2006-07 News Archives

2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09

2007 EIVA Championship Semifinal Quotes

Saint Francis 3, George Mason 1

Saint Francis Quotes
Opening Statement: Head Coach Mike Rumbaugh: "One of our goals was to come in and make it to the championship game like last year. We want to try to push one step further. This was a good year for us. Last year was good and we had that one good win against George Mason and we need to move on and get one great win against Penn State or Princeton to move on in the EIVA Championship and see what happens."

How much different does this year's win against George Mason feel than last year? Senior middle hitter Marc Honore: "It's the second time around, but it's the same emotion. We were all happy. It's a lot of hard work. We played better against Mason this year than we did last year and we fought until the end. Mason did a good job too, but we worked hard and got the victory, so that feels good."

What was the team's reaction after dropping game three? Freshman opposite Jordan Varee: "We knew after the second game that Mason was going to come back with some fire and we had to step up and play. We came out and they got a little run on us and we came back, they finally finished us off. We knew that after their win, they were going to come back with even more fire. We just had to step up even more."

What does your team have to do to be competitive with Penn State, assuming they win, on Saturday? Rumbaugh: "The difference between Penn State and us, as well as the rest of the league, is that they are just so much tougher from the service line. When they bring it, they bring a lot of heat. We have to be able to handle their service game first, then I think we can play with them."

How difficult is it to beat Penn State on their home court? Varee: "It's a very difficult task. I've only played them once on their home court and everyone comes to the games. They have the cheerleaders, the mascot, everybody's coming. We know that they will be really fired up because of the rematch from last year. They know that because of the rematch from last year, we're going to want it even more." Honore: "The most important thing is how we play on our side of the court. We have to handle the serves that are coming across and play well as a team and fight for the entire match. A lot of the guys have been here before so we don't have the jitters and we can help the freshmen out. As long as we keep it together on our side, I think we'll be good."

How does setter Shane Conley step up in situations like this? Rumbaugh: "I think Shane's done a really great job all year long in keeping the offense balanced. He's good at keeping other teams off-balance and making the hitters look as good as they do."

With Shane Conley as a setter, does he read when you're hot? Honore: "I think any good setter can realize what hitter is on at that moment. He does well at it, but he's also very good at keeping everyone in the game. Even if you make a mistake, he helps us get our confidence back." Varee: "He does a really good job of finding the person on fire. He also does an awesome job of distributing the ball evenly among everybody."

How do the hitting numbers stand out to you? Rumbaugh: "The first thing I look at is how many times we run middle. We did a nice job handling the ball. Everyone stayed in the offense. Our offense is pretty tough to stop when everyone is doing their job."

George Mason Quotes
What turned between games three and four? Head Coach Fred Chao: "Saint Francis is a well-rounded team. We just couldn't keep the momentum going. We were executing well and controlling their serve, but then they started to serve better and we couldn't stop them."

Did you try to change anything because they played the middle so well? Chao: "There's a fine line as to how we want to play the middle and it's very tough to maintain that balance. The problem was that [Jordan] Varee had a field day."

Do Varee's numbers look bad on the stat line? Chao: "Yes. We knew that [Marc] Honore would get his hits and kills. We did not execute our plan to stop Varee."

How difficult were the matchups at the net? Freshman opposite William Price: "It was awkward. Our left side blocking was shaky, the right side was too, myself included. There were not any bad matchups, but it was just a mess, they played better than us."



Home \| Releases \| Match Calendar \| Standings \| Statistics \| Members \| Tournament \| Awards \| Links
2006-07 News Archives 2005-06 \| 2006-07 \| 2007-08 \| 2008-09 2007 EIVA Championship Semifinal Quotes Saint Francis 3, George Mason 1 Saint Francis Quotes Opening Statement: Head Coach Mike Rumbaugh: "One of our goals was to come in and make it to the championship game like last year. We want to try to push one step further. This was a good year for us. Last year was good and we had that one good win against George Mason and we need to move on and get one great win against Penn State or Princeton to move on in the EIVA Championship and see what happens." How much different does this year's win against George Mason feel than last year? Senior middle hitter Marc Honore: "It's the second time around, but it's the same emotion. We were all happy. It's a lot of hard work. We played better against Mason this year than we did last year and we fought until the end. Mason did a good job too, but we worked hard and got the victory, so that feels good." What was the team's reaction after dropping game three? Freshman opposite Jordan Varee: "We knew after the second game that Mason was going to come back with some fire and we had to step up and play. We came out and they got a little run on us and we came back, they finally finished us off. We knew that after their win, they were going to come back with even more fire. We just had to step up even more." What does your team have to do to be competitive with Penn State, assuming they win, on Saturday? Rumbaugh: "The difference between Penn State and us, as well as the rest of the league, is that they are just so much tougher from the service line. When they bring it, they bring a lot of heat. We have to be able to handle their service game first, then I think we can play with them." How difficult is it to beat Penn State on their home court? Varee: "It's a very difficult task. I've only played them once on their home court and everyone comes to the games. They have the cheerleaders, the mascot, everybody's coming. We know that they will be really fired up because of the rematch from last year. They know that because of the rematch from last year, we're going to want it even more." Honore: "The most important thing is how we play on our side of the court. We have to handle the serves that are coming across and play well as a team and fight for the entire match. A lot of the guys have been here before so we don't have the jitters and we can help the freshmen out. As long as we keep it together on our side, I think we'll be good." How does setter Shane Conley step up in situations like this? Rumbaugh: "I think Shane's done a really great job all year long in keeping the offense balanced. He's good at keeping other teams off-balance and making the hitters look as good as they do." With Shane Conley as a setter, does he read when you're hot? Honore: "I think any good setter can realize what hitter is on at that moment. He does well at it, but he's also very good at keeping everyone in the game. Even if you make a mistake, he helps us get our confidence back." Varee: "He does a really good job of finding the person on fire. He also does an awesome job of distributing the ball evenly among everybody." How do the hitting numbers stand out to you? Rumbaugh: "The first thing I look at is how many times we run middle. We did a nice job handling the ball. Everyone stayed in the offense. Our offense is pretty tough to stop when everyone is doing their job." George Mason Quotes What turned between games three and four? Head Coach Fred Chao: "Saint Francis is a well-rounded team. We just couldn't keep the momentum going. We were executing well and controlling their serve, but then they started to serve better and we couldn't stop them." Did you try to change anything because they played the middle so well? Chao: "There's a fine line as to how we want to play the middle and it's very tough to maintain that balance. The problem was that [Jordan] Varee had a field day." Do Varee's numbers look bad on the stat line? Chao: "Yes. We knew that [Marc] Honore would get his hits and kills. We did not execute our plan to stop Varee." How difficult were the matchups at the net? Freshman opposite William Price: "It was awkward. Our left side blocking was shaky, the right side was too, myself included. There were not any bad matchups, but it was just a mess, they played better than us."