St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Welcomes Fairfield for Midweek Showdown
9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes
Audio
•
QUEENS, N.Y. - After capturing the Cornell Invitational title this past weekend, the St. John's volleyball team returns home to Carnesecca Arena for its seventh match in the last 11 days, when the Red Storm welcomes the two-time defending MAAC Champion Fairfield for a Tuesday night showdown at 7 p.m.
Tomorrow's match will mark the first contest outside of a tournament setting for the Red Storm (7-3) this season. Additionally, the game against Fairfield will be the final contest of an 11-match stretch of games played in New York to begin the 2017 campaign for the Johnnies. Fans can listen to the game for free through our official athletics website, RedStormSports.com with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call.
St. John's finished with a 2-1 record last weekend at the Cornell Invitational with straight-set victories over Valparaiso and Binghamton. The Johnnies, Big Red and Crusaders all picked up two victories, but the Red Storm won the three-way tiebreaker by dropping the least amount of sets in the tournament.
Playing in just her third weekend of collegiate volleyball, Kayley Wood was named MVP after picking up 25 kills, nine blocks and hit at a .316 clip. Erica Di Maulo earned a spot on the all-tournament team at the Cornell Invitational and has been exceptional in non-conference play over the past two seasons as the Milan, Italy, native has now garnered a spot on an all-invitational team in all seven tournaments the sophomore setter has played in. Joining Di Maulo on the all-tournament for the second time in her career, Danisha Moss collected 17 blocks and registered 14 kills in the three matches. For the season, six different Johnnies have found a spot on an all-tournament team, showing the balance up-and-down the lineup.
Opening up the invitational last Friday night, St. John's swept Valparaiso in large part to an all-around solid game as four players tallied 10 or more digs and three student-athletes notched 10 kills. The Red Storm held the Valpo attack to a .074 hitting percentage and Delaney D'Amore led the backline with a match-high 17 digs. Jordan McCalla played well on both ends of the court with a season-high 13- dig and 10-kill performance for the newcomer's third double-double of the year.
In the matchup with Cornell, the Red Storm fell in three tightly contested sets as every frame was within the three points or less. Julia Cast recorded 14 kills, while Di Maulo notched her fifth double-double of the season on 32 assists and 13 digs.
Wrapping up the tournament against Binghamton, the Johnnies dominated the front of the net with a season-high 16 rejections in the straight-set victory. Hanna Wagner led the Red Storm with a career-high eight blocks, while McCalla recorded a team-high nine kills. The Johnnies currently sit at 13th in the nation in blocks per set and Moss ranks 41st with 1.39 blocks per set.
The Stags will enter Carnesecca Arena with a 4-6 record and most recently hosted the Fairfield Invitational and went 1-2 with a victory over New Hampshire and two setbacks to Washington State, who is receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll. In the four set triumph over New Hampshire, Head Coach Todd Kress recorded his 400th collegiate victory and Skyler Day reached the 1,000 kill plateau. Day, the 2016 MAAC Player of the Year, averages 3.33 kills and 2.47 digs per set on the season. Manuela Nicollini conducts the offense for the two-time defending MAAC champions with 9.28 assists per set and has 28 blocks through 10 matches. St. John's leads the all-time series with the Stags, 6-3, but last season the Red Storm fell in a five set thriller at Fairfield, which was the first time these teams faced each other since 2007.
