The St. John’s volleyball team was victorious against DePaul on Friday night, 3-2 (27-25, 24-26, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11). The Red Storm now has a record 14-9 (4-4 Big East) and the Blue Demons now has a losing streak of five 12-8, (1-7 Big East).
Senior outside hitter Yaidy Santiago had four kills to help the Red Storm get 5-4 lead in the fifth set that led DePaul to call a timeout. After the timeout, St. John’s took a 11-8 lead and finished the set on a 4-2 run to win 15-11.
“It was great to get another hard-fought and exciting fifth set win on the road,” “Santiago came in the fifth set with her team down 4-1 and was a game changer. I was so happy for her and how the team responded.”
Junior Mona Karkkainen tied a career-high with 12 kills and .435 hitting percentage. Karkkainen was one of four St. John’s players to have four kills. Senior Shawna-Lei Santos came close to tying her career-high in assists with 51. She also collected five digs and three blocks.
Karin Palgutova, a senior outside hitter, got her eight double-double this season with 20 kills (match-high) and 10 digs plus six blocks and two service aces. Palgutova now has 1,742 career kills and is 25 kills away from passing Jackie Ahlers (1,766 kills) for the school’s all-time leader in kills. She also needs five service aces to become the all-time leader in that category. Palgutova has 128 career kills.
Margherita Bianchin, freshman outside hitter, had an splendid game with 10 kills and six digs. Sophomore Julia Cast had a season-high 12 kills, a .391 attacking percentage and six blocks.
Redshirt sophomore Danisha Moss finished the game with a match-high eight blocks plus two kills and two assists. Delaney D’Amore pick up a team-high 17 digs and one service ace and Melissa Chin had a total of seven digs and one service ace.
The Red Storm was defeated by Marquette, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-14) Saturday night at Al McGuire Center.
The Johnnies were kept to a .131 hitting clip and lost in straight sets for only the second time this season. Sophomore Julia Cast finished with a .467 attacking percentage and eight kills.
The Red Storm record now sits at 14-10 (4-5, Big East) and the Golden Eagles are 14-7 (6-3, Big East). Marquette now has 10 consecutive wins over the Red Storm and leads the overall head to head series 10-3.
“We looked a bit fatigued tonight and a strong opponent like Marquette will demand your energy and execution at all times” said head coach Joanne Persico.
Palgutova got 11 kills for a team-high and six digs. Bianchin and Moss both had four kills. Also Freshman Lexie Lobdell tallied two kills and three digs.
Santos lead the offense with 25 assists, seven digs and one service ace, freshman Ariel Miyasaki came off the bench and chipped in with fours digs, and Santiago collected four digs and two kills.
Marquette redshirt freshman Taylor Louis recorded 20 kills, six digs and a .395 attacking clip and redshirt junior Sara Blasier came away with 31 assists and five digs. Overall, the Golden Eagles had a .330 attacking percentage.
Coming up next for the Red Storm are a pair of road games against Georgetown (Oct. 23) and Creighton (Oct. 25) as they continue Big East play.
