AMES, Iowa – Saint Louis concluded the Cyclone Invitational with a 3-1 loss to Omaha Saturday at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Billikens are now 5-3 on the year, while the Mavericks improved to 3-3.

Set 1: Omaha 25, Saint Louis 17
The Billikens trailed by four at 18-14 before winning the next three points to pull within one, forcing an Omaha timeout. The Mavericks responded by going on a 7-0 run to close out the set 25-17.

Set 2: Saint Louis 25, Omaha 23
Saint Louis evened things at 1-1 with a win in a back-and-forth second set. Ellie Rink finished with four kills in the set. It was tied 23-23 before SLU won the last two points. Tamia Maddox hammered home the set-clinching kill.

Set 3: Omaha 25, Saint Louis 17
The Mavericks jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and never looked back in the third set, winning 25-17.

Set 4: Omaha 25, Saint Louis 21
The fourth set was close throughout. The Billikens rallied to tie it 21-21 and force an Omaha timeout. The Mavs would go on the claim the final four points to claim the set, and the match, 3-1.

Notables

• Maddox finished a team-high 11 kills.
• Rink and Kayla Jansen followed with nine kills apiece.
• Two Billikens registered double-doubles – Jetta Brenning had 23 assists and 15 digs, while Lucy Rankin finished with 15 assists and 10 digs. 
• Also finishing with double-digits digs were Chloe Maughan (13), Rink (12) and Alivia Bronner (10).

Up Next
The Billikens face Missouri State Thursday night at Chaifetz Pavilion at 6 p.m. to open the Missouri Challenge.