Volleyball Head Coach Kent Miller, middleback Andrea Beaty and company were riding high and carrying a five-match winning streak heading into the Friday, Oct. 28 home tilt with the Fordham Rams.
The Billikens steamrolled through their previous five Atlantic 10 foes, winning by a combined score of 15-3 in those matches.
With Game 7 of the World Series unwinding a couple miles down the road at Busch Stadium, most fans in attendance expected a quick three-game dispatching of the lowly Rams and hoped to have plenty of time to soak in the final innings of an eventual Cardinals championship victory.
Fordham, entering with a 5-19 record on the season, made sure at least one St. Louis team went home with a loss that evening.
The Rams halted Saint Louis University’s bid to extend their streak to six games in a grueling, back-and-forth five-set affair.
“That was the toughest game we’ve dropped and possibly the toughest we’ve lost in my career,” Beaty said. “They deserved it. They were on their game and we weren’t.”
Senior Alyssa Deno led the Billikens’ attack and hammered home a match-high 21 kills. Beaty and junior Carly Marcum tacked on 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Marcum was responsible for 11 of SLU’s 17 blocks.
“We had lots of opportunities to make easy plays and we didn’t,” Miller said. “We looked good statistically, but we lost the match because we didn’t execute the kind of plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
Miller knew his team had to learn from their missed chances, but he made sure his squad did not dwell on the loss for too long.
After breaking down the tape of the loss on Saturday morning, the team erased the result from their memory and channeled their thoughts to their next opponent.
“We decided to re-focus,” Beaty said. “The Fordham game was over, and it was time to prepare for Temple.”
The team shipped out to Philadelphia, Pa. to face the Owls of Temple on Sunday, Oct. 30, focusing on the fundamentals of the game to avoid missing out on scoring chances like they did against the Rams.
Miller stressed the need to “continue to communicate well, be disciplined with our body position and defensive positioning, and really play together as a complete team.”
The Bills responded in dominating fashion, blanking the Owls and securing a 3-0 victory.
Beaty led the onslaught with 18 kills. Marcum chipped in seven blocks and was named A-10 Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts over the weekend.
With the loss to Fordham in the rearview mirror, the Billikens’ (12-9, 8-3 A-10) schedule appears to be a crescendo of Beethovenic proportions.
“We’re taking baby steps, building our way back up after that loss,” Beaty said. “Hopefully we can regain our confidence little by little leading up to the conference tournament.”
First, SLU takes the road this weekend against two middle-of-the-road conference opponents. On Friday, Nov. 4, they will square off against the George Washington Colonials (17-8, 6-5). Next up on Nov. 6, the Billikens hope to crash the Charlotte 49ers’ (10-13, 4-7) Senior Night festivities.
“They’re going to be fired up for who [they] have to play because of their place in the standings, and each of these final few matches are critically important for success in the post season,” Miller said.
They cannot help but look ahead to their final two conference matches against two powerhouse programs. The Xavier Musketeers and Dayton Flyers both will make appearances at Chaifetz to round out the Bills’ conference slate.
The Musketeers (16-9, 8-3) come to town Friday, Nov. 11. Xavier downed the Billikens 3-1 earlier this fall at their meeting in Cincinnati.
Dayton, the undisputed front-runner of the league, is the grand finale for the regular season.
The Billikens and the Flyers (19-5, 11-0) will take the floor for a matinee showdown on Sunday, Nov. 13.
The closing grind of the season has arrived, and the A-10 tournament is within sight for SLU.
“It’s definitely that time of the season when things happen or they don’t,” Beaty said. “Everyone has the same goal, the same goal we’ve had our eyes on all season, of winning the A-10 Championship.”
