University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL VOLLEYBALL DEPARTS FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
December 13, 2005 | Volleyball
Dec. 13, 2005
Lady Vol Head Coach Rob Patrick:
On if he thought his team would have the opportunity to play in the National Semifinals:
"I thought we would have the opportunity to advance. It takes a little luck to get to the national semifinals. It does not take luck to get to the Sweet Sixteen. I thought this was a team that had the opportunity to put itself in that position. Once you get there, anything can happen, and they made it happen. It is a pretty neat situation for them to be in."
On how the team has been able to get to this point:
"This team has such strong convictions for what they wanted to happen this year. They tasted it last year, saw the light at the end of the tunnel by making the Sweet Sixteen last year. Being up two games to zero against Ohio State in the Regional Semis allowed them to see the possibilities of making the national semis. I think this year the team had a vision, and they just pushed through to make it work. They put the work in and had the heart in each match to make it work. I think it was their hard work and their vision that got them to here."
On what this team's success means to the program:
"Sometimes, it is a once in a lifetime thing for certain programs, players and coaches. There are a tremendous amount of great coaches and players who have never made it to the national semis. It isn't because they were not good enough, but there is just some luck involved sometimes. I believe that you create your own luck and thought that we were prepared to take that step if it was presented to us. Hopefully now it will open up some recruiting avenues that we just missed on because we weren't looked at as an elite program, and I think that is what these young ladies have brought to the University of Tennessee. They have made it an elite volleyball program."
On the exposure the sport of volleyball is getting as result of his team's success:
"It is incredible This is about the 10th interview that I have done in the past two days. I've been on every television station and then the radio stations. The support that the community has given us has been incredible. That gets out into the community and the young ladies that our watching this. Their parents are saying 'Volleyball, what a great sport. We'll go and watch that', or 'Hey, you can be successful at Tennessee in volleyball.' It helps the younger players see that this a great sport and that you can play in college at a high level. Hopefully they'll be interested in playing in their grade schools and high schools. I think it will have a great affect overall."
On if the team will be in awe by playing in the Alamodome and in the final weekend:
"I don't think that this team will ever be in awe because the seniors have done it all. They have been through everything. They've beaten Florida at Florida in front of 3,000 screaming people. They've won at Notre Dame when they were a top-10 team. There isn't anything that they haven't heard, seen or done. In terms of being in awe, if you are going to be in awe, it will be playing the No. 2 team in the country at its home court in the Regional Semfinals; and they weren't. They went in there with the same amount of confidence as they do for home matches. I think the senior class has done a great job of how they've presented themselves to the opportunity. The younger players see that and have followed in suit. They have played confidently. They are looking forward to not just being there, but getting to the final match."
On what point the team started to click:
"It was probably about a 60-percent through the season that we started playing better. We had a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year and didn't have a set line-up yet, so people were playing all different positions. We could not get any kind of continuity playing that way. By the middle of the year, we finally got over our injuries and got a set line-up. People got used to playing to the person next to them, and everybody was able to have established roles. I think that has really led to the type of play that you see from our team."
Senior Amy Morris
On what it means to play in final weekend:
"I think it is something that when you are growing up as a kid and then playing in high school, you think that you want to go to college and do that. You want to be playing in the national semifinals. I wake up every morning and think about what we are doing. It is unbelievable."
On what this has done to put the program on the map:
"I think that we have really set a tradition for volleyball as far as being one of the top programs in the country. It is hard to keep doing this every year. We started this push last year, we are doing it this year, and hopefully the years after they can keep doing it. I think it is going to really help recruiting in bringing in good players."
On the chance to play on national television:
"It is crazy. Everyone at home is taking over the local restaurants to watch it on television. You are like a local celebrity back home."
Senior Kristen Andre
On her thoughts heading into this weekend:
"I am really excited for this weekend. We really have not watched film on Washington to see how they play, but I have heard that they are a really good team."
On if Tennessee has been established as an elite program:
"Definitely. That was one of my goals coming to Tennessee as a freshman. I wanted to be part of a program that was going to be in the top 10. I think this senior class has done that."
Junior Kelsey Fautsch
On her emotions for this weekend:
"I'm just excited. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we are just going to have fun and play as hard as we can."
On if the team expected to be playing this weekend:
"I think we hoped this would happen. At some point early in the season after eight losses, we thought maybe it would not happen; but it has which is really cool. I think we just decided as a team that we were going to start winning matches and do well."
Freshman Chelsea Noble
On what it is like to be a part of this as a freshman:
"This has been a dream come true for me. In high school, I would always watch the national championships and think how awesome it would be to be there. I don't think it has settled in yet that we are actually going."
On the team's approach this weekend:
"I think we are just remaining calm and confident like we did against Penn State and Missouri. We are going along with the show and enjoying everything. We are not going to be too cocky that we are there and are going to try our hardest to leave everything on the floor."
On if the team has come together down the stretch:
"I think we have. Our last couple of games during the season we started to come together more, but I think it has also shown during our past two games against Penn State and Missouri. Hopefully we can do the same against Washington."
Lady Vol head basketball coach Pat Summitt's comments to the team prior to its departure for San Antonio:
"I wanted to come over and tell you how proud we are of you. When I got the news, I was very emotional myself, because who would have ever thought that in this amount of time that this volleyball program would be going to the national semifinals. You all have made history and will be remembered by this community, university and all of the Lady Vols for what you have stood for and have been able to accomplish. You don't do that unless you've got something really special. You remind me of my 1987 team. They were on a mission. I could feel this. I got to watch you play more this year that I have any other team play, and you can see it and feel it. Take that feeling with you and stay together as one. When you are one as a team, you a very powerful. That team (1987 national championship team) was not the most talented one in the country, but when it was all said and done, they were the best team. You have proven that you can be the best team against some of the best and most talented teams out there. Be proud. Represent us. I know you will. I would love to be there on Saturday (for that national championship match) and Joan Cronan (Women's Athletics Director) promised me that she would take me there if you all take care of business."
