Oct. 13, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Sammi McCloud hit .667 in game five with six critical kills down the stretch as Saint Louis pulled out a 25-30, 30-24, 30-17, 21-30, 18-16 Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball win at Temple on Saturday afternoon. The Billikens improved to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in the league with their fifth straight victory.

The Owls (7-16, 3-4 A-10) scored the first three points and held the Bills at bay throughout the opening game. SLU cut the margin to two on five occasions but got no closer as Temple earned the victory despite being out-hit .191 to .154. TU's Yun Yi Zhang led all players with six kills while she and her teammates put up 4.5 blocks.

Game two was nip and tuck with 10 ties and three lead changes. Saint Louis pulled away when the Owls gave them five straight points on errors to make it 21-16. Temple twice cut the Billiken lead to one but two Lauren Christman kills, a Whitney Roth ace and three hitting errors by the Owls' Zhang allowed SLU to even the match up at one game apiece. Bridget Fonke and Christman each had five kills and the Bills posted five blocks in the win.

Saint Louis returned to its old self in game three after the teams traded points in the early-going. After a 4-4 tie, SLU never trailed again, scoring the next three points on Owl mistakes. The Billikens' largest lead of the game was the final 13-point differential. Sutton Lasater had a game-high five kills for SLU, which hit .333 to Temple's match-low .135.

Temple put together its best offensive effort in game four with a .478 hitting percentage. SLU led 16-9 before helping Temple get back in the match with four-consecutive hitting errors. The Owls eventually tied the score at 17-17 and went ahead for good to force a fifth game. McCloud had a team-best six kills while hitting .364 but no other Billiken hit for a positive percentage.

The Bills held a slight advantage early in the final game before surrendering the lead. The Owls then went ahead by three before the teams tied at points 11 through 16. SLU earned the win on a Fonke kill and a double-block by Lasater and Roth.

McCloud led four Billikens in double-figure kills. She had a season-high tying 22 to go with a team-high 15 digs for her third double-double of the season. Lasater and Fonke each had 16 kills while Christman contributed 14. Roth also recorded a double-double with 62 assists and 12 digs.