Sept. 3, 2005
STOCKTON, Calif.- The Pacific Tigers Women's Volleyball team improved their record on the season to 4-1 with a victory over Saint Louis in the Nike Invitational. The Tigers won three games to one, (30-23)(25-30)(30-23)(30-20)
Saint Louis, which is now 2-3 on the season, will play Bradley at 5pm, while Pacific plays Purdue at 7pm to close out the Nike Invitational.
Trailing 7-5 in the first game, Pacific ran off six straight points behind three kills from senior Susan Drollinger (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.), two aces from junior Allison Ianni (East Lansing, Mich.) and a kill from junior Robin Terry (Santa Cruz, Calif.) Staked to an 11-5 lead, the Tigers did not trail the rest of the game as Pacific delivered five aces in game one to take a 1-0 lead, 30-23.
Saint Louis responded in game two as the Billikins pounded out 20 kills and had just three errors to finish game two with a team-high .436 hitting percentage and even the match at 1-1, with a 30-25 win.
Following the break, it was the Tigers' offensive that came out of the locker room and set the tone for the rest of the match as Pacific hit .452 in game three and .500 in the final game to take the match 3-1. Over the two game stretch, the Tigers hammered down 39 kills and committed just six errors.
Senior Ashley Groothuis (Aurora, Neb.) led the way for Pacific as she finished with 25 kills and 14 digs for her first double-double of the season. She also posted a match-high .525 hitting percentage with just four errors on 40 attacks. Two other Tigers finished with double figures in kills as sophomore Kara Uhl (Cypress, Calif.) had 23 kills and Drollinger posted 14 kills.
The Tigers return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 as Pacific will face off with Purdue. Both teams enter the match with a 2-0 record at the Nike Invitational and the winner will claim the Nike Invitational Championship.