St. John’s Falls to DePaul in Straight Sets, 3-0

Sunday, October 6

Chicago, Ill. (McGrath-Phillips Arena)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

13-5,2-2Big East

DePaul

11-5,3-1Big East

St. John's (NY)

DePaul

The St. John's volleyball team took down Fairfield, 3-2, inside Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday night.

10/6/2024 3:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Wiktoria Kowalczyk led the match with 20 assists.

CHICAGO – The St. John's volleyball team fell to DePaul in straight sets, 3-0, at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. The scores of the sets were 23-25, 18-25 and 17-25.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk paced the match with 20 assists paired with seven digs and three blocks. Ludovica Zola matched Kowalczyk with a team-best three rejections.

Erin Jones tallied her ninth double-double of the season on 10 kills and 10 helpers to go along with six digs and a block assist.

Giorgia Walther tallied a team-leading two aces with eight kills, four digs, and a block.

Rashanny Solano Smith led St. John's (13-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) with eight digs while Bree Martin tacked on another seven against DePaul (11-5, 3-1 BIG EAST).

The match started with a 5-5 stalemate before St. John's put together a 7-2 stretch on the back of two Magda Stambrowska blocks and two Walther aces to lead, 12-7. Down 15-10, DePaul scored five straight points, knotting up the match at 15 after capitalizing on four Red Storm errors. Trading points to a late 20-20 tie, the Blue Demons took advantage of back-to-back Johnnie errors to lead, 22-20, and force a St. John's timeout. Despite pressure on set point from the Red Storm, DePaul held firm, winning the first frame, 25-23. Stambrowska and Kowalczyk each logged two blocks apiece in the first set.

The two teams opened the second frame by exchanging side-outs to an early 5-5 tie, but DePaul registered three consecutive points to lead, 8-5, prompting a Red Storm timeout. The Blue Demons held onto their three-point lead until they grew it to six, 16-10, off a collection of kills and St. John's attack errors. Even with a late 8-5 stretch, the Red Storm couldn't trim down its deficit enough, as DePaul took the second game, 25-18. Walther totaled four kills and two digs in the second set.

After an initial 4-1 Red Storm advantage in the third stanza, the Blue Demons scored seven consecutive points, taking an 8-4 lead. After the Johnnies called a timeout, down 15-10, DePaul continued growing its lead to seven, 18-11, off a 3-1 spurt. The Blue Demons maintained control of the third and final set, claiming the frame, 25-17. Jones added four slams on 80 percent hitting in the third period.

St. John's will return home next weekend to host Marquette and Creighton in Carnesecca Arena on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, respectively.