St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Hosts St. Francis In 2011 Home Opener
8/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
QUEENS, N.Y. - After picking up a pair of victories at Navy's Kristen Dickmann Invitational last weekend, the St. John's volleyball team will host Brooklyn rival St. Francis in the 2011 home opener on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. The Red Storm is 5-0 all-time against the Terriers and looks to remain unbeaten early in the 2011 campaign.
The Red Storm (2-0) opened the season with a 3-1 win over Iona, before shutting out Air Force, 3-0, at last week's invitational. Due to Hurricane Irene, the Red Storm's final two matches of the tournament against Bowling Green and Navy were cancelled. Senior outside hitter Brunna Kronbauer recorded 24 kills, a .321 hitting percentage and 28 digs to earn all-tournament honors. Kronbauer was also named to the season's first BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for her efforts.
St. John's is 5-0 all-time against the Terriers (0-2), with the last meeting resulting in a 3-0 shutout at the 2010 St. John's Classic. In fact, all five matchups against St. Francis have resulted in shutouts. The Red Storm is 13-4 all-time in home openers and has won seven of its last eighth. STJ finished the 2010 season with a 10-4 mark at Carnesecca Arena.
FOLLOW THE MATCH LIVE
The match will be aired live on StormTracker All-Access, with free live stats provided by GameTracker. Ralph Bednarczyk will be on the call with analyst Priya Desai and sideline reporter Tiarra Scott. Fans can tune in for a monthly fee of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95.
Fans can also 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.
STORMWATCH
Head coach Joanne Persico, the only coach in program history, enters the match just seven wins away from 350 total victories with a 343-207 overall record.
With 16 kills at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, senior middle hitter Darlene Ramdin passed STJ alum Jenna Panatier for eighth place on the all-time kills list. Ramdin now has 895 career kills, one better than Panatier. Ramdin also ranks eighth in all-time blocks with 285.
The Trinidadian captain is just 105 kills away from becoming the seventh member of the 1,000-kill club, and needs 360 to move into the top five. She also needs just 39 blocks to move into the top five, and 182 to take over the top spot on the list. Last season, she recorded a career-high 119 rejections.
Junior setter/libero Gabriela Petkova is currently ranked fifth in the STJ record books with 1,736 assists.
With just 325 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).
INSIDE THE SERIES
St. John's and St. Francis have met five times dating back to the Red Storm's second season in 1995, with STJ taking all five meetings by a 3-0 margin.
Four of the five victories have come at home, with the 2002 meeting coming at a neutral setting.
Last season, St. John's topped SFC 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23), with recent alum Diana Banya tallying a team-high 10 kills.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs coming in a month other than September.
St. Francis is the only team that appears twice on the Red Storm's 2011 slate, with another meeting scheduled on Friday, Sept. 16 at the Columbia Invitational.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Not including the Terriers match on Tuesday, Aug. 30 against Lafayette, St. Francis is 0-2 on the young 2011 season, with losses coming against NJIT and Rider at the St. Francis College Invitational. The Terriers third match of the invitational against Fordham was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene.
St. Francis head coach Micah Acoba enters his second campaign with the Terriers after celebrating one of the school's most successful seasons to date. Last season, SFC went 10-19 overall, the most wins since the 2001 season, and finished 6-10 in the Northeast Conference.
A senior last season, Anisa Lila became St. Francis' first All-Northeast Conference selection since 2000. Lila led the league in kills (443) and kills per set (4.18).
This season, the Terriers return four letterwinners, including one starter, and welcome six newcomers to the squad.
Junior outside hitter Marina Georgieva currently leads the team with 30 kills, a 3.75 kills per set average and 21 digs.
Sophomore setter Kamalei Clifton leads the squad with 55 assists on the season, averaging 6.88 per set.
UP NEXT
Following the St. Francis match, St. John's will travel to East Lansing, Mich., for three matches at Michigan State's Spartan Showcase from Sept. 2-3.
The Red Storm will face Michigan State, Toledo and Cleveland State at the tournament.
STJ is 1-1 all-time against the Spartans, with both meetings coming at a neutral site. In the last meeting, the Red Storm topped MSU, 3-1, on Aug. 25, 2007.
St. John's will play both Cleveland State and Toledo for the first time in program history at the event.
