St. John’s Snaps Four-Game Win Streak in Five-Set Loss to Hofstra

Tuesday, September 10

Hempstead, N.Y. (David S. Mack Physical Education Center)

7:00 PM

St. John's University

4-0

Hofstra

4-0

St. John's (NY)

Hofstra

St. John’s Snaps Four-Game Win Streak in Five-Set Loss to Hofstra

9/11/2019 12:12:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Erica Di Maulo recorded 46 assists and 12 digs against the Pride

By: Jared Anderson

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (Sept. 11, 2019) – After kicking off a four-game win streak against NJIT last week, the St. John's volleyball team fell to Hofstra in five sets on Tuesday night inside the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.

Set scores were 25-18, 26-28, 22-25, 25-21 and 11-15, with St. John's taking the first and fourth set.

Senior setter Erica Di Maulo posted a double-double, registering 46 assists and 12 digs on the night. Di Maulo's 46 helpers now put her at 4,066 career assists, 308 shy of passing Wioleta Leszczynska at the No. 3 spot with 4,374 all-time assists.

Sophomore Efrosini Alexakou led the way for the Johnnies with a team-high 16 kills, while Rachele Rastelli and Klara Mikelova each threw down 14 balls of their own.

St. John's and Hofstra remained within one point of each other throughout the start of the first set, as Di Maulo dished the ball to Rastelli for a kill midway through to give the Johnnies a two-point lead, 10-8. Rastelli helped the Red Storm extend its lead to 19-12 by recording a team-high five kills in the set. Ariadni Kathariou picked up the final two points for the Red Storm following a block and a kill to lift St. John's, 25-18.

The Red Storm jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the second, before the Pride worked its way back to tie things up at 11. Three-straight kills from Alexakou helped St. John's go on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to four, 16-12. However, Hofstra battled back and went on a 4-0 run of its own before closing out the set in extras, 28-26.

The Johnnies and the Pride went point-for-point throughout the opening half of the third frame. Despite a Rastelli kill to tie the match at 21, Hofstra went on a 3-0 run to close out the set, 25-22, and take a 2-1 lead.

After another tight battle early in the fourth, the Johnnies eventually jumped out to a 17-13 lead following a service ace from freshman Iliana Rodriguez. Kills from Mikelova and Alexakou helped St. John's extend its advantage to six, 24-18. The Red Storm held off a late push by the Pride, 25-21.

Hofstra grabbed an early 6-3 lead in the final set before St. John's stormed back with a 4-0 run to tie the score at 10 apiece. Mikelova pushed the Johnnies ahead, 11-10, but the Pride stopped the Red Storm's run with five unanswered points of their own to take the match in five sets, 15-11.

St. John's will look to pick up its fifth win of the season against Stony Brook at the Home2 Suites Tallahassee Seminole Invitational on Friday, beginning at 11 a.m.