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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE


November 2, 2015


Kelly Sheffield


Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Head Volleyball Coach, Kelly Sheffield is here. We will have some opening comments and take questions.

COACH SHEFFIELD: Thanks, Brian. First of all, played in front of a couple of sold-out crowds this past week, really, really appreciative of the fan support and the energy that they bring to us in the fieldhouse. We'll never take that for granted.

You know, I feel like we're, you know, probably about a month ago we were -- beginning of the season we were a team that really seemed to be leaning on pretty much the one player that was consistent at the net, was probably Haleigh Nelson, and it feels like we're starting to get some other pieces to the puzzle that are -- that are stepping up their game and playing better and performing at a more consistent level.

It feels like we can go to a lot of different places at a lot of different times, and depending on the opponent and what our strategy is, that we can -- we've got some options.

So, you know, we feel like we're headed in the right direction, and we've got Michigan, Michigan State this weekend. Michigan, we were -- really good team that we were in a couple of battles with. I think we were 2 points away from losing at their place in five last year, so we know how talented they are and how many different attackers they bring.

Michigan State, there are probably -- there are probably not too many teams that are more physical than what they are, so we're excited about getting back on the train and preparing for this week.

Q. You moved Madison into the serving rotation a few weeks ago and kinda had her moments each way. Seems like the last two or three matches she has had nice runs for you and also ended up back serving at critical points in matches, too. Just her progress in that role?
COACH SHEFFIELD: Yeah, really happy, you know, with the direction that Madison is going. She wants to be on the court, and, you know, she is a hard worker, a good kid, and, you know, when she's -- when she goes for it, she's got a pretty nasty serve, and that's one of the things that I joked around with her a little bit is, you know, sometimes her serve comes from the "child's menu," so we talked to her about let's get rid of the corn dogs and the macaroni and cheese and the applesauce and things like that, and let's start serving from the adult menu and putting some pace on the ball and really doing something with it and take some chances, and when she does that, you know, she can -- that ball dances for her, you know?

The next key, you know, is you serve and you go and defend. The first match or two she put a good serve in and the ball would hit about 2 inches away from her and, you know, looks like a bull fighter with her "Ole`" so the past couple of matches, she's got down there, and she's made some good digs, and we have had some long-scoring runs off of that.

You mentioned she has had a couple of times where the games were on the line, or right there at the match, or coming out of a time-out, and the kid's executed in those situations. And I think what that does is it just builds confidence in your teammates that, hey, these big situations, I've got ice in my veins.

Q. I think last week you said it's one thing to win but it's a lot better to win and play well. Throughout this four-match winning streak you guys are on, how do you feel like you played well winning?
COACH SHEFFIELD: I think we're getting -- I think defensively we're starting to become the type of team that we want to be. I don't think we were that at the first part of the season. We were learning the effort that had to be -- that you had to put in to defense, to be the type of team that we want to be. There is a really big difference when, you know, I was talking with the team last week, when we're holding teams to 180 or below; I think we were like 13-1. I think we're 15-1, something like that right now.

When they're hitting above 180, I think we're 1-5 or something. So that's an area that when we are defending, that we can be pretty good. I think we've gotten better in that. I think we've gotten a lot better at attacking at a system. I think part of that is, you know, when Lauren is running off the net, I think there's -- probably putting up a better ball for these hitters. These hitters aren't getting blocked as much, they're not just going low seam and blasting it into the block with their eyes closed. They're going and attacking high, hitting other areas of the court, maybe living to see another day after that. I would probably say those are the areas that we're getting a little bit better at in the past month.

Q. We talked about schedules the last couple of weeks. Will we ever see a Big Ten volleyball postseason tournament?
COACH SHEFFIELD: Um, maybe. There has been a lot of discussion, and, you know, I've got mixed thought on it. I think quite a few coaches do. The tough thing is that during that time, you know, you're in school, there is a -- you can't play -- you know, is it everybody that's in? Is it only half the teams that are in? Nobody wants to go into the NCAA Tournament the week after, and you just played four or five matches in a row on four or five days and now you've got no legs because you've just -- you've jumped like crazy.

If that happens over the Thanksgiving holiday, where are you playing at? What crowd is going to be showing up for it? So, you know, do you do it somewhere neutral like somewhere in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend and some of the travel and the weather uncertainty and you play in front of maybe a thousand people, or do you go to Madison or Omaha or something where you know you can pack the place? But I don't think the other schools are going to be too jacked up about playing there.

I think it would be awesome, I think it would just be a really, really cool event, and I'm not sure it will happen.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Kelly.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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