Playing with fire can be a good thing if you are on a hot streak.
Last night at the Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center, the Saint Louis University volleyball team took to the floor against the Eastern Illinois Panthers trying to extend one streak and start another. The streak they were trying to extend was their dominating winning streak over the Panthers from the past few years, winning the last five before last night. The streak they were trying to start was a new winning streak. They succeeded at both.
“Tonight was a good win for us. It was quick and we played really well,” said coach Marilyn Nolen.
The match against Eastern Illinois was the Bills’ last scheduled non-conference match of the season. They started out of the gate early with a dominating win in the first game.
The Bills came into the match having struggled recently with some of their sets and blocks but they showed no sign of weakness in the first game, winning 30-17. In the second game, the Billikens picked up right where they left off and stormed out of the gate once again.
The final score of the game, 30-25, does not tell the full story, as the Bills once again overpowered and outgunned the hapless Panthers.
The final game was quite a spectacle to watch as the team gained a lot of enthusiasm as it progressed and the crowd started to get into it more. About halfway through the game, Colleen Hunter mistimed a kill attempt and made a circus-stunt, behind-the-back stab at the ball, somehow managing to muscle it up and over the net and have the ball fall in front of an awestruck Eastern Illinois team. But that was just a sign of how the night had gone–the Bills could do no wrong.
“We had no negative hitters tonight, which is extremely good for us. This team is starting to believe in themselves which is very important,” assistant coach Alan Ursillo said.
Brooke Minniear finished with a team-high 16 digs to go along with her seven kills for the Bills. Hunter added 21 kills in the three-game match. Another encouraging sign for the Bills was that all three of their freshmen had great matches. Lauren Boissevain and Ashley Hunter, saw extensive action last night. Boissevain played setter the last part of all three games and Hunter started for the Bills and recorded seven kills for the team. Bronwen Nelson had a ground-shaking kill toward the end of game three that brought the crowd to its feet.
Jessica Kmitta took over the duties of defensive specialist for the Bills in the match and looked to be right at home on the back line.
“She is such a good passer. That defensive specialist role lets us utilize her passing strength and lets her not have to worry about having to play as an outside hitter,” Nolen said.
This past Saturday, the Bills went down to New Orleans to play their first conference match of the season, against Tulane.
Due to Hurricane Isidore, though, the Bills had to wait until Sunday to get their match in.
“Last year, that delay would have bothered this team, but they have matured and it did not phase them at all,” Ursillo said.
The wait was well worth it, as the Bills put on quite a show en route to an exciting five-game victory.
“That was the most exciting match ever,” Nolen said. “We will probably be showing that at our banquet.”
The Billikens took the first two games with identical 30-23 scores. Then Tulane caught a head of steam and stormed back to win games four and five, with identical scores. The Green Wave carried that momentum into game five and took an early lead.
But the Bills held their composure, played strong defensively and produced three key blocks.
They played well down the stretch and came out with a 15-12 decision in the deciding game for the win.
The Bills will head to Memphis to play the Tigers Saturday in their second conference match of the season.
The Tigers are off to a fast start at 13-4 and should be a tough match SLU.
Ursillo said, “They are a scary team, especially at home. And whenever a team is 13-4 it believes it can beat anyone.”
