Riding the Wave

The St. Ambrose men's volleyball team look to ride their wave all the way to nationals after winning the Spring Break Tournament in Leesburg, FL.

“There was some really good competition in that tournament,” first year head coach Bill Gleeson said.

To win the tournament The Bees had to defeat #7 Eastern Mennonite, #11 Nazareth and #10 Warner Southren.

“The guys played like they wanted it more. They never thought they were going to lose,” Gleeson continues.

One thing is certain, the key to their winning ways is their youthful enthusiasm, with 10 of the 18 players being sophomores.

“We are always the loudest team in the gym,” senior co-captain Jim Finn explains. “Our youth helps us. We have more exuberance. We really are playing for fun.”

Freshman Jason Paplaski agrees.

“There is a lot of young guys, so we have a lot of fun. We get to really bond and we don't leave anyone out. Coach Gleeson does a good job with team bonding and keeping everyone involved.”

Gleeson is Finn's third coach in four years. Finn explains how Gleeson is different from the others.

“His number one priority is coaching mens volleyball. Our practices are more structured. He is there for us both on and off the court. His love for the game and his love for the team really shows.”

“Because he's younger he's all about the players,” Paplaski concurs. “He's the best motivational speaker I've had as a coach. He worries more about the team than outside stuff.”

And that “outside stuff” may include a trip to the nationals. The top six teams get to go and SAU is currently positioned at number six. This is the highest that the men's team has ever been ranked and is currently one win away from the most wins in school history. After last year's 8-22 record that is quite a turnaround.

“Last year we finished 8-22, but we were in every game. We were losing them because of experience. Now with that year under our belts, we are winning those games,” Gleeson acknowledges.

And experience is one of his goals for this year.

“My goals are to develop this team and get them more experience. I want them to take each game one by one and not overlook teams. I want to have them grow in confidence and reduce their errors. In volleyball is all comes down to the errors. If your team makes less than the team on the other side of the net, nine out of 10 times you are going to win. Then I hope we win the conference championship, which we host. From there, we would have a good shot to go on to nationals.”

The conference tournament is scheduled for March 30 and 31 and will be played at Lee Lohman Arena.