May 3, 2007

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IPFW head coach Arnie Ball

On the win...

"We are pleased, excited and tired. I thought my kids showed a gusty performance tonight. It certainly is a tribute to our kids and the hard work they put in this year. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do when we won. This is the sixth time we've been here and the first in the playoffs."

On if he ever thought IPFW would make it to the championship in his career

"If I thought that we wouldn't have made it, I would have retired a long time ago. In 27 years with this program, we have won a lot of games. If getting to the finals isn't a goal, you shouldn't be a coach."

C.J. Macias, junior outside hitter

On IPFW's mindset...

"We knew we were playing for everyone. We wanted to do everyone proud and it was great to have our fans out there tonight."

Brock Ullrich, junior outside hitter

On being down 5-0 in the second game...

"I guess I'm used to being down 5-0. Even though we were down, I felt like we were still in control."

Pepperdine Head Coach Marv Dunphy

On how IPFW played...

"I give a lot of credit to IPFW. I thought they hit well and served well. They came back from losing game one and being down in game two and hit some serves to get their momentum started."

On the team's preparation ...

"We earned the right to be here. We have been playing well all year. You are either good enough or you are not to be the national champions. Tonight we were not good enough. All year long we have prepared well. If I had to do it all over again we would do it the same."

On how Pepperdine played...

"My guess is we dug as many balls - maybe even more - as they did. To their credit they took some good swings and we did not. We did not know too much about them before the game, but they played really well."

Jonathan Winder, junior setter

On IPFW's serving game...

"I was not passing well. They started hitting their serves in really good spots. They did a really good job getting their serves in. I give them full credit for their serving game. It didn't seem like they missed many."

On the game against IPFW...

"It was close the whole first game. We started the second game ahead, but they started hitting their serves and when that happened things started to go their way. Our pass game struggled and that hurt us."

~Dons~