|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AUSTIN 1ST 2ND ROUND NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPDecember 2, 2017Julia BrownLinda Hampton-KeithEmily HarrisAustin, Texas NC State - 0, Texas - 3 LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: We just had a moment in the locker room where we're just reflecting and just really proud of our whole season in totality. Obviously our season ends tonight and we're really sad about that. But when we look at the season as a whole, we're just so proud of everything we've accomplished and the foundation that we've laid to build on. That's kind of where we're at right now. Q. When you said you were able to build some early leads but couldn't sustain them. Why do you think that was? LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: I think, you know, we were trying to kind of catch up, if you will, to the speed of the game. But I think overall, we were doing some really, really nice things. Like you said, we couldn't sustain it and it just came down to executing some plays here and there, especially in transition, where they are hitting pretty high. So just being able to adjust our defense accordingly to that. Once we did that, I thought we got keyed in with them pretty well, and then it just came down to a couple plays here and there, and that's what these games are all about, one game here or there, that can turn the tide on that. Q. Overall reaction to your experience here and your season overall. JULIE BROWN: Tonight was a lot of fun. We enjoyed every single moment of it. There was great energy in the gym. We've had a lot of fun over this season. We've made a lot of records for our school, and sad it's over. So thankful. Thankful for playing for Coach Linda. Yeah, love the girls, love the team and love the university, so thank you. EMILY HARRIS: Just kind of the same. It's been an amazing four years. This season was better than anything I could have ever imagined. Just playing with a group of girls that you love so much and that you care so much about, and every win, you just want to pull it out for them. It's just something that's really special. So I can't wait to see what things are going to be in the future. Q. Obviously for both you guys, you're both seniors, but how the season went, was this how you envisioned it, making it all the way up to this point or even further? JULIE BROWN: Really we're just taking it one game at a time. Since Coach Linda got here, our goal was to make it to the NCAA Tournament. So that's what we set out to do this season. Really happy when it did happen, and just like we did from the beginning of the season, just took it one game, one set, one point at a time. We did really well. EMILY HARRIS: Last year we felt how close we were and we knew next year we were going to see our name called. So we were going to go every single day this season, we just worked towards that. I feel like we never doubted, no game -- if we lost, we never doubted each other. We knew we were going to make it this year. Q. Your overall impressions of their team? LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: Yeah, they are good. Clearly they are athletic and play the game well. I've been a part of matches playing against them in previous years, and so I had a feeling of what to expect a little bit in terms of understanding who they are athletically and understanding what they kind of bring to the table. But also understanding, you know, what things you can kind of do to counter. It was, hey, you go give it your best shot, and that's what I thought we did. I thought -- I was most impressed with our team's ability to continue to just go and go and go because I think, you know, a lot of teams don't do that against this team. They are good and they put some pressure on you and they put pressure on you early. I'm just really proud of how our team responded to that in a really tough environment to play in. So they are good. Q. With the fight they had, how do you think you competed against them? LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: A couple of ways. We talked a little bit strategically about just kind of mentally making a shift going into the third set about our own block of how, hey, yeah, they are high and they are jumping high and hitting hard and that's fine. If they go and get a decent shot off, they bomb a ball, we're okay with that. It was all the other stuff, right. It's rule shots, the tips, everything they were doing that we can be better at controlling that phase of the game and that part of the game. And then our own blocking, we said, hey, let's go really be aggressive blocking. Let's see what happens if we do that. We're used to playing teams that if we can just go low and over, we're going to get touches that we can then turn for points. Turns out they can hit over you. So we decided, hey, let's go see what we can do by just going and challenging them high in the block, and we started getting some touches on that, and I like that. And then we were able to turn those for points, too. I thought we responded well to that. It's just trying to go and beat them -- we can be a physical team, as well, but again, we are just not using to seeing that kind of physicality across the net from us. Q. This is the first time you guys have ever made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. What does this tell you about the future? LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: Great question. We just had that conversations in the locker room. Would you guys like to expand upon that question? JULIE BROWN: I think we're just getting started. We laid the foundation and we're only going up from here. So we're really excited to see where we're going to be next year and years to come. We're just really proud to be a part of this university. LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH: And that was the conversation: The best thing we can do to honor this senior class and everything they have done for us is to take this and build upon it. We said we are not a one-and-done. This is not a one-and-done situation. That's not the expectation. From here, what we are going to do is build on everything they have done to get us here and we are going to build on that forward, and that expectation is only going to get higher and higher as we go through that. So that's our expectation for Wolfpack Volleyball is this is not a one-and-done. This is year one of many in the Tournament and going far and winning this match, this second-round match, in the future. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|