 Billikens on Quest for Third A-10 Championship Crown, NCAA Berth
Nov. 20, 2009
This Week: No. 20 Saint Louis (22-6, 14-1 Atlantic 10) begins defense of its Atlantic 10 Championship crown this weekend at the 28th annual A-10 Women's Volleyball Championship at the Frericks Center in Dayton, Ohio. The No. 2-seeded Billikens, who received a first-round bye, will face the higher remaining seed to emerge from the opening round at 6:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Nov. 21. The winner of the tournament, which will be decided in Sunday's nationally televised title match at 3 p.m. (CT), will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. For Tickets: Tickets to the A-10 Championship will be available at the Frericks Center ticket office the day of the matches. A single-day ticket may be purchased for $6 for adults and $3 for A-10 students, children 18 and under and senior citizens. A three-day pass is available for $15 for adults. Following the Action: All Championship matches, except for the title contest, will be video streamed live through the A-10 Web site at www.atlantic10.com. Subscriptions are available for $7.95. The title match will air live on CBS College Sports. Gametracker will also be available free of charge on www.slubillikens.com. Setting the Stage: The Bills, who earned a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed, tied tournament host Dayton atop the A-10 regular-season standings with a 14-1 mark. The Flyers (26-3, 14-1 A-10) captured the Championship's top seed and a first-round bye after edging Saint Louis 3-2 during the only regular-season meeting between the teams in Dayton. No. 3 seed Xavier (19-11, 11-4 A-10) faces No. 6 seed Charlotte (15-16, 6-9 A-10) in the opening round today at 4 p.m. No. 4 seed Temple (13-11, 9-6 A-10) battles No. 5 seed George Washington (21-11, 8-7 A-10) at 6:30 p.m. The first-round winners will meet Dayton and Saint Louis in the semifinals on Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. The title match will be played Sunday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m. All times are Central. Bills vs. the Contenders: SLU is 7-1 against the Championship field this season. The Billikens swept Xavier and Charlotte two times apiece and defeated GW 3-0 at Chaifetz Pavilion. Saint Louis downed Temple 3-1 twice, while the Bills' only loss was a 3-2 decision at Dayton.
SLU in the A-10 Championship: The Billikens have won two of the last three A-10 Championship crowns and have qualified for the tournament four of the five seasons they have been in the league. SLU won the title in 2006, the first year it qualified for the Championship, in addition to last season. The only time the Bills fell short of reaching the title match was in 2007 when they lost to Xavier 3-2 in the semifinals. Saint Louis has the best winning percentage (.857) in the A-10 Championship among the current A-10 programs with a 6-1 ledger. Dayton is second with a .579 winning percentage at 11-8. Bills in the Championship Record Book: SLU hit at a tournament-record .398 clip in 2008 with 98 kills and just 16 errors in 206 attempts. In 2006, the Billikens established tournament records for team kills (198) and assists (184). That same year, Whitney Roth eclipsed the tournament mark for assists in the Championship with 165. Going for Broke: Seniors Sammi McCloud and Whitney Roth will finish their careers with four A-10 All-Championship honors apiece if both are named to the squad following Sunday's title match. Only three other players have been awarded All-Championship plaudits all four seasons since the tournament started in 1982 - Dayton's Faye Barhorst (2003-06), George Washington's Sveta Vtyurina (1992-95) and Rhode Island's Sue Scott (1982-85). Billiken Hardware: In addition to Sammi McCloud and Whitney Roth's three All-Championship designations, fellow senior Whitney Behrens earned a spot on the 2006 and 2008 squads. Last season, senior Bridget Fonke captured Most Outstanding Player accolades, while McCloud received the honor as a freshman in 2006. Only four players have been named MOP more than once in the tournament's history. George Washington's Sveta Vtyurina received the honor a record three times (1993-95), while Temple's Alma Kovaci (1998-99) and Penn State's Lori Barberich (1983-84) and Ellen Hensler (1985-86) each achieved the feat twice. A-10 Accolades: The Billikens swept A-10 Coach, Player and Setter of the year honors for the second straight season when the league announced