Aug. 28, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - No. 20 Saint Louis inaugurated the 2009 season with a 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 sweep over Alabama in front of 995 fans in the Active Ankle Challenge at Chaifetz Arena. The Billikens hit .263 in the match while holding the Crimson Tide to an .093 mark. It was the fourth largest on-campus crowd to witness a SLU volleyball match.

The Billikens jumped on top quickly by scoring the first three points of the match. Bridget Fonke put down her first swing, followed by Megan Boken and Sammi McCloud kill sparked a 6-0 SLU burst. After two straight hitting errors, McCloud served consecutive aces. Boken's solo block pushed the Billikens to a 10-2 mark. The Crimson Tide edged back to 12-6, but a hitting error and two more kills by Deno re-established a 15-6 edge. A Fonke ace gave the Billikens their first double-digit lead of the set at 18-8. The Crimson Tide never cut the lead under 10, and SLU posted a 25-13 win. Deno keyed the win with five kills on just seven swings as the Billikens notched a .400 hitting percentage and held Alabama to a .000 mark with five kills and five errors.

Another quick start was in order for the Billikens as they scored the first four points of set two. Two Crimson Tide errors and kills by McCloud and Deno staked the Billikens to the 4-0 margin. Alabama eventually scored four straight points to take its first lead of the night at 7-6. The Billikens came right back with four points to retake a 10-7 advantage. SLU stretched a 10-9 lead out to six points at 16-10 as a Fonke ace punctuated the run. The Billiken block took control as Fonke and Boken registered solo blocks for a 21-12 SLU edge. The Crimson Tide used a 4-1 run to cut into the SLU lead and edged to 23-16, but the Billikens closed out the set with an ace by Boken. Fonke and Boken each had three kills apiece to boost the Billikens.

Alabama led set three 2-1 before the Billikens reeled off four consecutive points to surge to the lead 5-2 on a block by McCloud and Lydia Blaha. The teams traded points until back-to-back points by the Billikens gave them a 10-6 lead. The Crimson Tide rattled off five straight points, their longest string of the evening, to take an 11-10 edge. Alabama still led 12-11 until three straight points by the Billikens gave them a 14-12 margin on a McCloud kill. Neither team strung together more than two points as the Billikens led 20-18 until Blaha's solo block pushed SLU to a 21-18 margin. After a Crimson Tide point, McCloud pounded down a cross-court kill, Roth followed with a tip and a Boken kill down the line brought the Billikens to match point. Alabama staved off the first one with a kill, but a Crimson Tide hitting error ended the match 25-20.

McCloud led a balanced Billiken attack with nine kills and 18 digs. Deno enjoyed a tremendous outing with a career-high eight kills while hitting .312. Boken chipped in eight kills and seven blocks for SLU, while Whitney Roth handed out 29 assists to go along with five kills and five digs.

Top-ranked Penn State opened the Active Ankle Challenge with a 3-0 sweep over Miami (Ohio) 25-15, 25-12, 25-9. Darcy Dorton led the Nittany Lions with 15 kills while posting a .565 hitting percentage. PSU hit .347 for the match while holding the RedHawks to -.087 clip. The Nittany Lions notched 11 team blocks in the match.