St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Volleyball Falls to Pittsburgh, 3-0
10/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Pittsburgh jumped out to an early 1-0 match lead, winning game one 15?30. For the game, St. John?s was led on offense by sophomore Jackie Ahlers? (Stony Point, N.Y.) three kills. Senior Robyn Kurasaki (Milliani, Hawaii) dished out five assists, while freshman libero Nicole Colaluca (Naperville, Ill.) recorded five digs on defense.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 3-6 game two lead, but Red Storm was able to counter and tie the game at 16. With the score tied at 16, St. John?s took a two point lead thanks to a block assists by freshman Puna Richardson (Honolulu, Hawaii), sophomore Dimitra Samas (Jamaica Estates, N.Y.) and Kurasaki and a kill by Ahlers. The Panthers rallied to tie the score at 23, but the Red Storm were able to pull ahead 28-26 thanks to kills by Ahlers, Richardson and junior Yana Ruban (Kiev, Ukraine) and block assists by Ruban and Richardson. Pittsburgh answered back to tie the score at 28 and used a late surge to close out a closely contested game two, 30-32. For the game, Richardson posted five kills on seven attempts for a .714 hitting percentage and three block assists, while Ahlers added eight kills. Kurasaki dished out 12 assists, while Ancia Wood (Wotton Terrace, Barbados) sparked the Red Storm in the middle with three kills on six attempts.
In game three, the Panthers maintained a lead throughout until the Red Storm pulled within one at 25-26 thanks to a pair of kills by senior Angela Tassone (Seaford, N.Y.). Pittsburgh answered quickly and closed out the match on a 4-0 run, winning game three 30-25. For the match, Ahlers recorded 13 kills and seven digs, while Richardson tallied eight kills on 16 attempts and five block assists. Kurasaki dished out 23 assists, while Colaluca was strong in the back row with 19 digs.
St. John?s returns to action this Wednesday, October 15 when they travel to Storrs, Conn. to take on Connecticut in a BIG EAST Conference match-up. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
