PEDRO MENDES: Hi. My name is Pedro Mendes. I'm the assistant coach at Northwestern here today representing our head coach, Shane Davis, and the program. I'd like to thank you guys for being here, and I'm hoping to talk through some of the things that we have to talk through today.
Q. Could you respond, please, to the allegations of hazing in the program that Northwestern's own investigation concluded was hazing in the volleyball program and how you respond to that and react to that, please?
PEDRO MENDES: Sure. So since I wasn't part of '20 to 2022 coaching staff, I'm not able to get into that. I could definitely share with you whatever you want to know from the moment I joined the team in February of 2023. That's all I can say about it.
Q. Can you say going forward how you try to create a climate of being tough in practice without having hazing or abuse?
PEDRO MENDES: Absolutely. I don't think since I joined the team I have ever experienced or heard or seen any type of situation where I would consider myself or the players around me as hazing.
The way we coach, at least, again, from my time here, it's been a lot about respect, and we try to keep the standards pretty high, but we're always trying to make sure that the athletes are feeling respected and heard. That's how we do it, and we're going to keep doing it the same way.
I think they can speak more to it than I can, so that's what we're going to keep doing, what we already do at this point.
ELLEE STINSON: Mind if I jump in here? I'd say one of our program values is actually relationships with one another, and from the time that I've been here, I can only say positive things about the coaching staff and feeling welcomed and supported by my teammates. Yeah, relationships, we really love one another.
Q. More so for Alexa, you lost TTA, you lost Miller. You were always one of the leaders on and off the court. How has that changed now for you on and off the court to step into those shoes or to create your own sense of leadership for this team?
ALEXA ROUSSEAU: Yeah, great question. I think Megan and Temi both were role models to me in their own ways. I think I look up to them both. I'm super excited to see Temi again as our first conference opener match.
I think in the spring we had nine girls in our gym, so just adjusting to that, getting a lot closer with the girls that were on the team at that moment and kind of just figuring out what my voice is, in accordance with the coaches, not to be too much, but not to be too little.
I've had plenty of conversations with them about being a player-led team and being able to step in and hold each other accountable. I think all of us girls talk about how much we love each other, and sometimes we do need to have those conversations about, hey, we're better than this, we can hold to a higher standard and just continue to push each other in the gym.
It's been hard, but you find that perfect atmosphere that we have, and I think integrating seven new girls into the gym has been super easy because we have that really nice foundation that we've built over the off-season.
Q. Ellee and Alexa, many of us have not been in locker rooms or been a part of high-achieving teams at a high competitive level. Maybe for us it might be a little bit harder to better understand what a healthy culture looks like or where the line might be between trying to hold teammates to a higher standard and being tough and then maybe where that line might be crossed. I'm wondering if either of you can tell us a little bit about from your playing experience, whether that's with Northwestern or any other teams, about what that line looks like or how you're able to tell when you're part of a safe, high-achieving but supportive culture, how you can tell from your perspective?
ALEXA ROUSSEAU: Yeah, I think the only thing that I have in relation to that is I think everyone has their own perceptions. I also think being held to a high standard as an athlete, player to player, coach to player, inside a program, doesn't always have to be an aggressive thing.
I think that starts with a relationship that is formed before, and me and Ellee are best friends, have been for three years, but Ellee knows that sometimes we have to talk volleyball or we have to have communication on the court because without that, we can't play our best for our teammates and we can't perform well as a team.
I think sometimes communication, to be held to a higher standard, may be perceived as something that has to be a hard conversation or aggressive, but I think when you are in a safe culture and relationship, it's easy to have those conversations because it isn't personal, you're just having a conversation to help each other perform at their best and be their best version.
ELLEE STINSON: I would say probably everybody in this room can relate to culture. The cool thing about sports is how it just carries over to all aspects of life, whether you're in the workplace, your families at home. Culture is everywhere.
