Sept. 21, 2002

Final Stats

Springfield, Mo. - The Saint Louis University started day two of the SMS Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational with a dominating victory over Wichita State in Springfield, Mo. Game scores were 30-20, 30-24, 30-25.

The Billikens jumped out quickly taking a 3-0 lead. Saint Louis pushed out to a 5-1 advantage before Wichita State rallied to the game at 5-5. With the score tied at 7-7, Colleen Hunter had three kills from the back row and two WSU errors gave the Bills a 12-7 margin. A Hunter ace and SLU block extended the Billikens' lead to 14-7. After WSU scored a point to end the run, the Bills rattled off another 4-1 spurt, keyed by two Ember Knobeloch kills, for an 18-9 lead. SLU held a 20-13 advantage. Hunter then keyed a 6-0 with a kill. Jessica Kmitta and Hunter teamed for two blocks around two more Hunter kills as the Billikens ran out to a 26-13 lead. WSU responded late with five points in a row, but Knobeloch ended the game for a 30-20 Bills win. Saint Louis' offense was splendid in game one, hitting .364 with 17 kills on 33 attempts. Hunter had more kills than WSU's entire team, with eight kills versus the Shockers' total of seven for the game. WSU hit -.056 in game one.

The Bills again started quickly in game two, taking a 3-1 lead. After a WSU kill, Hunter then served seven straight points as the Billikens took a 10-3 advantage. A Shockers kill ended the run, but Brooke Minniear served the Billikens to a 5-0 run as SLU charged out to a 15-4 advantage. The Shockers slowly cut into the margin and edged to 24-19. Missy Werges and Hunter had consecutive kills for SLU to stem the tide at 26-19. Wichita State committed two straight hitting errors to push the Billikens to game point at 29-24, and Minniear closed out the game with a kill in the middle of the court. The Billiken offense again was strong with 18 kills and hit .297, while WSU's kill percentage was just .028.

Another quick start propelled the Billikens in game three. SLU scored the first four points of the game and rapidly pushed to 10-2. The Shockers inched back into the contest and pulled back to 13-10. SLU led 15-12 and used three straight kills for an 18-12 edge. WSU would not go away and a SLU hitting error put the score at 21-17. Hunter and Kmitta both had two kills as the Billikens' lead reached 25-20. The Bills traded points with WSU until Werges ended the match with a kill down the line off a WSU defender.

Hunter had 21 kills while hitting .359 and added nine blocks. Minniear had 11 kills and hit .320 for the match, while Knobeloch hit .438 with nine kills. Kmitta had a match-high 13 digs.

The Billikens improve to 9-4 on the season while the Shockers are 7-7. The Bills close out the tournament later tonight against host SMS at 7 p.m.