vision where on the beach it's a lot more taking looks and recognizing opportunities to.
You know, even just put the team out of system. So I think I do think it heightened my awareness about those kinds of of plays. Yeah, no, I 100 % agree. Keep talking about the beach side. What is from now? If you had one memory from the beach team at LMU, what was your best memory? And if you could change something that you did there? What would you have done differently?
Mark Burik (14:19.393)
Ooh, tough one. My favorite memory. I don't know, we had so many. You know, we won two conference titles while I was there. I think another really fun one was like we had two very deep runs in the tournament. So I would say the first conference title that I got to be a part of just because I hadn't gotten to experience that.
on the indoor side and it was just really unique and really cool to be a part of and it kind of was the beginning of what ended up being kind of a like Riot dynasty like we started winning like conference every year after that pretty much so it was cool to be like feel like I was at the beginning of building what is now like a really good well-known program. Yeah, no, 100%.
And I know that for you also, Academy was really important. And it's hard as a student athlete to manage both, especially because while you're in season all year long and also the finals always end up at the same time as the conferences or the championship and everything. I think you did a really good job just managing both. But if there's any like
young girls or young guys listening to this, what would be your advice into managing both and staying on top of it? You know, it's a learning process, I think, by the end. I kind of had it as mastered as I could. My advice would be, one, don't try to overextend yourself.
Again, I was doing back-to-back season, so at the time, if you're gonna, something has to suffer, right? So it's either gonna be your academics, your sport, or your social life. You gotta kind of pick two if you really want to succeed in two. So for me, it was, I wanna succeed in my athletics, I wanna succeed in school. So I didn't have a ton of time socialized, but your team's also your built-in friends. So I really enjoyed my practice time and travel time and really used that as my social time too.
Mark Burik (16:39.981)
And I think that makes it easier when you enjoy the program you play for the culture and the girls. So that was one thing. And then I think the other thing that really helped me was I would always just get things done when I had the time and never say things because other things just pop up. So even before we went to Gulf Shores, I asked all my professors to finish my finals early. So when I went
like my school year was done instead of saving the stress of like giving a couple presentations during that week or taking a couple exams. So that'd be my piece of advice is when you have the time, just get it done, get it out of the way. so that way, if something does come up, you have time to do it and you're not overwhelmed. Yeah, that's great advice coming from an all American, all academic right here. So she did it the right way. A hundred percent.
so let's move on to your after college. So you did take a break. do you think you needed it mentally, physically, and what made you come back decided to come back to the beach and not pursue your professional, like not more like work career at the moment? I think for me,
you know, doing six, whatever that was, six seasons back to back, I was burned out. I, I knew that, you know, pushing through would be worth it. And I pushed myself really, really hard. but at the end of it, I think I was just ready to take a little bit of a breath. And I felt like if I went and pursued anything, professionally at that time, it wouldn't be because I necessarily, you know, really was motivated to, it would be more like, because I felt pressured to.
whether it's from peers, coaches, whatever, I think that's what people wanted me to do. And I'm like, okay, if I don't have it in me right now, then what's the point? Especially, like I mentioned, in beach volleyball, you're not necessarily, I think I mentioned, I like playing for something more than myself. And it did feel a little bit like the beach is a much more individual sport.
Mark Burik (19:02.029)
then people think, yes, when you get into a partnership, then you have something to work for. But when you first start off, like, you are on your own, you're probably partner hopping a little bit. And it's not an easy process to go through. And so you really need to want to be there. And I think for me, I just, I felt like I owed myself a mental break that I never took for whatever it was, three years, at least, but probably a little more than that. Because I was in college for
six years. So it was just a long time since I actually gave myself the luxury of free time and pursuing other passions. And overall, just taking a breath. Yeah, no, I mean, understandable, honestly. And I do think that sometimes like having a break can make you realize how much you care and how much you want to get back to something. So let's talk about your first season on
the AVP. So you started with zero points. It's wasn't that. I don't even think your first season wasn't even was it a full season? I think or did you just just explain how your first season go how you had opportunities to just hop in and yeah, everything that went through. So I feel like I decided
pretty late that I was like, okay, I do want to try to play. I, so I didn't the early spring to like get back into like more serious weight training and preparing myself and just trying to make connections to even get like practices, right. And then, try to sign up for Miami ABP, not knowing how anything worked, right. Thinking like, like someone with some points can help me get in. Couldn't get in cause of points.
