Q&A with Head Coach Mark Rosen
11/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
A Weekly Visit with the Michigan Volleyball Head Coach
On differences in practices following wins and losses ... "It's less about wins and losses and more about how we perform. Last weekend, our performance wasn't very good, especially against Iowa. We took care of the ball very well but made way too many attack errors. We'll bring that back and develop practices around that factor. Also, we aren't handling pressure in key matches very well, so we'll put more pressure on the team in practices to try and get them comfortable with it. We'll get them to handle (pressure) just like any other skill.
"Our practices are often based on what happened in previous weeks, as well as fitting in with the structure of where we are in the season. We identify a lot of things in matches that we need to get better at, and then we come back to that and structure it into our practices. This is for both physical skills like passing, setting, hitting and team dynamics like handling pressure and pace of games."
On the challenge of playing well on the road ... "We're dealing with a lot of intangible things when on the road. There are sixteen different people with different personalities and different ways of dealing with things. In this conference, there are far fewer teams that win on the road than at home, and there are a few things that could be part of the cause of this. The first is that our conference is very strong. The top teams and the bottom teams in the conference are evenly matched. The second is that travel is very spread out for the conference teams; it isn't easy to get from location to location. If we go to Penn State, play Friday and then go to Ohio State immediately after the match, it isn't an easy trip. Traveling just makes it that much harder.
"For instance, last weekend we were playing at Minnesota on Friday night. We got out of there at 10:30 p.m. and were in the air around 11:30 p.m. Then we found out the airport we were going to was closed. We finally landed in Des Moines at 1 a.m. We found a hotel and got up to the airport by 10 a.m., so we could fly to Iowa City. It was a long night with not much sleep. It's not an excuse - because everyone has to travel - but it does factor into how we play.
"The third ingredient is that everyone has pretty good home venues. I love playing at Cliff Keen. The crowd is rowdy; it's fun and entertaining. All teams are the same at their home venues. It makes the players feel more comfortable if they've got a crowd cheering for them. For the most part, the players really enjoy playing in front of a crowd, but it's always better to play to your home crowd."
On giving the serving team more points for winning a rally in the rally-scoring system ... "Well, both teams are going to get the same number of side out points - plus or minus one - because were alternating with each side out, so I don't know if it would change the result at all. It would allow for more comebacks if more points we given to the team that is serving. I haven't heard anything about that being a viable solution.
"The one option I'm hearing is the scoring going only to 25 points, but we'll know more about that at the end of the season. I think this is a good idea. We'd keep the same format, just change the final score. Right now it's a long game, especially if it's lopsided, so I'd prefer the 25-point game"
Past Q&A Sessions with Coach Rosen
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
