Fritz Meets With Media Following NCAA Tournament Selection

MANHATTAN, Kan. - K-State head volleyball coach Suzie Fritz was available to the local media via Zoom on Monday following the Wildcats' selection as at at-large team into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

K-State will take on Florida State in the opening round on Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT at Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. It marks the 13th postseason bid under Fritz.

Click here for more information and to view the press release on the Cats' bid.

SUZIE FRITZ, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"We're thrilled. We're absolutely thrilled. I'm really excited for the team and really proud of them. We've had a couple of years recently where we thought we should have been in and didn't get in and then this year, I think we were very concerned after a very difficult six-game stretch about the position that we had put ourselves in and whether our value would be seen and recognized to give us a chance to go, so really exciting. I think the Big 12 strength of schedule this year really helped, not just us but a lot of the teams in the conference. The Big 12 got seven teams in which is amazing and did have the number one RPI strength of schedule in the country, so I think in all honesty, the strength of schedule kind of lifted us up and gave us an opportunity. Just excited for the women on the team. Really feel like we have an opportunity to finish the season as we had hoped and play significantly better. It feels great."

On the senior class making the tournament...
"I didn't honestly realize that until yesterday. We, as a staff, clearly have been to a lot of them, but for a number of different reasons. We should have been in it last year, but they reduced the field to 48 and we were the 49th team so I hadn't really thought about who had been there and who had not except this morning, we started to kind of talk through it and that it's really meaningful for seniors and for our whole team to have this experience. In our conference in the Big 12, we have played consecutive semesters. So we played fall, we played spring and we doubled back and played again this fall. So we've played three straight semesters. We have been playing volleyball for a very long time and to stay together in this climate and for that long and at the level that we have had to work at for a really long time has been significant. I think to be able to have this opportunity here at the end of it just feels amazing. It feels like a celebration of their careers, of all the work that they've been putting in for months and in some cases years. I think it's just an amazing opportunity for for them."

On the Big 12 preparing them for the NCAA Tournament...
"Well, we're battle tested. We should feel like we can compete with just about anybody going into it. But there's a lot of good volleyball teams. There's a lot of good leagues. The ACC has had a really strong showing this year. The Big Ten is always capable. The Pac is always going to put good teams into the tournament. I think we know that we've seen everything at this point. Again, three straight semesters, so we've seen everything at this point. I feel pretty confident that there aren't going to be many surprises at this point. Now, it's just about our ability to execute, play under pressure, be at your best when your best is required. I think that's where we're at and that's the way you want it to be. That's the way the postseason is supposed to feel, and so I think we're battle tested is probably the short answer."

On the trip to Lincoln earlier this season...
"Yeah, I don't think about anybody else and their advantages and disadvantages, but there's no question. It was a very difficult environment when we were up there in the preseason, and that's not even including the fact that Nebraska is a really good volleyball team, but we also played a very good Colgate team there that went on and won their conference and got an automatic bid, as well. So we played some really good matches up there, quality matches. The Nebraska environment, there is a reason that they are year after year a relevant championship contender in the Big Ten and even a national championship contender. What they're able to do from an attendance perspective and an environment perspective is nearly unmatched. It's about as difficult of an opponent environment that you can walk into, and we thought it was great for our young team to have to do that. We thought they responded beautifully in that environment. It's a neutral site. It's an easy trip. It gives us an opportunity to drive, get on the bus and be there, practice on Thursday, keep them in class as long as we can. So the logistics are clearly far easier than they would be. We've been there a lot of times. It feels great and kind of expected. If we were getting in, we assumed we'd probably be there or Creighton, so I don't think we were too surprised by that part of it."

On the matchup with Florida State...
"Yeah, one of the fun facts about it is one of the associate head coaches is a great coach by the name of Jeff Hulsmeyer who spent I think seven seasons with us here at K-State. We know him well. He's a tremendous coach, as well as Coach (Chris) Poole, their head coach. They're going to be very well prepared and well trained, a well coached team. I think right now, most of what we're doing is a lot of tactical stuff that probably is not all that interesting to you to put in any kind of print form, but they feel familiar I think is the best way for me to probably say it right now. They feel familiar. I think what they do and how they play is pretty familiar to what we've been doing all season and I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of surprises there. I think coming off this last six-game road stretch where I felt like we weren't maxing out and playing as consistently as we want to, we're going to put very little into our opponents and really need to be about 80-90 percent on if we play well, our good is good enough. Our great is pretty great. It's just the consistency that I think I've said all season. We're in a fight with consistency and that's what we're trying to do this week is be in a fight with consistency. I think if we can play consistently well I feel really good about our chances. I think we match up pretty well athletically. It feels like a great first round matchup and a difficult one."

On the team's response to being selected...
"I had them prepared for disappointment, if I'm being honest. And I think we were saying hey, we had some things in our control and we want you to be disappointed and then figure out a way to deal with that disappointment, but we're gonna sit here. We're gonna watch. We're gonna figure out where we land. We know the work that we did, and we're on the bubble. It just is all going to be in how they determine what our resume looks like. So I think there was some combination of excitement and shock. When you pop up, there's that initial, 'Let's go, let's go do this'. It was just awesome. Some combination of excitement and nervousness and alright, now what happens next? Because as somebody articulated, most of them have no idea. They haven't done this before, and so we need to get them educated pretty quick on what's coming."

On taking it a match at a time...
"I'm going to get them to Friday. I haven't put one second into what it would look like with the Nebraska and I don't think we should. I think we need to put 100 percent full focus and effort into Florida State on Friday night. Then on Friday at about seven o'clock if we pull that one off, then we're going to put 100 percent full effort and focus into trying to beat whoever's next. We've oddly been in this situation before, nearly an exact situation before and one of the biggest wins in program history is being able to beat Nebraska in the second round to go to the NCAA tournament years ago. I think we went into that one with the same mindset. We're not talking about Nebraska. We're not thinking about Nebraska. We're not thinking about what's next. We're going to work. We have to be the best version of ourselves. We've got to find some level of consistency going into the Florida State match. We've got to play our asses off and if we do that on Friday, then we'll see where it takes us. Most coaches aren't going to talk about what's going to happen two or three matches down the road but is it far fetched? In my opinion, it's never far fetched. I think sports provide a lot of moments to overcome all sorts of challenges, and that's one of the beautiful things about sports. I think you go into it thinking that you're going to win and we're gonna do that with every match we've got remaining."

Kansas State University Athletics

Fritz Meets With Media Following NCAA Tournament Selection

Related Videos