 No. 16 Billikens Prepare for State Farm Classic
Sept. 9, 2009
This Week: After playing three top-10 volleyball programs at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic last weekend in Honolulu, No. 16 Saint Louis stays close to home for this weekend's State Farm Classic in Champaign, Ill. The Billikens open tournament play against Illinois State at 4:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11. SLU returns to the court at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for a match against Cincinnati before facing No. 14 Illinois at 7 p.m. Kordes Homecoming: When the Bills travel to Champaign, Ill., this weekend, it will be the first time that head coach Anne Kordes has taken SLU to her former stomping grounds. Kordes began her coaching career as the top assistant at Illinois from 1999-2003. She was hired as the head coach at Saint Louis prior to the 2004 campaign. Following the Action: SLU's match against No. 14 Illinois in the State Farm Classic will be video streamed live through Billiken All-Access at www.slubillikens.com. Subscriptions are available for $79.95 annually or $9.95 a month. Gametracker for all tournament matches will be available free of charge on Saint Louis' web site. Last Week: The Bills fell to No. 4 Hawai'i 3-1 to open the Hawaiian Airlines Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i, last weekend. SLU bounced back to defeat No. 10 California 3-0 before No. 2 Texas claimed a 3-0 victory in the tournament finale. Senior outside hitter Bridget Fonke was named to the All-Tournament team. About the Billikens: No. 16 Saint Louis (3-3) will look to get back into the win column after going 1-2 against three top-10 programs at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic last weekend. Junior outside hitter Megan Boken leads the squad with 3.05 kills per set, while senior right-side hitter Sammi McCloud follows with 3.00 kills per set and adds a team-best 0.35 aces per set. Senior setter Whitney Roth directs the offense with a team-high 10.00 assists per set, and sophomore middle blocker Alyssa Deno paces the Billikens with 0.75 blocks per set. Senior libero Whitney Behrens and McCloud are tied for team-high honors with 2.55 digs per set apiece.
Polling Place: For the second straight week, the Billikens have improved the program's highest ranking. After facing three top-10 teams at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic last weekend, SLU moved up to No. 16 with 595 points in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll. Saint Louis was No. 19 the previous week after entering the season with a national ranking for the first time in program history. The Bills came in at No. 20 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. About the Redbirds: Illinois State (4-3) fell to Dayton and Western Michigan at the Western Michigan Tournament last weekend before finishing the tournament with a win over Wake Forest. Junior outside hitter Mallory Leggett powers the offense with 3.27 kills per set and 0.65 aces per set. The `Birds use two setters with senior Jessica Pratapas posting 8.20 assists per set and sophomore Kristin Stauter adding 7.89. Senior libero Kasey Mollerus has picked up a team-high 4.12 digs per set protecting the back row, while junior middle blocker Hailey Kelley is ISU's top defender at the net with 0.81 blocks per set. Head coach Melissa Myers is 20-18 in her second season with the Redbirds, 181-67 in eight years overall. ISU has won five of the six meetings in the series against the Billikens with the last meeting occurring in 2007. About the Bearcats: Cincinnati (4-2) captured the Bearcat Invitational crown last weekend with victories over Youngstown State, Evansville and the College of Charleston. Both of Cincinnati's losses this season have been five-set affairs (vs. Arizona State and No. 17 Utah). Junior outside hitter Stephanie Niemer leads the Bearcats with 5.42 kills per set as junior setter Annie Fesl directs the offense with 11.88 assists per set. Senior libero Jaime Frey has collected a team-high 3.04 digs per set this season, while freshmen middles Becca Refenes and Jordanne Scott are the top stoppers at the net with 0.79 and 0.74 blocks per set, respectively. Reed Sunahara is 211-84 in 10 seasons as the head coach at Cincinnati with a 12-year career mark of 230-124. The Bearcats lead the series 23-5 with the last meeting occurring in the 2004 season finale. About the Fighting Illini: No. 14 Illinois (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, a 3-0 decision against Florida State, at the New Mexico State Tournament last weekend. Each of the Fighting Illini's matches has resulted in a sweep. Junior outside hitter Laura DeBruler leads the club with 5.08 kills and 0.50 aces per set, while junior setter Hillary Haen triggers the offense with 12.50 assists per set. Freshman middle blocker Erin Johnson boasts a team-high 1.08 blocks per set, and junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert and sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bartsch contribute 0.83 blocks per set apiece. Senior libero Ashley Edinger paces the squad with 3.42 digs per set. Kevin Hambly is in his first season at the helm of the Illinois program after serving as an assistant for five years. In the only meeting between the teams, the Illini handed Saint Louis its only home loss of the 2008 campaign, a 3-1 decision in the Billiken Invitational at Chaifetz Arena. It's a Small World After All: Each of Saint Louis' matches at the State Farm Classic this weekend features a clash of former high school teammates. Billiken senior Whitney Behrens and Illinois State senior Kasey Mollerus (both liberos) helped Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis to three state titles. Meanwhile, SLU sophomore Amelia Karges and Redbird sophomore Laura Wakefield were teammates at Joliet Catholic Academy. Billiken senior Whitney Roth and Cincinnati freshman Emily Hayden played together