Lee libero Beebe honored by GSC
Although her Lee University volleyball team lost all four of its matches against a tough field in the Oredigger Classic last weekend at Golden, Colorado, senior libero MaKayla Beebe made the all-tournament team, and then she was honored as the Gulf South Conference defender of the week. Beebe, a two-time All-GSC honoree, totaled 89 digs in Golden, including 33 against Davenport and 25 against Palm Beach Atlantic. “I was very proud of her effort and tenacity,” coach Andrea Hudson said in a Lee release. The Lady Flames are hosting the Holiday Inn Express Classic this weekend in Cleveland; their first match is set for 2:30 p.m. Friday against Arkansas Tech.
› Cleveland State’s volleyball team won 3-0 Wednesday over the Bryan College junior varsity in Dayton, by the set scores of 25-15, 25-21, 25-15. That made the Lady Cougars 3-1 for the season.
CROSS COUNTRY
› The Lee women’s cross country team is ranked 14th nationally in NCAA Division II, and the Lee men are 21st according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association polls released Wednesday. Adams State and Grand Valley State hold the top two spots in both sets of rankings. Lee is No. 1 in both South Region lists. “We know this is just speculation for what the rankers feel we can accomplish for the upcoming year,” Lee coach Caleb Morgan said in a school release. “We have a very talented group with a lot of new faces. As always, our biggest challenges this season will be learning to fight for each other and managing expectation.” Lee’s first meet is Sept. 15 at Furman.
› The Covenant College men’s cross country team is 10th in the USTFCCCA Division III South/Southeast Region preseason poll, after finishing 12th in the region meet last fall. That’s the first region ranking for the Scots since the school moved to the NCAA. Covenant is hosting the season-opening Mountaintop Invitational on Friday with the women’s 2-mile race at 6 p.m. and the men’s 5k at 6:30. Sewanee also is included.
› Both University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country teams were predicted by the league coaches to finish fourth in the Southern Conference this season. Furman, East Tennessee State and Samford were picked first, second and third out of 10 teams in each gender’s standings. Furman’s men and women have won the last five SoCon titles.