Box Score

ST. LOUIS – Sophomore Ashley Ring recorded 18 kills while Katie Klages chipped in 33 digs, but Saint Louis responded with three players in double digit kills as the Billikens took a 3-1 win over the Purple Aces volleyball team in the opener of the Active Ankle Challenge.
 
Ring, who has notched at least nine kills in all eight matches this season, also had 14 digs.  Klages led all players with 33 digs.  Ring was the lone Ace with double-digit kills.  Rachel TenHoor finished the night with eight.  Leading the way for SLU was Carly Marcum, who tallied 17.  Just behind her was Megan Gilbert with 13 and Lauren Baumet with 10.
 
It was the Billikens who got off to a quick start in the opening frame, scoring four of the first five points before the Aces fought back to take a 5-4 lead as Lauren Seyller recorded a pair of kills.  With the score knotted at 6-6, SLU scored notched six of the next eight tallies to jump out to a 12-8 advantage as three different players notched kills.  Evansville would get within two points later in the match (23-21) before a Carly Marcum kill wrapped up the opening set.
 
It was Evansville’s turn in the second set, but it was a back-and-forth effort early on as the game was tied on six occasions before UE was able to open up a 14-10 lead.  A pair of Billiken errors contributed to the run, which was finished off by a Seyller kill.
 
Behind three consecutive UE error, SLU fought back to the match up at 17, but a pair of Ring kills sent the Aces on a game-ending 8-3 run as TenHoor gave Evansville the winning point.
 
Set three saw the Aces tally the first three points before Saint Louis came back to make it a 4-4 game.  Up 10-9, SLU reeled off four of the next five points before cruising to a 25-17 win.  Four of SLU’s last five points came via errors by UE.
 
Using the momentum from the third set, the Billikens wrapped up the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth stanza.  With the score tied at 9-9, three SLU players recorded kills to lead their squad on a 5-0 run.  Evansville was unable to get much closer as the Billikens finished the night with a 25-19 win.
 
The Aces will look to finish up the tournament on a high note, taking on South Florida at 10 a.m. Saturday before squaring off against SEMO at 4:30 p.m.