Nov. 13, 2011

Box Score

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Led by senior outside hitter Brunna Kronbauer, the St. John’s volleyball team had four players record double-digit kills for the second-straight match, but Rutgers was able to outlast the Red Storm, 3-2 (25-14, 16-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11), in the 2011 season finale. It was St. John’s eighth five setter of the campaign and second in a row.

Kronbauer led the squad with 14 kills and added 13 digs to notch the 10th double-double of her senior season. The outside hitter also hit .314 for the match and added three blocks. Senior captain Darlene Ramdin concluded her record breaking four-year career with 11 kills, seven blocks and a .333 attacking percentage, while sophomore Yana Vavdiyuk and freshman Aleksandra Wachowicz contributed 10 kills apiece. Freshman middle blocker Ashley Boursiquot concluded her rookie campaign with six kills and three blocks.

In addition to Kronbauer’s 13 digs, sophomore libero Korina Yee picked up 14 digs on the defensive side of the ball, while junior setter Gabriela Petkova recorded 45 assists and nine digs. Both Wachowicz and freshman Morgan Thomas had six digs. With her 45-dig performance, Petkova became the fifth member of the 2,000-assist club. She now has 2,041 career assists.

Using runs of 8-1 and 6-0, the Scarlet Knights committed zero errors in the opening set and hit .650 as a team to cruise to a 25-14 opening frame victory. Hannah Curtis and Sofi Cucuz led the way with six and five kills, respectively, while Kelsey Ross landed six serves in for aces for RU.

St. John’s responded in the second set to level the match at 1-1 as Ramdin led the charge with four kills and a .444 attacking percentage. Kronbauer and Wachowicz both added three kills in the set as St. John’s hit .364 and took the set, 25-16.

Rutgers came out of the intermission and grabbed a slim 25-23 win in the third set, but STJ followed with a thrilling 25-21 in the fourth frame to level the match at 2-2 and force a fifth game. The fourth stanza consisted of 16 ties and 11 lead changes, but the Red Storm was able to string together a 4-0 run, which included two Kronbauer kills, to conclude the fourth set. Kronbauer finished the fourth set with seven kills and hit .462.

The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 7-4 advantage in the fifth and final game and never looked back, taking the set 15-11 to clinch the 3-2 win.

Ramdin, one of five seniors graduating this spring, finishes her career with 1,234 kills and 392 total blocks. She now ranks sixth in all-time kills and third in all-time blocks, just five short of Latoya Blunt’s mark of 397. Finishing the season with a .287 attacking percentage, senior Paulina Piegza finishes her career with a .269 hitting percentage, which ranks seventh on the all-time list.

To stay up to date with the Red Storm volleyball program throughout the offseason be sure to check out RedStormSports.com or keep up with all the action by following the squad on Twitter by following @STJ_Volleyball.