Sept. 7, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis looked sluggish from the start of its match against Southeast Missouri State, dropping its first game in the Santo Bento Volleyball Invitational, before rallying to win the next three to take its home opener 25-30, 30-25, 30-18, 30-28 at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center Friday evening.

The Billikens (6-2) never led in game one. SLU hit a dismal .023 in the game before putting together a rally to knot the score at 18-18. After falling behind once again, the Bills tied it at 24-24. But the Redhawks (3-4) managed to pull away courtesy of four SLU attack errors to capture game one.

Head coach Anne Kordes' Bills looked like an entirely different team in game two. Bridget Fonke helped propel Saint Louis, which hit just .095 in the game, to victory with 11 kills for her eighth straight double-digit kill effort. SLU led by as many as nine points in game two, recording five service aces.

Saint Louis put on a dominating performance in game three by hitting at a match-high .371 clip. The Billikens led from the start and never looked back to pull ahead by one game. With SLU behind 24-22 in game four, Fonke served seven consecutive points to make it 29-24. But a botched serve gave SEMO one last opportunity and it took advantage as the Redhawks cut the lead to 29-28 before a Sally Warning kill gave the Billikens the victory.

SLU had three players with double-digit kills, Fonke (21), Lauren Christman (14) and Sutton Lasater (11).

Saint Louis resumes action at 11 a.m. on Saturday against IUPUI. The Billikens will wrap up the tournament with a 7 p.m. contest against Connecticut. The Huskies defeated IUPUI 3-0 in the tournament opener.