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

Friday, November 22

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

20-11,9-8Big East

UConn

23-6,11-6Big East

UConn

St. John's (NY)

11/22/2024 9:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Giorgia Walther led the match with 14 kills

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's volleyball team fell to UConn in straight sets, 3-0, on Friday night inside Carnesecca Arena. The scores of the sets were 16-25, 23-25 and 21-25.

Giorgia Walther paced the match with 14 kills alongside four digs, an ace and a block. Erin Jones registered 12 slams hit at 25.9 percent with six digs and three aces.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk led St John's (20-11, 9-8 BIG EAST) with 33 helpers, coinciding with eight digs, a service ace and a kill.

Rashanny Solano Smith logged a match-high 16 digs, five assists and an ace against UConn (23-6, 11-6 BIG EAST). Magda Stambrowska rang up four kills on a 40 percent hitting clip with a solo rejection and a service ace.

As a team, the Johnnies led the match with 43 digs, 41 assists and 41 kills.

UConn kicked off the first set with an 11-6 lead, benefiting from five Red Storm errors that burned both of St. John's timeouts. After trading points through the middle of the frame to an 18-13 Huskey lead, UConn went on a decisive 7-3 rally, claiming the first stanza, 25-16. Walther and Lucrezia Lodi each pounded four kills in the first game.

Following a 10-10 tie at the start of the second set, the Huskies used back-to-back points at the service line to take a 12-10 advantage and burn a Red Storm timeout. UConn extended its lead to four, 16-12, but the Red Storm cut it back down to two, 16-14, with a Walther kill and a Huskey attack error. Down 17-14, St. John's put together a 3-0 spurt that featured a duo of Jones kills to tie the frame up at 17, but UConn answered with a 5-0 stretch of its own, taking a 22-17 advantage. Despite a 6-3 rally in the Red Storm's favor at the end of the frame, the Huskies held on for a 25-23 second set victory. Jones logged six kills in the second stanza.

UConn jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third game after raining down two kills and two aces, leading to a St. John's timeout. Ahead 11-6, the Huskies produced a 3-1 spurt, growing its advantage to seven, 14-7. After talking things over, down 15-9, the Red Storm erupted for a 6-1 run that featured a 70-second rally, cutting its deficit down to one, 16-15, and causing a UConn timeout. Battling to a slim 21-20 Huskey edge, UConn rang up a final 4-1 scoring stretch, taking the third frame and the match, 25-21. Jones and Walther each registered five slams in the final game.

St. John's will close out its regular season with senior night tomorrow against Providence. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.