St. John's University Athletics
Friday, September 17
Bowling Green, K.Y. (E.A. Diddle Arena)
11:30 a.m.
St. John's University
vs
Austin Peay
St. John’s Heads to Kentucky for WKU Invitational
9/16/2021 11:25:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
This weekend marks St. John’s non-conference finale
QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2021) – Riding its first six-game winning streak since the 2019 BIG EAST Championship season, St. John's will travel to Kentucky this weekend for its non-conference finale at the WKU Invitational.
The Johnnies will play Austin Peay in an 11:30 a.m. match on Friday followed by a 5 p.m. contest with Lipscomb the same day. St. John's will close the tournament at 2 p.m. on Saturday against host No. 23 Western Kentucky. The match against WKU will be live streamed on Facebook and will also have a radio broadcast available. All matches will have live stats available.
Both Lipscomb and Western Kentucky are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances this past spring, including a round of 16 appearance for the host Hilltoppers, who were 23-0 before falling to eventual national champion Kentucky.
In its most recent outing on Tuesday, St. John's defeated Stony Brook in four sets at Pritchard Gymnasium. The Johnnies won the first set, 25-15, before dropping the second set, 25-19. The Red Storm came back to win sets three and four by scores of 25- 12, and 25-21, respectively. Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Rachele Rastelli led the Red Storm's efforts with 18 kills, two service aces, three blocks and three digs.
That win over Stony Brook came a few days after the Johnnies recorded their fifth straight title at their home tournament, The Jack Kaiser Classic. St. John's won a pair of five-set matches on Sept. 10 to begin the tournament before swept Army the following day. Against Fordham in the opener, the Red Storm faced in a 2-0 deficit before coming back to win three straight sets. The script was flipped in the Johnnies' win against Boston College, as St. John's won the first two sets before the Eagles evened the match. The Red Storm narrowly closed the fifth set to take the victory. Rastelli, who recorded 31 of her 65 kills on the weekend against Boston College, was named Tournament MVP while Giorgia Walther and Klara Mikelova earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.
Rastelli, Tiziana Baumrukova and Ariadni Kathariou are climbing up the national statistical leaderboards. Through games played on Sept. 12, Rastelli is tied for second in points with 187, fourth in total kills with 164, 24th in points per set with 5.05, and 29th in kills per set with 4.43. She also ranks 44th with 359 total attacks. Baumrukova ranks eighth with 11.24 assists per set and 11th in total assists with 371 while Kathariou is currently tied for 38th with 41 total blocks.
Austin Peay enters the tournament with a 5-4 overall record after going 1-2 this
past weekend at the Indiana State Invitational. The Governors split two matches on Friday, losing to Western Michigan in three sets before taking a victory against IUPUI in four sets. The following day, the Governors fell in five sets to Indiana State. Austin Peay is led by graduate student Brooke Moore, who was named to the Preseason All-OVC team after recording 147 kills and 169 digs in 14 matches for the Governors last season.
2020 ASUN Champion Lipscomb heads to WKU with a 2-6 overall record. The Bisons went 0-2 this past weekend at the Xavier Invitational, falling to both the Musketeers and No. 6 Purdue before sweeping Belmont in a mid-week match. Lipscomb returns Delaney Dilfer and Meg Mersman, both of whom were preseason all-conference selections. Dilfer posted 633 assists and 112 total digs last season while Mersman put down 171 kills for the season and ranked first in the ASUN with 71 total blocks across 20 matches.
WKU enters its home tournament with an 8-1 record. This past weekend, the Hilltoppers went 2-1 at the Holiday Inn University Plaza Tournament, recording three-set sweeps against Samford and UT Martin and falling to Ole Miss in four sets. Western Kentucky returns three All-Americans in Paige
Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne and Lauren Matthews. Briggs recorded 232 kills on the season to rank fourth in C-USA while Dieudonne ranked first in C-USA and fourth in the nation with 11.68 assists per set. Matthews was top 50 in the nation in five categories and recorded 25 kills in a three-set match on Feb. 22, 2021 against Charlotte, the second highest single game total in the nation last spring.
