Saint Louis University Women’s Volleyball finished the season 21-10, their best record since 2009, after losing to George Washington University in the A-10 Championship semifinals. Saint Louis entered as the No. 3 seed in the tournament, winning a four-way tiebreaker to earn that seed, and beat No. 6 Duquesne in the quarterfinals.
Saint Louis started strong and never looked back against defending conference champions Duquesne, blitzing the Dukes with a 25-12 opening set, and winning the match 3-1. Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Rygelski posted eight kills in the set, and Saint Louis boasted a .385 hitting percentage while holding Duquesne to a .026 hitting percentage. In addition, freshman libero MacKenzie Long posted eight digs, while junior setter Meredith Boe tallied 11 assists during the first set.
Despite a strong start in the second set, Saint Louis fell to Duquesne 25-21, to enter the break tied at one set apiece. However, after the break, Saint Louis won a tight third set, 26-24, with two aces and six kills from Rygelski. Rygelski continued her red-hot streak with six kills in the fourth and final set to help the Billikens to a 25-15 win.
Rygelski posted an astounding 24 kills, including four aces, in the match against Duquesne, the second-most in SLU’s history for a four-set match. In addition, Rygelski posted 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, while Boe recorded a double-double with 10 digs and 42 assists. Long and freshman outside hitter Nenye Okoro also posted double-digit digs, with 17 and 10 digs, respectively.
Against No. 2 seed George Washington, which earned a bye for the quarterfinals, SLU started off similarly strong, and in the first set, held the lead for most of the set. However, a late seven-point run helped George Washington to a 25-23 victory which proved a momentum changer for the match. George Washington went on to take the next two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-22, despite strong showings from middle blockers Lauren Leverenz and Taylor Paulson. Leverenz, in the second set, posted six kills on seven attacks for a .857 attack percentage, and Paulson recorded six kills in the second set and four kills in the third set.
The match against George Washington marked the second match all season in which SLU was swept 3-0, and the result occurred despite SLU defeating George Washington in Washington, D.C., 3-1 on Oct. 10. Despite the loss, Rygelski won All-Tournament accolades for leading SLU with 4.71 kills per set and four total aces. Rygelski was also second on the team with 21 digs, for an average of three digs per set.
George Washington went on to play against conference No. 1 seed Dayton in the A-10 Championship final, and lost 3-1. With the win, Dayton will advance to the NCAA national tournament, which will take place this month.
Saint Louis Volleyball, however, has a bright future as one of the younger teams in the conference. None of the major contributors this season will be graduating, and the starting lineup for the conference tournament featured numerous freshmen and sophomores, only one junior and no seniors. Saint Louis also showed its potential earlier in the season, with a 3-2 win over Purdue, which at the time was ranked 11th in the nation.
The future of SLU volleyball will involve several award-winning Billikens. Okoro was named the 2014 A-10 Rookie of the Year, carrying on the torch from Rygelski, 2013’s A-10 Rookie of the Year. These awards mark the first time since the 1998 and 1999 seasons that one team has collected consecutive Rookie of the Year awards. Both players, along with junior middle blocker Megan Gilbert, were named to the 2014 All-Conference second team. The All-Rookie team, in addition to including Okoro, also included middle blocker Leverenz.
