Bees fall short at Olivet Nazarene

By Shannon Heaton, sheaton@qconline.com

from: The Dispatch - Rock Island Argus
Saturday, November 18, 2006

BOURBONNAIS -- One local will be competing in the NAIA national volleyball tournament in two weeks. Unfortunately for St. Ambrose, it won't be the Queen Bee team.

Instead, it will be former Orion prep Sarah Juenger, a junior on the Olivet Nazarene squad, who will make the trek to Columbia, Mo. The hosting Tigers ended the Bees' season Saturday afternoon in the Region VII championship match, sweeping Ambrose, 30-26, 30-27, 31-29 on Olivet's home court.

"We all wanted to play really hard for Megan (Gullickson) and Andrea (Wulff), our two seniors," said Juenger, playing volleyball for the first season since her high-school senior year. "The team was really close (to qualifying) last year and got upset.

"We're just so pumped for this."

The Tigers will enter the national tournament with a 30-13 record after starting 1-6. St. Ambrose closes out its finest season under Region VII coach of the year -- that was announced post-match -- Bruce Billingsley at 33-10.

The 33-win total is a single-season record under Billingsley's administration; Saturday's championship game was also the farthest an SAU team has advanced under him.

"They (Olivet) lost the championship match last year; they had players that have been there before; I had nobody that had been in the playoffs, let alone a championship match," said Billingsley. "They are just solid. They don't have weaknesses."

One thing that Olivet was able to do was close out games, even if the first 40 or so points of each game were a tossup. In the second game, SAU led 19-17, only to see the Tigers go on an 8-1 run and seize control for good. Then, in the third, ONU jumped out to a 15-8 lead, only to let the Bees back in it.

St. Ambrose overcame a 24-18 deficit with a 10-3 run to lead by one, only to see Olivet pick off the final three points of the match for the victory.

"We gave them a run for their money. It could have been ours, but for a couple dropped balls, a couple of things that didn't go our way. It just wasn't meant to be," said SAU senior Kelly Grimes, one of two Bees selected to the all-Region VII first team.

"(Winning) was definitely doable, which makes it even harder."

SAU had put together its impressive flurry at the end of the season -- winning 26 of 29 matches coming into Saturday -- by doing the little things right. Saturday, it was Olivet's turn.

"It came down to things like closing blocks, turning hands in and finding open shots. We just couldn't find a way to finish it up," said senior Andrea Brooks, the other SAU first-team pick. "We did bring our `A game,' everybody gave it their best. They're just a good team. I wish them the best at nationals."

If there was a positive to come out of the match, Saturday served as a coming-out party for SAU freshman Megan O'Shea. The middle hitter led the Bees in kills with 18; Brooks had 16 and Grimes 11. Brooks and junior libero Kristen Anglin, who'll be one of next year's team leaders, had 16 digs each.

Junior Emily Russell, who'll be SAU's most experienced outside hitter in 2007, had 6 kills and 11 digs; the setter tandem of junior Becky Fetter and freshman Lauren Aderman combined for 32 assists.

So, despite the losses of co-captains Brooks and Grimes, plus the physical presence of senior right-side hitter Alexis Gustafson, SAU will have many tools to work with next season.

"Just go back to basics and get plenty of touches on the ball over the summer," Brooks advised her returning teammates. "I think they'll be pretty good next season."

Saturday Box Score

Quad Cities sports briefs

from: The Dispatch - Rock Island Argus
Friday, November 17, 2006

College women's volleyball -- SAU advances to Region VII final: It took all five games, but the Queen Bees, seeded third in the NAIA Region VII tournament at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, kept their season alive with a come-from-behind victory over second seed Trinity International, winning the decisive game 15-9 .

"You could tell that no one on our team had been in a match of this importance before," said SAU women's coach Bruce Billingsley of his team, which improved to 33-9 and will face top-seed and host Olivet today at 2 p.m., with a bid to the national tournament on the line.

Andrea Brooks had 15 kills and 32 digs for the Bees; Emily Russell added 15 kills and 16 digs. "(Today), we've got to give it everything we've got," said Billingsley. "It's either our last match of the year or the start of our road to nationals."

Friday Box Score