St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Providence
Providence Holds Off Red Storm Rally in Four Sets
10/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Box Score (PDF)
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The St. John's volleyball team fought hard to come back against Providence on Sunday afternoon, but the Friars held off the Red Storm rally to win the match, 3-1 (21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25).
St. John's (12-10, 3-6 BIG EAST) was led by two newcomers offensively, as Gaia Traballi led the team in kills for the third-straight match with 13 and also added 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Classmate Erica Di Maulo distributed 47 assists, which marked the sixth-time in seven matches she has dished out at least 40 assists.
The Red Storm received solid performances up front by Julia Cast and Danisha Moss. Cast registered 11 kills at .348 clip, while tallying a match-high six total blocks. Moss, a redshirt junior from Toronto, recorded nine kills and led the squad with a .381 hitting percentage.
Delaney D'Amore paced the Red Storm with 14 digs and Margherita Bianchin picked up 12 kills to give her 13 matches with double-digit kills on the year. St. John's started a youthful lineup with three underclassmen and not one senior against the Friars.
Providence (13-11, 1-7 BIG EAST) hit at a .304 clip and had four student-athletes register at least 12 kills, led by Kayla Fitzgerald's match-high 16 kills. Allison Impellizeri tallied 12 kills and hit at a match-high .524 attacking percentage.
The Friars began the match playing well, earning a 14-11 advantage, leading to a timeout by the Johnnies. After the break, St. John's picked up its play going on a 7-3 run including two kills apiece by Bianchin and Traballi. Each team exchanged points until the score was tied at 21 with the Friars taking the next four points to win the first-set, 25-21, which included 14 ties and six lead changes.
The Red Storm started the next set with a 12-10 lead, behind three kills by Moss and seven assists from Di Maulo. The Friars then stepped up their play with a 7-1 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Johnnies fought furiously to comeback in the set, trailing by only two points on three separate occasions, but an error by the Red Storm gave Providence the 25-22 victory. Mona Karkkainen logged four of her nine kills in the second stanza.
St. John's improved its play to open up the next set, winning nine of the first 13 points, but the Friars then won the next five points to even the score at nine. After solid play by both squads, the score was tied at 18. The Johnnies went on a 6-1 run to take a 24-19 advantage and just one point shy of the set victory. Providence won the next two points, until a kill by Moss won the set for the Red Storm, 25-21.
Providence controlled the first half of the set opening up a 14-3 lead, but St. John's rallied to go on a 14-6 run to only trail by three. The Friars held off the Red Storm to win five of the next seven points to win the match, 3-1.
The Johnnies will stay on the road for their next two matches, when they take on Xavier on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. and the next day head to Indianapolis for a showdown with Butler at 6 p.m.
