Nov. 23, 2008

Championship Match | Photo Gallery

ST. LOUIS- Top-seed Saint Louis claimed the championship of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Championship on Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. The No. 21 Billikens won their second A-10 title in three seasons by scores of 25-15, 27-25, 25-19. The Billikens won their 18th straight match and improve to 26-4, while Dayton is now 21-11. SLU is the first team to win both of its matches en route to the title since Dayton accomplished the feat in 2003.

The Billikens held a narrow 6-5 lead before running off four straight points in the opening set. A Bridget Fonke kill ignited the run, and after two SLU kills, a UD hitting error pushed the Billiken advantage to 10-5. A kill by Megan Boken pushed the SLU lead to 13-7 and forced a Flyer timeout. Tiffany Gaerke kept the Flyers in the set with two kills, but the Billikens stretched a 16-10 lead to 19-10. The Billikens pushed out to a 20-11 lead and held off the Flyers on a Lauren Christman kill for the 25-15 victory. The Billikens hit .436 in the first set, while the Flyers were at .229.

The Billikens scored the first point of set two on a block, but the Flyers took advantage of SLU errors and put down a block to tally three straight points for their first lead of the day 3-1. Sally Warning had a SLU kill, but Bethany Akerhielm answered with a kill for UD. Two more errors by the Billikens built the Flyers advantage to 7-4. The Billikens closed to 8-6, but Nicole Bateman accounted for three straight UD points. She drilled down two straight kills then followed with a solo block as the Flyers surged to an 11-6 lead. A SLU hitting error created a 12-6 Dayton lead before a UD service error finally ended the 4-0 run. Fonke answered with three kills in a 4-0 SLU run as the Billikens cut the gap to 12-11. Bateman notched a kill for the Flyers to end the SLU run. The Billikens finally forged a tie at 13-13.

Neither team could score two consecutive points as the score was tied eight straight times until the Billikens tallied two unanswered. Sammi McCloud had a kill, and she teamed with Christman on a block for a 23-21 lead. The squads traded points, and the Billikens got to set point at 24-22. Fletemier pounded down two straight kills to tie the set at 24-24. A UD service error handed the Billikens a 25-24 lead, but Gaerke hammered down a kill to save the set point. A Christman kill gave the Billikens their third set point, and Fonke's crosscourt shot was good for a 27-25 SLU victory. Both teams were outstanding as the Billikens narrowly edged the Flyers .341 to .316 in hitting percentage.

Set three saw the Billikens leading 6-5 early and tallied two in a row for an 8-5 margin. Bateman registered two kills in a row for UD as the Flyers closed to 9-7. The SLU edge was 10-8 before three straight kills handed the Billikens a 13-8 cushion. After a UD timeout, the Billikens tacked on a kill and a UD error gave SLU a 15-8 lead. Fletemier notched a kill and a Bateman ace drew the Flyers to 15-10. The Billikens were credited with two blocks during a short 4-1 run as they stretched the advantage to 19-11. Becky Novacek terminated for UD to end the Billiken run at 19-12. The Billikens still led 22-16 before the Flyers made a late charge. Gaerke and Fletemier accounted for three kills as the Flyers closed to 24-19. At match point, Christman tipped in a shot off a UD defender to end the match 25-19.

Fonke and McCloud tied for match high honors with 16 kills apiece for the Billikens. McCloud finished with a .500 hitting percentage, while Fonke hit at a .351 clip. Whitney Behrens finished with 18 digs, and Boken had 10 digs to go along with seven kills. Whitney Roth handed out 41 assists to direct the SLU offense. Gaerke topped Dayton with 13 kills, while Bateman added nine kills and eight digs. Novacek had seven kills on only nine swings for a sparkling .779 hitting percentage.

2008 Atlantic 10 Championship All-Tournament Team

Bethany Akerhielm - Dayton

Whitney Behrens - Saint Louis

Lindsay Fletemier - Dayton

Bridget Fonke - Saint Louis

Tiffany Gaerke - Dayton

Sammi McCloud - Saint Louis

Whitney Roth - Saint Louis

Most Outstanding Player - Bridget Fonke, Saint Louis