Oct. 11, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - No. 21 Saint Louis extended its winning streak to eight matches with a 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 win over Atlantic 10 Conference foe Charlotte on Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Pavilion. The Billikens, who have swept all five of their A-10 opponents this season, improved to 12-5 overall, 5-0 in the A-10 while the 49ers fell to 13-8 overall, 4-2 in league action.

After a 3-3 tie in the opening set, the Billikens charged ahead with four straight points on an Sammi McCloud and Deno, a 49er hitting error and a McCloud kill. Charlotte's Kara Raker put a ball down trim the margin to 7-4 but SLU got back-to-back-to-back kills from Megan Boken, Bridget Fonke and McCloud to take a 10-4 lead. A Billiken error briefly halted the rally, however, Boken's kill got Saint Louis going again and a pair of Charlotte hitting miscues made it 13-5. Serving errors by both teams preceded a kill from the 49ers' Leah Leventhal and a Leventhal-Jennifer Webb block for a 14-8 score. Then Fonke terminated followed by a Deno kill and another one from Fonke before the 49ers scored their final points of the set on a SLU serving error and a block from Webb and Sheri Davis to make it 17-10. The Bills closed the set on an 8-0 run. Fonke served three aces and recorded a kill during the rally, while Lydia Blaha, Deno and McCloud each collected kills. SLU hit .333 in the set, while Charlotte notched only two kills to go with six errors for a negative hitting percentage. Fonke led SLU with four kills.

SLU gradually built a lead that grew as large as 11 points in the second set. McCloud tallied three early kills to give the Billikens a 6-2 advantage. The Bills stayed in front by three to four points until the teams traded serving errors and Blaha and Deno scored on consecutive kills to put SLU on top 12-6. A Saint Louis serving error and a kill from Charlotte's Bianca Rouse trimmed the lead to four. However, the 49ers committed errors on three of the next four plays, allowing the Billikens to extend their lead to 16-8. Charlotte only got as close as six points the rest of the way as Saint Louis finished the set on a 6-1 run. The Bills' final push began with a 49er serving error. Then McCloud served a pair of aces and Blaha registered back-to-back kills for a 24-13 score. A SLU serving error broke the spell before Whitney Roth wrapped the set with a kill. Charlotte hit immensely better in the second set with a .286 percentage but it was not enough to overtake the Billikens, who hit .387 in the frame.

The Bills raced out to a 4-1 lead in set three before the 49ers mounted a 4-0 run that allowed them to take their only lead of the set at 5-4. But Saint Louis earned the next three points on two Charlotte errors and a kill from Roth. SLU steadily increased the margin throughout the set and eventually led by as many as 11. The Billikens were up 12-9 before Deno and Blaha collected consecutive kills. The teams traded points but SLU still managed to maintain a five-point lead at 18-13. Fonke ignited a Billikens rally with a kill that was followed by a 49er hitting error. Blaha connected for a pair of kills before Leventhal's kill stopped the momentum briefly at 22-14. However, Saint Louis notched the last three points of the match on another Blaha kill, a Charlotte hitting error and a Deno kill. The Bills hit at a .289 clip while the 49ers posted a .100 hitting percentage.

Fonke led the offense with 12 kills and completed a double-double with 10 digs. She also chipped in a season-high five service aces. McCloud recorded 10 kills and eight digs, while Blaha collected a career-high eight kills. Roth dished out 34 assists and Whitney Behrens registered a team-high 14 digs.