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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONALS: MADISON

December 8, 2016

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wisconsin Coach Kelly Sheffield, senior Lauren Carlini, senior Haleigh Nelson, and junior Kelli Bates. We'll start with some opening comments from Coach and open it up to questions for everyone.

Coach, your thoughts.

COACH SHEFFIELD: Thank you. Probably pretty standard about what everybody else will say with this. We're so excited to still be one of 16 teams playing. We're looking forward to playing in the Field House and playing in front of a great energetic crowd.

I'm excited for the opportunity that our players have in front of them. I know they're looking forward to it and locked in and excited. Let's roll.

Q. Haleigh, for you guys, you played a really, really tough schedule this season. Are you seeing the benefits of that now once you've hit the tournament? Do you see a difference because of that?
HALEIGH NELSON: Yeah, we talk about it a lot. All the teams in the Big Ten are really battle tested for the NCAA Tournament. And what makes this matchup with Ohio State really great is they've been through the ringer just like we have. So it's two teams who have had to fight hard all season long and get to meet on the road to Columbus. So it should be a really great match

Q. The Ohio State coach said that your two teams are so different, they are not even looking at the matches. They're not even reviewing them at all. What is your -- what have you guys been doing? Are you looking at those matches and studying them or no?
COACH SHEFFIELD: You didn't fall for that, did you? Tell me you didn't fall for that.

Q. (No microphone.)
COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah, he throws everything out there. You know, here's the thing. We were talking about this earlier today. The two teams have grown an awful lot, and how we were the two previous matches are not how we are. Our first match, Gilly didn't play for us, and she's a pretty important player for us. They had Sandbothe on the right, and I think that was -- you know, they hadn't really done much of that, and I think some blocking -- blocking-wise, they had her playing the back row. They're setting her out of the back row. She's blocking over on the right. The hand positioning wasn't quite -- it took away a lot of her strengths.

So you look at the two teams and how they were playing that first match, and it's like neither team really looks like that.

Then the second time we played, we weren't -- we were without Molly Haggerty over there, and I think they just kind of started getting comfortable with Wenz over on the right. They had another player over on the right earlier and over on the left. So they were just starting to get settled in on something. You know, both of those matches, Kelli was attacking outside, and she hasn't done that in quite a while. We got -- and their last two, three, four matches, they're now running a 6-2 an awful lot.

I think there are still things to take from those matches, but the two teams are so different than what they were at that point. It's not an apples to apples. Their system is different. Their personnel is a little bit different than what they were doing there, and we've got different personnel playing right now. We're healthier than what we were then.

So things like that you can take from that match, from those matches, but it's not the same teams going at each other. There's differences on both sides, which really makes this kind of fun going into it a third time. Usually, you don't see that much difference between teams a third time. In this case, there is.

Q. You've been through a lot of Sweet 16s every year you've been here, and every year that means going someplace. Does it seem different? I know it's a goal to be home, but does it seem different to be at this level and be sitting here?
LAUREN CARLINI: I don't know. It seems a little different just because we're not having to miss as much class, and we're getting a chance to sleep in our own bed a few nights here. I think for the most part, it's still we have that tournament spirit, and we know that this is a very serious point in our season and it's a Sweet 16.

Field House got a makeover. So that feels a little different than usual in there. Other than that, I think we're still in the same mindset. We're still approaching things the same way.

KELLI BATES: I would say it might be a little different just because, as Lauren said, it's in the Field House for the first time in a really long time. We're a couple wins away from going to the Final Four. It's just a matter of keeping our heads in the game and always being locked in. My freshman year, when we played Ohio State, that was a five-setter. Last year's Sweet 16 game was a five-setter. So I think we're ready, and I think that we're ready to move on to that Elite Eight game.

But I would say, like what Lauren said, we're approaching it the same way as we always would.

Q. Kelli, what has it been like for you this season playing outside sometimes and then a lot of libero. What's that been like to kind of prepare for both?
KELLI BATES: Yeah, it's different. I think at the beginning of the season, that's what I was expecting because M.E., she got injured, and I was right there ready for -- ready to be able to take the position. And you know, things happen, adversity comes along. I had trained defense all spring, as we all did, but I trained out of the left back specifically. I just worked on my game, worked on the mental side of it. The mental side of being a libero has been kind of different in terms of there's a little more spunk. There's a little more toughness that has to come with it.

But it's been fun. I've enjoyed playing libero so much. I was just ready to do whatever Kelly needed me to do and whatever the team needed me to do. It hasn't really affected my play.

