Waite addresses media on Monday
November 08, 2011 | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2011
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite addressed the media Monday with his team coming an upset win over No. 6 Penn State on Sunday. The win over the Nittany Lions was the UW's first since 2006 and it was also the highest ranked team that UW has defeated since beating then-No. 2 Penn State on Oct. 27, 2006. It was also Wisconsin's first five-set win this season and its third win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Badgers (14-12 overall, 6-8 Big Ten) wrap up their four-match home stand, hosting No. 24 Michigan and Michigan State this weekend. The Wolverines (17-9, 5-9) come to town on Friday at 7 p.m. while the Spartans (18-8, 7-7) travel to Madison on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match.
A complete transcription of his remarks are available below.
Opening Statement: (We're) coming off a weekend split, Ohio State on Friday (and) played a great first set, just one of the best of the season (but we) weren't able to sustain it. Ohio State's a top-25 team that we beat at their place, but they got us here.
(I was) really pleased with the reaction of the team coming out on Sunday then, playing Penn State, a higher ranked team and just the composure they kept throughout the match, a real battle back and forth. It was a great match in front of the fans, and, I think, a real boost in the arm for the players, for what they've been working on all year so really pleased with that.
What do you think, or what do you hope the players take from that Penn State experience in going through all that, that they can take and use going forward from here?
I hope they take the confidence in themselves, and the belief that they can beat anybody at any time if they play that way. Throughout the match, it was one of those matches where, as a coach, you just feel like the composure's there, the confidence is there, they're doing everything right, and they're not breaking down at all.
Because that's it; whoever flinches, just might lose at any time. And even in the third (set) where it went extra points, up to 34-32, we could have just given up and said, `Well, that was a great effort. We tried. We battled them.' But, we lost that (set), came back in the fourth, struggled with the fourth but really revived and came back in the fifth and played great.
We've been telling them they're a good team. I think we went through a period of time where we had a couple good and ranked wins, and then we lost Crystal (Graff). It's been two weeks since she was injured and then you've got to build a new team chemistry a little bit. Then Bailey Reshel stepped in and she's done a nice job ever since. They should feel good about it and move on, aiming for that same high level all the time.
You're saying that the confidence hasn't always been there?
Well, we had a real young group out there, so even the freshmen are finding themselves as they go. There's times they're hard on themselves and harder than they should be, so there's times we have to just work with their confidence to make sure they understand they're doing some great things.
In our eyes, as coaches, we were seeing good things all season. But they really put it all together on Sunday, and they saw for themselves that they could do it. And once you start feeling that, they love the taste of it. Who doesn't love that? And they worked hard. That was a couple-hour match against one of the best teams in the country and reigning national champs, so they should feel good about it.
Can you tell us more about Bailey Reshel and how she's been able to step in and produce as she has been?
Bailey came to us, she's from Hortonville ... (and) she went to South Dakota first, played one fall season there, then came to us in the spring. She was a non-scholarship kid, who we thought was a great athlete, because we saw her play in our own tournament. They had come here to play us. And when she came, she's just been working hard ever since.
She just wanted to play at a higher level, to be back in Wisconsin. And she's a fast twitch athlete with a big jump, but she's not big. When she was out there, she's maybe 5-11, 6-0 on the outside, and she's up against 6-3, 6-4 blockers. She did a great job finding the seams and tooling off the blocks. She's just always had a great positive attitude and just been knocking on the door waiting for a chance. And when the injury happened to Crystal, she was ready.
Question from Andrea Singletary on Facebook. What did the team do differently on Sunday that allowed them to beat a team the caliber of Penn State, and how is that going to help the team continue the behaviors the rest of the season?
Well, they sustained a high level of play that they've been working on all year. As a staff, we've been working on all aspects of the game, and they've just finally come together. I don't think we're going to do anything differently. I think going into this weekend we've got Michigan State, another ranked team, and Michigan State, a very, very good team who are strong, and it's just mostly on our side of the net.
I think up against a team, like Penn State was so big, it was really our ball control. We out defended them, I think, by 10 digs. They outhit us, but it came down to serve and pass, and we out served them. I think the players think they're doing the right things, and they'll continue this week aiming for the top.
You've got three wins over top 25 teams, two on the road. You beat the four-time defending national champs. You've got six matches left. If you go 4-2, finish .500 in the Big Ten is that enough to get where you want to be?
Honestly, I think that'll get us in the tournament, but it's still a tough road. We've got Nebraska on the road, Minnesota on the road, so it's certainly not going to be easy. But I think our players have the confidence that we had, two out of the three of those ranked teams they've beaten have been on the road, so they're totally capable of it. But we're going to have to play very well to get it done.
