St. John’s Falls to No. 16 Creighton in Straight Sets

Friday, September 29

Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

11-5,3-1Big East

No. 16 Creighton

11-3,2-1Big East

St. John's (NY)

Creighton

St. John’s Falls to No. 16 Creighton in Straight Sets

9/29/2023 9:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Rashanny Solano Smith recorded a match-high 21 digs.

OMAHA, Neb. – The St. John's volleyball team fell to No. 16 Creighton in straight sets, on Friday night in D.J. Sokol Arena.

The scores of the sets were 14-25, 23-25 and 18-25.

Rashanny Solano Smith continues to impress in her freshman campaign, posting a match-high 21 digs at a whopping seven per set. She also contributed two assists.

Erin Jones posted a match-high 12 kills to go along with nine assists, five digs and two block assists. Eleonora Tosi registered seven kills on a 35.7 percent clip with a block.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk contributed a team-high 16 helpers and two digs against the Blue Jays.

Destiny Ndam-Simpson paced Creighton (11-3, 2-1 BIG EAST) in kills with nine to go along with three digs, a block and an assist. Kendra Wait paced the match in assists with 26.

Solano Smith posted an incredible eight digs in the first game for the Johnnies (11-5, 2-1 BIG EAST). The Blue Jays ran out to a 7-2 lead to open the match in frame one, forcing a St. John's timeout. Creighton and the Johnnies exchanged points until the Blue Jays put together a 7-2 stretch, increasing their lead to 18-10. Creighton rolled through the rest of the first frame, ending the set on a 7-4 run and taking it 25-14.

Jones posted a set-high eight kills in game two, while Solano Smith recorded another seven digs. The Johnnies opened the second set scoring the opening three points off two Jones kills and a block, but the Blue Jays answered right back, scoring three of their own to retie the match. Both squads traded blows midway through the set until Creighton generated a 5-1 run, taking a 15-10 advantage. The Johnnies brought themselves back in the game, using a 10-6 stretch that featured nine combined kills from Jones, Lucrezia Lodi, Giorgia Walther and Tosi, to cut Creighton's lead down to one, 21-20. Despite Red Storm pressure on match point the Blue Jays still took the frame, 25-23.

Creighton jumped out to a commanding 10-2 lead to start the third frame, benefiting from a collection of kills. The Johnnies contested the Blue Jays midway through game three until they engineered an 8-3 run, cutting their deficit down to three, 19-16. Creighton responded right back, putting together a 6-2 stretch of its own to close out the set and the match, 25-18.

St. John's will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 6, when it continues BIG EAST competition against Xavier. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.