St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Treks to Cornell Invitational
9/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2009
- Game Notes
- Live Video- Buffalo
- Live Stats-Buffalo
- Live Video-Cornell
- Live Stats-Cornell
- Live Video-Colgate
- Live Stats-Colgate
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's volleyball team will compete in its final non-conference tournament of the year at Cornell on Sept. 18 and 19. The Red Storm is slated to take on Buffalo, Colgate and Cornell in the Cornell Invitational. STJ hopes to continue its in-state success in Ithaca as it has a 5-1 record in matches played in New York.
STORMWATCH
Junior Diana Banya was the most accurate member of the Red Storm against Hofstra on Wednesday with a .409 hitting percentage. Banya tallied 12 kills against the Pride, marking the fifth time this season that Banya notched double-digit kills. Banya eclipsed Kun Song's .357 against Stony Brook as the top hitting percentage this season by a Red Storm player.
Freshman Ashley Asing recorded a career and match-high 24 digs against Hofstra, topping the charts for the Red Storm as a season-high.
Sophomore Darlene Ramdin has recorded 173 kills this season, a team-high, while putting down 5.09 kills per set. Her 5.09 kills per set lead the BIG EAST and rank third in the nation.
Song is averaging a double-double this season for STJ with 10.5 kills and 10.16 digs. Song is second on the team in both categories behind Ramdin and Asing, respectively.
SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo has a 6-4 record this season, winning three of its last four matches. The Bulls are led by senior Dani Silvers, who is fourth in the MAC with 4.03 kills per set. Junior Lindsay Schlegel is first in the conference in service aces per set at 0.53 and sixth in assists (9.80 aps). Rookies Tori Beckman leads the MAC in digs with 4.53 per set.
St. John's leads the all-time series, 3-0 over Buffalo. The series began in 1994, where the Red Storm topped the Bulls, 3-2, on the road. The next match-up came in 2001 as STJ swept UB, 3-0. The Red Storm swept the Bulls again in the last meeting in 2006, 3-0.
SCOUTING CORNELL
Cornell is 2-4 heading into the weekend and will host Colgate for its home opener on Friday, Sept. 18 as part of the tournament. The Big Red won two of its last three matches after an 0-3 start.
The Big Red is led by freshman Deveney Pula and senior Juliana Rogers who each have 34 kills on the season, while Pula and sophomore Jordan Reeder each lead the team with 38 digs.
St. John's leads the all-time series with Cornell, 1-0. The Red Storm has met the Big Red just once, in 2006, where STJ defeated Cornell, 3-1 on the road.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate is 1-6 overall and 0-4 on neutral territory this season. The Raiders are led by freshman Kaleigh Durket, who has recorded 85 kills, which is fourth-best in the Patriot League. Durket is also ranked third in the conference in service aces (14) and seventh in hitting percentage (.252).
The Raiders won their season-opener against Coppin State, 3-0, but have lost the six matches since. St. John's leads the all-time series with Colgate, 5-1, with its only loss coming in 1994 in the first meeting.
UP NEXT
The Red Storm will host Long Island in its final non-conference match of the season. St. John's leads the all-time series with LIU, 9-2. The Blackbirds captured their last win over STJ on Oct. 1, 2004 on neutral territory with a 3-2 victory. The Red Storm won the last match-up, 3-0, in Brooklyn. Tuesday's match is the 12th meeting in all-time series history, making LIU the third-most frequent non-conference opponent (tied with Manhattan) for St. John's.
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 knots the Queens/Nassau Cup title race at four each.
BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS
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 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 STJ 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 2009 OVER 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 senior Ruisa Scheffel's blog on www.RedStormSports.com to keep up with the team this season. Scheffel and 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.
