Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Bridget Fonke and Sammi McCloud tied for match-high honors with 19 kills apiece as the Saint Louis volleyball team captured a 25-18, 27-29, 25-20, 26-24 victory over NCAA Tournament-bound Middle Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at Chaifetz Pavilion. The Billikens will learn their NCAA Tournament fate when the 64-team field is announced on ESPNews tomorrow at 2 p.m. (CT).

Saint Louis used a strong blocking front and kills from Casey Chernin and Megan Boken and McCloud collected consecutive kills prior to another Raider hitting error that put SLU up by eight. One of Middle Tennessee State's five blocks in the set halted the spurt before McCloud and Whitney Roth each terminated and Boken served an ace to give SLU the 15-5 lead. The Blue Raiders put together a pair of 3-0 runs, but the Billikens never let the lead slip to fewer than six points en route to the victory. McCloud led all players with seven kills as Saint Louis out-hit MTSU .189 to .172.

The Billikens seized the early lead in the second set on a Chernin kill and a Deno-Chernin block. The Blue Raiders eventually tied things up at 4-4, but SLU regained the lead immediately on consecutive kills from Fonke. MTSU used a 3-0 charge to even things up at 9-9. However, once again Saint Louis took control on a Roth kill and a block from Boken and Deno. Middle Tennessee State forced a stalemate and eventually took its first lead of the match at 15-14 following three straight points. The teams endured four ties before the Blue Raiders broke an 18-18 tie with three straight points to claim a 21-18 edge. SLU cut the deficit to one four times before knotting the score at 24-24 on a McCloud ace. The Blue Raiders were unable to finish the set as Fonke and Chernin posted back-to-back kills to give SLU its first attempt at set point. MTSU scored to halt the threat before the Bills earned another attempt moments later. But again SLU was unable to finish after being up 27-26. MTSU rallied for three straight points to capture the set-two win. Fonke led all players with seven kills though the Billikens managed just a .265 hitting percentage, while the Blue Raiders hit .386.

SLU broke a 4-4 tie in the third set with a five-point spurt, keyed by three kills from McCloud. An Alyssa Wistrick kill ended the rally before the Billikens put five straight points on the board, four of them courtesy of MTSU attacking errors, to go up 14-5. SLU was in control 19-8 when MTSU mounted a 7-0 run to get within 19-15. But consecutive kills from McCloud allowed the Bills to remain in control with a 21-15 edge. Following a Saint Louis serving error, Fonke book ended an MTSU hitting error with a pair of kills as SLU went up 24-16. The Blue Raiders fought off four of the Billikens attempts at set point before Fonke connected for a kill to give the Bills the one-set lead. SLU hit .367 in set three, while holding MTSU to a .135 clip. Fonke and McCloud collected six and five kills, respectively.

Again the teams traded the lead in the early stages of the fourth set. MTSU broke free from a 5-5 tie due to back-to-back SLU hitting errors. The Blue Raiders built a lead as large as three points before the Billikens came storming back. Saint Louis was down 11-8 when an MTSU error combined with a Chernin kill and an ace from Fonke to knot the score at 11-11. The squads tied seven times after that before the Blue Raiders went ahead 21-19 on an Ashley Mead kill and a Billiken error. SLU rallied to even the score twice before a solo block from McCloud put SLU on top 23-22. The teams tied at 23-23 and 24-24 before Fonke terminated and Roth registered a kill on an MTSU overpass to end the match. Both teams hit well in the final set with Roth setting the Billikens to a .361 rate and MTSU hitting .344.

Roth collected 50 assists, six digs and five kills as she set the Billikens to a .289 hitting percentage for the match. MTSU hit .270 for the match. Fonke completed a double-double with 19 kills and 10 digs, while McCloud added five digs to her 19-kill effort. Whitney Behrens tied for match-high honors with 14 digs, while Chernin contributed nine kills and two blocks and Boken recorded 12 digs to go with six kills.