The Saint Louis University volleyball team is finally home. In
returning home from a Conference USA road trip, which saw both the
first Billiken conference win of the season and their sixth defeat,
the team must be glad to finally smell the musty aroma of the
rickity Bauman-Eberhardt Center floor and get back in action this
weekend against conference rivals Louisville and Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Bearcats come to town tomorrow boasting an
undefeated C-USA record, 7-0, and the lead in almost every
offensive category of note. Coming off big wins against Tulane and
Southern Miss, who were previously tied with them atop the
conference standings, the Bearcats possess a one-game lead over
Memphis and Louisville with less than three weeks remaining in the
season.
The Bearcat’s main weapon is freshman Myanna Hellston who was
named C-USA co-player of the week last week for her effective play
the past weekend against Tulane and Southern Miss.
Louisville visits SLU with 13 wins and a mere four losses. Their
conference record is an astounding 6-1, their only loss coming to
top-ranked Cincinnati. They are quickly climbing the ranks of C-USA
while also establishing a reputation as “giant-killers,” seeing as
this past weekend they knocked off Southern Miss and Tulane, which
was Tulane’s first loss of the season and only Southern Miss’
second.
The Cardinals tout a fiery Ukranian dynamo in the form of 6’2″
sophomore Lena Ustymenko, who is their main weapon at the outside
hitter position and was also recently the C-USA co-player of the
week, with Cincinnati’s Hellsten.
Another powerful weapon for the high-flying Cardinals is fellow
outside hitter Sonja Percan, a junior from Croatia, who was a
first-team All-Conference USA selection her freshman year and was
well on her way to repeating the feat last year when she was
injured early in the season and never returned.
The Bills look to quell the visitors with some stifling defense
and strong hitting, which has been paced recently by junior middle
hitter Kayla Kmitta, who along with Angela Powers and Ashley
Hunter, is averaging over six kills a match. Kmitta had 10 blocks
in the recent Billiken victory over DePaul, which broke their C-USA
winning drought. Alexis Cooley has also come on strong, including
notching a game-high 17 kills for the Billikens. Also coming on
strong was freshman Jessica Poorbaugh, who has excelled since her
move to defensive specialist, who had a game-high 20 digs.
All of the Billikens will need to be aptly prepared for the
weekend, ready to get back to their winning ways and bounce back
from their sixth conference loss of the season, which they suffered
last Saturday afternoon up in Milwaukee against a surging Marquette
team.
Marquette kept the Bills in check, never letting them get into
their game and forcing lower-than-normal hitting percentages in
their three games to one victory over the Billikens. The loss came
on the heels of SLU’s first conference win against DePaul, which
was a five-game marathon in which the Billikens rallied after
trailing two games to one. Aside from being their first conference
win of the season, it was also the first five-set match for the
Billikens.
The Billikens are back in action tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the
Bauman-Eberhardt Center, and then again Saturday, same time, same
place.
Home Sweet Home
Who: University of Cincinnati Bearcats
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Bauman-Eberhardt Center
