St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
STONY BROOK
St. John's Volleyball Sweeps Stony Brook, 3-0
9/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's volleyball team swept Stony Brook, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-14) Tuesday night at Taffner Field House. With the win, the Red Storm ends non-conference play with a 9-6 overall record, as the Seawolves fall to 6-9.
Senior Lena Yee led all players with 20 digs for St. John's in the victory. Classmate Wioleta Leszczynska spread the ball out evenly between the Red Storm attackers, picking up a match-high 37 assists. Four STJ players recorded eight kills to lead the match: seniors Valeria Kovaleva, Chen Chen, Casie Brooks and sophomore Kun Song. Kovaleva also notched double-digit digs with 10 in the match. Freshman Darlene Ramdin chipped in with seven kills and a match-high five blocks.
The Red Storm began the first set on a 10-1 run and never looked back as the squad won the first set, 25-13. Song led all players with five kills in the first set, and the Red Storm defense held Stony Brook to just a .069 hitting percentage in the frame. Ramdin put up three blocks as STJ took a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set saw back and forth play until St. John's took the lead for good on a kill by Chen to make the score 5-4. The Red Storm built up a 13-8 lead when the Seawolves used their first timeout. Back from the break, Stony Brook fought back to within two points at 14-12 and force STJ to call for time. After the breather, the Red Storm rode out an 11-6 run to win the second set, 25-18, and take a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Yee accumulated nine digs to lead all players in the second frame.
After the ten minute break, St. John's started off with a 9-4 lead, forcing the Seawolves to call their first timeout. One play later, after a Stony Brook kill, St. John's quickly called a timeout. The Red Storm doubled up the score, 14-7, before SBU used its second and final timeout. Back from the break, STJ finished the match with a 10-4 run, as the Red Storm won the third set, 25-14.
For the Seawolves, sophomore Ashley Headen equaled the match-high with eight kills, while freshman Kelsey Sullivan led the team with 20 assists. Senior Gulce Nazil Dikecligil registered a team-high 10 digs.
St. John's begins defense of its back-to-back BIG EAST Regular Season titles on Friday, Sept. 26, when the Red Storm plays host to the Bearcats of Cincinnati. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Taffner Field House.
