 Billikens Take Win Streak to La Salle, Temple
Oct. 9, 2007
THIS WEEK - Saint Louis (13-5, 2-2 A-10) will attempt to extend its three-match win streak when it travels to Philadelphia to take on two Atlantic 10 opponents this weekend. The Billikens, who will be looking for their first road win since Sept. 14, will get things started with a 6 p.m. (CT) match at La Salle on Fri., Oct. 12. SLU will wrap up the weekend with a noon (CT) match at Temple on Sat., Oct. 13. LAST TIME OUT - The Bills picked up their eighth and ninth straight wins at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center with victories over Rhode Island and Fordham last weekend. On Oct. 5, SLU downed URI 3-0 for its first A-10 win of the season. The Billikens went on to knock off league foe Fordham 3-1 on Oct. 7 to run their current win streak to three matches. SCOUTING THE EXLORERS - La Salle (9-13, 1-3 A-10) will be looking to get back on track after dropping four of its last five matches. The Explorers play Temple on Tue., Oct. 9. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Stemper leads the squad with 3.01 kills per game. While its offense is not extremely prolific, La Salle is one of the best digging teams in the league with 17.90 digs per game. Through matches on Oct. 7, freshman libero Kayla Beck ranked second in the A-10 with 5.10 digs per game. Dave Stever is in his fifth season as a collegiate head coach. His career, and La Salle, record is 45-107 in five seasons. SLU is 2-0 all-time against the Explorers. SCOUTING THE OWLS - Temple (5-15, 1-3 A-10), which takes on La Salle on Tue., Oct. 9 and Duquesne on Fri., Oct. 12, has dropped five of its last six matches. Reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week sophomore outside hitter Yun Yi Zhang leads the team with 4.24 kills per game. In conference matches only, Zhang has recorded a league-best 5.69 kills per game while the next player trails by more than a kill per game. Meanwhile, freshman middle blocker Jacqueline Cowden has posted a league-high 1.64 blocks per game in the Owls' four A-10 contests. Head coach Bob Bertucci is in his 13th season at Temple with a 259-125 mark. His 29-year career record is 623-326. The Billikens are 3-1 all-time against the Owls. Their only loss was a shutout in their first game in the league in 2005.
1,000 KILL CLUB - Sutton Lasater continues to work her way up the career kills charts. The senior middle blocker leap-frogged former teammate Angela Powers on the all-time list last weekend. She now has 1,042 career kills, one more than Powers, for seventh-place on SLU's career chart. ON THE HOME FRONT - Saint Louis remained unbeaten at home when Rhode Island and Fordham came calling last weekend. The Bills, who are 6-0 at home this season, are currently riding a nine-match home win streak dating back to Oct. 22, 2006. The SLU record for consecutive home wins is 20 from Oct. 23, 1987, to Sept. 2, 1989. DOUBLE TROUBLE - Saint Louis players have compiled 10 double-doubles this season. The feat was most recently accomplished by Whitney Roth (72 assists, 12 digs) in the Billikens' thrilling five-game win over Northern Iowa on Sept. 25. Roth leads the charge with seven double-doubles in 2006 while Sammi McCloud has two and Bridget Fonke has one. McCloud is the last Billiken to tally a triple-double. In 2006, she had 11 kills, 10 digs and 10 assists against Southeast Missouri State. Roth flirted with a triple-double with 46 assists, 12 digs and seven kills in a win over IUPUI earlier this season. MAKING A CAREER OF IT - SLU's returners have established 19 new individual career highs in 2007. Bridget Fonke leads all veterans with 2007 career highs in seven statistical categories, including hitting percentage, kills, attempts, assists, digs, service aces and blocks. third time's a charm - In 2007, when Saint Louis' matches go three games the Billikens are 8-2. SLU has also captured wins in three of its four four-game matches. Meanwhile, the Bills are just 2-2 when forced to play five games with both losses coming against ranked teams ... then-#23 LSU and then-#18 Dayton. WITNESS TO HISTORY - Fans in attendance at Saint Louis' match against Connecticut on Sept. 8 witnessed the highest scoring game in school history. The Billikens scored 37 points to the Huskies' 35 for the match victory in game four. BRINGIN' DA FONK - After playing sparingly as a middle blocker in 2006, Bridget Fonke has been named to three All-Tournament teams this season and garnered two Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors as an outside hitter. The sophomore currently leads the A-10 with 4.64 kills per game, 0.58 service aces per game and 5.50 points per game. TOP 10 ATTENDANCE - The crowd of 603 fans at SLU's match against Rhode Island on Oct. 5 was the 10th largest volleyball crowd in Bauman-Eberhardt history. The largest crowd to witness a game at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center was on Nov. 12, 2004, when 1,137 people watched the Billikens take on TCU. Four of the top 10 attendance marks have occurred since Anne Kordes became head coach prior to the 2004 season. SMOKIN' ACES - SLU has aced the competition 136 times this season to their opponents' 65. The Billikens are serving up 2.06 aces per game while the competition is at just 0.98 per game. They are just eight aces shy of last season's total (144) with 10 regular-season matches remaining. ON THE ROAD AGAIN - The road hasn't been kind to Saint Louis so far this season. The Bills are just 1-5 when playing at their opponent's facility in 2007. However, SLU is an impressive 6-0 when taking on an opponent at a neutral site. MOVIN' ON UP - Senior Sutton Lasater is gradually working her way up the SLU career charts in numerous categories. The middle blocker already ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, in block assists (414) and total blocks (486). She is also tied for eighth with 72 block solos and seventh with 1,042 kills. Meanwhile, junior Lauren Christman is eighth in both total blocks (302) and seventh in block assists (278). Sophomore Whitney Roth is third on the career assist list with 2,368. BILLS PICKED TO REPEAT - The Saint Louis volleyball team was selected by the league's head coaches to win the A-10's West division in 2007. Last season, the Bills and Dayton shared the regular-season crown with identical 11-2 records. It was SLU volleyball's first regular-season conference crown since winning the Midwestern Collegiate Conference race in 1989. COACH Anne Kordes - Head coach Anne Kordes is in her fourth season as head coach and has compiled a 64-47 record. In 2006, she led the Billikens to the program's first NCAA Tournament berth and was selected as the A-10 Coach of the Year. The Billikens won the A-10 Championship and a share of the 2006 A-10 regular-season title, the first for the program since 1989. Kordes has coached two All-Americans, the Northeast Region Freshman of the Year, three All-Region picks, four All-Conference first-team selections, five conference All-Rookie selections and one league Rookie of the Year. In addition, under Kordes, the Billikens have had one Academic All-District selection. GRIN & BEHR IT - Sophomore libero Whitney Behrens (St. Louis, Mo. / Incarnate Word) collected 16 digs, two assists and an ace against Fordham ... recorded nine digs, an assist and an ace in the Rhode Island victory. BENT BUT NOT BOKEN - Freshman outside hitter Megan Boken (Wheaton, Ill. / St. Francis) posted a season-high 15 digs along with an assist in the Fordham match ... registered a kill, an assist and an ace against Rhode Island. MERRY CHRISTMAS - Junior middle blocker Lauren Christman (Oak Brook, Ill. / Hinsdale Central) had a season-high nine blocks, eight kills, two digs and an assist in the Fordham win ... turned in six kills and two blocks in the Rhode Island match. SARAH SMILE - Junior defensive specialist Sarah Entzeroth (St. Louis, Mo. / Duchesne) had one dig in the Rhode Island match. PLAY THAT FONKE MUSIC - Sophomore outside hitter Bridget Fonke (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Joseph's) is the only Billiken to tally double-digit kills in every match this season ... recorded a match-high 17 kills in the Fordham win to go with a season-high tying four blocks, three digs and an assist ... collected 10 kills, four digs and three blocks in the win over Rhode Island. A BRAITH OF FRESH AIR - Freshman defensive specialist Emily Galbraith (Louisville, Ky. / Assumption) turned in three digs and a kill in the Fordham win ... had one dig in the match against Rhode Island. GROH-ING UP - Redshirt freshman middle blocker Elyse Groh (Portage, Mich. / Central) recorded a kill and a block in the Rhode Island win. FIT FOR A KING - Senior defensive specialist Chrissy King (St. Louis, Mo. / Cor Jesu) tallied a season-high three service aces in the Fordham victory ... had six digs and an ace in the Rhode Island match. ON THE BUTTON - Senior middle blocker Sutton Lasater (St. Louis, Mo. / Marquette) registered nine kills, five blocks, a dig and an assist in the Fordham match ... led the Bills with 13 kills in the Rhode Island win, along with seven blocks, a dig and an assist. CLOUD NINE - Sophomore outside hitter Sammi McCloud (Columbia, Ill. / Columbia) hit a season-best .353 with 16 kills, eight digs, a season-high tying four blocks and two assists in the win over Fordham ... led SLU with 10 digs to go with four kills, an ace and a block against Rhode Island. HIGH POWERED - Freshman defensive specialist Megan Power (Sugar Grove, Ill. / St. Francis) posted one dig against Rhode Island. QUICK WIT - Sophomore setter Whitney Roth (Louisville, Ky. / Assumption) moved to the third spot on SLU's career assist list with 2,368 assists in less than two full seasons ... posted 49 assists, four digs, three kills and two blocks in the win over Fordham ... turned in 35 assists, three kills and a service ace in the Rhode Island victory. ON HIGH ALERT - Sophomore right-side hitter Sally Warning (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) collected five kills, five blocks and two digs in the Fordham victory ... tallied seven kills and two blocks in the match against Rhode Island. |
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