then let's see, what was after that, Huntington AVP didn't qualify Denver AVP had a really tough, gnarly draw, didn't qualify. but I felt like even though, you know, I felt like I just kept missing opportunities that I, was really close to having a breakthrough and not that practices are always a great indicator of where you're at, but I was beating a lot of teams that are playing at the level that
Mark Burik (21:28.109)
I thought I could get to or could achieve. And so I decided like, no matter what, I'm going to stick it out for the summer and just like give myself right the chance and the opportunities to see how it turns out. Little did I know soon after Denver, I would get like my first really big opportunity, which was it was 4th of July weekend. Everyone else had either gone to Wpaca or had qualified for Hermosa. And
I got a call on Wednesday of that week from Savi Simo that her partner Tony, they were doing really well. They just had a really successful finish in Denver. And they had a bunch of really, really important international tournaments coming up. And so they were thinking about having Tony rest for Hermosa so that they could prioritize those tournaments. And so basically she needed a blocking sub.
And she's like, do you want to play? I'm like, absolutely. Like, are you kidding me? Of course. So, and obviously with, for those who don't know with injury subs, it's not, you don't need to qualify for the tournament. They just, switch out the players and then reseed the teams by points. So I, we went in as a pretty, pretty low seed, but, Savvy had good points. So maybe like 13 seed, I can't remember. And.
So we went in against a really good, the Brazilian team. my gosh, why am I blanking on their names? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And we won. And I think we were just like, my gosh, like that was so fun. And just spreading the emotions. We won our next game that day and we kept winning all the way through to the finals.
And like I said, I that I went into the weekend as prepared as I could be, training hard. And then I think the other thing too is when you get really fun opportunities that are beyond maybe what you think is your reach, just reminding yourself in the moment that pressure is a privilege and like, it's so fun when you get to even like play at those high levels to really enjoy it. And so I think that was part of the reason we had to sit
Mark Burik (23:53.207)
such a successful weekend is because we really were enjoying playing and enjoying the moment with each other. Yeah, I mean, that's pretty incredible to just hop in and then you're not only like having a good tournament, you're going all the way to the finals. Like that is pretty, pretty awesome. And then after that, the same season, you end up doing another another sub, right?
Yeah, so basically at that point, I guess I just put myself on anyone's like, all right, well, if my blockers out, I'll just take Megan because soon after for Atlanta, Betsy Julia again was having some some health injury issues. And Betsy needed a sub and we went I think we got a ninth, which we think we're a little disappointed with. But we had
zero practice together and Savvy and I only had a servant pass. So sometimes, you know, it's just, it's nice when it instantly gels and then sometimes you need like a little bit more, but we still had so much fun. And, that also was the first time I competed in really extreme heat. So it was a good learning experience for me there. Wow. Well, that's, that's crazy. And then the, did you not play with Stockman also at one point or was that season as well?
Yeah, so I had... Was that another medical sub? So, yes, I technically had, again, like I said, I think I put myself on everyone's radar for any blocking sub that was needed because then I finished the year in Chicago with Emily Stockman. I subbed for Megan Kraft and I think we got either a ninth or a seventh. I can't remember now and played in like a King of the Court after that.
Which was a really great experience. It was really cool, think, to not like, you know, Savvy's my age and I've grown up with her playing against her and to get to share that experience with her and play on the same side. that was really cool. But it was really special to play under Betsy and Emily Stockman, two really veteran players of the game. And I just tried to like have fun and just sponge up as much of that knowledge and wisdom as I could, because they are incredible athletes. Yeah, no.
