The Saint Louis University Volleyball team began their season 4-5, and has one more week of play before their conference schedule begins. The Billikens were ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. Head coach Andrea Beaty has shown that her team has potential but their lack of experience has cost them.

Coach Beaty retained exactly half of last year’s roster, with nine out of the 10 newly filled roster spots being filled by freshmen. Many of these freshmen showcased impressive potential, which, combined with veteran experience, has on occasion put together a win, but on other occasions faltered, leading to an unfortunate loss.

Four freshmen in particular have made themselves mainstays in Beaty’s rotation, outside hitter Addy Brus, middle blocker Kayla Jansen, outer hitter Tea Kalajdzic and defensive specialist Chloe Maughan. All four have had critical moments across the three invitationals the Billikens played in so far.  They have proven that they will be core pieces of Beaty’s team going forward. 

Brus won the A-10 Freshman of the Week Award for week one. Brus leads the A-10 in total points with 146.5. She is averaging 4.44 points per set, just behind Dayton star Lexie Almodovar, the reigning A-10 player of the year who is averaging 4.79 per set. Jansen has shown off her defensive potential, with 0.94 blocks per set, landing just outside of the conference’s top 10 in the category. The St. Louis native sent eight back against Arkansas State at the A-State Invitational. Kalajdzic is fourth on the team in points per set, with 2.37. She is averaging a promising 2.17 kills per set, and threw down 14 against Illinois State in SLU’s Billiken Invitational. Maughan is averaging 1.6 digs per set, but her real impact is not reflected on the box score. During the Billiken Invitational she led multiple strong runs for the Billikens against each opponent.

Trinity Luckett, our breakout star, earned conference recognition by winning defensive player of the week for week two. Less than a third of the way through the season, the sophomore middle blocker is almost halfway to matching her digs total from last season. She is also on pace to greatly surpass her total blocks from last season. Luckett is currently third in the conference in total blocks with 37. She is averaging 1.12 blocks per set, an improvement of almost 0.3 over last season. Luckett’s offensive output has also notably increased, improving from 1.29 kills per set to 2.03. Overall she has grown from 1.78 points per set to 2.68 this season.

The Billikens will play in the Kwik Star Klassic in Coralville, Iowa before beginning conference play against Fordham in the Bronx, New York City.

This year’s U.S. Open Tennis Championship delivered thrilling battles, shocking upsets and inspiring underdog stories. The U.S. Open is the last of four Grand Slam tournaments that take place during a season of professional tennis. The tournament began in 1881 and eventually became known as the US Open Tennis Championship in 1968, when all players competed in one venue located in Queens, New York.  The courts consist of hard court surfaces and occur over the span of two weeks. Here is the rundown of the 2024 US Open Tennis Championship.

The women’s singles tournament began with the reigning champion, American Coco Gauff, taking a win in straight sets. Ranked No. 1 in the world, Polish Iga Swiatek and No. 2 Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, also started their tournaments off strong, living up to fan’s expectations leading into the tournament. 

Quickly, expectations were all but abandoned as the top-ranked players began to fall short in tournament play. Gauff struggled against fellow American Emma Navarro, who eliminated her from the round of 16. Swiatek needed a good tournament after a disappointing Olympic performance, but played a mistake-prone match against a strong Jessica Pegula from the U.S., which resulted in her defeat. Recent Wimbledon winner, Czech player Barbora Krejcikova, did not make it past the round of 64 in the women’s singles tournament and lost out in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles tournament. Sabalenka, however, continued to dominate, while Pegula proved to be someone to look out for after beating Swiatek to reach the semi-final. 

The final took place on Saturday, Sept. 7. Sabalenka went into this match with the confidence of a two-time Grand Slam tournament winner. Having never played in a Grand Slam tournament final, Pegula adapted to the new territory quickly. The experience of Sabalenka in combination with an impressive average topspin forehand speed, faster than anyone in the tournament, proved to be an unbeatable force. She put on a dominant performance winning in straight sets. This win was her career third singles Grand Slam title. 