at Assumption High School in Louisville, Ky., in addition to being club teammates. The match against the Bearcats features another SLU connection, with UC assistant Erin Virtue having played at Illinois from 2001-05 while Saint Louis head coach Anne Kordes was on the U of I coaching staff. The Illinois match will feature former St. Francis teammates, SLU junior Megan Boken and Illini sophomore Catherine Culligan, as well as Illinois sophomore Nicole Kump, who played at Joliet Catholic Academy with Karges. Head Coach Anne Kordes: Head coach Anne Kordes is in her sixth season at Saint Louis with a 106-57 (.650) career ledger. The 1998 Louisville graduate enjoyed her winningest campaign as a head coach in 2008 when she guided the Bills to their second A-10 West regular-season crown, their second A-10 Championship title and NCAA Tournament bid, and the first unbeaten conference slate since 1997. Kordes earned CVU.com (Collegiate Volleyball Update) National Coach of the Year honors and was named AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year last season. In 2006, she led SLU to its first NCAA Volleyball Tournament appearance after her squad captured its first A-10 Championship crown and tied for the A-10 West regular-season title. Kordes is only the second coach in program history to earn more than 100 victories at SLU. The 2006 and 2008 A-10 Coach of the Year is joined on the sideline by assistant coaches Kyle Walton and Angela Powers, volunteer assistant Corey Arbini and director of volleyball operations Andy Halaz. On Her Way to the Top (10): Senior Sammi McCloud is quickly working her way into SLU's career top 10 in five statistical categories. She is already No. 8 with 1,160 career kills and is No. 12 on the digs (945) and block assists (207) lists. McCloud ranks No. 14 in career service aces (96) and total blocks (221). The only players in Billiken history ranked among the top 10 in each of those categories are Colleen Hunter (1999-2002) and Julie Tretten (1994-97). A-10 Leaders: After two weeks of volleyball action, senior Whitney Roth, the Billikens' career assist leader, ranks third among A-10 players with 10.00 assists per set. Meanwhile, junior Megan Boken and senior Sammi McCloud rank eighth (3.05) and ninth (3.00), respectively, in kills per set. Can You Dig It: Senior Whitney Behrens needs just 80 digs to become the program's career leader. She is third with 1,395 digs. Irene Haugh (1987-90) holds the record with 1,474 career digs. Deno's Debut: Though it wasn't her first match in a Billiken uniform, sophomore Alyssa Deno had a coming-out party of sorts in Saint Louis' season opener against Alabama. Normally an outside hitter, Deno moved to the middle-blocker position to fulfill a need for the Bills. The sophomore was impressive in her first career start, hitting at a team-high .312 clip with eight kills in the first front-row action of her career. Come One, Come All: Saint Louis has played in two of the most highly attended volleyball matches so far this season. As of Sept. 8, the Billikens' match against Penn State at Chaifetz Arena drew the fifth-largest volleyball attendance this season (6,106) and was the most watched match in the continental United States. SLU also played in the ninth-most attended match this season (5,566) when it took on Hawai'i Sept. 3. Hey You Get Off of McCloud: Senior Sammi McCloud needs 55 more digs to become a member of SLU's 1,000-dig club. She is No. 12 on the career list with 945. When she meets the milestone, McCloud will be just the fifth player in program history to compile more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. Other former Billikens in this prestigious club are Irene Haugh (1987-90), Colleen Hunter (1999-2002), Kim Moorleghen (1987-90) and Julie Tretten (1994-97). A Formidable Foe: After playing one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2008, Saint Louis is at it again in 2009. The Billikens have faced four teams ranked among the nation's top 10 in the first three weeks of the season and will take on a top-15 squad this week. SLU faced top-ranked Penn State in the Active Ankle Challenge during the season-opening weekend. Last weekend at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic, the Bills faced No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Hawai'i and No. 10 California. This week, Saint Louis plays No. 14 Illinois in the State Farm Classic Sept. 12. On the Go with Gaillot: Sophomore defensive specialist Ashley Gaillot will keep a blog this season called "On the Go with Gaillot" at www.slubillikens.com. Her blog will provide fans with a weekly behind-the-scenes look at the 2009 Billiken volleyball team. Green Billikens: Four players join the 11 returning Billikens on the court this season. Sophomore middle blocker Lydia Blaha (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Boise State) joined the squad in the spring after playing on the Bronco volleyball team during her freshman season. SLU's freshmen this season are defensive specialist Andrea Bolt (Smithton, Ill. / Freeburg) and middle blockers Carly Marcum (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) and Carly Schumacher (Clinton, Ill. / University). 2008 in Rewind: SLU went 29-5 overall, 13-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference last season. The 2008 Bills captured A-10 regular-season and tournament titles and made their second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three seasons. SLU, which reeled off a program-best 21 straight wins, earned the program's first national ranking midway through the 2008 campaign and was awarded the 13th seed overall in the NCAA Tournament. The Billikens shut out Alabama A&M in the first round to seize their first tournament victory. Their historic season came to an end in the second round when the Bills fell to Michigan 3-2. Four Billikens earned AVCA All-America accolades in 2008. |
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