Mark Burik (26:21.645)
100 % and do you think that mentally? Because you know with Savi, it's like same generation and that with Betsy and Emily they're they're more veteran of the tour. Do you think you put more pressure on yourself mentally by playing with them or because with Savi it was kind of your first main draw and you had no pressure and you had great results then afterwards you're like, my god, I have to do
You know, I have to do it again. have like, what do you think? Like, how did you feel? That's a good question. I don't feel like I put maybe a little bit more, but not a ton more pressure. I think the other factor probably was Hermosa. I remember being a little bit more like watered down and the two other like tournaments that got stepped into our gold series. And those are real like,
all the teams are really, really good. You're not going to have an easy match. And I think that when you, again, don't have that practice and familiarity with each other, you're not going to get away with it as much against really good teams. Agreed. Wow. 100%. And after this year, you did get Rookie of the Year, right? That was this year. Yeah. How do you feel about that? Do you think it was a great achievement and coming to
this past season, do you think he kind of put a target on your back or did you feel more pressure because you had proven yourself? You know, so do you feel like people change how they were interacted with you and like with you just yourself on the court? I think that obviously I was really honored. There's a lot of good players out on the beach. I think that
You know, on one hand, I think I was given a lot of opportunities. but at the same time, obviously you aren't given more if you don't earn them. So, I was honored and I'm just really grateful that I had the opportunities that I did and that, I was able to make the most out of those opportunities. and then for, you know, this year coming in, I think that it did, it definitely made me feel like, okay, like it was very validating that.
Mark Burik (28:47.603)
I don't think I just like am right there. I definitely feel like I can play at this level. And so I do think I put a little more pressure on myself this year to, you know, sustain a high level of play and really get better this off season. And then, like I said, everyone's really good. So every single year, it doesn't matter how many times you prove yourself. You have to yourself every tournament. have to prove yourself every...
every match. I think that for me is one of the tough things and really fun things about this sport is you have to constantly be evolving because this is a game about exposing people's weaknesses and finding new ones and the higher up you are on the food chain, the more people are going to want to beat you. you kind of just it's part of the game. got to kind of you got to kind of, you know, love it. Love the game. Yeah.
100%. And so this past season, you're partnered with Brooke Bauer. Can you talk through the season? How did it go? What was the up and highs? What would you have done differently if you could go back a year from now or this past year? If you could have done anything differently into your preseason to help you coming in the season, what would you have done differently? Yeah, I think that
Yeah, I was excited to play with Brooke at the beginning of the year because we had some good tournaments together in the back half of last season. We got a second in Laguna and things just felt really good. The bummer is she, well, good and bad, right? She was the assistant coach at FSU at the time. So during the off season, we didn't really get to train a ton together. So maybe differently would have been either.
finding more ways to train together. Because I do think I learned after the season, there's a lot of value to that. When she was finally come back from the summer, we were both feeling really excited about Huntington, because that was the first event back. I felt like I, I will say, felt like I prepped pre-season the best I ever have and was in probably my best place.
Mark Burik (31:15.079)
I've been as an athlete coming into this season. And then, you know how sports goes, the week of Huntington, I ended up having an injury. So it was like the Monday before the tournament. I just was pulling off of the net and felt a little snap pop in my foot. I like, that's not good. Ended up calling practice for the day and got it looked at.
We didn't think it was fractured. So I ended up playing Huntington. We didn't have a good finish shockingly. and I ended up having two torn ligaments in my foot. So, yeah, not good. and so after that I had to take a month off. Luckily there was a bit of a break in the AVP calendar. and so then, our next major event was Manhattan and.
I just don't think we've ever got back into our rhythm. I feel like we're feeling a little shaky and I don't know, sports is sometimes weird and I think that you can't always rely on previous results like you always just talked about. so I just don't feel like we earned it.
We were, we'd be really close with teams then just give up a couple points and that's all it takes to lose at this level. We also had a tough, some tough draws in Manhattan, but again, that's part of the game and I think you just have to embrace that challenge. And then after that, we kind of had a little bit of a rebound. So I'd say we started off the, like the lowest you pretty much could write, like bad finish in Huntington, bad finish in Manhattan. And so we decided to.
playing a more for fun tournament, was Vancouver Open. for those who don't know, I would say it's like a futures level tournament. It's not a futures, but like that's the level of the tournament and we won. And I think that was just like more of a feel good tournament and to just like have a little bit of fun and take some pressure off of ourselves. And then we finished the year. sorry. Then we went to Virginia Beach and got a second.
Mark Burik (33:32.109)
So we kind of rebounded and I think we're then getting finishes that we felt were more representative of our play. And I think that showed through also in Chicago, we were able to get a fifth, which was, think, felt really good to end on after feeling like we underperformed in the first half of the season. And unfortunately for us, I think it was just a little too little too late, because had we even gotten a mediocre finish in Huntington or Manhattan, we would have made it into the league.
