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Head Coach Laurie Corbelli
Opening Statement
“We’re just really excited to be here. Originally, it was just trying to get into the tournament itself. When you’re in the Big 12, it’s a battle every single week. Three weeks ago, we were in seventh spot and we got to finish in the fourth spot with four wins, so we’re really excited (and) we had a big weekend last weekend at LSU. These two (Jennifer Banse and Sarah Ammerman) were key performers for that entire weekend. We’re just really looking forward to getting back out on the court and seeing how far we can take it.”
On Texas A&M making it to the Omaha Regional
“Well, it’s really huge since we haven’t been invited to the tournament for a couple of years. We’ve felt like we’ve had the same basic team that we’ve had, we just have a little more urgency now maybe. In the Big 12, everyone knows everything about your weaknesses and they can identify your strengths. Last weekend, there were a lot of unknowns for both teams and all teams and I thought that really was a key part of what gave my team the confidence to know what they do well. They really took advantage and maximized their strengths and we did a better job of just being resilient in the face of adversity, not only on the court, but with half of the team experiencing food poisoning and on IVs before the second match. Things that happen just seem to be coming up at us, like all odds against us, and the team responded more brilliantly than they ever had. So we’re trying to look at our 24-hour trip to Omaha as another part of adversity. We just got off the plane after 24 hours.”
On the differences between last weekend and this weekend
“That’s going to be another interesting element to this weekend. These players know each other, the coaches know each other, the programs have gone 10 years going back and forth at each other. I think every coach will say, and I know as a coach, that anything can happen. Your players have to be in the right mindset, they have to feel the right amount of urgency. We feel like we are obviously down 0-2 (this season) to the University of Texas and we have nothing to lose. We can play relaxed and have a blast. We don’t feel any pressure at all. We have pressure that we put on ourselves in trying to play up to our standards and what we know we’re doing right now really well. We’ve see growth, we’ve seen our team really pull things together this last month, and we have a lot of momentum, so we’re just trying to make it as much fun as we can.”
On what adjustments they have to make against Texas
“At our place, Jerritt (Elliot) said it really clearly, they won the serve-receive war at our place. They definitely had their side-out game. It was really sharp. We weren’t siding out as well as we had been. That was disappointing. I thought at Texas, we sided out and we were neck-and-neck, especially in the first two sets. We were up 11-6 at one point in set two. We were tied 22-all in both sets. I mean it was really, really close. I think we just have to be really sharp in our serve-receive game. When we’re siding out, when we’re in a rhythm with that, it really seams to carry over into the success we have with our blocking and our defense. We know they’re going to get their side outs. They have some of the most tremendous attackers in the nation and they should. They will and they should. We just have to be able to take care of the ball when it's on our side and we should do that as well. I just anticipate a battle.”
On the NCAA putting six Big 12 teams in the NCAA Tournament
“To think back all of those years ago, I knew from the Big Eight and Southwest Conference, that there were some really great programs and to see the development of some of the programs that use to be not so strong, in the Iowa States and the Missouris; they were always at the bottom of the league and to see how far they have come and how many more teams now contend to even try to get the committee to let us in their tournament. What I’ve noticed the most is the landscape of the sport and the spreading out of the pickings for the tournament and how the different conferences are in a battle to get more teams. The political landscape has changed a lot in the past four or five years. I think we’re really lucky this year to get six teams in. There was a little hum and a warning in August that said this year could only be three. Last year was only four, this year it could be down to three ? get ready. When they let six teams, I was stunned. I was just amazed. So for five of the six to get this far, finally we’re getting a chance to show what we go through every Wednesday and Saturday for 11 weeks of our season.”
On the Big 12 league being better this year compared to last year
“I think a lot of the top athletes from last year returned. I think like everything there is ebb and flow, there are ups and downs, there are recessions and there are strong times. Right now, I think the Big 12 for the past few years has been really strong and it hasn’t been recognized as much as I believe it should have been. Who’s to say for next year? We do graduate. Lots of teams have lots of prominent senior players. I think there always is a battle for first, second and third (best) conference in the nation. Is it the Big 12, Pac-10, Big 12, SEC? I do believe that’s ever-changing at times, but I do certainly think that the Big 12 has to continue to make statements out of conference when we don’t even do that except in August and one little weekend in September. That’s been weighted so heavily it seems to me in the past. When we are all focusing on scheduling, it’s now that we have to find the right teams and win in August and September because once the Big 12 starts, you already have an automatically great schedule built into your year and yet it’s not being recognized all of the time like we feel it should be. I don’t understand RPI at all, so I’m talking about it like I’m a rookie, but I don’t understand it at all. And yet, it happens to be apparently the thing that they use the most when they start putting the tournament together.”
Outside Hitter Sarah Ammerman
“I think we’re going into this weekend against Texas taking what we’re coming off of and we’re coming off of a great weekend, actually a couple of great weekends. We’re 6-0 right now in the past couple weeks. We just have a lot of confidence in ourselves, so it’s just keeping that and knowing that when we play our game that we can take on any team in the country and it doesn’t matter if it’s Texas. It doesn’t matter who it is. Whoever is going to be on the other side when we’re playing our game that we’ve been playing the past couple weeks, then we can win.”
On modifying Texas A&M’s game plan against Texas
“I think we learned a lot last week going against LSU. They had a hitter that hit .700 with 28 kills and zero errors. I think we learned a lot from that, that you can have one hitter that has an awesome match, but we control what we do on our side and we side out point-for-point on our side, then anything can happen. So I think everything is just on our side really. It’s not adjusting to what they do because we know what they do really well, it’s making sure we execute when we need to on our side.”
On her personal sense of urgency
“Playing in the NCAA Tournament is something I’ve wanted my entire career and not being able to be a part of it for three years is pretty hard to take, so getting out on the court and being able to play in it was just motivation all in itself. We’re really just taking in that at any given night, we can win. We step out and we put our hearts on the floor, that’s where we’re at with the NCAA Tournament. Every night, I just want to put everything out on the floor and leave absolutely no doubts because if this is the last volleyball match I’ll ever play in my college career then I want to make sure that when I step off I’ve left everything out and I gave everything to my team.”
On the strength of the Big 12
“I think it’s really exciting because all year there’s been this battle between which conference is the best and to go into this weekend and see that every Big 12 team except for one is still in and that in the Pac-10 there are only two left. I think that says a lot about what we’ve done and what we had to battle through all year long. All the matches we’ve won, all the matches we’ve lost, they’ve all been battles. I think it’s an exciting thing that we’re all here. I think it’s a huge statement to the country.”
Outside Hitter Jennifer Banse
On the strength of the Big 12
“I think it’s a shame that we’re going to have to knock each other out, but at the same time, it’s reassuring that one of us is going to be in the final four. I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s cool. I think it’s going to be a battle. We’ve played each other all twice and it’s whoever has it that one night."