May 12, 2012
Kentucky Head Coach Dennis Emery
Opening statement …
“I thought we came out and probably played our best doubles point of the year. Certainly the first 20 minutes we played our best doubles point of the year. I thought that really set the tone for the match, even though we kind of went away a little bit there for a while at the No. 3 doubles. They (Indiana) had a break point that could have made it six-all, but I thought our guys did a really good job of righting the ship. Then at No. 1, I thought (Panav) Jha really played well, they’re All-Americans (Eric Quigley and Panav) and seeded at the NCAA Tournament, but I thought it was his best doubles match by far this year. I thought we got off to a little bit of a slow start in singles. When we win the doubles point we’re 21-0 this season. So, I think we tried to lay back a little bit and Indiana is just too good to do that. They’re a very good team, and what they do very well is fight hard. I thought it showed a lot of character for our guys to come back for (Tom) Jomby to be able to come back from being down a set to go on and win his match (was huge).”
On the play of Eric Quigley …
“Well, he played fantastic in singles and in doubles. I think that’s a real credit to him. It’s a huge match for us. It’s the third straight year that we’ve gone to the Sweet 16. They understand all that it means and what that implies to go to the Sweet 16. So, sometimes you have a tendency to think that they may play a little tight. Obviously, he really turned it loose. It wasn’t necessarily a great matchup for him, but he really took care of it. He really took care of business.”
On Quigley’s career and concluding play at home…
“Certainly, he’s our all-time career wins leader. Really, above all of that he’s probably one of the most productive players that we’ve ever had. In singles and doubles, he’s a five-time All-American. There’s really almost no way you can describe what he’s done for us and our program. I think he took it from, we had a good culture, but now we have a championship culture.”
On what it means for the program to advance to a third straight Sweet 16 …
“Well, we’ve only done it one other time. And, I’ve been here 30 years. That kind of says it. It’s really hard to keep it going. At Kentucky you have to have really good guys, that have to get good really young. Like a (Jesse) Witten. Like a (Eric) Quigley, because that helps you become this in your progress. What we’ve been able to do with Eric and (Alex) Musialek coming in and playing No. 3 and 4 their freshman years. And then No. 1 and No. 2, they’ve just been able to kind of stair-step up. That’s a really good feeling. We’re going to Athens (Georgia) with a chance. We went to the Elite Eight last year, and we’re going to Athens with a real chance to go further. It’s not going to be easy, but we have the athletic ability, the composure as well as the experience that I think we can do it.”
Indiana Head Coach Randy Bloemendaal
Opening statement …
“I thought Kentucky executed well all day long. They played well. I knew that this was a really good team, maybe the best team Kentucky has ever had. It was a good crowd, and they kind of jumped on us in doubles and set the tone. I thought the singles was very competitive other than the No. 1 spot. I thought Eric (Quigley) played about as well as you can play. I felt like Kentucky played well all day in every spot.”
On whether the difference in the match was Kentucky, or Indiana not playing up to par …
“I felt like we came out in doubles and didn’t play the way that we normally play. But, in singles I felt like we played pretty well overall. I felt like we played our normal matches in singles. We are a little better than that in doubles, but the situation sometimes takes a little bit of time to digest. I think we did an average job with that for the first 30 minutes of the match. The rest of the match I thought we competed hard.”
On the No. 3 doubles spot that trailed 6-0 and then came back to within 6-5 …
“That’s one of those positions that they have been winning a lot. I think they were pretty tight with the situation, but they knew they needed to play well. Once they got their teeth into the match it was close and they came roaring back. Give Kentucky credit, they came up with some big shots at the end and it was enough to finish us off. We just came in a little bit tight.”
On the play of Kentucky’s Eric Quigley …
“It’s very tough (to play him when he dominates the way he did today). The home crowd is definitely in his favor, but he was hitting the ball very clean. There weren’t any weaknesses, it just came down to if we could execute on that level. And if you can’t, the match is over quick. That’s what happened today. He kind of forced the issue with the level of play, and my hats are off to him. I don’t remember a time in that match where I felt like he was not playing well, not even for five minutes. I felt he went after us from the start to the finish.”
