Oct. 29, 2001
THIS WEEK - The Saint Louis University Billiken volleyball team (10-10, 6-5 Conference USA) plays a make-up match at South Florida before returning home for the final two home matches of the regular season. The Bills play at South Florida on Tue., Oct. 30, at 5 p.m. (CT) in a match that was postponed due to the national tragedy on Sept. 11. The Billikens return home for a match against UAB on Fri., Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. Three seniors will be honored on Senior Day on Sun., Nov. 4, in a 2 p.m. match against South Florida.
LAST WEEK - The Billikens went 2-1 last week, including an upset over No. 20 Notre Dame. The win last Wednesday over the Irish was the Bills' first over a top 25 team during coach Marilyn Nolen's tenure at Saint Louis. The Billikens posted a 3-1 win at DePaul on Friday, but fell 3-1 at Marquette on Saturday.
SENIOR DAY - The Billikens will honor seniors Dani Apted, Cristal Leonard and Beth Martin with Senior Day activities before the South Florida match on Sunday.
COACH MARILYN NOLEN - Head coach Marilyn Nolen's is in her 30th year of collegiate coaching and her eighth at the helm of the Billikens. She ranks third on the active NCAA Division I coaching win list and has a career record of 776-322-12. She is 157-104 at Saint Louis. The match against Memphis on Fri., Sept. 28, was her 1,100th career coaching match.
ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA - The Bulls are the defending regular-season champion and are 15-7 overall, 8-3 in Conference USA. USF has won four straight and six of seven entering the match. South Florida is led by last season's Player of the Year Michelle Collier. She has 405 kills on the year with 220 digs and 40 service aces. Jolene Patton is second with 239 kills, while Alessandra Domingos directs the USF attack with 835 assists.
ABOUT UAB - The Blazers (9-14, 2-10 C-USA) have seen their year pass in two distinct segments. UAB started quickly with six wins in seven matches. But, the Blazers went into a tailspin and lost 10 straight matches. UAB has regrouped with two wins in its last four matches. Martina Shields leads a balanced attack with 254 kills. Kristi Lee is second with 227 kills, and Shelly Greene has 216 and a team-high 217 digs. Jessica Liptak has handed out 845 assists and Karen Boyd leads UAB with 38 blocks.
THE D.A. - Senior Dani Apted (St. Louis, Mo. / Visitation) had eight digs in the Notre Dame match ... tallied 10 digs at DePaul ... contributed nine digs, three assists and one ace.
CRISTAL CLEAR - Senior Cristal Leonard (Germantown, Ill. / Breese Central) added two kills against Notre Dame ... put up six digs and three blocks with an ace at DePaul ... added five kills and six digs at Marquette.
MY FAVORITE MARTIN - Senior Beth Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio / Princeton) has not played since the match at Wisconsin.
MIGHTY HUNTER - Junior Colleen Hunter (St. Louis, Mo. / Cor Jesu) has moved into third place on the all-time kills list at SLU with 1,456 ... tallied 26 kills with 14 digs and four blocks in the win over No. 20 Notre Dame ... just missed a triple-double at DePaul with 29 kills, a career-high 21 digs and nine blocks ... hit .340 with 25 kills and 12 digs at Marquette.
NEW KID ON KNOBELOCH - Junior Ember Knobeloch (Mascoutah, Ill. / Mascoutah) notched 14 kills and four blocks versus Notre Dame ... added 14 kills to the attack at DePaul ... tied a career high with 21 kills and hit .486 in the match at Marquette.
BETH I HEAR YOU CALLING - Junior Beth Middendorf (Freeburg, Ill. / Freeburg) came in for one kill and had five assists versus Notre Dame ... added one assist at DePaul ... played in one game at Marquette.
MINNIEAR AND FAR - Junior Brooke Minniear (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Snider) has jumped into ninth place on the all-time digs list at SLU with 928 ... had six kills, nine digs and two blocks against Notre Dame ... added four kills, 12 digs and two blocks at DePaul ... chipped in four kills, 13 digs and three blocks at Marquette.
WERGES FRIENDS - Junior Missy Werges (Washington, Mo. / Borgia) added seven kills and six digs against Notre Dame ... had a career-high four service aces with six kills and 11 digs at DePaul ... contributed three kills and nine digs in the Marquette match.
MALM SUNDAY - Sophomore Julie Malm (Elgin, Ill. / Larkin) had five digs and one assist against Notre Dame ... added another five digs at DePaul ... played in three games at Marquette.
MERCHANT OF VENICE - Sophomore Alyson Merchant (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Sonora) chipped in two kills versus Notre Dame ... took two swings at DePaul ... had three attempts against Marquette.
DEL SHANNAN - Sophomore Shannan Swiney (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Joseph's) notched 49 assists with two digs and two blocks in the Notre Dame match ... handed out 51 assists with nine digs and four blocks at DePaul ... dished 53 assists with 14 digs and four kills at Marquette.
SARA SMILE - Sophomore Sara Medendorp (Urbana, Ill. / University) did not play last week.
DOUBLE VISION - Freshman Jessica Kmitta (Mt. Vernon, Ill. / Mt. Vernon) served up season-high four aces against Notre Dame with five digs and one kill ... added two kills and one dig at DePaul ... recorded one dig at Marquette.
DOUBLE PLAY - Freshman Kayla Kmitta (Mt. Vernon, Ill. / Mt. Vernon) had career highs against Notre Dame with eight kills and 14 attempts with two aces and two blocks ... added two kills and two blocks in the DePaul match ... contributed two kills two digs and an assist at Marquette.
