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It is time to start postseason playoffs. Our team finished the season tied for second in the Midwest Classic Conference and get the third seed in the tournament based upon the tie-breaking procedures. We will host number six seeded Waldorf at 6:30 Saturday, November 6th. The MCC playoffs are the first step towards the Regional Tournament, which feeds into the National Tournament. Regionals are a six team tournament and our conference is guaranteed two spots. The first spot goes to Iowa Wesleyan, the regular season champion. The second spot goes to the winner of the postseason conference playoffs. If Iowa Wesleyan wins both, the second guaranteed spot goes to the second place team in the conference playoffs. So, the team goal for now.... is to make it to the conference championship match. Assuming Iowa Wesleyan is the other team in the championship match, just getting there advances you to the regional playoffs. The winner of the Regional Tournament advances to the 20 team NAIA National Championships at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. Saturday's first round Midwest Classic Conference matches are: #8 seed Viterbo at #1 Iowa Wesleyan #7 seed Mount Mercy at #2 William Penn #6 seed Waldorf at #3 St. Ambrose #5 seed Grand View at #4 Franciscan The semifinal round will be Wednesday, with the 1 vs 8 and 4 vs 5 winners playing and the 7 vs 2 and 6 vs 3 winners playing. Each match will be at the highest remaining seed. The two semifinal winners play Saturday, November 13 at the highest seed.
Savannah The St. Ambrose Queen Bees return to the Quad Cities after a warm vacation in sunny Savannah, Georgia. The trip was spent sight-seeing on the River Walk, eating great seafood, taking a tour of Savannah’s historical haunted houses, and playing volleyball on the side.
After
the upsetting loss to top-ranked Iowa Wesleyan Wednesday night, the Queen
Bees traveled to Savannah to redeem themselves at the Savannah College of
Art and Design Tournament. There they played teams from Florida,
Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. The first match of the tournament proved to
be a challenge. With freshmen setter Becky Fetter out with a sinus
infection, senior outside hitter Kristi Murray stepped in to take over at
the setting position. With such a new lineup, the Queen Bees struggled
against the number fourteen team in the nation, Georgetown College. “I
think we mentally psyched ourselves out instead of just playing the game
of volleyball,” said freshman defensive specialist Kristen Anglin. “We
were clearly the better team, we just struggled with the fundamentals.”
The
next day proved to be better. Becky Fetter returned to set the ball, and
the Bees easily won their next two matches of the day against Huntington
College and Tennessee Wesleyan. This gave them second place in their pool,
fighting for a third place finish in the tournament. However, the Bees
fell to the Northwood Seahawks in five games, landing them fourth place.
After
the somewhat upsetting finish, the team took the next day to relax on
TyBee Island. Despite the cloudy and chilly weather, many of the players
and coaches enjoyed laying out and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Swimming in the ocean was an adrenaline rush,” said first year coach
Janelle Hester, “it was a lot of fun!” Later that night, the team
cruised the River Walk once again, taking advantage of the many quaint
shops along the way. A nice dinner at the Pirate’s House followed.
Legend has it that this building is one of the most haunted restaurants
along the coast of the south.
As
if this haunted place wasn’t enough, the team then took a tour of
Savannah’s historical haunted attractions ( http://www.hauntingstour.com/stories.htm
). With a dramatic tour guide and a spooky atmosphere, the Bees got to
hear of true accounts of ghost stories and tales of why Savannah is known
as the most haunted place in America. Lindsay Phillips, sophomore libero
stated, “Savannah is a beautiful, homey place, but I would never want to
live in such a haunted city!”
After the tour, the Bees came to together as a team and took a midnight swim at the motel. They just couldn’t get enough of the warm southern air. The night was completed with old-fashioned team bonding, making this trip one to remember. “My teammates were able to see a side of me that they have never seen before,” said sophomore outside hitter Andrea Brooks. “I feel a lot closer to them as a result of this weekend and have a great feeling about our upcoming NAIA Tournament play.”
