The Saint Louis University volleyball team put their three-game win streak and their .500 record on the line last weekend when they made an Ohio road swing, but, the Billikens came home unable to improve on either.
The first stop on the Billiken road trip was in Cincinnati to square off against the Musketeers of Xavier University.
The Bills hung tough, but were unable to knock off the first-place Musketeers (14-7, 6-1 Atlantic 10).
SLU, led by Angela Powers and Lauren Christman, came out strong and took the first game.
Despite Xavier cutting the Billiken lead to three points and two points on separate occasions, the Bills were able to wrap up the game with a score of 30-23.
Aida Antanaviciute had two kills in the final five points to wrap up the game for SLU.
Antanaviciute went on to compile 18 kills and 18 digs in the match to earn a double-double.
Xavier came back from the first game with a sweep of the next three games to wrap up the match.
The Musketeers jumped out to an early lead in game two.
However, SLU managed to keep the game close, continually closing on the Xavier lead.
The Musketeers were finally able to put the game away by a score of 30-22.
Once again, the Musketeers jumped to an early lead in game three, but twice the Bills pulled within one point.
Xavier finally finished SLU off 30-26, fueled by a four-point run.
The Musketeers powered past the Bills to close out the match with a game four win.
Xavier opened an early lead and continued their prowess in the later stages of the game by opening up a double-digit lead.
The final score came out to 30-22 with the Musketeers taking the match 3-1.
SLU nearly pulled off an upset at defending champion Dayton, but let the Flyers claim the match after falling into a 0-2 hole.
Dayton (13-9, 6-1 A-10) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first game, but the rallying Bills kept it close until they could overcome a three-point deficit to take the lead and the game.
Tatyana Menshikova came up with three kills in the final 13 points to take game one.
Menshikova led all players with 21 kills in the match while Antanaviciute added 20.
Menshikova’s kill total represents her personal best in a match.
The Bills kept their momentum rolling through game two and grabbed an early 6-0 lead.
SLU never looked back in the game, finishing 30-22 with an apparent strangle-hold on the match.
Both teams led in game three before the Flyers pulled away, finishing 30-26.
SLU had an opportunity to put away the match in game four, but the Flyers were able to come out ahead and force a fifth game.
The Bills compiled a 24-19 lead after a 6-3 run.
Dayton, however, overcame the deficit with a run of seven consecutive points.
The Flyers closed out the game by a margin of 30-25.
Dayton jumped to a quick lead in game five and managed to hold the Bills’ attempted rallies to take the game 15-9 and the match 3-2.
The Flyers’ win came despite Antanaviciute’s second double-double of the weekend, posting 18 digs to complement her 20 kills.
The Bills (10-12, 3-4 A-10) return home this weekend for a three-game home set to close out the month.
First on tap is an A-10 match against the Fordham Rams (15-9, 3-4 A-10) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center.
The Bills close out the weekend with a match against the University of Rhode Island on Sunday at 1 p.m.
