Saint Louis University’s volleyball team added its name to a record list for the second time this past weekend, becoming the 67th victim in Pennsylvania State University’s unprecedented NCAA-record unbeaten streak. The defeat marked the second year in a row that the Nittany Lions swept the Billikens.
The loss was the only blemish on an overall strong weekend for the Billikens. SLU took two out of three matches in the Active Ankle Challenge this past weekend at Chaifetz Arena.
The Bills beat the University of Alabama in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 sweep and Miami University (Ohio) 26-24, 25-12, 19-25, 26-24. Both teams participated in the NCAA Championship Tournament last season.
“To be honest, going into the weekend, I knew Penn State was going to be fun, but I was worried about Alabama and Miami, both two really good squads,” head coach Anne Kordes said. “So I was really happy with those wins; it was a great weekend for SLU volleyball.”
SLU faced off against Alabama on Aug. 28. In the first set, SLU quickly jumped ahead 3-0 and then halted a Crimson Tide comeback with a 7-0 run. The Billikens had set the pace for the entire match. Alabama never cut the lead under 10, and SLU posted a 25-13 win.
The second set would see much of the same. Kills by senior Sammi McCloud and sophomore Alyssa Deno fueled the Billikens. Senior Bridget Fonke and junior Megan Boken added several key blocks to take the second.
In the third set, neither team strung together more than two points until the Billikens went ahead 21-18. They sealed the victory on a Crimson Tide hitting error.
The Saturday morning match against Miami (Ohio) put heat on the Billikens and prepped them for the night ahead. Set one was close in the early going, as neither team could build more than a one-point lead. Miami twice took two-point advantages, but the Billikens squared the set each time. With the set tied 20-20, the Billikens scored three of the next four points, and a Boken kill pushed SLU to a 23-21 margin. But Miami lingered in the set until a serving ace by senior Whitney Behrens ended it at 26-24.
After a Lydia Blaha kill to open set two, McCloud served seven straight points for the Billikens. SLU drilled three straight kills, and after two Miami efforts, McCloud aced the RedHawks twice, as the Billikens built a 10-2 advantage. The lead was 12-6 when the Bills reeled off a 4-0 spurt. The Billikens posted a .350 hitting percentage and eased to a 25-12 win.
The Redhawks controlled set three and forced a set four. Neither team held an advantage in set four, but the Bills held steady and managed a late rally to end the match 26-24.
Saturday night, an on-campus record of 6,106 fans filled Chaifetz to cheer on the Bills in the title match of the tournament. The previous record of 2,152 was set last year when SLU took down No. 3 Stanford.
“It was amazing. I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to every person that was there, I know that could never happen, but I was so in awe of the support and how loud it was,” Kordes said. “I got chills thinking of it again. The students were incredible, I mean, incredible. What school spirit we had that night!”
Penn State, behind the hitting of Megan Hodge, took a 20-16 advantage in the first set, before McCloud pounded three consecutive kills and the Billikens surged to tie it at 22. The two ranked opponents would trade points until Hodge put the opening set away, 29-27, with her 10th and 11th kills. Boken led the Bills with seven kills in the first set.
“It might have been the most intense set we’ve played in a while,” senior Whitney Roth said. “We were down and we fought our way back into the game. That’s something we can look back on. We came back against a high-level team … and the atmosphere really changed the make-up of the game. You could tell the other team was getting rattled.
The second set saw Penn State grab another early lead, as the Billikens trailed by five points twice. However, kills by Fonke and Deno brought the Billikens back within two points. The Nittany Lions’ 7-2 eruption gave them the 2-0 set lead as they captured the set 25-18.
Some controversy arose in the second set. Penn State earned an 8-3 lead after a distracted Billiken team failed to return the serve at 7-3. A towel girl wandered onto the SLU side of the court as Penn State served, causing some confusion on the Billikens’ end. Kordes lobbied for a redo, but much to the crowd’s dismay, was denied by the official.
The Nittany Lions would take the tournament by winning the third set 25-14. Hodge led all players in the final match with 17 kills and hit .424, but it was her teammate Alisha Glass that was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Roth and McCloud joined four Nittany Lions to comprise the All-Tournament team.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Billikens as they head to Honolulu this weekend for the Hawaiian Airlines Classic. There, the Bills face three teams ranked in the top 10 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
