Sept. 3, 2005

Final Stats

Stockton, Calif. - Saint Louis closed out action at the Nike Invitational in Stockton, Calif., with a sweep over Bradley. The Billikens won by the game scores of 30-27, 32-30, 30-23, 30-21. The Billikens improve to 3-3, while the Braves fall to 0-5.

With game one tied 6-6, the Bills rattled off a 7-0 run. Sutton Lasater on a block. After a Bradley hitting error, Tatyana Menshikova made a diving dig that landed down for another point and a 10-6 lead. The Shortal/Lasater duo combined on yet another block, and Shortal delivered a kill to close out the lead for a 13-6 lead. The Braves got back into the game with an 8-2 run to cut the gap to one at 15-14. Menshikova then had a hand in the next six SLU points as the Bills went up 21-17. Lasater added two straight kills as the Bills built a 25-20 lead. The Braves answered with a 6-1 run to tie the game at 26-26. A Bradley service error gave the Billikens the lead, and an Angela Powers tip pushed the gap to 28-26. After a Bradley kill, Powers had a tip to edge the Billikens to game point. Lasater and Shortal ended the game with a block for a 30-27 win. The Bills hit .444 in the game with 16 kills on only 27 swings.

Game two was tied at 9-9 before Bradley took the lead with five straight points. The Billikens answered with four in a row to come to 14-13. The Braves rebuilt their to 18-14, but the Billikens trimmed the lead to 20-18 on a Lasater kill. Powers then notched two straight kills to knot the game 20-20. The Billikens forged a 23-21 lead but the Braves tied the game at 27-27. The contest was tied until 30-30 when the Bills scored two in a row. Menshikova had a cross-court kill, and Bradley's hitting error into the net handed the Bills the win 32-30.

The Billikens started off game three with a 5-1 run and enjoyed a narrow margin for the early portion of the game. The Braves hurt themselves with three hitting errors as the Bills went up 15-9. Bradley slowly cut into the lead and closed to 17-14, but a BU error and two kills by Shortal boosted the Billikens to 20-15. The Billikens' advantage grew to 23-15 on another Shortal kill. The Billikens never let the lead fall below six and closed out the match on Christman's kill. SLU finished the final game with a sparkling .586 hitting percentage with 18 kills on 29 swings versus just one error.

Sutton Lasater finished with 10 kills and seven blocks. Lauren Boissevain had 44 assists, and Erin McClanahan dug a match-high 12 balls.