Women’s Volleyball NCAA Central Region Teleconference Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 5, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – NCAA Central Region Teleconference Quotes Dec. 5, 2000
Ohio State Coach Jim Stone
On Ohio State’s season: “We have a fairly young team. We’re going to start four sophomores, which we’ve done all year. So we’ve had some bouts with inconsistency, which you would expect from a young team. But I like our team. I think it’s a pretty competitive group. At times, we make some mistakes due to our experience, but I think in general we play hard. We’ve had some good wins this year. We’ve had some losses we want to forget about. We’re still kind of on the learning curve. Every experience is a good one for us right now. I think we’re looking forward to playing Nebraska. We certainly know they’re going to be the favored team. But I think when you have a young team like this, you want them to experience playing good teams. You want to have them experienced playing in venues like Nebraska’s, where there’s going to be a large, enthusiastic crowd. All those things help out a team like ours. So we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
On second half of the season: “Our setter has been nursing a stress fracture since the middle of October, so she hasn’t gone through a practice since October. I think that hurts us. She’ll play matches on weekends, and then sit and rest. I certainly don’t think that’s the ideal situation. We’ve also held her out of three matches, and we lost all three. You don’t want your setter not practicing, but that’s the situation we’ve been dealing with. That’s a long-winded way of saying we haven’t played as well as we did early. But at this point of the season, there’s not a lot we can do about it. We’ll just continue to do what we’ve been doing and go play.”
On preparing for atmosphere of NU Coliseum: “I really don’t think you can. Players look forward to playing in this kind of atmosphere. I don’t think they see it as a negative at all. We’re going to have much more of a problem handling Nebraska’s players. I don’t think the crowd is going to be much of a problem.”
On dealing with Nebraska block: “I haven’t seen Nebraska play yet. I just got a videotape on them today. Certainly, they’re going to be bigger than we are at every position on the floor. We’re going to have to do the best position we can to make the blockers move side to side. We need to attack all of the net. If we get into a high ball offense, we’re going to lose in a short manner. We have to be somewhat deceptive in what we do. Obviously that’s tied into how well we receive serves. The challenge for us is going to be to try to run a balanced offensive system and let our setter run a good offense.”
On underdog role: “That’s good that Nebraska is feeling pressure. We’re going to come in as an underdog regardless. Would I rather be undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country? Yeah, I’d rather be doing that. I’m sure their players, and I’m sure John will take that kind of pressure anytime. I think that’s a good pressure. There’s good and bad, and that’s a good one, where the expectations are high. I’m sure also the excitement is high, and they feel they have a shot to win a national championship. I wouldn’t perceive them to be crumbling under the pressure. They’re probably loving it right now.”
On not having to face Nancy Meendering: “The bad thing is that if she were in our program, the last thing she’d be doing is redshirting. She’d be out playing. The fact that she’s redshirting means there’s still great players taking her place. Nancy’s a great player and a very competitive kid. She’s probably not the happiest person sitting there. I’m glad she’s not going to be able to hurt us from the bench.”
Nebraska Coach John Cook
Opening statement: “We’re excited to host a regional. I think it’s going to be a great regional. All four teams are great teams coming in here. I think the fans are going to get their money’s worth. It looks like there’s a lot of interest. I think tickets sold out (Monday) before noon, so it’s an exciting weekend in Husker land.”
On the South Carolina match: “I think it was a big wake-up call for us. Our team wasn’t prepared for what South Carolina gave us. We weren’t prepared for them to play at that level. I’ve gone back through the tape twice. South Carolina played an excellent match. I’m sure it was the best effort in the history of their program, but our players weren’t ready for that. That’s partly our coaches’ responsibility. It was a good experience, a good wake-up call, and we definitely have their attention this week. There’s no doubt about that.”
On Ohio State’s experience: “Ohio State has been in several five-game matches. They’re a team that has shown great character, too. That’s why they’re coming to Nebraska.”
