University of Minnesota Athletics
Florida State Quotes
12/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 9, 2011
Florida State - Post-Match Quotes
Head Coach Chris Poole
Opening statement:
"I'm really proud of the girls. They've worked hard all season. People talked about our motivation. We were within one point of being able to knock off Florida last year in Gainesville. That's something that Purdue then did a week later. It was after that match that I think there was a motivation to get back and try to do even better this year, try to show that our team is capable of playing at a very high level. The girls have fought through much adversity through the last couple of years, and even the last few weeks. They just continue to impress me. Certainly, the good Lord's looking after us. He has definitely blessed this team and helped us to be able to be successful. We did what we needed to do tonight against a very, very good Purdue team. We knew we'd have to play hard, but we were able to find it inside to do that."
On Purdue's weaknesses:
"They have two really good (defensive specialists). Since their libero got hurt, they've kind of struggled with the third. That was an area you could kind of pick on and get some points."
On the defensive game plan:
"We really worked this week on putting our defensive players in a position that we felt would best be able to combat what they wanted to do offensively. We knew we weren't going to completely shut down (Ariel) Turner. What we really wanted to try to do was try to at least contain her a little bit and work hard enough to try to be successful against some of the others. We turned loose our serve a little bit. We got off a little bit in game three. Thank goodness our offense was really rolling in game three. We missed a few serves there, but we really felt like we need to try to take them out of their system and put some pressure on them, so that way, it caused Turner to have to hit a lot of balls. She did. She hit a lot during that game, and you're going to wear down if you keep hitting that many."
Sophomore Elise Walch
On having previous knowledge of Purdue (from playing against Purdue while she was at Wisconsin):
"Playing Purdue (before) was a big help, because I knew how their outside was. She was really big for them when we played them last year. And we actually beat them at Wisconsin last year, so it was just a really good advantage, having played them before."
On what allowed Florida State to come back and win the first set:
"Actually realizing that it was real, I guess, and just having to make sure we just keep fighting until the end, and that we could play with them."
Sophomore Ashley Neff
On reaching the Elite Eight:
"It feels really good. I was being recruited by Florida State when this happened (in 2009), so it was really cool to see it and then be able to actually experience it. It's probably one of the best feelings I've ever felt. It's really exciting and I can't wait for tomorrow."
On what Florida State did to keep Purdue off balance:
"We were just trying to play relaxed and play consistent, which I think we did a pretty good job at."
On the importance of blocking:
"Since Turner was such a big hitter for then, they go to her a lot. So it was pretty important for us to be able to set the block so that the defense could play around the block and be able to be ready to dig."