The men’s singles tournament also saw multiple upsets over the course of the two weeks. Coming off of a recent gold medal at the Paris Olympics and 24 Grand Slam titles in his career so far, reigning U.S. Open champion and Serbian player, Novak Djokovic, was a clear favorite amongst fans and experts alike. Similarly, with two Slam titles this year (The French Open and Wimbledon), young Spanish talent Carlos Alcaraz was on many fans’ radar to add another to his collection. However, both Djokovic and Alcaraz lost far earlier than expected: Alcaraz faced defeat in the round of 64 and Djokovic lost in the round of 32. 

Ranked No. 1 in the world, Italian Jannik Sinner started his tournament off strong. Sinner beat 2021 U.S. Open champion, Daniil Medvedev, in the quarterfinals and battled through a minor wrist injury to beat Jack Draper for a spot in the final, a familiar place for Sinner. 

American Taylor Fritz was an unexpected opponent for Sinner, seeing little success in the other Grand Slam tournaments earlier in the year. The U.S. Open was Fritz’ chance to prove himself as someone to look out for, and he succeeded. With impressive wins over Casper Ruud, ranked No. 8 in the world, and over Zverev, ranked No. 4 in the world, he got himself a place in the final. 

Coming into the final match on Sunday, Sept. 8, Sinner held the upper hand after great performances so far in the season, making him the favorite to win. However, Fritz had the loud support of his home crowd giving him an extra boost of confidence. Sinner started out strong taking the first two sets, but Fritz did not make it easy. Fritz played a strong third set, but Sinner’s calm demeanor and 88% first serve win percentage were simply too hard to beat. After two hours and 16 minutes, Sinner took his second Grand Slam win of the year. 

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko took the women’s doubles title while Australian duo, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson took the men’s title. In the mixed doubles final, Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, beat out the Americans Taylor Townsend and Donald Young. 

Overall, this tournament reflected highly upon the U.S. States with four American players reaching their final matches throughout the Open. Sinner and Sabalenka continued their dominance in 2024 with the U.S. Open being the second Grand Slam title they each won this year, both of them took their first in the Australian Open in January. While the completion of the U.S. Open marks the end of this year’s Grand Slams, there is plenty more tennis to enjoy with multiple tournaments from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) lasting until December.

The afternoon of Saturday, April 6 saw the Saint Louis Women’s Basketball team completely outplayed, outlasted and outgunned the Minnesota Golden Gophers to earn the title of Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) champions. After a hard fought season and a marathon of a tournament, SLU trounced UMN 69-50 in one of their most dominant showings all season.

SLU came into Edwardsville as a 4.5 point underdog against their 20-15 Big Ten opponent. The Billikens were 16-18 entering the tournament after a heartbreaking loss to Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Saint Louis proceeded to battle their way through the bracket. SLU was the only program in the tournament’s Great 8 not to benefit from a first-round bye. Their path to greatness featured games in Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Vermont and finally Illinois. Officially SLU hosted one game during the tournament, and that is what transpired, but the basketball gods smiled upon West Pine on that fateful April Thursday on which the WNIT Final venue was announced to be First Community Arena in Edwardsville Illinois, home of the Southern Illinois – Edwardsville Cougars. The game would be played 20 miles away from the Billikens home arena, a half-hour drive from the city. The Gophers, meanwhile, were 600 miles from home, effectively making this event an away game for them. 

The Gophers’ past two games had been in Wyoming and Alabama, and had propelled their away record to 4-8. Boding poorly for the Gophers, SLU boasted a 9-7 home record. Minnesota’s offense entered the final averaging 2.5 more field goals made off of six more attempts than their tournament opponents. This possession advantage came in part from the rebounding trio of Sophie Hart, Mallory Heyer and Niamya Holloway who averaged a combined 25.33 rebounds per game, 10.33 being offensive boards. The Gophers as a team averaged 4.25 more offensive rebounds than their opponents in their four playoff matchups preceding SLU. The Gophers also came in averaging 3.0 more steals than their tournament opponents thanks to pickpockets Maggie Czinano and Amaya Battle, who combined for half of the teams total steals thus far in the bracket. Minnesota averaged the exact same field goal percentage as their opponents, shooting 41.4% from the floor. Their strength came in winning the rebounding, turnovers and possessions battles. Their execution of this strategy rested with Battle, Hart and Meyer, especially after the unfortunate loss of Mara Braun due to injury which left her sidelined after their third-round matchup against North Dakota St. The trio combined for 41.3 points per contest, with an additional 8.5 from freshman standout Grace Grocholski. 

