St. John’s Sweeps Day One of the Red Storm Invitational to Open 2024 Season

Friday, August 30

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

1-0,0-0Big East

Niagara

0-1,0-0MAAC

Niagara

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Sweeps Day One of the Red Storm Invitational to Open 2024 Season

8/30/2024 10:36:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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The Red Storm have now won 15 straight home openers

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's volleyball team opened their 2024 campaign by sweeping through the first day of the Red Storm Invitational on Friday at Carnesecca Arena.

With their win over Niagara, the Johnnies have now won 15-straight home openers and are 20-1 in such matches since 2004.

"Exciting and competitive opening day for our Johnnies," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "The team has showed so much growth as a unit and was able to lock in and come back against a well-coached Northeastern team. Magda and WIktoria's connection was on point tonight and our veteran players were outstanding."

Game 1 - St. John's 3, Niagara 0

St. John's enjoyed a dominant win to kick off the season by taking down Niagara in straight sets by scores of 25-13, 25-10 and 25-8.

Giorgia Walther led the way for the Red Storm, opening her senior season with 12 kills at a 35.9 percent clip with five digs and three blocks.

Lucrezia Lodi added seven kills at a 41.2 hitting percentage while Erin Jones and Magda Stambrowska registered seven kills each. Stambrowska also recorded a match-high five blocks.

In her first career start at libero, Sujeili Mermella dug out a career-high 17 balls and recorded an ace.

Wiktoria Kowalczyk provided a match-high 29 assists and three aces to go along with 7 digs.

Ana Benjamim made her first career appearance with the Red Storm notching one dig.

After trading points to a 3-3 stalemate to start the first frame, the Red Storm went on an 8-2 run off six combined kills from Lodi, Walther and Stambrowska, forcing a Niagara timeout. The Johnnies continued to pile on points to a 16-5 lead, capped by a kill from a flying Jones. The two squads traded three points apiece which caused St. John's to take a timeout, 18-8. The Purple Eagles went on a 5-4 run, cutting the Red Storm's lead down to 23-12, but the Johnnies held firm to win the first set, 25-13. Both Walther and Stambrowska slammed down three kills each in the opening set of the 2024 season.

Jones led St. John's with four kills while Mermella added six digs in the second set. The Johnnies quickly jumped out to a 6-1 lead powered by three straight Kowalczyk aces to open the second game. Niagara quickly answered the Red Storm's aggression, taking a 4-1 run to cut the Red Storm lead down to two, 6-4, forcing a St. John's timeout. The Johnnies responded right back with a 13-3 stretch that featured eight combined kills from Lodi, Walther, Stambrowska and Kowalczyk, putting them up by 12, 19-7. The Red Storm cruised through the rest of the set, taking it, 25-10.

Walther put on a show in the third game, recording seven kills at a .700 hitting percentage. Continuing the momentum from the previous two sets, St. John's engineered an 11-3 lead at the beginning of the third frame. After two consecutive Purple Eagle points cut the Red Storm's lead down to six, the squad put together an incredible 9-1 stretch, pushing the squad's lead to 14, 20-6. St. John's never looked back, closing out the third and final set by a score of 25-8.

Match 2 – St. John's 3, Northeastern 1

After dropping the first set to the Huskies, 25-18, St. John's battled its way back, taking the next three sets, 25-21, 25-10 and 25-12 to sweep its first day of the season.

Jones was stellar for the Red Storm, notching her first double-double of the season on a match-leading 15 kills at a 50 percent rate and 16 digs. The right-side hitter also tacked on five assists, three digs and one block.

Walther registered her first double-double of the campaign as well, picking up 10 kills and 10 digs.

Stambrowska led the Johnnies in blocks for the second straight match, totaling five rejections while tallying 10 kills on a 52.9 percent clip. Kowalczyk led all players with 39 assists, tacking on four kills, four digs and three blocks.

In her first start of the season, Rashanny Solano Smith logged 15 digs, four helpers and two service aces as the Red Storm's libero.

Freshmen Kya Harris and Barbara Costa dos Santos made their first career appearances with the Red Storm in the match. Costa dos Santos pounded her first kill and picked up two digs. Additionally, Benjamim notched the first kill of her career on the match-winning point in the fourth set.

Stambrowska, Walther and Lodi each notched four kills in the opening game. Northeastern took a quick 5-1 lead in the first frame, but the Johnnies used a combination of Lodi and Stambrowska kills with Huskey errors to knot the frame up at 6-6. Tied at 10, Northeastern pounded three kills on a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 lead and force a St. John's timeout. The Huskies were able to maintain a three-point lead through the middle of the set until they were able to grow it to five on four consecutive points, leading 22-15. Northeastern controlled the rest of the way, taking the opening frame, 25-18.

Jones tacked on six kills and four digs in the second set. Northeastern jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the second stanza until the Johnnies registered five straight points, capped off by Costa dos Santos' first career kill to even things at 6-6. After trading scores to a 12-12 tie, the Red Storm put down three straight points that featured two Lodi kills to take a 15-12 lead. The Huskies tied things back up at 18 after a 6-3 stretch and took the lead back, 19-18. St. John's kept its composure and took the advantage back off kills from Jones and Ludovica Zola to lead 22-20 late in the set. A final 3-1 run for the Johnnies would end the second frame in their favor, 25-21.

Zola had a set-high four kills and three blocks in the third period. After Northeastern scored the first point of the set, St. John's poured on six straight from a series of blocks and kills to take a 6-1 advantage at the start of the frame. The Red Storm held its five-point advantage to a 12-7 lead and improved it up to nine, 17-8, from a 5-1 run that forced a Huskey timeout. The Johnnies commanded the end of the stanza and took a dominant 25-10 set three victory to lead the match, 2-1.

Jones showed out in the decisive fourth set, hammering seven kills at an 87.5 percent success rate. The Red Storm raced out to an early 5-0 lead, before Northeastern threatened with a quick 3-0 spurt, cutting the lead down to 5-3. Jones caught fire during a 6-1 stretch powering down four heavy-hitting kills in a five-point span, which increased the St. John's lead to seven, 11-4. The Johnnies kept their foot on the gas through the remainder of the fourth game, leading by as much as 13 to take the final set, won on Benjamim's first career kill, 25-12.

St. John's will close out the Red Storm Invitational tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. when it squares off against Coppin State.