The St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team defeated the Fairfield University Stags in a thrilling five-set comeback in Carnesecca Arena on Sept. 18. The team improves to 8-3 on the season and 5-0 at home.
The Johnnies started the match dominantly — jumping to a 6-2 lead off of three kills from senior outside hitter Giorgia Walther. She kept that pace throughout the game and completed with a season-best of 28 kills on the night.
Junior setter Erin Jones tallied on six kills and six digs in the first set, aiding to her career-high night of 23 kills and 18 digs. The performance also marked her fourth double-double of the season.
Jones was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 16 after registering the second triple-double in program history against Princeton at the Penn State Invitational. Much of the New Mexico native’s ability to lead the Red Storm showcased against the Stags on Wednesday night as she continued her all-star season and added four assists, two aces and a block to an already impressive game.
Senior setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk manufactured a season-high 58 assists, five digs, a block and a kill for St. John’s — despite the difficulty the entire team faced in the middle two sets.
After trading point streaks most of the second set, the Stags took charge late in the game off service errors from St. John’s. Despite Walther launching seven kills in the second verse, the Johnnies could not get it done defensively. Fairfield went on a 7-0 streak to start the third set and the Red Storm struggled to come back from there.
At the hilt of their home court defense was sophomore libero Rashanny Solano-Smith who registered a season-best 25 digs and three assists. Her efforts stood out in a battling fourth set that saw lead changes and multiple tied scores.
The Stags battled St. John’s to a 17-17 tie before committing back-to-back errors and pushing the Red Storm into a lead. With the game tied at 20 Walther and Jones combined for six kills in the final points of the set to force a deciding fifth.
The Red Storm set off in the fifth set with an 8-4 lead before the teams switched sides on the court. Fairfield’s attempts at regaining the lead were almost met when they fired off three points but were promptly stopped by strong offensive efforts from St. John’s. Junior middle blocker Magda Stambrowska put down the final kill for the Red Storm, winning the set 15-12.
Stambrowska added on seven kills, four blocks, two aces and a dig toward the Johnnies all-around effort to get the win at home.
The final set scores were 25-22, 24-26, 16-25, 25-22 and 15-12.
St. John’s is set to host Iona University, Long Island University and Bryant University in the 10th annual Jack Kaiser Classic from Sept. 20-Sept. 22. The Johnnies will kick off the weekend against Iona at 10 a.m. on Sept. 20.
