After showing considerable progress last season, this year’s Saint Louis University volleyball team looks to take the program to another level. The team seemingly has all the pieces in place for its inaugural year in the Atlantic 10. Senior leadership, a returning All-American, talented freshmen contributing right away and a transfer who is already turning heads, will all be a part of this year’s squad, which looks to shake things up in the A-10.
However, in the team’s first action of the year, at the Missouri State Invitational, the team’s only real priority was getting comfortable with each other.
“The first tournament of the year is all about finding a groove. It’s always an adjustment going against other teams for the first time. The three teams we played all placed very high in their conferences last year. As long as you play your best, you can’t be displeased with the outcome,” said sophomore Sutton Lasater.
After last weekend, the team was more than successful, going 2-1 against resilient mid-majors and a national power.
The first match of the weekend pitted the Billikens against the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State. The game went well for SLU, until SEMO surged back to force a 22-22 tie. In danger of losing a game they once had control over, newcomer Tatyana Menshikova came up in the clutch with two kills to end the game, giving SLU the 31-29 decision.
The Redhawks then tied the match with a 30-27 victory in the next game.
The Billikens were in the driver’s seat in game three, as they raced out to a 22-12 lead, highlighted by a pair of Menshikova service aces. The team went on to win, 30-15.
The fourth and final game saw both teams going back and forth, as neither squad was ahead by more than three points for most of the game. Lasater played a key role down the stretch, as she notched a solo block to tie the game at 24 and scored two key points that kept SLU in command of the game. SLU eventually won the game off a SEMO blocking error, taking the game, 30-26, and the match, 3-1.
Menshikova had 11 digs in addition to her team-high 27 kills. This was her first action in the SLU lineup after coming from the Collegeof Southern Idaho where she was a second team JUCO All-American. Lasater added 14 kills and hit .400 over the four games. SLU’s returning All-American, Aida Antanaviciute, had 17 digs, adjusting to a new role as the team’s libero. The team recorded a whopping 17 service aces in the match.
“All through the SEMO match, we served very aggressively and busted our tail for every point; we did our best to make sure no ball hit the ground” said senior Erin McClanahan.
In the second match of the day, SLU took on Big 12 power Kansas State, ranked 26th in the nation. SLU looked overmatched at the onset having trouble blocking the Kansas State attack. The Bills dropped the first two games of the match.
In the third game, the team showed signs of life, as SLU battled valiantly before falling 30-21. Menshikova led the team again in kills with 12, while Erin McClanahan recorded 14 digs in the match.
When asked about Kansas State, McClanahan said, “I thought we played a little timidly at first, but as the match went on, we passed a lot better.
Kansas State is a great program. All of their players are over six feet, strike the ball well and hardly ever make a mental mistake. It’s the type of program Coach Anne [Kordes] wants to build here at SLU.”
“We may have been a little intimated at first, but when we realized we had nothing to lose we started to play a lot better,” Lasater added.
The next day, SLU played its final match of the weekend against the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans, who came into the match sporting a 1-1 record. SLU came out a bit flat as the Trojans took advantage with a 9-0 swing to take a lead they would never relinquish.
Having lost their last four games, SLU bounced back with a gritty performance in game two. They started off well, paced by an Antanaviciute service ace and a Lasater kill. Menshikova reeled off three kills in a row to push the lead to a seemingly comfortable eight-point margin.
But the Trojans mounted an impressive rally, eventually tying the game at 28-28. In danger of falling down 0-2 in the match, Menshikova hit a cross-court winner to take the lead. Lauren Boissevain then closed the door on the Trojan rally with a service ace to end the game.
“After we lost the first game of that match, we all pulled together and we basically told each person what we expected of them. We all agreed that we couldn’t let their runs surpass two or three points,” said McClanahan.
SLU started off hot in game three, jumping out to a 17-9 lead en route to a 30-20 win on another Boissevain ace.
Finally, Lasater orchestrated a key stretch in the fourth game as she recorded a kill, then blocked two Trojan chances, opening up a seven-point lead as the match wrapped up.
Menshikova had 20 kills and 14 digs, and was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts. Lasater registered her own double-double with 14 kills and a career-high 10 blocks. The team’s record now stands at 2-1 for the year.
“It was a good start for us. As the tournament went on the team jelled and people got a lot more comfortable playing with each other,” McClanhan said.
It seems as if the most critical component of the weekend wasn’t the wins or losses, but merely the experience.
“We got to play some pretty good competition this weekend. When you play a team like a Kansas State, it raises our game,” Lasater said.
Coach Kordes and her team will now head to California to participate in the Nike Invitational. The team will face Purdue, University of the Pacific, and Bradley in the two-day event.
The team kicks off its first season in the Atlantic 10 on September 23rd at Temple. A-10 coaches recently picked SLU to finish second in the A-10 West behind defending champion Dayton.
