Oct. 30, 2010
Recap | Box Score
Quotes vs. Michigan
Head coach Pete Waite
Opening comments: "I think looking back at the match, we were close on a few sets and couldn't quite close it out in the first two. We were right there and really overall in the match, it was their hitting efficiency. I think they got us there. Because our blocking was one of the best matches we've had all season. We've been working very hard on that and we did a lot of good things blocking wise. I think it came down to serve-pass game. I think they were just serving harder balls at us and we weren't passing as well so it made it a little tough. It's not like we got aced a ton of times, but we just weren't able to run our offense quite as well as we would have liked."
On the team's resiliency: "Especially as I remember the first set. It was neck and neck, like I don't remember games usually, but there were surges by both teams. A point here a point there back and forth, all the way up until 15 to 18 points.
I thought we were hanging in there really well. That's when against good teams, it comes down to a couple errors here and there that they get away from you. I thought it was really good coming back in the third set with a really fast start. We really did well. Unfortunately, their reverse happened in the fourth when we got down big and they were serving some bullets and we weren't handling them very well. I think we got down 0-7 and we finished losing by six points, so had we not done that, it could have been in a different result. They came out fast and we weren't passing well at the time."
On Elle Ohlander coming of the bench: "Elle did a great job. She really mixed up her shots. She was going with some of the off-speed shots, but they were really smart. A couple short ones, then a deep one and then she swung hard at the block. She did a great job coming in, and blocking wise she got some great touches. Four block assists for Elle, so she made a good contribution for us tonight.
We had a few hitters. Julie had a real nice night, 11 kills and two errors is really good, and Allison hitting with 13 kills is really good. Between all three of them, with Elle hitting with a high hitting percentage, we were almost there but were still not clicking on all cylinders. You could see with Alexis, she had some great kills. She was hitting some slides better than we've seen all season, but then we weren't passing well enough to get her the quick sets in the middle."
On how they won the third set: I'd have to look back but I think we received the ball better so we were able to run our offense. We were serving tougher. I think we got off to a good start right off the bat and I think we had them on their heels that time.
Allison Wack on Michigan's serving: "We were just caught off guard sometimes. They are a great serving team and we weren't really moving our feet as well as we have at times. We were out of system a lot and we got aced a few more times than typically. I think it's just something we have to know. How much court we have to cover, ready to move and ready to change and anticipate different things."
Senior libero Kim Kuzma on Alex Hunt's play: "She's a great player. On the left side it is a little harder to play defense (against) a lefty on the left side. She does a variety of shots, so it's hard to defend against her. She'll hit line, then she'll rip cross, then she'll hit sharp cross, she'll hit deep cross, so she has a lot of shots that are hard to defend."
