Sept. 4, 2010

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis' Hannah Kvitle came within four kills of her first triple-double in the Billikens' 25-23, 29-27, 18-25, 25-8 win over Wake Forest in the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge on Saturday morning at Chaifetz Arena. The Bills improved to 2-3, while the Demon Deacons fall to 3-2.

Kvitle finished with 47 assists, 10 digs, six kills and two blocks. Alyssa Deno paced the offense with a match-best 16 kills to go with eight digs and four service aces. Megan Boken added 13 kills, 10 digs and three blocks, while Grace Bonoma turned in a match-high 18 digs. Andrea Beaty contributed nine kills, while Carly Marcum tallied eight kills.

After the Demon Deacons scored the opening point of the first set, the Billikens scored six consecutive points to go up 6-1. Carly Schumacher's solo block tied the set at 1-1 before she and Boken combined for another block to give SLU its first lead of the set. The Bills were up 8-3 when WFU stormed back to pull within one at 8-7. A kill from Kvitle briefly pushed the margin back out to two. But Wake Forest posted three consecutive points to regain the 10-9 edge. Six ties followed before the Demon Deacons went up 17-15 on a double block and a Carlin Salmon kill. Marcum and Kvitle teamed for a block and Deno terminated to draw Saint Louis even at 17-17. The squads endured six more ties before SLU scored the final two points on a Marcum kill and an ace by Boken. The Bills hit .222 in set one while limiting the Demon Deacons to a .154 clip.

Set two started with three ties before a kill from Beaty and a Bonoma ace put the Bills up 5-3. SLU maintained a slight lead until a serving error led to four straight Demon Deacon points, which gave them the lead at 9-7. A kill by Deno ended the run and ignited a 5-0 Billiken spurt. Deno had two kills during the run, while Beaty and Schumacher each terminated once to make it 12-9. Wake Forest was able to even things up at 13-13 on back-to-back SLU hitting errors. After a 15-15 deadlock, Boken recorded back-to-back kills and a WFU mistake allowed Saint Louis to regain the 18-15 lead. The Bills' lead slipped to one three times before the Demon Deacons were able to tie things up at 20-20 on a double block. After a 21-21 tie, WFU went up by two on a Billiken hitting error and a Kristen White kill. Kvitle terminated but another SLU hitting error gave Wake Forest its first shot at set point. However, Deno put down a kill and then served an ace to knot the score at 24-24. SLU fought off another set point before a Beaty kill and a solo block by Boken gave SLU the 26-25 edge. The teams tied at 26-26 and 27-27 before SLU completed the match with a win on Boken's set-best seventh kill and a Demon Deacon hitting error. SLU posted a .340 hitting percentage, while Wake Forest hit at a .256 clip.

The Billikens trailed from the start of the third set and never were able to seize the lead. Wake Forest was up 8-4 when a Marcum kill sparked a 4-0 spurt. Beaty served a pair of aces and Kvitle posted a kill to knot the score at 8-8. But the Demon Deacons scored the next two points to push the lead back out to 10-8. The clubs swapped points before consecutive terminations from Deno and Schumacher made it 11-11. WFU answered with a 5-0 charge to take the lead for good. SLU only got as close as four points the rest of the way as the Demon Deacons hit .333 while holding the Bills to a .175 hitting percentage.

Saint Louis took control early in set four, scoring the first three points on kills by Boken and Deno and a Kvitle service ace. A serving error briefly interrupted the rally, which continued when Deno and Beaty powered a 5-0 run to extend the Billikens' margin to 8-1. Wake Forest, which had received its first two points of the set on SLU serving errors, recorded its first true point when Salmon notched a kill. She added a solo block to pull the Demon Deacons to within 9-4. Then Andrea Bolt stepped to the service line and the Bills scored 12 unanswered points, including four aces from Bolt, to hurry out to a 21-4 lead. WFU put the next three points on the board before the teams traded errors to make it 22-8. Kvitle terminated and the match ended with two of Wake Forest's seven hitting errors in set four. The Bills hit .320 with nine kills and just one error, while the Demon Deacons had just four kills.

Saint Louis Billikens Women's Volleyball

• VB: Billiken Invitational