2022 NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

December 15, 2022

Jennifer Petrie

Annie Benbow

Katie Lukes

CHI Health Center Arena

San Diego Toreros

Press Conference

Texas d. San Diego

26-28, 25-16, 25-18, 25-20

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by San Diego. Coach, please start with an opening statement.

COACH PETRIE: What an incredible season for San Diego volleyball. I could not be more proud of these girls and what they have done for our program, for the university, for the city of San Diego, for each other, for the staff, everything that they have given all season. The belief that they've had that we deserved to be here. We've earned the right to be here, and we made a statement for that.

Kudos to Texas, who is a very, very good team, one that I think that we pushed tonight and we battled with, and it could have come out the other way on any other given night. We ran out of time to make some more adjustments, but these girls truly believed they were in there and we were in it to win it.

Q. You guys had them on their heels for the full first set and a lot of the second. Where did it get away from you guys?

COACH PETRIE: I think that we definitely allowed some runs of points that we couldn't just slow down and contain. And those stretches were really hard. And then we actually shot ourselves in the foot sometimes when we regained momentum. And we would make some unforced errors on our side.

Their service game was very strong. It kept us on our heels. Caused us to be off the net a lot, not being able to stay in the system we wanted to.

But at every point it didn't matter. We'd take timeouts and we would take looks at each other and just say, you know, it's just one point, let's go. Let's get back. And they never ceased to just go after it.

Q. Katie, can you just talk about -- I know it's probably a lot right now, but just putting this season in perspective. Like Coach was saying, what you've been able to accomplish, how good the season was. I don't think this loss takes anything away from that, but how has it been for you and the team?

KATIE LUKES: It's definitely been a dream. I think the emotions are high just because of how proud we are. Obviously that was a hard-fought battle. We always want to win.

But there's no regrets this season. And I couldn't have asked for a better group. So blessed I got to take my fifth year with Anne, and have all these other the fifth-years join us.

It's a really special year, and I'm really proud to be part of a team that made history like this. And I just think the ride we were on was so strong. It's something I'll never forget. I'll take it in the rest of my life. And I'm just really, really proud.

Q. Jen, this match aside, last 24 hours, your kid gets family bragging rights. You get the AVCA National Coach of the Year. You play in the national semifinals. Can you describe that for us and quantify that in your personal and professional life?

COACH PETRIE: I'm so humbled and have so much gratitude for everyone that's helped me to get here at this point. And I share this with so many people.

But definitely it's been the pinnacle of my career. And I couldn't be more elated to be recognized, knowing that there's so many people that I am on their shoulders and that they have helped me get here in this program year after year, alumni that have created this path and other staff that created this path that allowed us to get to the Final Four, because you know attracting recruits and attracting people, they want successful programs. We've been successful for a really long time.

These girls keep raising the bar for the next group and the next group, and the next group. And certainly the bar is pretty high now. I'm excited to see what we can match from here on out.

Jane -- Jane's the championship. And I'm super psyched for Boston College. That's so awesome. But that's a playbook from heaven right there, that my dad sent down to say, Jane's going to play in a national championship for herself two hours away from where you're going to be this weekend. So go after it.

And I'm so proud to have my family here and be able to be a part of this. They've been such a huge support system for me.

And certainly, as I said at the banquet, people can't do it without their family and have that support. I'm so fortunate to have a husband and parents that allowed me to do the best that I can at what I do.