Opening Statement: John Dunning (Head Coach) -
“Obviously Penn State is a great team, I’d really like to congratulate them. I thought they started the match aggressively. Obviously you all know they got the advantage on us early, I’m not exactly clear at this point what happened. I’m proud of our team after game two to come back with the effort. I know that they didn’t want to come in here to do this. It’s very difficult to step in and sit in front of you and talk to you after the feelings they have. I want to congratulate the great effort and heart they have showed tonight and all season.”
John Dunning (Head Coach) – Concerning what Bryn and Franci have meant to this team over the past four years.
“I think I can look back to Foluke’s freshman year and remember after a loss that ended our season, how inconsolable and responsible she felt and I know that’s exactly the way that Bryn and Franci feel right now. They’re leaders on our team, they’re captains on our team, they’ve been to three Finals matches in their careers, just great people. They have meant a lot to our program and always will, and I am sure they will go on to great things after this. But I don’t know if they can even talk right now.”
John Dunning (Head Coach) – Concerning Penn State’s back row defense.
“Yeah, I think we stepped our defense up to match it and I thought we served much better and but I thought they played great defense, especially in the first two games. I think block forced it, maybe we passed out of system, but I thought they did a wonderful job. They had some rallies that we thought we over, people were celebrating in the stands, but the play was still going on. That was a great effort by them.”
John Dunning (Head Coach) – Concerning Stanford having the momentum entering game five.
“You know it is such a momentum oriented game, I think we knocked them on their heels in game three and they thought they could recover and didn’t in game four. They just put their heart out on the floor, they were ready to start in game five. We all know that is what makes volleyball amazing to watch and play, because you get to that fifth game and who knows what is going to happen. It’s just so exciting, they just did a great job, they grabbed all the momentum and it’s hard to catch up when you get down three of four points.
John Dunning (Head Coach) – Concerning Bryn not making all-tournament team and her role in game three and four.
“It would be great to be on the team, but it’s not one of the things she strives for, it’s not what drives her, I thought she made some great choices, I thought Cynthia and Alix got really hot and were going a great job on the outside and I thought she set some beautiful sets to them to get great swings to get us going. Penn State started to feel some pressure after that and made some different blocking choices and that got the other side going. I thought she did a great job of being in control in those two games.
Foluke Akinradewo (Junior Middle Blocker) – Concerning no errors in game four and so many in game five, did you notice anything different about Penn State’s blocking?
“I noticed that maybe they were committing two on the middles some times, Penn State is a great blocking team. In the fifth game our goal is to be aggressive, but when you are aggressive some times you make errors and that is what happened.”
Bryn Kehoe (Senior Setter) – Concerning her career at Stanford
“I’m just very grateful that I had the opportunity to represent Stanford University for four years. I’m grateful that my family was able to support me my entire four years. I’m grateful for my great coaching staff that has supported me throughout my four years and I’m grateful for my wonderful teammates, who have not only been great teammates, but great friends.”
Cynthia Barboza (Junior Outside Hitter) – Concerning not accomplishing the NCAA Title yet and losing in the Final twice in a row.
“I think the goal going into next season is to win the national championship as opposed to losing for the third straight year, that would be ideal. Just kind of a double whammy, two back-to-back, just that much more drive for next season. ”
Cynthia Barboza (Junior Outside Hitter) – Concerning losing so close to home.
“It is closer than Pennsylvania, but the national championship was held on a neutral court. It would have been nice to win it here, it would be nice to win it anywhere to tell you the truth. Next year in Omaha, I hope.”
Cynthia Barboza (Junior Outside Hitter) – Concerning how Penn State improved since earlier in the season
“I think one of the keys was Wilson, she has come a long ways. I think when they played us, that was her first time playing middle. She is a phenomenal player. That did a lot in terms of speeding up their offense and incorporating their back row attack, which keeps blockers on their toes, because you can’t sit outside when they are out of system. Also, their defense has gotten a lot better, I mean teams grow over the course of the season and Penn State has done a lot of growing. They played a great match tonight and I am happy for them.”
Foluke Akinradewo (Junior Middle Blocker) – Concerning falling behind in game five
“We’ve been down a lot throughout the season and we’ve fought back. Of course you have a flash in your mind that your season could be over, but we have faith in each other and we thought we could fight back. We have usually been able to do that, but tonight we came up short.”
Foluke Akinradewo (Junior Middle Blocker) – Concerning why do you play a game that has only one ultimate winner
“Because of what you get at the end, you get a national championship. I’d take that risk every single day if I could, if I could get that national championship. That’s why we come to the court every day, that’s why we work hard because we want that end goal and it is worth a lot more than the risks.
