Pre-Community Bankers Classic Press Conference Quotes
Thursday, September 3, 2009 | Volleyball
The Florida volleyball team heads to Stockton, Calif., this weekend for its first road trip of the 2009 season to participate in the 31st Annual Community Bankers Classic. Before Wednesday's practice in the L. Gale Lemerand Center, Florida head coach Mary Wise and select student-athletes met with members of the media to discuss the team's upcoming matches. Select quotes from that press session are available below:
Florida Head Coach Mary Wise
AUDIO: Coach Wise podcast from the media session (.MP3)
“Scheduled by design, this is an opportunity to play teams from out of the league in back-to-back matches. This will be similar to what you have to do in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully, we won't have to play an NCAA team in the first round that is as good as Stanford. But then we have very little turnaround on the second night and that's a great challenge for our team. Again, we are looking at the long-term investment and this is an opportunity for us to get better by playing these teams.”
On the next two weeks and the Tampa Twice Tournament Sept. 11-12 …
“Long before Washington, we'll be playing a great South Florida team. The South Florida team will be like the Florida State match. They feature the BIG EAST preseason Player of the Year. This is the best South Florida team that we've played in years. The Tampa Twice Tournament is going to be awesome. These next two weeks, it's all about opportunities to get better.”
On the differences in playing on the road …
“There's just all the adjustments that players have to make. On the road you're dealing with travel issues and you certainly don't have the familiar surroundings. But these players played a lot of road matches in the last year, so we're not nearly as concerned as we were a year ago at this time.”
On the improvements she has seen from her players since last year …
“A lot of players make their biggest strides between their freshman and sophomore years. They just become more physical, they hit the ball harder, they jump harder. And we've got players that are used to playing together and right now are passers are passing very well because they've had all these reps from the fall, the spring, and the summer. It's all been cumulative.”
On the importance of successful blocking …
“If you look at that stat; there are two really key stats in women's volleyball that determine success; one is hitting efficiency and one is blocking balls. Over the years there have never been great teams that didn't block.”
#7 Elyse Cusack, L, Sr.
AUDIO: Elyse Cusack podcast from the media session (.MP3)
On participating in the Community Bankers' Classic …
“Coming up this weekend, I think it'll be a really great challenge for us early in the season. There are a couple of great teams out there. This is a new season and a new start so we're just going into it thinking it's a real great opportunity to play a team like Stanford.”
On how playing Florida State helps the Gators prepare for Stanford …
“This will be our first test on the road, so as long as we play hard and use what we did against Florida State on the road we'll be good. Florida State tested us early but it showed that we're tough and that we can win big matches like that and I think it was a good experience for us.”
On the team's focus on improved blocking …
“Blocking is something that Mary always stresses. Playing defense behind the block, I think they do a great job. But, in order to be a top team, you have to block balls so that will be a focus coming up this week.”
#21 Cassandra Anderson, MB, So.
On her thoughts on the week and the team's improvements in blocking …
“We're expecting to play hard, practice really well, and hope that practice pays off.
We improve blocking by working on it more in practice. Blocking is really important because it's a really big part of our point scoring. It helps our defense and it helps get everything started.”
#15 Kristina Johnson, MB, Sr.
On what the team hopes to accomplish in this weekend's matches …
“From this weekend, we hope to get better. Playing good teams, we really have to focus and do our best. If we block well, everything else will fall into place.”
On the importance of blocking …
“We always work a lot on blocking. It's a focus and a goal on our team. It's important to get touches on balls so we can slow them down or block them.”
END OF REPORT
