St. John's University Athletics
St. John's To Continue BIG EAST Play at Villanova
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's volleyball team travels to Villanova on Sunday, October 18 for its 18th all-time match against the Wildcats. The Red Storm trails, 9-8 in the series and looks to even the series record this weekend in Villanova, Pa.
STORMWATCH
Sophomore Darlene Ramdin continues to lead the conference in two statistical categories for the sixth-straight week, after missing the first week of the season to compete with the Trinidad and Tobago national team. The sophomore tops the league in points per set (5.40) and kills per set (4.70). Ramdin is one of two BIG EAST Student-Athletes that leads the conference in more than one overall statistical category.
Junior Kun Song earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after recording a career-high 20 kills against Syracuse in a 3-1 loss. Song finished the day with her ninth double-double of the season with 11 digs, while hitting .425 in the match. Song followed with 12 kills the following day against Marquette.
Junior Diana Banya set the tone for the Red Storm against the Golden Eagles on Oct. 12, hitting .727, a season-high for STJ. Banya had nine kills in 11 attempts.
Sophomore Jordan Haskins set a career-high with seven kills against Syracuse on Oct. 10, eclipsing her previous best of six, registered against East Carolina in the season-opener.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Villanova is currently 14-6 overall, with a 3-3 record in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats are led by Kim Maroon, who leads the BIG EAST in both dis per set (6.08) and service aces (54). Maroon's 54 aces are 20 more than any other player in the conference.
Krista Anderson and Maggie Mergen lead the Wildcat attck as Anderson leads the team with 238 kills, while Mergen is second on the squad at 229 kills this season.
INSIDE THE SERIES
In the last meeting, STJ defeated Villanova, 3-1 in Queens. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 9-8, after winning the first six consecutive meetings. St. John's turned the tables in 1998, claiming the next four. The Red Storm has also won the last four meetings, with only one match going to five sets.
UP NEXT
St. John's returns home next weekend for a 2 p.m. match against the Connecticut Huskies on Oct. 24 in Carnesecca Arena.
ST. JOHN'S DEFEATS DEPAUL TO OPEN BIG EAST SEASON
STJ took down DePaul, 3-1, in its BIG EAST season-opener at home on Sept. 25. The Red Storm lost the first set, but came back for the win with three straight sets. The match continued a five-game win streak at home.
Sophomore Darlene Ramdin hit .400 against DePaul, registering 15 kills in just 30 attempts. The performance ranks as the second-highest hitting percentage from a match this season behind Diana Banya's 12-kill outing against Hofstra on Sept. 16. Banya hit .409 against the Pride.
STJ SURVIVES EXCITING 3-2 WIN OVER LIU
After surrendering in the first two sets to LIU, the Red Storm powered past the Blackbirds in the final three sets for the 3-2 win and the 10-2 all-time series advantage, improving to 5-0 all-time at home against LIU. Sophomore Darlene Ramdin led the team with 23 kills, while junior Kun Song notched her eighth double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs against the Blackbirds.
RED STORM RECLAIMS QUEENS/NASSAU CUP
Head coach Joanne Persico and the Red Storm brought the Queens/Nassau Cup back to Queens on Sept. 16 with a 3-1 defeat of Hofstra. STJ fell in the first set, but rallied behind Darlene Ramdin to win the final three sets. Ramdin finished with a game-high 22 kills.
The win gave St. John's the 8-7 advantage in the all-time series with Hofstra and evens the Queens/Nassau Cup titles at four each.
BIG EAST ACCOLADES
Sophomore Darlene Ramdin earned STJ Classic All-Tournament team honors for her performance against Boston College, Fordham and Quinnipiac. Ramdin combined for 65 kills in the tournament and went on to receive the first BIG EAST Player of the Week accolades (Sept. 7) of her career, outscoring the next-highest leader in the conference by 28 points in her first week back on the court for St. John's this fall. Ramdin now ranks No. 1 in the BIG EAST Conference at 5.67 kills per set.
Ramdin's 29 kills against Boston College on Sept. 4 were the most by a member of the Red Storm since Dec. 7, 2007 when Hui Ping Huang tallied 29 against USC in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
RED STORM TAKES HOME PAIR OF WINS IN ST. JOHN'S CLASSIC
St. John's earned two wins in the St. John's Classic on Sept. 4 and 5. The Red Storm made its first sweep of the season over Quinnipiac, 3-0, before downing Fordham in the nightcap, 3-1.
Sophomore Darlene Ramdin notched 29 kills in a 3-1 loss to Boston College and continued the hot-streak with 25 kills against Fordham and 11 versus Quinnipiac, both game-highs. Her performance landed her STJ Classic All-Tournament team honors.
Head coach Joanne Persico notched the 15th win of her career over Fordham as part of the STJ Classic. The Red Storm has a 15-1 all-time series record with the Rams, the only loss coming in 1999 in the Bronx.
Freshman Ashley Asing came up with a game-high 21 digs to lead the Red Storm against Fordham. The rookie earned the starting role this season on defense and has held her own in the back row for St. John's.
Rookie Gabriela Petkova's 55 helpers against the Fordham Rams were the most by a member of the Red Storm this season. Petkova is ranked seventh in the conference in assists per game at 10.27.
ST. JOHN'S NOTCHES FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AT STONY BROOK
Stony Brook claimed the first set, but the Red Storm took over from there, winning the second set, 25-15, the third set, 25-18 and the fourth, 25-22. The match marked sophomore Darlene Ramdin's first of the season after returning from the World Nationals, where she represented Trinidad and Tobago. Ramdin recorded 20 kills, a then career-high. Freshman Gabriela Petkova notched 43 assists in the match and junior Kun Song tallied a game-high 13 digs.
BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES POLL
STJ was picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST conference in 2009 according to the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll. The Red Storm has been chosen in the top five in each of the last four seasons and took home three consecutive BIG EAST regular season titles.
FOLLOW THE RED STORM! Fans, show your support for the St. John's volleyball team by joining it on Twitter and Facebook! Go to www.RedStormSports.com to take part in all the action as the Red Storm begins its BIG EAST season in 2009.
You can also catch the Red Storm volleyball blog on www.RedStormSports.com to keep up with the team this season, where a variety of St. John's student-athletes write to fans each week as part of the Eye of the Storm blog on the official website for St. John's University Athletics.