Saint Louis also utilized the possession game, finishing second in the A10 in steals per game with 9.53, just behind Fordham’s 9.69. SLU actually averaged a lower field goal percentage than their opponents leading up to the final, shooting at a 42.4% clip contrasted to their opponents 43.4% accuracy. SLU countered this by averaging 5 more steals than their foes each game. Julia Martinez and Kennedy Calhoun combined for 6.2 of SLU’s 11 steals per game.

Martinez was also a major factor in the team’s rebounding alongside breakout star Peyton Kennedy and recent acquisition, Tierra Simon. The three combined for 22 rebounds per game, waxing the glass for an additional 8.2 possessions per contest. Kennedy’s emergence as an all-around offensive threat has been crucial for the Billikens. Her scoring has jumped from 9.6 to 16.9 points per game this season, on an efficient 49/39/87 clip, flirting with 50/40/90 splits. She and Kyla McMakin formed the A10’s best offensive duo, finishing second and third in points per game and combining for 33.6 of SLU’s second-in-conference 72.1 points per game. In the five-game stretch to the WNIT Final, they combined for 35.4 points per game including their stellar game against Purdue Fort Wayne in which they scored a shared 48 points.

The game started slowly, with neither team scoring for over a minute until Calhoun broke the ice with a euro-step layup off of a fastbreak. Minnesota would not answer back for another minute. SLU would finish the quarter leading by 7 points. The gap would widen by the half, with McMakin hitting mid-range daggers from Kevin Garnett distance and Peyton Kennedy doing the dirty work, collecting offensive rebounds and drawing fouls. As time ticked down Julia Martinez would seal the half, beating the buzzer to swish a triple. The Bills entered halftime up by twelve. The Billikens defense was stifling the Gophers, holding them to 2/10 shooting from beyond the arc. UMN head coach Dawn Plitzuweit tried to counter SLU’s defense with Mike D’Antoni-esque pace, seeming to encourage Grocholski to find a spot she liked and let fly. Unfortunately for the Gophers, Grocholski was unable to reliably hit her jumpers and any rhythm they tried to foster was quickly squashed by a SLU deflection, a point of emphasis for Billikens Head Coach Rebecca Tillett all season long. 

The Billikens trotted out for the second half to the resounding cheers of almost the entire arena, the fanfare of the Billiken pep band and the cheers and chants of the SLUnatics. Gophers fans occupied only a section of the First Community Arena bleachers, but while they were few they were mighty and proudly cheered for their team in hope of a rally. The shouts of the Minnesota faithful rang through the gym when an Amaya Battle led to an easy bucket for Mallory Heyer, bringing the score to 37-27 and forcing Saint Louis to play even more aggressively if they wanted to keep the double-digit lead. The next possession, Kennedy Calhoun would take the ball up the court and finish the play with a lethal three pointer, starting a 14-0 run for the Bills over the next six minutes. Calhoun’s handling easily broke down the Minnesota press, leading to comfortable shots for the Bills down the floor. 

