NXTVB

Bella Bergmark’s volleyball journey is proof that being overlooked early does not mean you are behind.

In Part 1 of this conversation, Susan sits down with Bella to talk about the path that took her from being a developing recruit in the Bay Area to UC Berkeley, the University of Texas, two national championships, and eventually a professional volleyball career.

Bella opens up about changing positions during recruiting, dealing with performance anxiety, redshirting at Cal, navigating the disruption of COVID, and reaching a point where she knew she wanted more from her volleyball experience. She shares what pushed her to enter the transfer portal, how quickly Texas came calling, and what it was like stepping into a gym filled with All-Americans and competing for a role on a championship team. 

They also talk about the coaches who believed in Bella before she fully believed in herself, learning to trust the process, and how taking a chance on herself ultimately opened the door to a career she never imagined when she was a high school athlete.

Today, Bella has played professionally in Puerto Rico, France, and with LOVB Austin, where her team won the league championship last season.

If you’ve ever felt overlooked, behind, or unsure where your recruiting journey is headed, Bella’s story is a powerful reminder that your first opportunity does not have to be your final destination.

Chapters

00:00 – From an overlooked recruit to Cal

04:20 – Bella’s recruiting journey and position change

07:35 – Arriving at Cal and fighting for playing time

12:25 – When volleyball stopped feeling fun

16:40 – Deciding to enter the transfer portal

20:05 – Why Bella took the chance on Texas

23:15 – The coach who believed in her

25:15 – Building belief and detaching from outcomes

28:15 – From college volleyball to playing professionally

About the Guest:

Bella Bergmark is a professional volleyball player and coach originally from San Francisco. She played her undergraduate volleyball at UC Berkeley before transferring to the University of Texas, where she won two national championships.

Since turning pro, Bella has competed across three professional seasons — in Puerto Rico, France, and most recently with LOVB Austin, where her team won the league championship last season.

Beyond competing, Bella runs volleyball clinics around the country each year and coaches athletes online through her program, the Bergmark Performance Academy, offering personalized film review and 1-on-1 coaching for players looking to take their game to the next level. She's also active on social media, sharing volleyball tips, strength and conditioning content, and volleyball humor with her audience. Off the court, she lives with her dog Freyja and her cat Mochi.

Connect with Bella:

LOVB Website: https://www.lovb.com/teams/lovb-austin-volleyball

Instagram:@bella.bergmark

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

Most volleyball families spend hours researching schools, tracking coaches, copying emails, and trying to stay organized throughout the recruiting process. But what if there was a better way?

In this episode, Susan sits down with Mike, founder of RallySend, to talk about how a simple goal of helping his own daughter navigate recruiting turned into one of the most innovative tools available for volleyball athletes today. With a background in product development at Snapchat and years in the tech industry, Mike shares how he applied technology to solve some of the biggest pain points families face during recruiting.

Beyond the software itself, this conversation explores why volleyball is experiencing incredible momentum, what professional volleyball in the United States means for the next generation of athletes, and why the recruiting process should be about finding the right fit, not simply getting an offer.

Whether you're just beginning your recruiting journey or already reaching out to college coaches, this episode is packed with practical insights that can save you time, reduce stress, and help you approach recruiting with more confidence.

Chapters

00:00 – Meet Mike and RallySend
02:15 – From tech to volleyball
04:15 – Investing in pro volleyball
08:45 – Why volleyball is ready to grow
13:00 – What pro volleyball creates for young athletes
15:15 – Entering the recruiting process as a parent
18:15 – The biggest recruiting time-wasters
20:15 – How RallySend was created
22:45 – Using roster trends to target schools
25:30 – The features that make outreach easier
28:15 – Tracking coach engagement
29:45 – Keeping coach information current
31:15 – The future of RallySend
32:30 – What Mike hopes his daughter remembers
34:30 – How families can get started 

About the Guest:

Mike Su is a volleyball dad, serial entrepreneur, and founder of RallySend.com, the premier tool for streamlining athlete outreach to college coaches. Mike is also a minority owner of the San Francisco Signal, LOVB's newest expansion team. With a 25+ year career as a product executive at companies like Snap, mitú, and Upworthy, he now focuses his expertise on solving the recruiting grind. When he's not building RallySend or editing highlights for his daughter Kylie (2028 scrappy libero with a 4.36 GPA *hint hint* ), he is involved with his local church, Defy Ventures, and Rideback Rise. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, three kids, and their dog, Boogie.

