Resilient Effort Lifts St. John’s Over Butler on the Road, 3-2

Friday, October 30

Indianapolis, Ind.

7 p.m.

St. John's University

17-7,7-4Big East

Butler

10-13,4-7Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
St. John's (NY)	25	23	23	25	20	3
Butler	23	25	25	21	18	2

10/30/2026 11:46:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Red Storm earns conference best sixth road win of the year behind statement match from Chloe Bell

INDIANAPOLIS – Behind a resilient effort down the stretch, the St. John's volleyball team earned a hard-fought road victory in Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday evening, dispatching Butler in a five-set thriller, 3-2. Sophomore Chloe Bell made her presence felt all over the court, powering the Red Storm to its BIG EAST-leading sixth road win of the season.

It was an intense match from the jump, with both teams playing to an astounding 51 tied scores and 28 lead changes. St. John's (17-7, 7-4 BIG EAST) jumped out to take the first frame, but Butler (10-13, 4-7 BIG EAST) bounced back and took sets two and three. The Red Storm leveled the match in the fourth and grinded out a highly contentious fifth frame. The set scores were 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 25-21 and 20-18.

The Red Storm registered 89 digs as a unit, the most in a match since the squad picked up 90 digs at Villanova on Sept. 29, 2018. St. John's fired down 62 kills and recorded 9.5 total blocks.

Bell nearly tied her career high in kills, firing 14 and swinging .478 on the evening. She led the Red Storm with 4.0 total blocks (2 BS, 4 BA) and tallied two service aces, while tying her career-best seven digs over the five-set marathon.

Carola Tesoro tallied her 11th double-double of the season, recording a match-best 19 kills and adding 12 digs. Lejla Hadziredzepovic chipped in 16 kills and Kendall White logged seven. Amanda Caputi dished out 33 helpers and dug up nine balls. Maggie Carcillo logged her second double-double of the season with 14 assists and a career-high 10 digs. Rashanny Solano Smith tied for the match best in digs, collecting 27 on the evening and nearly notched a double-double with nine assists.

Set one saw both squads take their time to settle in, but the Red Storm was able to find its groove and take its first lead at 10-9. Butler engineered a 5-2 run to go up a pair, but St. John's rattled off two tallies to level the set at 14-14. Following the media timeout, each team exchanged points as Butler held a slight edge at 18-17. With the Bulldogs in the red zone, St. John's called timeout and stumped the home team's momentum and reclaimed the lead at 21-20. Bell took over down the stretch with a pair of blocks and kills to close out the set, 25-23.

An error-filled start from both teams brought the score to 7-7, but Butler worked its way up a score to force a St. John's timeout at 10-9. A 6-2 swing saw St. John's hum to the media timeout, 15-12. With the lead at seven for the Red Storm, Butler fired off three quick points to come within four at 19-15. The Bulldogs continued to apply pressure and cut the deficit to a pair two times in the red zone and eventually leveled the match with a 25-23 set win.

Neither team would give an inch to begin game three until three unanswered by the Butler offense forced St. John's to take its first stoppage of the set, 8-5. Defense at the net was key for the Johnnies through the middle portion of the game with solo rejections from Kya Harris and White. Following the media timeout and down as many as six at 18-12, St. John's clawed its way back to within three at 19-16. Once again up six at 23-19, Butler called timeout after two quick tallies from St. John's, 23-21. After triggering set point, St. John's staved off elimination twice and came within one at 24-23, but Butler got the point it needed to take a 25-23 win and 2-1 set lead.

The Red Storm held a series of leads to start set four, but Butler was relentless and fought back each time to force a St. John's stoppage at 7-7. St. John's recorded three unanswered to go up 13-10 and rolled to the media timeout at 15-11. Down four at 17-13, the Bulldogs ripped six straight to claim their first lead of the frame at 19-17. Down two at 21-19, St. John's stormed with six straight tallies to claim a 25-21 set win and send the match to a deciding fifth frame.

Butler got off to a hot start in the fifth, going up three at 6-3. St. John's found its rhythm and cut the deficit to one at 7-6. The Johnnies had answers for Butler each time it went up a tally, tying all the way to 9-9. Following a pair of miscues by the Bulldogs, St. John's went up a tally at 13-12. Butler found itself with match point at 14-13, but St. John's dug in and tied the set at 14-14. Tied again at 18-18, the Johnnies found a way and Tesoro kill was all that was needed for the Red Storm to walk out of the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse with a resilient conference win, 20-18.

St. John's concludes the weekend tomorrow afternoon with a critical matchup at Xavier. With playoff implications on the line, first serve at the Cintas Center is set for 4 p.m.