St. John’s Sinks Duke, 3-1

Saturday, September 14

University Park, Pa. (Rec Hall)

12:30 p.m.

St. John's University

6-2,0-0Big East

Duke

4-5,0-0ACC

St. John's (NY)

Duke

9/14/2024 3:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Giorgia Walther posted a match-high 25 kills

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Giorgia Walther's 25 kills powered the St. John's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Duke, on Saturday afternoon inside Rec Hall.

After taking the first two sets, St. John's (7-2) dropped the third frame but rebounded to win the fourth and the match. The scores of the sets were 25-21, 25-20, 19-25 and 25-23.

With the win, St. John's earned its second victory over Duke and leads the all-time series 2-0. Additionally, the Johnnies have now started the season at 7-2 for the second consecutive year.

Walther led the charge for the Red Storm, registering a season-high 25 kills on a 38.6 percent hitting clip with six digs four blocks and an ace.

Erin Jones notched her third double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs against Duke (4-5). The junior also added six assists and three blocks.

Lucrezia Lodi logged 10 kills, nine digs and a block on Saturday afternoon. Ludovica Zola tacked on a career-high four service aces and four block assists to the Johnnies' totals.

Rashanny Solano Smith led the match with 15 digs paired with five helpers. Wiktoria Kowalczyk recorded a match-high 47 assists with seven digs, four kills and an ace.

As a team, the Red Storm led the match with 80.5 points, 63 kills, 60 assists and 54 digs.

Kowalczyk kicked off the match by serving four straight points to a 4-0 St. John's advantage, but Duke crept back into the frame with a 7-4 stretch to trail by one, 8-7. The Red Storm went on a 7-3 spurt, powered by four Walther kills to lead, 15-10. The Blue Devils answered with five straight points, tying the set at 15-all. The Johnnies grew their advantage up to five, 21-16, until Duke started rallied, cutting the lead down to two, 21-19, forcing a Red Storm timeout. After talking things over, St. John's sailed through the rest of the first game, en route to a 25-21 victory. Walther led the stanza with 11 kills at a 45 percent hitting clip.

The Blue Devils held an opening 4-2 lead in the second set, but St. John's answered with a 5-2 rally to go up by one, 7-6. Even at 8-8, the Red Storm registered four consecutive points to hold a 12-8 edge in the set and send Duke to a timeout. The Blue Devils came out firing after talking things over, putting together a short 5-1 run to knot the frame at 13. The Johnnies broke the stalemate with a 7-2 run to lead by five, 21-16, and cruise to a second set 25-20 win, that was capped by a Jones kill. Walther registered six slams in the second game.

Grace Penn served three straight aces, to give Duke a 4-0 lead and force an early Red Storm timeout in the third set. The Blue Devils continued to hold their four-point edge until they grew it to seven, 17-10, off three consecutive points. Duke remained in control the rest of the way, taking the third frame, 25-19.

The Blue Devils raced out to a 9-4 lead behind four blocks at the start of the fourth period. St. John's stormed back with a 7-1 run that featured kills from Kya Harris, Jones, Walther and Lodi to hold a slim 11-10 lead. The Red Storm built its advantage up to three, 15-12, following back-to-back points from Harris, causing Duke to call a timeout. The Blue Devils answered each point the Johnnies scored but the Red Storm never surrendered its lead, taking the fourth and frame, 25-23, to move to 7-2 on the season.

St. John's will continue the Penn State Invitational tonight when it takes on the No. 3 Nittany Lions at 6:30 inside Rec Hall.