Saturday night turned into an intense showdown as the Red Storm took on the Butler Bulldogs. The Storm fell 3-1 at home in Carnesecca arena making them 15-13 overall, and 5-7 in the Big East. Although the night was not in the their favor, they had several players ending on high note with record breaking statistics.
Throughout the match St. John’s found themselves point for point with the bulldogs, picking up burst of energy from big plays from the offensive side. There were a total of 29 tied scores and only 7 lead changes.
“We’re caught in the close matches and we just need to finish in the end,” mentioned head coach Joanne Persico. “We need make a big play at the end of a set. I really think at the end of the day we really want our best hitters to get the ball and be able to score against the double block.”
Julia Cast made many large contributions for the Red Storm as she finished with 16 kills and a .483 attacking percentage, followed by senior Karin Palgutova with 15 kills, and Yaidy Santiago with 12 kills. Palgutova had an outstanding night as she became the career leader for service aces at St. John’s. At times during the match Palgutova’s tough serving forced Butler to take a time-out as well as putting a storm at an advantage.
The Red Storm held a strong defense at times, but they had a little struggle with communication at certain points during the set. Despite this setback, they still managed to win several long and hard rallies with the help of Shawna-Lei Santos, Delaney D’Amore, and Karin Palgutova. Santos finished with 16 digs and 45 assists which were a big help to the Storm’s offensive success.
In the second and fourth sets, the storm outnumbered the bulldogs in kills. Throughout the set there were many moments of intensity for the Storm but also a constant struggle to keep this energy going. Julia Cast was a big motivator and supporter for the team’s morale.
“Everyone was playing a little tired at first but we did pick it up,” said Julia Cast. “We played pretty similar to yesterday and were fighting for the most part but we just loose all the little points we need to win.”
This week St. John’s takes on the Providence Friars (10-17 overall, 1-12 Big East) on Friday November 6th at 7 in Carnesecca Arena. They are still fighting their way to a Big East championship.
“Next week we need to make more runs, not miss our serves and continue practicing our serves and first touches,” Cast said, as they are preparing for their next match.
The squad plans to be back in action and ready to play this Friday in the hunt for the Big East Championship.
