Sept. 1, 2000

Box Score

St. Louis - The Saint Louis University volleyball team began the 2000 season by falling to Southwest Missouri State 3-1 in the first round of the Coca-Cola Billiken Invitational. Game scores were 15-9, 9-15, 9-15, 14-16. Southeast Missouri swept Stephen F. Austin in the first match of the tournament, 3-0. Game scores were 15-5, 15-13, 17-15.

The Billikens grabbed an early 4-0 lead when Dani Apted opened the match with three aces on her first four serves. The Bills raced out to a 12-3 lead before closing out SMS 15-9 in the first game. However, SMS bounced back to hit .500 in the second game and held SLU to just a .190 hitting percentage in claiming a 15-9 win to tie the match. In a tight game three, SMS enjoyed a slim margin for most of the game and held off the Billikens 15-9. SLU hit just .143, its lowest of the match, in game three. Game four was tight through out and SMS appeared to grab command with a 14-12 margin, but the Billikens would not go down without a fight. The Bills notched two straight points to tie the match, but SMS responded and edged out a 16-14 decision.

Middle hitter Colleen Hunter (St. Louis, Mo. / Cor Jesu) pounded down 19 kills and added 15 digs. Senior Jessica Moss (Marine, Ill. / Triad) had a match-high 22 digs and chipped in 14 kills. Cristal Leonard (Germantown, Ill. / Breese Central) and hit .387 for the match and had 14 kills. Liesbeth Gorremans and Rese McNatt were outstanding for the Lady Bears. The duo each had 22 kills and both tallied double-dboules. Gorremans added 21 digs and McNatt had 13 digs.

The Billikens (0-1) hit .226 while SMS (1-0) had a team hitting percentage of .288. SMS held a 95-77 advantage in digs.

In the first match, Krista Haukap had 26 kills and Lea Beckemeyer added 22 as SEMO (1-0) swept Stephen F. Austin (0-1). Kristy Rhodes led SFA with 25 kills. Play continues on Saturday as SFA takes on SMS at 11 am and SLU faces SEMO at 1 p.m.