The Billikens would finish the quarter leading 54-32. SLU would not slow down for the fourth quarter. Primary handlers Calhoun, Martinez and Camreé Clegg excelled in getting past UMN’s full-court press. Martinez and Calhoun combined for 9 of SLU’s 14 assists on the night, with Martinez play being reminiscent of pre-back injury Ben Simmons. Her control of pace and understanding the gameflow was apparent as she put together a statline of 3 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and 5 steals, combining with Simon for 17 of the team’s 38 rebounds. After the game Coach Tillett described the two as “so important for our success tonight and in this run.” Tierra Simon had a bit of a question mark around her going to this game, regarding her matchup against Minnesota’s Sophie Hart. Hart stands at 6’5” to Simon’s 6’1”, presenting what was on paper an easy miss-match for the Gophers and their potential post-offense. Despite the size disadvantage, Simon defended Hart well, holding her to her average of 13 points, and made those points hard enough to come by so that the Gophers could not reliably play through the post.

The Billikens defended the Gophers incredibly, holding them to 33.9% from the field and 14.7% from deep. Minnesota was also unable to play their possession game, attempting almost the same number of field goals as the Billikens. The Billikens meanwhile were impressively efficient, shooting 43.3% from the field and an incredible 45.8& from three-point range. The Billikens were unafraid of taking statistically questionable shots, firing and burying multiple mid range jumpers coming mostly from McMakin and Kennedy, who together combined for 39 points. Peyton Kennedy was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for her all-around incredible efforts throughout the tournament. After the game she spoke about how her chemistry on and off the court all season with McMakin has had a great impact on her scoring, and took the opportunity to give praise to Martinez and Calhoun for their impressive playmaking.

SLU enters the offseason with four players graduating, meaning Coach Tillett will be looking to Kennedy, Simon and Calhoun for on-court leadership. This tournament run has convinced fans that the team is in good hands. Coach Tillett herself entered the season with the question of whether or not her excellence last year was a valid indicator of her talent as a coach or a mere fortunate fluke. What few doubters she still had have been silenced. Regarding the future of Billiken basketball, Peyton Kennedy summed it up perfectly “We here.”

The Billikens have had a rough go of the 2023-2024 season. After going 5-8 during the first half of their season, they have gone 6-8 in conference play. At the time of writing, they rest in the exact middle of the A-10 standings, eighth out of fifteen. With four games left to play, the Bills can at best finish 15-16 on the year with a 10-8 conference record. A losing record reduces their chances of an at-large National Tournament bid to zero, but the season is not yet lost.

Three of SLU’s remaining opponents have worse conference records than the Bills, the outlier being 8-6 Davidson. The Wildcats will be playing the Billikens at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday, March 2. The first opponent in this last leg of the season is Fordham, who boast a 5-9 A-10 record but are currently on a three-game winning streak. After facing the Rams in New York, the Bills will host the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The Bonnies have one win against A-10 competition and have since lost thirteen games in a row. For their final regular season away game, the Billikens will be in Philadelphia, against the 4-10 La Salle Explorers. The Explorers are only 3-9 in games played in Philadelphia. 

Supposing SLU wins even three of these matchups, and all other A-10 matchups for the season play out without any upsets, the standings will have SLU at ninth, just behind Loyola Chicago. Ninth is by no means the worst position in the seedings, considering the conference tournament includes all fifteen programs. The Bills would receive a first-round bye but so would their opponent. Even if SLU wins all four of their next games, there would be a low chance of earning the seventh seed and therefore benefiting from the first-round bye. They would need Rhode Island to lose two of their last three games, which include matchups against conference toppers Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia and four-seeded Virginia Commonwealth four days later. 

Alternatively, SLU could rise to the seventh seed if Davidson loses at least three of its last four matches. Davidson’s schedule concludes with games against Dayton, Fordham, George Washington and SLU. None of those teams wave winning records against conference opponents. SLU’s best-case scenario involves both of these happening, which would place SLU at the sixth seed in the tournament. The sixth seed receives a first round bye and then plays the winner of the preceding day’s 11 vs 14 matchup. The extra day of rest against an opponent who played the day before is a massive advantage and is why gaining the sixth or even seventh seed would be huge for the Bills. 

