The women’s volleyball team concluded their season last week, falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the 14th-seeded Purdue Boilermakers, 30-21, 30-20 and 32-30.
The Billikens made the program’s first appearance after tearing through the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, beating Fordham, Temple and Dayton, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue came out strong in the first game, silencing the Bills in the early going. After jumping out 6-0, sophomore Lauren Christman finally put the Billikens on the board with a powerful kill. The squad managed to hang in there, scrapping for every point. Following kills by junior Sutton Lasater and senior Tatyana Menshikova, the Billikens found themselves trailing only 11-7.
Purdue refused to let them back in the game however, as the Boilermakers capitalized on a string of hitting errors to stretch their own lead to 18-9.
While freshmen Sarah Entzeroth and Sammi McCloud picked up their games near the end, the Billikens never quite recovered from being down early. A hitting error by senior Jessica Poorbaugh on game point gave game one to the Boilermakers, 30-21.
Game two was tight from the beginning as both teams fought hard for the lead. At 10-5, a kill by Angela Powers, coupled with a block by Menshikova and Lasater, helped pull the Billikens within three points of the lead at 10-7. Purdue maintained a slight edge in the game before really pulling away.
Leading by three at 13-10, the Boilermakers claimed five of the next six points to take an 18-11 advantage. Purdue used another run, this time rattling off five straight points, to put the game out of reach at 26-14. While the Billikens continued to fight, the deficit was just too much to overcome.
Purdue had taken game two, 30-20.
The Billikens finally got the start they were looking for in game three. A decisive kill by Menshikova ignited a competitive beginning to a crucial game three for the Billikens.
Trailing 4-2, SLU went on a three-point run as McCloud recorded a kill, then teamed up with Christman for a block and watched a Powers kill put the Billikens in the lead at 5-4.
With the game tied 6-6, a Boilermaker hitting error helped start another mini-run from the Billikens. Following a kill by Lasater, sandwiched between two McCloud aces, the Billikens lead 10-6. Moments later, freshman Whitney Behrens followed a Purdue error with an ace of her own to stretch the lead to 13-8.
Purdue came back strong, however, taking eight of the next 12 points to cut the Billiken lead to only one at 17-16. Menshikova caught fire again, leading a tear that saw SLU regain a favorable 20-16 lead. The back-and-forth match continued as the Boilermakers stormed back in dramatic fashion to tie the game at 21-21.
A kill by Menshikova soon broke the tie and gave the Billikens a brief 22-21 lead. With a 25-24 lead, McCloud’s serve just grazed the net and ended up dropping in for an ace. The lead was now 26-24. Quickly, however, the Billikens lost all the wind in their sails as Purdue charged back, stealing the next five points to take a stranglehold on the match, 29-26.
After a Purdue error made it 29-27, Lasater found an opening in Purdue’s defense and finessed a ball to pull the Billikens within one at 29-28.
Lasater teamed with Menshikova for a huge block that extended both the game and the Billikens’ hopes. After both teams exchanged points, however, an ace by Purdue put the contest at match point.
Menshikova’s shot carried just long on the next play and Purdue had taken the match, ending arguably the best year in the history of the women’s volleyball program.
Among the leaders for the Billikens were McCloud, Lasater and Powers. Each player recorded nine kills. Lasater also registered a team-high five blocks, while McCloud managed 15 kills. Behrens doled out 34 assists in the losing effort.
The Billikens end their season at 22-9.
