St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Creighton
St. John's Falls To Creighton, 3-1
10/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Box Score | St. John's vs. Creighton - Dig for a Cure Match (Oct. 2, 2015) 
QUEENS, N.Y. - After jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the match following an impressive performance in the first set, the St. John's volleyball team fell, 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 20-25) to Creighton Friday evening at Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm is now 11-7 overall and 1-2 in BIG EAST play, while the Bluejays improved to 9-7 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
"They are a great team and when they had to pick it up they did. We came out strong in the first set but then they made some adjustments. Defensively, we have to do a better job of digging up balls, and when we do that we are a very good team.," said head coach Joanne Persico.
The Red Storm had three players in double-digits in kills while finishing with a .271 attacking percentage. Freshman Pelin Aroguz led the Red Storm as she tallied 13 kills on a .345 attacking percentage. Senior Karin Palgutova and freshman Margherita Bianchin each finished with 11 kills. Palgutova missed a double-double as she recorded nine digs and Bianchin continued her aggressive play defensively as she posted seven digs.
Creighton outdug St. John's 54-41 and posted 68 kills, while St. John's finished with 49. Sophomore Delaney D'Amore led the team with 13 digs and her classmate Julia Cast continued her solid play as she finished with nine kills on a team leading .467 attacking percentage. The middle blocker also made her presence felt at the net with four blocks.
Senior Deniz Mutlugil was efficient in spreading the ball around with 35 assists. The Instabul, Turkey, native also finished with five digs and one service ace.
St. John's came out firing in the first set after jumping out to a 5-1 lead on Creighton, which forced the Bluejays to call a timeout. The Red Storm continued their fast start late in the set after back-to-back kills from Cast, followed by a block from Cast and Mona Karkkainen, which gave St. John's an 18-14 lead. The Bluejays would get within four again (24-20), but Mutlugil would serve up Cast again to take the set, 25-20. St. John's hit at an outstanding .514 clip for the set with 20 kills and only two errors.
In the second frame St. John's trailed Creighton late (18-15) after a service ace by Maggie Baumert. The Red Storm remained close and got within two (19-17) after a block from Aroguz and Cast. St. John's was unable to close the gap late and after back-to-back attack errors by the Red Storm, Creighton held a 24-19 lead. Creighton allowed one more point but Jess Bird responded with a kill that gave the Bluejays the set, 25-20.
St. John's was held to a .121 attacking percentage in the third frame and fell, 25-14. Jaali Winters was a major factor for the Bluejays as she tallied 10 kills in the frame on a .533 attacking percentage. St. John's was battling in the fourth and was tied at 18-18 after a kill from Bird. The Bluejays then went on a 7-2 run to take set (25-20) and match, 3-1.
Follow all the home matches live via GameTracker (free) and StormTracker All-Access (subscription) on RedStormSports.com this season. For more on St. John's volleyball, log onto redstormsports.com or follow the team on twitter (@StJohnsVB) and be sure to use and search the hashtag #sjuvb throughout the entire season.
UP NEXT
The Red Storm will host Georgetown on Saturday on ESPN3 for a match that is slated for 5 p.m. start. The Hoyas defeated Providence, 3-1, Friday night to improve to 7-9 overall and 1-2 in BIG EAST play.
