Head Coach Dave Shoji

Opening Statement:

"We're very excited to be here. We had a great match against Texas [in the NCAA Second Round last weekend] and we're happy to advance and we're happy to be at Penn State. We kind of thought we might be here earlier in the year, and our dreams came true. There are four really outstanding volleyball teams here and there is going to be good volleyball. It's going to be fun and the winner is going to have to play really, really well. We're hoping we have a couple more games left in us."

On what it takes to win at this stage of the Tournament:

"At this point, it's probably who makes the least amount of mistakes and really you have to make some plays at the end of each game. The games are all going to be fairly close in my opinion, and you just have to make a play. The players have to be able to play in sort of a relaxed way but still be very intense."

On how they have gotten to this point in the season:

"I think we've been playing our best volleyball in the last two weeks and we had a slow start to the season, for whatever reason. But we've been building some momentum. We've had some challenges along the way but moreso in the last week, we've played really well. We played well to win the WAC tournament and we played very well to win Saturday night [against Texas]. I think we're very confident. Our players believe in themselves and I think we're all ready to go."

On Hawaii's schedule in the NCAA Tournament compared to that of other teams:

"I'm not sure who has the advantage. Obviously [Penn State] didn't have to expend that much energy [last weekend] and we did, but it's been four or five days, so I think we will have recovered. Penn State has played a tough schedule. They played a really tough early schedule and the Big Ten schedule is very, very demanding, so they probably had a week off last week, but some of us had weeks off before that and I think that they won't miss a beat."

On how Hawaii's play is different from earlier in the season:

"Early in the season we had injuries to two key players, [Sarah] Mason and [Tara] Hittle, and neither one was in the lineup on a regular basis until probably October. But once we got them both back, we had a lineup for a little while and then Mason went down again. So we've been mixing and matching our outside hitters for most of the season. But they all have played extensively, they've all had great matches and great seasons and they're all pretty healthy right now."

On Missouri:

"I watched a lot of tape last night and I'm really impressed with Missouri. They have a lot of weapons, they're much like us. They don't have one player that they rely on, they rely on all five. They're very balanced. You can't load up on any one player, so we're going to have to play them straight up and honor all five hitters, even the backrow attack. The setter we have to defend. I mean, I kept shaking my head last night, wondering 'man, I'm not sure how we're going to stop them.' I think the teams are evenly matched, I think we're a lot like them, they're a lot like us. Ball-handling is outstanding on Missouri's side and then you've got a senior setter that can dish the ball and is making things happen for her hitters. It's another tough match that we're in for."

On Hawaii's depth:

"We had to use our depth because of injuries. It's not really the way I'd like to do it, but that's the way we were forced to do it. I think what the key is that a lot of our players have had a lot of playing time this year."

On his relationship with Penn State head coach Russ Rose:

"This is my first trip to State College. I don't know why I've never been here before, but I'm very impressed with the job he's done with the program. I walked around town with him earlier and everyone says 'Hey Coach' and that's kind of impressive that everyone knows him in town. He's a good friend of mind and he's a good man. He's a great coach and I'm glad I got to spend some time with him. We actually played golf when they were in Hawaii [in August] and he said the only thing he could do was take me to dinner. It's really a neat setting here. I envy him in a lot of ways that he's at this school and done what he's done here. Win or lose, we're going to remain friends and I'm sure whichever of the four coaches wins this weekend, we'll all wish them luck."

Junior setter Kanoe Kamana'o

On how the team has handled traveling so much over the last few weeks:

"This year this team has done a great job at adjusting to whatever time zone we're going to and also traveling. With schoolwork, it's tough for us to be thinking about academics and getting things done, especially since it's finals week. A lot of us have even taken finals today. With this team, it doesn't phase us at all."

On the setters that are at the State College Regional this weekend:

"For Missouri, I played with Lindsey Hunter this summer with the USA team. She's a great setter. She dishes the ball and runs the offense really well. And for [Penn State's] Sam [Tortorello], she's another great All-American setter. You can never read or tell where Sam is setting or where she's going, so it's really hard for the opponent. But they're both great leaders and they take control of their own teams and they've been very successful."

On the lineup changes this season:

"At the beginning of the season with the two injuries, there were so many lineups that Dave could put out on the court. We've gotten so comfortable playing with each other and who's out on the court, I think there's nothing that's phasing us. No matter which six or seven players are out there on the court, we're always gelling together and the chemistry of the team is just working well out there. Mentally, we're all strong. We're always working out on the court. Everyone is always pushing each other to their fullest and always competing hard, which makes every individual a lot better."

Senior libero Ashley Watanabe

On how the team has handled traveling so much over the last few weeks:

"Our professors are very flexible, so with our time-management and prioritizing, it does go along way with getting things done. A lot of the girls are going to be done early with their finals. So we're all on track."

On the goals from last season to this season:

"We want to go further than we did last year. The ultimate goal is to get further but the daily goal is to get better."

On the changes from the beginning of the season:

"I want to call it unfortunate success at the beginning of the season where although we did lose, on the other hand, we did challenge highly-competitive teams who are obviously still in the tournament right now. Because we did get to inter-mix all of those players, everybody got a taste of what true competitiveness was and because of that, I think that prepared us early on for right now. We're all on the same page and all we can do now is believe and be confident."

Senior middle hitter Victoria Prince

On the incentive that the team is using for this season:

"To definitely go to the Final Four; to go as far as we can. There is so much depth on our team and we all believe in ourselves. We know that we're great players, we just need to stay together to win these matches. Like Dave said, we've been playing our best volleyball lately. Watching the Texas match, that was just great. Everyone was just playing unbelievable in that match, and as long as we continue with that momentum and keep building and getting better every game on every point that we play, we're going to be a really tough team to beat. Not every team is as fortunate as us to have as much depth as we do and we want to use that. Our incentive is to use that and keep moving on, game after game, to keep winning and go as far as we can."

On the difference this season:

"Right now we have everyone healthy and at full force and everyone is playing really well. Our depth, we have so much depth. If someone is having an off night, like Dave said, he'll just push another button and someone else can come off the bench and they're going to play awesome. That's what's been happening. We just have so much depth, it's just so hard to keep track of. You can't just get on one person because Kanoe is doing such an amazing job of spreading out the offense. Somebody can be 'on' on a certain night, but a lot of other people are 'on' too at the same time, so you can't just camp out on one person because then that other person is going to hurt you."