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Opening Statement:
John Dunning (Head Coach) –
“Well it’s an honor to be here. It’s been a long road and a great season. I think our group knew that we had a lot of opportunity to start the year and have really capitalized on it. We’re pretty healthy and we’re looking forward to the weekend, representing the Pac-10. I think the three players sitting to my right have had amazing years, and we’re just looking forward to the next level of play this weekend.”
“I’d like to again say congratulations to (Sacramento State Head Coach) Debby Colberg since Sac State is the host school here, for the great career that she’s had.
John Dunning – On how each NCAA Championship is unique
“I’ve had the pleasure of getting to several Final Fours, and they never get old. Every team is different and they’re all enjoyable in different ways and this is a great group. It’s great to be with them here. And this is what our sport declares as the culmination of our season so it’s a great thing to be a part of it.”
John Dunning – On Cal being in the NCAA Championship
“Cal has continued to grow and I think Rich has done a marvelous job and Matt’s really helped coming in and joining the program. I think the Pac-10 in the last five or six years has been a hard conference to break into the upper echelon of, but now in the last two years there are five different Pac-10 teams that have been in the Final Four now. They were ahead 13-11 in the final game the last time we played them and we ended up winning, but that shows just how good they are right there and how much they’ve improved. This is the best Cal team I’ve ever seen.”
Bryn Kehoe (Senior Setter) – On the significance of this NCAA Championship
“It has been a great four years and it’s an honor to be here. Not just to be in the Final Four but to represent Stanford once again. This is my third time in the Final Four and I’m looking to finish out my career on a good note.
On what’s different about this team than others she’s been to the NCAA Championship with
“Every team is different. This year we are very balanced both offensively and defensively. We have great pass hitting, great offense and great defense. We have a great libero, Gabi, and I also have fantastic hitters to feed the ball to.”
Cynthia Barboza (Junior Outside Hitter) – On the difficulty of playing the same team for a third time (USC)
“It’s definitely difficult. But every weekend in our conference is like playing a national championship-caliber match. We experience it with USC, each time you come to play each other the other team has improved and made changes. You can never really bank on just because you beat someone in the past does not by any means you’ll be able to handle them this time. All four teams here are very dangerous and very talented.”
On being named Academic All-American
“I actually had no idea that it had happened! But it’s a huge honor, especially at a school like Stanford that’s so tough academically. It’s tough to juggle and tough to manage at times but that’s what we signed up for when we signed up for this. I feel like I operate better when I have a bunch of different things going on in my life and I don’t have time to get lazy.”
Foluke Akinradewo (Junior Middle Blocker) – On improved hitting percentage
“I think a lot of it has to do with the players around me. There’s no way Bryn can set me the ball without a great pass or a great dig so that definitely helps. Bryn’s obviously a great setter, and I think I’m just learning about volleyball more and more every single day.”
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