Big Ten Volleyball Media Day Press Conference

CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Good morning, everyone. Year two, first one again. We’re very proud to be here and very excited to be here. I brought with me Alissa Kinkela and Taylor Humphrey, two of our underclassman athletes on the team.  

I want to say first and foremost a thank you to the Big Ten for hosting this event. It’s my second year attending, and every year it gets bigger and better, and it’s really a wonderful opportunity for us to talk about the Rutgers program but also to celebrate Big Ten volleyball in general, which clearly there’s a lot of interest in, the best of the best. It’s just really exciting to be here.

Q. Coach, last year you had eight newcomers that you were incorporating. What does that look like this year as you continue to try and take a step forward in the Big Ten?

CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Five more. Actually six newcomers this year, five true freshmen, a transfer.

We are a team that has spent a lot of time in the off-season developing the core that is returning from last season, building upon that experience and what we are setting as our non-negotiables, our team standards, and making sure when anyone comes into this program, they’re aware of them.

And that allows for the transition whenever we add new faces, which we’ll do every year. Every year in the program we will add new people. It’s really important to make sure that those core values are established and set and that the team is really aligned with what the vision is for not only this year but the program moving forward over the next several years.

Q. What was one thing that was an unexpected change or something that you went through here going into your second off-season that you didn’t necessarily expect, whether it be with Rutgers or doing Big Ten volleyball, either media or inside the team?

CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Didn’t expect? I think it’s really important to recognize, I had an idea of what was necessary from a training standpoint and also from a mental side of the game, so to…