Louisville-Michigan Postmatch Quotes
November 30, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 30, 2012
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Michigan at Louisville NCAA Volleyball | Second Round | Nov. 30, 2012| KFC Yum! Center | Postmatch Quotes
Louisville head coach Anne Kordes
(Opening statement) "Hats off to Michigan, they played a phenomenal match especially in that fourth game when they came back and held their composure. This is what we wanted, was an opportunity to play. It was a hell of a volleyball match and you have to be able to execute...you have to be able to execute at a very high level and for a very consistent amount of time, to be able to advance in the NCAA tournament. Michigan did that better than us tonight...so deservingly. I thought, it was a phenomenal match. It was great for volleyball...an unbelievable crowd. I couldn't thank our U of L fans more for what they brought tonight; you could tell they wanted it. I am just so proud of our team. I'm heartbroken...I'm heartbroken for this loss because you want that for your team so bad, and they have worked so hard. But, I am so proud of the season, so...it was a good night for volleyball."
(On what Michigan did well) "First of all they played great defense, second of all they had like 13 more kills then we had. A lot of that had to do with their defense and our lack of defensive blocking and we couldn't ever close the gap on that. You asked maybe what attributed that to? We've won every game, except for last night, in the last eight or nine matches, in three sets. I think sometimes that's the hard part about being maybe a dominant team in our conference, whereas they are coming from one of the best, toughest conferences in the country where balls are constantly coming back and forth. I just think they have had more rallies than we've had...not that that was it, but I thought they played flawless defense against us to start the game and they made less errors than we did. Even to start the fourth game we made three errors and we were constantly catching back up to ourselves in this match."
(On how Michigan came out "on fire") "Their outsides were unreal tonight. I thought (Molly) Toon was the best. I mean, if we've watched six matches of theirs including last night's match with Tennessee, this is...it was the best match I've seen her play. That is certainly what you want from your outside hitter. I thought their other kid, (Lexi Dannemiller) No. 11 was unreal as well. I think towards the end of it, it came down to serving and passing. We missed some serves, we got aced there at the end a couple to times...Lola (Arslanbekova)...that's a normal pass that she makes every single day and then we put that one into the stands. Those are just the itty bitty things that matter so much during tournament time. One decision, or this or that comes back, and that's what you think about. That is where we need this kind of experience, playing against high level teams, against big teams, and being in situations where there is pressure. I think our young kids are going to learn a lot from it and I couldn't be more proud of our seniors for pushing through. They have not been in this situation before, even against Purdue last year, this was a situation...we were up there...this was different."
(On when Louisville was up late in the fourth set and let the lead slip away, was it more what Michigan was doing or more of what Louisville was not doing) "Both. I thought, personally, when we look back at that film...which we will, we didn't set the ball...we set the ball twice into a huge double block in the middle and got blocked when we had Lola (Arslanbekova) sitting on the outside. When you get into situations like that you let your All-American go off...you ride her. I thought our setters...and understandably so, the middle was open at different times tonight. It was just one of things where it worked at so many different times and at the end our middles are just dead, they were just dead, so it was tough for them to be able to be up and score against double blocks. I thought it was us and then...their outsides went three straight balls down against our libero, who I think is one of the best Liberos in the country. I think Caitlin Welch is one of the best liberos in the country and their outside put three balls straight past her...so little things that we're just not used to seeing happen, happened. At the same time they executed very well."
