Coach Craig Skinner
Volleyball Head Coach
10/23/2006
On the season thus far?
?Since the last time I was here, a lot of exciting things have happened. We beat Tennessee and we beat a ranked team since 1993. It was a very exciting win for us and our team played great. It was a five-game, exciting match in the Coliseum and something we are very proud of. Unfortunately, we aren?t doing things very consistently this year, so we?ve lost three straight. We?ve won three straight at times and we?re hoping to get back three straight coming up.?
On the strength of the SEC?
?In 12 years of coaching, I have never seen a conference jammed so much in the middle of the standings. There are five of us tied at 5-7 for fifth place. The fourth place team is Tennessee, who was at the final four last year, at 6-6. With eight matches left in the conference, anything can happen. Alabama is at 8-4, but they just lost two straight to the Mississippi schools. We always talk about how tough the SEC is and this year is no different.?
On this year?s team?
?The good news is this year we have at least four to five new starters from last year?s squad that made the NCAA tournament. I still don?t think this team has hit on all cylinders yet with a few freshmen and a transfer going in there. One match, we have Ashlee Fisher score 15 points for us and she has been a very consistent point scorer. Queen Nzenwa had 11 blocks against Tennessee and then zero blocks against LSU and then eight blocks against Arkansas. Nicole Britenriker, one of the top attackers behind the center in the country, is double-teamed every match that we play which is great because it should open up other people. We need to continue to get other people involved in our offense. She leads the team in double-doubles this year and is having a great year, but everyone is keying on her. At some point, when this team clicks on all cylinders, including Jenni Casper who has had a great last four matches for us averaging over five digs per game, I think some special things can happen.?
On this weekend?s matches?
?This weekend is a huge weekend for us. We play Ole Miss and Mississippi State who both just beat Alabama who was at 8-2 going into last weekend. They?re both tied with us at 5-7. Six teams from the SEC made the NCAA tournament last year and it is a critical few weeks for us. Three of our next four are at home so it is a critical time period for us. I think another part of the good news is our backs are against the wall. Our team has a lot of pride and respect to play for. I think up until this point our team has been searching for what that answer is and what to play for. I continue to be impressed with how hard they are working in practice. They are not quitting. At LSU on the road, we are up in games. We are losing 30-27, within two or three points against a team that is ranked 12th in the country. If we can get over that hump, it?s going to be a pretty exciting end of the year. We want to be one of those teams in the NCAA tournament. Obviously, that?s a goal of ours every year. We are looking forward to the next few matches.?
On the prospect of how many SEC teams will make the tournament?
?RPI-wise I think our conference is ranked very well. I think we are fourth in the country. Last year we had six teams in the national tournament. Our conference had a lot of good wins pre-conference. I have a good feeling that the NCAA will take at least five teams in our conference. If teams do well we could get up to six because the other good conferences like the Big Ten and the Big XII are also log-jammed in the middle.?
On team?s consistency game to game?
?We?re not consistent enough. We win one game and then we get blown out in the next. One match we have an outside hitter going off, and the next we have our middle going off. We need a balance of 20 to 25 sets for each offensive player, so teams cannot key on Nicole Britenriker and Ashlee Fisher. That goes with maturity. There are no excuses for losing. Our team has to step up under pressure. We have to get some consistency in the offense. Our digs are pretty decent and our blocking is inconsistent. Against Tennessee we had a ton of blocks and against Arkansas we out-blocked them. We had 15 blocks yesterday and did not get it done. We had a player get 29 kills against us. You cannot win on the road if a player is getting 29 kills. In game two at Arkansas our defense was unbelievable, in game three it was non-existent, but in game four it was unbelievable again. I think when our team clicks on all cylinders it?s going to be a pretty fun year.?
