Waite Addresses Media Monday
November 05, 2007 | Volleyball
Pete Waite, the head coach of the 11th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team, addressed the media Monday as part of the UW's regular weekly news conference.
Waite's Badgers (20-3 overall, 12-2 Big Ten) wrap up a four-match home stand with a split week of play. No. 11 Wisconsin hosts travel partner Illinois (15-9, 7-7) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House. That match will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and will air on WTSO (1070 AM) with Jim Caston and Andrea Nilsen calling the action.
On Friday, Wisconsin takes on Michigan (18-7, 6-7) at 7 p.m. in the Field House. The Wolverines host Iowa tonight at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
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.
Did you have any inkling that your team is going to struggle like they did' It was that, it didn't appear to be the other team as much as just your own worst enemy this weekend'
On Friday, it kind of took me by surprise a little bit. Michigan State is a very good team and I had said that they're really a hot team and they played maybe the best they have all season, but we were a little off. They were out of sync for some reason.
I think part of that is we've been a little banged up, so practices during the week haven't been able to be as high intensity all the time as we'd like because you've got to be careful to keep people on the floor. That might have had a little bit to do with it and that's just kind of my decision as far as how much you can push at any given point.
On Saturday night, I think we came back a little bit better and obviously worked really hard to pull out that win in the end, which is exciting. And we had some people come off the bench, which was great, and that's going to make us deeper. We have more confidence in Morgan Salow and Caity DuPont started, but Al Wack came off the bench and did a nice job for us. It was a bit of surprise. That's not typical of our team and I think they're going to be real motivated this week to correct things.
How do you handle that as a coach be it from one night to the next' You have to be guard against being too hot and too boisterous or whatever, but how did you handle it as a coach'
We kind of had to look from Friday to Saturday as it being kind of a fluke that things kind of fell into place for them, as far as them playing on top of their game and us being a little off and it just not working out. You really can't dwell on it ' you have to go to the next game right away and be as positive as possible.
We actually pulled out some highlight clips to show them some of the great things they 've been doing to remind them of what a great season they're having because sometimes they can try to be a little too perfect sometimes in their play and get a little tense if things aren't. It's generally a team that's been mature and confident through the season. For whatever reason, it was a little bit off. But now we just go to training today and we get ready for Illinois and get right back on track.
So is it a good thing you played Wednesday'
I think so. It's a mid-week game. I think we don't have a lot of time that we have to really be in the gym training, which for our kids sometimes just a short period of time in between is good. They're ready to get back it. There's no doubt about that.
And they know Illinois is very good. They've got a freshman, Laura DeBruler, who may be the freshman of the year in the conference. She's putting up 25 to 30 kills a match and really nobody in the Big Ten is stopping her. They're a dangerous team and then they're right behind us (in the Big Ten standings).
Pete, with (Morgan) Salow on Saturday, was that something born out of frustration or had that been building where she was earning more time on the floor'
She's been the kind, who both on the left side and the right, has been ready to go the whole year and beginning a bit play in different matches. Kat Dykstra was really good on Friday night, but injured herself a little bit on Friday and was a little off on Saturday and then was putting up big numbers.
And sometimes Kat can put us such a big block that it's actually a detriment because it's such a target for the hitters. And if she's not really on, then it really goes off for her and we can't even defend when it goes out of bounds like that. Morgan's good size, but not the same kind of block, but just kept the ball in play, scored at some critical times. (She) had a tip, an off-speed kill, late in the match that really made a difference for us. It was great for her. It's going to be a great confidence for her, too.
Some programs, Pete, would kill to have 20 wins a year like you guys seems to do every single year, but there's always more for Wisconsin Volleyball. Is there not or do you look at 20 and say, you know, that 's pretty darn good'
Well, sometimes we have to remind ourselves and remind the players, even after a loss like that, to look at the season and see how many wins and how many losses. I think we went through this last year a little bit at some point where they expect so much all the time, it's been at least even 22 (wins) and higher every year. And so that's great, but our goals are to play great every time. It's not always the wins because if we play great, the wins will come. And that's what we have to do is get the passion for the players on the court, having a great time, playing high quality ball and they're going to get their wins.
Pete, on Saturday, you had Jackie on the bench for an extended period, it seemed, over the course of the game. Was it more than you 've done with her in the past or was there anything to it'
That's the most we've done this year, which still, it was like five minutes she was off the court. But I thought in general, the team was a little bit flustered. She was getting a little flustered and frustrated trying to create things and force things a little too much. And sometimes when you take a player out, they sit on the bench and they actually see what their coaches and the fans see.
And it's like from the sideline, everything looks a heck of a lot easier than when you're on the court trying to solve problems. It let her just kind of relax a little bit, see things from the side. It gave Nikki (Klingsporn) a chance to get in there and she did a nice job maintaining things and giving us a low boost. I think Jackie got back in there and did a better job.
How tense are our seniors getting that and coming down to the end of their careers, whatever' And I know I've talked to a few of them that have, they're not, they're dreading this kind of a little bit. Do you have to make sure they find away to relax and see it through this without making it so difficult on themselves'
I think sometimes as seniors, they see the end and especially if they're enjoying themselves over the course of their career, they're going to miss it a lot and so they press a little bit. Where sometimes underclassmen, especially freshmen, just go out and they don't know any better. They just play lights out all the time.
And the seniors are looking at each time, every time they finish a road trip and say, `Hey, this is last one we'll be going on.' I don't think they 're getting too sentimental about anything, but I think they know they want to have a great finish here. They're all hungry to do well and they'll get things back on track. It's not a big issue to them. I think they're a real stable group.
