St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
San Jose State
St. John's Volleyball Defeats San Jose State, 3-1
9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm volleyball team picked up its first win of the season on Monday, defeating San Jose State, 3-1. The scores of the match were 25-16, 17-25, 26-24 and 25-17. With the win, St. John's is now 1-2 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 1-3.
The Red Storm led a balanced attack against SJSU, led by senior Valeria Kovaleva, who registered her second double-double of the season with a team-high 17 kills and 11 digs, while classmate Chen Chen also had double-digit kills with a career-high 15. Kun Song, Casie Brooks and Darlene Ramdin also contributed with nine, seven and six kills, respectively. Brooks matched her career-high with 15 digs, tying teammate Lena Yee for the match-high. Grad student Wioleta Leszczynska led all players with 45 assists.
The Red Storm did not trail once in the first set after jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. SJSU called the only timeout of the set with St. John's leading, 11-5. All six starters for St. John's recorded a kill, led by Song and Kovaleva with three each, and the team registered a .310 hitting percentage. The Red Storm won its first set of the season, 25-16, on a Spartan attack error.
The second set saw San Jose State grab its first lead of the match at 2-1. The Red Storm tied the score twice at 6-6 and 7-7. The Spartans built a 14-9 lead, forcing St. John's to call its first timeout. After the breather, St. John's inched closer but would not come within less than four points. SJSU held off for the win, 25-17, on a service ace. The teams went into the locker rooms tied one game apiece.
After the ten-minute break, the lead switched back-and-forth through 7-7 to start set three. When San Jose State jumped ahead 11-8, St. John's used its first timeout to talk it over. The Red Storm pulled within one point at 11-10 then would eventually tie the score at 15-15 on a service ace by Chen, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout. SJSU would take the next four points for a 19-15 lead. Kills by Brooks and Chen and a service error by SJSU brought the Red Storm to within one point three times late in the set. Kovaleva tied the score at 23-23 with a soft kill and San Jose State used its second timeout. After the minute-fifteen, Chen gave STJ set point with a kill but the set would go to extra points. Two kills by Kovaleva won the set, 26-24, and St. John's took a 2-1 lead in the match.
An ace by Leszczynska started things off for the Red Storm as the team built up a 4-0 lead in the fourth set before the Spartans could respond. SJSU would tie the score at 7-7 then take the lead on a double-hit violation. The set remained close until STJ took a 17-12 lead and on a kill by Brooks, forcing San Jose State to call a timeout. The Red Storm offense came up strong to end the set, 25-17, sealing the first victory of the season for STJ.
For the Spartans, senior Kelly Crow led all players with 17 kills and freshman Kylie Miraldi had a match-high eight blocks. Junior Kristal Tsukano had a team-high 13 digs, while senior Brittany Collet led the team with 34 assists.
Up next for the Red Storm volleyball team is a trip to New Britain, Conn. to take on the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils. The match will be on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. at CCSU's Detrick Gymnasium.
