St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Loses Heartbreaker to Pittsburgh, 3-2
10/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2004
QUEENS, NY (October 8, 2004) - Despite a solid 2-0 lead heading into the third match, the St. John's volleyball team was defeated in their first BIG EAST match of the year by rival Pittsburgh in a heartbreaking 3-2 (30-27, 31-29, 22-30, 22-30, 11-15) loss this evening at Alumni Hall. The Red Storm falls to 14-6 (0-1 BIG EAST), while the defending BIG EAST Champions improve to 11-5 (1-0 BIG EAST).
Despite the loss, the Red Storm received strong performances from both junior Jackie Ahlers who recorded 18 kills and freshman LaToya Blunt notched a double-double with 17 kills, hitting .324 and 14 digs. Sophomore libero Nicole Colaluca broke her career record in digs with 33 in the hard fought match between the Red Storm and the Panthers.
St. John's jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, winning a back and forth battle in the first match, 30-27. The Red Storm's block seemed unstoppable with several putdowns by middle hitter Yana Ruban (14 kills, 10 blocks) and setter Lisa Tedder (59 assists, 7 blocks) to help steal the game from the Panthers.
In game two, St. John's rallied from behind to take the match, 31-29. Trailing by 6 at 28-21, the Red Storm scored eight straight points with aggressive serving by Blunt and diving defense by Colaluca to shock the Panthers and capture game 2.
Games three and four were dominated by the Pittsburgh from the start, with aggressive net plays by Megan Miller and Diana Andreyko. In each game the Red Storm tried to fight back around the 15th point, but could not catch up as the Panthers took both games at 30-22.
In the deciding game, St. John's and Pittsburgh were tied throughout the seventh point before the Panthers started pulling away with kills by Miller from the middle. At 13-10 the Red Storm answered back with a Blunt kill, but was not enough as Pittsburgh took game five and the match, 15-11.
The Red Storm returns to action this Sunday, October 10, when they will host West Virginia in their second BIG EAST conference match of the season. First serve is set for 3 p.m. at Alumni Hall.
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