It’s like the old adage goes: Close, but no cigar.

Tuesday night, when the Saint Louis University volleyball team
hosted Illinois State, they definitely pushed the Redbirds to the
brink before succumbing in the fifth and deciding game of the
match.

If there were a column dedicated to moral victories, the Bills
might have put another notch down; however, this being a world of
tangible statistics, the only mark will go down in the loss column,
dropping the Bills back to earth after an impressive road trip up
the eastern seaboard this past weekend.

Games one and two were close until a little over the halfway
point when the Redbirds strung together streaks of five and six
points and pulled away.

But games three and four were a complete role reversal.

The Billikens started game three with a 6-2 run and game four
with a 7-0 run and never looked back.

Junior Aida Antanaviciute paced the Billikens with an astounding
32 kills and senior Alexis Cooley dominated the defensive net,
collecting a career-high nine blocks.

The Bills made a valiant run at the win in the fifth and
deciding game but ultimately fell short.

The match’s final point was a microcosm for the entire match as
the Billikens had the Redbirds on their heels and the ball drifted
off the court and next to the net only to have a Redbird player
dive and knock it back into play, when it was sent back to the
unexpecting Billikens. They played the ball back over the net but
it was immediately killed and the match came to a close.

Interestingly enough, the Billikens took the 10-2 Redbirds to
the brink without one substitution. As has been the case since
before the season started, the Billikens have felt the hard bite of
the injury bug.

The problem has been compounded with the intense pre-conference
schedule that coach Anne Kordes has put together for the squad;
but, in a testament to their will and abilities, they have
successfully taken all comers and weathered all injuries to fight
to a respectable .500 record.

The Billikens’ sudden surge back up to respectability is due in
no small part to their rampage up to Fairfield, Conn. to take part
in the Fairfield University Tournament, where they faced off
against Temple, Fairfield and New Hampshire and promptly dispatched
all of them.

First up was Temple, a future Atlantic-10 foe and no slouch in
terms of a volleyball program either.

However, playing once again shorthanded, without any subs, the
Billikens made short work of the Owls and wrapped up the match in
short order, 3-1.

Next up was host Fairfield, but in a bit of d�j�
vu, the Billikens again got in and got out with a 3-1 victory, only
this time they had a couple of subs.

Finally, the Billikens got to their third and final match
against New Hampshire with the tournament championship at
stake.

But there was no 3-1 victory in the cards for this match.

Instead, the Billikens simply refused to spot their northeastern
counterparts a game and swept them going away.

Friday evening starts off the conference season against a
familiar opponent, the Memphis Tigers.

The Billikens ended last season on a sour note against these
same Memphis Tigers and are in the mood for some redemption.

Hopefully they’ll have a little more depth when they face off
against the 15-4 Tigers’ squad when they travel down I-55 this
Friday to kick off this, their final Conference USA season.

Most recently, the Tigers swept the UNC-Greensboro tournament
and the Mississippi State tournament and show no signs of slowing
down.

From there, the Billikens will have a week off to rest up and,
hopefully, heal before kicking the C-USA season into overdrive.
There’s no substitute for a win streak.