St. John’s to Begin Season in Hawaii on Friday

Friday, August 30

Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)

10:45 PM (ET)

St. John's University

No. 13 Washington

8/29/2019 5:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Live Stats (Washington)Watch (Hawaii)Live Stats (Hawaii)Live Stats (San Diego)Game Notes (PDF)

Red Storm to take on a loaded field at the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic

By: Victoria Lanza

The St. John's Volleyball team will kick off its 2019 campaign in the Aloha State beginning on Friday evening, taking on a loaded field at the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic.

St. John's will start the tournament against No. 13 Washington at 10:45 p.m. ET inside Honolulu's Stan Sheriff Center. The Red Storm will then take on the host Rainbow Wahine the following day. Because of the time difference, the game will technically not start until early Sunday morning on the East Coast, as the two teams are set to tip off at 1 a.m. The Red Storm will close things out with the second matchup of the "day" on Sunday, facing off against No. 21 San Diego at 8:45 p.m. ET. The Red Storm's match with Hawaii, who received votes in the AVCA preseason poll, can be streamed on BigWest TV while all three contests will feature live stats.

All three of the Red Storm's opponents this weekend earned a berth to the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Washington and San Diego were two of the final 16 teams standing in the regional semifinal round and both earned a place in the final AVCA Coaches Poll of the season.

Joanne Persico, the only head coach in program history, enters her 26^th season at the helm of the Red Storm volleyball program on the heels of a spectacular effort in 2018. The Johnnies posted a record of 23-12, including a 12-6 mark in conference action that was good enough for a third place finish in the BIG EAST. The team's highest win total since 2007 helped the Johnnies secure their first bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

Returning plenty of talent from the 2018 squad, St. John's was picked to finish third in the 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Efrosini Alexakou and reigning BIG EAST Libero of the Year Amanda Sanabia were named to the 2019 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team alongside senior Erica Di Maulo. Di Maulo, who was tabbed to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team for the third-consecutive season, and Alexakou were two of just four players in the league to earn unanimous selection. Di Maulo, a three-time First Team All-BIG EAST selection, led the league with 1,389 assists last season while Alexakou topped the team and ranked fifth in the conference with 3.57 kills per set. Sanabia broke the program's single-season digs record and led the BIG EAST with 716 a year ago.

The Johnnies also return a trio of significant contributors in senior Hanna Wagner, junior Kayley Wood and sophomore Rachele Rastelli. Wagner, a middle blocker from Schwerin, Germany, led the team and ranked third overall in the league with 133 blocks. Rastelli and Wood ranked second and third, respectively, on the team in kills while Rastelli chipped in 33 service aces and 93 blocks, both of which also ranked second on the squad. Rastelli, a native of Parma, Italy, was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week of Aug. 28 of last year after posting two double-doubles and 61 kills in four matches at the Jack Kaiser Classic.

Five newcomers are set to join the Red Storm in 2019 as well. Two of those first-time Johnnies are junior college transfers as Tiziana Baumrukova and Maria Angelica Palacios will join the Red Storm from Miami Dade College while Klara Mikelova comes to Queens from NAIA Lindsey Wilson College. Baumrukova and Mikelova are from the Czech Republic, while Palacios hails from Colombia. A pair of American freshmen round out the Red Storm's newcomers, as New York native Iliana Rodriguez will join the Johnnies alongside Honolulu native Mimi Larry.

Washington enters the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic coming off a 2018 campaign during which fifth-year Head Coach Keegan Cook led the team to its fourth-straight 20-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance. The No. 13 Huskies return six starters from last season's squad, including 2018 AVCA Third-Team All-American Kara Bajema. The outside hitter registered a team-high 475 kills while also notching 533.5 points, 333 digs and 55 blocks over 123 sets. Washington also returns Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection Ella May Powell and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention Lauren Sanders. Powell returns as a sophomore setter for the Huskies after posting 1,317 assists as a year ago, averaging 10.17 assists per set. Sanders led the team with a .315 attack percentage in 2018. The Huskies' service game dominated the Pac-12 and ranked 16th in the country with 197 aces.

Friday will be the first meeting between the two programs.

Hawaii will look to rebuild on the court after losing six starters and three All-Big West First-Team selections from its 2018 roster. The Rainbow Wahine will turn to seniors McKenna Ross and Kirsten Sibley to fill the void of former outside hitter McKenna Granato. Granato collected 324 kills for the squad in 2018, helping lead Hawaii to an 18-9 record and the program's 26th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Senior setter Norene Iosia will be the sole returning starter for Hawaii after recording 477 assists, 212 kills, 301 digs and 57 blocks in 2018.

The two programs have faced off just once with Hawaii topping St. John's, 3-1, in 2014.

San Diego checked in at no. 21 the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll following a round of 16 run in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Outside hitters Katie Lukes and Roxie Wiblin and middle blocker Megan Jacobsen earned spots on the 2019 All-WCC Preseason Team. Wiblin, who led the team in kills with 308 last season, spent the summer with the U.S. Collegiate National Team.

St. John's and San Diego will meet for the first time in Hawaii. St. John's is 4-2 all-time against WCC programs with its last win coming in five sets against San Francisco in 2016.