Connect with Mike:

Website: www.rallysend.com

Instagram: @getrallysend @biggiesu

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What if practice was something your daughter actually wanted to show up for?

In Part 2 of her sit-down with University of Nevada head coach Jason Borchin, Susan goes deep into the coaching philosophy and practice model Jason has spent years refining, first at Cal Poly and now at Nevada. This one is a masterclass in what a healthy, high-performing college volleyball environment can actually look like.

Jason walks through how his team lifts for 30 to 40 minutes right before practice, why he ditched the traditional dynamic warmup and pepper drill in favor of letting his athletes self-direct their warmup, and why he refuses to run practices longer than two hours. He explains how giving athletes ownership over their own development, from what they choose to work on before practice, to what they stay after for, to what they eat, has become the center of his coaching philosophy. He also shares the simple challenge he gives every player: "Give me two days a week where you stay after 10 minutes and work on something."

Susan and Jason then get into the concept of "enough-ness" and why celebration motivation is more sustainable than pushing yourself from a place of lack. Jason shares how becoming a dad, working alongside Cal Poly head coach Caroline Walters, and lots of self-reflection shaped the kind of coach he wants to be, and the kind of coach he would want his own kids to one day play for. He closes with what drew him to Nevada, from Lake Tahoe and ski mountains 15 minutes from campus, to state-of-the-art facilities, to a tight-knit community he can't wait to build a program around.

If your daughter is trying to figure out what a healthy college volleyball environment actually looks like, this episode is a must-listen.

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome back to Part 2
01:00 – Practice as a choice, not a chore
02:30 – Ditching pepper and the dynamic warmup
06:30 – The 2-hour practice cap and why every rep matters
11:00 – "Give me 10 minutes after practice"
17:00 – Enough-ness: celebration over lack motivation
19:00 – Why he trusts his athletes with their nutrition
23:00 – How becoming a dad changed his coaching
27:30 – What drew him to Nevada
33:30 – Vibe attracts your tribe

About the Guest:

Jason Borchin is the head coach of the University of Nevada Women's Volleyball program, named to the role in December 2025 after helping lead Cal Poly to a historic Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Over nine seasons at Cal Poly, he served as recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, helping the Mustangs win back-to-back Big West titles and earn multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. Prior to Cal Poly, Jason coached at Notre Dame and Sacramento State, and he brings 18+ years of coaching experience across the intercollegiate, high school, and club levels. He and his wife Jessie (who advises athletes at NXTVB) have three young children.

Connect with Jason:

Nevada Wolf Pack Volleyball: @nevadavolleyball
Coach page: Jason Borchin at Nevada

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What actually separates the athletes who get offered from the ones who don't?

For the 50th episode of the podcast, Susan sits down with a good friend and one of the most talked-about names in college volleyball right now: Coach Jason Borchin. Jason was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal Poly during their Cinderella Sweet 16 run in 2025, and just weeks later, he was named the head coach at the University of Nevada.

Jason takes us behind the scenes of the whirlwind that was Cal Poly's postseason: upsetting #5 BYU and #4 USC as an unseeded team, interviewing for the Nevada job the Monday after the tournament ended, and uprooting his family with three young kids in tow. He shares what made the Cal Poly team so magical, from a culture of celebration and authenticity to the philosophy that "the right kid beats the best athlete," and why letting players be fully themselves is what unlocks the confidence to win.

