In her third season at UH, head coach Kaddie Platt has seen the ups and downs of the Cougars, as well as witnessed many career-defining moments from the team’s strongest players.  |  Justin Tijerina/The Cougar

The Cougars’ season came to a close this past weekend as the Houston volleyball team fell in four sets to Temple. The Cougars end the year with an overall record of 14-18 and 6-14 in AAC play to put them in ninth place. Head coach Kaddie Platt sat down with The Cougar to reflect on this season and what it meant while looking ahead to the offseason.

The Cougar: Several senior players have had outstanding careers; how do you plan on replacing their impact going forward?

Kaddie Platt: Natalie Keck has been an anchor for the team defensively for four years now. She and Kadi Kullerkann have had an impact on our program from day one. Courtney Warren and Katy Waters have come in and played great roles, been good teammates and have been leaders on the court and in the locker room. In the off season, we just have to develop and get better. As far as recruiting for next fall, we definitely have to have some people come in and contribute like they did.

TC: What has been the biggest strength of the team this season?

KP: We improve all the time, following a game plan for example. If there is something we have been working on in practice, you can see the players apply it to the game. Defense as well, we have improved a lot there. We have always had good offensive play. We’re leading the conference in most offensive categories, so the defensive end is where we are seeing improvement and still need to improve.

TC: Where will the team have to improve in order to be ready for next season?

KP: Being physical at the net, definitely. Just having other options as far as terminating and running a good, clean system offensively.

TC: Who do you expect to be your key players to build around?

KP: We will see how they iron out here in the spring. Spring practice will really be key to answering that question for us.

TC: What are your expectations for this team in the 2015 season?

KP: There is a long time between here and there, but we definitely want to focus on being competitive and prepared. Working hard and being disciplined are anchors us as a program, and those things we try to instill in our student athletes.

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“Platt looks back on Cougars’ season, anticipates bright future” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar