Volleyball Press Conference Quotes

Nebraska Head Coach John Cook
Opening statement
"I just can’t wait to meet (Alabama A&M Head Coach) Betty (Austin). After she’s so impressive, we have so many people that work for us here, and after they called her yesterday, I feel like an underachieving coach. I’m not the director, I don’t do travel, and I don’t teach classes. So I’m really looking forward to meeting her. She really reminds me of the old days of what volleyball coaches used to have to do, and it’s kind of refreshing to read about that. But we’re looking forward to the tournament. We’re in the Coliseum and our players are excited. So we’re ready to get going."

On what you will be working on this week
"Yesterday we just worked on Nebraska. I think, a lot like football does on their bye week, you go back and rehearse the fundamentals, you try to fix things that maybe broke down against Texas. So that’s what yesterday and today will be about for us. We worked mostly on us and reviewing fundamentals and just trying to really get a re-focus on that."

On what you can take from the loss in last year’s regional finals
"I thought we played great in the tournament last year. We were fresh, and I thought we played really solid. The USC match was an epic match, and it could have gone either way. We felt really good about our effort last year."

On how much you have to spread the attack out to succeed
"Well every time an outside hitter here has gone over 30 kills, we’ve lost. So there’s the message right there. We’ll be much harder to defend if we have a balanced attack. That’s what our whole system is based on, is having to defend six hitters. Most of the teams we play, there are going to be one or two hitters that get a majority of the swings, just looking at the stats so far of the majority of the teams that we can play. Hopefully that will be a strength for us."

On the team feels about being the No. 1 seed in the tournament
"They’re excited about the tournament and getting the top seed, because I think they felt like they were going to earn that, and deserved it. So based on our season, it made a lot of sense. They probably know that this is what it’s all about for them. Everything we’ve done up to this point has been great, but for this team, where they were last year, and where our two seniors are, the NCAA Tournament is what they’ve been waiting for and working for. I think they’re going to be on a mission, I think we’re going to play great. It’s exciting to know that the Husker Nation gets to be a part of it, and as long as we win in the first four matches, they get to be a big part of it."

On what advantages you have by having the first round in the Coliseum
"You might think that, but what I keep seeing is, these teams play great here. It’s exciting for them to be here, they’ve never been in this environment, so it pumps them up. I saw that last year with Iona last year and with Iowa State this year. That was the first time those players had been in here because in the past we’ve played at the Devaney Center and the Civic Center, and it just brings the best out of teams. They might feel overwhelmed, but they’ll probably feel inspired. That’s what the tournament is all about, and playing in the Coliseum, it’s great to see these teams who have never played in here and their reaction afterward. It will be one of the greatest experiences for those kids to play here."

On what you tell freshman outside hitter Jordan Larson to prepare her for her first NCAA Tournament
"Nothing. (Jordan) has been in a lot of big matches, and we’re going to treat all the matches just like we have every one all year. It doesn’t become any different. The only difference is, if you lose you’re out. And they understand that, so there’s no point in talking about it. It’s just about building confidence, preparing them so that they’re confident when they play. You want them to play with no fear and go for it. That’s the thing. You don’t want to have any regrets. My job is to make sure they feel like they got the pedal to the medal. Jordan (Larson) has to take big swings and do the things she’s been doing all year, just play the game and not worry about the score, and just go on to the next play.

On what sophomore right-side hitter Sarah Pavan has improved on from last year
"Well this year she’s been much more consistent than last year, and all of her matches are solid. And she’s doing it in all the skills, and that’s what makes her so unique is, she’s the top-ten in blocking, or right around the top ten. She’s the top-ten in hitting and she’s passing all six rotations for us. She plays middle back on defense. Her serving numbers are much better than last year. So she’s improving in every area of the game. And to be 6-foot-5 and as talented as she is, that’s what makes her so special, because she has that height, and she can do things that other people can’t do, or is very difficult to defend. But it’s a tribute to her, because she’s worked really hard, and she wants to be a great player. There’s never a day when I don’t feel like Sarah’s not working towards that."

On what you learned from the loss at No. 11 Texas
"Well they really wanted to go 20-0 in the Big 12, so in a way that was a goal. But I think we got taught a very valuable lesson, which is that you can’t go on cruise control when you’re up 2-0, thinking that it’s over. We went on cruise control and it cost us, because Texas got hot. That was a great experience for us, and it was a big wake up call in that regard. It was the environment that was great for us to be in, as well as the Missouri match here the week before that. I think it’s going to prepare us for what it’s going to be like from here on out. And I think we have a much greater appreciation for how important each play is. And I think that’s what the tournament is all about, and the farther you go into it, the more important every play becomes. So you’ve got to do your best to be good on every play. And as I told them, they’ve got to treasure every time they touch the ball, that we’ve got to make something better happen."

Alabama A&M Head Coach Betty Austin
Opening statement
"The only thing that I can basically say is that we are happy to represent our conference and Alabama A&M University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. We’re not especially happy that we have to play the No. 1 team in the country, but we are excited to get an opportunity to visit the great state of Nebraska and the great city of Lincoln."

