May 18, 2006
Notes:
USC is now 20-3, with two of its losses coming against Stanford ... Senior Carine Vermeulen is 3-0 this season in NCAA competition and 10-0 in her career (4-0 last year, 3-0 in 2004) ... VCU suffered its first loss of the season after 29 straight wins ... The only undefeated team in the nation is Stanford at 26-0 ... USC was VCU's first top-10 opponent this season ... USC reached the quarterfinals last season and six of the last eight ... Its last trip to the semifinals was 1988.
Quotes:
USC Head Coach Richard Gallien
Opening Statement: "It was a bloodbath for sure. Although we'rethe No. 3 seed, it's very daunting to play a team that's 29-0.I'm well aware of how good their players are, so we knew thatthey were going to be very tough. To do it without our No. 2 player, who is ill today, was a courageous effort on our team's part."
On status of Amanda Fink: "She's over in the doctor's officeright now with a stomach virus. We have some time untiltomorrow's match, so we'll see. Hopefully we can get her back outthere."
On Carine Vermeulen's play: "She did a very good job after a slowstart. All of the VCU players are strong; they're long and leanand they hit hard. As a team we had to kind-of suck it up outthere and she did just that."
On facing Northwestern in the quarterfinals: "We know them realwell and they know us. Their coach is terific and their team isalways well prepared. It will be a tough match, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone won the match 4-3. It was a very good win for them over an excellent Georgia Tech team, so have to play well and fight hard."
VCU Head Coach Paul Kostin
Opening Statement: "We lost to a very good team, and it was agood experience for us. None of my players have ever been in thissetting, but they played very well and I'm proud of them. USC isranked No. 2 in the country and they were just too good for ustoday."
On VCU's 29-match winning streak this season: "We've been takingit one match at a time. It's not that we've beaten any top-10schools, but we play a very good schedule and we've won a fewclose matches. It's been just a dream season, and I hate to seeit end."
On the team's youth: "Our players have not been around for thesetypes of matches, so it's going to help us to have thisexperience down the road. With everyone coming back, we'll getone year older and a little more experience so we're lookingforward to next season."