(On what the seniors have meant to the program in her short time here) "We just talked about them in the locker room...there were a lot of tears and a lot of appreciation for the seniors because when we came in they had completely changed the standard of effort and standard of commitment...and most of those things are the things that have to happen when the coach isn't around, it's the summertime or in the weight room, or when you're eating, and making right decision when you're out socially. I really appreciate the leadership that they have been able to provide. They've really grown up and it has been fun to see, even in just two years, it has been fun to see the maturity and how much they care. They are in there crying and hugging on their freshman and I think that is always a good sign as a coach when your freshman and your seniors are really sad for it to be over, because they have bought in so much...usually if your freshman are sad to see your seniors go then you are doing something right, and they are. Lola has been phenomenal...one of the absolute best players we've ever had at the University of Louisville. She got better. She didn't take what she had last year and just sit on it; she worked and got better this year. Gwen Rucker, not a lot of people realize, she was injured last year, she came back ready to roll...and she got sick this year, there was a point where she lost about 22 pounds. It took her a long time to get back. She fought back and did everything she needed to do. Tanya (Lukyanenko) has done a phenomenal job and I think got better. She didn't play a lot last year and then worked her way into the starting lineup where we needed her this year. Kaitlynn James, she is a fun story...she is the hometown hero kid, played at Assumption (High School), went to Nebraska and got all banged up...comes back here and leads a charge and gets us into the top ten, and BIG EAST Championships, and all those kind of things when people said she couldn't play volleyball anymore. I think that I just couldn't be any more proud of them and excited; I am sad to see them go, I really am. I know that how close this team is, the chemistry of this team is very special and I know that they'll be back and around. They won't go far. That's what I like about what's going on at U of L. It is very much a family in the athletic department and that comes from the top...down....you know from the top all the way down to the bottom. Everybody feels like this is something that's something they take with them the rest of their lives and you hear the seniors in there talking about that right now. I love them and I am so appreciative of what they have done."
(On what was said to the seniors and the rest of the team after the match about holding their heads up) "You tell them to (hold their heads up). As bad as we wanted to advance, all we talked about was doing things that U of L Volleyball had never done before. Part of that was doing things in the NCAA Tournament. But, they have done things that U of L Volleyball has not done before. That's what you have to talk about and that's what you have to think about. They've had a phenomenal season. They've lit up a community. They've done things for our fans. They've done things for little kids. They've won the Big East Conference and the Big East Tournament. A lot of these things have set the foundation for what can be a special program here and that's what we're focused on - everything that they were able to accomplish. There are a lot of teams that have won National Championships and gone to Final Fours that couldn't wait for the moment to be over so they could get away from each other. I'll take losing in the second round to have the chemistry and the special experiences and the memories that this group has had together. This group is very special. They are very much like family and like sisters. I think that is more important for us than advancing to the next round and doing it at a cost of not having something that means so much."
(On if she wished they were pushed more in conference play and if the ACC will provide that) "I think where you worry about it is NCAA Tournament time and you haven't been pushed. People pushed us, but I'm just so proud of our team. They did a great job and were so confident this conference season. I think it's the size. I think that's what we are going to see in the ACC is the size of athletes. I think that provides for a completely different game. If you think about the game last night against Belmont - that was one of the fastest played volleyball games. Tonight was much slower and it was a slugfest out there. People were just wailing away at each other and I think that's what the ACC is going to provide. It's just very much more common for what the NCAA Tournament is going to provide - bigger, stronger athletes. I'm excited about that move and I'm excited to see where we are. If we played in it this year I think we would have fared really well. So I'm excited to see how we'll end up there. But, I'm very proud of the opportunities in the Big East and I'm excited our team was able to do as well as they did when we played in the Big East. The Big East has been a phenomenal conference for us."
(On the impact of the overseas players on the team and the family atmosphere) "When I first got here, the first holiday I was here for was Easter. All the foreign kids came to my house. I'll never forget it was this past Easter and I asked `Are you guys coming over?' And they said, `No, we got invited everywhere else.' I thought finally this team is really coming together and these kids are really bonding with the rest of the group. I was happy because I thought the local kids and the rest of the group were all coming together as one. Tanya is one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. Lola, you have to earn trust with her first, and it takes a while. Once you do she's just like your family. There's a loyalty there. One thing I can say is my recruiting connections aren't overseas. They are in the United States. In the next two years you're going to be seeing kids from Florida, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, and St. Louis. That's where I think you'll see us recruit and we'll see if that works. I think it will. I'm excited about the kids we have coming in and the kind of reach that U of L has and I thin going to the ACC opens up a whole new door for us as far as recruiting. Don't get me wrong, the European players and the Asian players - I've played with several of them - that have been a part of this program have done wonders. The girls have had phenomenal careers here at U of L and they helped put us on the map. I'm hoping our recruiting efforts can reap the same benefits and I'm confident that they will."
