Sept. 25, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Three Saint Louis players tallied at least 20 kills as the Billikens rallied past Northern Iowa 30-26, 27-30, 26-30, 30-27, 15-12 in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Sutton Lasater pounded out a career-high 23 kills, while Sammi McCloud had 22 and Bridget Fonke added 20 for the Billikens.

The Panthers started the match quickly and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. UNI stretched the advantage to as much as eight at 14-6 before the Billikens rallied. The Billikens scored five straight points to surge back into the contest. After a Panthers' hitting error, Fonke served an ace. McCloud and Sally Warning notched consecutive kills, and a UNI attack error brought the score to 14-11. Down 15-11, the Billikens scored four straight powered by two kills by Lasater. SLU eventually forced a tie at 16-16 on a UNI error. The game remained tied at 21-21 before the Billikens took their first lead of the game on a McCloud kill. The Panthers tied the game at 24-24, but the Billikens went on a quick 3-0 burst and took a 27-24 lead they would not give up. Lauren Christman's kill eventually ended the game at 30-26. Lasater who had five terminations on just nine swings, notched the 1,000th kill of her career, becoming the eighth SLU player to reach that milestone.

Game two was tied at 4-4 before the Billikens rattled off three consecutive points. Lasater began the run with a kill, and she teamed on a block. A service ace by McCloud capped the run as the Billikens held a 7-4 advantage. The Panthers inched back into the game and tied the game at 10-10. A Christman kill kept the Billikens in the lead. The Panthers rallied and forced a tie at 14-14, and a UNI kill gave the visitors the lead. The Billikens were down just one at 20-19, but UNI scored three straight to seize a four-point lead. The Billikens kept on battling and cut the margin to just one at 27-26 on a Megan Boken kill. A Lasater kill kept SLU close at 28-27, but the Panthers registered two straight kills to close out a 30-27 win. The Billikens finished the game with a .395 attack percentage, but were bested by the Panthers' sizzling .528 hitting percentage.

Each team went on a big run in the early going of game three. The Billikens opened up an early 7-4 advantage capped by a Warning kill, but the Panthers answered with eight straight points to surge ahead. The Billikens ended the UNI run on Whitney Roth's tip and trailed 15-11, but the Panthers defense helped push the lead to as much as nine. The Billikens, down 27-18, made one last charge and reeled off six straight points to close to 27-24. Lasater had a kill and joined with Roth on a block to spark the run. UNI was forced to call two timeouts and finally ended the Billiken run with a kill to make the score 28-24. Lasater registered two straight kills to inch SLU to 28-26, but the Panthers held on for a 30-26 win.

Game four was close as neither team led by more than two points. The contest was tied at 13-13 until the Panthers scored four straight to push out to a 17-13 lead. A kill by Lasater ended the UNI run. The Panthers still led 20-16, but the Billikens scored the next six points. A kill by McCloud finally tied the game at 22-22. A UNI hitting error pushed SLU ahead at 24-23, but the Panthers scored four straight for a 27-24 cushion. However, the Billikens won the game by scoring the last six points. Fonke pounded down a ball, and a Roth ace brought the Billikens to 27-26. Warning had a kill and joined with Christman for a block as SLU built a 28-27 lead. A Fonke kill handed SLU game point, and the Billikens closed out the rally when UNI committed an error for a scintillating 30-27 win.

In the deciding fifth game, the Billikens scored five of the first six points. Christman had two kills, while a Warning solo block swung the early momentum over to SLU for the 5-1 lead. A Panther hitting error pushed the Billikens lead to five at 7-2. SLU still led 10-5 before the Panthers scored three straight to trim the deficit to 10-8. Fonke's kill made it 11-8 and the teams traded points until UNI scored two straight to close to 13-12. A McCloud kill brought SLU to match point, and UNI committed a hitting error to end the match 15-12.

Lasater hit .571 for the match and had a match-high eight blocks. Roth dished out a career-best 72 assists to go along with 12 digs, three blocks and three kills. Whitney Behrens finished with 17 digs, and Boken chipped in 11. Amy Sampson led Northern Iowa with 19 kills, while Ellie Blankenship registered a match-high 26 digs. The Billikens launched 92 kills, the most in a match since Sept. 21, 1999.

The Billikens improve to 11-5 on the season, while the Panthers drop to 7-8. The Billikens do not play again until returning to Atlantic 10 Conference play on Fri., Oct. 5, when they host Rhode Island.