NCAA Volleyball Second-Round - Quotes
Jim Moore – Oregon Head Coach
On the match…
“Again, congratulations to LSU. They played very well. In my opinion, they out-served and out-passed us. That’s tough to do. That was a very good match. Hat’s off to them because they deserved to be here, that’s for sure.”
On what he told the team in the locker room between sets…
“It’s going to 13. We were so focused last night. Our execution was good because our focus was unbelievable last night. I knew you couldn’t do that at that level two nights in a row. People started pouting right away because they weren’t doing what they wanted to do. We can’t do that. It’s not about you, it’s about us. That’s one of the things I said. You’ve got to make everybody better around you.”
On the team’s performance…
They started playing with a sense of urgency after set two. In some ways, I thought they needed to lose a set because last night, when you’re that focused, you think it just happens and that it’s easy. But it’s not easy. People were nervous and they absolutely knew they had to get it done. I was a little concerned that we were going to have a bit of a drop-off, but still good enough to get through this, so that was good for us.
On preparing for the Round of 16…
“I thought last night was pretty special, but it’s how you deal with the second match. You do the absolute best you can and you hope that you play well. We know we can get this done. Nobody’s going to be at home in Minneapolis, so it’ll be a truly neutral site this time. The question is, can we maintain our focus? Santa Clara is a good team, but we just passed everything on the money last night, and that was out of hard work. If we can work that hard and serve-receive, our life becomes easier because of the offense. It’s really hard to stop the offense when we pass really well.”
Martenne Bettendorf – Outside Hitter, Junior
On thoughts between the second and third set…
“Going into the locker room between sets, basically our main focus was moving on, staying positive, and getting the job done. We knew that they were going to come out fighting and that it was going to be a dogfight. It was either come out and you’re going to want to win or you’re going to play not to lose. I think we played to win.”
Kacey Nady – Middle Blocker, Sophomore
On what Coach Moore said in the locker room between sets…
“That it’s going to 13. We knew that was in the game plan. I guess we’re the type of team that doesn’t believe it till we see it. But I think we just focused and forgot about the other hitters because we heard at halftime that the other hitters weren’t as effective as her, so we just camped on her.”
On the team’s reaction after the game…
“Everyone’s going nuts and everyone’s really excited. I’m really happy. Natalie [Bookout-Gonzalez] started crying. We’re excited because we only made it to the second round last year.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better one. It got a little scary after set two, but we knew what we needed to do. I couldn’t have asked for more from the seniors.”
LSU Quotes
Fran Flory- Head Coach
Statement…
“First, I’d like to congratulate Oregon. They played a great match. Honestly we didn’t have an answer for Bettendorf. Certainly a great player and really did a great job of scoring when they had to have those points. We wish them the best of luck, we are sorry for our kids, but we played with great heart.”
Cati Leak- Outside Hitter, Junior
On when they start looking forward to next year…
“ Last year we were hoping to get to the second round and this year we expected it and next year we expect to go further because we have confidence and depth. Our freshman got a lot of chances this year and we are going to miss all the seniors and it was and honor to play with them, but we are going to play for everyone who doesn’t get the chance to do this again.”
Malorie Pardo - Setter, Senior
On some points not being in their favor…
“I don’t know it just happens and you can’t get mad because it just happens. We came together and we had great composure, but it could have been either way so you can’t be mad about that.”
On confidence after winning second set…
“We were at an even level. I don’t think we got too high or too low. We’ve been in positions like that before in the SEC with good teams.”
On the toughness of Oregon…
“Their hitters are really good and they make really good shots. They have heavy arms and it’s just hard to defend those types of shots sometimes. Sometimes you can’t even do anything about it, you just have to let it go and get the next.”