Mm hmm. Yeah. It is. I'm sure it's a bittersweet feeling, but at the same time, it's always better to finish on a high than to just have a great start and feel like you're right there and then not there. Now coming into this off season, how are you preparing it? Are you right now taking a break? How are you?
mentally preparing it and what are your partnership looking like? Yeah, I think for me right now it's taking the mental break. Like I said, now that I like know I don't have any more events left this year. It's trying to decompress trying to spend time with friends and family. And also shifting my priorities a little bit away from playing a ton right now to more like getting back in the weight room making sure that I
rebuild up a lot of strength. I think that really helped me this season was prioritizing strength training and good eating habits in the off season. So that way my body, because once season starts, right, it's just like tournament here, tournament there. And it's really, it's really hard. So you kind of just want to be in a maintenance mode. But right now is the time that you can really grow your body, grow your mind and grow your game.
So I think right now I'm just shifting from maintenance mode to growth mode and just how much can I grow during this time? Yeah, which is really important. And I want to touch base on what you just said. I remember you talking to me about that you just partner up with a nutritionist to kind of change your eating habits and see like what works and what doesn't work for your body. Can you just tell us what you learned so far or what is
Mark Burik (35:56.109)
for now, like your plan? Yeah, so I just started working with a fruit and nutrition, Sarah. She's awesome. We actually have our my DNA results come back next week. So for those who aren't familiar, she does genomic testing, and it's all based on my body and its needs. So we're going to be able to look more into that and just see a couple of places to optimize.
So when I was talking with you, you know, in this sport where there's so many factors, every single competitive edge that you can get, is going to help. so last year I started by adding a strength coach, Chris Fu, training matrix shout out. and then this year I'm still working with him, but now I'm adding on Sarah to my team. So, I'm just trying to, you know, build support around myself to help me succeed. Cause
As much as I think that I've learned and do know in these certain areas, I think that there's always room for growth. And so I'm really excited to add Sarah to my team and learn as much as I can from her. Yeah, I love that. I do think that there's so much other things that we can bring to volleyball that is not volleyball related. Like, I think that strength is huge.
nutrition to like, can help you prevent injuries and inflammation and just know how to feel your best to into going to tournaments. So I think it's, it's huge. do you have any goals like physically or more like, well, it can be valuable or just like personal goals in the next, for the next year? yeah, I think for me,
I don't know, I have like micro goals, but I like to challenge myself. They're not always like, you know, so crazy and lofty. think this off season for me, a couple of my like mini goals, I do want to see, you know, if I can add a couple more inches to my vertical. didn't test a lot last year. So this something that Chris and I are going to do more this year is set more benchmarks.
Mark Burik (38:19.181)
and do more testing so we can really see that improvement. Another fun thing, I'm trying to journal more so I can see again once I start working more with Sarah how it's going to change the way I feel. And I think another mini goal for me is just getting as much sleep as possible. It's so much easier said than done, but sleep is like the greatest performance enhancer and injury preventer.
So those are kind of like my off season focuses and then on the sand continuing to try to level up my option and jump setting game. Cause I think that is the way that this sport is going. And I've had practices with you that that's what we're working on. And so I think that expanding into those, know, place in the game that you're starting to see like Megan and Teresa are doing.
right now and it's helping them find a little more success against these really good teams. So like I said, all these little things add up. And so I'm just trying to see if I can add just a couple more tools to the toolbox, a couple more advantages from a physical perspective to my game and see what happens. Yeah, no, I think it's great to have.
They can be macro goals. I think it's just great to have something to achieve. It's kind of hard with this upcoming season because it's still like unknown with like this new format that is the league. Do you think it affected you in a way that it doesn't seem like you lost motivation, but at all? it's like, do you think that not knowing what's next, how do you prepare for that?
Yeah, I think for me, something that I've realized and I think part of the reason I came back. I think some people are very motivated by finishes and like very like outward obvious success. I think for me, coming back the whole point of me playing because the sport, you know, it doesn't have a lot of money. I think it is more for me about having fun.
