Dec. 5, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 

Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner

Opening Statement …
“I was pleased with our effort tonight. I have to give a lot of credit to Oakland on their season and how they came out in the first game and really battled us and made plays. Before the match we talked about Oakland making plays and respect that and execute on our end. Defensively, holding them to .107 (percentage) was a big key, also keeping our attack errors really low was very important. As seniors Lauren and Jackie really led us tonight in their respective responsibilities. Which is what youwant and need out of your senior group.

On seeing Ohio State play on TV …
“Were familiar with them. We have seen them on TV a couple of times. We have played them a couple of times in the spring over the years so I am familiar with some of their players. They do have some freshman and newcomers that are making an impact for them so we did have a chance to see them. Really in the last week we have started to see them and break them down a little bit more. And tonight I had the opportunity to get a feel for how they goabout things but they are a very good team.

On the short turnaround time …
“You want to be prepared, but you don’t want to over prepare either. You want to allow your athletes to play and play free and just get out there and do the things they do best. Too much information can paralyze you and we will give them what we feel is enough to be successful. There are obviously some good players with Ohio State that we need to know some tendencies on and we will make sure we nail those down tonight and tomorrow.

On the team’s serving errors …
” It was the first night out in the tournament and we wanted to serve aggressively. We have no problems with us missing some serves, we actually were very error free in the last few matches of the year. You’re going to have matches like that and tonight we had no problem with it. To be honest it really helped us because by the end of the match, we started getting them out of system with our serving so if we backed off we may not have gotten that opportunity in the third set. So we found the place we needed to serve to effect our offense in the third set, and we stayed aggressive and we will live with some errors.

On Anni Thomasson …
“She was pretty good, she didn’t get a whole lot of kills but she stressed the defense by where she hit the ball and made plays. The thing about Anni is she can do everything well, she passed very well and impacted with her block a couple of times. She didn’t terminate the ball but she got a lot of balls that were completely out of system, and she did a good job of getting all the digs we needed her to.

On possible fatigue…
“I think it becomes mental and it starts to come into play. Our group is pretty prepared for that. We don’t play back-to-back matches but when we are on the road, we play Friday practice Saturday and play on Sunday. So I don’t think its something where we are going to be completely out of the element. When you get the adrenaline pumping and you’re playing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it becomes less of a factor as execution and mentally the desire to compete.

On game plan vs. Ohio State…
“Because we’ve gone through game plans thirty- some times this year, there’s going to be a lot of things that we’re going to say that they’ve already done. We’re not going to tell them things that they haven’t executed before. There’s not enough turnaround time. We’re going to give them information that we’ve executed on certain teams in the past, and let us go after it, see where it falls. Again, you don’t want to give them too much information because you don’t want them thinking out there, you want them responding and playing.

Kentucky Student-Athletes

#15 Jackie Napper, DS, Sr.

On difference between Oakland and Ohio St. …
“We faced a lot of different types of teams in the SEC. There are a lot of different types of offenses and defenses, so we are used to adjusting to that. Watching Oakland, learning the game plan, adjusting to it as the match went on, and now going to watch video on Ohio State, we will focus in on what they do and what we can do to stop it. We will be prepared. We have to come out and play the best match of our season.

#12 Lauren O’Conner, OH, Sr.

On a slow start, but getting going late …
“At first, they were only blocking one on Kaz (Brown) and once we made the adjustment it allowed us to free up a few for me. It’s obviously easier for me to hit one-on-one, so Kazgetting hot early was really helpful for me.

On Oakland’s fight and grit …
“They’re a good team as well. We just take it one match at a time, and after this, we will go watch video on Ohio State. This match is now past us and we are focused on Ohio Statenow.

On if she has seen Ohio State this season …
“On the Big Ten Network, Wednesday night is a huge volleyball night on TV, so I was able to catch many games on that network, which is awesome. It just depends on what you have on your TV.

Oakland Head Coach Rob Beam

Opening Statement …
“I’m extremely proud of our team, I’m extremely proud of the effort they put out there tonight. They played really hard, they executed what we prepared exactly, they made the adjustments we wanted, we just couldn’t get over the set-win hump but that doesn’t detract from the season we’ve had in any way. In fact this performance only ads to it. It leaves a strong legacy for the 2014 team to compete on this level against a really well-coached, well-prepared team that has real potential to advance in this tournament.

On the team’s mood after the second set…
“I don’t think the mood changed to be honest, one of my comments before facing this team was that it was going to be a good match-up for us, that Kentucky is a very good volleyball team, but we have some things that are very similar in our styles of play and the types of athletes that we have and I thought it was going to be a good match-up and be close. Coaches sometimes tell teams things that are true and sometimes things that are shades of true, and I think going into the second set we actually believed that, how we prepared both physically and mentally they believed that, and then the third set just started out slow. Sometimes that just happens, and Kentucky at one timeout had eight kills in 11 swings with no errors. When a team plays like that it doesn’t matter what youdo, they were just absolutely dialed in.

On UK’s effort against Sammy Condon …
“I think that Kentucky came out very prepared for her. I think for the first set that was their game plan, to slow down Sammy and front her and follow her all over the court and it just created a slow start for her. But she is a really fantastic player and a really good athlete and a tough competitor.

Oakland Student-Athletes

#12 Melissa Deatsch, OH, Soph.

On her performance against Kentucky…
“Well I’m only 5-foot-10 and these girls are a lot bigger than me so I knew there were other ways I needed to contribute out there, and most times that is through my defense. I’ve tried to make that my focus, and my offense usually comes off of that, cause I’m not really worried about it.

On her experience in the NCAA tournament…
“That was one of the most fun matches that I think I have played in. We had so much fight and I think that we really proved a lot, we earned a lot of respect tonight and it is too bad we went down in three sets because it doesn’taccurately show how good of a match it was.

#23 Taylor Humm, OH, Sr.

On feeling disappointment after the loss…
“It is hard to say that I have any disappointment because I did not picture myself here until we won the (conference) championship. For me to be here in this position is the best way I could ever end my senior year, and to just go out with a fight with nothing to lose, to me just means that you have a respect for your opponent and if you give everything it means you have nothing to be disappointed about. With the girls that I’ve been with through my senior year, it’s been a progression for this program and gaining respect from playing a very competitive match is exactly how I hope we are perceived of now.

On the close second set …
“Yeah if it was tied after that set it could be anyone’s game. Our pregame speech is we have nothing to lose and if you play with intensity you don’t know what’s going to happen but anything can happen and that’s what’s exciting about playing Kentucky in the NCAA tournament, anything could happen, and I think wegave our all.