With Illinois State clinging to a 14-12 lead in game five, Savannah Knowles chased an errant pass outside the net pole to Saint Louis side and played the ball behind her to teammate Emily Kabbes who cut a two-hand shot just to the right of the antenna and to the Billiken side. A surprised SLU team sent the ball back to Illinois State where Knowles 20th kill of the match gave the Birds a 30-25, 30-24, 25-30, 23-30, 15-12 win over Saint Louis Tuesday at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center.
Aida Antanaviciutes 32 kills helped Saint Louis roar back from an 0-2 start to send the match to game five, but the nations No. 2 player in kills couldnt carry her team all the way back. Redbird coach Sharon Dingman, whbose team is 10-2 and has won seven matches in a row, was relieved at the end of the 2-hour, 12-minute marathon.
I am relieved. We can play for a month and not make as many errors as we did tonight, said Dingman. You have to love the new pursuit rule. It stunned Saint Louis. But we got some big serves from Jessie Janik in game five as well.
Janik, who hadnt served since early in the season, served five of Illinois States 15 points in game five, incuding two to bring the Birds back from a 3-0 deficit. Janik had a good view of the game-winning point and was proud of her teammate.
We say were a ball-pursuit team, said Janik. Savannah went after it and Emily did what she had to do. Those are the kinds of plays that can change a game.
Saint Louis, 8-8, saw its four-match winning streak capped despite a furious comeback. Knowles, with 20 kills, and Kabbes, with a career-high 12 block assists, led the Birds. Kabbes became just the eight player in Redbird history to reach 250 career block assists and the junior still has more than a full season remaining.
Kabbes had 16 kills, Kari Staehlin had 15 and Laura Doornbos added 11 for the birds who out-hit Saint Louis .243 to .164 for the match. Paige Whites 18 digs led all players. Kelly Rikli matched her career high with 8 kills.
Staehlins four kills and three blocks helped the Birds build a 22-11 lead in game one before SLU battled back to within 24-20. Finally, a Kabbes dig set-up Ashley Grubb for the game-winning kill. ISU had 19 kills in game one and out-hit the Bills .350-.200. Saint Louis improved defensively in game two and battled back to within 23-22 before Knowles dug a ball from in front of the stands, then recovered to get the kill. That was the first of five straight Redbird points and led to a six-point win.
ISUs passing got sluggish in game three and the Bills started putting up a better block. The Redbirds scored back-to-back points just once before SLU built a 20-13 lead on the way toa five-point win. Saint Louis led 7-1 in game three, but ISU rallied to tie at 21-21 on a Kabbes kill before the Bills hit the Birds with seven unanswered points to force game five. SLU opened 3-0 before ISU got going, eventually taking the lead for good 7-6.
The Redbirds return home to play a conference match with Indiana State at 7 p.m. Friday. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Indiana State will play Pittsburgh in Redbird Arena. Then, the Birds play Pitt, co-Big East Conference champions with Notre Dame in 2003, at 1 p.m. Sunday.