Having those conversations, like Alexa is talking about, it doesn't have to be me yelling at her or her yelling at me. It's just like being completely honest with one another to tell her what my expectations are. Not because I want to be mean to you, it's because I love you and I want the best out of you.
Holding everybody to those high standards only makes each other better and yourself in turn.
Q. Pedro, what sort of impact does adding an extra full-time assistant coach have for Northwestern and college volleyball as a whole?
PEDRO MENDES: Yeah, it was a quick turnaround. You go from volunteer to assistant, then here you are. Things are going really fast, and I honestly feel like that is a really big thing for volleyball. Volleyball has been growing so much anyway. This is just my second season here.
I was part of a big volleyball family back home in Brazil, and I've been playing the game, so I have a lot of love for the game. So I'm really grateful this is happening because I feel like three coaches are not enough to take care of a season. There's a lot going on with recruiting, and then during a season there's a lot going on at the college level, and it's just important that we are adding that piece.
So I feel very, very grateful for that decision and just hopefully we can kind of keep growing from there.
Q. Added five transfers, and all at 5'10" or above. How have you noticed them integrating into the team, and has that added height to the roster made a noticeable difference?
ALEXA ROUSSEAU: Yeah, I can start with this one.
I think when going through the transfer process, the recruiting process, I think we as players were very appreciative of how involved our coaches allowed us to be, and I think they were very careful with the choices they made and the recruiting that they did and the conversations they had because they know we have such a good chemistry that they wanted to add girls that would only exemplify the same things.
I think them as people, they are amazing. They've joined our program and helped out a lot.
I think on the court, they have the same mentality we do. They want to compete. They know what it's like to be in the Big Ten or in a really big conference.
I think they come into the gym every day, even in summer open gyms, and they want to learn, they're open-minded, and I think they're ready to take on whatever role or challenge that comes their way, and that really excites us.
Q. Where is Shane Davis today; why isn't he with us?
PEDRO MENDES: It was released a little earlier today the reason why. So as a coaching staff, as a team we decided it's best if I came, to highly support, and that's why I'm here, to answer questions regarding volleyball. If you could keep moving forward with those, I would appreciate it.
Q. It was released earlier today?
THE MODERATOR: Yeah, there was a previous statement released and he talked about not being able to say as much because of the legal process.
Q. Alexa, you mentioned Temi earlier. You obviously spent a lot of time assisting her. Having played with her, what type of player is Wisconsin getting in Temi?
ALEXA ROUSSEAU: Yeah, I think Temi is more on the quiet side, but I think Temi is able to lead by action, and I think that's what makes Temi such a powerful person. Temi comes into the gym with a smile on her face every day, wants to get better, wants to learn from people, but also just wants to love on her teammates.
I think we all felt that from day one, and Temi has been one of my close friends since then, and I've been able to lean on Temi on the court when I'm not performing my best, but also know that she always has my back even if I'm playing the best match of my life.
I think Wisconsin is extremely lucky to be getting a player like Temi on the court but also off the court as just being such a great and sweet human being. I couldn't be happier for her.
Q. Last year you're right on the bubble, almost there, injuries. Alexa, you had a tough one, as well. How do you use that as motivation for this year to get over that hump, continue to receive those votes and make the tournament this year?
ELLEE STINSON: Yeah, I think Pedro and I actually talked about this on the way down here, but like you said, trying to not get stuck on the hump and be better about it but actually learning from our experiences as a team and using that to fuel every session that we've been in the gym and holding each other to those standards of we want to get to the NCAA Tournament, we want to make a run in that tournament, and that's the standard in the gym every single day and holding each other to that. Yeah.
PEDRO MENDES: Absolutely. What I learned from this team the past few months is they're very resilient and they wanted to grow from this, and I really believe that we have everything we need to succeed this season, and I'm really positive about the outcome.
Right now we're taking the process in the best possible way, but I feel like the goal for us is to get a spot in the tournament.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports