[Women's Tennis] Senior Day - Elizabeth Bush

Among many things, the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended the athletic careers of the majority of the St. Ambrose spring sport seniors.

Through no fault of their own, these seniors had their final seasons, and collegiate careers, shortened. Yet this does not diminish in any way their contributions to St. Ambrose University and the Athletic Department.

Some of these seniors were on the verge of postseason play, with sights set on competing for National Titles. Others were just getting their final seasons started. And still others never had a chance to compete this spring.

While COVID-19 brought a close to the SAU athletic careers of these seniors, it also robbed the St. Ambrose Athletic Department the opportunity to thank them for their contributions on the playing field, in the classroom and in the community.

Over the next several weeks, we will share stories on each of these seniors. In a way, this will be the Senior Day we were never able to give them.

These are our Seniors of 2020.

It was family that brought Elizabeth Bush back home and to St. Ambrose.

And while here, she found a second family - the SAU women's tennis team.

Two pictures below: The Bush family

A graduate of Davenport Assumption High School, Elizabeth started her collegiate career at Saint Mary's in Notre Dame, Ind., near her brother who was attending Notre Dame at the time. But after a year, the pull of family brought her to St. Ambrose.

"I loved it there (at Saint Mary's) but I was missing out at home. My sister was having her second kid so I'd have two baby nephews at home. And my brother was graduating Notre Dame and he was coming back home. I just wanted to be closer to home."

Back in Davenport and after transferring to St. Ambrose, she immediate found another family on the tennis courts.

"Ever since I first got to Ambrose, tennis has been a comfortable, safe spot for me. (Teammates) Alex Horton, Nikki (Steiner) and Shannon (McEachern) created such a strong tennis culture and that's something that has carried on as the years have gone by. Tennis was a chance to get away from the stressful stuff which was always really nice."

Along with her teammates, Elizabeth credits head coach Rich Blomgren in building that culture and helping her find success.

"I met him in the summer before I started at St. Ambrose and thought, 'This is my coach? This is awesome.' Coach is someone I admire, trust and look up to. He is one of the most influential coaches I've had. He has a unique style of coaching. We work hard at practice, but it is what it is. You're not crying stressing out over things. He really puts tennis in perspective. The coach at Saint Mary's was very strict, a complete night-and-day difference from here. At Ambrose, tennis became something I would escape to, not escape from. I have such a good relationship with tennis because of him."

And having that all ripped away in the blink of an eye thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic still hurts.

"I can't really think about it yet or it will really upset me. I think about the memories we didn't get to have but I try to not get too far down that rabbit hole. I'm just very appreciative of the time I did have with Coach Blomgren."