St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Temple
St. John's Unable To Contain Temple In Tournament Finale
8/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - With little rest between back-to-back matches on Saturday, the St. John's volleyball team fell to host-Temple in straight sets, 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-14) to close out the 2015 Crown Plaza Philadelphia West Temple Invitational.
The Red Storm has not lost consecutive matches in straight sets since the 2011 season, when they fell on the road to both Louisville (Sept. 23) and Cincinnati (Sept. 25). The Red Storm is now 1-3 all-time against Temple.
St. John's (1-2) finished in third place, while Oregon (3-0) took home the tournament title after going undefeated, followed by host-Temple (2-1), and then Navy (0-3) who finished fourth.
Freshman outside hitter Margherita Bianchin was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 3.00 kills per set and 1.33 digs per set.
The Red Storm was held to a .172 attacking percentage, while Temple hit at an impressive .557 clip. Senior Yaidy Santiago showed some fight and stepped up for the Red Storm with eight kills on a .300 attacking percentage, while freshman Pelin Aroguz finished with seven.
Redshirt sophomore Danisha Moss was a bright spot for the Red Storm after tallying four kills on a team-leading .667 attacking percentage. Senior setter Deniz Mutlugil engineered the Red Storm attack with 26 assists.
The Owls had a trio players (Irem Asci, Tyler Davis, Izzy Rapacz) all finish with 14 kills apiece, while Sandra Sydlik was responsible for most of their assists, as she finished with 45 helpers.
Temple jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on St. John's after hitting .679 in the first set to win 25-17. St. John's was effective when they did hit the ball, as they hit .400 in the set to remain close. However, Temple had three players hit over .700 and Rapacz led the way with six kills and a .750 hitting percentage.
The Red Storm had a tough time with the Temple middle blockers in the second frame after getting stopped at the net eight times. Temple continued its hot hitting streak with a .484 percentage, while holding the Red Storm to .057. The Owls took the second set 25-10 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
St. John's made some adjustments heading into the third set and saw some early improvement, but Temple was able to answer and finished the set with a .517 hitting percentage which helped propel them to victory, 25-14.
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.
2015 Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West Temple Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kacey Nady, Oregon
Martenne Bettendorf, Oregon
Sandra Sydlik, Temple
Irem Asci, Temple
Margherita Bianchin, St. John's
Tara Dotzauer, Navy
MVP: Amanda Benson, Oregon
UP NEXT
St. John's will return to Queens to play in its home-opener against Iona on Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm is 7-0 all-time versus the Gaels, including a 3-0 home victory in the last meeting of the series on Sept. 18, 2012.
