May 23, 2001
Session 1
IOWA HEAD COACH GAYLE BLEVINS
"I echo exactly what (Stanford Head Coach) John (Rittman) said, It's a pleasure to be here. We weren't predicted to be here so that makes it all that sweeter to be here. We're coming off a real fine season. We came off a great Big Ten season, Big Ten Tournament and then a real solid showing in our regional. We're thrilled to be here. Hopefully we'll bring a fair number of very strong Iowa fans to the venue. We feel like we're coming off a real strong performance and are looking forward to the opportunity to play here in front of the Oklahoma fans too."
On the team's trip to Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium:
"Actually, I think that they were real comfortable. Not a member of this team has played here so it was important for them to have a chance to see the facility in layers. See it prior to the crowd, prior to practicing. They walked around the field and saw the position cameras and all those things. They looked fairly comfortable."
IOWA SENIOR KATY JENDRZEJEWSKI
On playing UCLA in Iowa's first game:
"What we are going to do is what we've done all season, which is to go out and play our game. Something we talked about as a team was removing the name from the chest and going out and playing our game."
On Iowa advancing to the WCWS: "I think that we're all excited to be here. It's been one of our goals the past three years I've been here. I think that once you get here you have to readjust your goals. We're not satisfied by just being here either. You have to establish something new when you've reached your goals that you were reaching for."
LOUISIANA STATE HEAD COACH YVETTE GIROUARD
"Obviously, I'd like to ditto all of my fellow coaches' comments about being here. What I'm most thrilled about is taking this LSU team to its first (Women's) College World Series. This is a program that has gone through three coaches in five years, and these five seniors have gone through those three coaches. When we stepped into this program we told them they couldn't change the direction of the wind but they could adjust the sails. Boy, did they ever adjust the sails. This has been an unbelievable team to coach - a most deserving team to take the field for the Tiger program."
On if having played first-round opponent Stanford earlier in the season will be an advantage:
"It was early on. He's got a fabulous team. He's done an unbelievable job just like everyone knew he would when he got his head-coaching job. He's one of the brightest young minds in the game. However, I don't think the Tigers played well that weekend. It was Oklahoma last year, why not LSU in 2001? That's the way we'll approach it."
LOUISIANA STATE SENIOR STEPHANIE HASTINGS
On playing for three coaches in five years:
"It's been really tough, adjusting to three coaches. It's kind of been an up-and-down thing. Our first coach, we went through some things with her and we went through some things with our second coach and I'm sure we'll go through some things with coach Girauod. But I think she's here to stay. Her and her staff have been unbelievable to us, shown us respect. It just shows the personality and character of our team to go through three coaches."
STANFORD HEAD COACH JOHN RITTMAN
"We're just really elated to be here. For the past five years at Stanford, it's been a building process. We've made it to the postseason the past three years so to finally make it takes the monkey off our back. It's been just a long time coming it seems, but we're here and our team is very deserving."
On keys to success in Pac-10:
"I think the key is to get the talent first and that is the most important aspect in building a program. Stanford is a pretty easy sell to go out and recruit because of the academics that Stanford has to offer. It really has been a building process. We knew we would have to build a non-conference schedule that would enable us to play the best teams out of conference to put us in a position to get the postseason bid because in conference, you never know what can happen. And then it was just a matter of getting experience in the regional."
STANFORD JUNIOR JESSICA MENDOZA
On playing in first NCAA Championship:
"I think it's just exciting to be here. Like coach was saying, this is our fourth regional and we've gotten close so many times and to finally get here for the first time in our program's history is such an amazing feeling. I know that our whole team is really excited as well."
UCLA HEAD COACH SUE ENQUIST
"We certainly appreciate the fact that we're back here this year. It seems like each year the softball community becomes more competitive and fighting through the regional becomes tougher so we appreciate this. I want to congratulate all of the teams here and I also want to comment on how proud I am as a member of the Pac-10 Conference that four teams in this field are from the Pac-10. We're looking forward to some good softball."
On key to success in the WCWS:
"The important factor for all these teams in this field is that there's such a big build-up to the game that it's the team that puts things into perspective that will be successful. When the game starts, it's 60 feet and turn left and the team that can manage that emotionally is going to be the team that gets into its flow the quickest. Those kind of intangibles are going to play a big part in the outcome."
UCLA JUNIOR STACEY NUVEMAN
On coming back to the WCWS: "This year has been about getting back to the basics and doing what I've always done. I feel just the same as I did last year. I want to win for our school and for the tradition. It's a whole new tournament and that's the way I am going about it and I know that's the way UCLA is going about it. We're just taking it one game at a time."
