St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Villanova
Villanova Defeats St. John's In Straight Sets
10/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
QUEENS, N.Y. - For the first time in conference play, St. John's (12-8, 2-3 BIG EAST) was defeated in straight sets. The Red Storm were unable to take a frame away from Villanova (14-4, 4-1 BIG EAST) as the Wildcats won, 3-0 (21-25, 16-25, 20-25) on Wednesday night in Carnesecca Arena. With the victory, the Wildcats now lead the all-time series 14-12.
The Red Storm were held to a .074 attacking percentage, while the Wildcats hit at a .242 clip. Senior Karin Palgutova finished with 10 kills, five blocks and service aces two. Sophomore Julia Cast tallied five kills and two blocks, while redshirt junior Briana Guzman added a spark off the bench and finished with three kills on a perfect hitting percentage and a block.
St. John's was outdug by the Wildcats, 41-33, with freshman Margherita Bianchin leading the team with eight digs, followed by redshirt junior Melissa Chin, who finished with seven. Redshirt sophomore Danisha Moss was solid at the net finishing with a match-high six total blocks, including two solo stuffs. Senior Deniz Mutlugil controlled the offense with 19 assists, while also picking up four digs.
Villanova had three players in double-digits in kills with sophomore Allie Loitz leading the way with 11 kills on a .409 attacking percentage. Redshirt junior Gabby Pethokoukis finished with a .538 hitting percentage on the night to go along with 10 kills for the Wildcats.
St. John's defense was evident in the first set as they held Villanova to a .135 attacking percentage in the opening frame. However, St. John's committed seven errors on a .000 attacking percentage and the Wildcats would jump out to an early 1-0 lead with a 25-21 win.
Palgutova picked things up in the second set with five kills while hitting the ball efficiently with a .444 attacking percentage, but again Villanova was able to hold the Red Storm to a .094 attacking percentage, while hitting at a .263 clip. The Wildcats had three players' record four kills in the frame and St. John's would drop the second set, 25-16.
In the third frame, the Red Storm jumped out to a 4-1 lead after Palgutova served up back-to-back aces and a kill. St. John's kept the set close early, but two consecutive kills by senior Lauren Carpenter forced the Red Storm to call a timeout down four (13-9). An attack error by Pethokoukis got the Red Storm within four (22-18) late, but could not complete the rally and dropped the deciding set, 25-20.
UP NEXT
St. John's continues BIG EAST play on the road as the Red Storm will face Providence at Alumni Hall on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m.
Head coach Joanne Persico notched her 400th career victory against the Friars last season with a straight-sets win on Oct. 4, 2014 at Carnesecca Arena. Persico is the all-time winningest coach in St. John's volleyball history.
Persico, the 2006 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, also led the Red Storm to a 3-1 victory at Providence on Oct. 25, 2014. St. Johns has won seven-consecutive matches against the Friars and have a 10-4 lead in the all-time series.
