Saint Louis University volleyball is on a roll. Last weekend, the Billikens blanked Fordham University and the University of Rhode Island to start off the Atlantic 10 Conference season 2-0. The Bills (9-5) have won five straight matches and have not dropped a set during the streak.
Against Rhode Island, the No. 21 Billikens came out swinging, hitting at an astounding .722 rate in the opening set and rolled on from there, claiming a 25-9, 25-17, 25-19.
Senior Sammi McCloud paced the SLU offense with 16 kills while hitting at a .625 clip. Bridget Fonke, also a senior, added 12 kills and seven digs, and junior Megan Boken recorded nine kills and six digs. Senior Whitney Behrens bolstered the Bills’ back row with a match-high of 11 digs, while fellow senior Whitney Roth dished out 38 assists and tallied five digs.
More of the same would follow versus the Fordham Rams. Behrens got the three digs she needed to break the program’s digs record and the Bills were solid offensively to claim a 25-14, 25-15, 25-23 victory.
Behrens tallied eight digs, while Boken led SLU with a .556 hitting percentage, along with tying for a match-high of 11 kills and five digs. McCloud narrowly missed a double-double with 11 kills on .450 hitting, nine digs, four blocks and two service aces.
After a dominating weekend, McCloud was named Sept. 28 to her first A-10 Offensive Player of the Week nod of the season. McCloud needs only 10 digs to become the fifth player in program history to surpass 1,000 kills and digs in her career.
Head coach Anne Kordes will have to keep her team sharp in the weeks ahead. Though they are playing at full-throttle, Kordes is mindful that success could result in relaxed play on the court.
“We train hard and keep the mindset that every single game will affect us at the end of the season, so we have to win,” Kordes said.
“We feel as though every match is a must-win situation. If we let up and drop a match now, we get in the way of our end-of-the-year goal, which is advancing deep into the NCAA tourney. You won’t get a good seed with a bad loss, so that is our focus.”
On Oct. 1, the Billikens host Duquesne at the Chaifetz Pavilion. It is the Bills’ first match at home since defeating UC Davis to finish the Billiken Invitational. The Dukes have limited opponents to a league-low .173 hitting percentage and are riding a four-match winning streak.
SLU, which has won its last four matches against the Dukes, now leads the series 6-2.
