St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
16-8,7-4Big East
Xavier
14-7,7-4Big East
St. John’s Drops Five-Set Match to Xavier
10/28/2022 11:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Red Storm are 10-2 at home
QUEENS, N.Y. (Oct. 28, 2022) – The St. John's volleyball team fell to Xavier in five sets in a pivotal matchup in the BIG EAST standings on Friday night in Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm (16-8, 7-4 BIG EAST) are now tied for third place in the conference with the Musketeers (14-7, 7-4).
Giorgia Walther led the team with 18 kills, nine digs and a service ace.
Erin Jones notched her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and a season-high 23 assists. Lucrezia Lodi recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Rachele Rastelli registered 15 kills, drawing her within seven of tying Jackie Ahler's mark of 1,766 for second most kills in St. John's history.
Wiktoria Kowalczyk tallied a team-high 35 helpers.
The Red Storm out-dug the Musketeers 70-60.
The back-and-forth first set featured eight ties. Leading 15-14, the Johnnies used a 3-0 spurt to take a 18-14 lead, and force a Musketeers timeout. After the timeout, Xavier scored two quick points, but with a 19-16 lead, the Red Storm would string together four consecutive points, with the latter two via service aces by Sheena Yoshioka. Facing set point, Xavier was able to score four consecutive points before ultimately dropping the set on a kill by Lodi.
Xavier avenged its first set loss dominating the second frame, 25-18. The Musketeers led the entire set after the Red Storm scored the first point of the set. St. John's tightened the deficit to 16-14, but fell victim to an 8-0 run by Xavier to put the set out of reach.
The third stanza featured eight ties and six lead changes, ultimately ending in a 25-23 Red Storm victory. The frame started with both teams going point-for-point before the Red Storm emerged with the lead 21-18 following a 4-0 burst. The Musketeers strung two points together before a kill by Jones sealed the defeat. Jones led all individuals with six kills in the set.
Once again, the fourth set was a tight back-and-forth battle. Trailing 19-18, the Musketeers used an 8-0 run to take the final lead of the set, before winning the frame, 25-20. The stanza featured 12 ties and seven lead changes.
The Red Storm and Musketeers were neck-and-neck in the first half of winner-take-all fifth set, trading points back-and-forth. The teams were tied for the final time at seven apiece before Xavier started to break away. The Musketeers used a 4-1 streak to gain control, 11-8. The Johnnies were unable to overcome that stretch and fell 15-12.
St. John's will return to action facing BIG EAST leading, and nationally ranked number 15, Creighton on Sunday in Carnesecca Arena. First serve is set for 1 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN3.