its end-of-the-season honors Thursday. Senior Sammi McCloud merited Co-Player of the Year recognition, while fellow senior Whitney Roth captured an unprecedented third Atlantic 10 Conference Setter of the Year award. Billiken head coach Anne Kordes was voted Coach of the Year. Senior Bridget Fonke landed on the A-10 first team for the second straight season, while junior Megan Boken picked up second-team plaudits. Senior Whitney Behrens achieved honorable mention status. Behrens and Roth were also named to the All-Academic squad. Record Watch: The Billikens have shattered the program's season record for hitting percentage in each of the past two seasons, and it appears as if SLU is about the better the standard again in 2009. Saint Louis enters the A-10 Championship hitting at a .268 clip, slightly better than the program record of .263 set last season. The 2007 squad hit at a .255 rate to break the previous standard of .254 by the 1983 squad. Last Time Out: Saint Louis claimed a 3-1 win on the road at Temple last Saturday. The victory, SLU's first this season when hitting at a sub-.200 clip, helped the Bills claim a share of their third A-10 regular-season title in the last four seasons. One day earlier, SLU routed Rhode Island 3-0. About the Billikens: Saint Louis enters the A-10 Championship riding a nine-match winning streak, with eight of those wins coming against conference foes. Senior outside hitter Bridget Fonke leads the Bills with 3.34 kills per set and 41 service aces. Senior right-side hitter Sammi McCloud follows Fonke in both categories with 3.33 kills per set and 27 service aces, while hitting at a team-best .286 clip. Senior setter Whitney Roth directs the offense with a league-best 11.20 assists per set and is second on the team with 2.80 digs per set. Sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Deno and McCloud are tied with a team-high 49 blocks apiece. Five Billikens are averaging at least 2.45 digs per set, with senior libero Whitney Behrens leading the way with 3.19 digs per set. SLU leads the A-10 and is 15th in the latest NCAA statistical report with a .269 hitting percentage. Racking Up the Wins: SLU has put together four straight 20-win campaigns for just the second time in program history. The Billikens won 22 matches in 2006, 23 contests in 2007 and 29 tilts last season. The only other time Saint Louis achieved the feat was from 1987-90 when it recorded 20, 31, 28 and 22 victories. The 2009 seniors are the third-winningest class is program history with 96 victories and counting. Only the senior classes from 1983 (103 wins) and 1990 (101 wins) were victorious in more contests. Hittin' the Books: On Nov. 5, senior Whitney Behrens picked up ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors for the third straight season. She is the only Atlantic 10 Conference player who will advance to the Academic All-America volleyball ballot, which is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Fellow senior Whitney Roth earned a spot on the Academic All-District second team. Double Trouble: Four members of the Billiken squad have combined to post 20 double-doubles this season. Whitney Roth leads the team with eight assist-dig double-doubles. Sammi McCloud, Bridget Fonke and Megan Boken have recorded five, four and three kill-dig double-doubles, respectively. Head Coach Anne Kordes: Head coach Anne Kordes is in her sixth season at Saint Louis with a 125-60 (.676) career ledger. The 1998 Louisville graduate enjoyed her winningest campaign as a head coach in 2008 when she guided the Bills to 29 wins, 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, and she has tied the best winning percentage by a SLU coach. The three-time A-10 Coach of the Year (2006, 2008, 2009) is joined on the sideline by assistant coaches Kyle Walton and Angela Powers, volunteer assistant Corey Arbini and director of volleyball operations Andy Halaz. Bringin' Da Fonke: Senior Bridget Fonke, who ranked 23rd in the nation in service aces per set heading into this week, moved into second place on the program's career service aces list. Her seven aces last week brought her career total to 151. Kim Moorleghen (1987-90) holds the record with 216. On SLU's other career charts, Fonke is eighth with 1,211 kills and 14th with 43 solo blocks. Roth & Roll: Earlier this season, senior Whitney Roth became just the fourth player from a current A-10 program to compile 5,000 career assists. Roth, whose 11.14 assists per set ranked 23rd in the NCAA through