Bears Hall of Famer Urlacher to be USF speaker

Combining both the 100th anniversary of the National Football League and the Chicago Bears franchise with the University of St. Francis' upcoming 100th year as an academic institution of higher learning, the University of St. Francis Athletic Department has announced that 2018 NFL Hall of Fame inductee and Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher will be the guest speaker at its 43rd annual Brown & Gold Night. The event will take place at the Pat Sullivan Center on Friday, November 22.

Urlacher will become the seventh NFL Hall of Famer to speak at the event, joining the likes of former Bears' standouts Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Dan Hampton as well as the Minnesota Vikings' Carl Eller and Paul Hornung and Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers.

Ten other Hall of Fame inductees from their respective sports have also been guests of the University including college basketball coaches John Wooden, Al McGuire and Ray Meyer, Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable, Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins, Blackhawks forward Denis Savard, White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas and USF's own Gordie Gillespie.

Urlacher played all 13 of his seasons wearing the Blue & Orange of the Bears and was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection.

The ninth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the University of New Mexico product captured Rookie of the Year honors that season before claiming NFL Defensive Player of the Year accolades five years later in 2005. He retired following the 2012 season.

Voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility last year, Urlacher finished his career with a team-record 1,779 tackles, including 41.5 for sacks, 22 interceptions 16 forced fumbles and 16 fumble recoveries in 182 games.

He started all but two of those contests and ranks third behind only Walter Payton (184 starts) and Olin Kreutz (183) for the most starts in franchise history.

Other sport personalities to have spoken at Brown & Gold include Bulls players John Paxson, Johnny "Red" Kerr and Bill Cartwright, David Ross of the Cubs, AJ Pierzynski from the White Sox and Bear players Jim McMahon, Tom Thayer, Tom Waddle and Chris Zorich.

The annual fundraiser begins with a cash bar at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and the program at 8 p.m. The event will also include both a silent and live auction.

Tickets are available for $60 each or a table of 10 for $600. Corporate sponsorships are also available. For more information, contact the USF Athletic Department at 815-740-3842 or http://www.gofightingsaints.com.

LEWIS UNIVERSITY

Lewis' eighth ranked women's volleyball team bounced back after a tough four set loss on Friday night sweeping McKendree on Saturday afternoon in Lebanon, Ill.

The Flyers improve to 22-4, 8-3 GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 11-14, 4-7 GLVC.

Lewis fell behind 3-0 to begin the match before coming back to even things at 10 on a kill by Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs).

The Flyers took the lead for a good with a 6-3 run. McKendree cut the lead to 16-15 on a service ace by Macy Tongate but that was the closest they got as Lewis closed the set on a 9-2 run to win the opener 25-17. The middle stanza was tight with the Flyers leading 12-10 before pulling away thanks to a 12-3 run to win the set 25-14 to take the commanding 2-0 lead. Lewis hit a whopping .593 in the frame recording 18 kills against two errors in 27 chances.

Colleen Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) had five kills in the set while Van Loo and Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) added four kills each.

The Flyer defense held the Bearcats to a .143 hitting percentage in the frame. Lewis led by as many as five points in the final frame but McKendree refused to go quietly as they cut the deficit to three but were unable to get any closer as the Flyers held on for a 25-21 victory to complete the sweep.

Wilhelm finished with a match-high 13 kills while Van Loo and Venema added 10 kills apiece. Mikah Freppon (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and Haley Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) each had 18 assists and Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) had 18 digs.

Lewis finished the match with a .293 hitting percentage (45/11/116) while holding the Bearcats to a .100 attack percentage (30/18/120).

VOLLEYBALL

The Lewis University women's bowling team qualified first at the Crusader Classic over the weekend at Lynwood Bowl and finished in fourth place overall, ending the weekend with a 9-3 record.

The Flyers (26-12) earned the top seed with 10,092 pins over six traditional games and five Baker matches, good for an average of 183.5.

Second-seeded Drury averaged a 178.6 (9,823). Lewis opened the tournament Friday with a 4-0 performance in Baker match play, a five game cumulative score. It beat Dominican 831-720, Spalding 950-644, Augustana 882-871 and Drury 911-898.

On Saturday the Flyers went 5-0 in traditional games, beating Alabama A&M 970-845, Elmhurst 870-834, North Central 911-816, Aurora 970-804 and Kentucky Wesleyan 1,002-845. On Sunday the Flyers bowled one more traditional game, falling to Valparaiso 978-935. In best of seven match play, Lewis fell to No. 4 seed Kentucky Wesleyan 4-2 (175-171, 131-157, 178-186, 194-189, 172-192, 149-159). The Flyers then fell to No. 3 seed Valparaiso 4-2 in the third place match (161-146, 182-157, 165-187, 172-246, 162-178, 141-183).

For the Flyers individually, Kylie Johnson (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere North) earned All-Tournament Team honors, finishing in third place with a 1,163 over six games. Kaylee Zukovich (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) took sixth place with a 1,147, Heather Carlson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) was eighth with a 1,132, Erin Biccochi (Ladd, Ill./Hall) shot an 891 in five games, Kayla Dench (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East) had a 755 in four games and Michelle Tiltges (Lansing, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) totaled a 572 in three games.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Lewis' women's soccer team secured a spot in the GLVC Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Southwest Baptist on Sunday afternoon. The Flyers got some help as Drury rallied to defeat Illinois Springfield 3-2 in OT and Truman State defeated Lindenwood 2-1.

Lewis did its job and then had to wait to see what happened in the other game. Things weren't looking good for the Flyers as Illinois Springfield held a 2-0 lead at halftime over the Panthers.

Drury scored twice in the second half on goals from Kennedy Thompson (59th minute) and Christine Harp (81st minute) to tie the game and force overtime.

The Panthers scored the game-winner with 3:28 left in the first overtime on Natalie Beck's first goal of the season.

Lewis dominated the stat sheet in the first 45 minutes holding 61 percent of the position and outshot the Bearcats (3-13-1, 2-13 GLVC) 8-2. Lewis scored the game-winner 2:34 into the second half as Cali Havelka-Vanderplow (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale South) ripped a shot from the center

Lewis (8-7-3, 6-6-3 GLVC) qualify for the postseason tournament for the second straight season and will travel to Lebanon, Ill., next Sunday (Nov. 10) to take on top seeded McKendree (13-3-2, 11-2-2 GLVC) at 12 p.m.

The Flyers look to avenge a 1-0 defeat to the Bearcats in Lebanon back on Oct. 18.