Aug. 24, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Head volleyball coach Nancy Somera met with media Wednesday as the South Carolina Athletics Department held its annual Fall sports press luncheon. Coach Somera and players, Nicole Miller and Shonda Cole talked to the media about the upcoming season.

Head Coach Nancy Somera “We are moving closer to being more match ready. I am pretty pleased with where we are at this point. We scrimmaged last weekend and we are not at full strength, but with moving some players around and having people fill in at other spots, I like what we saw. In practice, we have been focusing on our movement, our ball control and our defense. It all looks pretty good. Walking away from the scrimmage, I am pleased with where we are but we still have a lot of work to do. I think we will definitely be match ready when we open up Sept. 2 against Pittsburgh.”

On the SEC: “The SEC is a strong conference. I think the East with Florida and Tennessee is really strong. Kentucky and Georgia have new coaches and both will good. I think the SEC is definitely strong and competitive and will get us ready for postseason play. I think the difference in the SEC, compared to the Pac-10, is that from top to bottom, it is not as strong. In the Pac-10, you can play a great match, but over a three-week period of time, you are playing No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 8. It is my hope that maybe our schedule can be a little more forgiving throughout the year so the confidence level of your players can stay high, even if you don’t play your best match on a particular night. I think the SEC is one of the best in the country and I think it will definitely prepare you for postseason play. That is what you want your conference to do for you.”

On the team: “We are very athletic. This is one of the most athletic teams I have ever coached. Prior to Oregon State, I coached at Southern Cal, and we had perennial Elite Eight and Sweet 16 teams. This team is extremely athletic. When we got here in March, we quickly discovered that they could win any hitting warm-up, but we didn’t play the game very well. Our movement and our processing of the game was not at the speed it needed to be. That is where our focus has been.

I am really excited about the athletes and their learning. We are throwing a lot of new information out there, not just technical, but tactical too. Some of these players have never been coached in that area of the game. They have been told to just go out and be more athletic, more physical. We have been spending a lot of time teaching the strategy of the game. They are doing a nice job learning and if we can keep doing that, I think our athleticism will continue to improve and hopefully at a more rapid pace than our opponents.”

Junior outside hitter Shonda Cole: “I think we will surprise a lot of people this year. I think from the results of the past couple of years, people are not expecting us to be that good. With the new staff and what they are teaching us, I think there has been a big transition and that is good. I think we have the ability to finish in the top three of the SEC.

“Our team chemistry is very different from last year. This year, we are communicating better than before. Our defense is improving. We are getting more balls up which allows us to keep the rallies going and keep the ball in play.

On improving hitting efficiency “I am learning to be smarter about the shots I take. Instead of focusing on just getting the kill, I am trying to be smarter about switching it up and keeping the defense on their toes.”

Senior middle blocker Nicole Miller: “I think we have a lot of potential to do great things and be a great team. With what we are learning from the new coaching staff, I think we will be closer to reaching our goals of winning big games and advancing to postseason play.”

On personal goals: “Personally, I have a goal of being more consistent in my play. In the past, I have not always been consistent, especially in my passing. I continue to work on that.