FOR STARTERS: Fresh off the tournament title at the Hawkeye Challenge, the Billikens open the home portion of the 2011 schedule with a 2 p.m. match Monday, Sept. 5, versus Arkansas State at Chaifetz Pavilion.

BILLIKEN 5K: The department of athletics is sponsoring the third annual Billiken 5K run/walk that begins at 8 a.m. in front of Chaifetz Arena Monday, Sept. 5. All participants in the race receive a free ticket to the Arkansas State match.

IN A NATURAL STATE: Billiken newcomer Cassie Clarke sees the opportunity to take on a team from her home state of Arkansas as SLU hosts Arkansas State. The junior setter graduated from Fayetteville High School and spent her first two seasons at the University of Arkansas before transferring to SLU.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for all Billiken volleyball home matches can be purchased at the gate, by phone at (314) 977-4SLU or online at www.slubillikens.com. Season tickets are $49 for adults, $28 for youths (ages 3-18). Single-match tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth. SLU students are admitted free with a valid university ID.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION: Monday's match against Arkansas State will be streamed live for free on the Internet at SLUBillikens.com. LiveStats will also be available for the match at no cost. In-game updates will be provided on SLU's official Twitter account - @SLU­­­_Billikens.

ABOUT THE BILLIKENS: Saint Louis returns four starters from a 2010 squad that posted a 19-13 slate and finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 11-4 mark. Second-team All-Conference selection Alyssa Deno (Fenton, Mo. / Ursuline) and A-10 Rookie of the Year Andrea Beaty (Pacific, Mo. / Washington) headline the returners. Deno, a senior, led the team with 411 kills and 25 service aces. Beaty finished second on the team with 342 kills and topped SLU with 107 blocks. Junior Carly Marcum (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) played in all 122 sets a year ago and notched 298 kills, while fellow junior Carly Schumacher (Clinton, Ill. / University) added 75 kills and was second on the squad with 81 blocks. Sophomore Grace Bonoma (Chicago, Ill. / St. Ignatius) recorded 357 digs, good for second on the team, despite missing 23 sets due to injury.

HEAD COACH KENT MILLER: Head coach Kent Miller is in his first season at Saint Louis. Miller, who came to SLU after serving two seasons as an assistant at Illinois, spent 12 years as head coach at Toledo. In two seasons with the Fighting Illini, he helped the team reach two Sweet 16s and post a 50-15 record. Miller played a significant role in the Illini reaching a No. 3 national ranking, and he coached four AVCA All-Americans, one Academic All-American and six All-Big Ten selections during his tenure. Prior to Illinois, Miller recorded 136 wins in 12 years as head coach of Toledo. Inheriting a program that had finished with only two winning seasons in 17 years, he rebuilt the Rockets into a contender in the Mid-American Conference. Miller's teams also were successful in the classroom as the Rockets earned nine AVCA team academic achievement awards. He coached Kate Bean, who became the first UT volleyball student-athlete to earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first-team honors in 2005 and 2006. In addition, Miller has vast experience on the international volleyball scene. He was an assistant on the USA National Team from 1987-96. With the USA Women's Olympic Squad, Miller was an assistant on the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Team that won the bronze medal. Miller is aided this season by assistant coaches Ben Spurlock and Sue Jacobson and volunteer assistant Kyle Homeyer.

ABOUT ARKANSAS STATE: The Red Wolves return the majority of a squad that finished 17-12 overall, 11-5 in the Sun Belt last year. ASU opened the season by defeating Akron but dropped five-set decisions to UAB and Samford. Before coming to SLU, the Red Wolves play in a tournament in Nashville, Tenn., featuring A-10 opponent Charlotte as well as Tennessee Tech and host Lipscomb. Last season, Cayla Fielder led ASU with 332 kills, and Megan Baska topped the team with 564 digs. Allison Kearney directed the team with 1,015 assists. Head coach Justin Ingram is in his third year at ASU.

ALL-TOURNAMENT AWARDS: Cassie Clarke was named the tournament MVP at the Hawkeye Challenge after posting 90 assists, 30 digs, 10 kills and eight blocks. Andrea Beaty and Carly Marcum were selected to the All-Tournament team. Beaty had 22 kills and a team-high 13 blocks in three matches, while Marcum added 23 kills and 11 blocks over the weekend.

FRESH FACES: Coach Miller and his staff added five talented players to the 2011 mix. Junior setter Cassie Clarke (Fayetteville, Ark.) comes to SLU after two seasons at Arkansas, and outside hitter Aleksandra Niemiec (Chelm, Poland) was a junior college standout at Jefferson College. Sophomore setter/DS Erin Klostermann (Dubuque, Iowa) saw one season of action at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Two freshmen are in the fold, both hailing from Hawai'i - DS Erin Nakatsuka and middle blocker Nicole Sniffen. In addition, the Billikens welcome back the services of Emma Goldschmidt (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon Township) and Lauren Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg), who both took a redshirt season due to injuries.