Damon Coupe Quotations

We're really excited to play California. This is probably one of their best squads they've had in years. It's a good opportunity for us to compete against the nation's best and really evaluate ourselves to see what top-level tennis is about.

We have new teams that have meshed well together. Our doubles have been fantastic so far. We have really become the aggressor when we take the court. This is how doubles is supposed to be played.

Loyola is playing extremely tough, after recently beating the University of Oregon. Their line-up is really strong at the top. We are playing well and I am confident it will be a hard-fought match.

Last season was just scratching the surface of where we need to be. I've done a 180 with this program and I've been really working with the girls at being more aggressive on the court.

We have a much tougher schedule this year than in years past. I have focused on playing as many ranked teams as possible. Our conference schools have become much more competitive this year. We do not have any walkover matches.

We came out loose and ready to play, but they came out on fire. I'm extremely proud of the girls for their performance today.

Today was a tough day emotionally and physically. Most of us had been up since 5:30 a.m. and to travel and play a night match all on the same day was rough. I'm just proud of the girls that they were able to compete hard and get the job done.

We know San Jose State is going to come out and play hard. They have some talented players that are crafty and tough to play. For us, we are taking each match with our full focus looking to get back on the winning track. It's always nice to get a win for the Rivalry Series. This year, we are not thinking as much about that as just playing hard and smart to get the victory.

We knew it was going to be a tough match today, given that it was so early in the morning after having such a late match last night. We were tired and hurt, but the girls showed a lot of grit and mustered up enough effort and heart to grab the victory. Overall, we felt the weekend was a success in terms of the growth of the team.

Washington State is a team that should be ranked and is very good. We had a tough battle with them last year and I expect the same this year. They have a tough No. 1 who is ranked very high nationally and they also have some big hitters down the line-up.

Competitiveness is the one area I stress to the team every day and that's our biggest attribute. Everyone on the team is held accountable by their teammates to go out there and get the job done.

The whole team has really stepped up their game this fall. I'm expecting great things from everyone -- even the freshmen are expected to come in and make an impact.

This is going to be a hostile environment match. Saint Mary's is playing extremely well this year and having really good success. I would like to have a better showing than the last time we played.

This is a team with some good talent but I think we can compete well with them. If we come out and play like I know we can, I think we have a shot at the upset.

This is a team that is a Division III powerhouse. We are excited about this match and are entering it prepared and ready to play. If we can stay aggressive and get on top of them early, I think we will be fine.

This is a team that I don't know a whole lot about, but I do know they have a good coach who gets his squad ready to play. They are definitely an up-and-coming team to keep an eye out for in the future.

The weekend is going to be extremely difficult as we are playing indoors against three teams that have been practicing indoors all season. Overall, we are going in with nothing to lose, sort of the underdog attitude. I like this because we can play loose and that is when good things can happen.

This is a fun day for everyone because it really gives our players a chance to get to know our fans better and for our fans to see how they compare with the players. It's a great time for all.

They are ranked No. 24 in the country and are extremely deep. They play tremendous doubles. We need to come into this match without thinking about who they are and focus on being relaxed and allow ourselves to get into our game plan.

It was our first match. We knew Cal Poly was going to come in to play because they had two matches under their belts. We fought hard, but there were just a few things here and there that hurt us. I'm extremely happy about Casey and Kim's performance today. They really dug in deep and played intelligently.

It was a rough day, weather wise. The wind was just howling out there. It was swirling and making the conditions really tough. And then to have one of our top players out with an injury, the rest of the team really stepped up and competed their hearts out.

It was a great effort by our team to play a ranked opponent on the road on their home court. We obviously would have liked to come away with a win, but I'm happy with our effort the girls put forth.

The two of them actually came over to my office and we started talking. I asked her some questions that a good player should know and she answered them. We went out and hit balls the next day and she was good enough. She hadn't played in awhile because she obviously was focusing on volleyball, so she's still really rough around the edges, but there is a lot of potential with her game.

After the tough loss to UC Santa Barbara, I expect our team to respond fiercely. We had a little gut check playing a ranked team that was beatable.

I'm proud of the girls for the way they fought only, having five healthy players. The girls just went out there and fought really hard and that's all we can ask for. I'm proud of them and hopefully we'll get healthy soon.

I asked my entire team and got their opinion on it. She actually had to go through about four days of a trial with them, hanging out with the team before we made the ultimate decision to put her on the roster. We didn't want to add someone just to add someone. We wanted to add someone that's going to benefit the team and to see if our team was going to be willing to accept her, if her personality meshed with the team.