Mark Burik (40:44.269)
trying to reach my individual potential and fulfill that curiosity. And so I'm really trying not to get carried away with, like, I'm not in the league, I'm not doing this or that. But like, like I said, I'm trying to bring my focus more on, okay, like, this is the best my body has felt through a season. Like, that's a really great, like, accomplishment for me to like have prepped so well in the offseason and
see if I can build on that this year. So it's like, I'm trying to just take the small wins as well as the big wins, like good finishes. They obviously feel good. But I think some things for me are a little bit above that. Or, you know, like in college, I never handset ever, ever, ever. And this is the first season that I handset pretty much the whole year and maybe got called less than five times. So like, that's a huge win for me. 100%.
taking that and again, focusing more on those things than the things that maybe other people may focus on more. Yeah, I love that. And especially like, to people listening, me and Megan practice together often. And sometimes I practice we really want to really be our goal is for Megan to answer all the time. So we're on purpose, I will on purpose pass super high that is not realistic at all. And
So she has to handset and then after seeing her do it in the game, I think it's even like me knowing that she's working on something and seeing her like achieve it. It's like, I'm like, woo, like almost like this. I don't know. I think it's, really helpful. And I do think that having also people in your corner that kind of support you. I think that I personally missed that from college having instead of always like competing against.
with each other to just have someone that you can help, know, help each other getting better. And I know that at LMU it was the culture was always like trying to get each other better. And I do think that's unfortunately that it's missing in the pro world. So how, how do you decide from now on like in the pro world? What's how do you decide what you want to work on and
Mark Burik (43:05.645)
How do you see if you're getting better at it? Are you going to commit to a coach? Or what's the biggest change from college to that? Yeah, it's definitely hard, right? Once you're out of college, you don't have that coach. I think it's a combination of things. think you, and this is the skill in and of itself, but I think all good players, need to kind of have a sense of like,
very realistically, like where you're at in your game. And not in even, not in a judgmental way either, but just like a really honest conversations with yourself. where am I losing my points or where am I not helping my partner enough? Or what could I be doing that would allow me to, you know, close that gap? And so for me, a lot of that self-learning process involves, I try to look at players with similar
similar game to me who are having like a lot of success. like a perfect example would be like, I think Julia's goals and I are very like comparable in terms of like, physicality, we're about the same height and like similar game, but I think Julia's doing some things that are at such like a suit, so smart, such a high level. And so I watch her a lot to try to learn from her and what she's been adding to her game and doing better than I do.
or some of the undersized Brazilian blockers watching their game and seeing how good they are at pulling off the net. So I think it's, you need to be really honest with yourself. You need to be willing to learn from other people. And then when you do get those couple of sprinkles of wisdom that either you're getting from a coach that you hire or just kind of helping you out or from friends, right? Like I said, I do think the relationship we have from LMU.
like transcends on you, right? Like we both want to help each other as much as possible. So keeping those people close and leaning on the support you do have. But it's, yeah, it's very much you're on your own. And so I think finding where your support is and leaning into that, or if you don't feel like you're getting enough of it, seeking out that additional support, right? So seeking out whether that's a trainer, a nutritionist, or whether it's
Mark Burik (45:29.355)
you know, training partners who are going to help you or even if you're at that point, like hiring a coach, you need to know what you need to continue growing. And I think if you're in a place where you're not growing anymore, either seeking advice from someone you trust or again, looking at other players and seeing where your gaps are. Yeah, I love that. I do think that there is a lot
By just looking at someone else, can take so much from it. And also by just asking them. It's so crazy that as professionals, we should ask each other in a way, because I feel like we could help each other. But I think a lot of people don't ask because they don't want to. They're scared to ask, or they feel almost embarrassed to ask. So I think it's great that you're looking at other players and just accepting that.
some people are better than you at something, you know, and then you're going to be better than them on something else, you know, but I think it's a great mental skills to have. yeah, and coming to this next season, do you think that you would commit to someone early on if it's like a league style again? Imagine like it's the league or imagine they're bringing
They're making it to 10 teams and it's starting pretty early on. Do you think by committing to someone early, you'll have a better chance into qualifying for the league? Yeah, I think that, like I said, I'm trying to always learn from decisions I've made in the past. think that this season I'm going to try to really date around, if you will, and find...
