ST. LOUIS – The Saint Louis University volleyball team snapped its three-match losing skid Friday night, defeating Fordham at home in a five-set thriller.
 
The victory marks SLU's first win at Chaifetz Pavilion for the 2023 season, a schedule which was heavily road centric. Not only did the victory bring the Billikens (10-10, 3-5 A-10) back up to .500 on the year, but comes at a critical point in the conference season in which three teams hold a 3-4 A-10 record.
 
After falling into a 4-0 hole to start the match, the Billikens went on a 6-1 scoring to take a commanding lead early in the match. The momentum continued, as SLU's 15-9 lead forced a Fordham timeout. The Billikens went on a 4-0 run, before a Rams' service ace ended it and sparked a run of their own. The Billikens were rewarded with a point from long volley, highlighted by two diving digs from Kate Aupperle before the Billikens went on to take the first set, 25-18, with 14 kills and three service aces.
 
The Billikens rode that momentum into the second set, starting it off with a kill from Emily Henken which sparked three-straight points from the home team. The Rams fought back, taking a 10-9 lead, before committing back-to-back errors. From there, SLU did not trail as the Billikens dominated the remainder of the set, hitting .452 en route to a 25-17 win in set two.
 
SLU faltered in the following sets as several Fordham runs and .429 hitting were too much for the Billikens to handle and they dropped set three, 25-19. The teams traded leads and ties in set four, but the Rams held onto their momentum, forcing a fifth set with a 25-22 win. 
 
The fifth-set and match came down to the wire, as eight total ties marked the Billikens' road to the victory. SLU finished it off with three-straight points to earn the win in 18-16 fashion. 

After setting a career-high with 49 assists last weekend, Addie Lyon blew by the mark against the Rams, recording a career-high 61 in the five-set match, all while surpassing 700 in her career. The redshirt sophomore also added 11 digs for her first double-double of the season.
 
Delaney Rice led the Billikens' attack with 23 kills, three shy of her career best, while Emily Henken and Jillian Mattingly added 17 and 16, respectively, the former while earning a double-double of her own with 10 digs and the latter while hitting .419 on the night. 
 
The Billikens will look to carry their momentum over to their second match of the weekend against the Rams. First serve is set for 2 p.m.