St. John's Wins Two Five-Set Thrillers in Day One of Red Storm Invitational

Friday, September 16

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

7-4,0-0Big East

Columbia

3-4,0-0Ivy League

Columbia

St. John's (NY)

St. John's Wins Two Five-Set Thrillers in Day One of Red Storm Invitational

9/16/2022 11:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score Match One (PDF)Box Score Match Two

Red Storm takes down Columbia and Boston College

By: Andrew Loewe

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2022) — St. John's won its first two matches of the Red Storm Invitational in thrilling and suspenseful fashion on Friday, twice overcoming a 2-1 deficit to win in five sets at Carnesecca Arena.

After picking up a five-set victory against Columbia (18-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-12, 15-9) early in the day, St. John's overcame a 2-1 hole once again in the nightcap (25-14, 24-26, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13) against Boston College.

Lucrezia Lodi earned her second and third double-doubles on the season while Rachele Rastelli registered 36 total kills across the two matches.

Match One

After facing a 2-1 deficit, St. John's rallied to win with a dominant fourth set effort before cruising to a fifth set win against Columbia on Friday afternoon.

With the victory, the Red Storm improved to 7-4 on the young season while Columbia fell to 3-4.

The Red Storm had five players record double-digit efforts in kills led by Rastelli with 20. Giorgia Walther notched 15 kills and Eleonora Tosi added 13 on a team-high .474 hitting percentage.

Lodi earned her second double-double of the season recording 10 kills and 10 digs.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk tallied 56 assists and added five digs. Bree Martin led the Johnnies in both service aces and digs with two and 14, respectively.

St. John's hit .299 in the match while Columbia hit .122. The Red Storm led the Lions in kills 68-38.

The Lions took an early lead in the first using a 5-0 run to take control, 11-5. The Johnnies responded with a 5-0 run of their own to close the deficit to 11-10.
Columbia had a 16-13 lead when server Ruby van der Heide recorded a service ace in five of her six serves to give the Lions a commanding lead, 22-13. The Johnnies used a 4-0 run fueled by a pair of Rastelli kills and a Martin ace to close the gap to 22-17, but back-to-back kills from Columbia's Saj McBurrows closed the 25-18 victory for the Lions.

The Johnnies responded to their first set loss by starting the second frame on a 10-2 run. The Red Storm dominated the set, only allowing the Lions to score one point on their own serve. After the Lions tallied their only consecutive points of the set, the Red Storm used two straight kills by Rastelli to take a 17-9 lead and shut down any hope of a comeback for the visitors. St. John's ended the set on a 5-1 spurt, including two kills by Lodi and a set-ending kill by Walther. Rastelli recorded a set-high six kills to lead the Johnnies to a 25-12 second set victory.

In the third set, the Lions jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. After a St. John's timeout, the Red Storm rattled off an 8-3 burst, including five consecutive points, to tie the set at nine apiece on a kill by Lodi. McBurrows then recorded two kills on a 5-1 Columbia run to take a 15-12 lead. The Red Storm cut the deficit to 18-17 with two kills by Walther on a 3-0 run. The Lions never surrendered the lead in the remainder of the set and used a 3-0 run en route to a 25-22 victory.

The Red Storm started off hot in the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. After the Lions broke the run with a point, Lodi responded with three consecutive kills to increase the Red Storm lead to 9-1. Three kills by Walther each coming after a Lions' point, extended the Red Storm lead to 15-5. With the Red Storm leading 20-6, the Lions went on a 4-0 run, but ultimately a Martin service ace gave the Johnnies the fourth set victory. Tosi, Walther and Rastelli each added four kills in the set.

In the match-deciding fifth set, the visitors took an early 4-2 lead before the Johnnies broke through on a 6-0 run. Columbia closed the gap to 11-8, but a service error and a Rastelli kill pushed the Johnnies within two points of a match victory. A Lions service error and a Rastelli dominant kill, clinched the 15-9 final set victory for St. John's and the 3-2 match win.

Match Two

For the second time in the span of just a few hours, the Johnnies overcame a 2-1 deficit in thrilling fashion against Boston College in the nightcap of the Red Storm Invitational's opening day.

The Red Storm improved to 8-4 with their fifth consecutive win while the Eagles fell to 10-2 after entering the day undefeated.

The Johnnies had four players with double-digit kill led by Rastelli's 16. Tosi and Walther added 15 and 13 kills, respectively.

Lodi recorded her second double-double of the day with 12 kills and 10 digs.

Martin and Lodi each recorded three aces and Martin had a team high 13 digs. Kowalczyk tallied another 56 assists.

In the first set, the Red Storm quickly jumped out to a 7-1 lead following back-to-back aces from Martin. With the Red Storm leading 15-10, Rastelli hammered two kills to kick start a 4-0 run and widen the lead to nine. The Eagles were not able to string a consecutive pair of points the remainder of the set, as a booming kill by Walther clinched the 25-14 set victory for the Red Storm.

After St. John's took an early 5-3 lead in the second set, Boston College used a 7-0 run to move ahead, 10-5. St. John's called timeout to try and slow the Eagles' momentum and it proved successful. The second timeout switched the game's momentum to the Red Storm as they tied the score at 10 with five unanswered points. After a series of back-and-forth points, Boston College emerged with a 20-18 lead. The Johnnies cut the advantage to 23-22, and a monstrous kill by Tosi tied the set at 23 all. Facing set point, the Red Storm tied the set at 24, but the Eagles scored two consecutive points to take the second set, 26-24.

After Rastelli started the third set with two consecutive kills, the Eagles responded with a 7-2 run to take a 7-4 lead. Rastelli added two more kills to bring the Red Storm within one, 10-9. The Eagles took a 16-12 lead before Rastelli tacked on two more kills as part of a 7-1 run to regain the lead, 19-17. Boston College responded with a 5-1 run to take a 22-20 lead. The Red Storm tied the set at 23 before the Eagles finished the set with two consecutive points to take the set, 25-23. Rastelli registered a set-high seven kills.

Tied at five to begin the fourth set, a Rastelli kill initiated a 7-0 run to give St. John's a 12-5 lead. The Red Storm stopped a 5-1 Eagles run with two consecutive kills by Walther preserving its lead, 18-12. Boston College responded with a comeback attempt going a 4-0 run to cut the St. John's lead to 21-18. After calling a timeout, the run was halted, and a kill by Walther ended the match for a 25-22 Red Storm victory.

Once again, facing match-deciding fifth set St. John's opened with a 3-1 lead. In a series of back-and-forth points, the red Storm took an 8-7 lead on a Walther kill, to mark the halfway point of the match. Tied at 10-10, the Red Storm never trailed, but had faced seven ties. A St. John's timeout proved vital for the Johnnies, taking a 12-10 lead and forcing the Eagles to try to slow The Red Storm's momentum with a timeout of their own. After a long rally, a Tosi kill set up match point for St. John's and the crowd erupted with excitement. Boston College scored on the first match point, but the Red Storm forced an attack error to win the set 25-23 and the match 3-2.

St. John's will close out the Red Storm Invitational at 2 p.m. against Middle Tennessee State on ESPN3.