The Saint Louis University volleyball team and Frank Sinatra have something in common: Chicago is their kind of town. And although Sinatra chose to sing a song about it, the volleyball team chooses simply to visit the Windy City this weekend and pay their respects on their way to a Conference USA tournament title.
After a 20-9 regular season, which included a 10-3 conference record, the Billikens are seeded fourth for this weekend’s 12-team tournament, and they are relishing all of the benefits that go with that fourth seed.
“We are leaving [today] to go up there, but we won’t actually have to play until Saturday,” said coach Marilyn Nolen.
The two extra days will allow the Bills to get in a few more practice sessions, as well as be able to scout their upcoming opponent, which will be Tulane or Marquette. However, the seeding has not gone to the Bills’ heads, especially considering that the Bills’ postseason NCAA tournament hopes depend on how they fare in the conference tournament.
“If we win the first one I’d say we have a shot at a tournament berth. But if we win the second game too, then we up our chances considerably,” said assistant coach Alan Ursillo.
The Bills’ potential second game will likely be against the No. 1 seed, which would normally be quite a tall task. However, in the C-USA tournament the No. 1 seed is none other than Louisville, whom the Bills already beat earlier this year.
If the Bills advance from there, they will likely play either South Florida or Cincinnati, both of whom have already beaten the Bills this season.
Marquette is the 12th seed and Tulane is the 5th seed, so if the seedings hold then the Bills will face the Green Wave from Tulane. The Green Wave have won seven straight conference games and are on a tear entering the tournament.
“They are the hottest team in C-USA right now,” Ursillo said.
Tulane showcases kill leader Britney Hurst. Hurst also leads the Green Wave with 452 digs.
SLU beat the Wave earlier this season in a five-set marathon in New Orleans.
“We know we have our work cut out for us this weekend, but we’ve been working hard and we know what we have to do to win,” Nolen said.
The Bills’ formula for success thus far has been come-from-behind victories, and they added another notch in their belt this past Friday against Southern Miss in their conference closer. They took the match in five games, this time dropping the first game, winning the second, but falling behind again after losing the third before finally winning the fourth and fifth games to take the match.
Colleen Hunter led the Bills in kills again with 27. She also added nine digs and five blocks. Brooke Minniear led the Bills with 18 digs and added seven kills in the win. Ashley Hunter continued her emergence as a premiere Billiken mercenary, adding 12 kills.
The win kept alive the Bills’ NCAA Tournament hopes and extended their winning streak to three heading into the conference tournament. The win was all the more emotional because the Bills beat former assistant coach Santiago Restrepo, who is now the head coach at Southern Miss.
“We were hot and cold all night long. You could tell it was emotional out there and they played extremely well against us, but it was still closer than we would have expected,” Nolen said.
But a win is a win, and the Bills are hoping to bring home a couple more wins this weekend and, hopefully, solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
