Billikens power past Redhawks

It's not often one of the nation's top 30 volleyball teams comes to Cape Girardeau.

Saint Louis University showed why it is regarded that highly.

Displaying an impressive all-around game, the Billikens rolled past Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday night.

SLU notched its eighth straight win with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 decision at Houck Field House.

The Bills, ranked 27th by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, improved to 16-4. They are unbeaten in Atlantic 10 Conference play at 6-0.

"We came in prepared," SLU coach Anne Kordes said. "I was excited with the way we played."

Kordes said the Bills were determined not to take Southeast (7-8) lightly.

Southeast's Emily Hughes, center, attempts a kill against Saint Louis blockers Casey Chernin, from left, Sally Warning and Sammi McCloud during game two Wednesday.

"Any time you play anybody in state, it's a dangerous match," she said. "We were excited. We wanted to come up and have a good match."

SLU has its highest volleyball ranking in program history, but Kordes said the Bills are trying to keep things in perspective.

"It's exciting, but we can't get caught up in it," she said.

Southeast coach Renata Nowacki came away impressed by SLU, but she was disappointed the Redhawks didn't push the Bills more.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.com Southeast's Molly Davis, right, celebrates after Southeast scored a point against Saint Louis during Wednesday's match at Houck Field House.

"They were good and we weren't tonight," Nowacki said. "It was great to have a team like that come in here. ... I wish we could have produced better on our side."

Nowacki said she could tell the Bills took the match seriously by the way they played.

"They were disciplined and they battled," she said. "I don't think it mattered whether we were [ranked] No. 1 or No. 100."

The Redhawks held only a few brief leads all night, including 3-0 in the first game and 5-2 in the third game.

But SLU's size up front eventually took its toll.

Five players listed as 6 foot 1 or taller saw action for the Bills. Nobody taller than 5-11 played for the Redhawks.

Bridget Fonke, a 6-1 junior, led SLU with a match-high 13 kills. She also paced the Bills in digs with 13.

Sophomore Claire Keaton led the Redhawks with 10 kills. Junior Molly Davis recorded a match-high 15 digs.

SLU had an attack percentage of .288, while Southeast hit .092.

"They're a very good team," Nowacki said.

While Nowacki wished the Redhawks would have performed better, she knows their Ohio Valley Conference matches are the most important.

Southeast is a fourth-place 5-3 in the 10-team OVC heading into a pair of road contests this weekend, Friday at fifth-place Murray State and Saturday at seventh-place Tennessee-Martin.

"We're not going to see a SLU this weekend, but we're still going to see two good teams fighting to get into the OVC tournament," Nowacki said.

Southeast played Wednesday without junior Karleigh DeLong, a first-team all-OVC performer last season who missed the match with an injury.

Nowacki said she is not certain if DeLong will be available this weekend.