This weekend will be a busy one for St. Louis University’s
women’s volleyball team.
Aside from officially beginning the season, the lady Bills will
also be hosting the Billiken Invitational, a round-robin
tournament, involving three other college volleyball teams.
Purdue, William and Mary, and the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, all fierce competitors and solid programs, are
scheduled to participate in this weekend’s events. The tournament’s
sponsor, the Baymont Inn, will provide hotel rooms for teams and
officials.
Tonight, in support of the Bills, all involved with the
tournament are invited to a barbeque at Grant’s Farm, an event
hosted by co-sponsor Anheuser Busch.
The annual tournament is a staple on the Billiken schedule and
has been for many years past.
“We really enjoy bringing in other teams to compete with us here
on our home floor. It also is a nice way for us to set up return
visits to their courts and get our girls some more games to play
in,” Nolen said.
The Billiken tournament has been at the beginning of the year
for quite awhile now, and they then proceed to travel around
playing in other team’s tournaments for the next few weekends until
the conference season starts.
The food and festivities won’t last long, as play begins on
Friday afternoon at 4. The first match will be between William and
Mary and UW-Milwaukee, followed at 6:30 p.m. by a highly
anticipated opening game between SLU and Purdue.
Coach Marilyn Nolen is prepared for the fierce competition.
“It’s opening weekend, and all the teams will be chomping at the
bit,” Nolen said.
The Bills are ready for whatever hits come their way–even
before the season began they had to deal with unexpected
circumstances.
For the better part of two weeks, the team dealt with a loss of
air conditioning in their practice venue.
Rather than break a sweat over their bad luck, Nolen and
Assistant Coach Corey Arbini relocated the team to the facilities
of Monroe Elementary.
Nolen is confident that her players are ready for the
competition and adds that circumstances beyond their control, not
the teams themselves, are SLU’s biggest threat. However, Nolen
thinks that the Bills have already proven they can take it. “The
main thing we contend with is the heat.”
The team, which consists of one senior, three juniors, four
sophomores and three freshmen, typically practice about
two-and-a-half-hours a day, and Nolen hopes their hard work and
preparation will pay off this weekend. “Our students are strong in
academics; they’re focused on what they’re here to do, but they are
passionate about playing,” Nolan said.
