USC vs. Arizona
December 07, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 7, 2001
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT POST-MATCH QUOTES
Pacific Regional Final - December 7, 2001 - Los Angeles Sports Arena
USC vs. Arizona
Arizona Head Coach Dave Rubio
"I'm excited about getting to the first Final Four in school history. It means so much to our program. I am proud and it is well deserved on the seniors' part. I feel bad for USC because we were up 12-0 against Stanford a couple of years ago in the NCAA Tournament and Lisa Rutledge went down with an injury. We got a few breaks at the end tonight. It's a wonderful feeling to get to the Final Four."
(on coming back in game five)
"If there was ever a doubt in their minds, I think for everyone we tried to push those doubts aside. When you are down in rally scoring, it doesn't happen like that. The momentum changes so quickly you don't know when it's going to change."
(on feelings of building the program after 10 years)
"I tell you it's been such a long road and it's been so much of an effort, starting with all of our former players who helped build the program. I'm very proud of that fact and the individuals who have been part of that. The Final Four was our goal this year."
(on blocking performance)
"I told the team when we struggled in the first game, we did a good job of blocking and we picked our spots. We were relentless in our ability to put up a good block because we knew that was going to be a factor tonight."
Arizona senior setter Dana Burkholder
"I love our team. We have all given so much to each other to earn this. I'm going to cherish that moment forever. As a setter, it's incredible to have your teammates be able to take over a match."
(on impact of injury to April Ross)
"As a leader, she plays a huge role. I think they lost a little of their heart and chemistry, but they still battled and took us to five games. I know that it would have been the same type of battle if she was in there."
Arizona junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge
"I think it came down to just the will of our team. We had a belief in ourselves and it just depended on when it was going to happen."
Arizona senior opposite Jill Talbot
"We have been on the other side of it, so we know what impact it has when a team loses a player. It is unfortunate, but we have to take advantage of something like that tonight."
USC Head Coach Mick Haley
"I'm really proud of our team. I don't think you will see a better fight in any team in this tournament."
(on play of team after injury to April Ross)
"We have practiced for Murphy's Law and we thought we could overcome anything. Tonight, you saw an effort. I'm sorry we didn't win. There was a lot of time where we had three freshmen and three sophomores out there and it was a great time to learn. Jennifer Pahl did a wonderful job as a senior and did everything she could to lead the team. It was an interesting match. The players just slugged it out. We just came up a little short."
(on making corrections from loss earlier in season against Arizona)
"I thought we corrected almost everything to beat Arizona. We held them to .232 hitting and they had been lighting us up when we played them in both Pac-10 matches. We had that bad run in the second game tonight. I don't know how you give up eight points in a row, but it just happens. I thought our kids could come back. We had to play with a new lineup in game three and we had a chance to win that and got a little anxious. We played game five right down to 12 points and got into a rotation where we weren't able to get into a rhythm."
(on practicing situations without key players)
"We practiced for what happened if April gets hurt. Alicia Robinson did a wonderful job and did not blink. Emily Adams has continued to get better and was a factor tonight against (Arizona's Shannon) Torregrosa. She had a nice level of play and very calm intensity, which was nice from her. We didn't really practice to bring Emily into that situation, but we had contemplated for that time."
USC senior middle blocker Jennifer Pahl
(on team's attitude after injury to April Ross)
"We didn't look to each other like this was not anything we could not overcome. We all just had to fight harder."
