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NCAA WOMEN'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPDecember 19, 2013Jim McLaughlinKylin MunozJenna OrlandiniKrista VansantSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Penn State – 3 THE MODERATOR: We'll have an opening statement from Washington head coach Jim McLaughlin first, then we'll ask the student‑athletes questions. COACH McLAUGHLIN: I don't know if I'll ever be ready. It's tough. It stinks. But the amount of time these players put in, the investment, it's so high that the pain can be deep. And we're feeling it right now. Penn State was excellent. Every part of the game, they won every individual battle. And the thing I think I could have done differently is when we were up 10‑6, we were in a good side‑out war with them Micha goes back and hits that jump serve and that deflated us a little bit. And I just look back wish I had put Jo in the middle. And like we did against Bricio from USC. And then I hope‑‑ our fans were so good and have been so good and are always so good, I just hope that they come out and watch some good volleyball Saturday. I hope they're here and supporting‑‑ so many people have done a great job with this tournament. And it would be neat. I'll be there. I don't know who I'm going to cheer for but... THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Did you guys seem a little tight maybe in the early part of the match and on into Game 2, did you feel extra pressure being here, home crowd, everything, playing a big team? KRISTA VANSANT: I don't think it was extra pressure. It wasn't coming from the home crowd. If there was any pressure it was coming from Penn State. They kept the pressure on us the entire time. They forced us to make plays and we ended up not doing that so well. But, yeah, they kept the pressure on us the entire time. And that's I think one of the reasons why they were so dominant. KYLIN MUÑOZ: I think we just didn't deliver. We weren't ourselves and that was the most disappointing thing. They're a very, very good team, but we weren't ourselves tonight. Q. Their attacks seemed so forceful. Compared to other teams you faced, were they any stronger than other foes or is it just an illusion? JENNA ORLANDINI: Yeah, we knew they were a physical team going into it. We knew it was going to be a battle. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. But we just didn't respond well to adversity. And I think you have to give credit where credit is due. They're a strong team. They're physical. But at the same time we could have put a little more pressure on that aspect. Q. Krista, there are athletes who will say that they don't want to forget what this feels like so that can be a motivation, are you an athlete like that? Can you tell us if so what you're feeling now and how that might not be a motivation to you? KRISTA VANSANT: I think it's going to be a motivation for me next year. Sorry. We just worked really hard all year long for this. This sucks when you don't put your best effort forward. I thought I could have played so much better tonight on my own, for myself. And I think that, I don't know, I'm really going to be‑‑ this is going to be in the back of my head all of winter when we're lifting weights and conditioning and it's going to be in my head through spring and summer and 6:00a.m. workouts, this is what I want, I want to be in the national championship game next year and I'm going to do everything in my power for that to happen. Q. Kylin, what were your thoughts on what they were able to do to force your unforced errors, they block serve your shots at the net, and was their size a massive factor for you guys offensively trying to get anything going? KYLIN MUÑOZ: I think they just did a better job in trans and taking care of the little things than we did. They're a physical team, and they've been here before. They were comfortable, and I think we just didn't capitalize on plays that we usually would have capitalized on. Q. Krista, what was the conversation like in the second set for you guys? KRISTA VANSANT: We just knew we were going to go down swinging. If we were going to lose, it wasn't going to be easy. And we sure had a lot of fight in us towards the end. We were making some plays there, but it was just too late. We were just saying the same stuff we were saying at SC. Anything can happen. We can come back from this. Just to keep fighting and go down with no regrets. Q. Jenna, Jim suggested he might move you to center; you usually play leftback. JENNA ORLANDINI: On serve receive. Q. What made Hancock's serves difficult? JENNA ORLANDINI: We know she's a lefty. The ball is coming from a different curve when you have that kind of pace on it and that kind of speed. You just have to really get your angle right on it, because usually that's not the way the ball's coming towards you. So you've got to work to get your angle right. And she has a good serve. We knew that going into it. So, yeah. