St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
20-13,10-8Big East
Binghamton University
17-9,8-2America East
St. John’s Sweeps Binghamton in the First Round of NIVC
12/2/2022 10:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Red Storm advances to play Boston College in second round
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (DEC. 2, 2022) – The St. John's volleyball team dominated Binghamton in a sweep to open the NIVC at Margot Connell Recreation Center.
With the win, the Red Storm (20-13) advance to the second round of the NIVC to face Boston College. St John's now has 11 seasons of its 29-year history with 20 or more wins. Binghamton ends its season with a 17-9 record.
"I am extremely proud of our team and staff tonight. Our 20th win of the season was our first NIVC win as a program and that is a major accomplishment. It was a fun match to coach against Allie Yaeger again, and her team provided a challenge. This is what we worked so hard for all year long and this special team has been so coachable and humble together and it's been a pleasure and honor to coach these young women." Said coach Joanne Persico after the match.
The three headed offensive attack of Rachele Rastelli, Giorgia Walther and Lucrezia Lodi led the team with 10 kills. Walther and Lodi added seven digs apiece. Rastelli is 18 kills away from tying the St. John's program total kills record.
Freshman Erin Jones demonstrated her versatility once again with 13 assists, eight kills and five digs.
Wiktoria Kowalczyk led the team with 24 helpers.
Bree Martin registered a team-high eight digs.
The Red Storm started out of the gates strong controlling the entire first set by never allowing the Bearcats to take a lead. Leading 6-4, the Johnnies used a 9-1 burst to establish momentum and cruise to the 25-19 victory. Rastelli led the way with five kills while hitting at .500 clip. The team collectively hit .438 and recorded four service aces.
The Johnnies commanded the second frame once again. After the Bearcats won the first point, a 5-0 Red Storm spurt gave St. John's the permanent lead. The Bearcats threatened, tying the match two more times, but ultimately the Johnnies broke out for a 25-18 victory. Lodi led all individuals with five kills in the stanza while hitting .714. Another impressive team showing with a .393 hitting percentage in the frame.
The third set started out with both teams trading points. The Bearcats weren't going to go down without a fight and took the first two points of the third frame. The Red Storm responded with a 4-1 run to take a 4-3 lead. The two teams went back-and-forth until the Bearcats were leading for the final time, 11-10. After a timeout, St. John's erupted on a 6-0 run on five consecutive Kowalczyk serves. Binghamton threatened by closing the deficit to 17-14, and the Johnnies responded with another 6-0 run under the serve of Mimi Larry to finish the sweep with a 25-16 victory in the third frame. Walther hit .714 with five kills in the stanza while the team hit a match-high .560 in the final frame.
St. John's will look to make it to the final eight teams in the NIVC in its second round match against Boston College tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. The match will be available on ACCXN, and will be held in the Margot Connell Recreation Center.
