BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 3, 2026

Trent Kersten

Valentina Vaulet

Alanah Clemente

Oregon Ducks

Press Conference

TRENT KERSTEN: Super excited about this upcoming season. Last year was quite the challenge with having 15 new players, and trying to lay a foundation of what this can look like in the future, and I think we had a successful year with doing that.

I think we added some really exciting pieces to our gym and obviously got to retain two just incredible people sitting next to me. And super grateful for them believing in the vision of what we're trying to do and what we're trying to accomplish. And can't wait to show you guys what we've been working on.

Q. You talked about all those newcomers, 15 last year. How does that kind of settle things down going into year two, having built that familiarity and bringing back two players, great ones next to you?

TRENT KERSTEN: Yeah, I think the biggest thing that we were missing last year was spring and the value of an entire spring training block and six months with our strength coach, in Coach Radcliffe, and what that looks like on the developmental side of our bodies and how we want to play and how that just increase our ceiling a little bit on the things that we can do on the court.

Along with physical development, you also get some technical skills and some just chemistry that's built.

Q. How far ahead do you feel coming off this spring with the two returning leaders?

TRENT KERSTEN: I think it's a night-and-day difference. I think credit to the team that was with us and going into the last fall, we had people showing up at different times. We had Visa issues. We had, you name it. It was a pretty big challenge.

And I thought they rose to that. And this year, obviously, we have a bunch of returners. We had people that graduated early. We have a freshman class that's doing a great job right now. And we've got some exciting transfers.

So excited about where we are. Our gym is higher level right now than it was at this point last year, for sure.

Q. As a team and as individuals what have you worked on specifically in this offseason to help raise the bar again this season?

TRENT KERSTEN: Again, I'll just hammer the physical development side. That was such a huge focus for us going into our winter and spring quarter last year. And, again, we're lucky enough to have one of the legends in the industry in Coach Radcliffe. And super grateful to have him kind of guiding the way for our team's physical development.

VALENTINA VAULET: For me, I made sure that I worked a lot of mainly passing and digging just to make my game more complete. And the last season, my tech percentage was like pretty decent. I had to keep that consistent, but I was improving the other parts of my game they were not as good as last season.

ALANAH CLEMENTE: For me, it was definitely trying to be way more competitive this season to elevate our gym. Last season, I felt myself being a little timid just because we were all new. We were all going into new things.

But this season, I definitely feel like when I come into the gym, I'm hungry to go after it. I'm talking to my teammates. We're talking back to each other just to kind of build that comfortability with going after it with other teams and competing at a high level.

Q. What was the experience like with the national team training roster, how beneficial did it feel for you? And especially coming off a big year your expectations coming into the next year one?

ALANAH CLEMENTE: It's honestly been really great. It just makes me so happy because my dad is from Brazil originally. I feel like being doing this, I'm kind of, this is like a big thank you to him because he's been my number one supporter. And I just want to make him proud with everything I do, and I hopefully I am.

So being able to represent where he's coming from and where he grew up and my grandparents and my cousins, it's just really special to me. And coming off a big season, it's just been like blessing after blessing. And I can only thank God for that.

Q. Coach, what do you think about Alanah's big year she had, and how she can continue that momentum and her development that you've been talking about?

TRENT KERSTEN: Yeah, I think Alanah's biggest gift is that she is very present all the time. At 0-0, she's not scared of that moment. At 25-25, you're not gonna want anyone else on the service line than her. Sorry, Val. But that's when she rises to the occasion and when she's at her best.

So super grateful that she trusts me to coach her and that we've created a great relationship so far in her career.

Q. (Indiscernible). First year in the conference coaching, what stood out to you from Big Ten volleyball (indiscernible)?

TRENT KERSTEN: It's a monster. It is a challenge every single night. I think it's what we all signed up for and that's what makes it beautiful as well. Again, the Big Ten does a great job of marketing and supporting volleyball and the growth of it.

I think our teams do a great job of putting on a good product for game days. So it's really exciting. Every game's a new challenge.

Q. (Off microphone)?

VALENTINA VAULET: What I hope is to be a player that can solve problems very efficiently for my team. So when things get chaotic, just letting people know that they can come to me and I'll fix those problems for the most part. When I'm not doing that, I actually get more frustrated.

But, yeah, that's what I'm always hoping for, just any situation, any chaos that's going on. Because when things are going on the right track, it's easy to just step back and watch. And then when things are going wrong, I think they can always come back to me.

ALANAH CLEMENTE: That's honestly something that I admire about Val is that she is such a problem solver. Growing up in volleyball has honestly been tough because I've always had to carry such a huge load.

But having such a talented player and someone who is as experienced as her is such a relief that I can go after it. I can go get kills but it's not just all on one person. And I think it's such a blessing to have such a talented teammate as well.

Q. (Off microphone)

TRENT KERSTEN: She arrived in January. We've been able to work with her since then. She's doing a great job. I would say that our setter positional group has elevated. We've got Kam, who has really taken a step in her development. Just her physically coming into this season is significantly different. She's more ready to play. And so super proud of her and the work she's put in.

And then Marlena is, I think, a really underrated setter from New Jersey, East Coast. And she would be one of the most physical blockers in our conference in that position. She got here this summer.

Q. Alanah, do you take any serve-receive reps off of Valentina? And what has it been like to just have that kind of weapon at the service line?

ALANAH CLEMENTE: I do not take serve-receive reps off of Valentina. I haven't even tried. She has such a powerful serve. And watching our DSes and our liberos going after it, they're so talented. But no, I have not. Not yet. Maybe next practice.