Sept. 3, 2005

Final Stats

Stockton, Calif. - Host Pacific overcame 27 kills by Saint Louis' Tatyana Menshikova to beat the Billikens 3-1 to begin day two of play at the Nike Invitational in Stockton, Calif. Game scores were 30-23, 25-30, 30-23, 30-20. SLU plays Bradley at 7 p.m. (CT) tonight. The Billikens dip to 2-3, and the Tigers win their fourth straight to improve to 4-1.

After Pacific scored the first two points of the match, the Billikens scored four straight points featuring three blocks. Tatyana Menshikova and Lauren Christman added another. After a Pacific ball handling error, Menshikova registered a solo block for a 4-2 SLU lead. Menshikova had two kills and Christman added another as the Billikens took a 7-5 lead. However, the Tigers answered with six points in a row for an 11-7 advantage. A Pacific hitting error and kill by Lasater brought the Bills to 13-11. The Tigers were up five before the Billikens scored five of the next six points. Menshikova had two kills and a block to get to 17-16. Pacific restored its advantage to 23-19, but the Billikens answered with three straight points to cut the gap to 23-22. But the Tigers scored seven of the last eight points of the game for a 30-23 win.

The Billikens got off to a quick start in game two, scoring the first four points of the game. Menshikova had a kill, followed by a Christman kill. The duo combined on a block, and a Pacific error boosted SLU to the 4-0 lead. The Bills were still up 7-3 on a Poorbaugh kill, but the Tigers scored six straight to take the lead. Fueled by three straight kills by Menshikova, the Billikens forced a tie at 11-11. After 15 straight sideouts, the Billikens scored two straight to take an 18-17 lead. The Billikens were up 23-22 before the Billikens took control. Lasater notched a kill, and Menshikova followed with her own. It appeared as if Pacific was about to score, but Lasater and Boissevain snuffed a shot. A Pacific hitting error handed the Billikens a 27-23 lead. Angela Powers closed out the game with a cross-court kill for a 30-25 win.

Pacific led game three 10-9 before scoring six of the next eight points. A Boissevain kill brought the Billikens to 19-14, but the Tigers went on a 4-1 run and eventually went up by as many as eight points. Menshikova scored two straight kills, and a Lasater kill and Menshikova solo block cut the margin to 28-23. But Pacific held on for a 30-23 win.

Menshikova put down two quick kills to stake the Billikens to the early lead, but the Tigers answered with five straight to take a 6-2 lead. The Bills inched back on two more kills by Menshikova to cut the deficit to 11-9. The Tigers built their cushion to five at 18-13 when Lasater helped the Billikens score three of four points draw to 19-16. SLU was still down three at 20-17, but Pacific tallied four straight to take charge 30-20.

Tatyana Menshikova registered a match-high 27 kills and hit .333. Sutton Lasater both had 11 kills. Lauren Boissevain dished out 52 assists, while Jessica Poorbaugh had 10 digs. Ashley Groothuis and Kara Uhl both had over 20 kills for Pacific.