DAYTON, Ohio – The Saint Louis University volleyball team pushed #16 Dayton to the brink, here Saturday afternoon, dropping a battle with the Flyers in four sets.
 
The Billikens (11-12, 4-7 A-10) came out strong against the nationally-ranked Flyers, jumping out to a 5-1 lead off back-to-back service aces from Emily Henken. The Flyers fought their way back, taking back the lead with a 5-0 scoring run leading the way. Dayton ended set one on a 3-0 run to take the early lead. Early in the first set, Carlie Rodgers became Saint Louis University's career digs leader by surpassing Whitney Behrens' mark of 1,685. 
 
SLU came out firing in set two, going up 8-3 over the home team off a kill from Kayla Richardson. The Billikens extended their strong start through the set, and despite going down 20-24, muscled out five-straight points to regain the narrow lead, 25-24. The teams traded points before a kill from Henken secured the set, 29-27, to snap the Flyers' 30-set winning streak which extended back to Sept. 22.
 
Dayton came out with defensive vengeance in the third and fourth sets compiling 33 digs and 16 stops at the net en route to 25-19 and 25-18 victories, respectively, to take the match 3-1 and stay undefeated in the A-10.
 
Richardson led the Billikens' offensive efforts with a career-high 16 kills while Henken (12) and Jillian Mattingly (11) also reached double digits, the latter hitting .364.
 
The Billikens conclude their three-match road stand at Loyola Chicago, finishing their home-and-away series against the Ramblers Tuesday night. The mid-week match will begin at 6 p.m.
 
RESULTS 
Saint Louis 1, Dayton 3 (19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 18-25) 
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 | Frericks Center (Dayton, Ohio)