Last year, the Bills excelled come tournament time, taking home the championship in an overtime match against Massachusetts. Coach Rebecca Tillett proved her doubters wrong and became the second coach in NCAA Division 1 history to win conference championships in back-to-back years in separate conferences, after Lisa Bluder’s efforts with Drake and Iowa in 2000 and 2001. Tillett coached SLU to their first ever A-10 women’s basketball championship, and over the next two weeks will do everything she can to put her team in the best position possible to win their second.

    SLU’s Women’s basketball just got back from Laie, Hawaii where they posted a 1-2 record during the North Shore Showcase. The Billikens are currently sitting at 4-3 after a close win over the Illinois-Chicago Flames. 

     A point of emphasis for the Billikens has been their hustle or as Coach Tillett calls them “unselfish” stats. These stats generally do not show up in the box score, but are imperative; not only to on-court success but contribute to building team chemistry. They offer an impressive look into the overall cohesion of the squad. The team keeps track of dives for possession, and-ones, charges drawn, deflections, double assists and screen assists. Over theses seven games the Bills have averaged 10.29 dives, 1.43 and-ones, 2.29 charges drawn, 23.14 deflections, 1.86 double assists and 3.14 screen assists per game. Almost every name on the roster appears on each list at least once, a great sign that the players have bought in and are dedicated to Head Coach Rebecca Tillet’s program.

     Coach Tillett is in her second year heading the Billikens. When she came to SLU from Longwood, she knew that she was leading a rebuild, and some might even say she has already completed it. She led the Billikens to their first ever National Tournament appearance last season. Tillet can be described in many words but none of them would be complacent. Seven players have started for the Bills over there first seven games, with the only three constants being junior point guard Kennedy Calhoun, senior power forward Peyton Kennedy and graduate wing Kyla McMakin. In the five games she played Julia Martinez started at the 2-guard but has not played since getting injured during her outing against Wake Forest. In that game, she totaled seven points, nine rebounds and two steals. Her impact last season was crucial for SLU’s conference championship, and it remains to be seen how long she will be out. 

     Kennedy and McMakin currently lead the Atlantic 10’s highest scoring offense, which scores 79.7 points per contest and are first and fourth in the conference in scoring with 17.1 and 16.4 respectively. McMakin entered the season as the NCAA’s third active leading scorer, with 2,233 career points. She currently sits at 2,348 and will only add to that as the season continues. She is on pace to eclipse 2,740 by the end of the season which would put her into the top 25 all-time, just ahead of former WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike. 

      The most notable position in flex is the center position. After four consecutive starts for junior transfer Marcavia Shavers, she started sophomore Brooklyn Gray, then Shavers again, and then junior Tierra Simon. All three were healthy over this three-game stretch and played significant minutes. In fact, Gray took McMakin’s place as the starting small forward when she slid to shooting guard following Martinez’s injury. They have been impressive contributors, and it remains to be seen who Tillett will start once the squad is back to full health. 

     Coach Tillett is no stranger to slow starts. The Billikens entered conference play last year 4-11 before taking the conference by storm, going 10-6 and winning the conference tournament. Tillett proved most of the doubters wrong last season and is looking to show the few that remain that last season was no fluke and is in fact the new standard for SLU’s women’s basketball program.

Nine years ago, Saint Louis University’s Athletic Director, Chris May, asked the question,  “How can we better serve our student-athletes everyday?” After nearly a decade of planning, fundraising and construction, the answer has taken shape in the form of an addition to Chaifetz Arena, named the O’Loughlin Family Champions Center. 

The ribbon cutting ceremony took place Oct 9, with over one hundred spectators gathering in the Chaifetz Arena parking lot. Eleven people spoke at the ceremony, including Chris May, University President Fred Pestello, and namesake donor Bob O’Loughlin. Throughout the ceremony, the speakers elaborated on the facilities inside the center and how they would promote success for student-athletes. Dietetics, mental health and academics were treated with the same importance as athletic success when planning the building. An athletes-only dining hall, sports psychology offices, a study room as well as brand new offices for the basketball coaches and new film rooms. Following the speeches the ribbon was cut by twenty-two people, twenty- one more than is conventional. Among the twenty- two ribbon cutters were all of the speakers, multiple coaches, athletes and donors. Chris May told the University News that, “The message was about being inclusive, the message was that at the end of the day, this is about our students”. 

