SAINT LOUIS – The Saint Louis University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match to VCU here Saturday afternoon in its second contest of conference play.
 
The loss moves the Billikens to 7-7 on the season and 0-2 in Atlantic 10 play. 
 
VCU raced off to an early lead to kick off the team's second match of the weekend. With four service aces to the Billikens none, the Rams hit .250 en route to a 25-15 win to kick off the match. 
 
Runs marked the second set, as the Billikens raced out to a 14-9 lead off a 5-0 run. The Rams answered with a 6-0 run of their own, though, to reclaim the lead. SLU won the race to 25, though, to claim the set, with back-to-back service aces from Jillian Mattingly for the final two points. 
 
Set three was a back-and-forth affair marked by 11 ties and five lead changes but ultimately the Billikens dropped a tight 25-22 battle. 
 
Needing a fourth-set win to force a decisive fifth, the Billikens battled to 17 ties, but couldn't keep the momentum, falling 25-21 to drop the match in four. 
 
Delaney Rice led the Billikens for the second-straight match with 12 kills, while Josie Newcom and Kayla Richardson added 11 apiece. 
 
The Billikens will be back in action on the road next weekend, traveling to Fairfax, Va., to face off against George Mason. The first match will kick off at 5 p.m. Friday with the weekend finale taking place at 1 p.m. Saturday.