Published Dec 15, 2024
Quotebook: Nebraska and Wisconsin VB coaches + players preview Elite Eight
Inside Nebraska
Staff

It's red vs. red. It's powerhouse vs. powerhouse. It's Nebraska volleyball vs. Wisconsin volleyball.

All for the right to net a trip to Louisville, boast yet another win in the rivalry series, secure another Final Four berth and an opportunity to win another national championship.

Ahead of today's Elite Eight matchup between the two Big Ten foes (2 p.m. CT on ABC and WatchESPN), below is a Quotebook from Saturday's pre-match press conference with the Huskers and Badgers.

Here are the key takeaways from Nebraska coach John Cook and Husker stars Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly, plus Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield and Badger stars Julia Orzol and Anna Smrek.

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NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL

Huskers head coach John Cook:

Opening statement

“This is what ABC wanted. This is what everybody wanted, what the NCAA Tournament wanted was us and Wisconsin. Now they’ve got it. Huskers will be fired up.”

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On playing a team three times in one season

“Our mindset is that we take every match one at a time. I can’t even remember when we played them last because we’ve had so many other matches in between. We prepare just like we normally do. We break everything down and treat it like this is the first time we’re playing them.”

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On players stepping up in big moments

“That’s why they call it a team. Not everybody is going to be an All-American all-star every night. Our goal is to be a great team every night. We can win with somebody getting hot, we can win with our block and defense. We don’t have to be perfect every night. That’s one of the great things about this team. We’ve won a lot of different ways. Our goal tomorrow will be to have everybody play their best match of the year and our crowd to have their best match of the year.”

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On playing a regional final on national television

“TV is just really recognizing the interest in women’s volleyball, and putting it on ABC is a statement that they really think this is worth it. It’s a great product, it’s a great show, it’s a great sport. It’s exciting. We’ve been watching tons of volleyball. It was exciting watching the Texas A&M/Wisconsin match yesterday. This is a time of year where everything is on the line. To be on ABC, and ESPN2 is also televising, I wasn’t really excited about playing until midnight last night. I’m sure you guys aren’t either. The good thing is, we’re not playing at 9 in the morning, which we’ve had to do in the past. Women’s sports are exploding and this is a great statement to that.”

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On the seniors’ last match at Devaney

“I don’t even want to think about it. I’m not going there.”

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Middle blocker Andi Jackson

On the team’s mindset going into the first two matches against Wisconsin

“I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating playing Wisconsin, I would say it’s exciting. I think they’re a really good program and a great team and getting to play such high level volleyball is super exciting for our team. I know that we really enjoy that. Preparing for it, it’s more just, go out and take it. We have nothing to lose. At the end of the day, it’s just another volleyball game. It’s volleyball versus volleyball. It’s not us versus Wisconsin.”

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On being vocal about what’s at stake

“This team does a really good job of not having too many chefs in the kitchen. We all understand that we have one common goal. Sometimes it can feel very overwhelming with how many people are throwing stuff out there, and I think we do a really good job of balancing, everyone pulling their weight, everyone is giving their 100%. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to give 100% vocally. It’s more like, you give 100% physically and we can have a couple people give their 100% vocally.”

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On Sunday being the last match at Devaney and sending the seniors out with a win

“I’m very motivated. It’s going to be a really fun game, a super fun environment. It’s the last game in the Bob for our seniors and Bergen and I’s sophomore year. Time is flying, so I want to absorb it and absorb the moment and play our best match of the year, to an extent.”

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On how she handles it when things aren’t clicking

“That’s the incredible thing about our team. When I’m not having my best night or if any of our hitters aren’t having their best night, we’re such a balanced team. Not that it doesn’t matter, but they can carry your weight. If you’re having a 60% night, then they have your 40%. I think that’s what makes this team so special. If I’m struggling one night, I know that I can control the controllables. Maybe hitting isn’t going well, but what can I do blocking-wise, what can I do defensively to help the team still? There are so many ways you can show up. That’s what makes volleyball such an incredible sport. It’s not just one thing. There’s so much that goes into it and all those different factors. So it’s just, what can I do right now even if this isn’t working?”

Setter Bergen Reilly

On the benefits of playing a team they’re familiar with

“It definitely helps. We have their tendencies in our head and we kind of know a little bit about what’s coming. Each game, they’ve made little changes, so we have to adjust to those too. Having this day in between will be really good for us to refresh on that and get back used to it. It definitely helps that we already have a scouting report in our head and don’t have to start from scratch.”

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On Harper Murray and finding her hand when she’s hot

“I like to set the hot hand. This season, luckily, we’ve had a lot of hot hands pretty much every game. It’s been easy to balance. Like you said, she was on fire last night and finding her as much as you can is really all you can do, while also trying to keep everybody else in it and not let the block just go to her. It’s a balance of wanting to feed her a lot, but also keeping the other team honest and keeping the rest of our team in it and running a normal offense, too.”

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On being vocal about what’s at stake

“I think we do a good job of preparing that in advance. We can just talk about meetings that we’ve had, keywords that we have for our team to just bring us back to the moment. Like Coach said, every game is one game at a time. We’re not necessarily thinking ‘we want to win this so we can play on Sunday or we can get to Louisville.’ It’s more like, ‘let’s win this next point and then we can go from there.’ I think we do a lot of that communication and that prep in advance, so it helps us a lot in the moment.”

