Transcript: Sheffield weekly news conference
November 24, 2014 | Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin volleyball head coach Kelly Sheffield met with the media in Camp Randall Stadium on Monday to discuss the previous week's matches against Illinois and Ohio State and to preview the remaining regular-season matches against Rutgers and Purdue.
Archived video of the media session can be found here, and a complete transcript of Sheffield's remarks can be found below.
Opening statement: “This past week, that was a heck of a grind. It was a tough, tough week. Playing Wednesday against Illinois and coming out on them and kind of putting it to 'em in the first and then letting the lead slip away late in the second and losing that. Going to the locker room 1-1 and then being down by a pretty large margin in the third, to come back and win that game the way that we did. It was just an unbelievable comeback and then to finish it off in a close four.
“It was high-level play, high-level play for both teams I thought and about as proud as you could possibly be of a group of sticking with the fight against an elite opponent.
“Kelli Bates was incredible. They targeted her all night long, put 60 serves on her and she handled it well and also took the most attempts on her team. Just a great effort by a player that just keeps getting better and better.
“Deme Morales was another player that was fantastic in that match, it was no question her best match of the year. Games are on the line, just the defensive plays she was making was incredible.
“Then to turn around and travel to Ohio State and play them 48 hours later. After such an emotional win, to go in there and sweep a top-20 opponent was good. Earlier in the day we went there for a serve and pass and we looked like a team that was just been beaten up a little bit, not a lot of energy, not a lot of excitement. We just looked blah, a little bit. To come out and play clean that night, that was good stuff.
“I think we've got a team that just continues to get better and better, and hungrier and hungrier as the season goes on. We have another tough one this weekend, we go out to Rutgers this weekend and turn around and fly back here and play Friday against a top-20 opponent in Purdue.
“We're trying to finish out this conference and this week the right way and hopefully be able to hang up a Big Ten championship banner when it's all said and done.”
You've had the Big Ten fate in your hands for quite a few weeks but now you're down to one or two matches. How big is that in your mind? You have a lot of goals in the season but to get one of those on the board, how big is it and to neighboring a full championship not a co-championship?
“Yeah, it's big. It's big because you value this conference and the opponents that you're going up against. It's a goal that when you're working during the summer and the spring is when nobody is watching in the weight room and the sacrifice that you make during the season to sit up here and say, ‘Oh, it would be nice,’ but there is other stuff. No, this is important. It's a big deal!
“We're trying to win (the Big Ten championship), we would like to be the only school that hangs a banner for this year and it's come from the respect of how hard it has been and how difficult it has been for teams in the league over the past dozen years or so to be able to do it. It's pretty much one team that's been able to own this conference, and we would like to get in there and know what that tastes like a little bit. So it is important.”
A team like Rutgers, they're not cream of the crop, but is focus going to be an issue here? Two more matches and then you want that Big Ten title?
“I think human nature says that maybe it would be, but that would go against everything I've seen from this group all year. We talked about it since last year, the team that wins this, in this league is one that's able to play for 10 weeks straight, 20 matches. They've done a really good job of being locked in.
“We've got some great leadership. You're coming down to the end of the season and I think we're playing our best volleyball but we're also coming down to the end for some of our seniors. There are not too many more matches for them to be playing as well, so I see a group that's taking care of things they need to be taking care of off the court. When it's match time they're in the right frame of mind. The leaders are making sure that the team is in the right frame of mind.
“If we're not ready to go this Wednesday, that would be totally out of character from what I've seen this year and that's one of the things I've learned, probably since about the middle of last year, going forward, is to try to trust a little bit and that's really hard as a coach, to trust your team because you want to be managing every single thing and just … Sometimes we get -- we're wound pretty tight but that's something I've learned to do is trust better and it's probably because these guys have earned it.”
As you read, the school record for winning streak, that's road record, possible Big Ten championship, selling out the Field House. When you took this job a year and a half, two years ago, could you have imagined that this program would be as developed as it is right now that soon?
“I told you it was possible. Did we think that we would be talking about Big Ten titles in the second year? No, because that would be arrogant, because this is a really, really good league. But our older kids bought in and that's so key. When you have a new coach coming in, you're not positive about that. You're hoping, but you're not positive about that and our older kids bought in and the made the sacrifices and put the work in and our younger kids have done a really good job of jumping in, whether it was last year or whether it was Lauren (Carlini) or Haleigh (Nelson) coming in and making a positive impact as a freshman or Kelli Bates making the positive impact she made this year. You can't count on those things.
“To say within two years, no. But to say that it can be done here, yeah, I think it's been proven here in the past that you can win at a very high level. This is a school that people want to be a part of, they want to come here. It's a school that's got so many things going for it that when you're talking to families and recruits. It's a product that you can really, really believe in so you know you're going to be in the ballgame with some of the elite players. But to be able to say that we're going to be in this situation when I first got here this quickly, no. But I've been fortunate with the leaders and the players and the decisions and directions they have decided to go. It allows it to be possible when they go about things the right way.”
You referenced your veteran players, you have seven seniors coming up to Senior Night. What's your take on them and your observations after being around them for a couple years?
"I'm so proud of them. I know the fans are really proud of them. You look at a player like Ellen Chapman or a player like Courtney Thomas and you see how their career arc has been and the sacrifices they have made in changing positions and just changing how they go about things, the leadership, how they've gone about things in the classroom that is different than maybe what they were earlier in their career.
“You're really, really proud of that and you've got a player like Deme Morales, last year's poster child by the end of the season. It changes her role and doesn't miss a by the as far as how excited she is to be out on the court, how she is buying in, what kind of teammate she is. Coach Anderson was talking about a text message he got. I got the same text message from Deme Morales this week. After the Illinois match, she put up a heck of a match, and (she said) how excited she was and saying ‘Hey, I'm just happy I was able to be a big part of the win.’
“A player like Julie Mikaelsen, and the role that she had two years ago and got injured and played very, very little. Our seniors … they've been about the team rather than about the ‘me’ and that's what's making all this possible is when you've got players like those guys or Caroline (Workman) or Kt (Kvas) and they're just about the team and if playing time is a little bit less than what they were hoping, they don't let it show.
“They're coming to practice every day ready to work. So when you're talking about what's it going to mean? It's going to be tough. The last match you give them a hug and you say, ‘Let's continue to stay in touch,’ but the one thing about Senior Day is we should be playing a couple more matches in the Field House afterwards so it shouldn't be too emotional, there is still a lot to play for and still hopefully a lot to play for in the Field House. We'll have a short ceremony afterwards that we're hoping the fans stick around for, it will be short and sweet and hopefully we'll get back to business of the tournament.”
Kelly, how would you describe where this team is at going into the final week of the season this year versus last year when we had the hindsight of knowing what lie ahead after that?
“I don't know if I want to compare but I can tell you that we're a team that's getting better right now and I see the confidence improving. We're playing cleaner, we seem to have a very good drive and focus about us. I like where we're at. And I liked where we were last year, but I really, really like where we're at right now. When you have confidence … and hunger and those two things are kind of side-by-side, then special things can kind of happen. I think we're there right now. We're where we want to be here this last push.
“We got back (from Ohio State), we gave them two days off in a row after we got back from Ohio State from the gym, that was critical. We haven't been able to do that in a while. They got a short lift in yesterday but to have the weekend where they can kind of be away from it will a little bit. I think by the time we get in the gym today, I think we will have a team that's, ‘Hey, let's go.’”
