HEAD COACH ÁNGEL PÉREZ
Opening Statement …
“Yeah, you know, we spoke pre-game and I told you that I thought that we had to put three or four days of good practice in a row and I think It showed up to, you know, I think it's the first time in the year that we have met our internal goals amongst us and they don't know it yet but I saw the numbers the first time in the year that we accomplished three of the goals that we proposed for our team. You know we're talking about getting 19 points by ourselves on all the sets. We produced more than that. We talked about keeping our errors as limited as six on average, we average four and a half. Today we talked about being aggressive in our serve, we had two aces, put them in difficulty, only five mistakes. So, all those internal things we talked about winning the outer situations. We won that, also we had better attacking percentage, we were better on block defense on those situations. So, the goals that we put out to achieve today, we did and the result is there. Credit to the players that all the hard work they put in and today our game plan worked. We made a couple of adjustments and they paid off for us, so happy with the victory, refreshing. And hopefully, we can continue.”
On getting Hannah Maddux out of the game and Vegas’s rotations …
“Yeah, yeah. I think like we spoke. That was our plan from the start trying to get Hannah [Maddux] out of the game as fast as possible. Uh, we believe she's their best attacker when she's in good rhythm. So, we wanted to avoid that. Uh, so from the start we went at her short deep side to side, make her move, make her work and what about that, make her make points, you know. So, we did a good job with not just with her serve, but then putting a good block for her for her to make a lot of errors, trying to search hands, trying to search things that she's not used to. So, it was great for us to get her out. But getting her out didn't win the match for us. We gotta remain aggressive with her serve. We gotta remain pushing Alicia [Childress] to run the whole court, which was our game plan today, and I thought we did a phenomenal job. Uh, they made some subs that hurt us. We got good touches on her when he really mattered and we dog her when you're really matter. And you know, that's it seeing them making changes. Their trend has been that through the season. They make multiple changes. They rotate a lot. The players, we spoke about that before the game and, you know, tell the tendencies of everybody and be ready for any sub, they would make, but of course, it makes us happy that with our game plan, we force them to do something different.”
On the game ending in a rotation fault …
“So, I think it's first time I've witnessed a game finish within our rotation. I've witness sets finish out of a rotation. Not a game. Uh, I still don't know exactly what, the outer rotation one, I gotta go watch film and replay it in our heads, we were talking about it right now. If it was like, if they're completely out of rotation or was there a player out of rotation? But I guess when the head referee explained it to the setter, what was the call, the center agreed that she was out of rotation. So, I gotta go back to the film because I don't know exactly who was out of rotation, but lucky for us.”
KAYLEE COX, #8, OH
On the win …
“Yeah, I mean I thought we served really aggressively, and I think that helped us in the long run of getting the team out of system and then playing good block defense. I think we did a really good job of in transition offense, and I think that's why we won the match, is playing a defense and then transitioning out of it.”
On Vegas’s subs …
“No, I mean, it gives us confidence. It gives us confidence that you were able to stop different hitters and they're having to make different changes. And we have to adjust these different hitters coming in. And like you said, we put up a good game plan and we're prepared for anybody to come into the match and we have our scout down to a t. And so just anybody that's coming into the match, we're going to know what their tendencies are and how to stop them.”
KATE GEORGIADES, #7, L
On the win …
“Yeah, we've just been focusing on limiting our errors, and then we've been playing mini games to five and I think whenever the game got tight that really paid off for us because we're used to being in tight situations. And I remember looking, when it was 22-22 in the third set, just being like, all right game to three, like we've been doing this all week so it should be easy for us.”
On Vegas’s subs …
“Yeah. I think like she said, it just gives you confidence and kind of reassurance that you're doing all the right things like the scouting report is telling us to do but at the same time at this level everyone's really good. So, whoever gets subbed in is still like capable of taking over the match. So, I think like he said, we luckily got a lot of good touches at the end once we made some adjustments. But I think it's just knowing like, okay, check, we got her out of the game, like we did a good job of that and it's on to the next.”
On colliding with Kaylee during a rally …
“I mean, that's also something you've been working on in practices, not only getting really good touches, but making playable touches. So, I'm just thankful that both of those were playable touches and it didn't turn out how we ended up on the ground together, but, um, I'm just like, really shout out to all of our team defense.”
For media inquiries and interviews, contact Kyle Jackson at kjackson@columbusfury.com.
ABOUT THE COLUMBUS FURY
The Columbus Fury is a professional volleyball team in Columbus, Ohio and a founding member of Pro Volleyball Federation, the premier women’s professional volleyball league in North America. The Fury are one of eight teams in the league, joining the Atlanta Vibe, Grand Rapids Rise, Indy Ignite, Omaha Supernovas, Orlando Valkyries, San Diego Mojo and Vegas Thrill for the 2025 season. The Fury play their home matches at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus. Tickets for all Columbus Fury matches can be purchased by visiting ColumbusFury.com or by calling the ticket office at (614) 380-FURY. The Fury will begin play at Nationwide Arena on January 11, 2025. For more information about the Fury and season tickets, visit www.columbusfury.com and @columbusfury on social media.
ABOUT PRO VOLLEYBALL FEDERATION
Pro Volleyball Federation is the leading professional volleyball league in the United States. PVF sets the standard for the sport, offering the largest number of franchises, unmatched attendance, extensive broadcast coverage and substantial championship prize money. It combines top-tier talent, including NCAA stars and international athletes, with cutting-edge production and technology to provide fans with an unmatched viewing experience. As a vital link between collegiate volleyball and the professional stage, PVF is dedicated to shaping the future of the sport and increasing visibility for its athletes. For more information, visit ProVolleyball.com.
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For more information contact: Kyle Jackson (kjackson@columbusfury.com)