Head Coach Mary Wise Met with the Media on Monday
Monday, August 25, 2008 | Volleyball
University of Florida head coach Mary Wise addressed the media Monday morning as part of the Gators' All-Sports Media Day.
Coach Wise previewed this weekend's season-opening matches, as Florida plays host to the Aquafina Invitational featuring UAB, Pacific and Western Michigan.
Coach Wise also discussed and fielded questions about the loss of last year's senior class, on the play of senior Kelsey Bowers, on the different positions freshman Kelly Murphy can play and on the possible growing pains of a young team.
Click here to view Coach Wise's participation at Monday's press conference, or visit the GatorVision Online section located in the ORANGE box in the right- hand column on the volleyball home page to view previous media appearances.
Mary Wise Press Conference Quotes
“The good news is that we are undefeated. I think for every coach in the country, this is the fun part. We have put in all the hard work not just in pre-season, but all the way back until January. We had 12 of our 14 players here this summer training and we certainly saw the results of that by how hard we were able to practice these past two weeks. Not many people are as excited for classes to start as the volleyball team because this is their first true day off. A day off and they get to go to class. On Friday night, we open with UAB. When we made this schedule, little did I know that they had the opportunity to start six seniors and three of them are international players with a lot of experience. This is a great way to test our players to see where we are at this point in the '08 campaign. The line we have used is that we will be a work in progress and I don't think there is any reason that will change. I think that this team has such a huge up-side, it's just that what we don't have is any collegiate experience with our young freshman class. I truly believe that this is a team that no one will want to play come the end of the season. We're looking at it as not where we're starting, but where we finish.
On how it feels to be starting the season without the four seniors that completed their eligibility last season…
“What you miss is that experience level. Whether it's in a drill or just how we run training camp, but nothing will be the same when we open up Friday night. Just understanding the collegiate game and the adjustments that have to be made and how much more physical that game is than when it's played in high school. We relied heavily on the experience of our senior class. But, we're going to do the same with this year's senior class in Christina Diaz and Kelsey Bowers. When we talk about the senior leadership, we include Kristina Johnson and Elyse Cusack in that. We have four pretty good players who understand the game. I think one of our keys to success this year will be keeping our middle blockers healthy. If Kelsey and KJ can stay healthy, then they can help grow the younger players. If they're not on the court, then a young team just got even younger.”
On the team's setting position…
“Right now, we're looking at running a 6-2 offense and the 6-2 offense is designed to where you always have three hitters in the front row. Kelly Murphy and Cindy Bathelt will be the two setters and when they are in the back row, they set. We can either sub in the front row or, in Kelly's case, let her play across the front row. It is not the most typical of offenses run at the college level, but usually it's because you don't have two comparable setters. It's like running a two-quarterback system. It has its up-side, but I don't know how many college football coaches would want to run a two-player quarterback system and they're both true freshmen. That's what we're doing.”
On whether Kelly Murphy will primarily see time at setter or right-side hitter …
“What we have to do is split the time and that's the challenge. If she was just a setter, this would be easy. These are the discussions she and I have had in terms of the fact that she's really not getting all the reps that the hitters are getting and she's not getting all the sets that the setters are getting. We wouldn't ask this of Kelly if we didn't think she had the capabilities to handle it. She has the skill set and it's a unique skill set, but we also know that Kelly's a true freshman and her best is still ahead of her. When we recruited her, it was with the idea of playing both – playing a 6-2 offense that allowed her to set and hit.”
On if she remembers working with a class as young as the 2008 team…
“I remember the 2000 class. There were certain groups where we just didn't have large groups of returning players, like after the '03 team graduated. That's part of college athletics. In an ideal world in volleyball with 12 scholarships, you would have three in a class. We have six in the freshman class. There are some things that are just out of your control. Our feeling is that, sure, we'll take some bumps along the way, but I love the fact that as hard-working as this group is and as talented as they are, the best is in there and it's going to be pretty darn good.”
