Sept. 11, 2009

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The best performance of Alyssa Deno's collegiate career helped No. 16 Saint Louis top Illinois State 25-21, 25-22, 25-18 in the opening match of the State Farm Classic in Champaign, Ill. Friday evening. Deno hit at a career-best .500 clip with career highs of 19 kills and seven digs in SLU's first match against a non-ranked foe since Aug. 29.

After the two teams traded points early in the first set, the Bills broke loose with three straight points on kills from Deno and Megan Boken in addition to a Redbird hitting error for a 7-4 edge. Kills from Bridget Fonke and Lydia Blaha and Deno teamed up for a block before Boken posted one of her own to put the Billikens back in front by two. Illinois State's Hailey Kelley tried to keep her team in the match, scoring three of the set's next six points, but Deno added three kills and Boken contributed two and an ace to help SLU hold onto a 19-14 lead. Visk came alive for three kills late in the set but it was already too late as the Bills out-hit ISU by .173 points. Deno led all players with seven kills and a .462 hitting percentage, while Visk paced the `Birds with five kills.

SLU used a 7-1 run midway through the second set to race ahead and capture the two set lead. Once again the teams traded points early on with neither squad leading by more than three points until the decisive run. The Bills were up 7-6 when Fonke exploded for three consecutive kills and Ashley Gaillot added her second ace of the match to make it 11-6. Angela Rego's kill halted the rally, but only briefly as Fonke and Blaha scored on back-to-back kills and a Redbirds hitting error put Saint Louis in command 14-7. Illinois State scored six of the next seven points to slice the lead to 15-13. Deno registered three of the next four points of the match on kills to prevent ISU from getting within a point of the Bills. However, errors began to plague the Billikens as they gave away four points on hitting mistakes before a Culbertson kill tied things up at 20-20 and then gave her team the advantage with another kill. SLU remained composed, immediately regaining the 24-21 lead with the aid of kills from Blaha, Boken and Fonke. The Bills missed their first chance at taking the set due to a service error but Deno picked up the slack by putting a ball down to give Saint Louis the win. Saint Louis got six kills apiece from Deno and Fonke as it hit just slightly better than Illinois State at .225 to .216.

The third set featured seven ties and five lead changes before the Billikens escaped with the win. With the score knotted at 13-13, Whitney Roth served back-to-back aces to give SLU a lead it would not relinquish. Again the squads swapped points until the Bills mounted a 3-0 run consisting of two Redbirds mistakes and a Deno kill for the 20-15 lead. Mallory Leggett's kill cut the deficit to four, but Deno responded with a kill and an ace to push Saint Louis out to a 22-16 advantage. The Billikens cruised from there, taking advantage of an ISU error and using an ace from Boken and a Marcum kill to claim the victory. Illinois State hit better than the Billikens at .200 to .167 but they managed just eight kills to SLU's 14.

Roth was the only Billiken with a double-double, contributing 33 assists and 13 digs, while Fonke just missed the feat with 12 kills and nine digs. Boken tallied 10 digs, six kills and two blocks and Whitney Behrens collected a team-high tying 13 digs along with four assists. Visk paced the Illinois State offense with 10 kills with two other players adding seven kills apiece.