St. John’s Earns Third-Straight 20-Win Season with 3-1 Victory over Butler

Sunday, November 17

Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

20-10,9-7Big East

Butler

6-22,4-12Big East

St. John's (NY)

Butler

St. John’s Earns Third-Straight 20-Win Season with 3-1 Victory over Butler

11/17/2024 4:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Magda Stambrowska and Ludovica Zola earned career-highs in the match

INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 17, 2024) – The St. John's volleyball team bested Butler, 3-1, in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. The scores of the sets were 26-28, 25-17, 25-23 and 25-21.

With the win, the Red Storm (20-19, 9-7 BIG EAST) earned its third consecutive 20-win season and the 14th overall in program history.

As a team, the Johnnies led the contest with a 26.2 hitting percentage, 60 kills, 55 assists and 61 digs.

Magda Stambrowska was ferocious in front of the net, racking up a career-high 14 kills on 52 percent hitting. The junior also tallied three blocks, a dig and an assist.

Ludovica Zola rang up a career-high nine total rejections and seven digs in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The middle blocker also logged seven kills in the match.

Erin Jones tied the BIG EAST single-season triple-double record with her fourth consecutive and seventh triple-double of conference play. The junior picked up 13 kills on a 28.6 hitting percentage with 12 digs and 11 assists. The right-side hitter also totaled three blocks and an ace.

Rashanny Solano Smith gathered a match-leading 21 digs paired with two helpers and her first kill of the season. Wiktoria Kowalczyk led the Red Storm with 39 assists along with eight digs, two aces, a kill and a block.

Lucrezia Lodi registered 12 kills, seven digs, two aces and two block assists against Butler (6-22, 4-12 BIG EAST). Giorgia Walther added nine kills and three blocks to the Johnnies' totals.

After a 3-3 start to the match, Butler went on a 9-1 run that featured three aces, taking a 12-4 lead and burning both of St. John's timeouts. Down 16-9, the Red Storm erupted for a 10-3 rally behind three blocks and a kill from Zola to tie the frame at 19-19. Trading points late, St. John's fended off two Butler set-points before the Bulldogs contested the Johnnies' first of the frame for a 26-26 tie. Butler went on to secure the opening game, 28-26, off an ace and a block. Zola paced the set with four rejections.

St. John's grabbed a slim 12-8 advantage at the beginning of the second stanza from nine kills between, Kya Harris, Walther, Jones, Lodi and Solano Smith. Following a Bulldog timeout, the Red Storm sparked an 8-4 stretch, capitalizing on six Butler errors for a 20-12 lead. The Johnnies carried their advantage to the end of the set, evening the match with a 25-17 second set victory. Jones posted five kills and four digs in the second period.

The third set kicked off to a 6-6 stalemate, until the Bulldogs registered three straight points, taking a 9-6 lead. After a timeout, the Red Storm used a 4-0 spurt that benefited from a pair of Jones kills to take a one-point, 10-9 edge. After Butler retook the lead, 12-11, the two teams went point-for-point for an 18-16 Bulldogs' edge. Down 20-18, St. John's used a final 7-3 scoring stretch to come back and win the third set, 25-23. Stambrowska hammered six kills in the third game.

St. John's stormed out to a 9-3 advantage in the fourth stanza off a collection of kills and blocks from Zola, Jones and Lodi. Butler cut its deficit down to two, 10-8, after a 5-1 rally that forced the Red Storm to talk things over. Leading 11-9, the Johnnies erupted for a 7-1 run served up by Kowalczyk and Lodi, that gave the squad an eight-point advantage, 18-10. Despite an 11-7 period in the Bulldogs favor, St. John's fought through the end of the final set, taking it 25-21. Solano Smith picked up six digs in the stanza.

St. John's will close out its regular season at home on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 against UConn and Providence, respectively.