Red Storm to Play Second-Seed Marquette in BIG EAST Semifinals

Friday, November 23

Omaha, Neb.

3:00 PM

St. John's University

Marquette

Red Storm to Play Second-Seed Marquette in BIG EAST Semifinals

11/22/2018 2:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

St. John’s will play in its first BIG EAST Championships since 2012 at 3 p.m.

By: Eric Robinson

Championship Central
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After coming in third place in the regular season, the St. John's volleyball team will continue into the postseason on Friday afternoon in the BIG EAST Semifinal match against Marquette.

It will be the third time these two teams will meet, with the Red Storm falling in both of the previous meetings, and the second-consecutive match between the two schools after the Johnnies traveled to Milwaukee for Marquette's Senior Day.

The match will be broadcast live on BIG EAST Digital Network via Fox Sports Go, with stats also available throughout the match.

The winner will advance to the Championship Match of the four-team field on Saturday at 5 p.m. and play the winner of the fourth-seed Villanova and the top-seed and host Creighton.

For the Red Storm, it has been a season to remember made even more memorable when the conference released its All-BIG EAST Awards on Wednesday. Efrosini Alexakou, Amanda Sanabia, and Erica Di Maulo were all named to the First Team All-BIG EAST, with Di Maulo being one of seven named to the team unanimously.

Alexakou won Freshman of the Year after leading St. John's in kills with 336 after not arriving to Queens until September, posting 3.50 kills per set, which ranked fifth in the conference. The outside hitter was the only underclassman in the Top 10 in the category. She earned three Freshman of the Week honors en route to the team's second Freshman of the Year in three years after Di Maulo won the award two years ago.

For Sanabia, her junior season was also one to remember as she was named Libero of the Year after setting the program record for digs in a season. She topped Lena Yee, who is also the last member of the Red Storm to win the Libero of the Year, with 660 digs in 2018. She earned three Defensive Player of the Week awards.

The team also earned the Coaching Staff of the Year Award under Head Coach Joanne Persico. It is the second time she has been honored after being named Coach of the Year in 2006. She also won Player of the Year back at Syracuse in 1986.

Last Saturday, the Red Storm fell at the Golden Eagles on Marquette's Senior Day. The Johnnies hung with Marquette through the first set before falling 26-24. Alexakou led the way with nine kills for the Red Storm, with Rachele Rastelli right behind with eight kills, while adding an ace and three blocks.

Rastelli has also shone in her first season at St. John's. The freshman finished right behind Alexakou with 333 kills while finishing second in blocks with 84.

The Golden Eagles also saw postseason honors go their way as like St. John's they had three named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and one named to the Second Team as well.

Marquette has been the most explosive team offensively in the conference, leading in every statistical team category on the offensive end. They ranked first in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.285), assists per set (13.86). kills per set (14.86), and service aces per set (1.80).

One of those on the First Team was the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year in Allie Barber. The junior leads the conference with 4.59 kills per set and ranks second in hitting percentage with a .357 clip.

The Red Storm will look to take down Marquette for the first time since November 13, 2016 when they did so on the road in five sets.