St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 13 Oregon
Red Storm Falls To No. 13 Oregon, 3-0
8/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - In only their second match of the season, the St. John's volleyball team ran into a tough Oregon squad Saturday afternoon on day two of the 2015 Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West Temple Invitational.
The No. 13 Ducks (3-0) defeated the Red Storm (1-1) in straight-sets, 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-22) to win the invitational and give St. John's its first loss of the season. The Red Storm is now 0-2 all-time against Oregon.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to face one of the best teams in the country. The speed of their game gave us trouble, but we just have to flush that match and get ready for the next one," said head coach Joanne Persico.
The Red Storm was led by sophomore middle blocker Julia Cast, who finished with a team-high in kills and hitting percentage. The Westbury, N.Y., native was very active at the net with seven kills and a .700 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Margherita Bianchin finished with seven kills, three digs and two service aces. Her fellow classmate Pelin Aroguz saw her first action in the Red and White, as she finished with three blocks and two kills.
Senior setter Deniz Mutlugil tallied 18 assists, while senior libero Shawna-Lei Santos finished with 15 digs.
Oregon was led offensively by All-American Martenne Bettendorf, who racked up a match-high 13 kills and six digs. Her teammate Taylor Agost added 10 kills and four digs for the Ducks.
Hitting .346 in the opening frame, the Ducks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on St. John's with a 25-12 win in the first set. Three Oregon players hit over .500 as Lauren Page led the way with three kills and a .750 hitting percentage.
Palgutova added three kills of her own in the second set, but again the Oregon hitting percentage would lead to a 2-0 advantage for the Ducks as they improved to hit .367 in the frame and secured a 25-19 win.
The Red Storm would come out swinging in the third and battled throughout the frame. Back-to-back attack errors by Oregon gave the Red Storm an 18-14 lead midway through the set and forced the Ducks to call a timeout. The Ducks tied it up late (19-19) after an attack error by the Red Storm, but St. John's was unable to close out the set as they fell 25-22 in a close set that saw several tied scores.
St. John's will round out the final match of the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West Temple Invitational tonight against host-school Temple at 7:30 p.m. The Red Storm is 1-2 all-time against Temple. The most recent matchup between the two schools was on Aug. 29, 2009, when the Red Storm lost, 3-0.
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.
