St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Creighton
St. John’s to Travel to the Midwest to Battle No.12 Creighton and Xavier
11/10/2022 1:49:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Red Storm currently tied for fourth in the BIG EAST Standings
QUEENS, N.Y. (NOV. 10, 2022) – With four regular season matches remaining for the St. John's volleyball team, it embarks on its last two-match road trip of the season. The Red Storm will open the weekend with a Friday night showdown against No.12 Creighton, before closing the weekend taking on Xavier on Sunday afternoon.
Friday night's match against the BIG EAST leading Bluejays is set for a 7:30 E.T. first serve. The squad will then travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the third place Musketeers in a pivotal matchup with conference tournament implications. Both matches can be streamed on BEDN on Flo Sports. The Red Storm's magic number is 2, meaning a combination of Johnnies victories or both Seton Hall and DePaul losses, the Red Storm can clinch a berth in the BIG EAST Championships in Creighton set to take place November 23-26. St. John's is currently tied for fourth win UConn, a team the Red Storm defeated 3-2 earlier this season.
In a season where three Johnnies have won weekly awards from the BIG EAST, freshman Lucrezia Lodi became the fourth this weekend. The San Lazzardo di Savena, Italy native was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday. After a 1-1 week by the Red Storm, Lodi ranked first among freshman in the league with 5.14 points, 4.86 kills and 3.71 points. Lodi tied her career-high 17 kills in both matches this week, and tallied 20 digs in the contest at Seton Hall, a new season-high.
A potent offensive attack has been the key for the Red Storm this season. Led by two powerful hitters Giorgia Walther and Rachele Rastelli and setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk, the Red Storm rank in the top six in the nation in total kills and assists. The duo of Walther and Rastelli is the only duo in the nation to rank in the top 40 in both kills and points. The pair is also the only tandem to rank in the top four in the BIG EAST in those categories. Kowalczyk is sixth in the country and first in the league, with 1,106 total assists.
Not only has a high powered offense led St. John's but one of the best defenses the program has ever had as well. Led by freshman Magda Stambrowska, the team ranks 29th in the nation with 245.5 total blocks. Stambrowska has the tenth most blocks as a freshman in Division I, and ranks fifth in the conference. Junior Eleonora Tosi also has contributed .9 blocks per set this season.
No. 12 Creighton enters the weekend atop the BIG EAST standings boasting a perfect 14-0 record in conference play this season. In its last six matches, the Bluejays have not dropped a set. This season Creighton has 11 sweeps and only dropped six sets, while winning 42. After two sweeps by Creighton last week, the Bluejays were rewarded with two conference honors this week. Senior Kiana Schmitt was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, and sophomore Kendra Wait was selected to the Weekly Honor Roll. Schmitt was third in the league this weekend in both blocks per set and hitting percentage. Wait led the league with 77 assists and a per set average of 12.83. Norah Sis has been outstanding for Creighton this season. The sophomore leads BIG EAST with the 4.16 kills and 4.57 points per set this season. Sis is one of three jays to lead the conference in a category along with Kendra Wait and Keeley Davis. Wait's 11.06 assists per set paces the leagueand ranks 13th in the country. Davis tops the BIG EAST with .45 service aces per frame. Creighton ranks fifth in the country in kills per set (14.47) and sixth in assists per set (13.46).
Creighton leads the all-time series with the Red Storm, 15-3. The Bluejays won the most recent matchup between the schools in three sets two weeks ago in Carnesecca Arena.
Xavier enters the weekend in third place in the BIG EAST after a 1-1 performance last weekend. The Musketeers dropped Friday night's match to a red-hot UConn team, and then recovered to sweep Providence to close the weekend. After averaging the third most points (5.57), fourth in service aces (7), and fifth in kills (31) in this week's matches, Brooklyn Cink was selected to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after. Cink leads the Musketeers in kills and points which ranks in the top seven in the league. Carrigan O'Reilly ranks sixth in the league with 8.93 assists per set and is one of 15 players in the nation to record multiple triple-doubles. Lucia Corsaro is seventh in the conference with 4.15 digs per set. Xavier is second in the conference with 16.49 digs per set, which is 22nd in all of the NCAA.
Xavier leads the all-time matchups with the Johnnies 11-7. The Musketeers were victorious earlier this season in Carnesecca Arena in five sets.
