St. John's University Athletics
Pre-tournament Volleyball Quotes
11/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 29, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y. -
St. John's Red Storm
Head Coach Joanne Persico-Smith
On the team's second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance:
"It feels great. We're really proud of our team and our staff. We're trying to stay focused and ready and just take one match at a time."
On hosting the tournament for the first time in program history:
"I think it's unbelievable that we're hosting. We want to thank everybody that's been working so hard to help make one of our dreams to host a reality. We want to show the rest of the world that we are serious about volleyball here in Queens."
On seeing St. John's on the TV screen and hearing "Queens, N.Y.":
"It doesn't get any better than that. It was a thrill, really surreal. And something I'll never forget for the rest of my life."
On the team's game plan for tomorrow night's match:
The game plan is to keep our feet grounded. And keep looking at our opponent and understanding that they're a quality opponent. A playoff situation, these teams have nothing to lose when they play us. We are the favorites so we're going to get everyone's best shot. We would expect everyone's best match against us. The team understands that, and we need to stay ready and come determined, work hard and play the best that we can.
Senior middle hitter Latoya Blunt
On the first round opponent, the LIU Blackbirds:
"LIU is a great team, from what we've seen from the tapes, and we actually played them in the spring, so I think we're ready."
On the seeding and hosting the first two rounds of the tournament:
"I'm exciting about the seeding. We're excited to be hosting here. It'll be a tough match tomorrow, we just have to play hard and be focused."
On playing at home:
"I'm excited to be playing at home. I thought that the senior day game was going to be the last time I would play here. Now we have to opportunity, if we win, to play here two more times."
Junior libero Lena Yee
On what coach has been telling the team:
"Coach has been telling us to stay cool, just be focused. Don't go crazy over the whole thing. Just worry about ourselves and no one else. We've been practicing hard all week, and watching films. She's really been motivating us with all her speeches."
On her feelings about the tournament:
I'm really excited for the tournament, especially since we're hosting it. We hope to have a good crowd.
On the atmosphere in the locker room since the BIG EAST Championship:
"The team has gotten a lot closer. We're even more motivated to win the first and second round this weekend and get to the Sweet Sixteen."
LIU Blackbirds
Head Coach Toby Rens
On seeding in this year's tournament:
"Number one we are just very happy to be in the tournament. We are very fortunate to have won our conference and have a great season. I am happy for the kids because they have worked really hard all year. I am very excited that we are in our own backyard. I know we will be represented here a little bit tomorrow because we are driving distance from our campus. There is a little bit of city rivalry. St. John's is a school we are familiar with and we look forward to the competition. "
On facing St. John's in the first round:
"We are going to work really hard to play to the best of our ability. We have got to play our best if we are going to be in position to beat St. John's. They are an excellent team who is very well coached and they have had a phenomenal season and they are heavy favorites going into this."
On the health of LIU:
"I feel now we are actually healthy and we have been battling with that all year in terms of little chronic injuries. No major injuries but things where we had to limit people in practice but now in the past few weeks we have finally hit our stride a little bit more in terms of having everyone on the court, being healthy, and being able to work on some of the things that we need.
Senior middle blocker Trevon Dyson
On being in the NCAA tournament:
"I was very excited and we are hoping to do better than we have in the past two years. As a senior I want to play the best I can and hopefully do something our program has never done and make it to the Sweet 16."
On playing at St. John's:
"This is really good for us in that we are very close and do not have to travel. We have had more us a chance to work hard in practice and be ready. We are really excited and we look forward to tomorrow's match."
On game-planning for the Red Storm:
"Our gameplan is to come in here and leave everything on the court. We have five seniors and there is no point in holding back. We don't want to play scared, we just want to be focused and play our game and play as a team."
Sophomore libero Svetlana Simic
On being in the NCAA tournament
"We were really excited, especially for our five seniors. After last year's performance we are even more excited to be here and hope to move on."
On the attitude of the team:
"We are ready to give one hundred percent and leave everything on the court. We hope to play the best we can and play a good game to show everyone what we can do."