matches of Nov. 15, is the only setter in school history ranked among SLU's career top 20 in assists, service aces, digs and block assists. Last season, she became the program's all-time assist leader (5,280) and has nearly 2,000 more assists than the player in the No. 2 spot. She is 13th on the career digs list (962), 16th on the career block assists chart (159) and 19th with 85 career aces. Roth has also played in 122 matches, which ties for fourth on SLU's career list. She's a 10: Senior Sammi McCloud, one of the most decorated players in program history, has worked her way into SLU's career top 10 in five statistical categories. She ranks fifth with 1,376 kills, seventh with 1,102 digs, and ninth with 241 block assists, 262 total blocks and 116 service aces. The only other players in Billiken history ranked among the top 10 in each of those five categories are Colleen Hunter (1999-2002) and Julie Tretten (1994-97). Additionally, McCloud is just the fifth player in program history who is a member of both the 1,000-kill and 1,000-dig clubs. Can You Dig It?: Senior Whitney Behrens became the program's career digs leader at Fordham Sept. 26. SLU's digs standard is 1,625 and counting. Behrens eclipsed Irene Haugh's mark of 1,474 career digs, which had stood since 1990. Around the A-10: Saint Louis enters the A-10 Championship ranked first among league teams with a .268 hitting percentage, 14.07 kills, 12.74 assists and 1.65 service aces per set in all matches. In the NCAA statistics, the Billikens are 15th in hitting percentage and 28th in aces and kills per set. Individually, five players rank among the top 10 in the league statistically. Whitney Roth leads the league with 11.20 assists per set, while Whitney Behrens is tied for sixth with 0.31 service aces per set and Megan Boken is 10th with 3.15 points per set. Bridget Fonke leads all players with 0.45 service aces per set, and she is third with 4.03 points per set and fourth with 3.34 kills per set. Sammi McCloud is fourth with 3.99 points per set, fifth with 3.33 kills and 0.33 service aces per set and ninth with a .286 hitting percentage. Conference Call: In A-10 matches, the Billikens are hitting at a league-high .298 rate with conference bests of 14.59 kills, 13.10 assists and 1.78 service aces per set. SLU is also holding its opponents to the second-lowest hitting rate in the league (.149). Four starters and libero Whitney Behrens rank among the top 10 in the A-10 statistically. Whitney Roth leads all players with 11.76 assists per set, while Behrens is third with 0.39 aces per set and ninth with 3.41 digs per set. Sammi McCloud is tied for second with 4.31 points per set, fourth with 3.52 kills per set, tied for fourth with 0.36 aces per set and fifth with a .317 hitting percentage. Bridget Fonke is second with 0.53 aces per set, fifth with 4.23 points and 3.47 kills per set and eighth with a .305 hitting percentage. Megan Boken is 10th with 3.07 points per set and a .291 hitting percentage. 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 took on five teams ranked among the nation's top 15 in the first three weeks of the season. SLU faced top-ranked Penn State in the Active Ankle Challenge during the season-opening weekend. At the Hawaiian Airlines Classic Sept. 3-6, the Bills battled No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Hawai'i and No. 10 California. Saint Louis played No. 14 Illinois Sept. 12 in the State Farm Classic. Four of those teams are among the top six in the latest NCAA RPI report released Nov. 16, with Hawai'i coming in at No. 21. SLU is No. 29 on that list, while A-10 foe Dayton is No. 30. Billikens Sign Five for 2010: SLU head coach Anne Kordes announced last Tuesday that five student-athletes have committed to play for the Billikens starting next season. The players who have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University and compete for SLU are 6-foot-1 outside/right-side hitter Lauren Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg), 5-foot-11 outside hitter Andrea Beaty (Pacific, Mo. / Washington), 6-foot right-side hitter Emma Goldschmidt (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon Township), 5-foot-11 setter Hannah Kvitle (Quincy, Ill. / Quincy Senior) and 6-foot-3 middle blocker Kelsey Toebben (Jefferson City, Mo. / Helias). Each player will have four years of eligibility beginning with the 2010 season. 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. |
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