Nov. 19, 2006

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DAYTON, Ohio - Senior Angela Powers finished with a career-high 24 kills and three blocks as Saint Louis beat Dayton, 3-1 (31-29, 25-30, 30-27, 30-27) in the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship Match on Sunday at Frericks Center.

The win clinches the first-ever berth for the Billikens (22-8) to the NCAA Tournament and ends a stretch of three-straight A-10 Championships by the Flyers (22-9). SLU will learn its first round site and opponent next Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

"This championship is a testament to the hard work and dedication the team put in all year long," A-10 Coach of the Year Anne Kordes said. "The leadership by our seniors has been tremendous and the effort by the team was remarkable. To beat a great team like Dayton twice in their gym is a remarkable achievement.

Powers hit .306 on the afternoon to lead Saint Louis to a .285 to .216 advantage in hitting percentage overall. The margin was bolstered by a front line that recorded 8.5 blocks.

Sammi McCloud was named the Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship with five blocks, 11 digs and nine kills on Sunday. She was joined on the All-Championship Team by fellow Billikens Whitney Roth and Whitney Behrens; Faye Barhorst and Robynne Green of Dayton; and Jenni Horvath of Xavier.

Tatayana Menshikova and Sutton Lasater added 18 and 13 kills respectively while Lauren Christman finished with eight kills and eight blocks for the Billikens.

Behrens was one of four Saint Louis players to record double-figures in digs with 18. She was followed by Roth with 13 digs and 58 assists, Sarah Enterzeroth with 15 and the 11 by McCloud.

A-10 Player of the Year Faye Barhorst hit .475 with 22 kills and six blocks to lead a group of four Flyers with at least 10 kills. Nicole Bateman finished with 14 kills and 12 digs while Jamie-Lee Richards had 13 and Robynne Green added 12.

Junior libero Adrienne Green led all players with 22 digs and A-10 Setter of the Year Erin Schroeder dished out 60 assists, but it was not enough as the Flyers were attempting to become just the second team in the 25-year history of Atlantic 10 volleyball to win four consecutive conference championships.

The Billikens out hit the Flyers .229 to .170 to take the opening game, 31-29. Angela Powers carried SLU on a 4-0 run to overcome a 27-29 deficit to take the victory. Powers finished with eight kills to lead all players in the first game. Faye Barhorst had seven kills on just 10 swings with no errors to go along with two blocks for the Flyers in a first game that featured 13 tied scores and five lead changes.

Dayton rebounded to hit just one attack error to record a .469 hitting percentage in a 30-25 game two win. Jamie-Lee Richards tallied five kills while Barhorst added three kills on four attempts with no errors. Powers continued her strong play with five kills of her own but it was not enough to overcome five Billiken service errors in the second game. UD fought off 10 tied scores in the second game to even the match at 1-1.

Saint Louis took game three by forcing Dayton into 11 attack errors and holding the Flyers to a .109 hitting percentage in a 30-27 victory. Menshikova led all players with 10 kills in the third game while Powers tallied four kills for the Billikens. Nicole Bateman and Faye Barhorst finished with five kills each for Dayton, but it was not enough to overcome a 3.5-2.0 deficit in blocks. Both teams had their opportunities early with six tied scores and three lead changes in the third game before Saint Louis went ahead two games to one.

Saint Louis continued their solid offensive play in game four with a .314 team hitting percentage. Powers and Barhorst tallied seven more kills each for SLU and UD respectively, but four kills on 10 swings from McCloud proved to be the difference in a final game that featured 11 tied scores and two lead changes. The Billkens eventually clinched their first conference championship with a kill by McCloud off a feed by Lasater to take the match 3-1.