More firsts have come to pass for the Saint Louis University Billikens. The Billikens (20-6, 12-1) picked up their seventh straight victory Tuesday night and have now won at least 20 matches for the fourth straight season. It is only the second time in program history that SLU has won 20 matches in four consecutive campaigns. The last stretch of 20-win seasons was from 1987-90.
In related firsts, senior Whitney Behrens was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District First, and is the only Atlantic 10 Conference player that will advance to the Academic All-America volleyball ballot. It would be her first All-American award of her career.
The No. 20 Billikens racked up impressive wins last weekend against A-10 foe Xavier (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) and, in a rare mid-season non-conference match, against Creighton (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) on Tuesday. Prior to the Xavier outing, SLU honored five seniors who have guided this program to not-seen-before heights.
“[The seniors] are awesome; they’re really a special group,” said head coach Anne Kordes. “You can’t put a price on their mentality, their maturity, the way they play. I never get nervous with these seniors because I know they’ll come through for us.”
Over the past week, Bridget Fonke has been on fire. She led all players with 11 kills and four service aces, and added eight digs against Xavier. Whitney Roth dished out 34 assists and tallied seven digs, while Alyssa Deno registered nine kills and two blocks. Casey Chernin collected seven kills, and Megan Boken posted a team-high nine digs to go with four kills and two aces.
SLU dominated Xavier in the first set behind Fonke. The Billikens hit .424 in the set compared to the Musketeer’s meager .143. Xavier raced out to a 4-1 advantage in the second set before the teams endured five more ties; a Sammi McCloud service ace and another Musketeer mistake put Saint Louis ahead for good at 18-16. The Musketeers scored the initial point of the final set but that would be the only lead they would hold in set three. Saint Louis got kills from six different players to complete the set, while Xavier was unable to score back-to-back points the rest of the way.
“It’s a big win for our team and for getting to the A-10 tournament,” Kordes said. We still have a few more conference matches, but I’m excited. I feel much better after this win.”
Fonke didn’t let up against Creighton on Tuesday. She hit .484 with a match-high 17 kills and collected six digs and two services aces. The two aces move her into a tie for second place on the Billikens’ career service aces chart with 146. The Billikens trailed by no more than a single point in the opening set as they rolled to a 25-17 victory. Just like in set one, SLU managed to pick up the set two victory fairly easily, as it never trailed by more than a point with Creighton’s last lead being at 3-2.
Saint Louis put the first five points on the board in the third set. The Bluejays gradually made their way back, despite only being able to collect back-to-back points on three occasions. Each time CU scored consecutive points, it narrowed the gap to three points, the final time being at 11-8. SLU’s points came in a variety of ways, as it scored eight of the next 11 points to claim its largest lead at 19-11. After three attempts, SLU sealed the win on a Deno kill.
The Billikens, who are now in sole possession of the A-10 Conference lead, have their last two regular season matches this weekend against Rhode Island and Temple. SLU swept both at their last meeting. The Rhode Island game starts Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Chaifetz Pavilion.