Waite Addresses Media Monday
October 28, 2002 | Volleyball
Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite spoke to the media on Monday during UW's weekly news conference. Waite talked about the Badgers' season, lineup changes, the upcoming home matches and addressed various issues about the team.
A transcript of the news conference follows. The news conference video is available by clicking on `multimedia' on the red menu bar.
Opening Statement: 'I had to chuckle a little bit when coach Eaves was talking about a rollercoaster ride with his team and we 've been buckled up with our team for a while here in this season. It's been like going to Great America; it's been a lot of highs a lot of lows it 's been topsy turvey, but it's been a thrill a minute. The win against Penn State hopefully got us in the right direction and gave our team a lot of confidence going into this week and the second half of Big Ten play.'
How can you build on that five-game victory versus Penn State ' 'We've struggled finishing off games, not just five matches but getting four or five point leads and then letting them go. This says a lot for the players now that they are more focused on the concentration and not being fearful of losing a game and going after a win.'
You've changed the lineup quite a bit this year 'what did you see in Aubrey Meierotto's game that prompted you to put her in' 'We've actually been training Aubrey on the right side during the week thinking that Marian [Weidner] was ready on the left side but Marian 's shoulder had been hurting her a little bit and at the last second I decided that Aubrey was the one to go in and she's had a couple of good weeks of practice. Her knees have been healthy, and she can bang the ball and we knew that it was just a matter of when we were going to get her in. I'm thrilled she came in and did a great job for us. I think we're probably the hardest Big Ten team to scout because we come up with so many different lineups but that's great because we go four or five deep on the bench with people coming in who can be effective.'
Were Meierotto's knees a problem or was it playing a slower pace in high school' 'Mostly [it's] been her knees actually. That's one of the big reasons we redshirted her last year because her knees needed therapy and she wasn't able to get on the court more than two days in a row last year. And now it's been kind of hit and miss, but lately in the last two weeks she's been doing really well so hopefully that will continue. We 'll see when she comes off that five-game match how she's doing this week.'
How has the team dealt with all of the lineup changes that you've made' 'Well, at first the players who were starters struggled a little bit because they felt that they were being pulled too early, but I really only pulled players if the whole team is struggling and we needed a change of momentum. What's happening now is everybody on the whole team is ready to go all the time so they are actually encouraging each other. They are just seeing that it 's one new person's time to be the hero that day and that really works out well and once they understand that's the concept they go with it. '
What does that mean for Morgan Shields as a setter with different people' 'She's been fine since we run the same system for everybody. We practice the same way and even in practice we interchange players in the course of a scrimmage all the time. They're all comfortable with it and she had a great match against Penn State that was probably her best match of the season.'
You talked about a rollercoaster ride, do you know what you are going to get this weekend' 'I have no idea what is going to happen this weekend, but I know at home they play even better. The crowd has been great for us and our team really gets up for home matches and plays well. So I couldn't even tell you the starting lineup or the probable starters right now. But come game day we 'll go out with a group and see how it goes and within five points I'll know if I'm going to change it.'
How have you as a coach dealt with lineup changes ' 'I can't remember a team I've had in the last 15 years where I've had to make so many changes. It's been very strange that the people who are in there have almost stepped out of their positions and let other people come in and take a shot at it on such a regular basis. But if this is what the team needs and this is going to get us the win then that is great. We definitely have the talent to beat anybody in the Big Ten we've proven that. We nearly beat Minnesota here in five, we beat Penn State on the road for the first time ever and who would have thought this was the year that we'd do that. It's a great team; we 've just got to get them to play well together at the right times.'
Could you have anticipated that you'd be one win away from 100 wins at Wisconsin this quickly' 'I didn't even know that and it's not something that I think about ever. I am really thinking about the lineup the next day and trying to get that win in the Big Ten because it 's so competitive. I'm thrilled about it, the time has flown, but I still look to this weekend and try to get a couple more wins.'
How are Indiana and Ohio State playing' 'They are playing well. Obviously, Indiana took it to us at their place and that 's the best Indiana team I've seen in four or five years. Ohio State is back healthy now after their setter was injured and we saw her back for the first time on the court when we were at their place so she was a little out of it as far as being in sync with her team. These are two really strong teams. You've still got Stacey Gordon on Ohio State who was last year's freshman of the year nationally and she 's taking sometimes 60 swings a match and the next closest is taking 30 swings attempts. She's an unbelievable player. People who haven't seen her 'they should come out and see that match and hopefully we'll get two wins this weekend.'
