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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 9, 2013Kelly SheffieldTHE MODERATOR: Up next is volleyball Coach Kelly Sheffield, coming off straight set wins over Milwaukee and Cal over the weekend in the NCAA Tournament. The No.12 seed Wisconsin has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. The Badgers will now play Florida State on Friday in Champaign, Illinois. The Regional Final would be then Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Friday night's game can be seen on the web stream on ESPN3.com. Coach, congratulations and welcome. COACH SHEFFIELD: You know, it‑‑ you want to be playing your best volleyball at the end of the season. I think we're definitely doing that. It's a good weekend, you know, opening weekend playing Milwaukee. I thought we handled the nerves of the NCAA Tournament really well. I think our team was ‑‑ they were pretty fired up. We had to remind them going into the match earlier in the day that they probably had about six more hours until match time; that they had to tune it down a little bit. I felt we did a good job of that and just being ready to go from the get‑go. We executed the scouting report well. We played with a lot of confidence and executed at a pretty high level. The following night against Cal‑‑ you know, Cal's a really good team. One ranking had them 10th in the country a couple of weeks before the end of the season. They had a couple of injuries that had them on a losing streak. We saw them the night before against 15th ranked Carolina, and they just put a beatdown on them, and they looked really, really good. We know that's a really good club that's very well coached, and we came out and we played a pretty high level, especially the first two games. Game 3, they came out of the locker room and made some adjustments. We had a tough time with that, but we kind of stayed with the process and kind of just kept battling. Crowd got into it a little bit, which really helped us out when we needed it, and we came away with a huge win. So we've got‑‑ we're heading down to Champaign here on Wednesday, and we're all excited about being in the Sweet 16 and playing Florida State. The other three teams, really experienced teams, really talented teams, and we're looking forward to seeing what we can do this next round. Q. How much have you been able to learn about Florida State since you saw the pairing? What do you know about them? COACH SHEFFIELD: We watched a lot of video already, and there's a lot more that has to be done. I know this: Florida State is a team that half their team was in the Final Four. It has Final Four experience. They've got a lot of seniors. You know, Illinois, half their team has been in the National Championship match. And Purdue, seven out of the last eight years, they've been in the regionals. So it's three teams in our pod that have had a lot of experience. But Florida State specifically, you know, they run a 6‑2. They're very big, very powerful. Their net game is very impressive. They're very, very quick. They've got‑‑ you know, their block, one of the best blocking teams in the country. That's their strength, is up there at the neck. They're good. They come at you. They've got a couple of sisters, one that played here her freshman year, and the transfer down there has got a great arm on her. Very high volleyball IQ. Both of them do. Their middles create a lot of problems. Good ball control. We've learned quite a bit. We've got a lot more video we've got to watch. This is a good, solid club. They just took out Florida, who was‑‑ whatever they were, the sixth ranked, fifth seed, I think‑‑ on their home court. This is a really good team. The previous six matches, they swept their opponents 3‑0. I think one of the things in common is that all four teams that are in our pod are playing their best volleyball at the end of the season. They went into the season with some momentum, and they continued that all the way through. So you've got some teams that are very, very confident. Obviously, Florida State is one of them. Q. Kelly, every coach wants their team to be playing its best at the end of the season, but how do you get there? Was there a critical element to that for your particular team to get to this level right at this moment? COACH SHEFFIELD: I think it's a lot of little things that just kind of add up. I think you‑‑ you know, you make it through a tough season, which Big Ten always is. At least that's what they tell me. It certainly was tough for us this year. You know, I think you come out of that and your head's still above water, and I think it can really strengthen you. It certainly did for us. You know, I think we've gotten to the point where our kids have said we've seen about everything there is to see. We're kind of a raw grouping, as far as NCAA Tournament experience goes. But we've seen an awful lot this year. We've experienced a lot. We've had to deal with players coming in and out and changing of lineups. We've been in a lot of different types of matches. And I think that kind of strengthens you. You see our team getting certain players that are getting healthier. That certainly helps. Confidence is going up because you've had some success. I think all of those have kind of come together. And they're coming to practice ready to work, and that's a key. I think so many times people start shutting it down in practice at the end of the season, and our kids‑‑ we had