Published: September 01, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y.
Watch Saturday's matches live:
The St. John’s volleyball team improved to 5-1 overall on the
season Friday night with wins over NJIT in the afternoon and
Virginia Tech during the night at the first day of action of the
STJ Volleyball Invitational. With the two victories, the Red Storm
keep their home unbeaten streak alive at 14 games, stretching back
to the 2005 season.
In their first match of the day, the Red Storm defeated the NJIT
Highlanders, 3-0 (30-15, 30-21, 30-18). Leading St. John’s was
junior Valeria Kovaleva with a
match-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs and six assists for
her second straight double-double. Also chipping in for the Red
Storm were seniors Wioleta Leszczynska
and Hui Ping Huang. Leszczynska had a
match-high 42 assist, with six digs and four kills, while Huang
killed 11 balls and recorded eight digs.
The first game of the match saw the Red Storm jump out to an
early 12-3 lead with kills by Kovaleva and Huang. From that point
It was no looking back, as the Highlanders were unable to come
within eight points of St. John’s the rest of the game. St. John’s
won the game handily by the final score of 30-16.
In the second game, St. John’s was trailing early as the
Highlanders built up a 10-5 lead. The Red Storm battled back to
grab the lead at 14-13 and stayed on top throughout the remainder
of the game, winning 30-21.
The third and final game of the match saw the two teams tied
through 8-8 before the Red Storm widened the gap. It was 20-12
after a kill by freshman Diana Banya
and St. John’s forced NJIT to call a timeout. After the break, it
was much of the same as the Red Storm continued to dominate.
Leszczynska closed out the game and match with one of her two
service aces, and St. John’s defeated NJIT 30-18, taking the match
3-0.
For the Highlanders, sophomore Kristy Haeckel had a team-high 14
kills, while sophomore Erica Schultz had the team-high in assists
with 13. The loss drops NJIT to 0-5 on the season.
In the second match of the day, the Red Storm handed the
Virginia Tech Hokies their first loss of the season with a 3-1
victory (30-16, 28-30, 30-27, 30-18). Seniors Hui Ping Huang and
Wioleta Leszczynska were phenomenal again, with Huang recording a
match-high 28 kills along with 10 digs, and Leszczynska had a
match-high 68 assists.
In the first game, the Hokies grabbed an early lead, but the Red
Storm was able to fight back and tie the score at 10 after a
service ace by Leszczynska. The Hokies were unable to regain the
lead they held in the beginning and nine kills by Huang in the game
contributed to a game one win, 30-16.
The second game was the closest of the day for the Red Storm, as
they were back and forth with Virginia Tech throughout the game.
Towards the latter stage of the game, with the Hokies leading
20-16, St. John’s began creeping up and every time the Hokies would
grab more points, the Red Storm would come right behind and tie it
up. It continued like this until 27-27 when the Hokies pulled away
for good, finishing with a 30-28 game two win over St. John’s.
The third game was another exciting one, as it was much of the
same intensity and closeness as the second. Again, the two teams
were neck and neck all the way to the end when St. John’s took the
lead at 25-24 and continued to score on kills by senior Latoya Blunt. Huang ended the game at 30-27
with a kill, and the Red Storm were one away from closing out the
match.
The fourth game was the clincher for the Red Storm as they
climbed out to a an early lead. The Hokies tied it up at 6-6, but
the Red Storm pulled away and an hour and 57 minutes after the
first serve, Hui Ping Huang pounded down the last kill for the Red
Storm, giving them a 3-1 win.
For Virginia Tech, senior Taylor Parrish had 13 kills and
sophomore Michelle Lang had 45 assists. The loss drops the Hokies
to 4-1 on the season.
In other action from today’s tournament, both Virginia Tech and
Long Beach State defeated Fairfield. The Hokie beat the Stags 3-1
while Long Beach State swept their match 3-0.
The Red Storm returns to action tomorrow for the final day of
the STJ Volleyball Invitational. St. John’s first match-up is with
Fairfield at Noon, before closing out the tournament with a match
against #24 Long Beach State.
- Red Storm -