A&M Volleyball coach Laurie Corbelli on rough weekend, first road tests

"You know, I thought that the team realized how hard and smart we had to play in order to win. Obviously, we weren't smart enough. We played really hard but also learned a lot. It is a painful way sometimes of learning , but you have to go through those times of adversity. I think overall we are so happy we had the chance to host those two teams (Stanford and Penn State) in our gym. We got a chance to really have some good film to study and learn from. We are looking for that to carry over to the next couple of weekends and the season."

"We will be starting the SEC in two weeks, and before then we will play two top-ten teams and a top-25 team. We are learning to prepare to play at that level and how important our ball control is. When we are being accurate and high-level first touch or first contact puts us in situations where we can really compete, we do have the attackers and block that we need. Sometimes the floor defense, the passing, the very first contact sets the tone of our sport, much less our game. We are getting better and better at first touch. We spend the first 30-40 minutes on it in practice, and I know that eventually it will be at the level we need it to be at."

"We really have studied those videos a lot and have been able to show our players that blocking has to be at a higher level. We don't have to grow or jump higher; we just have to be better positioned and timed. I think those two things, especially position, you have to know what the hitter has as an option for the set that they're getting and where you need to set up your block. You need to know that you're trying to take away from your hitter, and both people have to do that at the same time. That presents many variables that are difficult to perfect, but ours always gets better as the season goes. I know we will get there. It has already gotten better since we started practice three weeks ago. Mostly blocking things and some serve-receive things. We watched Penn State pass a lot, and we are trying to do some mimicking."

"Well, we got the chance to get on the road for a scrimmage to TCU, so that was nice because we do play so many freshman that they got to be on the road, and it didn't count, thank goodness. I don't think it will phase them too much, though. I think our leaders and returners are doing a better job every week by remaining calm under pressure and stress and sharing that with the freshman. They're being good role models. I think the team is hungry. We gave away some points that we shouldn't have this past weekend. We have made some changes and added a couple of new plays. It will be a huge adventure and challenge for sure. I am hoping we can come away with a few wins."