St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
St. Francis
St. John's Places Second In Kaiser Classic
9/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- Photo Gallery
- VIDEO: Post-Tournament Interview With Coach Persico
- Box Score (St. Francis)
- Box Score PDF (St. Francis)
- Box Score (Idaho State)
- Box Score PDF (Idaho State)
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm split its final two matches of the Kaiser Classic, sweeping St. Francis and then falling to Idaho State, 3-1, in the tournament champion-deciding contest. St. John's (10-2) had its nine game win streak and five consecutive sweeps streak snapped with the loss to the Bengals (6-3), who went 3-0 in the tournament. The Red Storm placed second with a 3-1 record, Bryant and Fairleigh Dickinson both went 1-2 to tie for third place, and St. Francis finished fifth with a 0-3 mark.
Idaho State's junior setter Lori Mendenhall was named Tournament MVP after racking up a double-double (47 assists, 12 digs) in the tournament-clinching victory against St. John's. Her teammate Jaclyn Hone-Hawkins was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Freshman Shawna-Lei Santos was chosen as the St. John's representative on the All-Tournament Team after nearly collecting two double-doubles during the Kaiser Classic. The Hawaiian notched 11 kills and nine digs in a sweep of FDU on Friday night and collected nine kills and 11 digs in the final match against Idaho State today.
Meaghan Wheeler of FDU, Feliz Ramirez of St. Francis, and Alexandria Clyburn of Bryant round out the rest of the Kaiser Classic All-Tournament Team.
MATCH TWO
Attacking errors were the difference maker in the championship game between St. John's and Idaho State. The Bengals committed just 21, attacking at a .264 percentage, while the Red Storm committed 31 and attacked at just a .164 percentage - its second lowest of the season. With a superior attacking percentage, Idaho State was able to defeat St. John's, 3-1 (34-32, 20-25, 25-21, 25-14).
In set one, the most tightly played set of the season thus far, neither team led by more than two points. The score was also tied 23 times and the lead changed nine times. Idaho State achieved set point first by taking a 24-23 lead, but allowed St. John's to tie the score on an attack error. The Red Storm then re-took the lead and had set point four total times, but Idaho State came back to tie it each time. With the score tied at 32-32, Tressa Lyman notched back-to-back kills to win the first set, 34-32.
The Red Storm bounced back to take the second set, 25-20, behind the efforts of sophomore Aleksandra Wachowicz, who racked up seven kills in the set to help St. John's tie the match at 1-1.
The third set saw three runs of five or more unanswered points. Down 5-3, Idaho State tallied five straight points to take an 8-5 lead. St. John's then came back from a 14-10 deficit with seven unanswered points to take a 17-14 lead - its largest of the set. However, the Bengals used their own seven-point run later in the set to take a 23-18 lead and cruise to a 25-20 victory.
Idaho State drew first blood in the fourth and final set and maintained the lead for its remainder, defeating St. John's 25-16.
Two St. John's career-highs were either tied or broken. Senior Milica Krstojevic established a new career-high for blocks with seven while Wachowicz tied her career-high of 21 kills. However, she also led the team with 10 attack errors.
Senior setter Sabina Piegza extended her season-long streak of having 20-plus assists in every match by notching a season-high 47 helpers.
Santos nearly missed a double-double for the second time in three games with a nine kill, 11 dig performance.
 Head Coach Joanne Persico smiles with Athletic Director Emeritus and namesake of the Kaiser Classic, Jack Kaiser, and his wife Connie.  | |
MATCH ONE
The Red Storm picked up its fifth consecutive sweep and ninth straight win by defeating St. Francis, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-14). The Terriers scored the first point in the first and second sets, but St. John's promptly tied the score and took the lead both times. The Red Storm prevented the Terriers from taking a lead for the rest of the match and held them to just a .010 attacking percentage.
Krstojevic led the attack for St. John's, converting her first 11 attack attempts. Krstojevic finished the match with a career-high 12 kills, a .786 attacking percentage, a pair of digs, and a pair of blocks.
Sophomore Ashley Boursiquot was second on the squad in kills with nine. She finished with a .400 attacking percentage and added three blocks. Her classmate, Yana Vavdiyuk, contributed seven kills, six digs and a team-high four blocks.
With 26 assists, Piegza preserved her season-long streak of having at least 20 helpers in every match.
Senior libero Gabriela Petkova led the squad in both service aces (3) and digs (16).
UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Red Storm will play in its fourth tournament of the season at the Blackbird Invitational in Brooklyn, N.Y. St. John's will take on Maryland at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14 before playing host school LIU-Brooklyn at 10 a.m. and NJIT at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15.
