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MADISON REGIONAL NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPDecember 13, 2019Kelly SheffieldTiffany ClarkDana RettkeSydney HilleyMadison, Wisconsin HEAD COACH KELLY SHEFFIELD: First of all, congratulations on a great season for Texas A&M. The guys can stress you out in so many different ways. You know, Holland's serve, it's crazy. Their setter and her ability to attack is more frequent than anybody in the country, and you know how fast they are running that quick, so you're constantly kind of stressed a little bit by what they are doing, because they are just a very different-looking team than anybody else we've seen. With that, I thought our team did a really good job of managing that, playing with confidence, knowing that, hey, they are going to do some things that are awfully special. You know, staying in there and not riding that emotional roller coaster. You know, we didn't flinch. And when you're playing in these types of matches, you're going to play some teams that do some special things, and you've got to know that you do some special things yourself and just kind of manage. I thought we did a great job of that. Q. Match point. Hans going behind the service line and she comes at you, whether that's intentional or what but what's your thought process? TIFFANY CLARK: She had a really good serve. Comes really fast at you and it can hook. We prepared for that all week. We had the right mentality going into it, aggressive. It was kind of going through my head when I played my best, so kind of just stuck it and had a great kill off of that. Q. Tiffany, can you talk about what you did to prepare for that type of serve and what you did? TIFFANY CLARK: We watched a lot of film. We watched a lot of film on unique servers, so me and the o-line studied for that and we had some practice players in practice work on that serve, coming fast, because it's unlike anything we've ever seen before. So I thought we did a great job handling that tonight. She definitely got some of hers but we got some of ours, as well. Q. You said you were able to stay in system, nine hitting errors for the match, kid next to you had zero. How did you feel about how you were able to run things from your spot? TIFFANY CLARK: Yeah, the passers did an amazing job. Made my life a lot easier today. That's a credit to my passers right there and also a credit to my hitters who were hitting the right shots and Dana of course going up there and doing her thing. We expect that out of her. But yeah, all credit to my passers. Q. Dana, you made an impact real quick, and then you finished it off. What was your thought going in, and then when you get that last kill to end it all. DANA RETTKE: Going into the match? I go into the same mentality every single match. I want to get kills, put the ball away and score points. That's just my mentality every single match. Clark dimed that pass, and that pass was even better than the kill, yeah, yeah. Q. Sydney, when Texas A&M went up 18-17, Coach Sheffield called a time-out, what was the message to the team whether it's mentality or game planning-wise? SYDNEY HILLEY: We had the right mentality going into it the whole time. We didn't have to talk about that. We did a little strategy, what are they going to run out of this and how are we defending it. Our mentality was great all the way through. Felt like we were controlling it even though we were one-point behind. Yeah, I was just really proud of the way we handled that situation. Q. How important was it how dominant you were the first two sets, such a pivotal moment in the match? SYDNEY HILLEY: Our fans are awesome. They show up ours and hours before, waiting in the cold and that's something really special and I'm thankful for. It's the best place to play in the country and I'm excited we get a chance to do that. Q. Advance to the regional final, and on your home court again, too? SYDNEY HILLEY: It's really exciting. No matter who we play, we're expecting a battle and five sets going an extra point. Really excited. Q. Where does this team's ability to close well each set, the final seven to ten points, where does that come from and how does that develop? DANA RETTKE: It just comes from a lot of trust in. Those situations, you just have to fall back on what you know, what you prepared for, and I mean, I know everyone on the court at that time is going to be putting their best foot forward to get that point. So when those tough situations are called in the red zone, you just have a ball, just doing what you know. Q. Same question for you, Sydney. You've seen that progress, and there were some issues early in the year and yet it's become pretty consistent trend for you as the season's gone on. How's that evolved? SYDNEY HILLEY: Yeah, I definitely think that's something we've gained confidence from, with the non-conference schedule we played in the Big Ten, it really prepares you for that because every set is decided by two, three points. We're prepared for that. We do it in practice and we do it in every match we play, so I'm really proud of the mentality we had today. Q. Can you talk about how in each of the first couple sets, Tiffany and then Izzy really gave you momentum with their serving, how important was that to set the tone early on? HEAD COACH KELLY SHEFFIELD: You know, when you've got confidence behind the service line, that's worth gold. Our players are going back there, they are being aggressive, yeah. Tiff has been feeling pretty good behind the service line for a few weeks now, I'd say. I think she can go back there and hit a dollar bill if she was trying to. And Izzy, man, our passers see that every single day in practice. That thing is just dancing and all over the place, and she's going back there, when she's got confidence behind the service line, that can create havoc, as well, and that's one of our strengths I think is being able to for six rotations going back there and applying pressure and you're not quite sure who is going to get on those runs, but you know, if you just kind of go back with the right mentality, it can be anybody. Q. Are you counting out where their servers are coming -- HEAD COACH KELLY SHEFFIELD: I'm sorry, I didn't catch. Q. Were you keeping of track of when Hans' turn was coming around to serve in that third set, that you're likely to get her at the very end? HEAD COACH KELLY SHEFFIELD: I think what you're looking for is where is your team. You know, and I'll tell you where our team was. I had one sub left, and Molly was not happy that I subbed her out. She wanted to stay in there. She had not passed her serve the entire match, but she wanted that. She wanted that opportunity. She looks at me and she's like, "No, don't sub," and Andy is diving the previous few times the ball came her way. You know, we made the sub and Molly comes back and says, "Man, I was ready." I said, "I know you were." That's where you want to be is that when you have big-time challenges in front of you, that you want your players to have confidence and to bring it, and yeah, and when your players -- as a coach, there's no fear. You're not worried. You go out there and execute to the best of your ability but there's no fear. The eyes don't lie. The eyes don't lie. You look in these players' eyes and there was confidence, there was calm, and it allows you to make plays there at the end. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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