2002 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Semifinal
December 19, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 19, 2002
FLORIDA
HEAD COACH MARY WISE
Opening comments ...
"We performed good enough to defeat most teams that played in the final four, but just wasn't good enough to beat this USC team this year. USC gets credit for its offense, but the match was won by its back row play. Swings we took were kills so much of the year. Not only was USC able to keep an attack, but also able to keep transition back with great swings. They played very well. The key was their back row play."
On the team's attitude on winning game one ...
No, we were not playing the match that way. We were really concentration on playing one rally at a time. As soon as the first game was over, we were concentrating on the second game and not taking a step back and looking at the big picture.
On USC's depth ...
"You mean bringing a player who played in the world championships off the bench (senior setter Tracy Lindquist)? If you can bring a player who played in the world championships off the bench, then yes, they have good depth. It is a great asset. Credit the USC (coaching) staff because we had seen so little of her on tape. She provided something we didn't have an answer for. That's a pretty formable front row."
JUNIOR OUTSIDE HITTER AURY CRUZ
On USC's blocking ...
"I think they knew where the ball was going. Every time I went to hit, they had two blockers."
On losing the momentum after the first game ...
"We followed the game plan (in game one). USC started catching up and they made adjustments. I give a lot of credit to their diggers."
On not finding open spaces ...
"They are a big team and they are a good blocking team. Their libero is a good digger so it was hard to find open spaces."
SOPHOMORE SETTER LAUREN MASCOVIC
On adjusting to USC's blocking ...
"I give a lot of credit to their middle blockers. Emily Adams was doing a good job in the middle so we tried to set away from her and make her move."
On the season overall ...
"We worked hard to get here. We still had a great season and a good run. We lost to a really good USC team."
SOPHOMORE OUTSIDE HITTER MICHELLE CHATMAN
"I thought we played well as a team and we stuck together all the way to the end. USC just has a great team. We did what we could, they did what they could, but they executed better."
"Our season was phenomenal. We would have liked to win the whole thing. I think we've done an excellent job all season with Nicole McCray, our lone senior. I think she did an awesome job of leading us."
SENIOR MIDDLE BLOCKER NICOLE MCCRAY
"USC was awesome. They have a great team and we gave it all we had tonight. It was our best shot. We did what we could, but they were just better tonight."
"We needed to block more balls. Their libero (Nicole Davis) was awesome. She dug up everything we brought over."
"We've had a great season. To get to the final four was a goal, but we didn't just want to get to the final four. We wanted to win this match and win the Championship, but that didn't happen. Overall, it was a great season."
USC
HEAD COACH MICK HALEY
Opening statement ...
"This was really quite and interesting match. I expected Florida to be very good and they didn't disappoint, in the first game for sure. They came out and played extremely well. They have great velocity and range and it caused us to have some difficulty. I didn't think that we would be at tight as we were. We got behind and probably the only thing that we didn't want to do was get behind. I was very proud of the team, how they came out and continually improved in their performance in games two, three and four. We are pleased with the win; we are looking forward to Saturday I always think that the first win in the final four is the toughest. It was a good win for us."
On playing Stanford at a neutral site ...
"It is interesting, I know that Stanford feels like they should have won the one at their place and we feel that we should have won 3-1 at our place. So, I think the home venue has been real positive for both teams -- even though we both lost at our home venue. If you look at the stats and you look at the way we played the matches, we played much better at home against Stanford than we did there even though we came back at the end and won that match. They played much better at home against us than they did at their place. It will be interesting to see what happens at a neutral place. I would keep your hat on, because I have no idea what is going to happen."
On his team's depth ...
"I thought that was one of our assets tonight. We were able to change a little bit and wear them down. It was nice of Mary [Wise] to mention us as a great defensive team but they were one of the few teams to out dig us this year. That is pretty darn good, I think. For awhile there in game two, when we got going and we got 16 kills, then 20 and then we started upping our production; that was good. That is where we need to be to win. We beat Florida in game two and they had 19 kills and we only had 16, we could have been down 2-0. [Bibiana] Candelas coming in really helped us a great deal in games two and three, without question. But I'm not down on Robinson at all. She will play; she just got started badly. In fact, our sophomores were all jittery."
SOPHOMORE MIDDLE BLOCKER EMILY ADAMS
On effect blocking had on changing momentum ...
"I think good blocks against a good team like this really get us fired up and I think once we started getting a lot more in and a lot of good touches off the hits, we just kind of got into our rhythm and just played SC volleyball. I think that was part of adding to it, but other factors could have been as well, the blocking just helped get us fired up."
On playing Stanford ...
"I think in my personal preparation I'm not really going to think about the last two matches we played with them. I'm looking forward to playing them this time and doing whatever it takes to win."
On losing game one ...
"I think we had a little bit of anxiety. I think I did, but I didn't know it. Going into the game I was like I'm ready, but after getting out there it was a different feeling. We just weren't all there mentally. I think it was a big challenge. I think it shows a lot for us that we came out and overcame that.
JUNIOR OUTSIDE HITTER APRIL ROSS
On playing Stanford ...
"We always get pumped up to play Stanford. The fact that it's a championship match, I don't think we can think of a match that would be more exciting to play. Just because there is a huge rivalry there and there is the factor of revenge there. We're really excited."
On defense ... "We definitely focused on defense, and it's one of the biggest factors that gets overlooked. Nicole Davis kept us in it defensively, made amazing digs when no one else was into the defensive part. She got us going, she made plays and then everyone else started following and that really got us into the match, I thought. We started digging some balls and that really made the difference.
JUNIOR SETTER TONI ANDERSON
On the match ...
"It was a tough beginning, but the best part of it was our team concept; we really pulled together and got through this match. It was a tough one."
On playing as a team ...
"When people are having a tough game or are kind of out of it, someone is always there to step it up and save us for the moment and get us to the next rally."
On Florida ...
"They were amazing, really athletic and amazing. I don't know what we expected, but they are really good."
Keys to the win ...
"Just getting it to all of our hitters. All of our hitters did a great job; it was a big block and tough to beat that block. We had to spread it around a lot and really focus on covering and helping the hitters out."
On looking forward to a rematch with Stanford ...
"We're just excited to be in the Championship match. It will be fun to play Stanford; we know a lot of the girls on the team. It's always fun to play Stanford, but this match would be fun no matter who we played."
Keys to beating Stanford ...
"It is similar to Florida. You have to cover very well; they have a great block. You have to keep going out there and if they block, you just have to swing again and use all of our weapons."
