Red Storm Downs Butler in Five Sets

Saturday, September 22

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

4:00 PM

St. John's University

13-5 (2-1)

Butler

4-10 (1-1)

BUTLER

St. John's

9/22/2018 7:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

St. John’s sweeps the home opening weekend in BIG EAST play

By: Eric Robinson

Box Score

The St. John's volleyball team won in five sets for the second-straight day, this time against Butler.

For the first time since 2013, the Red Storm has now played in three-consecutive matches that have gone all five sets. They fell at Georgetown on Wednesday in five before knocking off Xavier last night and Butler on Saturday in the full five frames.

It also marked the first time in program history the Red Storm has taken down travel partners Butler and Xavier at home on back-to-back nights.

Efrosini Alexakou posted her third double double in a row with a career-high 22 kills to go with 13 digs. Kayley Wood added 14 kills and Erica Di Maulo finished with 49 assists to lead the team.

The Red Storm won despite getting blocked 23 times in the match. Instead the Johnnies hit the ball more efficiently than the Bulldogs, outhitting them .167 to .117 in the five sets. Nia Diaz led the way for St. John's with a .316 clip converting seven of 19 chances for kills. Amanda Sanabia finished one dig shy of her career high she set Friday night against Xavier, ending with 31 on Saturday.

The Johnnies began the match on a high note, taking the first set for the first time in conference play 25-22. Alexakou hit .364 in the set leading the team with six kills. The Red Storm fell behind 17-13 before going on a 7-1 run highlighted by kills from Alexakou and Diaz. The Bulldogs would tie it at 21-21 before Wood posted two kills to give St. John's the set.

The Bulldogs responded in set two 25-21 and held St. John's to a -.027 clip in the frame. 10 of Butler's 23 blocks came in the second. The Red Storm got out to a 6-0 lead using two service aces by Di Maulo before a 13-6 Butler run but the Johnnies down one. With the Red Storm down 21-20, the Bulldogs took four of the next five to even the match at one set each.

St. John's rebounded in the third set, winning 25-21 thanks to a .321 clip in the frame. Di Maulo chipped in 13 assists with Sanabia adding eight digs in the third set. Hanna Wagner also posted two of her team-leading five blocks in a set that held Butler to a .059 hitting percentage. The Red Storm came back from a 14-8 deficit using an 8-2 run to tie it at 16. With the score knotted at 20-20, the Johnnies went on a 5-1 run with two-straight kills from Wood to end the frame.

Butler forced a fifth set after taking the fourth 25-22 despite five kills from Rachele Rastelli. The freshman ended the match with 11 on the night. Diaz also added her first career service ace in the fourth. The Johnnies could not come back down 14-8 this time as the Bulldogs controlled the frame from the beginning and extended the match to a deciding frame.

The fifth was mostly controlled by St. John's who took the winning set 15-11. The Red Storm took the lead for good at 6-5 and saw a kill by Wagner give the Johnnies their second BIG EAST victory. Wagner would finish the match with six kills.

The Red Storm will next travel to Villanova to take on the Wildcats on Tuesday night for the team's fourth match in seven days.