St. John’s Clinches BIG EAST Tournament Bid with Straight-Set Sweep over UConn

Saturday, November 4

Storrs, Conn. (UConn Volleyball Center)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

20-6,12-2Big East

UConn

7-19,2-12Big East

St. John's (NY)

UConn

St. John’s Clinches BIG EAST Tournament Bid with Straight-Set Sweep over UConn

11/4/2023 8:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Erin Jones registered her 10th double-double of the 2023 campaign

STORRS, Conn. – Erin Jones recorded her 10^th double-double of the season en route to the St. John's volleyball team's straight-set sweep over UConn on Saturday night at the UConn Volleyball Center. The Red Storm (20-6, 12-2 BIG EAST) earned set victories of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-18 over the Huskies.

With the win, the Johnnies have clinched their second straight BIG EAST Tournament berth and the fifth in the last six years. The Red Storm has also secured its second straight 20 win season and the 13th in program history. This season marks the fastest to 20 wins since the 2018 campaign.

"A fantastic weekend for this incredible, resilient, hardworking and coachable group. They enjoy playing together and it shows," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "What a wonderful match to clinch our fifth BIG EAST Tournament bid over the last six seasons."

As a team, St. John's registered 46 kills and 46 digs. The Johnnies out-blocked UConn (7-19, 2-12 BIG EAST) seven to six.

Jones recorded her second straight double-double and her 10^th total of the season against the Huskies. The Albuquerque, N.M. native logged 11 kills at a 33.3 percent rate with 17 assists.

Giorgia Walther paced the match in kills with 13 to go along with a dig and a block. Lucrezia Lodi posted eight kills, two aces, six digs and an assist in the sweep.

Rashanny Solano Smith notched a match-high 20 digs, averaging 6.67 digs per set in the match.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk amassed a match-high 22 assists paired with nine digs. Magda Stambrowska led the way in blocks, tallying four total, while Ludovica Zola added three.

UConn's Emma Werkmeister led her team with nine kills. Doga Kutlu recorded 14 helpers while Karly Berkland registered nine digs.

Jones led St. John's with six kills at a 23.5 percent clip and seven assists in the first frame. The Johnnies started the match with a 7-4 advantage off five combined slams from Jones, Zola and Lodi. UConn used a 6-2 run to take a one-point lead, 10-9. The programs traded points until the Red Storm scored three straight to take a 17-14 lead, forcing a Huskies timeout. St. John's and UConn battled late into the set, but a Husky attack error polished off the set, 25-20, in the Johnnies' favor.

Zola totaled three blocks in a highly contested second frame. The Johnnies stormed out to a 7-1 opening lead in game two, benefiting from a collection of kills and blocks. UConn went on a 5-1 run to cut its deficit down to two, 8-6. The Red Storm responded with a 5-1 stretch of its own, growing its lead back to six, 13-7. St. John's maintained a six-point buffer for most of the middle of the set, until the Huskies recorded three straight scores, trimming their deficit to three, 19-16. Despite the setback, the Johnnies were able to hold off UConn and secure a 25-21 set victory in frame two.

Walther totaled a set-high six kills on a 60 percent clip in the third stanza. The squads exchanged blows from the jump to an early 9-9 tie. The Red Storm engineered a 4-1 run that featured aces from Solano Smith and Lodi to take a 13-10 lead and force a Huskies timeout. Up by three, 18-15, the Johnnies used a final 6-3 stretch that was capped off by a Walther kill to secure a third set victory, 25-18.

St. John's will head to South Orange, N.J. on Wednesday night to face off against Seton Hall. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. inside Walsh Gymnasium.