St. John’s Falls On First Day of UNLV Rebel Challenge

Friday, September 2

Las Vegas, NV. (Cox Pavillion)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

3-1,0-0Big East

Miami

4-0,0-0ACC

St. John's (NY)

Miami (FL)

St. John’s Falls On First Day of UNLV Rebel Challenge

9/2/2022 11:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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

Johnnies drop contests with RV Miami and Weber State

By: Jamie Goerke

Las Vegas, Nev. (Sept. 2, 2022) – The St. John's volleyball team fell on the first day of the UNLV Rebel Challenge, dropping matches with both RV Miami and Weber State on Friday.

Game One

The Red Storm (3-2) fell in three sets to Miami (4-0) in its first match of the day. Set scores were 26-24, 25-14 and 25-17, respectively.

Giorgia Walther tallied a match-high 13 kills. The match marked her sixth straight double-digit effort dating back to Nov. 19, 2021.

Lucrezia Lodi nearly logged a double-double as the freshman notched 10 kills and nine digs. Rachele Rastelli added nine kills while Bree Martin recorded a game-high 11 digs and one ace.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk contributed 26 helpers.

Down 17-13 in the first set, the Johnnies jumped out to an 8-2 spurt, highlighted by two Lodi kills, to take the lead 23-21. However, the Hurricanes recorded five of the next six points to win the set, 26-24.

Miami recorded eight straight points to start the second set and did not allow the Red Storm to get within more than four for the remainder of the set. A Nyah Anderson and Abby Casiano block was the eventual set-winner for the Hurricanes.

The Johnnies flipped the switch scoring 10 of the first 14 points to take a 10-4 lead early in the third set. Of the 10 points, seven of them were from Walther kills. Miami responded with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 12. After a Walther kill gave the Johnnies a 16-15 lead, Miami scored 10 of the next 11 points to take the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-0.

Game Two

St. John's forced a fourth set against Weber State (4-1) but it was not enough to hold off the Wildcats, a squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIVC last season.

Weber State took the first two matches, 25-18 and 25-15, before the Red Storm took the third set, 25-14. The Wildcats sealed their win with a 25-21 set four victory.

Walther led the Johnnies with 13 kills while Lodi notched nine kills and ten digs.

Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Magda Stambrowska added a match-high three service aces along with four kills and two solo blocks. Rastelli tallied seven kills and an ace while Kowalczyk notched 29 assists and four kills.

An early 10-4 lead was all the Wildcats needed to hold the Johnnies at bay in set one. The Red Storm was unable to get within more than three during the set.

With the Johnnies up, 9-8, in the second set, Weber State poured in nine of the next 11 points to take the lead, 17-11. With the lead, the Wildcats pushed forward to eventually take the set, 25-15.

Down, 11-10, in the third set, the Johnnies came alive as they went off on a 15-4 run to secure the set. During the burst, Walther pushed four kills while Lodi tallied three, including back-to-back kills to grab the set victory.

With the Red Storm up 19-16, in the fourth set, Weber State used a 9-2 run to capture the set, 25-21, and the match victory, 3-1.

The Johnnies will close out the UNLV Rebel Challenge with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday against NIVC Champions UNLV. The match will be available to watch on themw.com