Dec. 9, 2005
Santa Clara Head Coach Jon Wallace
Opening statement:
"That was fun, we loved it. I didn't think it was going to be like this, I wanted it to be because my nerves were unraveling as the week went on, playing Pepperdine, a West Coast Conference team. The whole week long our girls were like, `We got it, Coach, we got it, we're fine!' They saved me this week. The girls played great, they were focused, like I said last week, they were going to be ready to play and they were. I walked into the team room right after and they yelled for about a minute and then they yelled `Who's Next? Let's go prepare and get ready to play tomorrow night.' We're in uncharted grounds as a program, and as a team, and I think we like that. We're going to do our best to play hard and aggressive tomorrow night."
On beating Pepperdine:
"I have tremendous respect for that program. I think they helped us as a program, being so good in our conference and leading the way. For us to have to compete against the twice a year has made us better. To beat them now I think we would say that they are that team in our conference that people think of and to beat them in a meaningful game like tonight, I love it."
On Crystal Matich:
"She's been amazing. All year long she's been great, the passing was excellent, she takes that ball and distributes it as you can see from the stats, how many girls we have hitting well and with a lot of kills. I'm looking through the percentages and one player hitting .765, I mean that's awesome to me, I can't even tell you where that starts as far as opening people up, and Cassie, .455, I think that's been an average night for her this year."
On the team overall:
"Like I've said, some teams come together and they are special, and this team has it and they all do their part and not one of them can lead this team and drive it, they all do. They all take their role and do it."
On Kristen Luxton:
"Kristen's serving tonight was amazing. It got them on their heels and I think when the rest of the team saw that they all picked up their serving. Their two really good middles were kind of non-factors because our serving was so tough and I think Kristen's serving set the tone for us."
On Arizona and Ohio:
"I haven't seen Ohio play except for on tape. I know they are a very unique team, they're pretty quick and they have a special system that they run. Arizona has two special outsides in Abernathy and Glass. Last time we played them we did a really nice job of not stopping them, but controlling them and keeping them from being able to go off for 35-36 kills. We were kind of able to keep her in the 22-25 range, which for her is not a good night. I don't know who's going to win, to be honest with you, I think it's a clash of two completely different styles. Arizona could overpower them and Ohio could beat them with quickness. It should be interesting."
Santa Clara Opposite Hitter Cassie Perret
On the first game:
"Whenever you start losing a lead, you've gotta maintain your focus and confidence. Even though they got a lot of points from us, I thought we did a great job of coming back. We were really determined and I think we were just really confident the whole time. We really believed in ourselves and knew we could come back."
On the team's aggression:
"We just want it so much, we don't have to talk about it, we all know we want it. It's the postseason and you win or you're out, so we want it so badly that we're just goin g to play and do it."
Santa Clara Setter Crystal Matich
On winning on her birthday:
"It was a pretty exciting day, it was a gift from my team. This is celebration enough!"
Santa Clara Middle Blocker Anna Cmaylo
On her hitting:
"I try not to think about it beforehand, but when I'm in the air obviously I try to hit it where they're not. If they're there, I'll just whale away and hope that they don't catch up."
Santa Clara Serving Specialist Kristen Luxton
On reaching the Elite Eight:
"I couldn't think of a better senior year, the team right now, we're so focused and we're all on the same page and so dedicated to achieving the same goal. It's great to be a part of it."
Pepperdine Head Coach Nina Matties
Opening statement:
"I'm not real thrilled with the performance right there. Those are some of the demons that we've been kind of battling all year and I thought we were over how we played tonight but obviously we weren't. I thought Santa Clara played very well. I'm happy for our conference that we have teams in the Sweet 16 and teams in the Elite Eight. I think its awesome for Pepperdine and for Santa Clara."
On Santa Clara:
"Crystal [Matich] played very well tonight. Santa Clara played very well, Crystal played well, Cassie [Perret] played really well, they did a good job."
