Red Storm To Host Iona In Midweek Matchup

Sept. 17, 2012

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 17, 2012) - After placing second in the Blackbird Invitational last weekend, St. John's (12-3) will host Iona (4-8) on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. The Red Storm is 6-0 all-time against the Gaels and has defeated them, 3-1, in their previous four meetings. This is the third consecutive season that the two schools will meet as St. John's opened both the 2010 and 2011 seasons with victories over Iona.

FOLLOW THE MATCH LIVE

STJ-TV will stream live video with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call. Fans can tune in on StormTracker All-Access for a monthly fee of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95.
Free live stats will be available via GameTracker.
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.

SCOUTING THE GAELS

After winning just two of their first ten matches this season, Iona picked up a pair of victories last weekend to improve to 4-8.
On Saturday, Sept. 15, Iona opened MAAC play with a 3-1 win over Manhattan and followed up with a sweep of Saint Peter's the next day.
The Gaels are 1-1 against BIG EAST teams this year as they defeated Connecticut, 3-1, on Aug. 25 and were swept by Rutgers on Aug. 31.
Iona's other losses came against Arizona, TCU, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Lipscomb.
St. John's and Iona have shared one opponent thus far in the season - NJIT. The Gaels defeated the Highlanders, 3-1, on Aug. 29 and the Red Storm swept them this past weekend at the Blackbird Invitational.
So far, Iona's opponents have bested them in attacking percentage, .216 to .189.
Preseason All-MAAC selection sophomore Catrina Warren leads the Gaels in kills (130), attacking percentage (.325), service aces (12), and blocks (44). The middle blocker is also picking up digs at a 1.30 per set average.
Following a 12-14 record in 2011, Iona was picked to finish seventh in the ten-team MAAC.
St. John's is 2-0 against the Gaels at home, 1-0 at Iona, and 3-0 at neutral sites.

RED STORM PLACES SECOND IN BLACKBIRD INVITATIONAL

St. John's went 2-1 in the Blackbird Invitational, picking up wins against NJIT and host school LIU Brooklyn and losing to Maryland.
The Terrapins downed St. John's in straight sets on Fri., Sept. 14 and then went on to sweep NJIT and LIU Brooklyn to claim the tournament crown.
The Red Storm defeated LIU Brooklyn in a five-set thriller on Sept. 15. After St. John's won the first two sets, the Blackbirds fought back to win the next two. LIU Brooklyn mounted a 14-11 lead in the fifth set, but St. John's went on a 5-0 run to win the match.
On the same day, St. John's swept NJIT to improve to 12-3 on the season.
Freshman Karin Palgutova and senior Milica Krstojevic were named to the All-Tournament Team. Both Palgutova and Krstojevic established a new career-high for kills during the Blackbird Invitational.

PALGUTOVA NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

During a 2-1 week for the Red Storm, freshman Karin Palgutova racked up a team-high 36 kills (3.27 per set) and .311 attacking percentage. She also tallied a squad-best five service aces, notched 10 digs, and had the third-most blocks (7).
The only freshman to be named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this week, Palgutova has now earned two BIG EAST weekly honors this season.
Just two weeks ago, she became the first St. John's volleyball player to be named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week since Hui Ping Huang on Dec. 14, 2005.
Palgutova set new career-highs in kills (19) and service aces (4) in a 3-2 win over host school LIU Brooklyn in the Blackbird Invitational. Five of her 19 kills came in the match-clinching fifth set.

STORMWATCH

In the opening match of the Blackbird Invitational, senior setter Sabina Piegza passed Stasha Levi to take over eighth-place on the all-time assists list.
Piegza, who now has 1,205 career assists, needs 224 more helpers to pass Casie Brooks, who is in seventh-place with 1,428 career helpers.
After transferring from Western Nebraska C.C. in 2011, Piegza compiled 758 assists in her first season with St. John's.
Piegza currently has 447 assists this season and has a 9.12 assists per set average this season.

GABY THE GREAT

Senior libero Gabriela Petkova passed Lisa Tedder for fourth-place on the assists during the CCSU Invitational (Aug. 31 - Sept. 1). She currently has 2,086 career assists.
Wioleta Leszczynska, who has 4,374 career assists, occupies the third-place spot.

UP NEXT

St. John's will continue the homestand by opening up BIG EAST play with a match against Georgetown (6-6) on Fri., Sept. 21 and a match against Villanova (5-8) on Sun., Sept. 29
The Red Storm owns a 10-8 record against Georgetown and has won five of the past seven meetings between the two programs.
Last season, the Red Storm was defeated, 3-1, by the Hoyas at Georgetown.
St. John's is 9-11 all-time against Villanova, but was victorious in its last meeting with the Wildcats.
In 2011, the Red Storm downed the Wildcats in straight sets at Villanova.

Players Mentioned

Casie Brooks

Hui Huang

Milica Krstojevic

Wioleta Leszczynska

Karin Palgutova

Gabriela Petkova

Sabina Piegza

St. John's University Athletics