Princeton Tigers
Head Coach Glenn Nelson
On the team's preparation:
"We actually did break for Thanksgiving and then we got back and have been going pretty hard all week. One of the things that we take pride in is our depth this year. We feel that when we go to a scrimmage situation that the players that aren't starting are giving us a battle and forcing us to be very competitive and to work hard."
On playing Delaware:
"We really haven't looked at the tapes too much yet. We know that they are a big and physical team, though, so we are going to have to dig a lot of balls and convert on every chance that we get."
Junior Outside Hitter Parker Henritze
On the team's preparation:
"We've pretty much practiced as usual. I don't think we've deviated at all from what we've done during the regular season."
On playing Delaware in the first round:
"We're excited. We've had a couple of weeks off since the season ended, but I think that we've been more focused on our game and fine-tuning how we play."
On the tournament selection show:
"We all watched it on TV. It was really exciting."
Junior Middle Blocker Lindsey Ensign
On the team's preparation:
"We've just been practicing like we have been all year. I think having a couple days off over Thanksgiving really helped us and we have been playing really well in practice. I think we are all really focused for the tournament."
On playing in the tournament :
"We're pretty confident going into the tournament. We have played well all season to get to this point. We feel like we have a good chance to advance."
On watching the selection show:
"It was really fun. Since the whole team was there I think it was a great way to pump up for the tournament."
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
Head Coach Bonnie Kenny
On preparing for this weekend's match up:
"We stuck to our routine, doing what we've done and what's gotten us here so far. We didn't do anything special. We left Delaware a little earlier than we usually would so we could practice this morning but we've just stuck to our normal routine."
On seeing Delaware's name appear in ESPNU's selection show:
"It was neat, our Director of Athletics had a nice little gathering for us at one of the local restaurants on Main Street that carried ESPNU. We had a pretty good crowd there of good old loyal fans and a lot of the boosters and our administration and our team. There is some anxiety of waiting a week to see who you play. Once you finally see the bracket, you're excited to see Delaware on the screen. Then you finally can think, `o.k. now there is an opponent, so now we can start preparing.' It was exciting."
On scouting Princeton:
"They have quite a few weapons. They have really good ball control. We played them three years ago and Princeton is always a team that just never goes away. They are going to stay in the match. They have two good outside hitters and a really good middle that hits a slide pretty quick. We're going to have to be on our A game and hopefully we can at least match them at the net with our outside hitters and our middles. There is going to be a battle for ball control. You're going to see a lot of defense."
Senior Setter Megan Welch
On her outlook for Friday's match:
"I think we've been preparing hard since our last match two weeks ago. We're ready to play. We're excited and don't really want to be waiting around any longer. We're ready to win."
On seeing Delaware's name on the NCAA selection show bracket:
"I got chills. It's a pretty cool experience. It's something I've never done before at Delaware. I'm very proud of our team as a whole and seeing our name nationally recognized."
On her bracket outlook:
"I'm excited about our bracket. It will be very competitive. The four teams that are here are all closer to the same level of volleyball than the other brackets around the country. It's cool to be so competitive. Each match that we play will be a hard match and it is very possible to win."
Senior Outside Hitter Colleen Walsh
On making the trip to New York City:
"My cousin lives in New York City so I've been here for vacation before, but just for a few days. This is my first time playing in the city. We play Hofstra every year but this gym is bigger than Hofstra's. There is probably going to be a bigger crowd. It should be intense. Whenever we play at Hofstra there is always a big rivalry and I think tomorrow's atmosphere will make for a good match."
On preparing for Friday's match:
"We've been preparing for a while. We all stayed here for Thanksgiving. We've been having some really good competition in the gym, and we are ready to play someone on the other side of the net. I think we are going to do really well."
On seeing Delaware's name on the NCAA selection show bracket:
"Especially being a senior, it's been something we have been waiting for, for four years. To finally see our name amongst the top names in volleyball was pretty awesome and I definitely think we deserve to be up there."
On her bracket outlook:
"I was excited because they are all teams we can compete with, but it will still be good volleyball and we will have to play our hardest to be victorious."
