Box Score ST. LOUIS - South Florida claimed the championship of the Marcia E. Hamilton
Classic by defeating Saint Louis 25-20, 25-21, 27-25 Saturday night at Chaifetz
Arena.
The
loss snapped SLU's winning streak at four and dropped the Billikens to 5-5.
South Florida improved to 4-5.
South
Florida, Southeast Missouri State and Saint Louis each went 2-1 in the tournament.
USF earned first place with an 8-4 overall set record, followed by SEMO (7-5) and
SLU (6-5). Evansville finished fourth.
Grace Bonoma led the Billikens with 12
digs and two service aces and was named to the seven-player All-Tournament
team. The junior libero had team highs of 54 digs (4.91 per set) and five
service aces in three tournament matches.
Aleksandra Niemiec had seven kills,
while Lauren Baumet and Cassie Clarke tallied six kills apiece.
Clarke added 28 assists and tied Lindsey
Dinkelacker for team-high honors with nine digs.
Carly Marcum registered seven blocks, Megan Gilbert had four blocks and Andrea Bolt collected eight digs.
Saint
Louis erased a four-point deficit and tied set one at 13 and 15. But a 5-0 run
put South Florida in front 20-15, and the Bulls went on to win by that same
five-point margin.
USF
jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in set two and went on to build a seven-point
cushion. SLU rallied late but would get no closer than three.
The
Billikens owned a 16-12 lead in set three, only to see South Florida surge
ahead 22-20. SLU pulled even at 22, then fought off two match points for a
24-24 deadlock and another match point for a 25-25 stalemate. However, USF
scored the next two points to clinch the set and match victories.
Saint
Louis plays its final regular-season tournament of the year next weekend,
traveling to Evanston, Ill., to compete in Northwestern's Wildcat Classic. The
Billikens will face Northwestern, Western Michigan and Delaware.
