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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 3, 2014Kelly SheffieldTHE MODERATOR: Volleyball coach, Kelly Sheffield is here. We will have opening comments and take questions. COACH SHEFFIELD: I will start out without Purdue match, middle of the week. Had a great come‑back in game one, down I think 21‑14 in the first, come back and win that. I thought we showed resiliency and just probably one of our better efforts of the season as their place. The entire team played really well. Few nights later at Indiana, not sure we had quite the same effort, but anytime you're holding a big‑ten team to zero hitting percentage, I think there was some good things that happened. We're excited about the Michigan trip. It's a little bit unique with the schedule, that we will have Michigan twice and Michigan State once within the next 10 days, so next week and a half it will be all about the state of Michigan, and some of the better players in the league, some of the top individual athletes in the league for both those guys, so we're excited about the challenge ahead. Q. Dom was defensive player of the week. How would you describe her proceedings over the last year and a half? COACH SHEFFIELD: She blocks a lot of balls. She is getting‑‑ herfootwork is a little bit cleaner, she is getting better hand contact on the ball. Our wing blockers are a big part of that as well. I think she is second, I think, in the league in blocks per game since we entered Big Ten play, and for somebody that's not even 6‑foot, that's pretty impressive. I think she is probably the smallest middle in the conference, and, you know, she works hard. She takes it seriously. She is getting better, in that element, you know, speed is her game, so transition, she is trying to get off and make herself available as well but she is becoming more of a complete player. Q. Dominique is also sixth in the league or seventh in the league in hitting, too. Did you envision that? COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah, she really turned it the end of last year. The first part of the year I think her and Lauren were having a difficult time connecting, but by the end they were connecting pretty well. So the her numbers are dramatically different, but not dramatically different from what they were at the end of the season. She is one of our go‑to players, no question about it. She finds the holes and she gets in there quick before the opposing players can get their hands up and Lauren has done a great job of finding her. Q. You're going to get so see a lot of Abby Cole this week. What's the challenge she presents and how do you deal with her? COACH SHEFFIELD: Michigan has lost a couple of key players to injuries, early on, and it's put a lot on Cole's shoulders, and she is running all over the‑‑ antenna to antenna, first tempo, second tempo, third tempo, she is just ‑‑ she is carrying a heavy load for them. I think she is the only player in the league that's top‑5 in the conference in kills per game and hitting percentage. She is legit, and she's grown a lot. She is a big‑time competitor. You can tell she is having fun out there on the court, very feisty and carries a big part of their team attitudewise as well, is what it looks like on the film. She has taken that next step as a player from freshman to sophomore and she is giving teams fits. She is giving teams fits when you know that the ball is going to her. That's what's incredible, when you get a player that everybody knows where it's going, and they're still performing at a high level that's pretty cool. Q. When you've won 25‑straight sets, is it hard to find a lot of things to improve on? COACH SHEFFIELD: No, no, God no! You know, Purdue match was‑‑ we played pretty well. We were really happy with the way we played. You know, one point we called a time‑out and I'm about ready to go in and talk to them, and I see Taylor Morey talking to the team, and she is having a say and after that I think it was Lauren Carlini talking to them, and I think after that, whatever was left Dominique Thompson went in there and picked up scraps, and I don't think it was friendly talk that was going on. They did my work for me. In that first game they came out and went on the a big charge. You know, the Indiana, we had a lot of things. We just didn't play real well. You know, it's one of the cool things is, you know, so many people‑‑ you get video on opposing teams have video on what you're doing and they're spending a lot of time and finding our weaknesses and you can tell that. You try to stay one step ahead. That's kind of what we're doing. Our ball control has gotten better, swerving has gotten better, blocking has gotten a lot better. You know, some of our servers see patterns, people are finding some cracks in the armor, if you will, and we're just, you know, we find those, and we try to get to work with it, when we get back to the practice gym. Q. There is also an old saying that says never mess with a streak. So you don't, like, drive to work same way or put your left sock on the same time, or to keep the streak goin'? COACH SHEFFIELD: No, there is none of that stuff going on. We're just trying to have the same work ethic that I try to wake up on the same side of the bed and that's about all I'm worried. Q. Did you figure this team would be able to have success on the road, considering what you went through last year, the experience back and just the make‑up of this squad? Did you figure your team would be able to do some of the things it's done on the road? It's not easy to win in this conference. COACH SHEFFIELD: No, it's not. You know, I think in the past two years, actually I think our road record is better than our home record. I don't know, that's got to be unique in this league in any sport, but I think I've got players that just like competing, you know? I think just about every master, they're ready to go this they love playing in the fieldhouse, no question about it. There is a different challenge when you're going on the road, and it's a challenge that I think this group, this particular group, they embrace. They like it. I think they enjoy it when the entire, you know, it's a big marketing night, a promotion night or you get in there and you're seeing, you know, one of the biggest crowds of the season for opposing teams, our group, they relish that, they live for that stuff. You know, when the opposing crowd gets fired up, I think our players, you know, they don't shy away from it. We're playing at Purdue and that gym was really, really loud at the end of game one, I think they were spelling blood. I think our players get as excited about that as the home team. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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