Coach Kelly Sheffield

Coach Sheffield opening statement:"That's always a tough team to play against. It's a team that puts a lot of stress on you in a lot of different areas. They really keep you off balance with their serving. They throw a lot of different players at you and they're running a lot of different plays and I thought we battled really well today."

On being able to pull away during the sets:
"We didn't do that early in the year at all. When it got down to the end of sets, we were actually getting outscored and that hasn't been the case recently. I think a lot of things we've been executing in what we call 'winning time,' when it's right there at the end and it's are we executing in that situation. I think we are playing with confidence and when you communicate and you know what each other's doing then good things happen.
 
"I think that just comes with experience and it comes when you've got good players, but that's a great observation and something we've been doing a lot better job and that was something we were getting pummeled in earlier. That was one of the reasons we weren't closing out sets a lot and we weren't winning game fives, which is a similar version of it so as we've gone through. We've gotten a lot better at the end."
 
On the lengthy delay: "I think there was a score-keeping issue or something that somebody wrote down the wrong thing. But we've had lights that have gone out in the middle of matches, we've had rain delays, we've had airplane delays, we've had airplane cancellations. We've had a little bit of everything."

"The thing I really liked is that after that delay, we come back. Taylor (Morey) sinks the pass, first-option kill going to Haleigh (Nelson) and puts the ball (away) … it's back to work. That play right there was a great indication of where we were. It takes maturity to sit around and like they said, they were frustrated. But you control what you can control and when that whistle blows, are you ready to go? We were and we got some momentum. I thought we started playing a lot better that second half because of how we came out of that."

Junior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson

On staying engaged during the lengthy delay and finishing games: "We talk a lot in the huddle just to stay focused and to stay calm in those moments. Frustration can take hold because it was such a long delay. But when you're locked in and discussing different things we need to do. So we're still talking about the match. Just making sure the long wait doesn't trigger frustration and make us lose focus.

On constantly scrambling on defense and whether it's a testament to will power or Ohio State's offense: "I'd like to think it's how hard they work in the back row. Ohio State does do a good job of running a lot of plays all over the place, so that does keep them reading a lot but they do work really hard so that's pretty much a tribute to them.

On her impressive stats today: "I think I take the most pride in digs."

On her developing role and impressive play: "I'm a lot more confident than I was at the beginning of the year. It wasn't so much that I was not confident but it's just been growing. My teammates really try to build me up. T (Taylor Morey) is always one of those people that is right there supporting me. I do have more confidence than I did at the beginning of the year but also the plays they set up make it easy to be successful."

On making sure to end senior day on a high note:
"I mean we talked about that yesterday about how we have all of the celebration stuff. Our locker room is decorated and everything and it's a day to celebrate T (Taylor) but the best thing we can do for her is to give her a win on her Senior Day. Even though we were obviously all a little giddy because this is the day we can celebrate everything T has put into this program, the most important thing is to go out and get the win for her."

Senior libero Taylor Morey
 
On getting choked up on senior day:
"Yeah definitely, I mean obviously the journey is not over. We have a lot of games left to play but it's just awesome to see...the support behind Badger volleyball. You can't go to many schools and have 6,000 people standing and cheering in the Field House, roaring as you're announced on Senior Night. I love being a Badger and I love playing in the Field House."