TOWSON, Md. - The Tiger volleyball team comes into this weekend, just a game behind the first place teams in the Colonial Athletic Association standings. Coach Bruce Atkinson sat down with Towsontigers.com to answer a few questions about his team.

1. Now that the team has faced everyone in the CAA once, how would you assess your team's performance?
As a work in progress. The team is working very hard and improving on a daily basis. 

2. Katy Buck and Aubrey Kirven lead the CAA in kills and assists. In your opinion, how has their play been this season and how important has it been to the team's success?
I think they have been doing an excellent job implementing a new offense and I believe they will continue to improve over the remainder of their careers.  They are both hard working, driven individuals who bring a high level of consistent play to our team. 

3. Defense has seemed to be key to the Tigers' success this season. The team had 90 digs against Georgia State and you have five players with at least 100 digs this season. How important is a strong backline?
I am a firm believer that ball control and defense wins championships.  I feel that our back row players are rapidly improving and are only scratching the surface of their overall potential. This is a young group who will only continue to improve as they become more familiar with each other. 

4. The CAA seems fairly balanced this season with every team suffering at least two losses so far. What are your thoughts on the league so far?
The CAA is tough this year from top to bottom.  The last place team could literally beat the first place team on any given night.  I think this has made for a very exciting season.

5. With six matches remaining in the regular season, you face the three teams ahead of you in the CAA standings and two of the teams that defeated the Tigers earlier this season. What does the team need to do going down the stretch?
We need to continue improving in the basic fundamental skills of the game. We do not feel that we need to do anything extraordinary to have a successful season, but we do feel that we need to strive to be as perfect as possible in the little things that championship teams do so well.

6. Your newcomers to the roster this season seem to have made an immediate impact. How important was it for you to get contributions from them right away?
We knew last season that if we were going to have much success this year  we were going to need some help. This help has come in the form of a few  immediate starters as well as others who have dramatically increased the depth of our roster.  I consider both of these groups to be equally important to the increased success of our program.

7. Paige Sekerak has jumped into your starting line-up as a freshman. How would you assess her performance so far?
Paige is a good player who has the ability and work ethic to be a great player. She has done an outstanding job of handling the pressure of being immediately thrown into the fire and I am extremely excited about being able to work with her for three more years. She is definitely going to be one to watch for years to come.

8. What are the team's goals heading into the final six matches?
To maintain a high level of play on a consistent basis.  I want our team to have the confidence in their collective abilities to know that if we play "our game" on a consistent basis, we have the ability to do very nice things.  We do not need to play above our level of ability, but we do need to play at our level of ability on a consistent basis. 

- TOWSONTIGERS.COM -