On playing at home: “I think you saw the crowd will that (South Carolina) match for us. Man, it was loud in there. It just seems to me, this year compared to last year, the crowd is emotionally involved with our team. I don’t know if it’s the personalities out there. But the intensity in there, it just seems like a whole different level from last year. So it’s great, and it’s great for college volleyball. I know our players love. It’s a huge advantage for us. I think the most significant part of that was that even when we were struggling, they picked it up. They didn’t give up. That was really neat.”
On why Nebraska struggled with blocking in second round: “We were just sloppy in everything. When you lose your focus and you’re not in tuned 100 percent, your block is the first thing that goes. Passing is off a little bit, that throws Greichaly off a little bit. Everything starts breaking down when you’re not hitting on all cylinders. That’s pretty much mental. The good news is Laura came through that match in good shape and continues to get stronger every day. Physically and emotionally, it was good thing for us. Now Laura has the confidence going in Friday night that she can go out and play a hard match. I know she was not anticipating playing that much. Of course, that was unchartered territory. We had no idea how long she could last out there.”
On Nebraska’s confidence: “This team continues to show great character. We showed character Saturday night. We showed character down at Kansas State. We went down there without Laura. That win is looking pretty good right now that Kansas State is in the Sweet 16. This team has shown character, and they’re awfully tough to beat in the Coliseum. So this is an exciting opportunity for us. It’s going to be a very intense, competitive weekend. This is what the NCAA Tournament is all about.”
On the four regional fields: “It just seems very balanced this year. You look at the number of five-game matches in the second round, the four game matches. There were a lot of good matches. I think college volleyball is heading that way. Each year, you’re going to continue to see this. There’s going to be more and more upsets. The same teams are not going to win every time and go to the Final Four. It’s good for college volleyball.”
On Ohio State: “They’re similar to Kansas State. They have a setter that is very active and fast. They set a very fast system. We call them the K-State of the Big Ten. That’s the analogy we’ve used for our players. Coach Stone has always used a good system that’s hard to defend. The setter makes it happen. She’ll fire the ball all over the court, and they’ll come extremely fast with their tempo. They have smaller players than we do. So they’re going to try to out-quick our block and out-quick our defensive tempo with their attack.”
On Brigham Young and Arizona: “They’re both big, physical teams. I’ve seen them on tape throughout the year. If the BYU setter can come in here and play well, that’s going to be a great match. When you get to this point, everybody is balanced. Everybody has great hitters and a great setter. Obviously they’re going to be physical enough to match up. You’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game.”
Arizona Coach David Rubio
On facing Brigham Young again: “I don’t know if it’s an advantage at all, because we’ve played earlier in the year. We know each other pretty well. I don’t think there’s going to be any secrets. There’s always that element of familiarity when you’ve seen a team before.”
On differences now in BYU: “Any time that you play a team earlier in the year that is as physically talented as they are with a young setter, the learning curve is much greater. As they played throughout the season, the players improved. The setter tends to have a better understanding of how to run the offense and more familiar with the attackers. I expect them to be much different than they were three months.”
Assessment of this year’s team, compared to last year: “We have just about everybody back. Just having another year of training under their belts makes a huge difference. We’re much better prepared to go into close matches. We’re a more mature team physically and emotionally. That’s the reason we’ve been able to sustain a high level of play.”
Thoughts from watching BYU tape: “They’re very, very physical. I think they have one of the best middle-attacking blockers, Nina Puikkonen, in the country. She’s so talented. They’re a very well balanced team. They don’t sub a lot, like we do. All their players are complete and polished. They’re big. They’re physical. They match up well with us. I think it’s a match that’s going to be determined on ball control and who makes the least errors.”
On being placed in same region as No. 1 Nebraska: “We were disappointed we dropped a match with Colorado State, which dropped us out of the top four seeds. So that immediately put it up in the air as far as where the committee put us. I was disappointed we went down from where we were down to eight. But to be quite honest you, almost every single year we’ve been in the tournament, we’ve had to face one of the top seeds in the round of 16, if not earlier. Normally, we’d have to face Stanford. Anything different than that was something enjoyable. We were looking forward to playing somebody other than a Stanford. Nebraska obviously is a great team. They’re undefeated, but just a change of a team is nice.”
On preparing for environment at NU Coliseum: “We’ve been a very good road team. We’ve played some pretty tough matches on the road. It’s really nice that we played at Nebraska last year. It’s really fresh in our memory. They’re second in the country in attendance. Their fans are awesome. It’s a wonderful environment they create there in Lincoln. I think we’re well prepared because of the matches we played early in the year. We’ve had to play in some pretty hostile environments. I’m not sure if anything is as hostile as it might be this coming weekend, but we look forward to the opportunity to play in front of a large crowd.”
Memories from Nebraska match last year in Lincoln: “I remember that the first game in that match was really well played by both teams. We were competing on both sides of the net and in all areas of the game. We broke down at the end. We were really young at that point. I remember the crowd. I remember the environment they created. Everything was really done well. Everything was really at a different level than what we’re used to experiencing. It was really a well run tournament.”
On national outlook of Nebraska: “The buzz is that they’re extremely physical and extremely talented. They’re so big, and they’re so athletic. Their middles are so talented, and the setter, kind of, is at a different level than anyone else in terms of how she plays the game. Their stats are just kind of men’s volleyball type of stats. They’re really one of those teams that reminds of a Stanford-level team, where they’re just great at every position. God forbid when they get Meendering back, where they’re going to plug her in.”
Brigham Young Coach Elaine Michaelis
On playing Arizona again: “I think it gives us a good perspective of the quality of team that they are. They have a very good record, and they played very well against us the first time. We know what we’re up against. We have a lot of respect for them because of that meeting. It helps us to know their personnel and be a little more prepared this time.”
On how BYU has changed since first meeting with Arizona: “Having a season under our belt is the main factor. We’ve had a freshman setter all year. We played Arizona very early in the season. We’re different, because we now have an offense that is a little more consistent than it was. We have much more experience in that position, as well as other positions. We are just a better team because of the experience that a season gives you.”
On what stands out about Arizona: “They have two very strong outside hitters. You have to respect their right side hitter and the middle, as well. It’s really difficult to block the scheme they have, because of the strength of their middle and right side attack. It’s difficult to contain all of those options. They have strong people all around, including an excellent setter. It’s defensively a real challenge to play them.”
On Arizona setter Dana Burkholder: “I’ve been a fan of Dana’s since she was in club ball. She’s a great competitor. She’s real athletic, she knows the game, and she’s intelligent. We have a lot of respect for her. She’s a factor in their offense as well, so you have to not forget about her as an option when it comes to defending that team.”
On impressions of Burkholder at a young age: “She’s such a competitor, and she’s so athletic. Even though she is small in size, she has athleticism that makes us for a lot of that. And she’s an intelligent, bright player. That’s a nice package to have.”
On significance of possibly getting to the Final Four: “That’s the dream of every coach that begins this tournament. You want to be there. I’m not sure if it’s more significant for me than it is for anyone else. It’s just a dream that we all have. Some people have been able to get there more often than the rest of us. You work hard to try to make it happen. It’s a lot of fun to go through the NCAA Tournament process. We’re just real excited and know that all 16 of those teams that are still playing deserve to be where they are. There is a lot of parity this year, but there are three or four that do stand out a little more than the rest of us.”
On coming to Nebraska: “It’s been a while, but we always enjoy coming. We have great respect for the Nebraska fans. They are great volleyball fans. We’ve found them to be appreciative of the game regardless of who was doing well. Yet they’re true Big Red fans, so it makes for a fun volleyball arena. We’re excited to come back. We have a lot of respect for John and his team, but also for the volleyball community that they have there.”
