Nov. 22, 2009

Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio - Saint Louis won the first two sets 25-22 and 25-17, but a late Dayton (28-3) comeback in set three ignited the Flyers and gave them the momentum to capture 25-23, 25-15, 15-7 wins in the final three sets of the Atlantic 10 Championship final. It is the first time that the Billikens (23-7) have suffered a loss in the Championship final. Megan Boken, Bridget Fonke and Sammi McCloud were named to the All-Championship squad.

Casey Chernin helped the Bills take an early 2-0 lead after blocking a Dayton attack and recording a kill down the line. But the Flyers battled back to tie things up twice before SLU went back on top. A Fonke kill and a service ace from Whitney Behrens put SLU on top 6-4. UD trimmed the lead to 7-6 before Saint Louis exploded for six straight points to take a commanding 13-6 lead. The Billikens were up 15-8 when the Flyers staged a comeback. After a SLU service error, Amanda Cowdrey served an ace. Then Dayton collected three straight kills before Cowdrey's second ace of the run brought the Flyers within 15-14. However, Boken gave the Bills the next three points on back-to-back kills and a solo block to make it 18-14. UD got as close as two points twice before Fonke took control with three kills down the stretch to help the Bills capture the set-one victory. SLU outhit the Flyers .224 to .128 as Boken, Fonke and the Flyers' Cowdrey led all players with five kills apiece.

Dayton took control early in the second set. After the Flyers scored the initial two points the Bills tied things up at 4-4. But UD took advantage of four Saint Louis errors and a Rachel Krabacher tip to claim a 9-4 edge. SLU scored six of the next eight points to get to within 11-10. The Flyers recorded a pair of hitting errors during the spurt, while Fonke tallied two kills, Whitney Roth had one. The teams traded service errors before a Boken kill brought the match to a stalemate at 12-12. The teams also tied at 13-13 before the Billikens scored the next five points. A McCloud kill ignited the run and was followed by three Dayton errors. Then Chernin terminated and notched a solo block to finish the rally, which put SLU on top 18-13. SLU used two UD errors and consecutive kills from Boken, Fonke and McCloud to race out to a 23-15 advantage. The Flyers posted a couple kills near the end of the set but a kill from Deno completed the match. The Billiken hit at a .286 rate with McCloud leading the way with four kills, while Chernin added three kills and Roth had 13 assists. Dayton hit .061 in set two with six errors.

The Flyers used two kills and a Billiken hitting error to stake its way to an early 3-0 edge in set three. Saint Louis chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the score and gained the 6-4 lead on back-to-back McCloud kills and a UD hitting error. Dayton drew even at 7-7 before it committed a pair of errors to hand the lead back to the Bills. SLU managed to hold onto a slim lead before the Flyers posted consecutive kills to even the score at 11-11. The teams endured seven ties, which brought the set to 18-18, before SLU scored three of the ensuing four points to go up 22-19. But that's when Dayton made its run. A-10 co-Player of the Year Lindsay Fletemier sparked the rally with two kills as the Flyers assumed a 23-22 edge. The Billikens fought back to tie the score at 23-23 but UD scored the final two points to earn the win. Dayton outhit the Bills for the first time of the match in set three .220 to .150. Fletemier lead all players with seven kills, while Fonke led SLU with five.

UD used its strong blocking and Saint Louis errors to race out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set. The Billikens took advantage of a Flyers' serving error to begin a 4-0 run, which also included two kills from McCloud and one from Boken, to get within 7-6. But SLU could never quite catch up as the momentum swung in Dayton's favor. UD was up 12-9 when it mounted a six-point run that put them in control 18-9. The Bills tried to chip away at the lead but Dayton was able to control the tempo by hitting at a .500 clip and committing no errors. Saint Louis recorded a match-high seven errors in set four and hit just .135.

Saint Louis fell behind 4-0 in the fifth set courtesy of a Fletemier kill, a service ace, a Krabacher kill and a Billiken hitting error. Two Flyer hitting errors combined with a kill from Fonke cut it to 4-3, but Dayton responded by scoring the next four points to go up 8-3. The Flyers took control from there as SLU was unable to put together consecutive points for the rest of the set. UD hit .333 with nine kills in the final set, while the Bilikens hit at a negative clip with just one kill and three errors.

Fonke led all players with 17 kills and completed a double-double with 14 digs. Boken recorded a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs, while McCloud also turned in a double-double of 10 kills and 15 digs. Roth set the Billikens to a .167 hitting percentage for the match, while registering 48 assists and 11 digs. Behrens posted a team-high 22 digs, while Andrea Bolt added 11.