ST. LOUIS – For its second-straight win, the Saint Louis University Volleyball team defeated Fordham Saturday afternoon in five sets to move to 11-10 on the year and 4-5 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
 
In a script nearly identical to Friday night's five-set thriller, the Billikens muscled out the victory over the Rams, with a 15-9 fifth-set being the matches' difference maker.
 
Falling into an early hole, SLU fought its way back from a 5-1 deficit early in the match, going on a four-point run to take the lead. On .250 hitting, the Billikens went on to take the first set, 25-20, off a decisive final kill from Delaney Rice.
 
Set two was a back-and forth affair, but trailing 22-21, Josie Newcom put down her 10th kill of the day to tie up the set at 22 apiece. Emily Henken followed that up with a service ace to give the Billikens a narrow lead. Both teams traded points, but it was Vivian Kieffer's 18th service ace of the season that gave SLU the 27-25 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
With a chance to earn the team's second-straight A-10 win and a decisive sweep over the conference's fifth-place team heading into the weekend, Henken secured a kill off an assist from Addie Lyon to take the first point in set three. But much like Friday night's battle, the Rams fought back, using a 5-0 run midway through the third set to take a commanding 15-9 lead. A kill from Henken halted the run, but the Billikens couldn't dig themselves out of the hole, dropping the set, 25-18.
 
In a fourth set that saw the Billikens commit six service errors, SLU struggled to gain back the matches' momentum. Despite a kill by Dimitra Tziarli to bring SLU within two (15-17), the Rams forced a fifth set for the second-straight match.
 
The Billikens came out firing on all cylinders in the fifth set, dominating the visiting team and taking a 7-1 lead off an early 4-0 scoring run. The Rams could not overcome the early deficit as kills from Trinity Luckett and Delaney Rice helped seal the Billikens' second-straight five set win, 15-9.
 
Addie Lyon found herself with a second-straight double-double, recording 51 assists and 13 digs, while Carlie Rodgers' 25 digs led the Billikens' defensive efforts during the Saturday match.
 
Henken led the Billikens with 19 kills while Rice and Newcom added 14 each, a number that tied the freshman's season high.
 
The Billikens will travel to 18th-ranked Dayton next weekend before visiting Loyola Chicago for the second of their mid-week matches on Oct. 24. SLU's road trip to the Flyers will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday before concluding at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.