Tom Peterson Quotations

When we get accolades we believe it is a team award. To have five guys recognized shows the respect other coaches have for the talent on our team.

We both have a lot on the line this weekend. We're fighting for the chance to host a first-round match while they (Hawaii) are out to prove they're the best team in the league.

We have to go on the road against No. 2 (Cal Irvine) but first is tomorrow night. We have to make sure we're playing better each night. That's who will come out on top, who's playing better at the end.

We'll see tomorrow whether or not we can contend for a national championship. We need to come out and show we can bounce back from a tough loss.

We made all sorts of errors in the first game. We were nervous. We just settled down after that and played the way we can. There wasn't anything magical about it, we just played better.

Serving becomes very different at sea level. At altitude, the ball sails farther. The ball gets driven into the court at sea level. Our serve becomes harder and it's a mental deal as well. But the other team (UCLA) is much more practiced at serving at sea level.

He happened to like us, I think. He decided he wanted to come to Provo.

We've got to let ourselves play well at critical times in the match. Sometimes, we didn't even get swings.

We are fighting for the chance to host while they (the Warriors) are out to prove they are the best team in the league.

His stats weren't all that great, but the guys felt his presence very much.

He's doing well. He's working hard. Sometimes people say to him, 'You've got all of the experience.' But it's been a couple of years since he played (internationally).

I think the players are in a pretty good frame of mind. We're confident in our talent and all of that. If we want to put it together, we're very tough for anybody.

I thought somewhere in the 20's in Game 4, we started to play better. It came down to if they (UCSB) would make a mistake and they did. That allowed our crowd to get into the game and get us going.

Our game tonight was like a roller coaster. We were up at certain points in the game and at other times we were down -- we were down to close out ball games.

Our middles are very good. We passed really well and that opened things up for our offense.

Stanford is a scrappy, hardworking team. They may not have a very good record, but any team in this league can bite you on any given night. We don't want to be outworked by them. We will have to play well to win.

Stanford is a scrappy, hard-working team. They may not have a very good record but any team in this league can bite you on any given night.

I was very pleased tonight to get in those players who've worked very hard in practice and deserved to play. We played them all and they played well.

I think Hawaii is the real deal. They may be the best team going we'll face.

I think, maybe, they're the best team in the country. They run a very fast offense, and they're very well coached.

We played a very good and consistent team. We showed that we can win but we aren't consistent enough. We need to improve our ball control. We didn't pass and serve well tonight. If we can improve that, we'll be better.

We have to set a very fast offense against their height. It will all boil down to how well we pass the ball.

We're a good offensive team but we passed the ball poorly and we weren't very good with ball control. It was disappointing for a team to come into our house and overpower us like that.

We have some time to work on things now. We just need to get better. We have important matches coming up. We can't accept not playing great.

We played very well and played a lot of guys, a lot of guys that need experience. Our one problem tonight was our serving. We served harder but we missed too many.

We need to improve our ball control. We didn't serve well tonight. If we can improve that, we will be better.

UC San Diego is the only Division II team competing in our league. While they are at a disadvantage in that aspect, they work very hard and are very well coached. We want to go in there and play our hardest and show that we respect them.

We don't want to be outworked by them. We will have to play well to win.

We need to get better ball control, but we feel we're getting better. The whole team has the perception that we're a different team than even a few weeks ago. We've got a good shot to play well against Long Beach State.

This weekend is a huge deal. We're tied in the loss column and we have to win both to keep our hopes alive of hosting the MPSF championship. We're really the only two teams that hold their own destiny.

We've been struggling lately, struggling with questioning ourselves. Who should be in the line-up, who should be doing what. Whatever it was, I think they were all on fire and they just played incredible. If you're a UH fan it was absolutely fun to watch.

The tournament was a good experience. We've been trying to focus on serve and serve receive and to ensure our chemistry and intensity are good over time. I thought we played with chemistry and were consistent for the most part this weekend.

These matches are really important. We can't be losing and expect to have a high seed. We want to host a first-round tournament match.

Ivan is still sore. It's hard to say whether he'll play.

Actually, I think it's what happens before crunch time that matters more. It's so easy to forget about that. We need to be busting our butts before crunch time. That's when we'll start to win those matches is when we play the same intensity for longer periods of time.

The bottom line is that at critical times, the other team had better ball control. We played a lot better in the second match. We missed six serves in the fifth game and you just can't do that against a team like Hawaii.

They served harder and more consistently than us. They performed better under pressure and made the right plays at the right time. They out played us tonight.

This is a much improved team. They have been building their program the last few years and have a very competitive team. We need to prepare very well for them and not have a let down. These are big matches for us.

This is a facility that will propel the arts programs at USU into national and international attention. It will be a magnet to lure people. We will get great performers who want to perform in a hall like this. Students can hear what it sounds like to perform in Carnegie Hall.

They put it together at the right times. We missed serves at the wrong times and at crucial points they seemed to get better. They outplayed us mentally.

It's not how we wanted to end the season. We played a very good team that is excellent at their place. They did the things they needed to do to beat us, namely ball control. Congratulations to them. They are well coached.

It's been a while since we've played someone this good on the road at sea level. It will be a big test.

It's probably from over-use. It's going to be sore for a while. It's probably chronic.

It just seemed like the time to put him in. He made some big plays and his presence was definitely felt. The moment I heard the cheering, I knew this was going to be huge either way.

It seemed kinda like the time. I thought it was gonna be radical, one way or another. Either he was going to get roofed or he was going to be great.

It's crunch time near the end of school, so we gave the guys Friday off.

It was a great comeback. The biggest positive was that we showed we could win by committee. We were a team and we were helping each other. Everyone did what was needed to get the momentum on our side. Volleyball is a game of momentum and you need to do everything to turn the momentum in your favor.

They have three of the best players in the country. Those three guys are as good as anybody, and when they put it together, they can be great.

I'm very proud of our team. This isn't what we wanted but I saw our players develop both as volleyball players and as people throughout the season. This is a great group of guys.