Sept. 26, 2009

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Senior libero Whitney Behrens got the three digs she needed to break the program's digs record and No. 23 Saint Louis turned in another solid performance offensively to claim a 25-14, 25-15, 25-23 Atlantic 10 Conference win over Fordham in Bronx, N.Y., Saturday afternoon. The Billikens improved to 9-5 overall, 2-0 in the A-10, while the Rams fall to 8-9 overall with an 0-2 mark in conference play.

Behrens tallied eight digs, while Megan Boken led SLU with a .556 hitting percentage to go with a match-high tying 11 kills and five digs. Sammi McCloud narrowly missed a double-double with 11 kills on .450 hitting, nine digs, four blocks and two service aces. Whitney Roth collected a match-best 33 assists to go with seven digs and three blocks. Bridget Fonke each tallied seven kills.

The Billikens were able to score in bunches in the opening set while allowing the Rams to score back-to-back points on just one occasion at the end of the frame. Saint Louis was up 11-8 when it exploded for 13 of the next 16 points to put the set out of reach at 24-11. First the Bills scored three straight points on kills from McCloud and Deno sandwiched around a Fordham error to make it 14-8. Following a Fordham point on a kill from Katie Wells, Deno, Boken and McCloud each tallied to extend the margin to 17-9. A Billiken blocking error preceded a Roth-McCloud block and kills from Boken, Roth and Fonke for a 21-10 advantage. A serving error interrupted the scoring but SLU put three quick points on the board courtesy of two Rams' error and a McCloud ace for the 24-11 score. Christi Griffiths record a kill and a Saint Louis hitting error and an Erickson Brown ace gave Fordham its first consecutive points of the night. But Fonke ended any threat with a set-ending kill to give the Bills the one set edge.

Fordham posted the first point of set two but after that it was all Billikens as they scored the next six points to race out to a 6-1 lead, which they would not relinquish. The initial run included two miscues by the Rams as well as a Behrens ace and kills from Boken, McCloud and Deno. Jolene Gunning-Snowden's second kill of the set briefly halted the rally before SLU marched out to a 9-2 lead on a Deno kill, another McCloud-Roth block and a Fordham hitting error. The Bills maintained a six to seven point advantage before the lead ballooned to nine points at 22-13. A Saint Louis serving error and a Kailee May kill trimmed the margin to 22-15. However, McCloud followed with a kill and an ace and another Fordham hitting error gave the Bills the set-two win.

SLU was up 6-5 when it began to build its lead in the final set. It used a 9-2 spurt to gain it's largest lead of the set at 15-7. The run included single kills from Fonke, Lydia Blaha and Deno as well as an ace and a pair of blocks from Fonke. Blaha also notched a block while the Rams committed three mistakes. Fordham got four straight kills from four different players coming out of a timeout to cut the deficit to 15-11. The Billikens responded by pushing their lead out to six points at 20-14. However, that was when the Rams came storming back with six points of their own to knot the score at 20-20. Two Fordham hitting errors put SLU back in front 22-20 before a Griffiths kill made it a one-point game. Saint Louis scored three of the next five points on two kills from Fonke and one from Boken to claim the set and match victory.