Nov. 12, 2010

Box Score

St. Louis - Alyssa Deno had 21 kills to help rally the Saint Louis volleyball team to a five-set victory over George Washington Friday afternoon in Atlantic 10 Conference action at Chaifetz Pavilion. The Billikens had come back and win the final two sets, and the match is the first five-setter SLU has won this season.

In the decisive fifth set, the Colonials scored four of the first five points before a kill by Megan Boken finished a play and a GW hitting error drew SLU to 9-8. The Bills still trailed 11-9 before tying the set on consecutive kills by Deno for an 11-11 deadlock. Carly Schumacher's kill finally handed the Billikens their first lead of the set at 12-11. Lauren Whyte tied the score for GW, but Deno answered with a kill. A setting error by GW pushed the Billikens to match point at 14-12. SLU had a swing for the match, but the ball sailed just long. With their second match point chance, Beaty found a gap in the middle of the GW defense to give the Billikens a thrilling 15-13 win.

SLU led for most of the early portion of set one and held a 11-7 margin after a Deno kill. SLU stretched the lead to as much as 18-13 before GW rallied. The Colonials slowly cut the gap to 21-18 before scoring four straight to take a 22-21 lead. Deno answered with two kills, the last of which forced a 23-23 tie. However, GW recorded two straight kills to claim the first set.

At 9-9 in set two, Beaty and Schumacher teamed up on a block to ignite a 7-0 run as the Billikens took control. Deno had three kills and a block to play a key role in the burst. GW finally recorded a kill to stop the SLU run, but the Billikens tacked on three unanswered points and cruised to a 25-13 win. SLU hit a match-high .444 in the set with 14 kills, just two errors on 27 attempts.

In set three, GW opened with a 5-1 run and did not allow the Billikens to cut the gap to less than three. A solo block by Hannah Kvitle edged the Bills closer at 10-5, and Beaty's kill cut the deficit to 12-8. GW scored five of the next six points and held the Billikens off for a 25-15 win.

The Billikens trailed 8-7 early in set four before scoring four straight to surge ahead. Kvitle served an ace to ignite the run, and Deno followed with a kill. The sequence repeated itself and Deno's kill gave SLU an 11-8 lead. The Billikens still held a 13-10 advantage before taking charge with four consecutive points. A block by Beaty and Schumacher began the run, and a GW hitting error boosted the Billikens ahead to a 17-10 lead. Holding an 18-12 cushion, SLU scored five straight points and eventually forced the final fifth set.

Deno had 21 kills while hitting .360 for the match to lead four SLU players in double-figure kills. Carly Marcum added 13 kills, and Beaty notched 12 kills and a match-high six blocks. Boken recorded a double-double with 10 points and 17 digs, while Kvitle finished with 53 assists and 15 digs. Ashley Gaillot, this week's A-10 Defensive Player of the Week, continued her strong play with 25 digs. Lauren Whyte recorded a match-high 23 kills to lead GW. The Billikens hit .263 for the match.

The Billikens improve to 18-10 overall, 11-3 in the A-10, while the Colonials fall to 17-14, 6-8. SLU plays its final league match Sunday at Dayton.