a great week of practice last week. We were as competitive as what I've seen us since probably the first day of preseason. They're wanting to be in the gym. They're wanting to get better. I think that certainly plays a part in what things are like on the weekend. Q. As a first year head coach, do you look at, well, it's the first time the team's done this in however many years, that and the other? COACH SHEFFIELD: I don't. Diane does. She does a great job of notifying us. It doesn't‑‑ coaching, you can't get caught up in that. There's‑‑ especially if you've got great sports information people behind you because they're always going to find some great things for you, and you just get caught up patting yourself on the back or knocking yourself down, and you just can't do that. We spend our time, how is our team doing? How can we get‑‑ you know, help them out off the court? What do they need on the court? Get as much information about our opponents as we can and put together a game plan, and that's where our energies have to be. There will be plenty of time to kind of sit back after the holidays of recognizing maybe what we've done well and what we could have done better, but you're just plowing forward right now. Q. Kelly, is there an unsung hero on this team? Maybe not even on your roster, but maybe just everybody involved in volleyball? COACH SHEFFIELD: It's a long, long list, long line. I mean, it's‑‑ you know, it's a long, long line. You've got Courtney Thomas, who has kind of done a little bit of everything for us. You know, with the preseason where she was basically our setter during the preseason without getting much reps as the hitter and come inand it's just ‑‑ you know, it depends on the match. What do we need? We need great ‑‑ the other night she was giving us great serving. There's times when she's given us great transition, being able to set the second ball or it's offenses or it's backcourts. It's her embracing a changing of the role, of kind of paving the way: Hey, I'm going to be unselfish here. This is a highly competitive kid. Probably as competitive as any player I've ever been around. She's embracing a new role instead of fighting it. I think that was key. Taylor Morey coming in here, and she was our starting bro for the first third of the year, and then moving into the defensive specialist position and having the match‑‑ we don't win Game 3 against Cal without her performance. It's about the team with these guys. It's not one or two people. I could go on and on and on down the line with all of them. You can go with a Crystal Graff of sitting there and who hasn't ‑‑ seen very little playing time at all. But I know what she's doing behind the scenes to kind of keep things light with our players and showing some maturity and not pouting that things aren't going her way. There's a lot of them, whether they're on the court or off the court, that's really kind of helping us out. Q. There's been a lot of recognition for the Big Ten all year, but when you look at and see 7 out of 16 alive are from your conference, does that validate everything you saw all year? You've got two of them in your pod. COACH SHEFFIELD: This conference is thick and nasty. And it's unbelievable. Yeah, when you've got 7 out of 16, that's just‑‑ it's crazy. It doesn't surprise me at all. Michigan could have made it in there. I still think that two of the teams, Ohio State and Northwestern, probably should have been in the tournament as well. I think it's a real credit. There's a lot of talent. I don't know what else to say. They're 3 of the 4. We're very familiar with each other, and we'll be seeing each other. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to play at least one more Big Ten team before the year is over, but it's been a big year for the conference, that's for sure. Q. Kind of piggy‑backing off of that. You have to get through Florida State first, but how much familiarity is there with the other two teams knowing that you've already seen them this year, and how much have they stayed the same since you saw them last? COACH SHEFFIELD: We saw Illinois once, and that was kind of the in the middle of the season. They're playing their best volleyball of the year. It's a home match for them. There are a lot of‑‑ I think they've settled in a lot more now than what they were with our ‑‑ when they came to our place, we thought it was probably a must‑win match for them, and it really‑‑ they came out there and really gave them some confidence, I thought, coming out of that, and really kind of start stringing together some wins. They look a lot more in rhythm right now than what they were earlier in the year. Purdue is just‑‑ they're‑‑ that's just a gutsy group. They also have gotten better as they've went along, but I don't think the personnel has really changed. They're doing a‑‑ you know, I just think that they‑‑ they're just playing cleaner. It should be an unbelievable Sweet 16. I mean, all four teams have a legit shot of moving on. I know we're excited about playing. Our kids are confident in their abilities. They also know that we've got a huge challenge in front of us, and we're embracing it. We're excited about it. So we hope that a lot of Badger fans will make that trip down south. We can certainly use their support. It's only about a 3 1/2 hour drive. So hopefully we'll see you guys here this time next week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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