Waite addresses media Monday
November 22, 2011 | Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2011
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite addressed the media on Monday as his team prepares for the final regular-season matches of the season. The Badgers (16-14 overall, 8-10 Big Ten) have a split week of play against two ranked teams. Wisconsin travels to No. 19 Minnesota (16-11, 9-9) on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match from the Sports Pavilion. UW returns home on Friday to host No. 8 Purdue (25-4, 14-4) at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
Wisconsin needs to win at least one match this week in order to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The 64-team bracket will be announced on Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.
A complete transcription of Waite's comments is below.
Opening Statement: We had a road trip where we started at Iowa and really played some of our best ball this season. We had a three-set win, and Ellen Chapman had a great game. She had 15 kills, no errors, so she was very efficient with that. And then we went onto Nebraska and I think they were ranked fourth at the time, we beat them the first set, played a great game, actually - held them to their lowest point total of the season. (But we) weren't able to hold them off for the match, but I thought we did some really good things.
This coming Wednesday is a big match for us. We've got to go to Minnesota. We lost to them in five here at home. And they're one spot ahead of us in the conference rankings, and this is a really important match for us for NCAA Tournament possibilities. I know the team's really excited about getting this next match.
How much did the match at Nebraska prepare the team for playing Minnesota on the road?
The Nebraska environment was fantastic. It's one of the best in the country, 4,200 people packed shoulder-to-shoulder, very loud, very intense, and I thought our players handled it really well. And Minnesota's very similar, little bit less as far as numbers, but same sort of environment, very much like our Field House.
But our players will have to get on that court up in Minnesota and really take care of their own game as far as living their errors. And we know we can play with them. Obviously, we did it last time. We know the importance of this match, so it was a very important match for us at Nebraska.
How much does a win help that? How much does a loss hurt that? What's are you envisioning in terms of the NCAAs?
Well, bottom line, you have to be above .500. So if we get the win, that gives us that shot. Purdue, we've got coming on Friday here at home, and they're currently, I think sixth in the country, maybe moving up. I'm not sure what's, the poll will come out this afternoon. But either one of those, we get one or both of those wins, we have a great shot, I think.
Senior night Friday with Nellie (Gabrielsen) and Elle (Ohlander), can you just talk about what they've brought to the program?
They've both been great, great personalities, fun, hard workers. Nellie (is) obviously, one of the most wel- rounded players we've ever had in the program between her setting, attacking, blocking, serving, and defense.
Elle has done a great job. She's had some years where she's gotten a lot of court time for us. This year, not as much, but she's been coming on lately and (is) always been chomping at the bit to get back on the court and improve her game. Both (are) great, positive kids, great personalities, and we'll miss them a lot.
You won eight Big Ten matches this season, which is the most for the program since 2007. How tough was that just with how tough the Big Ten is this year?
I think that was a good accomplishment. Adding Nebraska to the mix made it even tougher. We had some good wins against high ranked teams. The Penn State win was very good. I think it just shows No. 1, the class that came in really made a big difference to the program. And the ones that were returning, the players did a great job maturing and preparing for this season. I think we really turned the corner. I think it was something that was felt by the coaches, felt by the players, and we've got some good momentum going now.