The second half of the conversation is a masterclass in recruiting. Jason walks through what actually separates athletes at the finish line of a coach's target list, the "genuine interest hack" that gets him to invest more time watching a recruit, and why copy-paste emails get ignored while a personal, well-researched email can move an athlete up the board. He also shares what it looks like when an athlete is willing to wear her heart on her sleeve, and why that vulnerability is often the difference between an offer and a pass.

If your daughter is on a college coach's radar (or trying to be), this episode is exactly what she needs to hear.

Chapters

00:00 – Celebrating 50 episodes with Coach Jason Borchin
02:00 – The whirlwind from the Sweet 16 to the Nevada job
06:00 – Managing chaos, family, and the transfer portal
09:00 – What made Cal Poly's Cinderella team so special
13:00 – Confidence, celebration, and letting kids be themselves
17:00 – Being underestimated as a mid-major program
19:00 – "Cal Poly kids": the right kid over the best athlete
23:00 – Building the same culture at Nevada
26:00 – What genuine interest looks like on a recruiting call
33:00 – Why copy-paste emails get ignored

About the Guest:

Jason Borchin is the head coach of the University of Nevada Women's Volleyball program, named to the role in December 2025 after helping lead Cal Poly to a historic Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Over nine seasons at Cal Poly, he served as recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, helping the Mustangs win back-to-back Big West titles and earn multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. Prior to Cal Poly, Jason coached at Notre Dame and Sacramento State, and he brings 18+ years of coaching experience across the intercollegiate, high school, and club levels. He and his wife Jessie (who advises athletes at NXTVB) have three young children.

Connect with Jason:

Nevada Wolf Pack Volleyball: @nevadavolleyball
Coach page: Jason Borchin at Nevada

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What's the first thing you should say when your daughter comes home from a camp, tryout, or tournament totally deflated?

In this episode, Susan shares a simple but powerful tool she learned in her life coaching certification called the Ratings Game. It's a set of scaled questions parents and coaches can use to help an athlete process a tough day without spiraling into "I'm not good enough" thinking.

Susan walks through exactly how the tool works, from asking your daughter to rate her performance from 1 to 10, to the crucial follow-up question of "Why isn't it a 1?" that gently gets her focused on what she actually did well. She also shares how to handle the "I don't know" answer, how to reflect her thinking back to her, and a reframe on motivation she calls "gas car vs. electric car," why celebration motivation is faster and more sustainable than being hard on yourself.

If you're holding space for an athlete chasing a big goal, this episode gives you a script you can use the very next time she comes to you upset.

Chapters

00:00 – Behind the scenes at Girls Junior Nationals
02:00 – Advisor vs. recruiter (and what parents often misunderstand)
05:00 – Why college coach interviews matter
07:30 – Doing scary things and building the podcast
11:00 – Where this episode's tool comes from
13:00 – Susan's life coaching certification story
19:00 – Introducing the Ratings Game
20:00 – How to ask the 1-to-10 question
22:00 – The "Why isn't it a 1?" follow-up
23:00 – What to do when she says "I don't know"
25:00 – Celebration motivation vs. lack motivation
28:00 – What would have made it a 10?
29:30 – Reflecting her thinking back to her
31:00 – Focusing on what she can control

Follow Coach Desi on Instagram: @thisiscoachdesi 

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

Are you actively choosing your recruiting process, or quietly letting it happen to you?

In this episode, Susan builds on the last two conversations and gets into one of the biggest reasons recruiting timelines look so different from athlete to athlete: different goals create different timelines. She walks through a spectrum she sees almost every athlete fall somewhere on, from the very specific athlete who knows exactly what she wants to the more open-minded athlete who's willing to explore, and explains why neither path is right or wrong, just different.

Susan shares her own story of holding out for a Top 25 or Pac-10 program as a 16-year-old recruit, why she sat on offers from schools that didn't match her vision, and what made the wait worth it. She also tells the story of a former club athlete who chose to commit to the first offer she received from her dream conference, and how having a little specificity with an open mind made for one of the smoothest recruiting processes Susan has seen.

