Aug. 30, 2002

Final Stats

St. Louis - The Saint Louis University volleyball team opened the season on Friday with a 3-0 sweep over Providence on the first day of the Billiken Invitational. Game scores were 30-21, 30-24, 30-15. In game one, Brooke Minniear went over the 1,000-dig mark with her first dig of the season. She became only the seven Billiken to reach that milestone. Butler downed Austin Peay 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-26) to open the tournament.

The Billikens opened quickly in game one as freshman Brooke Minniear and Colleen Hunter both chipped in four kills as the Billikens hit a match-high .333 in game one. The Bills defense sparkled in game two as SLU notched 12 block assists and held Providence to a .000 hitting percentage. Hunter and Knobeloch both notched three blocks as PC committed 10 hitting errors.The Billiken defense added 10 more block assists and one solo block in game three as SLU closed out the match. The Bills managed to put down 10 balls, but forced the Friars into hitting -.281 in the game, .041 overall in the match. The Friars began the third game by taking the lead at 6-4, but Hunter notched two straight kills to spark the comeback. She had four kills on four attempts, while Knobeloch added three blocks. Freshman Bronwen Nelson notched her first career kill to end the match.

Hunter led the Bills with 12 kills, the 23rd straight time she has reached double figures in kills. She served up four aces to go along with five digs and four blocks. Knobeloch finished with nine kills, six blocks and tied her career high with a .500 hitting percentage. Minniear added eight kills and led the Bills with five digs. Setter Beth Middendorf handed out 38 assists. As a team, the Billikens hit .286, had nine service aces and notched 12.0 team blocks. Ayana Cadres led Providence with eight kills, and Sandy Fanning added six kills and a match-high nine digs.

Saint Louis is 1-0 on the season, while Providence is 0-1. The Bills face Austin Peay at noon with Butler and Providence playing at 2 p.m. The Billikens play Butler at 5 p.m., and Austin Peay takes on Providence at 7 p.m. to close out the invitational.