Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Saint Louis
Skrajewski Leads XU Past Saint Louis
10.14.05 | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2005
CINCINNATI - Junior Danielle Skrajewski had a team-high 20 kills and added 12 digs for her 28th career double-double as Xavier defeated Saint Louis 3-1 in Atlantic 10 action. The Musketeers took down the Billikens by scores of 23-30, 30-22, 30-26 and 30-22 in front of the Cintas Center crowd. XU improves to 13-7 on the season and 5-1 in A-10 play, while SLU drops to 10-11 on the year and 3-3 in conference action.
Xavier's only setback came in the opening game as 12 ties and seven lead changes paved the way to the SLU win. With the score tied at 14-14, SLU embarked on a 6-0 and took the lead for good. XU would cut the lead to only three at the 21-18 mark but could not get any closer. Kate Duchek and Jill Quayle each had three kills on the game with Duchek adding four digs.
In the second game, Xavier came out looking to rebound and did so with a 7-2 block advantage in the game. Despite SLU recording six more kills on the game, 16 hitting errors haunted the Billikens. With the score 5-5, five straight Saint Louis attack errors coupled with a Duchek ace found Xavier with a quick 11-5 advantage. The Musketeers would let SLU creep back into the game with the score 21-18, but XU recorded nine of the last 13 points to take game two.
Xavier would post a .400 hitting percentage as a team en route to the victory in game three. Skrajewski would come alive and post 10 of her 20 kills in the game, while senior Jordan Brightwell added six digs and setter Jenn Welsh dished out 18 assists.
The final game found the Musketeers again out-hitting the Billikens .353 to .275. Duchek and Skrajewski posted a game-high six kills apiece to lead the blue and white. Xavier would jump out to the early 1-0 lead before grabbing a 7-2 advantage and never looking back. The closest SLU would come is at the 7-6 mark before the Musketeers extended the margin to the largest lead of the game at 10 with the score 22-12.
Skrajewski led the way with a team-high 20 kills, while adding one ace and three block assists. Senior Carley Horvath established a new career high on the night as she posted eight block assists. Horvath also contributed 12 digs in the win. Classmate Duchek ended the night with 18 kills, her 17th match this season with at least 10 kills, and nine digs. Quayle was the final Musketeer with double digit kills as the sophomore finished with 10 kills on 23 swings, a .348 hitting percentage and four block assists. Junior Astyn Bjorklund was tough to get around at the net tonight as the junior tallied two solo blocks and eight block assists, while adding five digs and two aces. Welsh dished out 52 assists on the evening and added nine digs.
Xavier will return to the court tomorrow night as the Musketeers play host to Duquesne. The Dukes fell to Dayton tonight 3-1 at the Frericks Center. The match is scheduled to get underway at 7:00 pm tomorrow night at Cintas Center. Catch the live action on Gametracker at www.GOXAVIER.com.
