St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Butler
Red Storm Volleyball Falls at Butler
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
• Box Score (PDF)
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INDIANAPOLIS - In a rematch on the road, the St. John's volleyball team was bested by Butler on Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) to finish up its four-match road trip.
The Red Storm (12-12, 3-8 BIG EAST) started four freshmen and had six starters from five different countries, including newcomer Hanna Wagner, who made her first collegiate start and added five kills. Classmate Gaia Traballi just missed a double-double, tying the team-high with nine kills, while collecting nine digs. Coming off the bench, Margherita Bianchin posted nine kills and hit at a team-high .286 clip. St. John's was led on the defensive side by Delaney D'Amore, who picked up a team-high 11 digs.
Butler (16-10, 5-5 BIG EAST) was able to hold off the Red Storm's stellar blocking prowess, out blocking the Johnnies, 15-3. The Bulldogs hit at a .274 clip and were led by Anna Logan's match-high 14 kills. Makayla Ferguson added a double-double for Butler with 29 assists and 13 digs, while also tacking on eight total blocks.
The largest lead of the opening-set was only three points and featured four lead changes with 12 ties. St. John's was trailing 14-11, until a 10-6 run gave the Johnnies its first lead of the set, 21-20. Butler would come right back to win five of the next seven points to take the first-stanza, 25-23. Julia Cast recorded all six of her kills, while Erica Di Maulo distributed 13 of her team-high 17 assists in the first-set.
Butler carried its momentum from the previous set to win the second frame, 25-20. The Johnnies were down 21-11, but continued to fight in the second-stanza, winning nine of the next 12 points to cut the Butler lead to, 24-20. The comeback came up short, after a kill by Whitney Beck gave the Bulldogs the set victory. Redshirt junior Hope Demel came off the bench and dished out six assists and Traballi posted three kills in the second-set.
The last set of the evening started with the score tied at nine, but Butler began to pull away and won the frame, 25-19. Five different Red Storm student-athletes picked up kills in the third-set, including four by Traballi and Demel added nine of season-high 15 assists in the stanza.
Next up, the Red Storm will come back to Carnesecca Arena for its final homestand of the year, as it faces Providence on Friday night at 7 p.m. The next day, the Johnnies will battle with BIG EAST leading Creighton at 5 p.m.
