|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPDecember 15, 2011Michelle BartschKevin HamblyLiz McMahonColleen WardSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: SEMIFINALS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – 2 THE MODERATOR: I'd like to introduce the table. To my immediate right is Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly, followed by senior outside hitter Colleen Ward, senior outside hitter Michelle Bartsch, and freshman Liz McMahon. COACH HAMBLY: I thought the last point of the match defined the whole match in itself, just how tough of a match it was, how big of a battle it was. I thought both teams‑‑ I thought it was two very, very good teams playing high level volleyball, and we were fortunate in the fifth to make some plays at the end and get over the top. At the beginning of that fifth set I think it was 9‑9 and both teams were hitting somewhere around 500, and we did a nice job of making adjustments at the end and made some plays. I'm proud of the girls. Our goal was to get to this match, the next match, and they stuck to that, and‑‑ well, be more than just get to the match, and I thought that they were determined to make that happen. I couldn't be prouder. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Colleen, at the end of the third set and then also in the fifth set you went on a serving run that obviously ‑‑ I can't even describe it.  What happened there? Just you seemed so dialed in and on defense, too,? COLLEEN WARD: Well, we knew that serve and pass was going to be huge for this match. So especially at those points in the match I really thought we needed some tough serving. And I just thought our block did a great job defending them when we got on the other side, so it was easy for us to play defense around it. Q. Can you describe what you see and what you're trying to do when you do that, because it's unusual the way you only use one hand and you don't take anything off of it ever. COLLEEN WARD: Yeah, I mean, I kind of just toss it up as high as I can and go after it, I guess. Nothing really special. Q. Kevin, can you talk about obviously that rotation when she goes back there and at that point both of those games‑‑ COACH HAMBLY: There was a lot going on too. It was a good matchup. We had a good blocking situation. I thought Lizzy and Anna have been good blockers for us in that rotation. When she gets them out of system, 6'6" and 6'4", and a kid that jumps pretty high blocking the left‑side attack, it puts pressure on a team. I thought she's been that way all year. And when we needed her, she goes back and makes plays. I wasn't surprised by that. In fact, we come to expect that from her. Q. Coach, seemed like you guys got career games from almost everyone. 20‑20 matches from Colleen and Michelle and Liz stepping up, and then Jennifer Beltran with 32 digs. Just talk about your team's overall performance and everyone coming through in a real big way. COACH HAMBLY: I mean, the percentage‑wise, it hasn't been our best hitting match. But I think it took a lot to beat them. Both teams had to‑‑ people weren't making errors, and we had to score points. And I just thought it was a battle. When you get in a battle like this, you're going to put up big numbers like that from both teams. I mean, Jupiter had 32 kills on 83 swings, and that's a ridiculous number. I'm not sure how to answer that. That's what it takes in a five‑set match against a team like USC to beat them. Q. Liz, if you could just comment about that stretch late. It seemed like you just took control. LIZ MCMAHON: Yeah, I mean, the fifth set is always just a completely different game and everyone's in a totally different mindset. So I think Ward and Bartsch made plays earlier in the match, and so USC had to really focus on them. And I think down the stretch just Annie did a great job of getting me the ball. Q. Coach, were you surprised at how slow you guys came out in the first set, only hitting 182? COACH HAMBLY: I thought we were a little tentative, yeah. No, I wasn't surprised. We're at the semifinal for the first time. Doesn't surprise me. We were worried about that. We thought it would take a little while for us to get in our groove. I thought we made a nice comeback, had a chance to win that set. I thought about after 15 we felt Illinois volleyball again. Q. How important was it for you guys to take advantage of scoring when Jupiter was in the back row? COACH HAMBLY: That was huge‑‑ the matchups were huge. And sets 3 and 4 they had Jupiter on Annie, and we had trouble where we didn't side‑out right away keeping them down, and I thought she got the bulk of her kills at that point. In the fifth set we were fortunate we got the matchup we liked with Lizzy on her. And I thought that made a big difference, especially at the end of the match. Q. Colleen, is your arm tired? COLLEEN WARD: A little bit, yeah. Q. Do you have a