During a private tour, Assistant Director of Athletics-Media Relations Brian Kunderman was able to shed further light on the specifics of these facilities and others in the 25,000 square foot addition. Athletes would have meal swipe access to the dining hall under an additional dining plan, with food provided by Delaware North, one of the leading hospitality companies in all of sports. Delaware North provides dining for Busch Stadium, MetLife Stadium, TD Garden and multiple other major league venues in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Athletes also have access to a snack bar stocked with yogurt, protein bars, smoothies and more. The study area, or “Success Suite,” is a large and varied common area meant to emulate any desired studying environment. Multiple smaller rooms line the perimeter, and advisor offices make up the west wall of the room. 

The second floor hosts the new offices for the basketball teams, with a spacious office for each head coach, a “war room” for film and multiple offices for assistant coaches. Coaches are scheduled to move in next week, but have been making use of the facility since the ribbon cutting. After the basketball coaches move into their suites, other teams’ coaches  will upgrade to the basketball teams’ previous offices. Next to the basketball suites is the Victory Room, a small lounge for celebration and recruitment, complete with a new Billiken statue. The Victory Room also hosts a screen with access to film from each sport and a database of every single SLU athlete on record. Down the hall are the offices for nutritionists and psychologists, which are intentionally out of the way to preserve each athlete’s privacy. 

There is no doubt that student athletes will benefit from the Champions Center, but there has been some criticism. Last year the construction of the center caused outrage among student athletes who were forced to move their cars from the Arena parking lot to make room for basketball donors, because their usual space was taken up by the construction. The construction inconvenienced any student or Billiken fan trying to enter the stadium and made many question if the Champions Center was a worthwhile investment. While the worry that it was a waste of tuition payment has been quelled, as the twenty million dollar project was entirely donor-funded, some critics feel that it is a basketball investment more so than an all-athletes investment. Worries were not helped when May explicitly called athletics a “basketball-centric program” during his ribbon cutting speech, and when it was revealed that the basketball teams were the only teams with new offices. While the center does cater towards basketball in some ways, that does not take away from the benefits all athletes will have access to on the ground floor of the facility. 

After the center fully opens later this November, the University News will look into the opinions of student athletes regarding the center and its many new amenities. It remains to be seen if the Champions Center was worth the decade of work and millions of dollars, but as its purpose is to serve student athletes, that verdict rests with them.

On Sept. 16 the Billikens Softball team began their fall season with back to back wins against Washington University (WashU) in St Louis and John A. Logan College. The Billikens won the Atlantic 10 softball regular season last spring, but fell short of the championship in a 5-7 extra innings loss to Loyola Chicago. Looking to regain their energy from last season and evaluate their roster, Saint Louis University hosted a trio of games, playing in the first two, winning 8-2 against WashU and 8-0 against JALC.

SLU played WashU first. The two hour long onslaught began in the bottom of the third inning when junior outfielder, Natalie Sullivan, drove one into the outfield for a base hit and SLU’s first score of the day. WashU would tie shortly thereafter with an RBI of their own, coming off of a double driven up center field. The Bears would take the lead by taking home on a wild pitch. SLU would tie when the Bears threw a wild pitch of their own, allowing freshman pinch runner, Karsen Jany, to cross home plate. The Billikens would take back the lead thanks to freshman pitcher, Anna Christ, who would slam it deep into left field for a double and bring a runner home. Sophomore, Ashley Marietta, would end the inning with a grounder along the first base line to advance the runner at third. In the bottom of the fifth, Sullivan would bunt to load the bases. Sophomore power hitter, Chloe Rhine, would be walked, advancing Kendall Johnson to home and keeping the bases loaded. Sophomore catcher, Abby Mallo, would hit a double for two RBIs and shortly after crossing the plate herself, Johnson would bring the Bills’ total to eight with a grounder before the inning’s end. Due to time constraints the game would end an inning early, SLU forfeiting and nine phantom runs being added to WashU’s score so that SLU could play John A. Logan at the scheduled time. 

