St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Bryant University
Red Storm Opens Kaiser Classic With Pair Of Sweeps
9/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- VIDEO: Postgame Interview With Coach Persico
- VIDEO: Postgame Interview With Santos
- Box Score (Bryant)
- Box Score (FDU)
- Season Statistics
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm extended its winning streak to eight games and its consecutive-sweeps streak to four games in day one of the Kaiser Classic with a pair of sweeps over Bryant and Fairleigh Dickinson. St. John's (9-1) vastly out-hit its opponents today, attacking at a .400 percentage, while holding Bryant (3-5) and FDU (3-7) to a combined .086 attacking percentage. The Red Storm also outnumbered the Bulldogs and Knights in digs (82-60) and total blocks (16.0-8.0).
Sophomore Aleksandra Wachowicz was the team's leading attacker in Friday's doubleheader, compiling 20 total kills. Senior Milica Krstojevic finished not too close behind with 18 kills on a team-best .643 attacking percentage. The former Oregon Duck also contributed a team-high eight total blocks on the day.
Senior setter Sabina Piegza picked up her 300th assist of the year and also preserved her streak of having at least 20 helpers in every match this season. Piegza currently has 301 assists and a 9.41 assists per set average.
MATCH ONE
After being named Tournament MVP in last weekend's Central Connecticut State Invitational, Wachowicz picked up right where she left off, leading the attack with 14 kills as St. John's opened the second annual Kaiser Classic with a sweep of Bryant (25-13, 25-17, 25-17).
St. John's controlled the entire match, preventing Bryant from taking its first and only lead until the third set. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the final set, but the Red Storm promptly tied the score at 4-4. St. John's then scored five-consecutive points to take a 9-4 lead on a kill and three services by freshman Karin Palgutova and a kill by her classmate Shawna-Lei Santos. St. John's extended its lead to as much as eight over the remainder of the set and cruised to a 25-17 match-clinching victory.
Both Palgutova and Krstojevic had nine kills, four digs, and three blocks apiece.
Piegza had a team-high 26 assists and senior Gabriela Petkova led the team in digs with 14. Freshman Shawna-Lei Santos was second on the team in digs with 11. In the five matches that both Petkova and Santos have notched double-digit digs, St. John's is 5-0.
MATCH TWO
Fairleigh Dickinson played St. John's close in the first set, coming from behind to tie the score three times and even taking over the lead twice. However, the Red Storm broke a 10-10 tie with a 6-1 run and maintained the lead for the remainder of the set. St. John's went on to handily win the second and third sets to defeat the Knights, 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-16).
Freshman Shawna-Lei Santos narrowly missed her first-career double-double with an 11 kill, nine dig effort. Petkova lead the squad in digs with 13.
Piegza had a team-high 30 assists and has now racked up at least 30 helpers five times this season.
Krstojevic picked up five blocks, two solo, which tied her season-high.
The Red Storm will play two matches tomorrow - the first against St. Francis (1-10) at 11 a.m. and the second against Idaho State (4-3) at 3 p.m. Idaho State defeated St. Francis in three-straight sets earlier today.
Admission to all Kaiser Classic matches is free.
FOLLOW THE MATCHES LIVE
- With the exception of the 11 a.m. match between Idaho State and Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, every Kaiser Classic matchup will be streamed live by STJ-TV on StormTracker All-Access.
- Live stats to every match 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.
Below is the remaining Kaiser Classic schedule and links to watch the action live:
| Saturday, Sept. 8 | |
| 11 a.m. | Idaho State vs. FDU* - |
| 11 a.m. | St. John's vs. St. Francis - Watch | |
| 1 p.m. | Bryant vs. St. Francis - Watch | |
| 3 p.m. | St. John's vs. Idaho State - Watch | |
| 5 p.m. | Bryant vs. FDU - Watch | |
* To be played in Taffner Field House. All other matches are in Carnesecca Arena.