On what you have learned from scouting Nebraska
"Well there is not a whole lot of scouting you can do. When you have the No. 1 rank the whole year, there’s not much to scout. You just know that you’re going to be coming into a situation where it’s almost impossible to beat them, and you just hope that you can get your kids up to play the best competition in the United States. That’s basically the only way you can look at it. If you’re trying to get ready to play the No. 1 team in the country, the only thing I can do is try to get my kids ready and try to get them to understand the caliber of volleyball that we will be competing against."

On what you know or have heard about playing at the Coliseum
"All I know is that it’s going to be sold out, and that it was sold out even before they knew they were playing. I know that they play in front of a sold out crowd all the time, and that volleyball down there is big in Nebraska. It probably is the second biggest sport behind football. I just know it’s going to be an electrifying event. I don’t know how electrifying it’s going to be for them to see us play us. But I’m happy to know that we have volleyball in this country that people come out and support, especially women."

On what you did to finish strong after beginning the season 2-9
"Early on, we played some very tough schools, and I think it helped them. I have a very young team, and even though I have about five seniors, only two of those seniors have played a lot for me. I recruited six freshmen for this coming year, and my starting setter is a freshman. So I think that probably playing with top-tier Division I programs helped us get ready for our conference schedule. To be honest, I did not think that we would do as well as we have in our conference this year. I just think playing those schools have prepared us."

On whether you began the season with the goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament
"Our first goal is always to win our conference. Our second goal is always to finish the season on a winning note. And yes, my third goal was to return to the NCAA Tournament. I didn’t think that we would get the No. 1 seed. The very first time we were in five years ago, we played a Division I program in Arizona in a very large arena. So we’ve had some experience in playing in the NCAA Tournament, it’s just that it has not been with Nebraska, and I know they have a history. They’ve been playing in the NCAA Tournament for 30 years, so I know that they know how to win."

On the play of senior outside hitter Alexandria Brazelton
"Alexandria has done pretty well for us. One of the things she really does for us is that she brings great leadership. She is a very serious-minded kid, and sometimes she’s so serious-minded, it hurts her in actual playing time. But she’s one of those players that when I recruited her, she wanted to play top-ranked competition. It has taken until her last season her to actually get that, so I’m happy for her. But I’m concerned that she’ll go into this so serious-minded that she won’t actually enjoy the experience. It’s kind of hard to enjoy the experience when you are the bottom seed playing the top seed. So if I can keep her a little calm, then I think we’ll be OK, but she’s been a good player for me, athletically as well as academically."

Duke Head Coach Jolene Nagel
Opening statement
"At Duke volleyball, we’re really excited, we’ve had a great year. We finished strong the second half of the season in particular. We’re in a very tough conference, where every win you have to play tough to get it. I think that it’s a conference that sometimes doesn’t necessarily get the respect that we think it deserves, so we’re working hard as a conference to try to change that. We’re excited to have this opportunity to come out there. We know it’s a great atmosphere and a great venue, and we’re excited to be able to be in that environment and compete. And this team, I feel, is so deserving of this opportunity."

On having to come to come to play the No. 1 seed
"I think we look at it very differently, in that we’re a team where we missed making the NCAA Tournament last year, and we’re a team that really could have been very debated for us to get in. So we had a lot of disappointment. And this year we’ve had a great season. We had a couple of bumps along the way that we needed take better advantage of. So we knew when we were going into the (NCAA Tournament selection) show Sunday afternoon, we were hoping they looked at all the great things we accomplished this season, but once you put it in front of the committee, you’re not exactly sure what they’re going to come up with. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for us, that’s how I look at it. and our team, there has not been one thing said in regards to, ?well why do we have that match first, and that team second,’ or anything like that, which I love, because we’re just going to try to do our very best. The first thing we have to focus on is our match against American, and that’s the one we’ve got to get through, and then we’ll take a look at the second match. And that’s how we’ve been going through things the entire season, and that’s what we will continue to intend to do going into this weekend. So as far as it being a reward, I still think it’s a tremendous opportunity. Sure, it would have been nice maybe if they would have done the seeding a little bit differently, but I bet there are a lot of coaches saying that. So we’ve been given this opportunity, and we’re going to run with it."

On what have been Duke’s strengths throughout the season, especially through the winning stretch in the second half of the season?
"I think we’ve worked really hard with trying to be consistent with our game, whether it is serving, or our blocking this year. I think one thing that has helped us a lot is that we’re a good team together, as far as how the team gets along, how they push each other in practice, how they challenge each other yet also support each other. I think all of that has developed throughout the year. We have been able to be a little bit more consistent throughout the second half of the season, and eliminate a lot of the errors. I think that’s really helped in allowing us to score points against opponents, and also to get us out of tight situations."

