Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 16 Saint Louis was plagued by errors and could never catch up to a tough Cincinnati team in a 25-27, 23-25, 17-25 loss to the Bearcats (5-4) at the State Farm Classic in Champaign, Ill., Saturday afternoon. The Billikens (4-4), who suffered their first loss of the season to an unranked foe, battle host No. 14 Illinois at 7 p.m. this evening.

Cincinnati was the aggressor early as it ran out to a 4-1 lead utilizing two kills from Stephanie Niemer as well as single kills from Missy Harpenau and Becca Refenes. Megan Boken and Sammi McCloud posted consecutive kills to make a one-point difference but a Billiken hitting error and two kills from Jordanne Scott pushed the Bearcats' lead back out to 7-3. Two Boken kills and a McCloud ace again cut the margin to one before once again Cincinnati responded with a run to dash SLU's hopes of taking the lead. Saint Louis took advantage of kills from Bridget Fonke and Lydia Blaha. However, the Bearcats mounted a 5-0 rally to regain the 18-14 advantage. They appeared to be on the verge of taking the set when SLU came up with a final rally. Down 24-20, the Billikens used a pair of kills from McCloud, one from Casey Chernin and a UC hitting error to tie things up at 24-24. Niemer's kill gave the Bearcats their fourth attempt at set point but Deno answered with a kill to make it 25-25. The Bills finished the set with two hitting errors, giving Cincinnati the win. SLU committed nine hitting errors to the Bearcats' three in the opening set as it was out-hit by .130 points.

SLU minimized its mistakes in the second set but it still wasn't enough as the Bearcats posted 15 kills to SLU's nine. Cincinnati earned a slim lead at the start of the set and managed to hold onto a three to four point edge until the Billikens took advantage of three straight Bearcat errors to even things up at 13-13. Seven ties followed as neither team was able to shake the other. Saint Louis led 23-22 following back-to-back mistakes by the Bearcats. But UC would not go quietly as it scored the final three points of the set on an ace and a kill from Niemer and a Harpenau kill to capture the two-set lead. Niemer led all players with five kills in the set, while Boken and Cincinnati's Emily Hayden and Harpenau each notched four.

A decisive 6-0 rally by Cincinnati early in the third set was the key to its victory. With things tied up at 5-5, the Bearcats took advantage of three Billiken errors, two service aces from Niemer and a Scott kill to stake their way to an 11-5 margin. Saint Louis slowly chipped away at the lead, capitalizing on four kills from McCloud, two Cincinnati errors and an Ashley Gaillot ace to get within 16-14. However, the Bills would get no closer than that as the Bearcats scored four of the next six points on SLU mistakes to make it 21-15. Boken's kill halted the run and a UC error gave SLU its final point before four different Bearcats posted kills to close the match.

McCloud paced the Billikens with 11 kills and added four digs, while Boken recorded 10 kills, four digs and three blocks. Whitney Roth had the only double-double of the contest with 28 assists and 11 digs. Fonke collected a match-high 13 digs to go with seven kills and Whitney Behrens registered 10 digs. Niemer led Cincinnati with 14 kills and four service aces, while Harpenau tallied a team-best 11 digs along with nine kills.