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MADISON REGIONAL NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPDecember 13, 2019Robyn Ah MowNorene IosiaBrooke Van SickleMadison, Wisconsin Nebraska - 3, Hawaii - 0 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach. ROBYN AH MOW: Well, first, thank you to Wisconsin for hosting the tournament. It was awesome. The people here are great, just smiling and happy and helpful. So thank you, guys, for hosting such a good tournament. Hat's off to Nebraska, played a great game. And to my team, they came out, and they played their hearts out and, obviously, there's got to be a winner and a loser tonight. It doesn't feel great, but hat's to my team. They played great. THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach or student athletes. Q. Coach, talk about how you are able to bring in, like, just people like Brooke coming from Oregon and Bailey. How are you able to bring everybody together and just play so well this season? Talk about your coaching staff and the mindset for the season. ROBYN AH MOW: Well, hat's off to my two assistants. They're out there recruiting all the time. Just, the girls that want to be here, you know? And we always have conversations with the people that want to come, like this is, you know, this is not like a cakewalk. We want to train and we want to work hard. It's not just coming over here and wanting to sunbathe in Hawaii. But I think as far as in spring, we had whatever we had left over from last year, and we went hard in spring. And we had to set a culture of coming in the gym and going 110 percent, and they did it. The seniors did it. And when all the five freshmen came in, Bailey came in, Brooke came in. The one thing that I was asking was: Are we going to gell? That's a lot of girls coming in, new girls in and out, and five freshmen. And because of the seniors and the upperclassmen that were here, they did a great job. They came in during the summer, and they had to follow them because they had to or it's like, okay, either do this or we're all going to fail. So they all went -- and this is, you know, they play like this. That's a big team out there. They got some 5'8" outside hitters. I got one that doesn't even hit during practice and they did great. So it shows. Q. Brooke, could you talk about hitting against that big block all night? BROOKE VAN SICKLE: Honestly, I didn't really think about it at all. Like, I'm undersized and people are always like, oh, they're bigger than you. I don't care. Jump high, hit hard. That's pretty much it. Q. When the match ended, you guys had that last huddle, and Coach Robyn was saying something to you guys, and everyone had a smile on their face. Can you talk a little bit about what that moment was like and what you guys said to each other? NORENE IOSIA: I would say it was pretty emotional for us. BROOKE VAN SICKLE: So pretty much Coach told us, like, we played our hardest, like, we fought really hard from the beginning to the end, as a team. And normally, like, it's hard, I feel like, for teams. Like, once they lose the first set or the second, teams tend to just kind of, like, slow down. But I feel like we fought the whole way. So she was really proud of us and what we were doing. So as a team we, I guess, we feel really good about our performance, but, obviously, it sucks and losing sucks. But, I mean, hopefully next year will be different. We could have done things differently. But, I mean, I'm proud of my team and what we did and accomplished. Q. Brooke, what was the end of the first set like? You had a couple set points, you staved off a couple that Nebraska had. What was the emotion like playing in that high intensity of a set? BROOKE VAN SICKLE: Honestly, personally, and I think my team feels this way too. I think we love it, because it's, like, we play volleyball for those moments where it's super intense and we want to be there neck-and-neck with a team because it just makes winning so much better. But, yeah, it's pretty stressful, but that's why we play volleyball, so. Q. How big of a stride do you think this program made this season with these seniors, with these freshmen, and the newcomers? And when you look down five years from now, how important will this 2019 season be to accomplish what you want to do here? ROBYN AH MOW: This is only my third year here. It was rough the first year. And like I said, it's just about the culture and them buying in each year and just getting better each year. I thought the juniors, I'm like, you guys have really big shoes to fill. These guys did great from spring. And, yeah, I'm proud of them. Q. Can you talk about the end of the first set? What was the emotion like and how did that affect the team going forward to be in such a high stakes one and come up a little bit short there in that first set? ROBYN AH MOW: I think, all year I've been telling them, hey, we're short, we got to dig balls, we have to ball control, dig balls, keep going. Short -- guess what short people, guess what tall people don't like? They don't like you using them and you just keep going. That's all you can do. You can't hit over them if you're shorter than them, then use them here, use them there and you got to play defense. And they all fought and that's what they did. And they kept going, they kept going back and forth. It could have gone either way. Either way it could have gone. But that high and that set, it was just back and forth, one ball, one ball, and that high, and then it's like, Gosh, and now you got to start all over again. And you know, and we came back in the second, and I mean, you know, a couple balls here and there beginning. Like I said, my team, they just keep fighting. They were down all set, 4-1, 5-1, and they keep fighting and that's them, and that's how they're ultimately built. And hopefully the next, each year it just gets better. Q. Norene, I know how you said that one of your favorite moments was your freshman year when you went up to train in Minnesota and how would you rate this year and playing this game versus that time when you were playing Minnesota? NORENE IOSIA: I would say this moment tops my freshman year definitely. Just like coach said, just putting it all out there, it was obviously we were shorter than that team, Nebraska, but we were going out there and definitely the height didn't really matter to us. So I don't know, just playing this match, being a senior, yeah, it sucks, but that's a memorable game for us, definitely and yeah, just very proud of it. Q. Could you both comment on the pride playing for Hawaii. Brooke, both of your parents played volleyball in Hawaii. I know your mom played for HP, your dad for Hawaii. And Norene, you have your whole, lots of family. Talk about the pride about just representing the state. NORENE IOSIA: It definitely makes the sport of volleyball more meaningful. I mean what we wear on our shirts isn't just a logo, behind that is such a bigger meaning of just family and work ethic and just love all around and that's something that I would say this team did a very good job of grasping very quickly and just gelling together and representing the whole state of Hawaii. BROOKE VAN SICKLE: Yeah, so, yeah, both my parents played in Hawaii and like they always told me growing up like how special it is to play in Hawaii for the university. And so I wanted to see it for myself. And this is honestly like one of the best decisions of my life, guaranteed. I'm so honored to be able to have a team here -- thanks to you guys -- but, yeah, it's a pride thing. Like before I was came here everyone was telling me like, hey, like we grind it out, like that's how Hawaii is. And I was like, okay, I'm going to roll up there and love it, because I like we the way we come in the gym and we work hard and then so then we can compete with big teams like this, again, the whole short thing, like it doesn't matter. We play with a chip on our shoulder, we know we can do it so, yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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