On how important it is for a team like Duke to do well this weekend
"I think it’s really important for us to be able to do that. Our conference in year’s past, we’ve been a little bit higher in the RPI as a conference. Last year we dropped one (spot), and we’ve been as high as three in the past six years, as far as a conference on a national level. Last year, unfortunately we only had two teams in the tournament, and we were basically told we needed to beat some teams outside our conference at a little bit higher of a level to get more (teams) in. We’re delighted that we have three teams in this year, and I do think the committee looked at how our team did in the second part of the ACC season, and really did notice some of the good things we did. I think it’s important for us to come out there and play up to our peak abilities, and not only for Duke, but for our conference. We absolutely want to do our very best, and I think our team is aware of that, so that’s what we intend to do."

On what sparked the team’s ability to go on a winning streak in the second half of the season
"Our team wasn’t playing bad early on. We were just not playing up to our capabilities at some crucial moments. We were making some errors at a time when you can’t afford to make those errors. So it wasn’t like we were playing poorly, we were actually playing pretty well. We were just making some errors at those crucial times when it would make the difference. I think our team knew that we should be one of those teams going to the tournament, we should be in the top of the ACC, and so we made a commitment to each other and to ourselves to lift it up another level and eliminate some of those errors. And the whole time we’ve been trying to focus on doing it as a team, understanding the importance of everyone on our team, from the people who might not get to play as much as others, but how crucial and important they are in practice and challenging each other every day. So we’ve really tried to focus on those aspects of our team. It is about the team right now, not about just the seven or eight players who get to play out there. I think that has given us strength."

American Head Coach Barry Goldberg
Opening statement
"We are excited for the competition and it will be a great challenge for our program to play Duke and get a shot at playing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lincoln."

On the top American athletes and who the crowd should look out for
"I think as soon as we show up, the crowd will notice one player. We had a girl break her nose about a month-and-a-half ago. She broke her nose when our defensive specialist kicked her in the nose in one of our matches. Her name is (sophomore libero) Logan Striebel. Our top player is Cutrina Biddulp from Reseda, California. She’s been playing for us and starting for four years. She’s a middle player, about 6-foot-4.. She jumps pretty well, I think she touches about 10-foot-six-inches. She came in pretty raw out of high school and has developed a lot here. We’ve used her in the back row a little bit to try to open up our offense, and we may use her in the back row a little bit in the tournament, we’ll see if we get the opportunity."

On what you are anticipating about playing in the Coliseum
"I don’t think it’s like anything we’ve experienced this season, or in the last three or four seasons. Last year we played Penn State and there were maybe a couple of thousand, but it was in a bigger hall where the capacity was around 8,000. I’m from Pittsburgh, so I’ve been to Penn State many times. Personally, I’ve been to Nebraska when I was at Pitt in 1985, and Terry Pettit was the head coach. We came out to Nebraska and played them in the first round of the NCAA Tournament then. So I’m familiar with the area. It wasn’t quite the same scenario which I assume it will be this week with a jammed crowd. Nebraska was up there in the top, but I don’t think they were No. 1 at the time. It’s going to be a fun environment, I know. You’re used to it, but it’s going to be fun for our players. The fortunate thing for us is that it will be new for Duke also, because they don’t really play in front of those types of numbers. And we’re both traveling, and it’s not easy to travel during this time, because you’re wearing down towards the end of the season here, and it’s been three months of the season. But Duke is going through the same thing, so there are no real advantages or disadvantages in our match. Certainly if we’re fortunate enough to make it through the match and get to play Nebraska in the next round, there will be a major advantage for Nebraska there, not only because of their size and play level, but that they are just used to the environment. But that’s who they are, and that’s what we’re getting into, and we’re excited for that kind of challenge."

On how American will prepare for the possibility of playing for Nebraska
"We’re doing all the things we normally do to prepare for a match. I don’t think we’re doing anything that different. We’re going through the scouting report, we’re watching the films and looking at the tendencies of Duke, and we’re trying to get some of their weaknesses and see if we can’t be successful in going after some of their weaknesses. I’m sure they’re doing the same thing as well. I can’t really think of anything that’s that different. Our practice regiment has been the same. We’ll taper down this week. We go hard usually Mondays and Tuesdays and start to taper down as we get into Wednesday and Thursday so that we’re fresh for the Friday match. I’m sure we’ll be excited, so I can’t see us being that tired for this match. We’re just doing all the normal things that we routinely do with all of our matches throughout the season. I think the scouting report might be a little bit more elaborate in this case, because our conference matches, we know the players very well. By the time you play them the second-go-round, you have a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into. Here, we’re playing a team we haven’t played this year so we’ll try to get a little bit more in depth on the character of each person, what their tendencies are and things like that. The big challenge for us in the match against Duke is going to be at the net. This team blocks very well, I think they are one of the better blocking teams in the ACC. Our hitting percentage has been higher, but it’s difficult to tell on that statistic simply because we’re playing a different caliber team in our conference. So even if we’re hitting .270, and they’re hitting .220 or .230, the real logic is going to depend upon the defense we can play to force them into hitting .200 or less, and if we’re able to step up our game and hit the ball that effectively against what we think will probably be a little stronger block and a better defense."