Louisville Player Quotes
#7 Gwen Rucker
(On what went wrong tonight) "I actually think we played our butts off. I don't think anything really went wrong, I think they just came out and beat us. We gave all the effort we could give, they were just a little more talented than us. Their defense was unbelievable. I don't think anything went wrong though."
(On how difficult it is to end the season like this) "It sucks. Losing is never fun. If you lose in the middle of the season or the end, it is never great. It is good to know what we have accomplished so far. It allows us to still be happy and still be positive about the season.
(On Michigan's defense) "I don't really know. I guess they just have really good training and were very scrappy. We were doing all we could to hit balls, they were just one-arming them and two-arm off the chests. They couldn't make a mistake.
(On the atmosphere in the locker room after the loss) "Afterwards we were disappointed but, we were proud of each other because we came together as a team and worked hard as a team."
Michigan head coach Mark Rosen
(Opening statement) "At this point in the season everybody's goal is to advance, I'm really proud of our team and how they fought tonight to obtain that objective. This was a really emotional match, one of the players said on the way in that this was the most emotional match that she's played because it was very hard fought on both sides. Louisville did a great job; I thought our team did a really good job of fighting through those emotions and really just putting a great game on the floor. I thought it was great volleyball on both sides; it came down to a lot of tactical things because it was such long sets and both teams were running out of subs and its always interesting when that happens. I'm very proud in how our team fought especially in the fourth set where we were down, we just found ways to fight back in and that shows a lot of character on our team's part. They worked very hard over the last 12 months to be able to do that and I'm just very proud of what they were able to do tonight."
(On what the game plan was early on) "One of the things the girls talked about was that they like to commit block, so we were trying to find ways to exploit that and get a good feel for where there blockers were going to go and set away from that and I thought that they did a good job. There not a team that you can score with off-speed stuff very well, they do a very good job of collapsing on tips. We really had to score more aggressively and I thought we came out the very first set and were really aggressive and just got after it. We had a lot of momentum going into the second set and they chipped away a little bit but that's just sports, you know momentum always shifts so you have to be resilient through that and I think this team has really grown to be very good at that where things happen and they just let it go. A great example of that is Claire didn't have a very good night last night and tonight she came out and she played great. Kelly Murphy missed two serving opportunities last night; tonight she came in during the third set and got a big run for us which really made a big difference. They've been very resilient and able to move on when bad things happen they just move on to the next thing."
(On how the defense played against the Louisville big hitters) "They are a very good offense, a very balanced offense and with the 6-2 you always have to defend three hitters and then they had to shift into a 5-1 a couple times because of subs - which was changing things. I thought our defense did a great job. Tiffany Morales did an excellent job defensively. Lindsey Lerg had some huge digs for us and she's only been playing for us in that role for a couple of weeks and she's really matured. Ally Sabol is one of our best defensive players and she had huge ones tonight. So across the board I thought our defense was really good. They out blocked us tonight but I thought our block did a pretty good job considering the type of offense they run. Lola (Arslanbekova) is really good, she's very good at getting around the block and I thought we defended her well, considering how good she is, I mean you're not going to stop her you just have to slow her down a little bit."
(On what it means to get back to the Sweet 16) "Anytime you can advance in the tournament it's a big key; it was a big goal of all of our players. At any level the post season is what everybody plays for, it's fun stuff and so we want to keep advancing. Ironically we have a couple kids from California and they really wanted to get back home so it's good for them to be able to play in front of their families, actually their families didn't come this weekend hoping that we would get back their so that puts a lot of pressure on them. I think anytime you can advance were excited about that and were excited to find out who our opponent is. There playing later out their when it comes to the dates, so today was the first day I think in that bracket so we'll find out who we play tomorrow."
