Dec. 3, 2004

University of San Diego Toreros

Head Coach Jennifer Petrie

Opening remarks: I think it was a real hard fought battle by both teams tonight. I thought the atmosphere was really electric and especially for the first round, it's exciting to be hosting here in San Diego. It's really exciting to have the support that the fans showed tonight. Like I said, I thought New Mexico State did a really good job at scouting us. They served excellent tonight and took us out of our offense quite a bit. To the testament to [Devon Forster and Kristen Carlson], they came through for us when the passing wasn't there and really took over the match. They did a good job.

On the mentality of the third game: Tonight, the girls came out with so much intensity and so much adrenaline in the first game and boom, you can't win a whole match in one game. New Mexico State has played enough matches to know that it takes three games. They gutted it out in the second game and applied more pressure on us. Certainly their serving was really tough. I thought they did a nice job blocking and really forced us to really stay on our game. We all realized that teams are going to come back and give a second effort, especially teams that make the tournament. They know how to battle and they certainly came back in the second game and battled us. I think once we got past that in the third game, we really did build a little bit more confidence.

Devon Forster, Senior Outside Hitter

On San Diego's performance in the third game: I think we got into the locker room [after the second game] and we were a little frantic. We looked to each other and realized, "We're up two games to nothing. There's no reason to be frantic!" We all kind of looked to each other and relaxed a little bit.

Kristen Carlson, Sophomore Outside Hitter

On her 23-kill performance tonight: It felt really good tonight. It's been a long time coming. I've been through some injuries this season and it felt good. I really wanted win so bad. This team has been so great. I transferred and was so excited to be apart of it tonight. It really was important that we started off strong and we did it. We had to be aggressive and not hold anything back.

New Mexico State University Aggies

Head Coach Mike Jordan

Opening remarks: I think you saw San Diego at a Top-10 caliber. They played exceptionally well. Offensively, that's by far the best team we've played all year. Because they were so good offensively and made so few mistakes, we couldn't go on any established point runs. In turn, we're a young team, and young team can make errors. We have young players on serve receive with passing and they were able to get a few points on us and that made a difference.

On the play of Kristen Carlson: She is so difficult to handle, being left-handed. She's got a great wrist and her line of approach... with a normal attacker, they hit with a 20 degree line of approach on their angle. She can cut that ball inside. She did a great job moving the ball around. It was very difficult to block her. We started to commit block her more in Game 2 and that helped a little bit, but they have too many good players.

Alice Borden, Sophomore Middle Blocker

On the team's play in the second game: We switched libero in Game 2. That was a little different, but I think we adjusted well. We made more defensive digs and tried to commit more on the left to get a couple more touches on the ball or even blocks. For the most part, I think we adjusted well to the changes that were made.

Stevi Adams, Senior Outside Hitter

Opening remarks: We weren't passing as well and as the game went on, it just got worse. I didn't think I was put on the net enough and I just had to do my best to keep the ball in play. They have a really good libero who was handling a lot of balls.

On how she approached the match, with the possibility of it being her last of her career: We did a really good job at taking things day by day, game by game. I knew we could progress to the second game if we played perfect volleyball. We took it point by point and did what we could to slow them down. So, no, I went into it the same as I usually do. Deep down, you have the possibility of it being your last game, but what can you do.