2008 NCAA National Champions NCAA Championship Quotes National Championship: Penn State 3, Pepperdine 1 Opening Statement: Mark Pavlik (Penn State Head Coach) “I’d like to say congratulations to Coach Dunphy and his staff for the run that their Pepperdine team made, dealing with the injuries they had. This was a microcosm of our season, coming back from a disappointing game one to win three straight. Overall, I thought that they responded well from game one, coming back from the four-point run that we gave up.” On the play that he felt changed the match: “The biggest play in my mind was in game two when it was tied 28-28, and (Pepperdine’s Paul) Carroll served a laser that Dennis (Del Valle) just nailed, Luke put up and Max just put it away. I thought that really made a difference and changed our momentum. I don’t want that play to get lost in all the other things we did well.” On what this match means to him: “I’m really just the caretaker of this program. To give this team the opportunity to play their best at the highest level, it’s rewarding to me. These guys played better than I coached, that’s for sure.” On an East Coast team winning the National Championship: “The grassroots at scholastic and club level, the players are in it for the right reasons. You don’t have to have a tan in February to be a good volleyball player. These guys played their butts off, and hopefully there’s some 12-year-old in Iowa that decides if they work hard, they can be like Matty [Anderson].” On the idea of having a libero on the All-Tournament team: “I have three words for you: Dennis Del Valle. The libero position has become so important for the men’s game. When you have someone who is as good as Dennis, it gives your setter a chance to guide you to a .400 hitting percentage on the year. He’s phenomenal.” Matt Anderson (Junior Outside Hitter) “I’m kind of awe-struck right now with what happened. Coming back again, just like we did at the Outrigger [against Hawai’i], it’s pretty cool to see. One of the things I’m proud of is our never-say-die attitude. I had all the confidence in the world in Jay, Max and myself to put balls away, and in Luke to always put things right where they needed to be.” On consecutive blocks on Paul Carroll at the end of game three: “Any time you can block a player and take them out of their offense, take them out of their flow, especially a big hitter like Paul, it’s a good thing. He was really beating us early, so it was good to turn it around.” Luke Murray (Senior Setter) On attacking from the middle: “That was our game plan from the beginning. (Pepperdine) doesn’t really set their middles much, so with their scout team, they don’t really see an attack there like Max & Max can make.”
On his play encouraging smaller setters: “I hope it does. It just goes to show that you don’t have to be huge, just be smart, and have a good libero.” Dennis Del Valle (Freshman libero) “We set a goal at the beginning of the season, and we just think of that goal and practice really hard in the gym. My teammates gave me the confidence I had to play hard.” Opening Statement: Marv Dunphy (Pepperdine Head Coach) “I give a lot of credit to Penn State. We had a lot of chances. We snuck back in the game and took game one. They (Penn State) made some great plays to take game two. Maybe if we got that game it might of been different but you can’t play the shoulda, woulda, coulda game. I give them credit, they made plays when they needed to.” Regarding his players being tired from four matches in the past two weeks: “I don’t think what we did a few nights ago or a few weeks ago mattered tonight. Their middles were more experienced and came in with more pedigree than us. They have good talent in there.” On injuries during the season: “For awhile I would have figured on going 12-9, but we had a good run at the end. To have a chance to compete for the national championship and then come up short is tough. We can say we got better as time went on, but it might take awhile for that to sink in.” Jonathan Winder (Senior setter) “We wanted to set the middle, it just wasn’t working too well. We didn’t have success early and our middle just didn’t work, in large part to their serve that was knocking us off the net. It was really their good serving, they served tough a lot.” On his decision to attend Pepperdine: “It was a great decision to come here and it is hard to think that it is over. It will be tough to leave. The coaching staff we have had here has been tremendous. Pepperdine is one of the classiest schools in America. There is no place like it. I am truly blessed to have gone there. Winning the national championship my freshman year, I am glad to have done that.” Paul Carroll (Junior opposite): “I felt they made some good plays at the right time. They are a pretty good team.” On the block in game two to take the 29-28 lead: “I felt that was a huge play in the match. There was a rally and we had some good touches. They (Penn State) ended up making some good plays to end the game.”
1994 & 2008 NCAA National Champions • 26 NCAA Championship Appearances • GoPSUsports.com • PENN STATE 2011–12
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