The University of Mississippi Athletics
Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference
10/30/2017 | Volleyball
Ole Miss volleyball head coach Steven McRoberts met with the media Monday to review the team's matches against Missouri and Arkansas last week and look ahead to Sunday's re-match with Mississippi State.
Opening statement…
"It was a frustrating week for us, to say the least. We came off a great win last Sunday against Texas A&M. We were riding a high when we played Missouri Wednesday night and in my opinion played well enough to win. We played a little bit flat considering the ramifications for where we are at in the season and what we are trying to do. We let Missouri sneak away with the win. I thought we came back and had a good practice on Friday. Saturdays are always tough especially on home football Saturdays to keep focused. Overall yesterday from a defensive standpoint we played really well. I am really proud of Kate Gibson, she had a triple-double with kills, blocks, and digs. I think this is the first time since 2012 that has happened. It doesn't happen very often at all. Our blocking was the best it has been all year."
On the difference in the Arkansas match…
"It was a weird match for us in the fact that we have been getting a lot of kills and having a lot of errors to go along with that and then yesterday we got a lot of blocks and we were struggling to put the ball away. Arkansas was controlling the match, they had a ton of errors which is what allowed us to have a lot of runs. We lost the first set in a close one and then really blew them away in the second and third sets. We lost a really close fourth set which I think at one point we were leading 16-12, controlling which made me feel like we would win it in four. It was another disappointing loss."
On moving forward…
"Sometimes finding what the answer is, is tough as a head coach to try and put your finger on and get over that hump. One thing I will say is I am really thankful for this team and how hard they work and what their mindset is and how they hold together. I am really thankful for the staff that I have, and we are working hard to figure it out. We have six matches left, four of the teams we are playing we have victories over earlier in the conference season and two we haven't even played yet. Again, there is still a lot to play for and we need to get on a run here. I basically told the team after the match yesterday we are out of time. We played well in the SEC got some wins which gave us a little bit of cushion and now that cushion is gone. We need to figure it out really quick and get to winning really fast."
On Mississippi State…
"We have Mississippi State coming here this Sunday a team that has not won in the league yet. We do not want to be their first win. We beat them earlier in the season and played well but it's a team that has had some success against us in the past couple of years. I know they are not coming in afraid of us and it's a rivalry game. We all know how that goes in every sport. We need to have a good week of practice and come out ready to get after them next Sunday and start winning again."
On the difference in the first and fourth set versus the second and third against Arkansas…
"If you look at the numbers it was the number of kills that we were getting. I don't know that we hit double-digit kills in the first set or the fourth. We were allowing Arkansas to dictate play and they were helping us out with a lot of errors to make it close. We did have a lot of blocks in those sets so that made up for a little bit of the points. It's something that when we go back and watch film we tell the girls, it's about the details. We had multiple times where the player did not go to the correct spot on defense. Arkansas didn't do anything different this time from when we lost to them in five at their place, they hit the ball to the same spots, they tipped the ball to the same spots, they were very reliant on their All-American outside hitter. We knew that was going to happen and shut her down for almost the whole match. Pilar Victoria is averaging six kills a set and leads the nation. I think through three sets we had her hitting zero or negative. As far as a day to win against them we had it yesterday and we didn't take advantage."
For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB. Also follow Coach McRoberts on Twitter, @CoachMcRoberts.
