2005 SEC VB Quotes
11/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Southeastern Conference Volleyball Tournament Quotes
Hosted by the University of Alabama
Game #1 Kentucky vs. Arkansas Quotes
Arkansas Coach Chris Poole:
“In the first game we were down big at the start then we played even from there. I think we came out overhyped, first of all. Secondly, we had a new lineup.”
On Jessica Dorrell:
“She played well. I was pleased about how she stepped up. She’s had an up and down year, a fantastic year. Hopefully this helped pull her out of her shell and hopefully she’ll keep rolling.”
Kentucky Coach Craig Skinner:
“We got outplayed today. Arkansas was very good offensively. It’s tough to beat a team that plays a 6-2. We will learn from this and play better against Cincinnati next Saturday.”
Game #2 Florida vs. Georgia Quotes
Florida Head Coach Mary Wise:
“It’s a great way to start the tournament, to be that productive on both the offensive and defensive sides. We had some problems coming into the match because when you play the likes of a Julia Petruschke or an Alexandra Oquendo, that’s pretty talented players. We did a great job, almost weathering the storm especially early in game one when Georgia played awfully well.”
Georgia Head Coach Steffi Legall:
“I think all players started out well - Florida as well. There was good volleyball in the first round. All players did good sticking to the plan and executing. Florida’s key to success is their defensive rally. I don’t think we matched them with our intensity.”
Game #3 Mississippi State vs. Tennessee Quotes
Mississippi State Head Coach Tina Seals
“We had a good year. Tennessee had a great team. We showed character in the way we fought back in the third game. I’m proud we kept our head in it and didn’t roll over and quit. This being our first experience, we had a slow start.”
Tennessee Head Coach Rob Patrick
“We had a game plan going in and I thought our team did a great job carrying out the game plan in terms of where we wanted to block, where we wanted to serve and our defensive positioning. We played very, very hard that match and you could tell by the number of digs we had. We had almost 20 more digs than Mississippi State and that to me showed we played really hard the entire match.”
Game #4 Alabama vs. LSU Quotes
Alabama Head Coach Judy Green
“I think we’ve been hungry for a big win. I think we’ve been hungry, too, to want to beat a team 3-0 lately. We’ve had teams down two games to none for the past couple of weeks and we haven’t been able to finish them off. Everything’s true to form if you’re at home you’ve got a really good chance of winning and that’s the way it’s been in our conference all year long. Everybody’s done really well at home and the road teams have had a tough time winning.
“I thought we played as team tonight and we really haven’t played that well as a team in about two and a half weeks. The challenge was issued to our team in practice this past week, ‘Find the energy, find the enthusiasm that you had at the beginning of the season because right now if you can’t muster that up there’s really something wrong with you.’”
LSU Head Coach Fran Flory
“Alabama did a great job getting us on the defensive. We didn’t respond well. They made great plays. Whoever fights the hardest in these tournaments will always be the most successful.”
Semifinal #1 Florida vs. Arkansas Quotes
Florida Head Coach Mary Wise:
“You have to give Arkansas credit. They did so many things well. I feel very fortunate that we won this match and will play for the SEC title tomorrow because Arkansas played well enough to win.”
On Jane Collymore: “We had to jump in Jane’s back because we weren’t getting enough kills from different positions and, like an All-American, she responded.”
Arkansas Head Coach Chris Poole
“Kids played well. I’m proud of the way they battled. They all played hard and with focus. We came a couple breaks from getting a win. Hopefully this will be something to build on.”
“We felt like if we could get balanced with our sets we could play with the best teams. I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.”
Semifinal #2 Tennessee vs. Alabama Quotes
Alabama Head Coach Judy Green:
“The number one thing we told our kids this morning was that we had to play to win. We could not wait on Tennessee to make the mistakes to let us have a chance to win. In game one, we executed everything that we wanted to do. In game two, Tennessee executed everything they wanted to do. Both of the first two games were won on service and passing. In game three, I started to send a bad rotation that probably didn’t give us the matchups we wanted. Games four and five were just gutty, gritty performances by a team that absolutely played to win today.”
“This is an incredible year for the tournament to be in our house. We are comfortable playing on our home court. We have an incredible following of fans, including the core group that was here last night and tonight. They are basically our seventh person.”
“Sarah Snider and Bridget Fuentez were huge for us down the stretch. Crystal Hudson came up big with some plays in the fourth game. We played game five with a high volleyball I.Q.”
Tennessee Head Coach Rob Patrick:
“It was a good volleyball match. We had opportunities to finish it off. Alabama did a great job playing aggressively with serving. They caught us off guard. Alabama played aggressively without making mistakes. We were happy that we played well enough to be in the position to win match.”
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Florida vs. Alabama Quotes
Alabama Head Coach Judy Green
“The first game we kept ourselves out of the system. I believe serving went in and out, especially in the third game. I believe we started that game with a service error. For us to be successful we have to be a good serving team.”
“We put ourselves to be in a position that no other team in the modern era has been in Alabama volleyball. It’s a good building block to get us to the next step in the future. The road to get here was absolutely unbelievable play. We have to be proud at this point and time.”
Florida Head Coach Mary Wise
“We’ve been fortunate enough to play in this kind of match before. This tournament has been so different from the others because of the talent of the teams in seeds one through eight. Usually it’s just the finals when we get the challenge but that wasn’t the case this year.”
On Jane Collymore: “Jane is like the basketball player who wants the ball at the end of the game to take the last shot. She knows how to deliver. She is the highlight on the other team’s scouting report. She has the ability to beat you in the front row or the back row.”