On OU's victory over Washington:
"Well, OU's a really good team. There's no question about that. They showed it last year and they had a great season this year as well. So I don't think it was necessarily a shock. Anything can happen in these games. You just have to play your game and let the chips fall where they may."
Session 2
ARIZONA HEAD COACH MIKE CANDREA
On making it to the WCWS:
"I think this is where everyone wants to be at this time of year. We feel very fortunate that we have survived another year of the Pac-10. We have eight seniors on our team so this is a very special time for us. This senior class has done a tremendous job. We won the Pac-10 Championship and that took a lot of energy. We hope that we can come out this week and have fun and play hard."
On Arizona's team power:
"I think the key word would be balance. We have had teams in the past with some power but this year we have more balanced attack. Power is really not the issue, the key is to hit the ball hard. Obviously, in the College World Series the pitchers are a little more dominant. I still think that our speed will play a big part in our success or lack of success. If you get a home run here and there that is great, but we are not walking in here thinking that the home run is the key for us."
ARIZONA SENIOR JENNIE FINCH
On her team's WCWS appearance:
"I don't think we are overwhelmed. I think that the last few years we have felt a lot of pressure coming in here. Now we are in more of a relaxed mode instead of thinking that we have to win or we have to score. This year I think our main goal is to go our there and have fun and play the game."
CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH DIANE NINEMIRE
"I think Cal is glad to be back. This is our third consecutive World Series appearance. We have to set goals for our program and I think we are turning over a new leaf. We are coming off an exciting win in Tallahassee. I don't think our team could be any hotter. We just hope that can carry us through the weekend."
On first opponent being a conference team:
"One thing about playing a team that you have played three times this year is that you know about the team. It is refreshing to play outside your conference because that team doesn't really know what you're all about. It doesn't really matter who we play, we are looking forward to playing any team here."
CALIFORNIA SENIOR AMBER PHILLIPS
On regional final game in Tallahassee:
"It was a very intense game. As a senior on second base with the bases loaded, two outs and two strikes, I was thinking that this could be my last game or a trip to the World Series. That really made it exciting. Struggling through that and fighting to the finish will make us strong this weekend. I think that the momentum we have going will definitely carry over."
MICHIGAN HEAD COACH CAROL HUTCHINS
On advancing to the World Series:
"We are thrilled to be back. This is the second appearance for our senior class since they made it when they were freshmen. I'm very proud of them because I think they are the ones that got us here. We got off to a slow start this year, but we worked through the kinks and we've played well this last month of the season."
On Michigan's struggles early in the season:
"We always come out with high expectations and that can be a problem sometimes. We played a tough schedule, the toughest since I've been here. We lost games to a lot of top-10 opponents early on. We took our knocks and didn't have any confidence. We were 12-11 going into the Big Ten season but we were focused. We were taking it one pitch at a time, one inning at a time. We built on those wins and were excited by them."
MICHIGAN SENIOR MELISSA TAYLOR
On facing defending National Champion Oklahoma in the first round: "We don't look at it that way. We just want to come out playing our game, no matter who the opponent is."
On whether she thinks her team will be able to click right away: "I think we will, right from the beginning, hopefully. I really feel like we began to click at the end of the season."
OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH PATTY GASSO
"We're excited to be here like everyone else. We've worked hard to get to this point. We're playing good ball right now and we're ready for a good week of softball."
On the difference between this year and last year's trip to the WCWS:
"There's no question that it's different than last year. We were wide-eyed young kids and were overwhelmed with the whole experience. This year at our regional we came out with great expectations and we met those. We had worked really hard toward that. We took care of business at home. There wasn't a big celebration. It was like 'Well, let's try to do this again. We've gotten back to the World Series, let's see where the chips fall.'"
On playing Michigan in the first round:
"They're a great team. They've got good speed, great hitters and great pitching. They can beat any team here. That's the beauty of this tournament - it's anybody's tournament. I think we're an example of that last year. It's who's hot and who gets the most breaks. There are some very tough teams here and Michigan has a great balanced attack."
OKLAHOMA JUNIOR JENNIFER STEWART
On her team's approach this year at the World Series:
"I think we are taking it the same way we did last year, one game at a time. We're more poised and relaxed than we were last year. I think we are more mature this year, unlike last year when we didn't know what to expect. We're very excited to be here again."
