Hawaii post-match press conference quotes:
Hawaii head coach Robyn Ah Mow opening statement: “We are just excited for the game and winning. That was a good game, San Diego is a great team and they fought hard. My girls came out and they were on it, everything from blocking to serving, passing and everything. Hats off to them.”
On advancing to third round for first time since 2015: “In short, the people that were here last spring set a foundation for all of these newcomers. We had five freshmen coming in, plus transfers like Brooke and Bailey, to set a foundation this spring and to have that culture and people coming in they just bite into that culture. We just went. Starting two-a-days these guys were ready they were warmed up, ready, sweating, and it started from there. The culture of it. We had a few injuries this season, just before we started yesterday we got Jolie back and the team was whole again stepping into our second season and I think that was a good thing.”
On quick turnaround before playing in Wisconsin: “I don’t know if everybody else plays back to back games, we always play back to back, our tournaments are back to back. We always travel obviously off the island to the West Coast. I think more of it is like the schooling. Them getting their finals and tests done in a short time. I don’t think the travel will affect them, I think they’re just ready to go, everybody’s hungry, making it this far. We haven’t made it this far since 2015, so I think they will be pumped.
On difference this year to push team to third round: “Like I said, I’m not going to come in here and snap my fingers and we are going to play. Even with those last two years, with short outside hitters. It’s about fight and heart. In the last two years, they did that, it just takes a little bit more time. We aren’t going to snap our fingers and say, ‘hey this is our culture, get with it.’ It takes time and these girls are buying into it, and now this is the product.”
On setter’s execution: “Yeah, before going out to the game, I told them, ‘hey, we are not a one-woman show, we have a lot of attackers, we have a lot of weapons that we can use and you know obviously they used them tonight. If we pass well, our middles are getting up, then other teams have to honor our middles.’ They are doing great. The middles get up, we set them early, they bite on the middles, later on they are going to bite later, and there you go, outsides have a one-on-one. So, I think the setters did a great job.”
On challenges Nebraska will present: “I think all the 16 teams that made it are all great, they are probably going to be taller than us, but we just have to go, do some video and see what happens.”
Outside hitter Hanna Hellvig on advancing to third round for first time since 2015: “It has been so much fun and I think we have grown as a team and as individuals as well and we are ready.”
On quick turnaround before playing in Wisconsin: “Yeah, we have nothing to lose.”
On atmosphere in arena: “I feel like we do it together, all of us, every person in the crowd and it’s just amazing having all the sound around you, you are just locked in and it’s amazing.”
Middle blocker Amber Igiede on advancing to third round for first time since 2015: “I concur. I think that we have so much fun as a team. Yeah, we have talent but our mentality is what got us here. It’s exciting.”
On quick turnaround before playing in Wisconsin: “Yeah, I think as a team, we have worked so hard to get to this point so we wouldn’t want to let something like travel dictate, how we play or excuses like that so I think it’s such a fun time of the season, this is the best part, so we just want to go out and go hard.”
On atmosphere in arena: “I think we fed off of it, it was amazing. Even if we did something bad, I just think the noises they make I think is just great for us to keep playing. Obviously, we can play on the road without them, but they are such a big help to us.”
San Diego post-match press conference quotes:
San Diego head coach Jennifer Petrie opening statement: “First and foremost, Hawaii played fantastic tonight. They were a formidable opponent for sure and it felt like we were playing six against 10,000. That kind of atmosphere is an incredible home court advantage. I wish more teams could have that experience the fans are so uplifting and exciting to play in front of and friendly and it’s just electric in there and you can feel the energy, unfortunately for Hawaii while you’re playing. But it’s a tremendous volleyball atmosphere and it’s fun to play in. We certainly enjoy playing here, but they played really well. It’s not overshadowed by the fact that we have had a phenomenal season and we had a great senior class and they absolutely led us to a lot of fantastic and memorable victories this year and I am super proud of the way our girls have played the entire season. It was a lot of fun.”
On if Hawaii did anything that surprised them: “They passed really well. We tried to get them out of system but they moved the ball around quite a bit and we were one-on-one in a lot of areas and it made it difficult on our middles to close and put up a good block. Their hitters moved around really well against our defense so it kept us out of system a ton and they served well. I thought they served pretty tough tonight.”
On feelings about this particular team: “We mentioned in the locker room its been one of most favorable teams to coach. They came in and worked hard all the time. Not only did they want to get better but they were fun. They had so much passion for the game. They were great leaders, they led by example and they’ve just come so far. As freshmen just being in the background and hoping that one day that they were going to be good, and they actually are really good. It’s always hard when seniors leave and you have to replace them and move forward. It takes a while to move forward and get comfortable with the new group and the new dynamic and this is definitely going to be difficult because they have a big piece of our heart.”
On message to younger players: “The legacy that our seniors and alumni and the people before them have built, the tradition of this program just keeps going in this direction that makes them want to exceed the expectations of the past year and they did that this year even though we went to the Sweet 16 last year. We had our ups and downs and it was really tough season and they outplayed the team we had last year and outshined them and I am certain the girls that are returning are going to want to do the same next year. Get better every day and work hard in the spring so that we can hopefully host in the first round of 16 instead of having to play at Hawaii again. But we are thankful to be in the tournament of course, that’s always big part of our goals but we want to be better than that. Every year surpass what we have done in the past and find a national championship at San Diego.”
Setter Anna Newsome on emotional ending to season: “For me it’s over so just kind of emotional right now. I think we had a really good season regardless of how it ended. So, I’m just happy about how the season went and about my career at USD.”
On atmosphere and crowd: “I wish we had that same crowd at San Diego because we would play so good if everyone was cheering for us. But totally fun to play against such big crowds and it’s fun when we’re playing good against teams like this.”
Middle blocker Megan Jacobsen on takeaways from teammates emotions: “For me it’s just kinda reflecting on everything and how fun it’s been the past four years especially this group of girls, this team. Obviously, we’re pretty close-knit you can kinda tell, we were all kinda bawling in there but it’s hard for it to come to an end. That’s kinda where we are at right now, it hurts, but it’s a good season.
On atmosphere and crowd: “We were here earlier in preseason and they packed this gym and it’s so loud but personally I think our team loves it and we feed off of it. Unfortunately, we didn’t play very well tonight. I think it’s so much fun, such a blast playing in it. Something I’ll never forget.”
