St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
19-13,10-8Big East
University of Connecticut
17-13,10-8Big East
St. John’s Falls in Five Set Thriller to UConn in the First Round of the BIG EAST Championships
11/23/2022 7:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Lodi sets new freshman high in BIG EAST Kills
QUEENS, N.Y. (NOV. 22, 2022) – The St. John's volleyball team fell in a five set thriller to fifth-seed Connecticut in the first round of the BIG EAST Championships in DJ Sokol Area.
With the loss, the Red Storm (19-13) await their postseason fate with the NIVC selections announced on Sunday afternoon. The Huskies (17-13), will advance to the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championships against top seed, Marquette.
Lucrezia Lodi headlined the potent Red Storm offensive attack with 24 kills, the most kills as a BIG EAST freshman this season. Lodi also added seven digs.
Giorgia Walther was the other Johnnies to have 20-plus kills in the match, with 20 kills while hitting at a .375 clip.
Bree Martin registered a match-high 18 digs.
Wiktoria Kowalczyk led the team with 33 helpers and freshman Erin Jones tallied 24.
"Although we did not get the result that we worked and trained extremely hard for I am extremely proud of our players. The match was a hard fought match from beginning to end on a big stage. It was an outstanding, fierce BIG EAST match between two long-time rivals." Said coach Joanne Persico after the match.
In the first set, the Huskies started hot out of the gate. After winning the first point of the match, the Huskies never allowed the Red Storm to tie or take a lead for the entirety of the frame. Lodi and Walther led the offensive attack with five kills each.
The Red Storm responded in the second frame opening with a 5-2 early lead. The Red Storm held the lead until the set was tied at 16. The teams ensued in a point-for-point battle. After the Huskies took a 22-21 lead, the Johnnies closed the stanza with four consecutive points fueled by two Lodi kills and a block assist to take the victory, 25-22. Lodi notched eight kills while hitting at a .583 clip.
A dominant Johnnies squad took control of the Huskies in third set. The frame started out back-and-forth before the Red Storm broke a 14-14 tie on an kill by Lodi. A monstrous kill by Erin Jones forced the Huskies to call a timeout, which was unable to stop the persistent Red Storm attack. The Red Storm's 7-1 run in total took the Huskies out of contention, and the Johnnies cruised to a 25-18 victory.
UConn responded to the third set defeat, with a dominating win in the fourth stanza. Both squads traded points early on before erupting on a 7-1 run to take the lead, 15-9. The Huskies never looked back and forced a fifth set with a 25-17 victory.
The thrilling fifth set ended in heartbreak for the Red Storm. After jumping out to a 8-3 lead, the Huskies kept chipping away closing the deficit. The Johnnies were able to stop the Huskies from tying the set three times before an ace by Connecticut Brenna Wyman tied the fifth stanza at 13. A kill by Walther set up match point for Red Storm. The Johnnies were unable to capitalize on the next point, but Walther notched another kill to give St. John's a one point advantage. The Huskies were able to string together three consecutive points to take the final stanza, 17-15.
St. John's will return home to Queens and wait to see if they will be included in NIVC field selection on Sunday afternoon.
