St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Hosts Villanova In BIG EAST Opener
9/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's volleyball team opens its 2010 conference slate with a home match against Villanova on Friday at 7 p.m. The Red Storm will look to remain unbeaten at home and avenge a five-set loss to the Wildcats a season ago.
Entering BIG EAST play the Red Storm is off to a 13-4 start, its best since the 2007 season. STJ has won eight shutouts, the Queens-Nassau Cup and two tournaments in 2010. St. John's also enjoyed a nine-match winning streak from Aug. 28 - Sept. 10.
The Wildcats (11-3) are in the midst of a 10-match winning streak and currently hold a 10-8 advantage over the Red Storm all-time. Villanova defeated the Red Storm 3-2 (25-9, 14-25, 22-25, 29-25, 10-15) in a five-set thriller last season.
FOLLOW THE MATCH LIVE
Fans can keep up with all of the live action by following the St. John's volleyball Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/STJ_Volleyball.
Live stats of every match will be available for free on www.RedStormSports.com.
A live video feed will also be available for every home match of the season on StormTracker All-Access at www.RedStormSports.com.
StormTracker All-Access costs $9.95 per month and $79.95 for the entire 2010-11 Red Storm athletic season.
STORMWATCH
The Red Storm has relied on a balanced attack this season as five players have recorded 100 kills or more.
Four members of the squad are averaging over 2.3 kills per set and five Red Storm athletes have recorded more than 2.0 points per set.
Junior captain Darlene Ramdin is the focal point of the Red Storm attack, recording a team-high .288 hitting percentage (min. 100 attempts).
Ramdin also leads the team defensively tallying a team-high 56 blocks (16 solo, 40 assisted).
Newcomer Anzelika Lukjanska is currently leading the squad in kills with 138 and is second on the team with 137 digs.
Sophomore setter Gabriela Petkova has a team-high 503 assists and is averaging 8.98 per set.
Junior transfer Brunna Kronbauer currently leads the team with 23 service aces.
Freshman libero Korina Yee has recorded a team-high 162 digs and is one of two players to play in all 60 sets (Lukjanska).
THE MATCHUP
The Wildcats currently hold a 10-8 advantage over the Red Storm.
STJ is 4-4 against Villanova at home.
After winning four consecutive meetings, the Wildcats rebounded with a 3-2 victory over the Red Storm in 2009.
Six of the all-time matchups have ended in shutout victories, while five have needed all five sets to decide a winner.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Villanova has started the 2010 season 11-3 and is currently on a 10-match winning streak.
The Wildcats are led by outside hitter Morgan Petkovich. Petkovich currently leads the team with 161 kills for an average of 3.58 per set, ranking her sixth in the conference.
The sophomore was most recently named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for her performance over the past week.
Junior Maggie Mergen is in a close second with 141 kills on the year and leads the team with a .305 hitting percentage.
Mergen is currently ranked 19th in Division I averaging .39 aces per set.
Freshman Alyssa Anderson was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. Anderson, the team's setter, dished out 11.18 assists in 11 sets. She also recorded eight service aces and 20 digs.
Anderson gave out a career-high tying 55 assists in a five-set victory over Maryland.
Anderson is averaging 10.27 assists per set, good for sixth in the BIG EAST, while her 0.60 aces per set are good for second.
Junior defensive specialist Kim Maroon currently leads the BIG EAST and is 17th in the country with 5.43 digs per set.
Nova is currently ranked second in the conference in service aces and digs, averaging 2.0 and 16.41 per set, respectively.
The 2.0 aces per set are good for 14th-best in the country.
Maroon and Mergen were both selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
The Wildcats were picked to finish 11th in the conference in the preseason poll.
HISTORY IN BIG EAST OPENERS
The Red Storm is 8-8 all-time in BIG EAST openers.
STJ has won four consecutive conference openers entering Friday's match against Nova.
STJ is 4-1 all-time in BIG EAST openers played in Carnesecca Arena.
UP NEXT
The Red Storm returns to action on Friday, Oct. 1 when it hosts BIG EAST preseason favorite Cincinnati at 7 p.m.
The Bearcats won last season's match 3-0 over the Red Storm.
The series is currently tied at three matches apiece.
