St. John’s Gears Up for Critical BIG EAST Weekend Against Marquette and DePaul

Friday, October 16

Queens, N.Y.

7 p.m.

St. John's University

Marquette

The Red Storm (11-4, 1-1 BIG EAST) held its own against the nationally ranked Bluejays (7-7, 2-0 BIG EAST) by taking the opening set of the match, ending an 18-set losing streak against Creighton. This marks the first time St. John’s avoided a sweep by CU since the 2023 campaign. The set scores were 25-20, 10-25, 17-25 and 21-25.

Photo by: Vincent Dusovic

St. John’s Gears Up for Critical BIG EAST Weekend Against Marquette and DePaul

10/15/2026 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Red Storm ride a four-match win streak into the weekend

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's volleyball team is set to host a pair of BIG EAST Tournament contenders this weekend against Marquette on Friday night at 7 p.m. and DePaul on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The pair of critical matches will air on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.

St. John's, Marquette and DePaul each are sitting in the top four of the BIG EAST standings, with all three squads having 10 or more victories on the season and four or more wins in league play. This is the first of two times the Red Storm will play both the Golden Eagles and Blue Demons this season, setting up to be the two biggest matches of the season thus far.

Chloe Bell and Rashanny Solano Smith were both named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday afternoon. This is the seventh consecutive week that St. John's has appeared on the weekly honor roll. Monday's honor is the first time that Bell has appeared on the conference honor roll in her career, while Solano Smith has been selected to the honor roll for all but two weeks this season.

Bell was the most proficient attacker for the Red Storm during a 2-0 road trip to UConn and Providence. The middle blocker swung .535 on the weekend with 14 kills, 10 blocks (1 BS, 9 BA) and five digs. Through three weeks of play, Bell leads the BIG EAST in league matches in hitting percentage at .408, to go along with 39 kills in six contests.

Solano Smith once again anchored the back row to an unbeaten road weekend, with a pair of 19-dig performances and a double-double. The libero currently leads the NCAA Division I in digs (411) and is second in digs per set (5.71). She is the only libero in the D1 ranks with more than 400 digs on the season. Solano Smith has 92 more digs than the next-best player in the BIG EAST in that category. Among active Division I student-athletes, the defensive maestro ranks second with 1,831 career digs. She trails Wake Forest's Andrea Roman by eight digs, as the pair are the only active players to have logged more than 1,800 digs across their careers.

Carola Tesoro leads the BIG EAST in kills with 289, while averaging 4.07 per set. The rookie tallied an 11-kill, 11-dig performance during a 3-1 victory at Providence for her eighth double-double of the season. Tesoro is seventh in the NCAA Division I ranks in total kills and has the most by any freshman. The next-best freshman is 24 kills behind Tesoro.

Nearly halfway through conference play, St. John's leads the BIG EAST in kills per set (13.56), assists per set (12.81) and digs per set (15.13). The Johnnies also are holding opponents to a .159 hitting percentage, narrowly trailing Providence's league-leading .158 opponent hitting percentage. Across the last five matches, the Red Storm are averaging 52.2 kills per contest. Across that same five-match span, the Johnnies are holding opponents to a .193 hitting percentage.

Following this weekend, St. John's will hit the road for its longest road swing of the year. The Red Storm travel to Villanova for a 7 p.m. first serve against the Wildcats on Oct. 23. The following day, the Johnnies make their way to the nation's capital for a 6 p.m. battle at Georgetown.