The Volunteers were no match for Saint Louis as they would only put forth two hits against the Billikens’ 12. The first point of the game would be scored early in the second inning by fifth year lefty, Cami Newbanks, who would slam a homer well past the fence for the 1-0 lead. Soon after, freshman infielder, Abby Ulsas, would walk to load the bases. With bases loaded Sullivan would take ball four to bring Ashley Marietta home. In the fourth inning, SLU’s second home run came off the bat of Mallo, who would take Ulsas with her to home plate, bringing the score to 4-0. After going scoreless in the fifth, the Billikens would add to their already impressive total with a line drive by Abby Ross for an RBI. Graduate catcher, Kelsey Etling, would hit SLU’s third home run of the afternoon with runners on first and second to bring the score up to eight. It wasn’t until after these four runs did the Volunteers finally secure an out. The Billikens would hold the volunteers to a single hit in the final inning, bringing their total to two and keeping them scoreless for a 8-0 victory. 

WashU and John A. Logan are not the same caliber of opposition as SLU’s conference opponents, but these preseason games give confidence to the team and its fans that the Billikens can win the Atlantic 10 regular season again, as well as the tournament championship they lost out on last year. Young sluggers, Mallo and Rhine, were second and third on the team in slugging percentage last season as well as being in the top four in runs, home runs, RBIs and total bases and will likely improve. Mallo and Rhine were among the A-10’s best hitters last season during their freshman year and head coach Christy Connoyer and her staff will only help them to improve. Natalie Sullivan and Jane Kaniecki are two elite hitters whose veteran presences can’t be ignored either. With the offense proven the only questions reside on the other end of the ball. Chloe Wendling was arguably the A-10’s best pitcher last season and concluded her collegiate career as one of the best pitchers in SLU history. Her usual closer Kaili Hanner also graduated last spring, leaving the door open for tertiary pitcher Taylor Hochman as well as freshmen Isabel Royle, Lily Strand and Anna Christ. The decision rests with Connoyer and these preseason games will impact her decision greatly. 

The Billikens began conference play on the Sept. 14 with a 1-0 win against the Loyola Ramblers. SLU’s goal came courtesy of defensive superstar Lyndsey Heckel, a header off of a perfectly placed corner kick by junior midfielder Hannah Larson. That Sunday the Billikens would host the LaSalle Explorers to kick off SLU’s homecoming week. 

LaSalle came to St. Louis 3-5-2 and had yet to begin conference play. The Billikens gave them a harsh introduction, beating them 4-0. The game started slow, with both teams only putting forward five shots in the first half, entering the second tied at 0-0. Momentum would shift less than five minutes into the half when SLU forward Emily Gaebe got fouled in the box by Explorer junior midfielder Gabby Picco. Heckel would net her third goal of the season by skipping it into the lower left corner, clear of LaSalle’s junior keeper Michela Auguadro. Twenty minutes later freshman defender Eva Schreiber would collect a loose ball and make a run along the left touchline before crossing it to Gaebe who would pad the lead with a touch, placing it just out of Auguadro’s reach and into the back of the net. LaSalle would not have much time to breathe as two minutes later, in the 71st minute, Hannah Sawyer would recover her own corner kick that had been punched away and bounce it into the goal off of the far side post. Freshman forward Jordan Gary earned the assist with a pinpoint accurate volley pass to Sawyer who dribbled past LaSalle’s Emily Banashefski and sailed it over Auguadro to give the Billikens a 3-0 lead with just under nineteen minutes left to play. 

Emily Gaebe drove in the final nail of LaSalle’s coffin in the 74th minute. Seizing an opportunity Gaebe intercepted a pass by defender Jillian Drumm intended for Courtney Gaston and ran head-on towards Auguadro. Outrunning Picco, she skimmed it past Augruadro into the lower right to score her second goal of the match and her fifth of the season. SLU improved to a 7-2-1 record off of an overwhelming offensive performance. SLU out-shot LaSalle 15-8 and tripled their shots on goal 9-3. Saint Louis currently leads the Atlantic 10 in shots per game with 17.3, ahead of University of Dayton’s 15.67. 

