Oct. 29, 2010
Recap | Box Score
Wisconsin Quotes vs. Michigan State
Oct. 29, 2010
Coach Pete Waite
Opening Statement: “I think this win tonight showed that we have made a lot of progress since we were last at Michigan State. We lost in five to them there. We have had two weeks of really good practices and really solid play in matches, so it was good to see them be rewarded for their hard work and solid play. I think Al Wack has had great command of her game in the last two or three weeks, and that’s been great. This match we had a number of other people step up offensively. I would also say we have been working very hard on blocking and we out-blocked Michigan State so that’s very good for us in what we have been looking to improve.
On the six service aces:
“Well I think we had a good game-plan as far as what players we wanted to go after and it put some stress on their passers. And the aces will just happen if you serve in the right zones and make them handle enough balls. So that was a big part of it for us again, six aces with only five errors in the match, that’s very good too.”
On the play of Bailey Reshel:
“She’s been working so hard, she’s really worked her way into the lineup by what she’s been doing in practices, and she’s really quick off the floor, with a very fast arm. Clearly in the Big Ten play they haven’t seen her at all, they don’t have a scouting report on Bailey, so they didn’t know quite where to set up on her. And she just did a nice job, stayed very composed, and handled herself very well.”
On blocking in second set:
“Absolutely, you know we have talked about (something) block and we haven’t been able to put it together. But we really emphasized it every day this week and made sure the players were getting a good feel for their technique and being patient, but getting their hands across the net well. You saw them touch a lot of balls, block a good number, and put some straight down, which does make the opponent think twice about where they want to hit a shot.”
Allison Wack on her play and the attacking Michigan State block:
“When our passing is on it really opens up a lot for us outsides, because the middles draw and they have to respect our middles because Alexis (Mitchell) puts up big numbers. So it gets me a lot of one on one attempts and I just got a lot of confidence coming off of last weekend, I had a really good weekend so just trying to move in with that momentum.”
Alexis Mitchell on emotions of the back and forth first set:
“I think it was really intense for us, because normally in sets like that we haven’t been able to hold on, but we definitely showed a lot of maturity and it was like side-out, side-out, so its really exciting for us and then our blocking definitely picked up there at the end and I think that’s what really got it for us. And that win in that first set definitely set the tone for the rest of the match and we really wanted to win this game.”
Allison Wack on improvements from set to set:
“Well we were making a lot more errors in the first game than the other two games, so that was a huge part of it. I mean, we keep the ball in play and suddenly they were making more errors, and that just makes it a lot easier for us. We were serving tougher, hitting a lot of different shots, just being a lot smarter than the first game.”
Janelle Gabrielsen on connecting with Alexis Mitchell:
“Well this week we worked a lot on middles getting up faster and getting there earlier so I can see them. Alexis kept getting there fast, so I could see her and I just set that perfect set for her and she was able to put it down.”
