St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
CONNECTICUT *
St. John's Volleyball Outlasts UConn In Five-Set Thriller
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - Sophomore Kun Song and senior Valeria Kovaleva each recorded double-doubles to lead the St. John's volleyball team to an exciting 3-2 win over Connecticut on Saturday in the first intercollegiate contest in the newly-renovated Carnesecca Arena. With the win (25-13, 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-3), the Red Storm improved to 14-7 (5-1 BIG EAST), while Connecticut fell to 14-7 (3-3 BIG EAST).
Song registered 15 kills and 14 digs for STJ, while Kovaleva contributed with 11 kills and a team-high 15 digs as well as four assists and three service aces. Senior Chen Chen led the Red Storm with 17 kills as she put up the best hitting percentage in the match with a .571 mark and classmate Wioleta Leszczysnka registered a match-high 55 assists to go along with seven digs, two blocks and one kill.
Senior Casie Brooks rounded out the Red Storm hitters with double-digit kills by picking up 12 in the match as she also tallied seven digs and a .310 hitting percentage. Freshman Darlene Ramdin chipped in with eight kills, a .316 hitting percentage, three service aces and three digs, while senior Lena Yee registered 12 digs.
St. John's won the first set, 25-13, as Song led the team with five kills and the Red Storm recorded a .483 hitting percentage in the frame. STJ quickly opened up a 10-5 lead and rode the momentum to the victory.
Connecticut responded in the second set, as senior Chauntay Mickens registered a set-high six kills to lead the Huskies to a 25-17 win. The teams went into the locker rooms for the ten-minute intermission tied one-set apiece.
The third set was more closely contested, as it featured nine tie scores, but the Red Storm would squeak out a win, 25-23. The Huskies used their first timeout trailing 11-9, and then STJ expanded the lead to 21-18 before UConn rallied late. Timely timeout calls by St. John's broke up the late momentum and with the score tied 23-23, the Red Storm tallied two points to end the set on a kill by Ramdin and a combined block by Kovaleva and Leszczysnka.
In the fourth set, the Red Storm and Huskies were knotted up nine times and there were five lead changes throughout. The teams swapped leads early, but UConn gained the first advantage and forced STJ to call a timeout down 13-11. The Red Storm rallied late and came within one point on two occasions, but Connecticut held on for the 25-23 win to force a decisive fifth set.
St. John's controlled the fifth set, winning 15-3 to take the match. There were four service aces in the set, as Kovaleva registered three, including two in a row to make the score 9-1. A service ace by sophomore Kayla Motoyama gave the Red Storm match-point, 14-2, and two plays later Brooks ended it on a kill from Leszczynska.
For the Huskies, Mickens registered a match-high 20 kills, while freshman Annie Lurhsen tallied 41 assists. Junior libero Jessica Isaac led all players on the afternoon with 16 digs.
St. John's returns to action Friday, Oct. 24, when the team travels to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
