Coach Gleeson reflects on Bees first preseason tournament

(10/25/06)

DAVENPORT -- St. Ambrose took two teams this weekend to the University of Iowa's preseason Iowa/Illinois tournament. The tournament consisted of 12 teams mostly made up of club teams. St. Ambrose and NCAA D-II Quincy were the only varsity teams. Both SAU teams had high expectations this year, after finishing second last year. Both teams went through pool play 1-2. The SAU JV team lost to the defending champion University of Illinois and Quincy Gold, but beat Illinois State in a thrilling finish. The SAU team lost in two close games to Wisconsin and Marquette, who went on to win the tournament, but beat UIC. Both teams moved on to the playoffs, but they faced each other in the first round. SAU prevailed over SAU JV to move on to the quarter-finals vs. Quincy Gold. With a strong start, SAU won the first game with ease, but Quincy took the next two, to knock SAU out of the tournament.

Overall, this weekend in my eyes was a great learning experience. We didn't finish as high as we wanted to, we lost some really close games, but all in all, I was thoroughly impressed with how both teams performed this weekend. We had many players who played through injuries, and both teams had people playing in positions they are not used to. I know my men are a bit disappointed in their performance this weekend, but I think that it showed them that we have a lot to work on, in preparation for the regular season. I always recall the 1985 Chicago Bears, who went 0-3 in the preseason en route to a 15-1 Super Bowl Championship Season.

Rob Brannigan, Michael Soapes, and Jason Paplaski are the new additions to the team this year. I was impressed in how poised each of the 3 freshman were. They definitely did not play like freshman. I give the game ball this weekend to middle blocker Chris Koch, who played through a serious knee injury, to have a very successful tournament. Chris Ernest also had a great weekend. Chris, originally an outside hitter, had to learn how to play middle blocker in one week to fill the empty middle position we encountered this preseason.

The men are currently putting maximum effort into their preseason workout regimen. We have been working out and conditioning since middle of September to prepare ourselves for the regular season. The men are determined to have a breakout season this year, since St. Ambrose University will be hosting the 2007 MAMVIC East conference tournament. The top 6 NAIA teams will make it to the 2007 NAIA National Championship Tournament, held at California Baptist University in Riverside, CA.

The SAU Men's Volleyball next competition is Nov. 4th at the Augustana Preseason Tournament. SAU has entered 2 teams in the tournament. SAU has had much success in the past at the Augustana tournament placing first in 2003 and second in 2004.