The Saint Louis University volleyball team picked up a
dominating asset with the addition of sophomore setter Erin
McClanahan. McClanahan transferred from Texas A&M Corpus Cristi
last semester.

What brought her here? “Academics,” McClanahan said. “I want to
go to law school, and the academics at Saint Louis are much better.
Also, I’m familiar with the program here and the institution.”
McClanahan, who is from St. Louis and graduated from Cor Jesu, said
“Texas was independent; here, we play in a strong conference.”

At Texas A&M, McClanahan was the team’s floor captain, and
was also voted team captain as a freshman.

She set school single-season assist and service aces records
with 1,202 assists and 57 aces. McClanahan also led the team with
300 digs on her way to being named as an All-Southern Independent
player and the Freshman of the Year.

McClanahan has had some difficulties adjusting to a new team,
but she is on track now.

“It was a little hard changing teams, but I have friends here
that have helped. I came in a semester late, so it’s been tough.
Once I establish myself as a solid player, things will be better,”
McClanahan said.

As the season is unfolding, McClanahan is working toward being
that solid player. She is a setter and the team’s floor
captain.

“I got to have a triple-double on TV last week,” McClanahan
said. “I don’t want to judge myself as an individual on this team,
though. We need to play better.”

Last weekend, the Bills (7-11, 0-1 C-USA) dropped a match
against Conference USA opponent Memphis, 3-0, in both teams’
conference openers.

Despite having a lead in the first two games of the match,
Memphis was able to sweep the Bills.

SLU will head to Texas on Friday to start a two game trip
against CUSA opponents Houston (4-12, 0-2 C-USA) and TCU (14-6, 0-2
C-USA).

“Both are like us, up and down teams. Houston lost some key
players. If we play well and evenly, we should be able to win,”
McClanahan said. “TCU is a pretty strong team, with a really good
transfer.”

“If we play more consistent, we will gain more confidence in
ourselves. We had a really good win against Washington State, who
is a strong Pac-10 team. We’re inexperienced as a team. I may have
to play defense, as we need to work on our passing,” McClanahan
said.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Bills feel that
they have a good chance to climb upwards in CUSA.

“We have 13 more conference games. Cincinnati and Louisville are
the top two teams in our conference. If we play consistently, we
should be able to finish third,” McClanahan said.

The Billikens have a long way to go to realize those hopes of a
conference tournament first round bye and having a solid shot at
taking it to the next level and advancing on to the NCAA tournament
but with McClanahan leading the way, they are one step closer.