Davidson Drops Two to Billikens

Saturday, February 20

Saint Louis, MO

1:00 PM

Davidson College

1-2. 0-1 A-10

Saint Louis

3-4, 2-1 A-10

Davidson

Saint Louis

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

2/20/2021 10:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 DavidsonPhotos.com

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. -- In their first matches back in nearly a month, the Davidson Wildcats kicked off Atlantic 10 play today, dropping two contests to the Saint Louis Billikens, 3-0 and 3-1.

MATCH ONE, L 3-0
Hattie Rodriguez paced the 'Cats in match one, recording 11 kills and finishing with a .300 attack percentage. Freshman Jessie Doyal set a new career-high for herself with 11 assists, only to top that feat in match two with 14.

The Billikens out-hit the Wildcats, 51 kills to 26, and finished the game with a .500 attack percentage as a team.

SLU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, after back-to-back kills, before the 'Cats bounced back with kills from Rodriguez and Madeline Wynn. After a 3-0 run for the Billikens, to take a 6-2 lead, Davidson would exchange the next nine points back and forth with the home team. With a kill from Rodriguez, off a Sydney Champaigne assist, the 'Cats trailed 13-9, but SLU responded with a five-point tear to pull away to a nine-point lead and ultimately secure the first set win, 25-14.

Saint Louis had established an early 10-3 lead in set two, before forcing Davidson into a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Wildcats had regrouped and Doyal connected with Julia Black on the right side for a kill that got Davidson back on the scoreboard. Doyal and Champaigne would find Davidson's attackers three more times in the set, but several Wildcat miscues allowed SLU to take the second, 25-12.

In the final set of the match, Davidson struck first thanks to a missile from Rodriguez off a Doyal set. However, the Billikens would eventually rattle off several four-point runs and come away with the 25-16 set and 3-0 match victory.

MATCH TWO, L 3-1
Davidson struggled to find its rhythm in match two, as the Wildcats hit .128 across sets one, two and four. However, the 'Cats hit .367 in set three, their second-best attacking performance this year, to pick up a 25-18 third set win.

Despite the loss, Annalyse Kitzberger had a season-high 12 kills while freshman Sola Omonije set a new career-high with eight kills out of the middle. Fellow rookie Sophia Hritz made a statement from the back row, recording a career-high 17 digs, and picked up the second-most digs in the match. The Wildcats out blocked the Billikens 9-8 in match two, as Wynn had a game-high five block assists.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will conclude the three-game weekend series with Saint Louis tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. EST, with complete coverage available on ESPN+ and at davidsonwildcats.com/coverage.