No. 3 St. John’s Dominates No. 6 Villanova to 3-0 Sweep in First Round of BIG EAST Volleyball Championship

Wednesday, November 22

Milwaukee, Wis. (Al McGuire Center)

4 p.m.

St. John's University

22-9,13-5Big East

No. 6 Villanova

17-14,8-10Big East

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Villanova	18	19	19	0
St. John's (NY)	25	25	25	3

No. 3 St. John’s Dominates No. 6 Villanova to 3-0 Sweep in First Round of BIG EAST Volleyball Championship

11/22/2023 7:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Johnnies earn their first playoff win since 2019

MILWAUKEE – A Lucrezia Lodi double-double powered the third-seeded St. John's volleyball team to a straight-set sweep over sixth-seeded Villanova in the first round of the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by JEEP inside the Al McGuire Center.

The scores of the sets were 25-18, 25-19 and 25-19.

Today's win marks the first BIG EAST Tournament victory for the program since 2019, when it defeated Marquette in the conference championship match, 3-1.

"Today's victory was a gigantic win for our team and our program, as we head back to the semifinals to chase our third BIG EAST Tournament title," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "We had terrific contributions by multiple members of the team that catapulted us to victory."

The Red Storm (22-9, 13-5 BIG EAST) put on a defensive clinic against the Wildcats as it out-blocked Villanova 9-1 and held them to a 11.1 hitting percentage.

All-BIG EAST duo, Lodi and Erin Jones each paced St. John's with 12 kills apiece. Lodi earned her fifth double-double of the season against the Wildcats. In addition to her 12 kills, she earned a match-high 10 digs, a solo block and a block assist. Jones earned eight digs, two assists and an ace.

Ludovica Zola and Wiktoria Kowalczyk each led the Johnnies with five blocks apiece. Kowalczyk also collected a match-high 32 assists with five digs and three crucial tip-kills.

Bree Martin and Rashanny Solano Smith totaled nine and eight digs, respectively.

Villanova's Kiera Booth logged 10 kills while Andrea Campos tallied 24 helpers. Taryn Whittingham added nine digs for the Wildcats.

Jones paced the Red Storm with five kills at a 50 percent clip in the opening stanza. The Johnnies stormed out to an 8-3 lead in set one with four points served up by Magda Stambrowska. Ahead 11-7, the Johnnies used back-to-back kills from Stambrowska and Kowalczyk to take a six-point lead, 13-7, forcing a Villanova timeout. The two programs went point-for-point for the remainder of the frame, but the Johnnies were able to maintain their six-point lead through the end of the frame, securing a first-set victory, capped off by a Zola kill, 25-18.

Lodi racked up four kills in the second frame for the Red Storm to go along with five digs. St. John's and Villanova exchanged blows at the start of the set, but the Wildcats were able to put together a 5-1 run to go up by four, 10-6. Down by three, 15-12, the Red Storm registered three straight points off two Villanova errors and a Stambrowska kill to knot the match at 15-all. Tied at 18, the Johnnies engineered a decisive 7-1 stretch, which included a major Lodi kill and Zola block, giving them a 25-19 second set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Both Jones and Lodi earned four slams in the third and final game. St. John's stormed out to a 10-3 lead at the start of the frame, benefitting from three Erin Jones kills. The Johnnies held on to their seven-point lead until the Wildcats went on a 5-3 stretch cutting their deficit down to four, 17-13. The Johnnies responded with a final 8-6 run and cruised to a third set, 25-19 victory, securing their first playoff win since 2019.

The Johnnies advance to the Semifinal Round of the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship on Friday where they will face off with two-seeded Marquette. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. inside the Al McGuire Center.