St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Volleyball Clinches BIG EAST Tournament Berth
11/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - After today's results, the conference office announced that St. John's secured the No. 8 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and will take on No. 1 Louisville in the quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis. at the Al McGuire Center.
Every BIG EAST Tournament match will be streamed live on www.bigeast.tv and the BIG EAST Championship Central page will have all the latest information throughout the tournament. The Championship match will be broadcast live on ESPNU on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
This will be the second time this season that St. John's and Louisville - which is ranked No. 11 in the nation - will meet. On Oct. 12, the Cardinals edged the Red Storm, 3-2, at Taffner Field House. The only time St. John's and Louisville have met in the BIG EAST Tournament was in 2007 when the Red Storm defeated the Cardinals, 3-0, to win the conference championship.
St. John's will make its first BIG EAST Tournament appearance since 2008. Below is how the entire tournament field will look:
| BIG EAST | OVERALL | ||
| 1. | Louisville | 14-1 | 25-3 |
| 2. | Marquette | 13-2 | 24-5 |
| 3. | Notre Dame | 13-2 | 20-7 |
| 4. | Connecticut | 10-5 | 19-11 |
| 5. | Cincinnati | 9-6 | 11-18 |
| 6. | USF | 7-8 | 16-13 |
| 7. | Pittsburgh | 7-8 | 17-13 |
8. | St. John's | 7-8 | 20-11 |
HOW ST. JOHN'S CLINCHED
After Friday's results, St. John's fell to 7-8 in BIG EAST play, while USF, Pitt, and Seton Hall moved into a tie for seventh place in the league with 6-8 records. The Red Storm, however, was guaranteed a berth even if all three teams were to win on Sunday.
BIG EAST rules state: "If three or more teams finish the season tied, they are viewed as a 'mini-conference' when comparing head-to-head results. The team or teams with the best combined record versus the other teams in the mini-conference gains an advantage over the other teams and is removed from the 'mini-conference'. The remaining tied teams then begin the tie-breaking procedure from the beginning.
If USF, Pitt, and Seton Hall all won on Sunday, they would have been put in a 'mini-conference' with St. John's to decide the final three spots for the BIG EAST Tournament.
Below is how the mini-conference would have looked:
| W | L | Details | |
| USF | 2 | 1 | (Wins: STJ, Pitt … Loss: SHU) |
| Pitt | 2 | 2 | (Wins: SHU, STJ … Losses: SHU, USF) |
| Seton Hall | 2 | 2 | (Wins: PITT, USF … Losses: STJ, Pitt) |
| St. John's | 1 | 2 | (Win: SHU … Losses: PITT, USF) |
USF would have the best combined record in the mini-conference at 2-1 and place sixth in the standings. The Bulls would be removed from the mini-conference, leaving Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, and St. John's to start the tiebreaker over. Below is how the new mini-conference would look.
| W | L | Details | |
| Pitt | 2 | 1 | (Wins: SHU, STJ … Losses: SHU) |
| St. John's | 1 | 1 | (Win: SHU … Loss: PITT) |
| Seton Hall | 1 | 2 | (Win: PITT … Loss: STJ, Pitt) |
Because Pitt has the best record in this mini-conference, they would be removed and place seventh in the league, leaving St. John's and Seton Hall to vie for the eighth place spot. Because the Red Storm defeated the Pirates in their only matchup of the season, St. John's would have received the tiebreaker and the last spot in the BIG EAST Tournament.
HOW ST. JOHN'S RECEIVED THE NO. 8 SEED
However, because Seton Hall lost to Syracuse on Sunday, they were eliminated from postseason play and St. John's, Pitt, and USF were put into a mini-conference to decide seeding for the BIG EAST Tournament. Below is how the mini-conference played out:
| W | L | Details | |
| USF | 2 | 0 | (Wins: STJ, Pitt) |
| Pitt | 1 | 1 | (Win: STJ … Loss: USF) |
| St. John's | 0 | 2 | (Losses: PITT, USF) |
USF had the best combined record in the mini-conference at 2-0 and received the sixth seed. The Bulls were then removed from the mini-conference leaving Pitt and St. John's to start the tiebreaker over. Because the Panthers defeated the Red Storm in their only matchup of 2012, Pitt won the tiebreaker and the No. 7 seed, while St. John's was tabbed with the No. 8 seed.
UP NEXT
St. John's will begin play in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 16 against No. 11 Louisville (25-13, 14-1) at 1:30 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis at the Al McGuire Center.
