The University of Mississippi Athletics
Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference #10
10/28/2019 | Volleyball
Ole Miss Volleyball Head Coach Steven McRoberts met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Topics of discussion included the Rebels' position in the RPI Rankings, the program milestone for senior Emily Stroup, and what's up next...
Opening Statement:
"I thought on the week that our defense played really well, and I knew that it was going to be tough. We're currently leading the SEC in digs and second in blocks. We held Georgia to a really low hitting percentage and held Kentucky to a respectable hitting percentage for as good as they are. On Wednesday night, it just seemed that we were pretty flat and it wasn't our best on the season. I thought we bounced back on Sunday. Again, from a defensive standpoint we played well. Emily Stroup had one of her best matches of the season, and during that match broke the all-time kills record for our program… very proud of her on that accomplishment. Nicole Purcell continues to play really well as libero. She's leading the league in digs… At this point we just need to find a little bit better offensive rhythm to get the wins."
On the upcoming SEC schedule:
"We're in a really tough stretch as we head on the road this week. We're at Tennessee on Friday. We won a fight here, and it was a tough match to win at home. It's going to be even tougher on the road. We turn around and play Alabama on Sunday. We're still sitting in a pretty decent spot in the RPI. We're at the point now where we have nine matches left and halfway through the conference at 6-3. I think we're sitting in fifth at this time. We just need to get some wins, not only from a RPI standpoint, but just for the NCAA Selection Committee to look at. We've got lots of opportunities to get some quality wins and just need to pick up maybe four or five out of the last nine here… I've told this to our team quite a bit lately, [but] this is the SEC where every match out is tough. It shows how well we were playing early. We're still playing pretty good volleyball, but being just good is not going to get you over the hump. We have to get back to making great plays."
On the how many SEC teams could possibly make the 2019 NCAA Tournament:
"Well I think right now we have seven teams in the Top 50 of the RPI, and four in the Top 20. They're locked in pretty much. Even Georgia right now is a really low 30. I think it is safe to say easily five will make it in and I think up to seven or eight depending on how we all finish. We're at No. 44 in the RPI. I don't know for sure, but I think we were No. 43 last week. Playing those teams again after we lost to Georgia when they were at No. 25 in the RPI and Kentucky being at No. 8 doesn't necessarily hurt us. We also lost to Texas A&M at home 15-12 in the fifth and they're No. 11 in the RPI. If we can pick up a win like that would really put us in a more comfortable position and we have a lot of those coming up."
Opening Statement:
"I thought on the week that our defense played really well, and I knew that it was going to be tough. We're currently leading the SEC in digs and second in blocks. We held Georgia to a really low hitting percentage and held Kentucky to a respectable hitting percentage for as good as they are. On Wednesday night, it just seemed that we were pretty flat and it wasn't our best on the season. I thought we bounced back on Sunday. Again, from a defensive standpoint we played well. Emily Stroup had one of her best matches of the season, and during that match broke the all-time kills record for our program… very proud of her on that accomplishment. Nicole Purcell continues to play really well as libero. She's leading the league in digs… At this point we just need to find a little bit better offensive rhythm to get the wins."
On the upcoming SEC schedule:
"We're in a really tough stretch as we head on the road this week. We're at Tennessee on Friday. We won a fight here, and it was a tough match to win at home. It's going to be even tougher on the road. We turn around and play Alabama on Sunday. We're still sitting in a pretty decent spot in the RPI. We're at the point now where we have nine matches left and halfway through the conference at 6-3. I think we're sitting in fifth at this time. We just need to get some wins, not only from a RPI standpoint, but just for the NCAA Selection Committee to look at. We've got lots of opportunities to get some quality wins and just need to pick up maybe four or five out of the last nine here… I've told this to our team quite a bit lately, [but] this is the SEC where every match out is tough. It shows how well we were playing early. We're still playing pretty good volleyball, but being just good is not going to get you over the hump. We have to get back to making great plays."
On the how many SEC teams could possibly make the 2019 NCAA Tournament:
"Well I think right now we have seven teams in the Top 50 of the RPI, and four in the Top 20. They're locked in pretty much. Even Georgia right now is a really low 30. I think it is safe to say easily five will make it in and I think up to seven or eight depending on how we all finish. We're at No. 44 in the RPI. I don't know for sure, but I think we were No. 43 last week. Playing those teams again after we lost to Georgia when they were at No. 25 in the RPI and Kentucky being at No. 8 doesn't necessarily hurt us. We also lost to Texas A&M at home 15-12 in the fifth and they're No. 11 in the RPI. If we can pick up a win like that would really put us in a more comfortable position and we have a lot of those coming up."
Players Mentioned
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