|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 27, 2014Kelly SheffieldTHE MODERATOR: Head volleyball coach, Kelly Sheffield. COACH SHEFFIELD: Really proud of the way we played, thought we played really well yesterday against a really good team, thought we were locked in, executed the game plan about as well as we'd done all year long and got a balanced effort and some great individual performances as well yesterday. We've got Perdue, fast turn‑around, 72 hours playing a team that's second in the conference. So we understand that we've got to get past this match pretty quick and go into a place that we haven't won in a long time against a really, really talented, well‑coached ball club. Q. What are the specific challenges that Purdue has that you have to prepare for a short turn around? COACH SHEFFIELD: I really like that team. They play really hard, No. 1. They've got a lefty on the right, Annie Drews is probably one of the players who is in the running for Big Ten player of the year. They've got three‑headed monster in the middle, three different players that are awfully good, freshman, Cuttino that's playing out of her mind the past couple of weeks, ball control as usual, typical Purdue team in the backcourt, good ball control, tough defensively. Outside hitter in stall that seems to be getting more confident and better every match. They've worked in a couple of freshman that are getting better and better and better. It's a team that can go an awful long way. I think they're really talented. Q. To point out the win yesterday is the first time beating Nebraska in over 30 years. What did you want your team to take from that, that it ended such a long stream against Nebraska and it's able top build on that? COACH SHEFFIELD: You know, the‑‑ it was something we mentioned. It's something our team takes pride in. There's a lot of great players that have come through this program and a lot of great teams are‑‑ our squad understands the history and the tradition and it's been that long, it gets to the point where you say, all right, enough is enough, that's too long. But I think more than when you take about ending a losing streak or whatever is how you're playing. I thought our team was‑‑ we were excited about playing. They general are going into a match but I thought we were locked in and focused and executed a game plan. I thought we communicated great. There are a lot of challenges with Nebraska, you know? There is a lot of subbing that goes on that makes it tough, they change their service patterns and where people are going. They've got hitters that can do a lot of different things so it's just staying one step ahead. I thought we missed some of those early on in the match as the match went on, I thought we did a better job of communicating at the net. When those changes were happening rather than being one step behind, and that's a real tough thing when you're going against Nebraska. The other thing is, they probably tool off your block as well as anybody in the country. So you think your block is situated really well and you've got your be hands situated just right and they're chipping off your hands and that can get frustrating. I thought our blockers did a good job of moving on to the next play quickly. I'm not sure it's the win and the loss or anything like that that you take away as much as how you played. The toughness that you just stayed with, throughout the match. I think you take away that a lot more. Q. Since the loss to Penn State you guys have only lost one set. Is this the same team that you saw in that match against Penn State or is this a completely evolved team? COACH SHEFFIELD: I hope we're not the same team. That would be disappointing if we were. I think we take pride in getting stronger as the season goes on and learning as the season goes on and, yeah, there were some hard lessons to take from that but there are lessons to be taken from every match. There are things that we learned last night that we hope to carry with us and make us stronger. Yeah, I think we're a lot different team. I think we're communicating way better out on the court. I think we're getting over this‑‑ I thought early on in the year maybe some of our success we were a little bit‑‑ I don't know if "giddy" is the right word but there wasn't this strong desire and purpose of just going at people, going after them hard, and you've got to have a team that takes pride in that and I'm not sure we're really doing that. I want to fall short of saying we're just patting ourselves on the back that it wasn't that inner toughness and desire that I think championship teams have and I think we've locked into that better than maybe what we were for part of the season. Q. What makes for a good libero and does a good libero have to be off center to field those blocks? COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah, if you're asking me if there needs to be a little crazy in that position, yeah, and Taylor Morey's got a lot of crazy in her. I love it. There is a fearlessness about‑‑ you know, I go back to when we were at Colorado State and this kid goes into the bleachers and helicopter and flips, it was brutal. It was the only time in my coaching career that I've ran after a kid when they went down. I've seen a lot of bad injuries. I thought I was going to come up on this pile of mess that was just going to be‑‑ I don't know, I was scared for her. She got back right up and I said something to her about her just being overly dramatic, she threw some curse words at me and was angry that she didn't make the play and that's Taylor Morey. There is a mentality that goes with the position but there is incredible skill and she has worked hard with Brittany on fixing some of the things that we thought needed to be fixed and she takes a lot of pride she is playing as well as anybody in the country right now at that position. Q. Kelly, Gary talked about the routine they have gotten into with its 11:00 kickoff, how about your team with it's Wednesday turn‑around and is this the toughest one that you've had in this stretch of those Wednesday games and coming off of a weekend? COACH SHEFFIELD: I think it's really tough, yeah, this Wednesdays/weekend, I still haven't figured it out. It's really hard to give your players the rest that they need, it's really hard to train and get some hard training days in. On the other hand you're able to break down more film, you're able to put together a better scouting report and get your teams to understand that but from a training perspective and rest perspective it's really tough. We're training way more. The second half of the schedule is way more challenging than it was the first. We're going to be on the road 7 of the next 10 matches, it's flip flopped from the first. The travel is going to get harder from here. We're playing more teams in the top half of the conference than we did the first ten. It's going to‑‑ it'sbear down here from now on. It's going to get tougher. Q. You're going down and coming back and then going down to Indiana? COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah. We will leave tomorrow night‑‑ we will have a practice after classes tomorrow, we will miss Wednesday classes, fly back after the match, classes and practice Thursday, Friday, and head back Friday night down to Bloomington. Q. Indiana fan or Perdue fan growing up? COACH SHEFFIELD: Ball State. We thought we could do some things as well. Q. (No microphone.) COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah, it's‑‑ IU basketball was pretty good at that time and they were rolling. I was a Gene Keady fan. I know that's kind of a cop‑out but probably more IU, in Muncie than Purdue in that sense. I'd say you go down around Delaware County and Muncie there's a lot more Boilermaker fans, that that's with regard to what the Shondells have done. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|