St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Volleyball Sweeps UConn, 3-0
10/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
St. Johns bounced out early in game one as five kills and a block assist by Jackie Ahlers (Stony Point, N.Y.)pushed the Red Storm early lead 7-2. The Huskies quickly overcame deficit, taking a 9-8 lead behind a 6-0 run. A kill and two block assists by Puna Richardson (Honolulu, Hawaii) lead the team back to a 13-11 lead. After a short Husky run, kills by Richardson and Ahlers brought the Red Storm back into the lead 16-15. The two squads matched points to 21, before Connecticut ran off four straight points to take a 25-21 lead. A kill by Ahlers and a block by junior Yana Ruban (Kiev, Ukraine) and senior Rosalyn Dang (Honolulu, Hawaii) shortened the lead to 26-25, but back-to-back kills by Connecticut opened the lead to 28-25. Ahlers stopped the run with a kill and Robyn Kurasaki (Milliani, Hawaii) and Dang followed up with kills of their own, making score 29-28 in favor of St. Johns. The Red Storm finished off the game and their five point run with a kill by Kurasaki, taking the game 30-28. For the game, the Red Storm were led by Ahlers with nine kills on 15 attempts for a hitting percentage of .533. Kurasaki added three kills and a team-high six digs, while freshman Erin Poglits (West Bloomfield, Mich.) dished out 13 assists.
The second game started out with the Huskies making the early run, taking a 3-1 lead. Two kills by Ahlers paced the Red Storm comeback as they evened the score at 4. After matching hitting errors, St. Johns took over the lead at 8-5 behind kills by Kurasaki and Richardson. Connecticut ran off two quick points, but the Red Storm went back to Kurasaki and Richardson, who each recorded a kill during their five-point run that opened the lead to 13-7. Neither team could put together a run as St. Johns lead remained the same to 23-17. The Red Storm ran off three straight points behind kills by Ahlers and Poglits to take a 26-17 lead. The Huskies refused to quit as they went on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 27-22. However, the Red Storm held off the attack to take the second game 30-24 on another kill on Kurasaki. Ahlers and Richardson each recorded four kills for the Red Storm, while Poglits dished out 12 assists and dug four balls. Freshman Nicole Colaluca (Naperville, Ill.) was solid in the back row, compiling eight digs.
Game three began with the two schools matching points up to four, as the Red Storm was paced by three Ahlers kills. A kill and an ace by Ruban opened the lead to 6-4, but Connecticut came back to tie the game at seven. Kills by Poglits and Richardson brought the St. Johns lead back up to two at 9-7. After a short Husky run to tie the game at nine, the Red Storm ran off four straight points behind kills by Ahlers and Richardson, to take a 13-9 advantage. Neither team again could not put together a run, until St. Johns ran off five straight point late in the game, behind the serving of Richardson, who recorded two aces, to take a 25-18 lead. The Huskies failed to quit again, going on a 5-2 run to shorten the Red Storm lead to four at 27-23. The teams matched points until a block by Poglits and Richardson ended the game and the match with a 30-26 St. Johns win. For the game, Ahlers again lead the team with seven kills, while Dang added four. Poglits dished out 14 assists, while seven Red Storm members had over two or more digs.
For the match, Ahlers had 20 kills on 43 attempts for a .326 hitting percentage. Dang added eight kills and seven digs, while Richardson chipped in seven kills. Poglits dished out 39 assists and Colaluca added 14 digs in the back for the match.
The Red Storm return to the court after a nine-day break on Friday, October 24 when they host BIG EAST opponent Virginia Tech. The match will be played at Alumni Hall with the first serve set for 7:30 p.m.