On the topic of Dayton, the Flyers came to Midtown on the Sept. 24, one week after SLU’s victory over LaSalle. Dayton would tie SLU 1-1 in a hard-fought match. Dayton’s defense is among the few in the A-10 capable of keeping up with SLU’s fast-paced, aggressive offense. They also have an elite defense, anchored by sophomore goalie Batoul Reda who has the second fewest goals allowed in the conference, with eight, only behind Massachusetts’ Bella Mendoza, with seven. SLU’s Emily Puricelli isn’t far behind with ten. Puricelli is fourth in the conference in saves per game, stopping 55 shots in eleven games played. Puricelli and Reda both had six saves during Sunday’s game, only one getting by each. SLU had chances to score in the first half, including a header by Stramm off of the near post and a screamer by Sawyer that was just high, but instead finished the half tied 0-0. 

SLU’s goal came in the 52nd minute when freshman midfielder Emma Blockius would head it out of the backfield over the midline to Gaebe who would turn and burn to get by three Dayton defenders and launch it into the back of the net. Blockius’s assist was her first-ever point as a Billiken. Dayton would equalize in the 70th minute when senior midfielder Diana Benigno pivoted into a shot, placing the ball just past Puricelli and into the bottom left of the goal. Gaebe would have a chance to put the Bills back on top in the 87th minute with possession a yard away from the goal but wouldn’t be able to get the shot off under the pressure of multiple defenders. Both teams would come away disappointed with the result as each considers themselves a contender for the conference title.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, all conference matchups, Head Coach Katie Shields is likely to continue to make adjustments to maintain the Billikens’ five-season streak of A-10 Championship titles.

Following the outstanding performance by the women’s squad was Billikens Men’s Soccer. This was their 40th meeting with the SIUE Cougars, with SIUE raising to ten wins against the Bills since 1969, and getting their first win since 1982. Over 8,000 people attended the game at CITYPARK, over three times as many attendees as the previous game held in St. Louis.

Despite both teams having multiple chances, the game was scoreless until the second half. The Billikens had multiple defensive plays to halt the Cougars’ attack, including a sliding save by junior keeper Jeremi Abonnel in his second-ever start for the Billikens and a header out of the box off of a SIUE free kick by junior defender Grady Easton. Abonnel’s previous start was in the season opener hosting Butler where he had five saves, holding the Bulldogs to only one goal. The French keeper was unable to hold the line in the second half, but during the 50th minute SIUE graduate forward Mitchell Murphy slid into an out-of-the-box feed by senior midfielder Andres Delascio, punching it just past Abonnel. The Cougar’s strong defensive unit often stopped SLU’s shots before they reached graduate keeper, Sam Gomez. 

SLU had twelve shots in the second half, none converted to goals, and only three were saved by Gomez. SIUE put the nail in the coffin in the 72nd minute when, shortly after subbing on, junior defender Nic Muench would thread the needle to get it by Abonnel along the nearside post. The goal came off of a through pass by senior midfielder Sam Layton, his first assist of the season on Muench’s first goal of the season.

SIUE moves to 3-0 on the season while SLU falls to 1-2. Billikens Men’s Head Coach Kevin Kalish will likely make more adjustments before playing at Southern Methodist University on Sept. 8. He may choose to stick with Abonnel as the starting keeper, or he may give another chance to freshman Mason Hart, who had two saves in SLU’s 1-2 loss at Lipscomb on Aug. 29. Fans can expect individual players’ minutes to fluctuate and changes to be made to the starting lineup as the Bills try once more to find last year’s dominance. Coach Kalish is experimenting now but there shouldn’t be any cause for worry; the Billikens started last season 1-3 before going 11-2-3 en route to winning the A-10 and earning a spot in the National Tournament.