St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Opens 2011 Campaign At Kristen Dickmann Invitational
8/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- Game Notes
- Live Stats: St. John's vs. Iona (Aug. 26 - 1 p.m.) | (Aug. 27 - 3 p.m.)
- Follow St. John's Volleyball on Twitter!
- VIDEO: 2011 Season Preview With Senior Darlene Ramdin
- VIDEO: 2011 Season Preview With Junior Gabriela Petkova
QUEENS, N.Y. - Aiming for its fourth BIG EAST Conference title in six years, the St. John's volleyball team opens its 2011 campaign with four matches at Navy's annual Kristen Dickmann Invitational from Aug. 26-27. With 18-year head coach Joanne Persico at the helm, the Red Storm will play Iona, Air Force, Bowling Green and host institution Navy.
For the second season in a row the Red Storm will open its season with a neutral site match against Iona. Last season, STJ topped the Gaels 3-1 to open the Army Invitational, which it went on to win. 2011 also marks the 10th time in 18 seasons that the opener will occur in a neutral setting, and 14th time the debut will be played away from Carnesecca Arena. St. John's is a combined 9-0 against the tournament field and has only lost an impressive eight of 35 total sets against the four programs.
FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE
Fans can keep up with all of the live action by following the St. John's volleyball Twitter feed @STJ_Volleyball or by searching the #stjvball hashtag.
Remember to use both the #stjvball and #ncaavb hashtags throughout the 2011 season.
Live stats will be available for free for the opening match of the tournament against Iona, by going to www.ICGaels.com, and for the Red Storm's final match of the invitational against host institution Navy by following the GameTracker links on www.RedStormSports.com.
STORM TRACKER
Senior middle hitter Darlene Ramdin enters her senior campaign ranked ninth in all-time kills (879) and eighth in all-time blocks (278).
Ramdin is just 121 kills away from becoming the seventh member of the 1,000-kill club, and needs 376 to move into the top five.
The 6-foot-2 Trinidadian needs just 46 blocks to move into the top five, and 189 to take over the top spot on the list. Last season, she recorded a career-high 119 rejections.
Junior setter/libero Gabriela Petkova enters the 2011 season ranked fifth in the STJ record books with 1,720 assists.
With just 341 more helpers, Petkova will pass Lisa Tedder for fourth place on the list.
In 2010, transfer Paulina Piegza registered a .249 hitting percentage, placing her seventh on the Red Storm's career hitting percentage list (minimum 500 attempts).
SCOUTING THE GAELS
For the second season in a row, the Red Storm will open against Iona at a neutral setting. Last season, St. John's topped the Gaels, 3-1, in the opening match of the Army Invitational, and went on to win the tournament.
The Red Storm is 11-6 all-time in season openers.
Its most frequent foe at the invitational, St. John's is 5-0 all-time and has lost just four sets against the Maroon and Gold.
Iona, who reached its second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship last season, finished 2010 with a 20-11 overall record and 12-6 mark in conference play.
The Gaels are returning eight letterwinners from the 2010 squad, including outside hitters Theresea Harvey and Alicja Pawelec. Last season, both Harvey and Pawelec eclipsed the 300-kill mark with 327 and 313, respectively.
SCOUTING THE AIR FORCE FALCONS
St. John's is 1-0 all-time against the Falcons, with the only meeting coming on Sept. 1, 2006 at the College of William & Mary Invitational. STJ won the match 3-0 (30-18, 30-12, 30-11).
Air Force finished the 2010 season with a 4-25 overall record and a 1-15 mark in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons were picked to finish last in the Mountain West in 2011.
The Falcons will be the youngest squad in the conference, and possibly the country, as they return just one junior and four sophomores, and bring in eight freshmen.
SCOUTING THE BOWLING GREEN FALCONS
The Red Storm is 1-0 all-time against Bowling Green as well, with the only meeting coming on Sept. 18, 1998 in a neutral setting. The Red Storm won the match, 3-1 (18-16, 15-10, 9-15, 15-8).
After finishing the 2010 season with an 8-24 overall record and a 2-14 mark in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), head coach Denise Van De Walle will conclude her 29-year career following the 2011 campaign.
The Falcons were picked to place fifth in the MAC East Division in 2011, and sophomore outside hitter Paige Penrod was named to the MAC Preseason All-Conference East Division squad.
Penrod recorded a school record 405 kills her freshman season, and finished second on the team in digs (284) and aces (23). She also added 39 blocks.
SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN
St. John's is 2-0 all-time against Navy, with both matches coming at neutral site locations. The Red Storm defeated the Mids, 3-2 (13-15, 15-7, 7-15, 16-14, 15-7), in its inaugural season in 1994, and claimed a 3-1 (12-5, 15-9, 15-0, 15-9) victory two years later.
The Midshipmen begin in a new volleyball era in 2011 as new head coach Larry Bock takes command. Bock, who came to Navy from Division III Juniata, owns a remarkable career record of 1,252-192, over his 34-year career as a women's coach.
Navy finished 2010 with a 7-23 record and a 1-13 mark in the Patriot League, but return a total of 10 letterwinners.
Among those returners is senior libero Holly Berger, who led the Midshipmen with 420 digs and 37 service aces last season.
The Mids were picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League this season
RAMDIN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST; RED STORM PICKED TO FINISH 10TH
A 2010 Second Team All-BIG EAST performer, Ramdin and 11 other players from around the conference were tabbed to this season's All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, which is voted on by the league's 15 head coaches.
St. John's anchor in the middle led the Red Storm in kills (256), hitting percentage (.261) and blocks (119) last season. Louisville junior Lola Arslanbekova was tabbed as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year.
After tying for ninth in 2010, the Red Storm was picked to finish 10th in the always-challenging BIG EAST Conference this season.
Receiving 11 of the 15 votes, the UofL was picked to win the league with Notre Dame and Cincinnati coming in at second and third place, respectively.
RAMDIN NAMED LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
Ramdin added another preseason accolade to the growing list this afternoon, becoming one of 30 Division I women's volleyball players to be announced as a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Red Storm has never had a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award finalist.
RED STORM EARNS EIGHTH AVCA TEAM ACADMIC AWARD
For the eighth time in program history, the St. John's volleyball team has been honored with the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2010-11 academic year.
The Red Storm, which last received the honor following the 2008-09 season, finished the 2010-11 academic year with a 3.31 cumulative grade point average (GPA), eclipsing the mandatory 3.30 mark that a squad must carry to be considered for the honor.
STJ was previously honored in 1995-96 (3.48 GPA), 1996-97 (3.54 GPA), 1997-98 (3.44 GPA), 1999-00 (3.30 GPA), 2000-01 (3.30 GPA), 2006-07 (3.45 GPA) and 2008-09 (3.30 GPA).
In addition to earning its eighth AVCA Team Academic Award, 2010-11 marks the 18th season - the entire life of the program - where the Red Storm has earned a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better.
UP NEXT
Following the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, St. John's will return home to the friendly confines of Carnesecca Arena for a non-conference matchup with Brooklyn institution, St. Francis College, on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
The Terriers, who are the only two-time opponent on the 2011 slate, were defeated by STJ 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23) in the St. John's Classic last season.
The Red Storm finished the 2010 campaign with an impressive 10-4 record at Carnesecca.
Following the St. Francis match, St. John's will travel to East Lansing, Mich., for three matches in Michigan State's Spartan Showcase from Sept. 2-3.
The Red Storm will face Michigan State, Toledo and Cleveland State at the tournament.
