Men's Volleyball loses to conference rival, now try to play catch-up

Feb. 24, 2005
By Katie Kerr
Staff Writer

It was a heartbreaking five game struggle that resulted in defeat for the St. Ambrose University men’s volleyball team. Last week’s match was the Fighting Bee’s second conference contest as they went head-to-head with conference leaderCardinal Stritch.

The first game was no indication of what was to come despite falling 30-21. The second game showed more promise for St. Ambrose as they maintained a two point margin for the entire game. Even with the help of Stritch’s dwindling serving ability, SAU couldn’t keep up the momentum and the Bees lost again 30-26.

Game three was a high energy fight for the lead. The scores were tied as the Fighting Bees were just able to break away and take a firm lead en route to a 30-24 win and a hope of turning the tide.

The Fighting Bees came back firing in the fourth game, ready for whatever Stritch had to serve up. Though it looked close in the beginning, SAU was able to pull off another win 30-22, and force a game five.

The final game was a struggle that the Bees couldn’t pull off. Stritch maintained the lead for the duration of the game and came down hard on the Bees to take the final game 15-10, and with the win take sole possession of first place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Volleyball Association.

Senior Captain Bill Gleeson lead the team with a 39% hitting percentage and 18 kills. While the two starting freshman helped the team as well with middle hitter Joe Bara adding 14 kills and outside hitter Drew Brown collecting 12.

The Bees went on to sweep the Milwaukee School Of Engineering that same night and followed through with another exciting five game win the next day against Peru State.

Although the loss was a big hit to the Bees goal of winning conference, their goal is still attainable. While Cardinal Stritch is their biggest competition in the five team conference they still have a chance at winning conference. The team with the best record doesn’t necessarily mean the team is going to the national tournament.

Due to the subtraction of two schools this season the sole way to get to the national tournament is to be ranked in the top six in the nation. The Bees are currently ranked 10.

Back to the SPORTS-PAGE or "The Buzz" HOMEPAGE