Q. For the players, you did this in 2014. You beat Ohio State three times in a season. Is there extra pressure knowing that you have to beat a team three times again?
THE MODERATOR: Haley.

HALEIGH NELSON: I wouldn't say there's extra pressure that comes from that. Kind of what Kelly said, it's not the same team. So we are kind of approaching it that way and not that we're about to play the same team that we've played the other two times. And also what we learned from that Tournament run was teams come in with a renewed enthusiasm in the Tournament. Like even if their personnel was exactly the same and they were running the same system, I mean, the Tournament's a tournament. It's not the regular season. There's a lot more at risk. There's a lot more reward. It's just a different bear.

I wouldn't say that the pressure of beating them three times is really what we're thinking about. It's just we have to take care of business, and we have to come in with that same enthusiasm that they're definitely bringing because they want to go back home to Columbus for the Final Four too.

COACH SHEFFIELD: Just to kind of go a little bit off that, you know, I think you've got two teams -- and it's probably 16 teams that are looking at it as an opportunity. Both teams have the exact same equal opportunity in front of them to be able to continue their season. So there's not any more pressure than that. It's probably -- you know, when you think of opportunity, it's -- I mean, it's cool. It's fun. It's intense. It's probably all of those things wrapped up. And the cool, fun, intense is going to happen no matter if you're playing a team for the first time or the 12th time. That opportunity is still right there regardless.

Q. For Lauren, have you guys kind of grasped the -- no pressure involved, but the importance of the game, so moving from pressure to importance. Because it seems like this program as a whole has gone to the level of where the fan base may not even be totally happy with a Sweet 16 appearance because you guys have had so much success. Do you guys feel kind of the enormity of the contest?
LAUREN CARLINI: No. I mean, honestly no. It's just we're taking it one game at a time. We're in a Sweet 16 match. We've been in these situations before. We know what type of pressure that we're going to face tomorrow. We know what type of adversity we're going to have to go through as a team. It's not going to be an easy match.

So being in this position, we've been in this position before. We know how to handle that pressure. We know what's in front of us. And we're not thinking about, man, what our fans are thinking, what type of standards do we have to live up to. We just want to be the best team that we can be and max out our potential and take it one game at a time.

Q. Lauren, last year you guys had a team that most of it was new, and you were kind of working in those new pieces. How have you seen this group grow? What's the biggest change from last year to this point in the season?
LAUREN CARLINI: I think we're just connecting a lot better. We're a lot closer on the court. We connect with each other, and I think that's where we find our strength is when we're looking each other in the eyes and we know we have each other's backs and we're covering our hitters. Those things make such a huge difference in such an intense game and such a meaningful game.

It's just being able to have those connections both on and off the court is so important for the success of the team and for the long term success of the team. It's helped a lot, those relationships that we've built, and I think just knowing that each of us have each other's backs is what makes a huge difference.

Q. For Kelly, can you just kind of comment on the fact that you bought up all these tickets. It's not something you see all the time, and it's especially rare for such a rabid fan base that you guys got stuck with this time. So just kind of maybe the decision-making process for you to do that.
COACH SHEFFIELD: I don't know, the more I think about it, the more I think it's pretty cool. People get to leave work early to go to watch volleyball. I mean, how cool is that? People literally get to skip classes, which they're able to do if they stayed on top of their schoolwork up to this point, to go and watch volleyball. People are able to get their kid out of their home if they're stay-at-home moms. I know, when it's 20 degrees, you're looking for something to do inside. Field House is toasty.

I think it's -- there's no reason why we shouldn't be packing the place. The more that I think about it, the more excited I think people are going to be about coming here, and I think we're going to pack it.

As far as students, something had to be done. I was a poor college student at one time, living off of who knows whatever, writing checks I probably couldn't cash for some domino's pizzas. But I was able to eat that night, and I had to deal with the consequences a little bit later. So I'm looking back at me as an 18-year-old kid, 19 -- young mature person at those ages for these guys, but I was a young punk, and I didn't have much money. So I was always looking for things that were free. Back when I was going through, one of the great things -- you know, I loved going to the grocery store when they had those like little freebies that were kind of around there. I don't know how many meals that would get me through being able to do that.

So you're in a position right now where you want to fill the place, and you're looking back at somebody -- for the love of God, we've got people on our campus that are holding up signs that are talking about how poor they are. So my mind was just kind of thinking about some of those guys and the student-athletes and can we help get them out of the cold, get them into the Heat, see some great volleyball. My wife's a great woman and said that she'd be willing to let me spend a little bit of money. So there you have it.

Does that answer your question?

Q. It does.
THE MODERATOR: We'll leave it at that. Thanks.

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