Dec. 3, 2004

UC Irvine Anteaters

 

Head Coach Charlie Brande

 

Opening remarks:

Obviously, Arizona was very, very physical.  We felt we could create some situations where we could give them problems, but we just didn't execute quite as well as we should have.  Arizona seemed to take advantage of that and built some momentum and it got to the point where they got on a roll and there was no stopping them.  Today was not our best day.  Nothing could take away what our four seniors have done and what they have did for this UCI program.

 

On the momentum shift of the second game:

Well, it was the beginning of the second game we took some chances.  We had a couple of tough serves, good digs, some good transition digs against them.  We were doing what we had talked about before.  And then the ball fell into the middle of the court and then passed an overpass.  We made three or four mistakes in a row that turned it the other way [in Arizona's favor].  Our whole plan going into this was taking care of the ball and make it a ball control game.  With that lead, we should have stayed with the lead and stayed on top of it.  Once we got in control, we kind of let down a little bit, I thought.  As I said, once they got the momentum, they were pretty tough to stop.  Both those left-sides are very, very physical and they are very well coached.

 

On what the most critical aspect of the game UC Irvine failed to execute:

I thought passing and the ability to run down the soft shots were the problem.  We knew that both [Kim] Glass and [Jennifer] Abernathy were going to be hitting some hard balls and we would have trouble controlling them.  But our plan was to control the soft shots and ball control and be able to side out.  If they serve and we don't side out and they get the ball, they'll just throw it up to their big girl and we had trouble with that.

 

On the status of sophomore outside hitter Trisha White:

She's had a little bit of a thing with her knee before, but no, she's fine.

 

On the direction of the UC Irvine volleyball program is headed:

When we first started, we didn't understand much about the game of volleyball and how to play volleyball at this level.  The progress that we have made to have a great understanding on how to compete at this level... to maintain that, especially when you are a little bit less physical than the other team, it's very tough.  Our program is at the point where we can compete with those schools, but the emotional and mental aspect is something we are going to have to build on, as well as the physical aspect.

 

On recruiting more physical players:

We need to become... it's a combination.  You need to be more physical, but you also need to understand how to play the game and how to compete.  These guys have done it, a little bit longer than the rest of the group, with great understanding and great desire and that's what's allowing us to get where we are.  Now, as we grow and build, we need to become much more physical.

 

Ashlie Hain, Senior Setter

 

On the team's emotional state after the match:

We didn't have it together for the whole match.  We were struggling and struggling.  It wasn't like a dramatic ending and that's disappointing. 

 

On not able to string a couple of points in a row consistently:

That was the problem.  We never had the complete momentum of the game on our side.  We couldn't execute well time after time.

 

Kelly Wing, Senior Outside Hitter

 

Ranking tonight's performance:

We definitely have played worse, but it's disappointing that we played like this in the NCAA's and that we are ending it this way.

 

Talking about her play tonight:

Obviously, our passing wasn't great tonight and so all you can do is throw it outside.  They have huge girls up there so all I really saw were arms.  I just had to be smart and tool [the ball] and things like that.  Those girls are good.

 

I'm involved in a big part of the game, so if I'm not doing so hot, it can affect the rest of the team.

 

 

 

Arizona Wildcats

 

Head Coach Dave Rubio

 

Opening remarks:

I felt like we played well tonight.  For us, it has been like that for a few weeks.  We've been playing well the last couple of weeks against Stanford and Cal last weekend.  It was good to open up the first round of the tournament playing that efficient.

 

On UC Irvine:

We know Irvine is a well coached team.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for Charlie [Brande] and the job he does at Irvine.  You can never underestimate anybody and we know that by looking at all the different sports other than just volleyball.  Purdue beating Colorado State in Colorado State last night in five... here is a team that barely made the tournament and they beat Colorado State, a Top-10 team all year long.  These things happen in the tournament.  You assume each team is going to play their best match against you.  We just want to make sure we are well prepared in the event that they do play their best match.

