Sept. 22, 2007

Final Stats

Cincinnati, Ohio - Despite a match-high 16 kills from sophomore outside hitter Sammi McCloud, Saint Louis fell 30-25, 31-29, 30-26 at Xavier on Saturday evening in Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball action. The Billikens were swept in a conference match for the first time since falling 3-0 at Duquesne on Sept. 29, 2005. The loss was the second straight on the road for the Billikens, 10-5 overall, 0-2 in the A-10.

The first game of the match was tied at 3-3 before Xavier slowly stretched the lead to 16-12. Bridget Fonke, Lauren Christman and McCloud tallied kills, and a Fonke ace accounted for a 4-0 run as the Billikens tied the game at 16-16. The Musketeers scored the next two points and held that advantage at 26-24. However, the Billikens could not get any closer as Xavier took the game at 30-26.

Xavier held the early lead in game two and was up three at 10-7. The Billikens scored four of the next five points to forge a tie at 11-11. A Xavier hitting error gave the Billikens their first lead of the game at 13-12. SLU still led 18-17 but went on a 7-2 run to claim a 25-20 lead. The Billikens were poised to tie the match and still led 28-24. Xavier scored four in a row to forge a tie at 28-28. A service error by Xavier pushed the Billikens to game point, but the Musketeers scored three straight to take game two by a 31-29 count.

The Billikens held a 3-2 lead to open the third game before a 4-0 run capped by two Fonke kills gave SLU a 7-2 lead. The Billikens controlled the game and slowly pushed the margin to as much as seven points at 12-5. The SLU advantage was still six at 18-12, but the Musketeers scored eight of the next 10 points to tie the game at 20-20. A McCloud kill pushed the Bills up 23-22, but Xavier scored four straight to take control and close out the match.

Bridget Fonke both had 11 kills apiece, while Whitney Behrens registered a team-high 13 digs. Whitney Roth directed the offense with 42 assists. Kelly Ruth led XU with 15 kills and 16 digs, while Jill Quayle added 13 kills. Xavier improves to 11-5 overall, 2-0 in the A-10. The Musketeers out-hit SLU .288 to .221 and notched 12 more digs.