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On running the offense when Wisconsin is familiar with it

“I think just keeping the balance. It’s hard to defend any team that has a really good balance, no matter what kind of scouting report or anything you have on them. If everyone can put a ball down at any time, they’re going to be a tough team to stop. I think focusing on that going in, and we have our little wrinkles to our offense too. Keeping a balance and keeping them on their toes.”

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WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL

Badgers head coach Kelly Sheffield

Opening statement

“This is a special group. They’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve got two seniors here that have been a part of a lot of great seasons. It’s a group that I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy being around, on and off the court. We’re certainly looking forward to the challenge we have tomorrow, playing a great team in a great venue.”

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On playing on national TV

“We’re certainly excited about playing the match. It’s pretty cool that it’s on ABC and I’m sure there will be a lot of people that are watching. No matter what the result is, it’s usually pretty compelling volleyball when the two teams meet up. It’s usually pretty high level. I’m sure that’ll show. The matches so far in this tournament, the number of really high-level, compelling, tough matches, it’s been an unbelievable tournament so far. It’s kind of interesting because you see almost all 1s and 2s. I think you have one third seed. You would think that it’s just the favorites that are going, but man, everybody has had to grind and dig in and fight. It’s been awesome, and the fact that you have one of these on that network is pretty cool.”

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On how challenging it is to beat a team three times in a season

“When you’re the team that has lost the first two, the obvious question is, do they believe that they can win? That’s the obvious. When you get to this stage, I think when maybe there’s a thought that somebody is going to take somebody for granted, that just doesn’t happen with competitors. There’s too much at stake. The opportunity to go to a Final Four is a dream for anybody. When that’s right in front of you, you’re going to get everybody’s best, no matter how many times you’ve beaten somebody. I think our players believe and I don’t think that’s going to be a problem on our end. On their end, they’re pretty driven to get to that next step again. I think you’ll see two really highly driven teams. Should make it a lot of fun.”

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On how much scouting they’ll do

“We didn’t stick around. That would be a little bit unusual, but there was a lot going on here. Sometimes you’re not able to really watch too much with distractions. We thought it was more important to go and get a good meal and get a good sleep. I’m sure everybody was watching last night as we were getting ourselves cleaned up and all those things. If it was an environment we wanted our players to get used to, we probably would have stayed here, or if it was a team we didn’t know much about. You’re right, it was pretty late. The turnaround is pretty quick. It’s a day and a half. You’re immediately just trying to think of, how do we get our minds right and our bodies right? It quickly gets into that mode.”

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On the senior class and what it means to Wisconsin volleyball

“They’ve elevated it. Can you leave a program better than when you walked into it? Certainly, that’s a focus of mine as a coach and that’s something we talk to our players about. I don’t think there’s any question about these two and any other seniors. They’ve elevated the program and they’ve inspired a lot of people along the way, as they’ve played. They’ve represented the university and athletic department with a lot of class and enthusiasm. These two and everybody in that class is the epitome of what a student-athlete should be. I’m proud to be their coach and excited to get after it with them tomorrow.”

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On the Big Ten season with four new teams

“It was an awesome challenge. It’s always hard to win a Big Ten championship. That’s just really impressive seasons by both Penn State and Nebraska to be able to do that. You have the travel element. Compression has gotten to be even more of a thing. The level of play and the style of play, all four of those teams bring a different style. It was a fun year. When it’s all said and done, I’ll say it was an exhausting year. Right now, I’m pretty energized. John (Cook) has mentioned numerous times over the years, how much harder winning a Big Ten championship is than winning a national championship. I haven’t seen any stats on that or anything, but it is really hard to do. You just have so much respect when somebody is able to do it. And it just got worlds harder this year. If you’re a competitive junkie, there isn’t anything better, and adding those four teams has just elevated it.”

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Outside hitter Julia Orzol

On the mentality of the team going into Sunday

“I feel excitement. There’s excitement that we get another chance to meet this team and show better volleyball. That’s what we’re focusing on. For now, for preparation, what we can do during this one day of transitioning from yesterday. We know what’s waiting, neither team is going to lose this game. Somebody will have to go and grab that win. We are preparing for a great fight and great volleyball.”

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On the Nebraska/Wisconsin rivalry

“It’s just good volleyball. It’s so fun going into these games and knowing that you’ll get their best every time. I would say it’s just fun.”

Opposite hitter Anna Smrek

On playing a team they’re familiar with when there’s a quick turnaround

“I think it comes in handy, but each team is going to look a little bit different trying to get that upper hand on teams. I think it’s just, how can we get better from each time we’ve seen them and learn from our own game? Also, what were they trying to do against us? It’s about still finding ways to get better and not just staying stagnant with the information we do already know.”

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On the Nebraska/Wisconsin rivalry

“That’s one of the reasons that we all love the game of volleyball, is the competitiveness. Each side is just so driven with that. A lot of people sometimes question what goes on through the net or that little back and forth banter, but that’s some of the fun, and the competition that just drives even more. Especially being able to do that as a team, having backup, it’s just so fun.”

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