Maryland Athletics held its inaugural Fall Sports Media Day Tuesday as head coaches and student-athletes met with members of the local, regional and national media in the Tyser Tower Press Box.
Head coach Steve Aird of volleyball, Missy Meharg of field hockey, Sasho Cirovski of men’s soccer, Andrew Valmon of cross country and Jonathan Morgan of women’s soccer all took the podium with their student-athletes to discuss their 2015 seasons.
The event was streamed live online through BTN2Go and can be watched here.
Quotes from Aird, Meharg, Cirovski, Valmon, Morgan and their student-athletes are below.
VOLLEYBALL
Head Coach Steve Aird
On expectations for the second year in the Big Ten:
“We’re excited about year two; I think the team is better. Our goal is to be competitive in matches and to play at a high level, represent the school, the state the right way. I think the girls have embraced what I’ve asked them to do.”
On buying into system and improving on last year:
“I want them to buy into the system, there’s a lot of ways to lose and only a few ways to win. You have to handle the ball, handle the serve and pass game and manage the game the right way. And I think we’re a whole lot better this year at understanding what I’m asking them to do.”
On buying into being a competitive, Division I athlete:
“If you’re a student-athlete in my program and believe you have some wiggle-room about what it is then you’re in the wrong program. For me, it’s about making the right decision and wearing your heart on your sleeve every day and treating this like you’re a pro. I want them at practice early, I want them staying late, I want them taking care of their bodies and I want them eating the right way. I want them to really get to know each other and care about each other. And if any of those things don’t happen, you don’t win.”
Sophomore Hailey Murray
On expectations for the second year in the Big Ten:
“I’m a sophomore, I came into the Big Ten and the Big Ten is really all I’ve known so for us younger kids, we’re just building on what we learned last year and trying to be better every day.”
On playing in Europe against professional teams this summer:
“I think the biggest thing I learned in Europe was just how to be a pro and how to go about your business. It’s been really interesting bringing it back here because our team is developing that culture as well. I just like connecting with my teammates.”
FIELD HOCKEY
Head Coach Missy Meharg
On winning a national title for the seniors:
“Since I’ve been here in 28 years, there’s been two classes that have walked away without a national championship. There’s two ways for these young women as seniors to look at that: they can look at that as pressure and they can make the situation very stressful or they can look at that as opportunity.”
On what it takes to compete at the highest level
“What’s the difference if you’re going to be a Final Four program? What consistently that separates you? We’ve done a lot of work in 2015 looking at that and we’ve come down to the word focus. … There’s no question that the women that joined this program want to be national champions and I’ll always encourage that.”
Senior Sarah Sprink
On the goalkeeping competition:
“Being back there (on defense), it’s just very exciting to have three goalies that are completely different from each other, but all have such strong qualities individually. Since it’s an open competition, we’re really rotating around for all of us defenders to get used to all three of them so whatever we need for an opponent or if some goalie has an incredible week, we’re ready to play with that goalie.”
On contending for a national title:
“Just thinking about the seasons we’ve had so far, we’re always right there. We always have quality on the team. It’s just taking it step by step and not overthinking because that can lead to crashing the bus when it’s actually supposed to be a good run.”
MEN’S SOCCER
Head coach Sasho Cirovski
On upcoming season:
“We are extremely excited for the upcoming season. We have had a very productive spring and summer. We’re extremely disappointed with the way our season ended last year. Our players are highly motivated. They were on the field the next day after the loss last year. We also welcome a top recruiting class in the country. Preseason has gone extremely well. We’ve worked hard and we’ve improved. We’re motivated for our opening game against Notre Dame.”
On difficult schedule:
“If you look at our schedule it’s very daunting and that’s the way we like it at Maryland. We open up and play the best teams in the country. Of the 17 teams on our schedule I think all 17 are NCAA tournament-caliber teams. We know we may have some growing pains but we’re very confident that when it’s all said and done at the end of the year this team will contend for championships.”
On the Big Ten:
“We had a tough adjustment to the conference in the beginning of the year. It took us a little while figure out the styles, key players and coaching tendencies, but I feel like now we are in a very good place and know what to expect from the competition. The strength of our program is and always has been about respecting all programs but focusing on our preparation and trusting our process. We want to keep it that simple.”
Senior midfielder Mael Corboz
On difficulty of schedule:
“Players come to Maryland to play this kind of schedule. Opening up against Notre Dame is something we’re all excited about. It’s easy to get motivated for games like that and to test what we’ve worked on in preseasons and all summer. It’s always positive to play those types of teams win or lose.”
On new midfield:
“It will be different going forward with new guys in the middle. I don’t think we’ll get softer and I actually think we’ll be better. We have some freshmen and transfers that can step right in and play.”
Head Coach Andrew Valmon
On the upcoming season:
“Eight of the 14 schools are ranked in the NCAA so it’s really competitive and it’s going to take a high level of training to get us where we need to be so we’re really excited about the opportunity. We really need to focus on bringing our track speed over to cross country. In the Big Ten, you need to be fast and also hold it for 6K.”
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Head Coach Jonathan Morgan
On expectations and anticipation for the season:
“We’re excited about the Big Ten, we’re really excited about this season with our team. The last couple of years we feel like we haven’t necessarily represented our program at the level we’ve become accustomed to. I think the work the women have put in last spring and this summer in addition to getting healthy with a number of players, we’re really excited about this fall and the direction we’re heading in.”
On adjustments since joining the Big Ten:
“The travel we handled well, I think just getting familiar with the new surroundings and new teams was a little bit of an adjustment for us. All that being said, it comes down to your personnel and we’ve got the personnel right now. We’ve got a great group of kids.”
Sophomore Alex Anthony
On attacking defenses that drop numbers behind the ball:
“Being a possession-oriented team, it really allows us the opportunity to move the ball around quite a bit and when you do that you pull teams out of position, which gives us more of an opportunity to strike at the right time. I think this year, it’s really about recognizing when the right time is to go at players and go at teams.
On the impact of the Women’s World Cup on the sport:
“It kind of ignites a flame. You see these big players and for me personally, I aspire to have qualities of everyone at that level. But you see how they play and the type of work they put in and the time they put in and it really makes you realize how much work it takes.”
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