Waite Addresses Media During Monday News Conference
December 03, 2001 | Volleyball
Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite spoke to the media Monday during the weekly UW news conference. The Badgers defeated UW-Milwaukee and Michigan State in the first two rounds of the NCAA playoffs this past weekend to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years.
Sixth-ranked Wisconsin (27-3) now faces 15th-ranked Texas A & M (25-5) on Friday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. PST at Stanford. The winner advances to play the winner of the third-ranked Stanford (29-2) and 13th-ranked Utah (25-6) match. A partial transcript of the news conference follows:
Will transfer player Amy Hultgren help you scout Texas A & M '
'Amy (a transfer from the University of Texas) is probably going to bring us a little scouting report on A & M since they were in the same conference and she came just this year to us. We'll see tape on (A&M) tomorrow. Hopefully, (Amy) will have a good report for us.'
What do you expect from Texas A & M'
'Most everybody sees Sherisa (Livingston) and decides that they're going to try to key on almost everybody else and just say (Sherisa 's) going to get her kills. What's going well for us is that everybody else is scoring well and Lizzy (Fitzgerald) is distributing the ball well. It's very hard to stop the whole offense. I know (A&M) is a very senior-laden team. They 've got four starters that are seniors. Their first off the bench is a defensive specialist who's a senior and two other juniors. It's a very strong and veteran team.'
On your outlook for playing on the road:
'It's going to be a little tougher on the road, but it's also a neutral site for both teams. It's going to be a crowd who really is going to be fairly small since it's a neutral game for us. I don 't think that will matter at all. If we do win against A & M and we get to play Stanford, I think we'll still be fine. We've done well on the road and I expect their crowd to be half of what we've been getting. Our crowd has prepared us well. We'll miss being here that's for sure, but I think we 'll be alright.'
On the team compared to last year at this time:
'I think the excitability factor is actually down. They 're just so stable right now. Last year, everything was `Be the first team (to win a regional). Be the first team (to compete in the NCAA Championship)'. Now, it 's `Let's do it again.' and we know where to go and how to get there. Last year, we had some flu going around, we had some injuries going around so that was tough. Right now, they're acting very calm, very business-like, practicing very well and just moving on to each opponent one match at a time, which feels good as a coach. They're also improving at this point in the season. We're seeing some good things out of them that we didn't see just two weeks ago.'
On the team's strong serving performance the first two rounds and continuing that in Stanford's arena:
'Stanford has pretty good room. It's not a huge arena, but they've got pretty good room. We like to get back pretty deep and serve the ball. Our serving was phenomenal over the weekend. To have that many aces in the course of the match, you don't only just get the points from the aces, but it just keeps a team out of their offense. That was fantastic.'
'I think we learned after the Milwaukee match how to refocus a little bit better. It was easier to focus against Michigan State, being a conference opponent, being a much bigger team, just about six-foot, six-two straight across the board. Our players get up for that kind of match much better. Even statistically, after Friday night's match somebody like Sherisa, who didn't do well (on Friday), only had to look at the stats to be motivated for the next night. She really gets up for the big matches the best of anybody I've ever seen really.'
Have you changed your coaching approach since last year'
'I don't think my approach has changed. My goal is to just keep getting better with every player. As they get better, the team gets better. We 're just tougher to beat. We look at our weaknesses, see what we're not doing well and try to key on those areas in the practices. Just like the players, now that we've been there once, I know what's going to happen also. Whether it 's the media attention or the travel as we go on the road, we've all been there and down the road once before, so it's make everything easier for us. '
On the Badgers' region compared to the rest of the field:
'At this point, they all get pretty tough. You mostly get top-20 teams in there. There weren't many upsets that I wasn't expecting to happen. I like what it looks like in our bracket. I think A&M is a team that if we play well, we have a great shot at beating. Looking at Stanford, they've got some awesome players, but I think we match up well against Stanford also. I know our players will look at it the same way. They're not really afraid of anybody. It's just a matter of how we're playing that day and how do we match up.'
On the possibility of upsets at the regional level:
'It can happen, but it's doubtful. A lot of the top teams, and I would say us included, are playing your best ball when it really, really counts and the veterans really step up. You're always surprised by a team here and there. A team like Northern Iowa, that we know is a tough team, just took off Minnesota. They could do it again, but they've got an awful tough road ahead of them. Other than that, I think a lot of times the top seeds are going to come through at this point. A lot of them were on the road the first two rounds, which is different this year. Nebraska had to travel, UCLA went across the country, USC had to move, but now some people are getting back to their home sites and it's going to be easier for them. '
On the match-up between USC and Ohio State:
'We want Ohio State to take on USC and beat them. We played USC earlier in the year and did very well. We'll talk to Ohio State's coach and see if we can help out.'
Do the Badgers' need a final four appearance for this season to be a success:
'I don't think it has to happen for this to be a success. Just to have been Big Ten Champs two years in a row is huge. That's a great thing. Once you get in the tournament, if you can continue and get that roll going, it's fantastic. But a lot of it has to do with how do you match up with the team you're playing and how are you that night.'
'This team right now, and I said this a week ago, they 're practicing better and at a higher level than we we're playing last year going into the final four. Which is pretty exciting for me as a coach because I don 't say that very much about my teams. It's usually `Oh we need to work on this and that'. But they're playing very, very well in practices and just really going at each other with a real confident attitude. So, that's exciting for me. Overall, they're playing at a great level. It's a matter now of how do we finish it. It's a tough road. Anybody will tell you that getting to the final four is fantastic, but doing it again and just getting down that road all the way is very, very tough. It's in the back of their minds all the time. We never want to talk about. It's always this next game, this next match. But you know they 're thinking about it all the time as they train.'
Is there any team that you look forward to playing in the tournament '
We really only have to worry about these next two. A&M we match up with well as far as who they've lost to and who we've beaten this year. We've got a good shot at them. Stanford is very, very strong. They have an Olympian playing on the outside and a freshman who was player of the year coming out of high school who is fantastic. It's just going to be how we match up with them if we get a chance to match up with that team.
