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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference
9/19/2016 | 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' recent tournament to close out the non-conference schedule and previewed the start of SEC play this weekend.
Opening statementรขโฌยฆ
"We went into last weekend being the favorite in all three matches. I thought we could've come away 3-0, but to be able to stand up here after our preseason schedule and say that we're 11-2, I'm really pleased with where we're at. Before the season started, as I was kind of looking at the matches I thought 9-4 would be a really good record for us with a lot of young players and a lot of unknowns with some key players that we lost off last year's team. 11-2 is really good for us."
On the Scenic City Showdown and Taylor Alexander's playรขโฌยฆ
"Chattanooga played a really good match on Saturday night. We have had five matches this season where we've been taken to the fifth set and we've always figured out a way to win even when our backs were against the wall. We had Chattanooga down 12-8 in the fifth and they were the ones who did it to us that time. Taylor Alexander (junior middle blocker) had an amazing weekend. I don't know if the loss on Saturday night cost her getting SEC Player of the Week, but she had stats that could be National Player of the Week as well as she played.
On opening SEC with Florida at homeรขโฌยฆ
"We have Florida coming in on Friday. They are ranked No. 6 with one loss to the No. 1 team in the nation. They're always good, predicted to win the conference again, but watching a little bit on film, if we play with confidence, the way we're capable of it could be a really good match. We'll have to have some things fall in line for us to do that, but this is probably the most confident I've been in the three years that I've been here that we have players who will go into that match confident and play well. Then travel to Missouri on Sunday."
Talk about Lexie (Thompson) and her 10 double-doubles. What's been the secret for her to have that many this early?
"One of our big themes this year with our team every time we talk is about consistency, and she's been that. From a defensive standpoint, she's getting to a lot of balls, extending a lot of rallies, which you have to have to be able to get 10 plus digs every single match. A lot of time when it's only three sets, she's still doing it. She has a good nose for the ball when that happens, and then she's gotten some big kills for us, not only on the front row but back row. You look at the numbers every single match and she's leading the SEC with double doubles early in the season. She's having a great year, a great comeback. She had a good freshman year and then kind of had a sophomore slump last year and she's come back and so far against the tougher pre-conference schedule had a really good start."
