St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Brown
St. John's Sweeps Opposition At CCSU Invitational, Wins Tournament
9/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2012
- Box Score (Holy Cross)
- Box Score (Brown)
- VIDEO: Highlights and Interview with Piegza after Sweep of Brown
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NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Red Storm completed a sweep of the competition at the Central Connecticut State Invitational with a pair of 3-0 victories over Brown (2-1) and Holy Cross (0-6) on Saturday. St. John's (7-1) went undefeated in the tournament to become the 2012 CCSU Invitational Champions.
Sophomore Aleksandra Wachowicz was named Tournament MVP after leading the Red Storm in kills in all three matches. In Friday's 3-1 win over host school CCSU, Wachowicz set a new career-high for kills with 21.
"Aleksandra was fantastic," head coach Joanne Persico. " She had a lot of breakthroughs this weekend and I think she's getting better with each match she plays."
Senior Sabina Piegza and freshman Karin Palgutova also received All-Tournament honors. Piegza racked up a season-high 41 assists vs. CCSU on Friday and had 9.9 assists per set during the CCSU Invitational. Palgutova tallied 34 kills on a team-best .469 attacking percentage and had at least seven digs in every match during the tournament.
"I'm really proud of the team and staff for the way we pushed through and took the tournament title," Persico said. "We had great team chemistry this weekend."
MATCH ONE
In its first match today, St. John's swept Brown (25-18, 25-16, 25-22). Piegza dished out 38 assists in the win, extending her streak of having at least 30 helpers to four games.
"I'm more experienced right now," Piegza said, "But I have very, very good hitters who can put the ball down. So that's the reason for the number of assists."
St. John's led for the entirety of the first set, but had to stave off a late 4-0 Brown run that cut the lead to 17-14. Coach Persico then took a timeout, which allowed the Red Storm to gather itself and end the set on an 8-4 run. A block by sophomore Ashley Boursiquot and Palgutova gave St. John's a 25-18 first set victory.
Brown took an early 6-5 lead in the second set, but it proved to only be temporary as St. John's tied it at 9-9 and then to a 25-16 victory.
The third set was more evenly matched with nine tied scores and five lead changes, but St. John's pulled out a victory after trailing by as much as 17-13. The Red Storm ended the set on a 6-2 run to win, 25-20, and pick up their fourth sweep of the season.
Sophomore Maddie Lord, Brown's leading attacker last year, was held to just four kills and a .053 attacking percentage by the St. John's defense.
Both senior Gabriela Petkova and freshman Shawna-Lei Santos picked up double-digit digs for the fourth-straight match. Petkova led the team with 12 and Santos finished with 11. Santos also added a season-high four service aces, which is the most by anyone in a match this year.
Three St. John's attackers finished in double-digit kills. Wachowicz, who had a career-high 21 kills yesterday, compiled a team-high 18 against the Bears. Both senior Milica Krstojevic and Palgutova notched 10 kills. Palgutova had a team-high .562 attacking percentage and also had the third-most digs on the squad with seven.
MATCH TWO
In its final match of the CCSU Invitational, the Red Storm picked up its second sweep of the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Holy Cross (25-19, 25-7, 25-22). St. John's kept up its solid hitting with a .300 attacking percentage whereas the Crusaders were held to just a .060 attacking percentage.
After picking up a win in a tightly played first set with seven tied scores and four lead changes, St. John's completely dominated the second set with a 25-7 victory. The Red Storm leapt ahead 16-1 and then cruised to a 25-7 win.
Holy Cross bounced back in the third set, making the end of the match interesting with a 4-0 run, but St. John's staved off the Crusaders, winning the final set, 25-22.
Wachowicz led the Red Storm in kills again with 13. She also added a pair of service aces and eight digs.
With 28 assists, Piegza maintained her season-long streak of having 20 or more assists.
Petkova contributed a team-high 18 digs.
UP NEXT
The Red Storm will return home to Carnesecca Arena for its annual Kaiser Classic, which will take place from Sept. 7-8.
St. John's will host Bryant, Fairleigh Dickinson, Idaho State, and crosstown foe St. Francis.
There will be a total of eight games in the two days with the Red Storm playing in four of them.
Below is a complete schedule for the Kaiser Classic:
Friday, Sept. 7
2:30 p.m. St. John's vs. Bryant
5 p.m. Idaho State vs. St. Francis
7 p.m. St. John's vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Saturday, Sept. 8
11 a.m. Idaho State vs. FDU*
11 a.m. St. John's vs. St. Francis
1 p.m. FDU vs. St. Francis
3 p.m. St. John's vs. Idaho State
5 p.m. Bryant vs. FDU
* To be played Taffner Field House. All other matches to be played in Carnesecca Arena.
