Friday, November 3
Davidson, N.C.
7 p.m.
Davidson College
16-9,8-7Atlantic 10
3
vs
2
Saint Louis
13-14,6-9Atlantic 10
1
2
3
4
5
F
Saint Louis
18
21
25
26
16
2
Davidson
25
25
23
24
18
3
Wildcats Defeat Saint Louis in Five-Set Thriller
11/3/2023 9:59:00 PM | Volleyball
DAVIDSON - The Davidson volleyball team battled Saint Louis to its first five-set victory of the season in a home-court thriller Friday.
The win improves the Wildcats record to 16-9 overall and 8-7 in the Atlantic 10 while the Billikens move to 13-14 overall and 6-9 in league competition. The victory is just the fifth for the 'Cats over 19 contests against SLU.
Isabel Decker posted a double-double by way of a team-high 13 kills to go along with 22 digs. Joining Decker in the attack was Emma Slusser (12) and Jackie Bardin (11) each with double-digit kills.
The Wildcats' top facilitators on the night were Xuan Nguyen (30 assists) and Jessie Doyal with a double-double of her own courtesy of 23 assists and 14 digs. Bella Brady led the Wildcats on defense with 27 digs.
Kayla Davis and Sola Omonije proved to be a solid duo at the net, each with four block assists and nine kills.
Davidson jumped out to an early lead as it used a 9-1 opening run to cruise to an eventual 25-18 set-one victory. The 'Cats added an insurance set via a 25-21 win in the second to go up 2-0 over the Billikens.
With all signs pointing to the Wildcats, SLU turned on the heat, connecting on 17 of its 54 attempts over the third set, paired with three service aces, to snag a 25-23 win.
Saint Louis continued to swing the pendulum in its direction through the fourth set. SLU embarked on a 5-2 lead to open the set and take a lead it would not relinquish. The Billikens knotted the sets 2-2 after narrowly taking the fourth 26-24 and making six blocks throughout it.
Davidson fell behind 3-0 early in the final set before battling back to tie the score 5-5 on a Decker kill. The Wildcats earned their first lead of the fifth when Davis and Slusser combined for a clutch block, putting Davidson up 7-6.
However, Saint Louis stormed back with six unanswered points to retake its lead, this time at 12-7. The Wildcats responded with a slew of points of their own to trim the deficit to 13-10. A series that saw a SLU service error, a service ace by Nguyen, an attack error by the Billikens and a Bardin kill eventually evened the score to 13-13.
Back-and-forth action ensued as Saint Louis was met with three match-point opportunities, but the Wildcats battled with everything they had on the way to Doyal sealing the deal on an 18-16 service ace.
UP NEXT
Davidson will return to Belk Arena Saturday for the second part of its A-10 bout against Saint Louis at 4 p.m. on Senior Day.
The win improves the Wildcats record to 16-9 overall and 8-7 in the Atlantic 10 while the Billikens move to 13-14 overall and 6-9 in league competition. The victory is just the fifth for the 'Cats over 19 contests against SLU.
Isabel Decker posted a double-double by way of a team-high 13 kills to go along with 22 digs. Joining Decker in the attack was Emma Slusser (12) and Jackie Bardin (11) each with double-digit kills.
The Wildcats' top facilitators on the night were Xuan Nguyen (30 assists) and Jessie Doyal with a double-double of her own courtesy of 23 assists and 14 digs. Bella Brady led the Wildcats on defense with 27 digs.
Kayla Davis and Sola Omonije proved to be a solid duo at the net, each with four block assists and nine kills.
Davidson jumped out to an early lead as it used a 9-1 opening run to cruise to an eventual 25-18 set-one victory. The 'Cats added an insurance set via a 25-21 win in the second to go up 2-0 over the Billikens.
With all signs pointing to the Wildcats, SLU turned on the heat, connecting on 17 of its 54 attempts over the third set, paired with three service aces, to snag a 25-23 win.
Saint Louis continued to swing the pendulum in its direction through the fourth set. SLU embarked on a 5-2 lead to open the set and take a lead it would not relinquish. The Billikens knotted the sets 2-2 after narrowly taking the fourth 26-24 and making six blocks throughout it.
Davidson fell behind 3-0 early in the final set before battling back to tie the score 5-5 on a Decker kill. The Wildcats earned their first lead of the fifth when Davis and Slusser combined for a clutch block, putting Davidson up 7-6.
However, Saint Louis stormed back with six unanswered points to retake its lead, this time at 12-7. The Wildcats responded with a slew of points of their own to trim the deficit to 13-10. A series that saw a SLU service error, a service ace by Nguyen, an attack error by the Billikens and a Bardin kill eventually evened the score to 13-13.
Back-and-forth action ensued as Saint Louis was met with three match-point opportunities, but the Wildcats battled with everything they had on the way to Doyal sealing the deal on an 18-16 service ace.
UP NEXT
Davidson will return to Belk Arena Saturday for the second part of its A-10 bout against Saint Louis at 4 p.m. on Senior Day.
Team Stats
SLU
DC
Kills
65
66
Errors
28
28
Attempts
195
189
Hitting %
.190
.201
Points
84.0
82.0
Assists
62
58
Aces
4
5
Blocks
15
11
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOPP
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