(On hitting at the right spots) "One of the things the girls talked about was the commit. They like to commit block, so we were trying to find ways to exploit that and get a good feel for where their blockers were going to go and set away from that. I thought that they did a good job there. They're not a team you can score with off-speed stuff very well. They do a very good job of collapsing on tips and releasing. We really had to score more aggressively. I thought we came out from the very first set. We were really aggressive and just got after them and had a lot of momentum going halfway into the second set. Then [Louisville] chipped away a little bit and that's just sports, that's volleyball. Momentum shifts and you got to be able to be resilient through that. I think this team has really grown to be very good at that, where things happen and they just let it go and let it roll off their back. For example, Claire [McElheny] didn't have a very good night, last night, and tonight she came out and played great. Kelly Murphy had two serving opportunities last night and missed both of them, yet she's been one of our best servers and scored a lot of points. Tonight she came in the third set, she got a good run for us and really made a big difference. They've been very resilient. Bad things happen and they just move on to the next thing."
(On substituting and saving subs for a fifth set) "We actually have a sub pattern. We were able to stay with it. We have sub players that we use back row for some of our front row players that aren't as skilled back there and just trying to maximize our talent. It was getting close. We actually ran out of subs there at the end, so if the game would've extended, we wouldn't have been able to sub anymore. But Louisville subs a little bit more than we do and they got stuck with their setters having to stay in the game. That's just part of the tactics of the game. In our game, we don't sub a ton like basketball, where you have to rest the kids, because it's just the nature of our game. I never even thought about a fifth set. I felt pretty comfortable, even though we were down. The way we were playing, I thought we were playing pretty well and I felt good about the way we could come back and win that set."
(On Molly Toon's impact) "Toon's playing great right now. She's been so good the last month. We have not been able to keep a stable lineup all season long until the last month. But I also think it was one of the best things for us because we had a lot of players get experience and a lot of players have to really earn roles. We got some players that aren't playing much right now who could really do some great things that have had some experience throughout the year. Toon's emergence in the last month and a half, I think, has been huge catalyst for us. She's been a workhorse for us. She's getting a ton of kills and made some great defensive plays today and she's just a heck of an athlete."
(On their attack and what role it played) "Balance is always a key and especially a team like that, they're a big blocking team, they're going to commit block, they're going to try to have a good tactic you and have a good game plan. Claire [McElheny] mentioned that she didn't play very well last night and we felt like that might be an advantage because they probably were to key on her as much. Krystalyn Goode has not gotten very many kills, so we know teams are going to leave her alone. So we know that we can start exploiting that a little bit if we control the ball enough. I thought that Lexi Dannemiller is doing an amazing job, since she is a sophomore, of being able to utilize those things. We got KG the ball a lot more tonight. Today at practice, her joke with [the team] was that she was going to get 10 kills, which is a record for her. She didn't get there but I think she was certainly working at it. If we had set her more, she probably would have. That balance is going to be really critical as we move forward."
Michigan Players
#14 Claire McElheny
(On what was different tonight) "Well I think last night we didn't have a balanced offense. They kind of had a number on my blocking and that's something Louisville didn't get to see when they were scouting us. I think tonight we were a lot more balanced in exploiting their block. They didn't know who to go after or to commit after because everyone was on fire."
(On reacting to opponents blocks) "That's something we've been working on the last couple weeks. Really seeing her (Lexi Dannemiller) and Carly (Warner) - the other teams block and they've been doing little games in practice to try and figure it out. It really showed tonight."
(On advancing to back-to-back Sweet 16) "It was a great feeling. I'm kind of overwhelmed with emotions. We have all these freshmen on the floor. Like we said in the locker room they grew up before our eyes."
#11 Lexi Erwin
(The difference in the second game) "I definitely think their defense picked it up a little bit in the second game. I think we tried to get more in system and talk about the commits that Louisville were running and trying to exploit that. Just talking to Lexi (Dannemiller) more about which hitter to set."
(On their mindset in the final set) "Our mindset kind of changed at the end. We were playing to win instead of not to lose and go to a fifth. We just became so much more aggressive and playing to win rather than sitting back. I think when you're playing not to lose your more tentative. You're thinking about the future rather than just being in the point, and those last couple points we were playing point for point. All we were focusing on was each point instead of `oh if we lose this point were going to a fifth point.'"
