Sept. 4, 2002

Final Stats

St. Louis - In a match between teams picked to finish high in their respective conferences, the Saint Louis University volleyball team edged Bradley 3-2. Match scores were 30-16, 29-31, 30-19, 25-30, 15-12. Colleen Hunter (Cor Jesu) posted her third career triple-double to pace the Billikens with 19 kills, 24 digs and 14 blocks. Her dig and block totals were career highs.

In the deciding game five, the game was tied when Bradley took a 9-8 lead on what appeared to be a momentum-building kill. After a long rally, the Braves saved what appeared to be a SLU kill and BU's Lindsay Stalzer put down a ball to push Bradley ahead. But Missy Werges drilled two straight kills to right the Billiken ship as SLU took a 10-9 lead. Ember Knobeloch and Beth Middendorf teammed up for a block to put the lead at 11-9. After a Bradley kill, Jessica Kmitta hit a shot down the line for a kill as the Billikens led 12-10. Two straight errors by Bradley pushed the Billikens to match point, but Bradley would not fold. Two straight kills by the Braves closed the gap to 14-12, but Hunter and Jessica Kmitta combined on the final point of the match.

The Billikens started quickly and easily won game one. Hunter had five kills on seven swings and the Billiken defense forced Bradley into hitting -.105. Stephanie Behrns rallied Bradley in game two to tie the match. The Billikens led the entire way and were set to take a 2-0 lead with a 29-26 margin. However, the Braves used four straight blocks and a SLU error to rally and win the game 31-29. Behrns registered seven kills to pace BU. Kmitta took over in game three for the Billikens early to push SLU to a 2-1 advantage. The Billikens snared an early 10-point lead and held it for most of the game in a 30-19 decision. Bradley tied the match as Kaitlyn Benner had seven of her 10 kills in game four. Jenna Passman added six kills as Bradley forced the thrilling game five.

The Billikens tied a school record with 38 block assists and the 26 team blocks was one-half block away from the school record. In addition to Hunter's heroics, Beth Middendorf distributed 54 kills on the night and a career-high nine blocks. Stephanie Behrns had 15 kills and 17 digs for Bradley, while Jenna Passman notched a team-high 16 kills and nine blocks.

The Billikens improve to 4-0 on the season while Bradley dips to 1-3.