Waite Addresses Media Monday
November 27, 2007 | Volleyball
Pete Waite, the University of Wisconsin volleyball coach, addressed the media Monday at the UW's weekly news conference. Waite's eighth-ranked Badgers (25-4) host first and second-round matches of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Championship on Friday and Saturday in the UW Field House.
No. 16 San Diego (21-7) opens first-round play against Iowa State (17-13) on Friday at 5 p.m. The Badgers face Northern Iowa (22-10) in the other first-round match at 7 p.m. First-round winners play on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to NCAA regional play.
The Badgers received an at-large bid to their 16th overall and 12th consecutive NCAA tournament. The UW is 28-15 (.651) in 15 post-season appearances. Wisconsin has hosted first and second-round matches the last three years, advancing to regional play all three seasons.
A complete transcription of the news conference follows below. A video archive of the news conference can be found by clicking on the Audio/Video link to the right.
Opening remarks: First, we 're really happy with how we finished up the Big Ten season with wins against Iowa and Minnesota. Obviously, the Minnesota match is always a big battle and a great rivalry. I thought we were playing well and I think we're on top of our game. That's where we want to be right now.
Now we're looking forward to hosting this weekend. We've got some strong teams coming in. They're teams we're familiar with, (teams) we 've played (all of them) either this year or last year. We'll be working on them this week once the tapes come in and get ready in the gym.
But our senior class has been doing very well. Jackie Simpson had a great weekend, being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week today. They're ready to go.
Pete, are you fully healthy and is the team clicking on all cylinders right now'
Audra Jeffers is still nursing her foot injury. We'll see what days she 's able to practice this week. But we were really pleased with Morgan Salow coming in over the weekend. She really surprised us with the level of play, the offensive output she brought to us and she's a bigger player, actually, so it offers more. She 's in there at 6-4 and Audra is about 6-2; that gave us a better block and a better offense. It made us deeper that way, so that was good.
Everyone else is pretty good and they're really playing well. As of last Monday at Ohio State, I thought they were on top of their game when they won in three (games) and then again against Minnesota on Saturday. It was really good. We like what they're doing right now.
This season started for you with basically being on the road for a large chunk of the season. Now hopefully, it could be the next four matches being at home. Did all of that accomplish what you wanted or what you thought it would at the beginning of the season, getting a team prepared for this portion of the year'
Being on the road early in the season was good for us as far as toughening us up. It really wasn't our choice. It was just a part of our scheduling but also the Big Ten schedule. It just fell into place that way. But I think working through that, the team got stronger. I think we found out some things on the road about each player and what lineup we wanted to go with.
And now being at home is fantastic. Our crowd has been great all year. They're setting another (attendance) record in Big Ten play. I know they love watching the team play and the team just plays another level up when they're here at home. It 's great the kids can be here, take care of their classes, be rested, have family here and be ready for a great weekend, because these are some tough teams.
Aside from having maybe an extra player or two on the court as an advantage being at home right now, is there a great advantage than that'
Absolutely. I think it's not always how the other team might be intimidated by our crowd, but its how our team raises their level up and how our crowd inspires them. If we even slow down for two points, they start clapping and cheering, and it just inspires them to focus more and get the next play and get the next point. It's happened all year and it's just going to get better for NCAA play because it means so much more now.
Obviously, you'd rather play at home than on the road, but is there any added pressure to playing at home because of kind of the expectations of winning'
It's the NCAA tournament, so there's going to be pressure in every match because you've got to win to advance. And this team is going to be focusing on their first match. We'll look at tape on all the teams obviously for this first weekend, but we certainly don't look past that.
I don't think there's more pressure. I think they'll be loose and they'll be ready to go because the crowd just gives them that energy that distracts any pressure from them and actually just gets them to play another level up.
You know much more about Northern Iowa or Iowa State or San Diego'
Well, we played Northern Iowa at BYU (earlier this season). We beat them in three (games) there. They won their conference tournament, the Missouri Valley. I know the coaching staff very well and they're a scrappy team. They're a physical team. So that'll be interesting.
I think San Diego is playing great. We played at their place last year and we won in four (games), so we know a little bit about them, but they've got some new additions. And Iowa State, obviously is a former assistant coach of mine, Christy Johnson, who's done a great job in that program and they're one of the hottest teams in the country right now, actually. They almost beat Texas, who was ranked No. 2 at the time, last week. They were up 14-9 in the fifth game and lost 17-15.
And then they beat Oklahoma, a ranked team. They're definitely hot and a very good team, very scrappy defensively. We'll know more when more tapes come in, but we've got a few that were on satellite and cable, so we're looking at those already.
I know a lot of coaches don 't like to compare teams over the years and you've obviously had a lot of successful teams at this time of year, so how does this team right now compare to some of those that you've had in years past' Some that have made it all the way to the final four and some that maybe left the tournament early right now '
I would compare this team to the team in 2000 that made it to the final four, just because of the depth they have, the physical ability they have on the court and the experience they have, having this senior group of five that have been starters for the last four years. They've got all the tools and everything has been laid and the groundwork is in place for them to have a good run, but obviously you've got to prove it then when you walk on the court, starting Friday. But as far as teams and level, I think this is right up there with that 2000 team.
