SAU to enjoy home court edge in Region VII opener

By Shannon Heaton, sheaton@qconline.com
Photo: Mike Itchue
from: The Dispatch - Rock Island Argus
Sunday, November 12, 2006

As St. Ambrose's volleyball team begins NAIA Region VII tournament play tonight, only one thing is certain.

Tonight represents the final home game of the season for the Queen Bees (31-9), seeded third in the six-team tournament. St. Ambrose will face the tournament's sixth seed, St. Xavier, at Lee Lohman Arena at 7.

"At this point, we're excited to play another home game, and it's exciting to play a team we've already seen," said SAU coach Bruce Billingsley of St. Xavier, with whom the Bees are 1-1 in regular-season matches.

St. Ambrose lost in three games to St. Xavier in Chicago earlier in the season, at St. X's tournament on Sept. 8. However, it won more recently at the Region VII MCC-CCAC Challenge tournament, hosted by Olivet Nazarene, which also will host the semifinals and finals this week.

Should the Bees get past St. Xavier, they'll go to Bourbonnais for an 8 p.m. semifinal game on Friday night against Trinity International University, the No. 2 seed. Top seed and host Olivet will face either No. 4 Illinois Institute of Technology or No. 5 Viterbo at 6.

The winner of Saturday's 2 p.m. championship match will earn a berth in the NAIA national tournament, which begins Nov. 29 at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo.

"I think we have a good chance," said SAU senior co-captain Andrea Brooks of the Bees' prospects of reaching nationals. "Xavier beat us once; we beat them once. We hung right with (Olivet) when we played them in a tournament, so if we come prepared, we've got a really good chance. It would be awesome to go to nationals."

One thing in Ambrose's favor is a full lineup. "It's the first time since Oct. 10 that everyone will be with us and ready to go," Billingsley said. "The last time we played St. Xavier, (setter) Lauren Aderman was sick and (right-side hitter) Alexis Gustafson was injured, so both didn't play against them."

Given that St. Xavier has a win over SAU already in hand, the Bees won't be able to rely on their classic slow start and powerful finish to advance out of tonight's quarterfinal round.

"We've got to play to win right away, play like we belong there, like we deserve to be there," Brooks said. "Hopefully, we'll get our act together and start off strong for once."