Score: VCU 3, Saint Louis 2 (23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 20-25, 15-9)
Location: Richmond, Va. (Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 14-11 (7-4, A-10), Saint Louis 18-8 (7-4)

• Senior Janelle Sykes and junior Kalah Jones combined for 36 of VCU's 60 kills, including seven in the fifth set tiebreaker, to steer the Rams to a heart-pounding 3-2 win over Saint Louis in Richmond.
• Sykes connected on all four of her attempts in the fifth and Jones spiked three in five tries as VCU built a 5-0 lead and never looked back. The Rams hit .529 in the tiebreaker overall and committed just one attacking error in the frame.
• Jones finished with a career-best 22 kills and hit .457. She made one hitting error in 46 swings.
• Sykes hit .579 on the day and finished with 14 kills.
• The Rams hit .326 overall in the match.
• Freshman libero Rebekah Strange was credited with a personal-best 27 digs, including 10 in the first set alone.
• VCU senior setter Cecilia Aragao handed out 50 assists and added six kills, seven digs and four blocks.
• Lauren Leverenz led the Billikens with 21 kills and hit .531.

• While most of the match was a back-and-forth affair, the fifth set was not. VCU took command early, building an advantage as large as seven points. Sykes sandwiched a pair of kills around one by Jones, and junior Sami Blaze served up an ace as VCU opened the tiebreaker with five straight points.
• Saint Louis forced a fifth set after it closed the fourth with a 9-3 burst on the way to a 25-20 win.

• VCU swept the season series with Saint Louis and will hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Billikens should it be necessary for Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament seeding. The Rams and Billikens are currently tied for fourth place at 7-4.
• Jones enjoyed one of her best weekends of the season. The junior outside hitter hit .371 in two matches and averaged 4.44 kills per set. She converted 40 of VCU's 103 kills in that two-match span.
• With 50 assists Sunday, Aragao passed Lauren Nussman and moved into third place on VCU's career list with 3,854.