St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Brown
St. John's Sweeps Brown In San Francisco Challenge Finale
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Box Score (PDF)
Follow St. John's Volleyball on Twitter
SAN FRANCISCO - St. John's bounced right back on Saturday night in a straight-sets (25-7, 25-23, 25-23) victory over Brown to record its seventh-sweep of the season.
St. John's is now a stellar 8-1 on the year and put in another tremendous defensive effort, holding Brown (1-6) to a .094 hitting percentage. The Red Storm also notched more digs with 37 compared to Brown's 24 and out blocked the opponent once again 12-4. As a team, the Johnnies hit at an incredible .329 attacking percentage.
The Preseason All-BIG EAST Team selection, Julia Cast was outstanding on Saturday night collecting 15 kills on a career-high .542 attacking percentage. She also added four total blocks and produced a match-high 17.5 points. The Milan, Italy, native Erica Di Maulo was excellent at the setter position with a match-high 33 assists and logged a team-high eight digs. She has now recorded at least 28 assists in every match this season and was named to the All-Tournament Team for the third time this year.
Two of the leaders for the Red Storm, Danisha Moss and Mona Karkkainen also played great in front of the net against the Bears. Moss, a redshirt junior from Toronto, notched six kills and six blocks, while the senior Karkkainen posted five kills at a .714 clip. Lexie Lobdell put in a great defensive game, as she recorded a career-high seven digs and Margherita Bianchin added nine kills and seven digs against Brown, to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
The first set was an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball from the Johnnies, as they hit at a .522 clip and posted only one attacking error. Brown was held to a -.231 hitting percentage and Moss recorded five total blocks. The Italian duo of Bianchin and Di Maulo had it going on during the opening-stanza, combining for five kills and 12 assists. The 25-7 triumph over the Bears marked the biggest margin of victory in a set for the Red Storm in three years.
Brown was able to find their form in the second-set as each team exchanged points until it was tied at 10. The Bears then went on a 10-3 run to earn a six point advantage over the Johnnies. St. John's came back however, in part to the junior Cast who delivered four kills during the 12-3 run to give the Johnnies a 24-22 lead. The final point of the set came from a great dish by Di Maulo and then finished by Moss to earn the kill.
It was another tightly close affair in the final set of the night, with St. John's owning the largest lead by only three points. The score was tied at 18, until a kill from Karkkainen, an error by Brown and a kill from Cast gave the Red Storm a three-point advantage. The Bears won five of the next seven points to even the score at 23. After another point won on a Cast kill, redshirt senior Melissa Chin won the match with a beautiful ace to take it 25-23.
UP NEXT
St. John's will stay on the road for a midweek showdown against Fairfield on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The Red Storm is 6-2 all-time when facing off with the Stags.
