St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Maryland
St. John's Volleyball Shell-Shocks Terrapins, 3-2
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The St. John's volleyball team defeated Maryland, 3-2, Saturday morning at the Comcast Center Pavilion for its fourth straight victory. The Terrapins held match leads at 1-0 and 2-1 and late in the fourth set had a 17-10 advantage when the Red Storm rallied to force a decisive fifth set. STJ won the clincher, 15-12, to complete the comeback. With the win, St. John's improves to 4-2 on the season, while the Terps fall to 1-4.
For the second straight match, three players recorded double-doubles for St. John's, as seniors Casie Brooks, Wioleta Leszczynska and sophomore Kun Song led the Red Storm offense. Brooks registered 18 kills and 12 digs, Song had 13 kills and 14 digs, and Leszczynska recorded 52 assits and 14 digs. Senior Lena Yee equaled the match-high with 23 digs, while classmate Chen Chen contributed with 14 kills.
Senior Valeria Kovaleva and freshman Darlene Ramdin were also factors in the victory, as Kovaleva matched her career-high with 18 digs, while Ramdin had seven kills and four total blocks. Freshman Kayla Motoyama recorded a career-high six digs and junior Ruisa Scheffel contributed with three kills in the winning effort.
The score was tied five times to start the first set until the Terrapins took an 8-5 lead and St. John's used its first timeout. Maryland stayed ahead but the Red Storm fought back to tie the score at 13-13 on a kill by Brooks and the Terps burnt their first timeout. After the breather, the set was back-and-forth with Maryland grabbing a lead then STJ tying the score, until the Red Storm took the lead, 18-17, on a Terrapin attack error. With the score tied, 20-20, the Terps took a late lead with a kill, forcing St. John's to use its second timeout. Maryland did not look back as it went on to a 25-21 victory to take the first set.
Set two started with the teams swapping the lead early, until Maryland took a 6-4 advantage. A kill by Brooks and a Terp attack error evened the score at 6-6, but three straight points for Maryland forced the Red Storm to call a timeout trailing, 9-6. After the breather, the Terrapins added one more then STJ rallied back to tie the score, 10-10, and Maryland called its first timeout. The set was tied five times following the timeout until St. John's went ahead 20-17 on a solo block by Chen and the Terps used their second timeout. Two kills and a service ace gave St. John's set-point and a Maryland attack error ended the set, 25-19, and the teams went into the locker rooms tied one set apiece.
Maryland started the third set with a kill and two straight service aces to build a 3-0 lead, but St. John's fought right back and tied the score, 3-3, on a Terp attack error. The Terrapins took a four-point lead, 9-5, and the Red Storm would tie the set up again at 9-9 on a ball-handling error. STJ would take the lead at 12-11 on a Maryland attack error and hold it until the Terps tied the score, 18-18, and the Red Storm used its first timeout. Maryland would regain the lead at 21-20 and St. John's kept it close, but a Red Storm attack error ended the set, 25-23, and the Terrapins took a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Terps started the fourth set with a 5-1 run and maintained the lead, forcing St. John's to use both timeouts early, the second coming down 14-7. With Maryland leading 17-10, two kills by Chen forced the Terrapins to use their first timeout. After the breather, STJ inched even closer with two more kills by Chen. A Red Storm service error and a Terps block made the score 19-16. Maryland reached the important 20-point mark first on a kill then a late St. John's rally forced the Terrapins to call their second timeout leading, 22-20. After the breather, two quick points on a Maryland attack error and a service ace by Leszczysnka tied the score, 22-22. The Terps took the lead again, 23-22, but Brooks would tie the score with a kill. Another Maryland attack error gave St. John's set-point, 24-23, but the Terrapins would force extra points with a kill. A kill by Brooks and a combined block by Chen and Song ended the set, 26-24, and the Red Storm evened the match, 2-2, to force a decisive fifth-set.
Maryland jumped ahead early in set five, 2-0, on a service ace and a kill but the Red Storm quickly responded to take a 3-2 lead on a kill by Chen, a Terp attack error and a service ace by Jia Yue Zhai. The score would be tied five times after and St. John's took an 8-7 lead into the eight-point switch. Song kept the Red Storm ahead with a kill and Maryland took the first timeout trailing, 9-7. After the breather, a Terrapin ball-handling error and another kill by Song put St. John's up, 11-7. The Red Storm would use its first timeout leading, 12-9. After the minute-fifteen, Chen made the score 13-9, but two straight points for Maryland forced St. John's to use its final timeout leading, 13-11. Ramdin gave the Red Storm match-point then the Terps used their final timeout. On the next play, a STJ attack error made the score, 14-12, and a kill by Brooks gave St. John's the set, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
For Maryland, junior Katie Usher led the team with 13 kills, while sophomore libero Bethany Springer tied the match-high with 23 digs. Junior Hayley Hanson had a team-high 27 assists and freshman Lisa Scott put up seven total blocks to lead the team.
The Red Storm returns to action tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the last match at the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational. St. John's will meet up with the Tigers of the University of Missouri.
