St. John’s Claims First BIG EAST Road Win of the Season at UConn, 3-1

Friday, October 9

Storrs, Conn.

5 p.m.

St. John's University

14-4,4-1Big East

UConn

7-11,0-5Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
St. John's (NY)	25	20	25	25	3
UConn	12	25	18	21	1

Photo by: Vincent Dusovic

St. John’s Claims First BIG EAST Road Win of the Season at UConn, 3-1

10/9/2026 8:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm has won three straight matches

STORRS, Conn.– The St. John's volleyball team picked up its first road win of the season in 3-1 showing at UConn on Friday evening. With the win, the Red Storm have now won three straight matches.

The Johnnies (14-4, 4-1 BIG EAST) came out firing in the first set, swinging .650 in the opener. Connecticut (7-11, 0-5 BIG EAST) bounced back in the second set to level the contest at 1-1, but St. John's shook it off and held the Huskies in check in the final two frames. The set scores were 25-12, 20-25, 25-18 and 25-21.

"What an exhilarating and competitive conference road win," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "I loved how Maggie [Carcillo] and Martina [Capponcelli] led the offense this evening. I'm so proud of the resilience and teamwork the squad showed tonight."

Lejla Hadziredzepovic and Carola Tesoro fired a match-best 15 kills apiece. Rashanny Solano Smith logged the first double-double of her career with a 19-dig and career-best 10-assist outing in Storrs. Maggie Carcillo dished out a match-high 23 helpers and was followed by Martina Capponcelli with 13. At net, Teodora Stamenkovic tallied six blocks (6 BA) to lead the Johnnies.

Set one opened with both squads going point-for-point all the way to 3-3, but St. John's was able to string together a pair of tallies and claimed the lead for good. After UConn brought it to within one at 5-4, the Red Storm engineered a massive 11-1 run to put distance on the Huskies at 19-7. St. John's entered the red zone and pushed all the way to a 25-12 opening set win.

The second frame was tightly contested throughout, with neither team allowing a sizeable lead to 11-10 in favor of the Red Storm. A quick pair of tallies was enough for St. John's to take a timeout at 12-11. A 5-1 swing by the Johnnies through the media timeout gave the visitors their largest lead of the set at 16-13. UConn wouldn't back down, as both teams played to a 19-19 deadlock. In the latter portion of the set, the Huskies flexed their serving muscle, and a pair of aces ended the set at 25-20 and leveled the contest at one set apiece.

Game three featured a quick 4-0 start for the Red Storm, but Connecticut slowly chipped away at the deficit and knotted the score at 7-7. The pair of squads exchanged 3-0 runs to make it 12-10, but a decisive 4-0 spurt by St. John's was enough for St. John's to take the lead through the media timeout. The momentum stayed with the Johnnies for the remainder of the set en route to a 25-18 set victory and 2-1 match lead.

UConn took exception and ran out to an 8-3 advantage in the early going of set four. However, St. John's regrouped and responded with four unanswered points to trigger a home team timeout at 8-7. The pair of teams traded points to a 13-11 UConn lead. St. John's was able to string together a 6-2 run and pressed into the red zone at 19-13. Tesoro came alive in the latter portion of the set with a pair of kills and a block to help the Red Storm to a 25-21 fourth-set win and 3-1 match victory.

St. John's wraps up the first road weekend of the BIG EAST slate tomorrow afternoon at Providence. First serve in Friartown is set for 3 p.m.