This weekend will be the first time the Red Storm faces any of these opponents.
The Johnnies will play Austin Peay in an 11:30 a.m. match on Friday followed by a 5 p.m. contest with Lipscomb the same day. St. John's will close the tournament at 2 p.m. on Saturday against host No. 23 Western Kentucky. The match against WKU will be live streamed on Facebook and will also have a radio broadcast available. All matches will have live stats available.
Both Lipscomb and Western Kentucky are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances this past spring, including a round of 16 appearance for the host Hilltoppers, who were 23-0 before falling to eventual national champion Kentucky.
In its most recent outing on Tuesday, St. John's defeated Stony Brook in four sets at Pritchard Gymnasium. The Johnnies won the first set, 25-15, before dropping the second set, 25-19. The Red Storm came back to win sets three and four by scores of 25- 12, and 25-21, respectively. Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Rachele Rastelli led the Red Storm's efforts with 18 kills, two service aces, three blocks and three digs.
That win over Stony Brook came a few days after the Johnnies recorded their fifth straight title at their home tournament, The Jack Kaiser Classic. St. John's won a pair of five-set matches on Sept. 10 to begin the tournament before swept Army the following day. Against Fordham in the opener, the Red Storm faced in a 2-0 deficit before coming back to win three straight sets. The script was flipped in the Johnnies' win against Boston College, as St. John's won the first two sets before the Eagles evened the match. The Red Storm narrowly closed the fifth set to take the victory. Rastelli, who recorded 31 of her 65 kills on the weekend against Boston College, was named Tournament MVP while Giorgia Walther and Klara Mikelova earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.
Rastelli, Tiziana Baumrukova and Ariadni Kathariou are climbing up the national statistical leaderboards. Through games played on Sept. 12, Rastelli is tied for second in points with 187, fourth in total kills with 164, 24th in points per set with 5.05, and 29th in kills per set with 4.43. She also ranks 44th with 359 total attacks. Baumrukova ranks eighth with 11.24 assists per set and 11th in total assists with 371 while Kathariou is currently tied for 38th with 41 total blocks.
Austin Peay enters the tournament with a 5-4 overall record after going 1-2 this
past weekend at the Indiana State Invitational. The Governors split two matches on Friday, losing to Western Michigan in three sets before taking a victory against IUPUI in four sets. The following day, the Governors fell in five sets to Indiana State. Austin Peay is led by graduate student Brooke Moore, who was named to the Preseason All-OVC team after recording 147 kills and 169 digs in 14 matches for the Governors last season.
2020 ASUN Champion Lipscomb heads to WKU with a 2-6 overall record. The Bisons went 0-2 this past weekend at the Xavier Invitational, falling to both the Musketeers and No. 6 Purdue before sweeping Belmont in a mid-week match. Lipscomb returns Delaney Dilfer and Meg Mersman, both of whom were preseason all-conference selections. Dilfer posted 633 assists and 112 total digs last season while Mersman put down 171 kills for the season and ranked first in the ASUN with 71 total blocks across 20 matches.
WKU enters its home tournament with an 8-1 record. This past weekend, the Hilltoppers went 2-1 at the Holiday Inn University Plaza Tournament, recording three-set sweeps against Samford and UT Martin and falling to Ole Miss in four sets. Western Kentucky returns three All-Americans in Paige
Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne and Lauren Matthews. Briggs recorded 232 kills on the season to rank fourth in C-USA while Dieudonne ranked first in C-USA and fourth in the nation with 11.68 assists per set. Matthews was top 50 in the nation in five categories and recorded 25 kills in a three-set match on Feb. 22, 2021 against Charlotte, the second highest single game total in the nation last spring.
This weekend will be the first time the Red Storm faces any of these opponents.
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
RH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
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