St. John’s Takes Down DePaul, 3-1, to Close Out Its Regular Season Slate

Saturday, November 18

Chicago, Ill. (McGrath-Phillips Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

21-9,13-5Big East

DePaul

16-13,9-9Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
St. John's (NY)	20	25	25	25	3
DePaul	25	18	23	22	1

St. John’s Takes Down DePaul, 3-1, to Close Out Its Regular Season Slate

11/18/2023 10:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Johnnies snap a three-match skid

CHICAGO (Nov. 18, 2023) – Erin Jones hammered 19 kills en route to the St. John's volleyball team's 3-1 victory over DePaul, closing out its regular season slate inside McGrath-Phillips Arena.

The win snaps a three-match skid for the Johnnies, dating back to their 3-0 loss to Seton Hall last Wednesday.

After dropping the first set 20-25, St. John's (21-9, 13-5 BIG EAST) rallied back to take the next three, 25-18, 25-23 and 25-22.

"I knew that the end of our regular season with five of our six BIG EAST matches on the road would be a tough test for any team," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "Our squad played with tremendous fight and poise to beat a well-coached DePaul team on their senior day. What a great finish to our regular season."

Jones paced the Johnnies in kills with 19 to go along with nine digs, five assists and two aces. The sophomore finishes the regular season as the Johnnies' leader in points and kills with 443.5 and 392, respectively.

Giorgia Walther followed right behind Jones with 14 kills, nine digs and two total blocks.

Ludovica Zola and Magda Stambrowska paced the Red Storm in front of the net. Zola produced six total blocks, three of which were solo to go along with six kills and a dig. Stambrowska added five block assists with eight kills and two aces.

Rashanny Solano Smith collected a match-high 15 digs and five assists. The freshman led the Red Storm in the regular season with 396 digs, averaging 3.92 digs per set.

Bree Martin added another nine digs in the match.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk logged a match-high 41 assists to go along with three crucial kills, six digs and two total blocks. The talented setter earned 956 helpers throughout the 2023 regular season.

DePaul's Jill Pressly notched a team-high 11 kills and 14 digs. Ashley Cudiamat tallied 21 helpers for the Blue Demons.

Walther tallied five kills and two digs for the Red Storm in the first game. After falling behind by seven, 10-3, to DePaul (16-13, 9-9 BIG EAST), the Johnnies put together a 7-3 run to only trail by three, 13-10. The Blue Demons piled on six consecutive points in the middle of the frame, growing their lead to nine, 19-10. Despite a 10-6 stretch for St. John's at the end of the set, its initial deficit was too much as the Blue Demons claimed a first-set victory, 25-20.

Jones earned a set-high six kills and six digs in the second game for St. John's. Both teams battled hard from the jump in the second stanza, leading to a 5-5 tie. The Johnnies put together a 5-1 stretch on the back of three kills from Walther and Martin to take a four-point, 10-6 lead. St. John's held its lead for much of the middle of the set until it logged four straight points to hold a seven-point advantage, 18-11, forcing a DePaul timeout. The Blue Demons cut their deficit down to three, 18-15, off four straight points, but a final 7-3 Red Storm run secured a second-set victory, 25-18, in its favor.

Jones tallied another six kills while Stambrowska contributed five in set three for the Red Storm. DePaul jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in the third game, but the Johnnies responded with five straight points to go ahead by one, 10-9. Both programs traded blows in the middle of the frame to a 15-15 tie. St. John's had a dominant 5-0 stretch to take a 20-15 lead, but DePaul was able to answer back with a 7-3 run of their own, cutting the Johnnies lead down to one, 23-22. The Red Storm was able to hang on as a Jones kill gave it a 25-23 third-set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.

For the third straight set, Jones led the fourth frame in kills, adding five to the Johnnies total. After an even first seven points, the Red Storm earned three straight scores to give itself an 11-7 cushion. St. John's continued to pile on points using a 4-1 run to go up by six, 15-9. With the Johnnies up 19-13, the Blue Demons put together a 9-6 stretch, but it wasn't enough to erase the St. John's lead, as a Lodi kill capped of the set and the match in its favor, 25-22.

St. John's will head back to Milwaukee for the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship Presented by Jeep as a three-seed. The Red Storm will take on the six seed of the tournament on Wednesday inside the Al McGuire Center.