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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2015

Kelly Sheffield

Madison, Wisconsin

KELLY SHEFFIELD: Coming out of the weekend, felt like probably our two best matches as far as our serve receive goes. I think certainly happy to see that our passing game continues to make the strides. I know our passers and Coach Dildine have worked awfully hard to get those to where we need it, and I think it looks like we're heading on the right path as far as where our numbers are at.

We've got -- heading out to the East Coast this weekend, Rutgers and Maryland, first time we've played at Maryland, and heard that's kind of a nutty place, kind of a party on a volleyball court is the way some people have described it, so excited to see how that is and how our team responds to that.

You know, excited about having a week where we can kind of practice. The past couple weeks have -- we've had Wednesday matches, and we've had TV cameras following us around and stuff, and this week we don't have a mid-week match or anything, and so just able to -- just us in our gym for a few days. So excited to have a full week to practice.

Q. A little switch-up in your serving yesterday with Madison Duello subbing in for Gillie a few times. What led to that, and how did you look at it as it played out?
KELLY SHEFFIELD: I want to try to find ways to get Madison in, and you know, her serving in practice as I'm watching her has given some people some issues, and so wanted to take a look at that. You know, when she gets good hand contact, that ball is moving and floating pretty well. She's got to show some more urgency on the defensive end if she's going to stay in there in that type of role, but I like the serve, and we're going to try to find ways to see -- give her chances coming in and seeing if she can impact the game for us.

Q. Did you expect this type of production from a healthy Romana Kriskova?
KELLY SHEFFIELD: Yeah. You know, it's been a while since she's played. You know, not even just played, but really practiced in a six-on-six situation. I think sometimes you want things to just come back really quickly, but it's not only her taking a year off, but it's kind of a step up in class, as well. And so it's taken a little bit of time. It's taken our coaches a little bit of time to figure out what type of ball she's better contacting it. We've been setting it a little bit higher. It's allowed her to have a higher contact point. She's not getting blocked as much. She's able to work around. She hits with great range, and so when we were trying to go quick with her, I think it was limiting her range a little bit, now she's hitting with full range. She's able to see the block and tool a little bit better.

The good thing is, yeah, she's put together a few good matches, but there's a lot more in her game.

She's getting better, but it's -- she's got a ways to go from where I think she's going to end up being for us.

Q. Obviously with all the accolades that Lauren has received, that speaks for itself, but some of the plays that she makes, is she just born with like the instincts, or is it practiced skills? What do you think it is that sets her apart with some of the things that she does?
KELLY SHEFFIELD: It's practice. I mean, it's -- there's a lot of talented players that fall short of where they're -- where they could be. You know, I think it's -- when we sit there and we just say, hey, so much of it is just natural, I think that takes away from the athletes that really put in the work. She works as hard as anybody, and those things kind of pay off.

You know, I think a lot of people are able to have -- play some sets or some -- a match or a few matches, few games, whatever it is, but there's nobody that's had a really strong career that hasn't put in the work, and she certainly has.

Q. You certainly had a nice crowd yesterday, but five of your next six are on the road. This is a tough stretch for your club, isn't it?
KELLY SHEFFIELD: Yeah, the usual suspects in the Big Ten. I mean, we were on the road for a while. We got home for a couple matches, that was certainly nice, so can we carry this -- can we carry this away from the fieldhouse. But -- I'm seeing a team that's starting to come together and embracing challenges. I'm not sure we were great at that. It's kind of a unified group. That's kind of taken us a little bit of time to kind of rally around challenges. You know, you're down or your back is against the wall or something kind of getting excited about that. Hey, some travel has been a little cuckoo or we're on the road for an extended period of time or we let a big lead slip away and let somebody back in.

You know, the great ones have this -- something a little bit psychotic that just clicks that says, all right, bring it, and they get excited about that. I see a little bit of that spark coming out from some of our players, and so there's no better way to fine-tune that than spending a lot of time on the road.

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