Saint Louis Billikens Athletics

CARBONDALE, Ill. – After dropping the second and third sets, the Billiken s  stormed back to defeat Southern Illinois, 3-2, Saturday afternoon inside Davies Gym.
 
Tea Kalajdzic led the Billikens with 18 kills while hitting .341. Tamia Maddox added 16 kills and hit .364, while Ellie Rink finished with 15 kills. Jetta Brenning recorded 42 assists and 16 digs, while Kayla Jansen led the Billikens with seven blocks. As a team, SLU hit .277 and totaled 60 kills, eight service aces and 10 blocks.
 
SET 1 | SLU 25, SIU 23
The Billikens and Salukis battled through a back-and-forth opening set. Southern Illinois built an early 8-3 advantage before SLU began to chip away. The Billikens eventually tied the set at 19-19. After the teams traded points late, SLU took a 23-22 and closed out the set, 25-23.
 
SET 2 | SIU 25, SLU 22
Saint Louis opened the second set with a 3-1 lead after a Tamia Maddox service ace, but Southern Illinois quickly answered. The Billikens regained an 11-8 advantage before the Salukis rallied to tie the set at 11-11. The teams remained within a point of each other through the middle portion of the set before SIU took control late. The Salukis built a 24-19 lead and held off a late SLU push to win 25-22 and even the match.
 
SET 3 | SIU 25, SLU 16
Southern Illinois jumped out to a 3-0 lead and maintained control throughout the third set. The Billikens pulled within three at 18-15 before the Salukis went on a 7-1 run to close ou the set.
 
SET 4 | SLU 25, SIU 12
Facing a must-win fourth set, the Billikens came out strong, scoring the first four points and pushing their advantage to 7-1 behind another Maddox service ace. SLU continued to build to an 11-3 advantage after extending the lead to 17-9, Billikens scored eight of the final 11 points to close out the set, 25-12. SLU hit .304 in the fourth set while holding SIU to a -.103 hitting percentage.
 
SET 5 | SLU 15, SIU 9
The decisive fifth set saw the teams trade points to reach 5-5, from there the Billikens scored five straight points to take a 10-5 advantage. Southern Illinois cut the deficit to 10-7, but the Billikens responded with three consecutive points to move within two points of the win. Maddox recorded two more kills late, including the match-clinching point, as SLU secured the 15-9 set win and completed the comeback.
 
NOTABLES

• Three Billikens had 15+ kills, led by Tea Kalajdzic with 18
• Jetta Brenning recorded her fifth straight double-double with 42 assists and a game-high 16 digs
• Kayla Jansen had seven block assists

UP NEXT
The Billikens travel to Cincinatti, Ohio for the Xavier Tournament to face Xavier on Friday and Bowling Green and Austin Peay on Saturday.