St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Fordham
St. John's Splits Action At 11th Annual Rose Hill Classic
9/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BRONX, N.Y. - After placing second at its annual home tournament yesterday, St. John's made the quick trip to the Bronx to play its fifth and sixth match in a five-day span at Fordham's 11th annual Rose Hill Classic on Sunday. The Red Storm lost a thrilling five-set match, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 21-25, 13-15), to first-time opponent Colorado, but rebounded to take down Fordham, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-13, 25-20), in the tournament's final contest.
The win was the Red Storm's 11th-straight victory over Fordham (2-6) and improves St. John's all-time record to 16-1 against the Rams. The Red Storm is now 7-5 on the 2011 season and will play in one more regular season tournament next weekend at Columbia.
St. John's senior captains Darlene Ramdin and Brunna Kronbauer led the Red Storm at the tournament, tallying 36 and 33 kills, respectively. Ramdin recorded a .325 attacking percentage and tied for a team high with eight blocks, while Kronbauer hit at a .306 clip and notched 15 digs. Kronbauer registered her fifth double-double of the season against Colorado (5-3) with 17 kills and 12 digs.
Anzelika Lukjanska contributed 12 kills for the tournament and a .357 attacking percentage, while junior setter Gabriela Petkova dished out 78 assists, including 49 against Colorado, and added 20 digs.
St. John's and Colorado did not disappoint in the first matchup between the two programs, as the Buffaloes rallied from a 2-0 deficit to prevail in a thrilling five-set match. Behind two 4-0 runs and six blocks, the Red Storm took the opening set 25-22 to gain early control. Freshman Ashley Boursiquot had three big blocks in the opening frame and finished the match with six total rejections. The squads went back and forth to start the second until St. John's was able to score five-straight points and break open a 13-8 lead over the Buffs. Later in the second, junior Sabina Papala made it 17-11 in favor of the Red Storm with back to back service aces, and Ramdin put the finishing touches on the set with her ninth kill of the match, giving STJ a 25-21 win in the second and a 2-0 lead on CU. Ramdin finished the match with a season-high 21 kills.
Colorado picked up the defensive play in the third and fourth set to level the match at two all. CU recorded six team blocks in both the third and fourth, including six from sophomore Nikki Lindow. The Buffs also picked up their hitting and finished the fourth set with a scorching .429 attacking percentage. Lindow finished the match with 12 blocks.
The Red Storm led by as many as four in the fifth and final set, holding an 8-4 advantage, but after switching sides, the Buffs rallied to score four-straight points to level the score. A Kronbauer kill gave St. John's an 11-9 lead, but again the Buffs rallied, finishing the match on a 6-2 run to win the fifth set, 15-13.
STJ fell behind by as many as five in the opening set against the tournament hosts, but used a 7-0 run to take a 22-18 lead over the Rams and closed out the opening frame, 25-22. Ramdin recorded a match-high six kills in the opening set. Fordham got off to a hot start again in the second and once again led 15-10 midway through the game. Led by Brittany Daulton's five kills and four from Rose Diaz-Vazquez, the Rams were able to hold their advantage to take the second set, 25-20, and level the match at one apiece.
With the squads level at nine in the third set, the Red Storm took over the match and went on a 10-0 run, which included four-straight kills and one block from Ramdin, to go up 19-9 on the Rams. The Red Storm easily closed out the set with a 25-13 advantage and headed to the fourth with a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Down 8-3 early in the fourth, the Red Storm rallied once again to outscore the Rams 11-3, taking a 14-11 lead and never looking back. St. John's would go on to win the final set by a 25-20 margin and claim a 3-1 victory in the match. Freshman Danielle Brackett led the rally with two service aces during the run. Brackett, who led the Kaiser Classic in the category, finished the match with three aces.
Defensively, the Red Storm was led by youth as sophomore libero Korina Yee tallied a team-high 26 digs on the tournament, while Brackett and her classmate Morgan Thomas recorded 13 and 11, respectively. Sabina Papala had eight blocks at the net and the freshman Boursiquot finished with six rejections.
St. John's will play its seventh match in as many days when it makes the quick trip to Brooklyn to take on Long Island University (3-7) on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. The Red Storm leads the all-time series with the Blackbirds, 10-2, and has won three-straight matches.