She closes with a powerful reframe: in your recruiting process, you are the driver, not the victim. If you're not getting interest from the schools you want, you get to decide whether to double down, adjust your list, or become the athlete who's good enough for the goal. Leaning into desire rather than fear is what changes everything.

Chapters

00:00 – Why timelines feel like a verdict (and shouldn't)
01:30 – The recruiting spectrum: specific vs. open-minded
03:00 – Why clarity moves you forward faster
04:00 – Specific athletes, smaller pools, longer timelines
05:30 – Susan's recruiting story: holding out for the Pac-10
08:00 – When backup offers become teachers
09:30 – Why two athletes' timelines should never match
11:30 – The West Coast Conference athlete who said yes to the first offer
13:30 – Choosing your process instead of being a victim to it
15:00 – Leaning into desire over fear

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What if your recruiting journey was never supposed to look like anyone else's?

In this episode, Susan continues the post-June 15th conversation with one of her favorite analogies for recruiting: the road trip. She walks through what would happen if 100 families started in San Francisco with the same goal of getting to New York City, and why none of them would arrive in the same way, on the same day, or in the same vehicle.

She explains why recruiting is actually even more unpredictable than that, since athletes aren't even starting from the same place, driving the same car, or trying to reach the same destination. Susan digs into the comparison trap that's stealing confidence from so many families, why looking at your bestie's journey is still just a snapshot you can't fully see, and how the spectrum between very specific and very open-minded athletes creates very different timelines (and why neither is wrong).

She closes with a powerful reminder that every successful recruiting story has one thing in common: the athlete kept moving. If you've been quietly comparing yourself to teammates, classmates, or strangers on social media, this episode is the windshield-shift you need.

Chapters

00:00 – Borrowing belief when you can't quite believe it yourself
02:30 – Every recruiting journey is unique (and why that's hard to accept)
04:30 – The road trip analogy: 100 families, same destination
07:00 – Different vehicles, routes, and obstacles
08:00 – Why recruiting is more like West Coast to East Coast
09:30 – The comparison trap (even with your bestie)
11:30 – Specific vs. open-minded athletes
13:00 – The goal isn't to arrive first
14:00 – Stop looking out the side windows
15:00 – Choosing the right kind of recruiting support

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What if June 15th wasn't a verdict, but a flashlight?

In this follow-up to last week's episode, Susan goes deeper on what June 15th actually reveals and how athletes and families can make sense of what they saw (or didn't see) once the day passed. Through two memorable analogies, a tunnel and a big box with multiple doors, she paints a clear picture of what's actually happening behind the scenes of the recruiting process and why most athletes are still in the middle of their journey, not at the end.

Susan walks through why the days before June 15th feel like walking through a dark tunnel, sharing a personal story about taking her three young sons through an abandoned train tunnel in Truckee. She explains how June 15th is essentially the lights coming on in the middle of that tunnel, finally giving families clarity on how far they've come, what's ahead, and what direction to go next. She also calls out the social media trap that makes a small percentage of athletes feel like the majority, and offers a "Bill Nye, not Judge Judy" approach to assessing what the day actually revealed.

If June 15th didn't unfold the way your family hoped, or you're trying to figure out what to do with the information you now have, this episode will help you reset, reassess, and move forward with clarity.

Chapters

00:00 – The power of being a little delusional
03:00 – Validating the post-June 15th emotional roller coaster
05:30 – June 15th is just information
07:30 – Recruiting before June 15th: walking through the dark
10:00 – The Truckee tunnel story
13:30 – When the lights come on
17:00 – Doors, mirages, and the rare easy paths
19:00 – Why social media spotlights the few
22:00 – Bill Nye vs. Judge Judy: assess, don't panic
24:30 – Why recruiting doesn't end on June 15th

Click HERE for the link to NXTVB Support 

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What if June 15th wasn't a verdict on your future, but just one date on a much longer calendar?

With June 15th approaching, Susan goes solo to reframe how athletes and families are thinking about the most hyped-up day in volleyball recruiting. She breaks down what June 15th actually is (and isn't), why most athletes won't have a dramatic recruiting breakthrough on that single day, and the silent stories athletes start telling themselves when the day doesn't unfold the way they imagined.

