DAVIDSON, N.C. – Fifth-seeded Saint Louis won a 3-1 thriller over No. 4 Davidson, punctuated by a tightly contested fourth set, in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship.
 
The Billikens (16-15) advance to face top-seeded Dayton in Saturday’s semifinals at 1:00 pm ET / noon CT.
 
The decisive fourth set was close throughout, with neither team gaining a lead of more than four points. The set was so close it was tied at 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24. The Wildcats had set point on two occasions, but Saint Louis held them off, getting a kill by Delaney Rice and a kill by Kayla Richardson. Richardson’s kill tied the set at 25 and then a ball handling error, followed by another Richardson kill secured the 3-1 match victory.
 
Richardson’s 20 kills led the Billikens, and she hit at a .410 pace. Rice had 17 kills and Emily Henken totaled 12. Carlie Rodgers recorded 32 digs and Jillian Mattingly had six blocks. SLU hit .227 as a team.
 
Saint Louis controlled the first set, reeling off five straight points that were punctuated with a pair of kills by Henken. SLU used slight that advantage to maintain its lead for the remainder of the set, finishing with a kill by Rice and a block from Trinity Luckett and Richardson.
 
Davidson (19-10) battled back in set two, scoring six straight points early, anchored by kills from Sola Omonije and Emma Slusser to push the lead to 10-4. The Billikens battled back to tie it at 17 and then 18, but Davidson didn’t allow SLU to take the lead, and Anna Withee closed out the set for the ‘Cats with a pair of kills and a shared block with Xuan Nguyen.
 
The third set was a mirror image of set two, with the Billikens scoring five of the first sever points with kills from Luckett, Rice and Richardson to build a three-point lead. That slight advantage lasted until Davidson tied the game at 22. But Saint Louis finished strong, with an ace from Henken and a kill and block from Richardson.
 
Omonije had 13 kills to lead the ‘Cats and hit at a match-high .667 clip, recording just one error. She also had a match-high seven blocks. A-10 three-time Libero of the Year Bella Brady had 20 digs. Davidson hit .161 as a team.