Who has been the most influential person in your coaching career? I have a couple of people who have been influential in my coaching career, all adding different aspects and perspectives. Andy Banachowski during my 9 years at UCLA was a coach, tutor, mentor. He helped me understand what coaching at the collegiate level was all about- statistics, scouting, practice planning and recruiting. My husband Dan is probably the most important person in my coaching life. He has been a sounding board, a motivator, a great resource for cross training-and some one to keep me grounded and aware of my priorities, and the best part is he still loves me win or lose!
What has been the biggest win and loss your team has had this year?
Our biggest win so far this season has to be Arizona- we were struggling a bit trying to find ourselves as a team-had just lost to Nebraska-which could be our biggest loss at this point in time--Our win at Arizona was the first time this year that we played like we practice-and I feel was a huge turning point in our development as a team.
I notice you have a large freshman class this year. What is the most difficult thing to get freshman to learn?
Having 6 freshmen has been a challenge. The hardest point to get across is the TEAM concept, each one of them comes from a High School or Club team where they were "the gal" so to speak. To understand that they are part of a top 10 program and are contributing to our successes everyday in practice-their job is to learn, play hard and push each other to achieve new heights-that is what is important-not individual playing time-we are beginning to understand this and it has made a huge difference in our play as a team.
If you had to pick a one, who would be your favorite player that you have coached?
I have been coaching here at Pepperdine for 20 years and have had all kinds of different athletes and it would not be fair to any of my teams or players to pick a favorite. However, one of my favorite teams was my first recruited class here in 1984-85, I had two sets of twins the Hovens and the Johnsons-not a one of them over 5'7"- those kids battled, never quit-played great defense and just played their hearts out for me and Pepperdine!
Since conference play started in 1985, how has the conference changed?
The WCC conference has grown and matured into one of the top volleyball conferences in the nation-repeatedly getting 3-4 teams into the NCAA tournament. We have all battled for the conference title-we have wonderful coaches, all 8 teams-we get along, pull for each other and it is just a great conference to be in right now. I am very proud of where we are as a group.
Who provides the most leadership on your team this season?
My two seniors Stacy Rouwenhorst and Paola Rodriguez have stepped up and become great team leaders. It took us a while to get it all sorted out, but they have really taken being leaders to heart-and are setting examples everyday in practice with their work ethic and enthusiasm for the team and the game of volleyball.
How has Pepperdine's pre-season schedule prepared you for the season and the playoffs?
Our pre-conference schedule this year has been a bear! I thought that perhaps I had put us into situations that we were not quite ready for-but I know that it has helped us develop into the team that we have become. Playing the schedule that we have, made us find ourselves rather quickly, losing is the hardest thing for young players and teams-loss of confidence is such an issue-but if you are never involved in tough situations then I believe you will never find out how great you can become. I am very disappointed in the way scheduling is going around the country-many volleyball programs are so interested/concerned with their win/loss record that they never challenge themselves and end up hiding behind their soft schedules. My theory is play 'em all-- It usually all comes out in the wash!