Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 16 Saint Louis suffered the same hitting woes it had dealt with earlier in the day against Cincinnati as it fell to No. 14 Illinois 22-25, 14-25, 25-18, 23-25 in the final match at the State Farm Classic in Champaign, Ill. The Billikens (4-5) were out-hit .252 to .203.

Illinois (6-1) led by as many as three points early in the first set before Saint Louis knotted the score at 7-7 on consecutive kills from Bridget Fonke and Sammi McCloud and a Lydia Blaha-Whitney Roth block narrowed the gap to two points, but Laura DeBruler exploded for kills on four of the set's next six points and McCulley also added a kill to give the Illini their biggest lead at 19-14. Deno and Illinois' Michelle Bartsch traded kills before two Fonke kills combined with Illinois service and hitting miscues cut it to 20-19. Then Bartsch and McCloud traded kills to make it 21-20. However, DeBruler and McCulley posted back-to-back kills to extend the Illini's advantage to 23-20. SLU scored on an Illinois serving error and a Roth kill, but a Billiken hitting error and DeBruler's sixth kill gave her team the victory. Illinois hit at a .394 clip to Saint Louis' .229 hitting percentage in the opening stanza.

The Billikens' offense struggled mightily in the second set, hitting at a match-low .156 clip while Illinois hit .364. The Illini steadily built a lead in the early part of the set due in large part to the effort of DeBruler and Bartsch. Illinois was leading by one early when it mounted an 8-3 rally that included a six kills from the duo. That run gave the Illini an 11-5 advantage and they continued to race ahead, leading by as many as 11 points at 21-10. Saint Louis then scored three consecutive points for the first time in the set, on two kills from Deno and an Illinois mistake, to cut the deficit to eight points. However, the Bills would get no closer the rest of the way as they scored just once more on another Deno kill while Illinois got kills from Bartsch, DeBruler and McCulley as well as an ace from Hillary Haen to close the set.

Saint Louis came out with renewed energy in the third set, immediately gaining the lead. The Billikens were up 6-5 when they managed to score six of the next seven points to extend the lead to 12-6. Roth collected a kill, Fonke posted a solo block and McCloud tallied a kill and an ace during the spree that also included three Illinois errors. A DeBruler kill halted the rally briefly before the Illini committed four mistakes that gave SLU its largest lead yet at 16-8. Illinois drew within four points on two occasions but the Billikens wrapped up the set with a Megan Boken kill and two from Deno to fend off Illinois' sweep attempt. Deno led SLU with six kills in the only set in which the Billikens out-hit the Illini (.171 to .128).

Illinois slowly built a lead early in the fourth set before putting together a 7-1 that paved the way for its largest lead of the set. The Illinois led 7-5 when Bartsch, DeBruler and McCulley combined for four kills. A couple more kills from DeBruler along with a SLU hitting error put the Illini on top 14-7. Illinois expanded the advantage to eight points at 17-9 before Saint Louis came roaring back with an 8-1 run. Boken kicked off the rally with a kill and would add two more during the spree and McCloud contributed two kills as the Bills cut the deficit to 18-17. Billiken mistakes cost them the next two points but an Illinois serving error and a kill from Fonke again made it a one-point game. DeBruler notched two kills to McCloud's one to give the Illini a 22-20 edge. However, Fonke helped SLU even the score by teaming with Blaha for a block and adding a kill to make it 22-22. McCulley and Deno traded kills to maintain the tie at 23-23. But Illinois used a Bartsch kill and a block from McCulley and Erin Johnson to end the match in four sets.

Deno, who was named to the All-Tournament team, paced the Billikens with 15 kills, while McCloud added 12 and Fonke 10. Fonke also collected 13 digs to go with her two aces and two blocks. Roth posted her second double-double of the day with 41 assists, a team-high 14 digs and two blocks. Boken recorded 12 digs, four kills and two blocks, and Whitney Behrens tallied 13 digs.