Oct. 23, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Even with three of its mainstays out of the lineup due to the flu, No. 24 Saint Louis still managed to sweep Atlantic 10 Conference foe La Salle 25-19, 25-16, 25-10 on Friday evening at Chaifetz Pavilion. Megan Boken paced the Billikens with a double-double of a season-high tying 12 kills and 11 digs as SLU hit .360 in the match, and held the Explorers to a .083 hitting percentage.

The Billikens, who were without seniors Whitney Behrens, Sammi McCloud and Whitney Roth due to illness, led set one 2-1, but La Salle scored four of the next five points to take an early 5-3 lead. Boken notched a kill as the Billikens surged with four straight points to regain the lead. A Bridget Fonke kill gave the Billikens their biggest advantage at 9-6. Back-to-back kills by Lydia Blaha and Boken build the SLU lead to 13-9, but the Explorers slowly cut into the deficit and closed to 15-14. Fonke had the first and last kill in a 4-0 burst as the Billikens built a 19-14 lead. La Salle answered with three straight points until Casey Chernin finished with a kill. Leading 21-19, the Billikens scored the last four points of the set, capped by Ashley Gaillot's ace, which hit the top of the net and spun onto the La Salle side of the court. The Billikens finished the set hitting .393.

The Explorers scored the first two points of set two, but the Billikens stormed back with a 6-0 run. Fonke ignited the run with a kill, and Boken followed with another termination. Fonke scored with an ace, and Boken again tacked on the next point with a kill. Two hitting errors by La Salle pushed the Billikens to a 6-2 lead. The Explorers chipped away at the SLU lead and got as close as 11-10 before Fonke took over. Sally Warning, making her first appearance of the season, had a kill to spark the run. Fonke then served an ace on three of the next four points. The Explorers hurt themselves with two straight errors as the Billikens pushed out to an 18-10 lead. La Salle made one more run and closed to within five points. Alyssa Deno had two kills in a 4-0 run and a Fonke kill ended the set 25-16. The Billikens forced La Salle into hitting just .065 in the set.

Kills by Warning and Boken staked the Billikens to an early 2-0 lead in set three. Another Boken kill put SLU on top 3-1, but the Explorers went on a 4-1 run to claim a 5-4 lead. La Salle still led 6-5 before the Billikens reeled off four straight points to reclaim a 9-6 margin. The Billikens led 11-8 before stringing together six straight points to build a 17-8 lead. After a La Salle kill, the Billikens scored seven consecutive points to reach match point. The Explorers saved one point, but committed an error on the next hitting attempt to end the match 25-10.

In addition to registering match highs in kills and digs, Boken hit .417 for the match. Fonke had eight kills on just 15 swings and finished with a .467 hitting percentage to go along with a season-high tying five service aces. Andrea Bolt, who filled in as one of two setters despite being a defensive specialist, distributed a match-best 20 assists, while Amelia Karges tied her career high with 14 assists. Chernin established a career best with nine kills and Warning added six kills on eight swings. Kelly Scanlon led La Salle with six kills, and Rachel Stemper and Samantha Tulskie both had eight digs.

The Billikens improve to 14-6 overall, 7-1 in the league. The Explorers suffered their eighth straight defeat and fall to 3-23, 0-8 in conference.