Red Storm to Host Two Matches for BIG EAST Home Opener

Live Stats
Xavier Broadcast
Butler Broadcast

The St. John's volleyball team will return home this weekend to host BIG EAST opponents for the first time in 2018. The Red Storm will play Xavier on Friday at 7 p.m. before a match against Butler on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Live stats and live broadcasts will be available for both matches on RedStormSports.com. The match against Xavier will be the first of the Red Storm's three appearances on BIG EAST Digital Network and the Butler match will be aired on ESPN3 through SJU-TV.

The Johnnies fell in their first conference match of the season on Wednesday at Georgetown in five sets. It marked the first time since 2013 that the Red Storm lost to the Hoyas after winning eight-straight matches. St. John's had an opportunity to win the match with a 14-13 lead in the fifth set before dropping the next three points and taking an 0-1 BIG EAST record into the weekend.

Erica Di Maulo recorded assist 3,000 in her career in the losing effort. The junior is the fifth in program history to reach that mark and trails Deniz Mutlugil by 304 for fourth on that list. Efrosini Alexakou led the team in kills on her way to the second double double of the freshman's career (15 kills, 11 digs).

Xavier enters the match with a 2-9 record on the season and will play its first conference match of the 2018 season against St. John's after going 1-2 at the Queen City Classic over the weekend. The Musketeers defeated Eastern Kentucky while falling to Indiana and Cincinnati. Meredith Klare leads the team in digs per set (3.78) and in the match against Cincinnati, the senior moved into third place on Xavier's all-time list in digs. She overtook Jordan Brightwell, who played from 2002-05, with career dig 1,611 and finished the match with 1,621.

Despite having only two wins, the Musketeers have put together a solid nonconference schedule, with seven of the first 11 teams Xavier has played currently above .500. This includes Purdue, who is currently ranked 16th in the country, as well as Louisville and Cincinnati who each received votes in the most recent edition of the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Xavier has not lost a conference opener since joining the BIG EAST and the team has won every game to open conference play since 2010. The team's last loss came when Xavier was in the Atlantic 10 and lost to Dayton to open conference play. Xavier split the season series with St. John's last season, falling to the Red Storm in Cincinnati before coming to Queens and knocking off the Johnnies. The first match in 2017 was the first time ever St. John's had defeated the Musketeers.

Butler will also play its first conference match this weekend, with St. John's being the second stop on a road-trip that also features Seton Hall. The Bulldogs enter the weekend 3-9 after going 2-1 at the Bulldog Brawl last weekend. The team dropped its first match on Friday against Cleveland State before coming back and going 2-0 on Saturday sweeping Santa Clara and Kent State.

Elizabeth LaBue and Brooke Gregory made the All-Tournament Team for Butler. LaBue recorded 51 digs in three matches averaging 4.63 per set and leads the team on the season in the category.

The Bulldogs were picked to finish third in the conference behind Marquette and Creighton in the Preseason Coaches' Poll with Bri Lilly leading the way. The senior was unanimously selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team after being named to the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2017. The middle blocker is currently the conference leader in blocks per set after leading the BIG EAST in the category last season (1.23).

Rejections have been a strength for the Bulldogs in recent years as Butler led the BIG EAST in blocks per set in 2017 (2.69) and also lead the conference this season (2.74). Sharon Clark enters her 19th season as head coach of Butler as the program's winningest coach. She has seven 20-win seasons with the Bulldogs and led the team to an NCAA Tournament Appearance back in 2010. The team went 23-8 in 2017 and finished third in the BIG EAST.

St. John's has lost its last five matchups against Butler with the Red Storm's most recent victory in the series coming in 2015. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 8-2 and have won the previous five against the Johnnies.

Red Storm to Host Two Matches for BIG EAST Home Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Efrosini Alexakou

Erica Di Maulo

St. John's University Athletics