Dec. 7, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner
Opening Statement
“Hats off to Penn State, they were awfully good tonight. I thought they played better tonight than they had the past couple of weeks. They served really tough tonight and I feel like that’s something we’re known for. We gave ourselves some chances and some opportunities in game one, having a two or three point lead at times. The margin for error is pretty small when you get to this point in the tournament. It’s hard to give up runs and play catch up and we did at the end of game one. Then, in game two we made a couple runs and got it to 21-20 and had a couple chances to score points. You really need to execute and take advantage of those opportunities. You really need to get one of those first two games to go in the locker room with a little bit of momentum. But, Penn State, give a lot of credit to them for how they played the match tonight.”
On how the first two sets got away from them
“They went back and served a couple runs of points, in particular the one at the end of set one. Each point is such a momentum builder in a match like this that you need to capitalize and it has to be in each phase of your game. It can’t be just attacking or just ball control, it needs to be in each phase. When you get the chance to transition the lead to three points you’ve got to do it because Penn State’s capable of running three or four points in a row and tying the match up pretty quickly.”
On how he felt the players executed the game plan
“No question. We got them out of system a lot in the first set and gave ourselves some chances with some digs and kills in transition. It is really important that you get the kills in transition against good teams and it’s something we’ve done a good job of all year. When they extend the lead to four or five points it’s hard to get a run of three or four points. We told them to be aggressive and we knew we had to have some guts and take some chances and they did in one and two and game three got away from us.”
Whitney Billings, Junior Outside Hitter
On Penn State attacking with their serve
“A couple of times, yeah, they took me out.”
On using their experiences in two Sweet 16s going forward to next year
“The people that will be on the team next year need to remember how this feels.”
Ashley Frazier, Senior Outside Hitter
On her game tonight and some of the hitting errors she had trying to hit down the line
“A few of them were. I was trying to be aggressive and maybe some of them weren’t so smart. When it wasn’t in position to take a rip at it, maybe I should’ve just been smart and put it in play and instead I tried to be aggressive and that resulted in quite a few errors.”
On being proud of the team’s accomplishments
“When I transferred here, I came because this was a winning program and that’s what I got when I came here. The two years I was eligible we made the Sweet 16 both years. So, I’m really happy with that. Obviously, we would’ve liked to go further. But, like Steph said, everybody on this team is so close and I loved everybody that I played with and that’s what I’ll miss most about it.”
Stephanie Klefot, Senior Libero
On the first two sets and what Kentucky needed to do to win them
“Tonight we just weren’t ourselves, I don’t know if there was anything we could have done differently. They were attacking the ball pretty hard and serving pretty hard and we needed to get a little bit more consistent, I guess. We just weren’t ourselves tonight. The energy wasn’t there either.”
On what they were expecting from Penn State
“We were expecting a good team. Everyone talks about how good they are and they showed how good they are. They obviously have some hitters that can put it away and they served a little bit better than us tonight and got us out of our system.”
On their belief that they could beat the No. 1 team
“I don’t think there was any doubt. We all knew we could come out and do it, but we fell a little short today. We all believed we could do it, our crowd believed we could do it, our coaching staff, everybody did. I don’t think it was a matter of not believing.”
On being proud of the team’s accomplishments
“I’m so happy I could be a part of the Wildcats. Playing for Craig, he’s a great coach, and the girls. Everyone gets along. I know it sounds corny, but we call each other sisters and I’m going to miss them. For this season, we didn’t start off our best and I don’t think anybody thought we’d even make the tournament. I’m beyond proud.”
