St. John’s Volleyball Sweeps Rider to Open the Lou Carnesecca Invitational

Friday, September 4

Queens, N.Y.

1 p.m.

St. John's University

3-1,0-0Big East

Rider

1-2,0-0Metro

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Rider	17	22	13	0
St. John's (NY)	25	25	25	3

St. John’s Volleyball Sweeps Rider to Open the Lou Carnesecca Invitational

9/4/2026 3:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Red Storm will return to action tonight against UAB

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's volleyball team opened the inaugural Lou Carnesecca Invitational with a sweep of Rider in its first match in Carnesecca Arena this season, 3-0.

The Johnnies notched their first sweep of the season in convincing fashion. The set scores were 25-19, 25-22 and 25-13.

St. John's (3-1) fired 36 total kills on a .300 team hitting percentage, but it was the defense that propelled the Johnnies to victory, holding the Broncs (1-2) to a .020 hitting percentage and forced 28 attacking errors. The squad added 8.5 total team blocks to boot.

Lejla Hadziredzepovic notched a season-high 15 kills to lead all players in the match. Amanda Caputi and Maggie Carcillo split setting duties, dishing out 17 and 13 helpers, respectively. Rashanny Solano Smith paced the defensive efforts, logging 13 digs. Teodora Stamenkovic anchored the net with 3.0 total blocks.

St. John's came out firing in the opening set, totaling 15 kills while swinging .344. The Red Storm jumped out to an early 10-6 advantage and kept the Broncs from falling into a rhythm. The Johnnies rattled off a 7-1 run to go up by as many as 10 and cruised to a 25-17 set win.

In game two, both teams battled in the early going and exchanged points to 9-9. St. John's engineered a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 advantage. Rider fought back to tie it at 15-15 and took a brief lead at 17-16. The home team rallied to reclaim the lead at 20-18. With St. John's in the red zone, it held on to take the frame, 25-22, and a 2-0 match lead.

The final frame was a defensive outburst by St. John's, collecting four blocks, highlighted by 1.5 total rejections from Stamenkovic. The Red Storm held Rider to a negative hitting percentage in the frame, taking the 25-13 wire-to-wire set victory and 3-0 sweep.

St. John's will return to the court tonight against UAB for its second match of the Lou Carnesecca Invitational. First serve with the Blazers is set for 7 p.m.