Aug. 29, 2008
Recap |
Final Stats
HEAD COACH Liz Kritza
Overall thoughts on Friday's match
"Obviously, this was not the start we were looking for. Simply put, a few players who are crucial to our system were not ready to perform at their normal level today. The idea was to come out and take the first game - which we did but we even had a slow start then. We allowed Missouri to think that they could beat us, and that is exactly what happened. If we had run our system properly and executed the way we have been the last couple of weeks (in practice), I think it would have been a much different turnout or at least a much more competitive last game. We had our opportunities to win this and we didn't take them."
On being out-blocked by Missouri, 20-5
"That was a big difference. It was a four-to-one difference just in blocks. When you are playing teams that block that well against us, it is our system of having more hitters and spreading it out that lets us combat that. When we are not executing our system against a block like that, we are relying on the strengths of the individual players and that is what got us into trouble today. We had way too many balls that our hitters were not prepared to swing on. They were not ready to swing so they were taking their most natural swing, which is hitting it right into the block.
"Some of that was setters' decisions. Our passing overall was better and our setters should have run the offense a little more balanced. In essence to them, the hitters did not do their job today. We got out-hit by a team that we should be hitting much better against."
On what the team takes from the loss
"At the end of the day, everybody works for changes and corrections especially when you lose. My biggest frustration with this group was not that we lost. It was the way that we lost. We went away from the system, which is our strength. We learned a very tough lesson today. They have to play and execute within our system for us to win because the team across the net is going to."
On how big of a momentum swing it was not capitalizing on the 24-22 set-point situation in the third set
"Volleyball is all about momentum, and if you get stuck in one rotation, that could be it. You can get down and you don't have time to come back, especially in this shorter game. We learned a very tough lesson today. I just feel that a few players were not completely focused - their minds were someplace else on something else - and you cannot play like that against a team like Missouri. They are ranked ahead of us, they are competitive in their conference, they have been to the NCAAs eight straight times, and you cannot expect them to give us anything. You also cannot have a few players who are crucial to your offense not show up and put up their normal numbers."
On having to bounce back for a pair of matches on Saturday
"You cannot dwell on this lost. It is early in the season. Yes, it is disappointing, but it is very purposeful. Sometimes you have to lose to learn lessons. Every time this team loses, they have to come back and learn a lesson from it. It will not let them hang their heads. They have to get over the loss, learn from it and move on. They have a great chance tomorrow. We play BYU and Utah State - certainly two very tough matches - and I fully expect this team to bounce back tomorrow."
