Teams eye conference championships

Sept. 23, 2004
By Dan Tomlin
Sports Editor

VOLLEYBALL

After the first three weeks of the women’s volleyball season, the Queen Bees have found themselves with a winning record, and their first conference victory.

On a team with just three seniors St. Ambrose has weathered an early season onslaught of games and tournaments with five wins against just four losses.

The biggest of these wins came against Viterbo University as the Queen Bees opened their conference schedule. After falling in the first game 28-30 the Queen Bees came back to win the next three games 30-18, 30-18, 30-22.

The win was the first for the Queen Bees in conference. Another big win for the Queen Bees came earlier in the week when they traveled to Rock Island to take on the Lady Vikings of Augustana. They made quick work of the Vikings, knocking them out in the minimum, three games.

SOCCER

After starting the season 5-1 the Fighting Bees soccer team has dropped their last two games to worthy opponents. The Fighting Bees won their Opening SAU Classic by defeating Avila College, and later knocking off McKendree College 2-1 in overtime.

In a rivalry matching that of any against Loras, the Fighting Bees prevailed with a 2-1 victory, as Dustin Freeman scored in the waning moments of the game to tip the scales for St. Ambrose. The victory for the Bees was the first in four years against Loras, as the Duhawks squeezed out the previous three.

The men then traveled to Michigan and collected a couple more victories against Davenport University -Grand Rapids, and Aquinas College.
St. Ambrose University will host Iowa Wesleyan in a Midwest Classic Conference Showdown on Sat. Sept. 25 at 3:00 p.m. at the Davenport Soccer Complex.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Fighting Bees and Queen Bees traveled to the University of Notre Dame to compete in the National Catholic Championships.

The Fighting Bees finished the race placing 22 out of 30 teams, highlighted by Mitch Hanson’s 93 place finish as the Bees number one runner. The 22 place finish was the highest for the Bees since 2000 when they placed 15 out of 26 teams. Their best performance at the ND meet came in 1999 when they placed seventh overall.

The Queen Bees finished the race in 17 place out of over 30 teams. This was the highest finish for the women at this meet in school history. Freshman Molly Fisher was the fastest Queen Bee of the day crossing the finish line in under 20 min, for 52 place. Both teams will be racing in Davenport on Fri. Sept. 24 at Credit Island.

TENNIS

The Queen Bee tennis team is putting together a fall season comparable to that of their storied National Championship past. With the only blemish on their record a tight 4-5 loss to Simpson College, the Queen Bees have been rolling over opponents all season long.

Knocking off opponents such as Augustana, Loras, and Olivet Nazarene, the St. Ambrose women are making some racket in the NAIA tennis world, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the region.

With just two weeks before the regional tournament with a chance to qualify for the national championships, the Queen Bees are looking to make it back to the national tournament.

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