Post by nyline on Aug 16, 2017 7:28:23 GMT -5
We sat down on August 13th with Russ Rose, who is starting his 39th season as head coach of the Penn State Women’s Volleyball team. We've posted that interview on DigNittanyVolleyball.com. Click Here for the complete interview, lightly edited for length and clarity:. Here's a brief excerpt:
DigNittany: This is the 39th year you’ve overseen preseason practices for Penn State women’s volleyball. Do you run things the same way now as you did in the early years, or have things changed?
Coach Rose: One thing that’s different is this is the first time in the 39 years I’ve been at Penn State that there’s a mandated day off. So yesterday was the mandated day off. I think the top players value rest but they understand the importance of work if they want to become one of the top players.
DigNittany: You’ve said that you have a team’s attention much more following a loss than you do coming off a victory. The past two seasons ended in losses in the Sweet 16 – earlier than you (and certainly the fans) would have wanted. Do you think you have this year’s team’s attention about what it takes to win?
Coach Rose: I think two years ago when we lost, we didn’t play great against Hawaii — a team we had never lost to before. This past year, after winning the first two sets against Nebraska, and having a swing for the victory there, I think we put a lot of energy to get to that position, but more important I thought the benefit that Nebraska had earned by being the home team gave them a lot more energy and reserve to finish the match. But when you only score six points in a set like we did in the fifth set against Nebraska, players don’t have much room to talk and coaches don’t have much room to talk either.
Coach Rose: One thing that’s different is this is the first time in the 39 years I’ve been at Penn State that there’s a mandated day off. So yesterday was the mandated day off. I think the top players value rest but they understand the importance of work if they want to become one of the top players.
DigNittany: You’ve said that you have a team’s attention much more following a loss than you do coming off a victory. The past two seasons ended in losses in the Sweet 16 – earlier than you (and certainly the fans) would have wanted. Do you think you have this year’s team’s attention about what it takes to win?
Coach Rose: I think two years ago when we lost, we didn’t play great against Hawaii — a team we had never lost to before. This past year, after winning the first two sets against Nebraska, and having a swing for the victory there, I think we put a lot of energy to get to that position, but more important I thought the benefit that Nebraska had earned by being the home team gave them a lot more energy and reserve to finish the match. But when you only score six points in a set like we did in the fifth set against Nebraska, players don’t have much room to talk and coaches don’t have much room to talk either.