Homecoming Week Homecoming week started out well for the Queen Bees and finished even better for several of the other sports on campus. The week began on Tuesday with a team dinner at the Grimes home. The food was excellent and Mr. Grimes led the team in a St. Ambrose trivia contest and a test to determine the most athletic person on the team (sophomore Lyndsay Phillips came out on top). On Wednesday, the Bees defeated Mount Mercy in a Midwest Classic Conference match (30-16, 30-23, 30-20). The win leaves St. Ambrose 3-1 in conference, tied for second place, one match behind 4-0 Iowa Wesleyan. On Thursday, the team had dinner at the Bentley's on their way to play Cornell. Mr Bentley grilled chicken outdoors. We have had the best week for food. Nothing beats home cooking. The match was a fun one for coach Billingsley, and not just because the Bees pulled off a five game victory (29-31,33-31,30-26,27-30,15-9). Cornell coach Jeff Meeker was an assistant to Billingsley for the first two seasons that St. Ambrose had their men's volleyball program. Before that, he coached against Billingsley at Iowa Wesleyan. Billingsley said, "Competing against Jeff is a challenge because he knows too much about how I think about the game. I always feel good when we come out on top, he is a good coach. But, I also feel bad, it is tough winning or losing against a friend." We took the weekend off, giving us time to enjoy the Homecoming festivities. The week ended on a high note for several of the other sports around campus: The NAIA #6 rated football team remained undefeated, beating #14 rated Trinity International 42-18 in the Homecoming game. Men's Golf, Women's Golf and the Women's Tennis teams all won NAIA Regional Playoffs, qualifying each of them to advance to their respective NAIA National Championships in the spring.
We Can Do
Anything Together Over the past weekend at the Simpson College Tournament, the St. Ambrose volleyball team not only came home with the winning trophy. They also came home with the attitude that says, "Together, we can do anything." The ladies have been working hard this season and they were ready to play. This weekend was the first the younger half of the team has won a tournament. The players have been working hard in practice and they knew that this was their chance to show what they can do, representing St. Ambrose and our volleyball program with pride and a lot of fight. "The ladies have been working really hard these past few weeks and this weekend it paid off. We have great upperclass leadership and the chemistry on the team right now is great. The seniors are stepping up when we need them and it has helped our team tremendously," stated assistant coach Allison Less. The team has set their goals very high for this season. After this weekend, they saw how well they can play under difficult circumstances. Senior Kristi Murray (Dubuque, IA - Hempted HS) made a strong showing and was selected by the tournament coaches as the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament, as well as being selected to the All-Tournament Team. When asked about her performance, Murray credited her peers: "We're starting to come together as a team. We have improved so much from just two weeks ago. We have a young team overall and the underclassmen have really stepped up and are playing a major role in our success." The recognition is not only great for Kristi, but also for the team. "We are very proud of her. She works very hard and is a huge part of this team, not only on the court but off the court as well," stated assistant coach Janelle Hester. Becky Fetter, our freshman setter, also had an outstanding weekend. She has come into this program with a lot of talent and a strong work ethic. Her on-court leadership has helped our offense to become very confident in their game. Hester said, "Our team is stepping up their playing level each day. They are focused, determined and most importantly are having fun with the game." Coach Billingsley was quoted as saying, "This was an exciting weekend for us. We played hard throughout all four of our matches. That is something that we struggled to do for even a single game just two weeks ago. We have strong leadership from our three senior captains, Sarah Bentley (Cedar Rapids, IA - Prairie HS), Kristi Murray and Erin Singleton (Roseville, IL). The underclassmen, three sophomores and four freshmen, have gained a lot of experience over the first four weeks. It makes me excited to look ahead to the remainder of the season."
Attitude Is
Everything The St. Ambrose volleyball season started off last week with a loss against a strong Wisconsin-Platteville team. With only three Seniors, Erin Singleton, Sarah Bentley, and Kristi Murray, the Queen Bees have come together as a newly rejuvenated team with an attitude to take care of business on and off the court. "We have an exciting blend of new talent and upper-class leadership," head coach Bruce Billingsley said. Coach Billingsley believes this year's team has been the hardest working team he's had during pre-season. "The Seniors have stepped up to the plate so far this year and they are setting the pace for the underclassmen." With a new coaching staff, the queen bee's program is rebuilding and changing the attitude of the program. "We want our athletes to become the best people on and off the court. We want to challenge them and prepare them the best we can," Assistant GA Janelle Hester said. Senior Erin Singleton said, "I am excited about our team. We have already overcome obstacles which have brought us even closer and made us mentally stronger." The Queen Bee's 2004 squad has set big goals. The team is hoping to contend for the top of the Midwest Classic Conference. Only time will tell if the Queen Bee's will be buzzing atop of the hive at season's end.
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518 West Locust
Street, Davenport, IA 52803 |