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. You've seen a lot of good teams over the years. How good was that Penn State team, do you think, in terms of where it ranks? COACH McLAUGHLIN: Well, I watched six matches on them this year. And this is the most consistent play. But we were‑‑ I don't know. We kind of allowed them to be good, too, I thought. And then it was the first time we hadn't responded to the adversity and we panicked a little bit. And I just didn't feel like we got in some good spots to pressure them. And they're a team that you gotta win the serve and pass, and we had done that all year and we didn't do it tonight. I think they missed four passes. That's unbelievable. And so we're going to go back, look at it, reevaluate everything and see how we could upgrade, approach it differently. But they really played well and they were better in environment than we were. Q. Tough to evaluate the pass, seemed like such a complete, I don't want to say domination, but seemed they had an answer for everything. You called timeouts several times and only once did you come up with point after a timeout (indiscernible)? COACH McLAUGHLIN: They were good in‑‑ beat us in every phase. Fundamentally. Transition. Coaching. They did a good job and we didn't. And so we've gotta go back and do what we do, try to fix the thing and maybe approach it a little different. But I'm awful proud of what these girls did. To me this is going to stay with us for a while. And then the meaning and all the lessons that we learned throughout the year, it will eventually come. And it's another learning opportunity. It's another opportunity to see what do we have to do better. But I told them that I love them and being around them was wonderful. I mean every day, it's still‑‑ being in that locker room with the pain, the investment so high, it's just neat to be around people like that and I wouldn't trade them for anybody. So, shoot, I love volleyball. We'll figure it out. But it stinks. It hurts. It sucks. I don't know how to explain that. Q. It's tough not to dwell on the negative, but was there anything that disappointed you the most with the serves being blocked? COACH McLAUGHLIN: Serve and pass is our deal. And we didn't win that thing. And then I'm going to look back and see how I could have approached‑‑ I'm disappointed in how I coached and how you set them up mentally for the thing to get them thinking the right thoughts. I gotta look at that. And then I want to figure out how to come off an emotional win like the SC thing and get back on track. And I don't know if we hung onto that too long or what. But we'll look at that, too. We'll look at everything. But the bottom line is, yeah, it was a nightmare. It was not fun in any way, shape or form. But it's part of the deal. You get into this business, and one team at the end doesn't go through this. So you kind of sign up for it a little bit. Q. What do you feel Penn State was able to do to win against you guys offensively; what did they bring that you guys just couldn't stop? COACH McLAUGHLIN: In the first game we were up, and the thing that was discouraging is we had six opportunities to score. We could have really been up and we only converted on one. And so I don't think at the time it was Penn State was doing, it was what we weren't doing. We weren't getting good swings.  We weren't good in transition. And then they found a nice groove, just siding out. Their quicks were up. They pass the ball well, and they're really good. You gotta get them off the net. And we didn't make them pay when we had an opportunity to do so, and it got away from us a little bit. Q. I was going to ask about whether you thought it was more Penn State and what you guys didn't do. But in the overall, is that what makes it more frustrating than anything, putting your best foot forward? COACH McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, you prepare every day to play well. And I believe with this group we control that. And we don't control Penn State. We control if we play well enough to win. And if we don't, you know, most of the time it's not what they did, it's what we didn't do. And so you go back and you practice and you fix the stuff you've gotta fix. But, again, after watching them, I was‑‑ I gotta give Russ a lot of credit because they were very, very consistent. They play like that, they're going to win this thing. Q. Jim, how do you hope and do you expect Krista to respond to this outcome, come back in her senior season? COACH McLAUGHLIN: These guys are‑‑ we got down to Gonzaga, and then when we lost to Colorado at Colorado, you know, and they've been able to respond. But they're not afraid to work. They'll respond to this. They created this opportunity and they worked, and I'm not afraid to get back in the gym with them. She'll respond. She just keeps getting better and better. And she'll learn from this. It will hurt her for a while and then she'll get back on the horse and do what she's supposed to do and improve. But all of them, everyone on the team, the seniors that I didn't play, they'll learn from this and go on and do what they do at the next level. But awful thankful I got a chance to coach those guys. They were phenomenal in every way, shape and form. Q. Can you give us a little bit of an idea what Wisconsin would have to do to make it a real entertaining match on Saturday and have a chance against a team that good? COACH McLAUGHLIN: Win the serve and pass. In the Big Ten, every time Russ, his team did that, they dominated, like they did tonight. I mean dominated. And so you gotta take some risks. You've gotta manage risk and go for serving. And I'd have a real good serving game plan and then I'd get in a good rotation when Micha is serving. We studied her and she's scoring a lot of points. And I screwed up by not making sure, I got too involved in matchups and all that stuff. So I'll figure that out. But Wisconsin's good, too. They just gotta play well. Q. What, if anything, was your final message or what is your final message to the seniors? COACH McLAUGHLIN: Just how proud I am of them. And when you're in there with a group like this and you go through all the different things, all the learning lessons, that will stay with them forever. And they know that. I looked at the pain on their face. It's very deep. But it's good because they put so much time in, but I love them. It's wonderful being around them and I'll miss the seniors for sure. But I can't wait to get back in the gym with the returners. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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