Oct. 29, 2009

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - No. 24 Saint Louis struggled offensively in the second set, but otherwise had little trouble dispatching Duquesne 25-17, 25-23, 25-12 in an Atlantic 10 Conference tilt in Pittsburgh, Pa., Thursday evening. The Billikens improve to 16-6 overall, 9-1 in A-10 play, while the Dukes fall to 13-12 overall, 3-7 in the league.

The Billikens were awarded the first point of the opening set due to a Duquesne error. The Dukes knotted the score on a kill from Liz Homan before SLU seized the lead for good with a 3-0 spurt that included a solo block by Megan Boken and a Sammi McCloud kill. Sara Scheirman's termination and a Billiken hitting error brought the Dukes as close as they would get all evening at 4-3. Another McCloud kill combined with a Duquesne error made it 6-3. Sarah Svorinic's kill briefly halted the spree before Whitney Roth and Bridget Fonke posted back-to-back kills and Boken served an ace to expand the margin to five points. The Bills maintained an edge of three to five points before a three-point burst put them on top 18-11. Saint Louis cruised from there, only allowing the Dukes to close the gap to five points on one occasion. The Billikens hit .448 and committed just one error, while Duquesne posted a .333 hitting percentage.

Casey Chernin and Fonke collected kills during the run, while Deno and Fonke teamed for a block. The Dukes answered with four consecutive points of their own to grab the 14-12 edge. Chernin's kill stopped the run before Duquesne tacked on two more points courtesy of a Scheirman kill and a Svorinic-Homan block to make it 16-13. The set of runs continued as the Billikens responded with a five-point spree that was sparked by an ace and a kill from Deno and include kills from Boken and McCloud. A Svorinic kill and back-to-back SLU hitting errors put the Dukes in front by one at 19-18. The teams traded points to bring the score to 21-21 prior to a kill from Fonke and a Duquesne error gave the Bills the 23-21 edge. But consecutive kills from Wright and Jessica Artman knotted the score at 23-23. Then Roth put down a kill and Deno and Chernin teamed for a block to end the set. Saint Louis earned the victory despite being outhit by the Dukes .143 to .062.

The score remained close in the final set until the Billikens broke free from an 8-8 tie on back-to-back kills from Deno and McCloud. Homan and Artman combined for a block in the midst of SLU's seven-point burst. After the Duquesne block, Chernin terminated and then paired with McCloud for a block. A Deno service ace was bookended by Duke hitting errors, which allowed Saint Louis to capture a 15-9 advantage. A Scheirman kill preceded two kills from Boken and a Roth-McCloud block that made it 18-10. Duquesne scored the next two points before SLU, powered by three kills from Fonke, scored the final seven points to obtain the victory. The Bills hit .400 in the final set to Duquesne's .037 hitting rate.

McCloud led all players with 13 kills, while also chipping in five digs and two blocks. Fonke collected eight kills and six digs, while Chernin amassed seven kills and a career-high four blocks. Deno tied her career high with three service aces, while also adding four kills and four blocks. Roth dished out 28 assists, while Whitney Behrens tallied a team-best nine digs. Wright led Duquesne with a double-double of 11 kills and a match-high 10 digs.