 

On evaluating UC Irvine's performance:

To be honest, I don't know UC Irvine at all so I don't know if that was on or off.  We just focused on our side of the net and make some blocking adjustments to their attackers.  I felt like we were playing well.  I couldn't tell if they were playing well or not.  I could tell we were playing well and that's a good feeling when you are sitting on the bench and I'm sure it's a good feeling when the players are on the floor.  That's how it's been for us the last several weeks.  We've been playing well.  If you take a look at the history of our season, it's been pretty up and down for us in the beginning and I think all those experiences we've had in the beginning have really helped us towards the end here.  I'm really proud of our players in their ability to let things go and stay in the present.

 

On whether tonight was Arizona's best performance this season:

It's hard to say.  I always think we can get better.  That's the thing.  I looked at the stats and I couldn't believe we were statted out like that.  Stats are just one aspect of the game, obviously.  I think that as I look at us tomorrow and look at some of the areas we need to improve upon, I could certainly pick some areas we could improve do better at.  I think every coach is like that.  I don't think it matters how much you win by or how much you lose by... I think you are always looking at it with a critical eye and the areas you need to get better at.

 

On the play of UC Irvine's Kelly Wing:

Again, it's hard for me to know because it is the first time I've ever played against UC Irvine in my 13 years [at Arizona].  I know Kelly Wing is a terrific player and we actually recruited her to play at Arizona.  She's a terrific player, but I don't know how she hit [looks at stat sheet].  She hit negative.  So when your number one kid is not putting up the numbers, you know you are in trouble.  We've been on that end and have other teams be on the opposite end.  I thought we defended well tonight.  I thought our blocking was good.  When we missed our blocking assignments and there was an open net, we still had a lot of digs.  To me, if I had to point out an area of the game that was impressive, it would be our defense.  If you look at our numbers, they were terrific.  Jen [Abernathy] had 17 digs tonight.  Normally, she doesn't outdug our libero, who is Kelli [Mulvany] and tonight she did.  So I think that our defense was, to me... we've been working on different aspects in the gym and I think some of those things are really paying off.  IF you were to compare last year to this year... it's so different for us.  The whole approach and presentation, the frame of mind, the physical skills, it's two different types of teams.

 

 Kim Glass, Junior Outside Hitter

 

On having a great statistical match:

I think everyone was pretty content about the game tonight.  I think we all came out with a lot of confidence.  We were just prepared to play hard and even though we were beating them by a large margin in the end, we did not ever give up and roll over.  We just stayed being confident and never gave up.  One point at a time, one game at a time.

 

On the loss to Stanford last weekend:

That's the past.  We dropped Stanford out of our mind.  It's a whole new season and what happened in the beginning doesn't matter.  We take what we need to learn from those games and we move on.  That's just the way it's going to be.

 

On the underseeding of the Pac-10:

I believe we did [get underseeded].  The Pac-10 has the toughest teams.  I mean every game we played, we're not like, "Oh no, this team isn't so great."  We know we have to go out there and give it our best every single game and I don't know if any other conference can say that.  We have the toughest competition.  Even the top teams, like Washington, if we are losing some games, it's because we have the top teams [in the country] in our conference.  Anything can happen on a given night when you have great teams playing.  I think we did... but all we've got to do is prove it to ourselves.  Who cares what other people think.  If we go out and prove it to ourselves, then they'll think about their decision.

 

Jennifer Abernathy, Junior Outside Hitter

 

Opening remarks:

We've been working on a lot of individual things, this week and last week in practice.  Hitting and blocking and just know when to do the right thing.  I think that has helped us a lot.

 

On preparing Arizona's next opponent:

I think like Kim said, we literally take each game one game at a time.  We are going to do whatever we have to do to get to where we want to be.  We are going to take [our next opponent] like any other team.  We are going to start out strong and end it strong.

 

On the motivation of possibly facing the University of San Diego in the second round:

We are really strong about letting things go in the past.  Anything that happened in our past, we'll start from square one.

 

On her play tonight:

I've been working at being more consistent and seeing better behind the block and I did tonight.