Second chances are rare.
However, the Saint Louis University volleyball team will get that rare opportunity tomorrow as they face Memphis for the second time this week.
After winning the first Conference USA match of the season against Texas Christian University (3-7 overall, 1-1 C-USA), SLU (3-6, 1-2) lost the conference match against Memphis (11-1, 2-1).
Against TCU, the Billikens had an incredible four-game run, capping off the win in the fourth game with scores 30-25, 22-30, 30-18, 33-31.
“We’ve often struggled in tight situations. This time, we finally did what we needed to do,” said coach Marilyn Nolen.
TCU took the lead early on in the first game, but the Bills rallied in the middle of the game to score six consecutive points and recover the lead.
Colleen Hunter was the heavy hitter for the Billikens with four kills in the game.
In the second game, TCU’s offense dominated, firing 18 kills past the Billiken defense with just four errors, while the Bills were held to only 12 kills with eight errors.
The Bills easily won the third game, hitting a match high .368. SLU’s defense held TCU to a mere .086. Ember Knobeloch lead the Billiken attack in game three with five kills on nine attempts.
With the score tied at 28-28 in the fourth game, Hunter hammered a kill from the back row to break the score for the Bills.
The Billikens lost the lead when TCU’s Marci King scored two consecutive points, but the two teams tossed the lead back and forth, and finally a kill from Hunter put the Bills at match point.
A long TCU shot closed the match at 33-31 in favor of Saint Louis.
With a solid conference win under their belts, the Billikens traveled to take on a hungry Memphis team who had just upset one of the C-USA favorites, Houston.
“To come into (Memphis’) place after a big win like Houston, we had to play strong,” Nolen said. “They had a positive energy. We had to create our own. We played well, we just didn’t finish.”
Statistically, the Billikens held the advantage over the Tigers throughout the entire game. However, it was Memphis who emerged victorious with game scores of 30-28, 31-29, 25-30, 30-26.
Much like Saturday’s match with TCU, the Billikens stayed within a few points of the Tigers throughout the entire match but failed to connect on several key opportunities.
“We did not block well,” Nolen said. “Normally we might have been able to shut them down, but we weren’t up to our normal strength.”
In the first game, the Bills out-hit Memphis, but the Tigers committed fewer errors and managed a team attack of .205, while the Bills hit just .133.
In the second game, Saint Louis and Memphis hit equally well. The Billiken offense managed an attack of 17 kills on 42 swings, while Memphis connected on 20 of 45 attempts.
The third game was the most successful for the Billikens. SLU managed 19 kills to take the game 30-25.
The Bills had the opportunity to win the fourth game, but the Memphis offense was too much for the Billikens to handle and Memphis closed the match 30-26.
Despite the loss, several Billikens had their best games of the season. Hunter led the Billikens with 24 kills and 11 digs.
“We were erratic. As a group, we were inconsistently good and bad,” Nolen said. “Our defense and passing was good, which is not always our strongest, so I was pleased. But we weren’t in sync as a team.”
Friday, the Billikens will have a second chance against Memphis. The Tigers will travel to St. Louis where a rested, prepared and composed Billiken squad awaits.
“We need to find what we had against TCU,” Nolen said. “We need to step up our leadership and our court composure. We’ve got everything on the drawing board, but we’re not being consistent. We’ve got a chance to take what we learned against Memphis the first time and apply it and beat them in our gym.”
