Aug. 31, 2001

Stats

Indianapolis - The Saint Louis University volleyball team opened the 2001 season by dropping a 3-1 decision in the opening match of the Butler University Tournament in Indianapolis.

In game one, the Billikens slowly moved out to a 19-12 lead, but the Lady Govs rallied with seven straight points to tie the match. The Bills scored two points in a row for a 21-19 margin, but APSU quickly tied the match. The teams traded points with neither leading by more than two points until 28-28. However, the Billikens committed a hitting error and the Lady Govs ended the game with a kill for a 30-28 win. Colleen Hunter hammered down nine kills and hit .533 in the first game for SLU.

The Billikens led for most of the second game and moved on for a 30-22 win. The Billikens rattled off a 10-3 run midway through the game and kept up the pressure to tie the match. Saint Louis' blocking improved in game two and tallied one solo block and 10 block assists. Hunter again led the Billikens with six kills and accounted for two blocks. SLU hit .250 in the game and held APSU to a .000 hitting percentage.

Game three was tied at 20-20 before the Lady Govs closed out the game with a rush. Two Billiken errors and an APSU ace made it 23-20. Colleen Hunter put down kills around an Austin Peay error and the Billikens rallied to tie the game at 24-24. But Austin Peay scored five straight points for a 29-24 advantage. A SLU ace and two Hunter kills pulled the Bills to 29-27, but APSU ended the game with a kill for the 30-27 game.

Once again, the Billikens took an early lead in game four only to see Austin Peay comeback to tie the game at 18-18. The Lady Govs outscored the Billikens 6-2 to take a 24-20 lead they would not relinquish. Hunter notched a kill and Cristal Leonard added two more as SLU closed the gap to 27-25. Austin Peay won a critical long rally to take a 28-25 lead and added another point for 29-25. Ember Knobeloch added two straight kills to make it 29-27, but Austin Peay closed out the match with a cross-court kill for a 30-27 win.

Hunter had a match-high 33 kills on a career-high 70 attempts and hit .371 to lead the Billikens. Knobeloch added nine kills and Brooke Minniear chipped in eight. Saint Louis outhit Austin Peay .217 to .148 and outblocked APSU, but the Lady Govs outdug the Billikens by 10.

The Billikens fall to 0-1 on the season while Austin Peay is 1-0. The Billikens face Delaware on Saturday at 2 p.m. and close out the tournament against host Butler at 7 p.m.