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Aug. 31, 2011

Head coach Jerritt Elliott
On how the team has been able to make adjustments thus far: We’re making big strides.  Obviously it’s a work in progress and we have a long way to go.  Normally the first weekend is tough.  In the first matches there is a lot of anxiety for all the teams that play and we are just trying to find the comfort zone and rhythm that we have. 

On the youth of the team: We have so much youth.  Last night we were commenting on how Haley Cameron had never started a match and all three freshman played.  We have a very young group out there that doesn’t have a lot of experience, so we’re just trying to get them acclimated to playing at that level.

Senior L Sydney Yogi
On this year’s freshman class: I think as far as physicality goes, they are our most physical freshmen that I’ve had in my four years here.  All three of them came in ready to compete, ready to contribute, and they’re all really big influences on our team considering all three of them started on Monday and had huge roles in our win.  They contribute a lot and we’re really happy to have them and happy about the way they’ve been performing.  We’re going to rely on them a lot this season because of the talent we lost last year, so I think it’s awesome that they’ve been able to step up so far.

On key takeaways from the Burnt Orange Classic: Although we have a lot of things to work on, I think our first tournament we played really well. I think we learned how to compete and how to stay together.  A lot of our matches we could have lost very easily, especially the first time we played the Israeli National Team.  We lost 12-25 in the first set and we could have been out, but we fought and could have won it in five.  For us to come back on Monday and sweep in three and show how much we learned from the first time was really awesome to see.  I’m really excited about the rest of the season to see where this team can go.

On the team’s focus heading into the weekend: We’ll continue working on our trust, our passing and blocking and out-of-system swings for the freshmen and putting those small pieces together.

On the team’s progress following the Burnt Orange Classic: Before Monday’s game, we were saying that we have to win this together.  We brought a different kind of energy and it allowed us to relax and feed off of each other rather than just try to do everything ourselves individually.

Freshman OH Haley Eckerman
On her expectations for this weekend’s matches at Minnesota: [Head coach] Jerritt [Elliott] talked about how for us, this is one of the places we might end up playing at for NCAA Regionals, so this will help us go in and get used to the environment and playing around all of their fans.  Minnesota is the type of team that we will see in the postseason as we go down the line.

On how she is settling in to the collegiate level of play: I think every day it gets better.  We still have a lot to work to do, but I think day by day, game by game, we kind of get more comfortable with relaxing and not having the nerves.  For me, the first couple games were kind of nervous and after certain plays I would be nervous.  After the third or fourth game I was able to relax and just focus.