Drawing on a concept from her mentor Brooke Castillo, Susan walks through how to make decisions ahead of time about who you want to be, how you want to show up, and what you'll focus on whether things go well or not. She also offers a powerful reframe for any athlete who's been measuring her worth by outcomes instead of actions, and shares the drops-in-a-bucket framework that reminds you why your success in this process is inevitable as long as you don't give up.

If June 15th has been weighing on your family, this episode is the deep breath you didn't know you needed before opening day.

Chapters

00:00 – What June 15th actually is
02:00 – June 15th is a day, not a verdict
03:30 – The stories we let June 15th mean about us
04:30 – Making decisions ahead of time
06:00 – Disappointment isn't defeat
07:00 – You didn't fail, you just guessed wrong
08:00 – Evaluating yourself by actions, not outcomes
09:30 – The small wins worth celebrating
11:00 – Drops in a bucket: why success is inevitable
13:30 – What to remember if June 15th doesn't go your way

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.

What separates a recruiting call that lands an offer from one that gets quietly forgotten?

In this episode, Susan welcomes back Ben and Nancy Somera, the married coaching duo leading programs at Wesleyan University (Division III) and Fairfield University (Division I). This time, they go deeper into what's actually happening behind the scenes of the recruiting process, from the chase for the "D1 label" to the phone calls that often decide who gets an offer.

Ben and Nancy break down what real fit looks like, why "going D1" shouldn't be the driving force behind any recruit's decision, and what athletes can learn from the difference between a winning program and a losing one. They walk through the recruiting calls coaches actually want to have (and the questions that waste everyone's time), the personality cues they pick up on, how their timelines differ at the D1 and D3 levels, the rushed-offer culture around June 15th, and what the new roster limits and fifth-year eligibility rules really mean for the next few recruiting classes.

If you're heading into June 15th, prepping for your first call with a college coach, or trying to figure out if you're chasing the right schools, this conversation is a must.

About the Guests:

Ben and Nancy Somera bring a unique perspective to the college volleyball world, having coached together at the Division I level before now leading successful programs at different divisions in Connecticut. Nancy is the head coach at Fairfield University, where she has quickly built one of the top mid-major programs in the country with multiple MAAC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. Ben is the head coach at Wesleyan University, where he has turned the Cardinals into a national Division III contender with multiple NESCAC titles and consistent NCAA Tournament success. Together, the Someras have decades of coaching experience across Division I and Division III volleyball and are widely respected for their ability to build winning cultures, develop athletes, and navigate the evolving recruiting landscape. Their perspective on talent overlap between divisions, recruiting, and what truly creates a great college experience makes for an insightful and timely conversation for athletes and families alike.

Chapters

00:00 – Why winning culture matters
05:00 – PB&J: passion, bravery, and joy
08:30 – The Power 4 chase vs. finding real fit
13:00 – Inside the recruiting call
17:30 – Doing your homework before you dial
19:00 – Personality, presence, and being yourself
23:30 – D1 vs. D3 recruiting timelines
26:00 – Qualifying coach interest before you wait
28:30 – June 15th, rushed offers, and the camp economy
33:00 – Roster limits and the fifth-year shift

Connect with Ben and Nancy:

Instagram: Wesleyan University Volleyball
Website: Wesleyan University Volleyball
Instagram: Fairfield Volleyball
Website: Fairfield Volleyball

Connect with Susan:
Check out the website: www.nxtvb.com
Follow on Instagram + TikTok: @hey.susank

www.rallysend.com

Looking for a better way to stay organized and manage your recruiting? Check out www.rallysend.com—our go-to recruiting software for athletes, families, and clubs. It streamlines communication with college coaches, saves hours on recruiting outreach, and helps you stay ahead of the biggest challenge in the recruiting process: time.

Use code HEYSUSAN to save $5/month on a monthly subscription or $50 off an annual plan.