St. John’s Falls to South Florida, 3-2, in Second Round of the NIVC Tournament

Saturday, December 2

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

5 p.m.

St. John's University

24-11,13-5

South Florida

21-11,13-6

South Fla.

St. John's (NY)

The Red Storm fell to South Florida in five sets in the second round of the NIVC Tournament.

Photo by: BWillschCreative

St. John’s Falls to South Florida, 3-2, in Second Round of the NIVC Tournament

12/2/2023 9:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Giorgia Walther finished the match with a team-high 17 kills

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's volleyball team fell to South Florida in five sets, 3-2, in the Super 16 Round of the NIVC Tournament inside Carnesecca Arena. The scores of the sets were 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-27 and 14-16.

Giorgia Walther paced the Red Storm (24-11, 13-5 BIG EAST) with 17 kills at a 31.6 percent clip. The junior also packed on four digs and a solo block.

Erin Jones and Lucrezia Lodi each notched 10 kills in the match. Jones contributed nine assists, eight digs and a match-high five blocks. Lodi added four digs, an assist and a rejection.

Ludovica Zola logged nine kills at a 52.9 hitting percentage to go along with four block assists and a dig.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk led her squad with 36 assists paired with six digs and two kills.

Rashanny Solano Smith collected 15 digs to go along with four helpers and an ace.

South Florida's Maria Clara Andrade led the match with 28 kills. Caroline Dykes tallied 60 helpers with a team-high 15 digs.

Four Johnnies registered three kills apiece in the first stanza. The two squads battled out to a 6-6 tie at the start of the match. St. John's went on an 8-4 run that featured four combined kills from Zola, Lodi and Walther, putting them up by four, 14-10. The Bulls responded quickly with four consecutive points to knot the frame up at 14-all. Tied at 20, the Red Storm used a 3-1 run to go up by two, 23-21, but South Florida put down back-to-back kills to retie the game at 23. Two straight points from a Magda Stambrowska kill and a Bree Martin ace put the first set away, 25-23, in the Johnnies' favor.

Walther led the Red Storm with four kills in the second game. Much like the first frame, the two programs exchanged points to an 8-8 tie to kick off the second period. The Johnnies went on the first run of the set, logging five straight points off three kills, a block and a Bulls error to go up, 13-8 and force a USF Timeout. Down by three, 17-14, South Florida put together a 5-3 stretch to only trail by one, 20-19. The Johnnies were able to hold off the pressure from the Bulls, capping off a 25-21 second set victory with a USF attack error.

The third set featured seven total ties and two lead changes. Neither school could develop any significant momentum from the start of the set, leading to a 14-14 tie. The Johnnies went on a quick 3-1 run to go up by two, 17-15, but the Bulls responded with back-to-back kills to knot the frame back up at 17. South Florida went on a 5-1 stretch of their own to go up by four, 22-18 and rode their momentum to a 25-19 set three victory.

Both St. John's and USF exchanged blows with one another to an 8-8 stalemate before the Bulls used a 6-2 run to go up by four, 14-10. The Red Storm provided an immediate answer by ringing up four straight points to tie the frame at 14-all. The Bulls went on a 5-1 run, growing their lead back to four, 19-15, but the Johnnies went on a 5-1 run of their own, knotting the frame up at 20-all. USF held off two St. John's match points at 24-23 and 25-24 to earn their own set point, 26-25. An Andrade kill capped off the set in South Florida's favor, 27-25, evening out the match at two games apiece.

Walther paced the final set with five slams. The Red Storm quickly fell behind, 5-1, at the start of the fifth stanza. Walther then pounded four straight kills to knot the frame at 5. Tied at 9-all, the Bulls earned a 3-1 run to go up by two late, 12-10. USF kept its foot on the gas to the first match point of the set, 14-12, but the Johnnies contested the point with two straight scores, tying the frame at 14. USF put together back-to-back points to take the final set and the match, 16-14.

The Red Storm finished its 2023 season with a 24-11 overall record and its third appearance in the BIG EAST title match in program history.