The University of Mississippi Athletics
Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference
11/14/2016 | Volleyball
Ole Miss volleyball head coach Steven McRoberts met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Coach McRoberts discussed the Rebels' win over Tennessee on Kids Day and previewed the upcoming Mississippi State match.
On Tennessee Win and Crowd
"Friday was great with over 3,700 watching the match. Tennessee was a little flat, and we caught them at the right time. One thing that we did on Friday that we haven't been doing is we took advantage of a team that might not have been clicking on all cylinders and made them pay for it. We were down 24-20 in the third. That's been a tough spot for us all season coming back like that. Every point that we made as we were making a run there at the end, it was getting louder and louder. The last couple of points when we tied it up at 24, serving for 25 you could visibly see Tennessee getting tight, because it was so loud in the building. I give those 3,000 kids a lot of credit for helping us finish that off."
On Records
"I want to give a shout-out to a few players. We're going to have not only attendance records broken this year, but we're going to have a lot of individual and team records broken as well. Kate Gibson broke the single-season kills record. Lexi Thompson has also done that, but she has Kate on the same team, so she's ahead of her by nine right now. With four matches to go, they'll both be playing for that, and of course they both have the team's interest in mind first, but it's kind of neat to have two players both with the ability to do that and both be doing it in the same season. Aubrey (Edie) just keeps stacking on the assists in the career record. She'll have a chance at the single-season record as well. As a team, since SEC play started, we're leading the conference in digs. If you look at the conference leaders in digs, it's basically us and the top four teams. We're playing really good defense, we've just got to find a way to finish points a little bit more efficient than we have been."
On Culture Change
"We had a tough loss yesterday against a very good Kentucky team, ranked in the top 25. We are pleased with the way that these young ladies have been competing every single week. Just a testament to their character, and I would say their want to on winning. After the match yesterday I decided that today we were just going to do some recovery stuff and lift weights. Today, we've already had at least six or seven players text and say they want to come in for individual skill work or position skill work. That's where you see a culture change. Even when we're struggling and we get down to the last part of the season when, you know mentally they want to break, and they're still asking to come in and work. Those are the things that'll pay off as we keep building this program."
On the Week Ahead
"This week we have a quick turnaround. We'll go to Mississippi State on Wednesday. They're also a team that's kind of been struggling a bit as of late. A very aggressive team. A team that beat us both times last year. They return the core of their team this year. It's a tough matchup for us, but I really feel like at this point in the season with four to go we are playing as confident as we have since SEC play started. After Wednesday, we turn around and travel to Georgia on Sunday. Three of our last four matches are on the road and we finish at home the day before the Egg Bowl against South Carolina. We'd like to invite everybody to come out and celebrate Aubrey, our lone senior who's meant a lot to our program."
