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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Steven McRoberts Weekly Press Conference #6
9/30/2019 | 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 nine-match win streak and picking up their first SEC victory, as well as what's on the road for the Rebels this week...
Opening Statement:
"It was a great start for us to start SEC play against a very good Tennessee team. They bounced back on Sunday and beat a really good Texas A&M team. I felt lucky for us it was the only match we had on the weekend, because it was really emotional and it was long- it was close to a three-hour match. We had a great crowd which I think helped us get over the hump with close to 1,000 fans in our gym. Our gym seats just a little over 1,000, so it was pretty packed. We had some great performances. Emily Stroupwith 22 kills really came on in sets four and five with a defense that was waiting on her every time she took a swing. We just kept finding a way to score. Our libero Nicole Purcellhad 27 digs and made a ton of plays. I thought our serve-reserve did a great job.
I highlight two things that we've done really well this season and that's serve-receive and blocking, which are both by far the best they've been since I've been here. Those are two things that go a long way at least in keeping you in matches and helping you win. Friday night in my opinion was one of our better serving nights of the whole season. We as volleyball coaches talk a lot that serving and serve-receive are the two most important things in the game, and we did both of those very well. We needed to in order to win."
On looking ahead to Mississippi State and LSU:
"This week we go on the road to play Mississippi State on Friday night, rivalry game. They're off to a great start at 11-3. They've lost at Kentucky and at home to LSU (last week). They took a set off Kentucky and had a two-point set. Kentucky is predicted to win the SEC, so that's impressive. LSU is off to a 2-0 start in the conference. Two of the sets [in that match] were two points, even though LSU swept Mississippi State. After we go to Mississippi State on Friday we'll head to LSU on Sunday. It's an important week for us with two good RPI matches. That's what it comes down to now is that we just have to keep winning so that RPI just keeps going up. We're going to be focused on Mississippi State on Friday night.
On the significance of Friday's victory:
We're off to the best start in the SEC since I've been here, we've had some tough matches to start SEC play [in years before]. It just feels really good to stand up here after week one in the conference and say that we're 1-0 and heading in the right direction. It was a gutsy performance from our ladies."
On what winning that first SEC match does for the team's confidence:
"A ton. All eight of those previous wins were on the road too. I don't know if the team felt any more pressure because we were 0-3 at home. We haven't had a home match with anybody above 40 in the RPI. I think all four of our first matches were against Top 40 RPI teams, so that was really tough. Beating a team like Tennessee that last year went to the NCAA Tournament, won a game in the tournament, returned everybody but one player. They were expected to be third or fourth in the league this season. It just gives us a lot of confidence. We've done okay in the conference, especially with the bottom half, but we've struggled with the top half. I'm not afraid to say that. So to beat a team that's top four in the SEC and expected to go to the NCAA Tournament, and possibly win a few matches there is very encouraging."
On if winning in five sets will become a habit:
"We'll see. I think we've lost 20 five-setters in SEC play alone… think about that. If you win half of those games, it's the difference between a top-half team and bottom-half team. We've been there, but I think winning at Tulane and at Central Arkansas in those fifth sets… winning a really tough match in four sets at American. All those things brought that confidence in to the team on Friday night to pull that out. I even feel like we could have pulled away even more at the end. There was a questionable call at the end that could have added a little bit more cushion. I think this team in the six years that I've been here sure feels the most mentally tough that I've had. They don't let a bad set phase them or a bad break. They just get on to the next play. I hope it sets up in the future that that becomes something we can draw back upon."
On if the team expected freshman Anna Bair to be so impactful early on:
"I knew (Anna Bair) was going to be a good player. We've known that now that recruiting is three years out. It's (not like that now). We knew two or three years ago that Anna was coming in and be able to watch her grow. She is a big, strong physical player, 10-foot jump toucher with a rocket arm. Sometimes it takes freshmen awhile to figure out how to score at this level. But she came in from day one, and I mean day one from when the lights came on for matches. All of a sudden she really turned it on. At practice she was doing okay, but when those matches came, she was just a different player. It's been fun to see and I think again playing three really good opponents early and do well against them gave her some confidence early on to know that she belongs. I haven't had a freshman here perform near as well as she has. She's going toe-to-toe in the stat line with Emily Stroup. Every match we've talked about her the last three years and that's been fun to see. Hopefully Anna is going to keep getting better."
