Aug. 29, 2009

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

ST. LOUIS - No. 20 Saint Louis began day two of the Active Ankle Challenge Saturday with a thrilling 3-1 victory over Miami (Ohio). The Billikens stayed steady late and posted a 26-24, 25-12, 19-25, 26-24 win. SLU will take on No. 1 Penn State at 7:00 tonight in Chaifetz Arena.

Set one was close in the early going as neither team could build more than a one-point lead. At 9-9 the RedHawks finally scored two straight for an 11-9 lead. Sammi McCloud had a kill and Lydia Blaha and Megan Boken combined on a block to tie the set at 11-11. Miami twice took two-point advantages, but the Billikens squared the set each time. The Billikens finally retook the lead 18-17 on a block by McCloud and Whitney Behrens served an ace to give the Billikens a 26-24 win. Boken had five kills, and Deno notched four kills on only five swings to lead the Billikens. The opening set saw 17 ties and seven lead changes.

After a Blaha kill to open set two, McCloud served seven straight points for the Billikens. SLU drilled three straight kills, and after two MU efforts, McCloud aced the RedHawks twice as the Billikens built a 10-2 advantage. The lead was 12-6 when the Bills reeled off a 4-0 spurt. Deno's kill sparked the run, and Fonke followed with an emphatic solo block. After an MU error, Fonke had a crosscourt kill for the first double-digit lead of the day at 16-6. The Billikens maintained a double-digit lead and eased to a 25-12 win. The Billikens posted a .350 hitting percentage and held MU to a -.050 mark in the second set.

Whitney Roth began set three with an ace, and McCloud added a kill for a quick 2-0 SLU lead. Miami tied the set, and the proceedings were knotted seven more times until MU took a 12-10 margin. The Billikens scored a point, but the RedHawks tallied three straight to snare a 15-11 lead. Miami led 17-13 before the Billikens scored three straight to pull to 17-16. However, the RedHawks answered with six straight points to take control and win set three 25-19. Miami finished the set hitting .455, while the Billikens managed just a .182 mark.

The RedHawks led set four 3-2, then tacked on three straight points to build a 6-2 margin. McCloud pounded a ball down the middle to break the MU run, 6-3. SLU answered with its own 3-0 run to cut the margin back to two, 7-5. The RedHawks inched out to an 11-7 lead before the Billikens scored three consecutive points to draw to 11-10. SLU reeled off three straight points to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 14-13 lead. McCloud's kill from the back row handed SLU its first lead since the first point of the set. The score was tied at 20-20 before Miami served two straight aces to lead 22-20. The RedHawks had set point at 24-22, but McCloud found the middle of the Miami defense to save one set point, and a block by Deno and Fonke tied the set at 24-24. Whitney Behrens served an ace to push the Billikens to match point, 25-24. After a long rally, Deno and Fonke again teamed on a block to end the match, 26-24.

Boken and McCloud led the Billikens with 12 kills. McCloud notched a double-double by adding 12 digs while hitting .345 in the match. Behrens added 11 digs, while Roth handed out 41 assists. The Billikens out-blocked Miami 10-6. Lisa Treadway finished with a match-high 23 assists for Miami, and Maria Leahy bolstered the MU attack with 16 kills.

The Billikens improved to 2-0 on the season, while the RedHawks fell to 0-2.

In the second match of the day, top-ranked Penn State increased its NCAA-record winning streak to 66 matches with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-14 victory over Alabama.

The Nittany Lions (2-0) produced a .452 attack percentage while limiting the Crimson Tide (0-2) to a .085 mark. Blair Brown and Megan Hodge tallied 13 kills apiece for Penn State, combining for 26 kills and just one error in 50 attempts. Alyssa D'Errico and Hodge collected 15 and 11 digs, respectively. Brooks Webster led Alabama with five kills and 10 digs.