sense of like you and Jupiter going up against each other? I know you're not necessarily going up against each other, but like two prize fighters, just pounding away, do you have a sense of respect and feeling about playing against her like that? COLLEEN WARD: No. I mean, I know she's a great attacker, but our team has a bunch of great attackers, and it was just definitely just our team against their team. Q. Michelle, can I ask you, so for you looking at the two of them, once in a while you must have been like, wow, what they were doing? MICHELLE BARTSCH: I mean, yeah, I guess. COLLEEN WARD: I would include Michelle as one of those hitters as well. COACH HAMBLY: I think the difference in the match was that I thought we had more balance. We had more than just Jupiter. We had Ward. We had Bartsch. And then Lizzy stepped up. And Erin Johnson was great tonight. We got balance. We held the other players down, except for Williams. She went off on us. And then Jupiter, we held her to 241, which is okay. But I thought that was the difference. We had more people we could go to in the fifth set. We weren't as worn down. Q. Colleen, can you talk about the swing of that third set down the stretch when you finished that set with 8‑2 run and how that may have swung some momentum at that point? And, Coach, can you address it as well? COACH HAMBLY: You know, it was like we talked about, a good rotation for us, a chance to score some points. Colleen went back. I thought she got them out of the system, which was hard for us. Because they were scoring a ton in the middle when they passed well. And the key was if you got them off the net with their passes, we could make a run of points. I think it was‑‑ it was a rotation we knew we could score some points in, and we just took advantage of it. Q. Coach, you face UCLA next. What do you know about them? COACH HAMBLY: I know they're very good. They look great against Florida State. They look good on tape. We haven't put a ton of focus on them because obviously we were worried about SC. They're very different than what we just saw. SC is more of a high ball team and big middles that get up and over us. And UCLA will be fast everywhere and they'll challenge us. It's going to be tough. We'll have to play a whole different style against them, which is going to be interesting to see how fast we can make a turnaround and how long it takes us to adjust to that in the match. Q. Michelle, could you talk a little bit about that second set? It really seemed like you got a lot more comfortable than the first set and you had eight kills and hit 421. MICHELLE BARTSCH: I think in general everyone got a lot more comfortable. And Annie knew I was scoring at that point and I had figured out how to score, so she just kept feeding me the ball, which I think is great for Annie. Q. Coach, can you talk about the beginning of the fifth set there seemed to be some mental errors on both sides. Is that just a product of both teams being tired? COACH HAMBLY: I think it was nerves. But, I mean, I don't know. I thought the fifth set was a pretty well played set. Teams were hitting in high percentage, and you talk about the free ball play, it was a little bit of miscommunication. I'm not sure. I thought it was a great set. So I disagree with your analysis of that set, sorry. Q. Liz, what about you? You're a freshman stepping onto the national scene now. What's it all been like? LIZ MCMAHON: It's surreal. I'm just really still taking it in. It's a blast, I can tell you that. It's just fun, with this team and how far we've come. Q. Ward, can you talk a little bit about what was going on in your mind during that last rally and kind of just what your mentality was going into knowing that was match point? COLLEEN WARD: I knew we were going to win the point all along, but I thought both sides fought extremely hard. Just being focused on every contact, I think. I think everyone was really focused on that because we got some great touches on the block. Took some huge swings. I knew we would get it eventually. Q. Colleen, your teammate just said that‑‑ she described it as surreal, this run you guys are on. Do you feel the same way? COLLEEN WARD: Yeah, I mean, we don't really think about what kind of game it is. We just think about one match at a time. It's crazy that the next match is for the championship. So it is pretty surreal, but we're going to try to look at it the same way. Q. Coach, I don't know if you noticed this, but there was a sea of Cornhusker red backing you guys. What was that feeling like? COACH HAMBLY: It was nice to have someone supporting us instead of our little orange section over there. We have a bunch of Cornhuskers in our hotel, and they were coming up and doing IOL to us. And the Big Ten is sticking together. It's been great. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. 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
|