St. John’s Volleyball Falls 3-0 to Morehead State in 2025 Season Opener

Friday, August 29

Louisville, Ky. (L&N Federal Credit Union Arena)

3 p.m.

St. John's University

0-1,0-0Big East

Morehead State

1-0,0-0OVC

St. John's (NY)

Morehead St.

St. John’s Volleyball Falls 3-0 to Morehead State in 2025 Season Opener

8/29/2025 6:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

The Red Storm held the advantage at the service line with nine service aces

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The St. John's volleyball program opened the 2025 season with a loss for the first time since 2021, falling 3-0 to Morehead State in the first match of the Cardinal Class.

Despite the inconsistency at the service line with 21 total service errors for the Eagles (1-0, 0-0 OVC), the Red Storm (0-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) could not capitalize. As a team, St. John's hit under.100 and finished with only six blocks. The scores of the sets were 25-21, 25-19, 25-23.

Nine different Johnnies recorded a kill, but none had more than Ana Franca Benjamim who finished with five. Erin Jones led the way with 13 assists and Rashanny Solano Smith dug up 16 balls in sets of work. Newcomers Kendall White, Chloe Bell and Martina Ghezziall recorded their first kills as a part of the Red Storm, with Bell picking up her first service aces and block as well.

The first point of the 2025 season came via a block from Erin Jones and Ludovica Zola. The Johnnies jumped out a 3-1 lead. Morehead St. tied the score at three apiece and a back-and-fourth ensued to start the first set. An M.E. Hargan killed kickstarted a 5-1 run for the home team. The Red Storm were able to cut the deficit to just one point, 17-16. After a Morehead St. timeout, St. John's was on the wrong side of a few lucky bounces, with the deficit growing to five again, 22-17. Jones recorded her second ace of the frame, cutting the lead to 24-21 staving off the match point. Morehead St. would eventually go on to win the first set.

The Eagles carried their momentum into the second set going up 4-1 early. St. John's clawed their way back thanks to back-to-back Ella Parker service aces bringing the score to 8-7 in favor of Morehead St. After a series of back-and-forth points, the Eagles offense forced the Johnnies to take a timeout down 15-12. Coming out of the break, the home team continued to capitalize on the St. John's attack errors with the lead growing to as many as six. After back-to-back aces from Bell, the Red Storm made another push to cut the lead to four. Morehead St. closed the set out with a service ace, going up 2-0 in the match.

As teams traded the first six points of the third frame, the Eagles went on a 4-1 run and forced the Red Storm to take the first timeout of the set. St. John's came out of the stoppage and quickly rallied to bring the score to 11 all with a Barbara Costa dos Santos ace, forcing Morehead St. to take their first timeout. The Johnnies won a pair of long rallies to build a two-point lead, 14-12. The teams went point for point throughout the set, with St. John's holding the advantage. A Benjamim kill forced the Eagles to take its final timeout of the set with the Red Storm up 22-20. The timeout proved to be useful as the Eagles erased the deficit and went up 23-22, as Head Coach Joanne Persico used the last of her timeouts. The Red Storm were able to fend off the match point just once but were unable to rally back, dropping the final set 25-23.

Persico and the Red Storm will use the rest day on Saturday to regroup, before taking on the Auburn Tigers on Sunday. The second match of the Cardinal Classic will be live streamed on ESPN+ and first serve in the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena is set for 12 p.m. ET.