May 10, 2008

2008 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship

Consolation Semi-Final: San Diego State 11 Pomona-Pitzer 4

San Diego State Head Coach Carin Crawford

One the game:
"This game was an important one for us to win and feel like we were getting back on track after a really tough loss last night. I felt like the team responded really well and came out with great intensity. It was a game that seemed like we just chipped away a little bit every quarter. Overall I think we played good defense to hold them to just four goals. It was a great effort and I think it definitely helped us get back on track for the rest of the tournament."

On what she told the players after Friday's game to reload for Saturday:
"That was definitely the toughest loss we had to deal with this season, but we talked about the fact that there's a lot of things that you can point to in any one game that are reasons why you don't win. It was most important that we not pass any blame and not start to have self-doubt or criticize each other, and that we just now focus on the next two games ahead. The measure of our character would be in how we responded to the adversity and I think today was a good start in responding very well."

On the team's expectations going into the tournament:
"Certainly we wanted to do as well as we did last year. We set the bar high for ourselves coming in as the four seed again, we wanted to at least match our placing from last season. But we do have some new young players filling in for some experienced seniors so I'm really pleased to be invited back and to be competing in the national championship tournament."

On controlling the tempo of the game:
"We knew that they were a team that relied a lot on their speed and quickness, so we just committed ourselves to pressing and to make it hard for them to advance the ball. I think our good, solid pressure defense made it difficult for them to dictate the tempo on offense. That worked really well for us and it gave us momentum going into the offensive end."

On facing Michigan Sunday:
"We played them twice this season, they're a great team and I think they, too, probably hoped to be in the top four of the bracket. They had a lot of transition opportunities that they didn't cash in but they were still up a lot. We'll really need to make it a point to shut down their counter-attack and put our shots away."

Pomona-Pitzer Head Coach Jamey Wright

On the game:
"I thought we came out a little better than yesterday. They're a great team and I expected them to be in the semis today, but Davis played a great game against them yesterday. It was just unfortunate that they had to lose. I was pretty happy with the game, we controlled their counter-attack as best as we can, they're obviously well-coached and I was pretty proud of my team."

On facing Marist Sunday:
"Watching Marist play earlier in the tournament, they do a lot of movement and a lot of driving in their half-court offense. I think another key for us is that we are a little bit undersized, so having energy to wrestle with bigger, faster people will be tough. If we can come out with the energy and play well, I think it should be a good game. They seem to run a driving kind of consistent offense, and the goalie seems really strong. We saw them earlier this season in one of our tournaments, so I think we have a good chance with them."

Driver Laura Condon

On facing a pair of MPSF teams in the tournament:
"It just drives home the idea that we want to be performing at this level and that this is where we want to be. I think it will help a lot of the girls who are freshmen this year and remind the rest of the girls that next year when they come into season, this is the level they want to be playing at. It just drives us."