St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Princeton
St. John's Sweeps Princeton To Open Rockvale Outlets Classic
9/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The St. John's volleyball team defeated Princeton 3-0 in the opening match of the Rockvale Outlets Classic hosted by No. 2 Penn State. With the win the Red Storm improves to 12-3 on the season and 9-6 over the Tigers all-time.
St. John's (12-3) was led by junior Brunna Kronbauer and senior Diana Banya on the offensive end as they recorded nine and eight kills, respectively. Kronbauer finished one dig shy of her third double-double of the season, while Banya finished with a team-high .333 attacking percentage. Junior captain Darlene Ramdin also performed well, finishing the match with seven kills and only two errors for a .312 hitting percentage.
Once again the Red Storm performed well defensively holding Princeton (4-4) to a .070 attacking percentage and recording nine team blocks. Freshman Korina Yee led the Red Storm defensively with 13 digs, while junior Sabina Papala registered a team-high four blocks. Three other Red Storm athletes recorded three blocks in the match.
The St. John's defense came to play in the first set against the Tigers, holding the Ivy League opponent to a .000 hitting percentage, forcing eight errors and recording eight total block assists. Papala led the team with three blocks in the set, while her classmate Anzelika Lukjanska picked up two.
The Red Storm took a 4-1 lead over Princeton early in the first set and would extend it to 9-3 following two consecutive Princeton attacking errors. A nice finesse shot over the Red Storm block from Princeton's setter Molly Bagshaw cut the deficit to 10-5. STJ responded moments later with back-to-back blocks from Lukjanska and Papala to take a 16-8 lead. The Tigers would pull to within 18-13 following a block of their own, but a cross-court kill from Kronbauer, a kill from Papala and a service ace from Kronbauer, her 22nd of the season, would give STJ a 25-17 victory in the first set.
Princeton picked up the offensive play in the second set jumping out to a 6-1 lead over the Red Storm. After STJ rallied back to within two points, 8-6, the Tigers picked up the pace once again outscoring STJ 5-1 and extending their advantage to 13-7. Following a Coach Joanne Persico timeout, her Red Storm went on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 13-10. A block assist from Ramdin and Kronbauer pulled STJ within one point and a Kronbauer ace, her second of the match, tied the set at 17 apiece.
Banya gave St. John's its first lead of the set, 18-17, with a kill down the left line. The Red Storm extended its lead to 24-21, putting the squad in a set-point situation. Despite the deficit the Tigers showed no sign of quitting, rallying back to tie the set at 24 apiece. With the set level Banya and Kronbauer struck again with back-to-back kills to win the set 26-24 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Lukjanska got the potential match-ending third set started for the Red Storm with a jump serve that clipped the top of the net and fell over for her 17th ace of the season. Ramdin and Piegza continued the stifling defense for the Red Storm, recording a block assist to give STJ a 6-5 advantage. STJ went ahead as many as 17-13 but the Tigers came charging back again, outscoring the Red Storm 5-1 to level the score at 18. However, with the help of three Princeton attacking errors, St. John's went on a 7-2 run to end the set 25-20 and win the match by a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-20) advantage.
Sophomore setter Gabriela Petkova also fell one dig short of a double-double, picking up a team-high 18 assists and adding nine digs. Junior transfer Alyssa Bennett also added 10 assists for the Red Storm. STJ recorded five service aces in the match.
The Red Storm returns to action tomorrow with matchups against George Washington (8-3) at 1 p.m. and Penn State (7-1) at 7 p.m. to conclude the Rockvale Outlets Classic.