who I'm feeling good with, that's what Brooke and I like decided to play another season together, whether that's a new partner. I really want to explore my options and learn what I play well with. then obviously it's before like I want to hopefully be committed to someone like ideally no less than like a month out from the first tournament. Right. Because I think that
Mark Burik (47:52.205)
having that like comfortability together and communicating through all of the things, Set shape, know, wear each other out on defense, just that familiarity in general is an advantage. So I think that I want to make sure that I do give myself enough time with my, I end up playing with to develop that as well. Yeah. Well, I love that. One of the last question I have is,
What advice would you give you younger self if you could talk to her right now? To little Megan. To little Megan. I think I would just say, yeah, always have fun and live in the moment because like all these things are fleeting, right? And so I think that's another reason I wanted to come back to the game is because there's only so long that you can do this. And so even when things are like you're in a low or whatever,
continue to enjoy the process and the people you're around because it's all temporary even now. And I think I'm always constantly reminding myself to enjoy it even when it's hard because I'll look back in 10 years and be like, like that was amazing that like, you know, I had a body that like was capable of doing this and friends who shared that same passion. So just enjoying it as much as possible. I love that. I agree. think it's.
when you're in the pro world, it's like you don't celebrate the small wins, you know, and then later on you'll be like, my God, yeah, I didn't win, but it was still like pretty cool. It was pretty awesome. So great, great advice. And Megan, if people want to find you, if sponsors want to find you, what's the best way to reach out? Instagram.
is the best at Megan J Rice. No underscore is nothing. Just Megan J Rice. Yeah, because there is two Megan Rice in the MVP. I'm the one with the day. Megan J Rice. So yeah, yeah, awesome. And to the people that are listening live right now, do you guys have any question for Megan before we wrap this up? She doesn't bite, I promise.
Mark Burik (50:12.491)
Yes, no. James, Nicole, Sylvia, Teltz, do you guys have anything that you want to ask Megan?
Mark Burik (50:26.709)
Yeah, no, I don't have anything in particular. covered, you know, what happened when... There's too many people, one by one. Go ahead.
Mark Burik (50:43.021)
Was Sylvia? Was it Sylvia talking? I was. Can you OK, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, so I was thinking about coming back from an injury. And you talked about how you took the time for it. You had that mindset of, I want to make sure that I'm really, really strong. And I've had a couple of injuries now, not professional, not even collegiate.
But yeah, it's it sometimes is really really slow going and You know sometimes it was like well That you know you kind of want to hurry up and you want to get back to you know the thing that you love doing So for you, how how was it to?
How difficult was it for you to just kind of slow down, knowing that you're very competitive, right? And it was something that you really loved to do. How did you keep yourself from trying to come back too soon?
Yeah, I think it was a couple of things. I think one, my doctors and PT's were really honest with me upfront and basically ingrained it in me that it's like, if you do not take time, like this is something that you could possibly not come back from. Or like if I came back too soon and got injured again, like they're like, you're probably done, done. And so I think one was,
like even more than like the want and the drive to come back and play and like refill that like part of me, I think was the, again, have like the big picture scared into me that if I don't take this so, so seriously and come back too soon that it could all be taken away from me and not even give myself a real chance. And then I think the other thing too is, this is kind of sad, but I do feel like I kind of mourned
Mark Burik (52:54.985)
my like self as an athlete like all the way because I didn't know like to what capacity I'd be able to play again. And so I think letting go of myself and I stopped tying my identity to volleyball and started reminding myself of like the other parts of me that either people care about or my other like things that I still enjoy doing outside or whether that's right like playing a board game because I might not be able to.
beat you in volleyball, but I'll beat you in whatever it is, Yahtzee. And I don't know, just like find different ways of coping and letting go of the outcome, which at first was really painful, but then it was really freeing because once I took those expectations of coming back as the same player or whatever, think I was able to enjoy even the rehab process more, the people I was around and just the
the day-to-day little wins. So, and I think it's helped me since because I think if I was, let's say I never got injured and I'm still very much tied myself to volleyball in terms of my identity. I don't think I would have taken that break coming right out of school. I think I would have played right through it. I think burnout can be a really dangerous negative cycle. And so I think it gave me the awareness to know that I was burned out. I really do.
like in hindsight view it as a blessing because I don't know, I feel like it allowed me to think about things more big picture for my whole career, enjoy the process more, take a step back or just be grateful that I'm not currently injured.
That was kind of a long-winded answer, but I hope that's great. That's great. Thank you.
Mark Burik (54:52.333)
Hobson, you had anything? No, didn't have anything specific. I was just going to thank her for her time and just like, yeah, just sharing us that information. always so helpful to hear your stories and to see where you are now and then where you came from. It's always cool. So appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you. Well, Megan, thank you so much for joining us and for talking to us today. And do you have anything?
last word that you want to share? No, thank you guys for having me on and letting me share and yeah, great talking to you.