Opening Statement:
"It was a great start for us to start SEC play against a very good Tennessee team. They bounced back on Sunday and beat a really good Texas A&M team. I felt lucky for us it was the only match we had on the weekend, because it was really emotional and it was long- it was close to a three-hour match. We had a great crowd which I think helped us get over the hump with close to 1,000 fans in our gym. Our gym seats just a little over 1,000, so it was pretty packed. We had some great performances. Emily Stroupwith 22 kills really came on in sets four and five with a defense that was waiting on her every time she took a swing. We just kept finding a way to score. Our libero Nicole Purcellhad 27 digs and made a ton of plays. I thought our serve-reserve did a great job.
I highlight two things that we've done really well this season and that's serve-receive and blocking, which are both by far the best they've been since I've been here. Those are two things that go a long way at least in keeping you in matches and helping you win. Friday night in my opinion was one of our better serving nights of the whole season. We as volleyball coaches talk a lot that serving and serve-receive are the two most important things in the game, and we did both of those very well. We needed to in order to win."
On looking ahead to Mississippi State and LSU:
"This week we go on the road to play Mississippi State on Friday night, rivalry game. They're off to a great start at 11-3. They've lost at Kentucky and at home to LSU (last week). They took a set off Kentucky and had a two-point set. Kentucky is predicted to win the SEC, so that's impressive. LSU is off to a 2-0 start in the conference. Two of the sets [in that match] were two points, even though LSU swept Mississippi State. After we go to Mississippi State on Friday we'll head to LSU on Sunday. It's an important week for us with two good RPI matches. That's what it comes down to now is that we just have to keep winning so that RPI just keeps going up. We're going to be focused on Mississippi State on Friday night.
On the significance of Friday's victory:
We're off to the best start in the SEC since I've been here, we've had some tough matches to start SEC play [in years before]. It just feels really good to stand up here after week one in the conference and say that we're 1-0 and heading in the right direction. It was a gutsy performance from our ladies."
On what winning that first SEC match does for the team's confidence:
"A ton. All eight of those previous wins were on the road too. I don't know if the team felt any more pressure because we were 0-3 at home. We haven't had a home match with anybody above 40 in the RPI. I think all four of our first matches were against Top 40 RPI teams, so that was really tough. Beating a team like Tennessee that last year went to the NCAA Tournament, won a game in the tournament, returned everybody but one player. They were expected to be third or fourth in the league this season. It just gives us a lot of confidence. We've done okay in the conference, especially with the bottom half, but we've struggled with the top half. I'm not afraid to say that. So to beat a team that's top four in the SEC and expected to go to the NCAA Tournament, and possibly win a few matches there is very encouraging."
On if winning in five sets will become a habit:
"We'll see. I think we've lost 20 five-setters in SEC play alone… think about that. If you win half of those games, it's the difference between a top-half team and bottom-half team. We've been there, but I think winning at Tulane and at Central Arkansas in those fifth sets… winning a really tough match in four sets at American. All those things brought that confidence in to the team on Friday night to pull that out. I even feel like we could have pulled away even more at the end. There was a questionable call at the end that could have added a little bit more cushion. I think this team in the six years that I've been here sure feels the most mentally tough that I've had. They don't let a bad set phase them or a bad break. They just get on to the next play. I hope it sets up in the future that that becomes something we can draw back upon."
On if the team expected freshman Anna Bair to be so impactful early on:
"I knew (Anna Bair) was going to be a good player. We've known that now that recruiting is three years out. It's (not like that now). We knew two or three years ago that Anna was coming in and be able to watch her grow. She is a big, strong physical player, 10-foot jump toucher with a rocket arm. Sometimes it takes freshmen awhile to figure out how to score at this level. But she came in from day one, and I mean day one from when the lights came on for matches. All of a sudden she really turned it on. At practice she was doing okay, but when those matches came, she was just a different player. It's been fun to see and I think again playing three really good opponents early and do well against them gave her some confidence early on to know that she belongs. I haven't had a freshman here perform near as well as she has. She's going toe-to-toe in the stat line with Emily Stroup. Every match we've talked about her the last three years and that's been fun to see. Hopefully Anna is going to keep getting better."
Players Mentioned
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