The University of Mississippi Athletics
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Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference #11
11/4/2019 | 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' schedule as it continues to be filled with top teams and some standout individual performances from his veterans...
Opening Statement:
"First of all, congratulations to both of our cross country teams. It's just awesome anytime we can bring home a trophy in any sport. The SEC is the best conference in the nation and to win in anything is just huge. Looking forward to seeing them compete for a national championship… Also congratulations to Coach Mott and women's soccer on beating Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament."
On the team's mindset:
"It was another tough weekend. I'm sitting here thinking 'the SEC giveth and the SEC taketh away'. I said it when we were 6-0 in the SEC that it could just as easily flip around and go the other way. We've been on this end a few times the last six years… [It was] a couple of five-set losses on the road. We've been playing well on the road, giving ourselves chances every single time out. I told the team, 'Just keep giving yourself these opportunities and eventually we're going to get one.' It was disappointing to lose both matches."
On Rebels finding success:
"We continue to play [well] defensively. Nicole Purcell is still leading the league in digs and we lead the league in digs as a team. Nayo Warnell and Aubrey Sultemeier are both top 10 in the league in blocks. Nayo had another great weekend. Offensively she's third in the league in hitting percentage. She's now hitting over .400 again, which is just unbelievable. She's having just a tremendous senior year."
On flipping the switch:
"It just kind of seems like we're getting a lot of good individual performances in every game, but collectively, I don't think we have that edge the we had maybe early for whatever reason. As a coaching staff we're trying to figure it out. We were talking about it this morning and just trying to figure out how to flip that switch again. How to get that edge, if you will, back again. In this league there's just so many good teams. We're now 6-5 after starting 6-0 and I think we've maybe dropped 10 RPI points because everybody we're playing is Top 50 in the nation."
On hosting Florida and South Carolina:
"We bring in two really good teams again this weekend, both playing with a lot of confidence. Florida, who perennially leads the league, is coming in and we're playing them Friday. Then South Carolina who is on a roll. They kind of did the opposite of what we did, kind of got off to maybe a rough start this year and then they flipped it around in SEC play."
On looking ahead:
"We're still really positive about this group. They come in every day focused, wanting to be better. They want to turn this around and we're confident that we can do that. If you look at who we play in the last seven matches I think six of them are right there at the top. You could look at that as really tough, which it is, or you can look at it as each win only helps us. We can only help ourselves in the RPI by getting them. We're right there. Three of our five losses are in five sets and the other two are in four. So we're going to keep grinding and hopefully break through this weekend."
Opening Statement:
"First of all, congratulations to both of our cross country teams. It's just awesome anytime we can bring home a trophy in any sport. The SEC is the best conference in the nation and to win in anything is just huge. Looking forward to seeing them compete for a national championship… Also congratulations to Coach Mott and women's soccer on beating Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament."
On the team's mindset:
"It was another tough weekend. I'm sitting here thinking 'the SEC giveth and the SEC taketh away'. I said it when we were 6-0 in the SEC that it could just as easily flip around and go the other way. We've been on this end a few times the last six years… [It was] a couple of five-set losses on the road. We've been playing well on the road, giving ourselves chances every single time out. I told the team, 'Just keep giving yourself these opportunities and eventually we're going to get one.' It was disappointing to lose both matches."
On Rebels finding success:
"We continue to play [well] defensively. Nicole Purcell is still leading the league in digs and we lead the league in digs as a team. Nayo Warnell and Aubrey Sultemeier are both top 10 in the league in blocks. Nayo had another great weekend. Offensively she's third in the league in hitting percentage. She's now hitting over .400 again, which is just unbelievable. She's having just a tremendous senior year."
On flipping the switch:
"It just kind of seems like we're getting a lot of good individual performances in every game, but collectively, I don't think we have that edge the we had maybe early for whatever reason. As a coaching staff we're trying to figure it out. We were talking about it this morning and just trying to figure out how to flip that switch again. How to get that edge, if you will, back again. In this league there's just so many good teams. We're now 6-5 after starting 6-0 and I think we've maybe dropped 10 RPI points because everybody we're playing is Top 50 in the nation."
On hosting Florida and South Carolina:
"We bring in two really good teams again this weekend, both playing with a lot of confidence. Florida, who perennially leads the league, is coming in and we're playing them Friday. Then South Carolina who is on a roll. They kind of did the opposite of what we did, kind of got off to maybe a rough start this year and then they flipped it around in SEC play."
On looking ahead:
"We're still really positive about this group. They come in every day focused, wanting to be better. They want to turn this around and we're confident that we can do that. If you look at who we play in the last seven matches I think six of them are right there at the top. You could look at that as really tough, which it is, or you can look at it as each win only helps us. We can only help ourselves in the RPI by getting them. We're right there. Three of our five losses are in five sets and the other two are in four. So we're going to keep grinding and hopefully break through this weekend."
Players Mentioned
HIGHLIGHTS: VB at Georgia
Friday, November 07
HIGHLIGHTS: VB at LSU
Sunday, November 02
HIGHLIGHTS: Volleyball vs. Alabama(10/31/25)
Friday, October 31
HIGHLIGHTS: Volleyball vs. Texas AM (10/26/25)
Sunday, October 26