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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 26, 2015

Kelly Sheffield

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Head Volleyball Coach, Kelly Sheffield is here. We will have opening comments and take questions.

COACH SHEFFIELD: Thanks, Brian. We're halfway through the Big Ten right now and not sure that, you know, we're real excited about where we're at placewise, but I think we're really excited about the improvement and the direction that our players are going. We've got Purdue in front of us in the second half. I think we're excited about being home seven of our final ten matches.

We're playing against a Purdue team that is I think 50 points higher than anybody else in the league, offensively, and with their hitting percentage, so we've got a real big challenge defensively to go against that, and they've got an unbelievable right side in Annie Drews and a couple of middles that are just -- that are handfuls, so excited about getting back home, excited about this second half of the conference and trying to get some momentum moving forward.

Q. When you talk about improving throughout the season, you come off a couple of tough losses, you see improvement. What does it do for -- especially your younger players to actually beat a top team like Nebraska on the road?
COACH SHEFFIELD: Um, I don't think it's just our young players, I think it's everybody. You know, you sit there and intellectually you know that you're getting better, the players know that they are getting better, they know the team is getting better, but when you're getting better and you're losing there is this -- you know, with ultra competitive people it doesn't take the frustration out of it, you know?

I won't say it's hollow, but it's still leaving you with a bitter taste in your mouth. So I think they're excited about not just going into a tough environment and winning, but winning and playing well, both of those, you know? You get some wins and, you know, where you're fortunate to win but you don't play very well, the locker room still isn't a -- you know, it's not great.

It's a -- you know, if you -- but when you play well and you win, and you're going against somebody that you know is a really good opponent, it's -- they're excited.

Q. What have you learned about your team during the Big Ten season this year?
COACH SHEFFIELD: I like this team. I like the players. They're -- you know, they're feisty, that grittiness is coming more to the surface. They're not giving up -- they haven't given up on themselves or each other. I think they've embraced the learning process, you know you can -- there's -- you can't look any further than Lauryn Gillis and Kelli Bates, you know, both of them have had some times this year where it's been really, really tough, and, you know, they've responded in a way that you want them to. They've come in and they've put in extra work on their own, they've -- they've -- I don't think they've ever given up on themselves.

They've continued to believe in and to fight and stay connected and, you know, I think that's when you show your character. So there is a lot of players that I haven't really known, and I haven't really had an opportunity to coach before this year, but -- but there are players that are responding the right way, so probably the one thing I've learned probably more than anything else.

Q. You've had pretty decent block numbers all year and yet Saturday you had your best blocking match statistically. The importance of that? When you're facing a team like Purdue, is that an area of emphasis? Players just developing, Tionna, what's the importance of all that for your team?
COACH SHEFFIELD: We have worked real hard blocking and backcourt defense. I don't think this was -- that was an area of our game that that we were particularly good at. Start of the year, I think we were probably blocking some balls earlier in the year by -- that the opponent probably had as much to do with it that we did. But right now I think our hand position is getting a lot better, our footwork is getting cleaner, we're reading a lot better in the backcourt.

Earlier in the year if the ball wasn't hit to Taylor we probably weren't digging, it, and right now I think we're a lot -- you know, our front court and our backcourt are just working a lot better. Backcourt we're making -- we're where we need to be, we're making our right reads. Reading is so critical, in about any sport; we're reading real well and we're making great effort.

Our blocking is getting a lot better, but our backcourt is getting tremendously better as well.

Q. Kelly, before you said you didn't like the standing you're in right now, where you are in the standings. I know Minnesota is on top, but couldn't it be any given night that Purdue or Penn State or Wisconsin could be the best team in the Big Ten?
COACH SHEFFIELD: That's a great point, yeah. I mean, you know, we're -- we're two, five-set losses from leading the league right now. And, you know, you've gotten -- Northwestern beats Penn State, and then loses to Indiana, you know, Indiana turns around and beats Northwestern, and you just -- you've seen this all year this year. It's just -- it's what so incredibly exciting about this conference.

It's -- that's a great point. I don't know if I've thought about it this way. You kind of think about it just this is one -- this is one heck of a gauntlet of a league this year, but that's probably a more accurate way of looking at it is on any given night, any team could probably be the best team in the league. I don't know if you can say that about too many sports in too many conferences, but it's just -- it's nasty this year. That's for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Kelly.

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