Nov. 15, 2007

Recap | Final Stats

UTAH STATE VOLLEYBALL Post-Match Quotes

Utah State vs. San Jose State
WAC Tournament
Nov. 15, 2007

USU head coach Grayson DuBose, senior opposite hitter Amanda Nielson and sophomore middle blocker Danielle Taylor talk after USU's WAC Tournament loss to San Jose State.

Head coach Grayson DuBose:

Overall thoughts:

"I think it's been a heck of a year for our team. We've improved in a lot of areas. We've had two great seniors who have really made a difference for our team in Amanda Nielson and Monarisa Ale, and they've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our program to make it better and we're much better now than we were at the beginning of the year."

On momentum changing in game four:

"Our ball control fell apart a little right at the end. They did a nice job blocking, Niki Clement got us one time that really sticks out in my mind as just a real nice time to go get a block and right there at the end of the match is a good time. She did a nice job. Just some uncharacteristic ball handling errors there in the end, we didn't pass quite as well as we could so we could set well and run a nice offense. It got real predictable there in the end."

On what to attribute those errors to:

"I think a combination of things probably. Our inexperience at some key positions, our libero and our setter, they've had some wonderful seasons, but under stress we needed them to be better."

On young players on team:

"The Freshman of the Year for the WAC is our setter and she did a nice job. She continues to get better and better... I really like the dynamic of our team, to be real honest. I think we have this nice young group that are putting together some really nice environments in our gym where we're competing at a high level and working hard. We have a sophomore here that's going to be a junior (Danielle Taylor) and she's getting better and better with each match that she plays. She's starting to learn more and more about volleyball."

"The biggest deal for us is that we're going to miss our seniors, we're going to miss their leadership, we're going to miss their competitiveness in the gym. I've really appreciated that and I've really appreciated getting to know those two, they're good kids and good volleyball players."

On Chelsea Fowles' serving:

"Chelsea has some real strengths and serving is one of those. Obviously setting is one of those as well.

Overall:

"We hit .265, we did all the things we needed to do to have success. In the end, the game to 15 is kind of a crap shoot to be honest. They were just better at the end than we were."

Sophomore middle blocker Danielle Taylor:

On rallying from 14-9 in the fifth game:

"I think we've been really good about coming back and in the end, we just wanted it so bad, but I don't even know what happened."

On Chelsea Fowles' serving:

"She's a really good server, and she did good.

Senior opposite hitter Amanda Nielson:

On senior season:

"This has probably been my funnest year. It's hard to end it like this but we had some good runs. Things happen, you can't do anything about them. I love playing here and this was definitely my funnest year and the best team I've played on since I've been here. It's been fun. I'm glad we had a lot of young girls that played well for Mona and me so we could end our careers with some fun and do well."

On emotions after high of beating 10th-ranked Hawai'i on Saturday and losing to San Jose State on Thursday:

"It doesn't mean anything because if we can't beat San Jose State, it doesn't crap. Sure we had fun but nobody cares right now because it's really a mute point right now because it's the tournament and we're out so that's all that matters. I mean that's fun but you can't dwell on that forever. I was excited about that to end my career with beating Hawai'i, but I would have rather won the WAC Championship and not lost in the first round. I think that's a bigger deal."