Billikens Drop Home Opener in Front of Near-Record Crowd
Sept. 5, 2008
ST. LOUIS - With the second-largest on-campus crowd in program history (1,016) on hand, the Saint Louis volleyball team dropped its home opener at Chaifetz Arena to No. 19 Illinois (4-0) 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 on Friday evening in the second match of the Billiken Invitational presented by Front Door LLC. Earlier in the evening, No. 3 Stanford (3-1) defeated William and Mary (3-1) 25-13, 25-17, 25-13. The Billikens fell behind by three early in the first set after the Fighting Illini got a pair of kills from Kylie McCulley and a service ace from Lizzie Bazzetta. Illinois led by as many as five before SLU made a push mid-set. Sammi McCloud (Columbia, Ill. / Columbia) recorded a kill to cut the margin to four, and then stepped to the service line. McCloud served the next six points to put her team up 17-15. After another McCulley kill, Saint Louis increase its lead to 20-16 on kills from Lauren Christman (Oak Brook, Ill. / Hinsdale Central) and McCloud and an Illini hitting miscue. Illinois trimmed the margin to two on two occasions but could get no closer. McCloud posted a set-high five kills in the opener. SLU scored the first five points of the second set due to the strength of Bridget Fonke's (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Joseph's) serve. The Illini chipped away at the Bills' lead, evening things up at 7-7 and scoring the next five points on a pair of kills and three SLU hitting errors. Illinois, which had four blocks in the set, built a lead as large as seven points as the Saint Louis offense was plagued by hitting errors. SLU dropped the set after hitting at just a .049 clip to Illinois' .250. Saint Louis continued to struggle offensively in the third set as it posted just eight kills while also recording eight errors. Illinois did not hit much better at .146 but it mustered enough balance to take the set. The Fighting Illini led early on by as many as five before the Bills knotted the score at 11 on a Sally Warning (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) kill and Whitney Roth (Louisville, Ky. / Assumption) ace. The teams tied again at 12-12 and 13-13 before Illinois pulled away for good.
It was Illinois out-hitting SLU again in the fourth and final set .250 to .000 (10 kills, 10 errors). Reigning Sports Imports/AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Division I National Player of the Week Laura DeBruler (match-high 14 kills) helped her team put the match away in the final set, hitting .500 with six kills. The Illini scored on a kill and three consecutive hitting errors to stay ahead for good following a 6-6 stalemate. SLU trailed by as many as eight points. McCloud led SLU with 13 kills while Warning tallied 10 while Roth (36 assists, 10 digs) and Fonke (10 kills, 14 digs) each had double-doubles. Megan Boken (Wheaton, Ill. / St. Francis) turned in a team-best 17 digs. SLU gets back on the court with an 11 a.m. match against William & Mary before wrapping up the tournament against No. 3 Stanford at 7 p.m. |
|
