The St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team held on to defeat the Villanova Wildcats three sets to two in a thrilling five-set match in Carnesecca Arena on Friday, Oct. 23. The team ends their one-game losing streak going to 15-8 on the season, improving to 10-2 at home.
Erin Jones, who earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the fifth time this season had six kills to go along with 17 assists. Other players such as Lucrezia Lodi, Giorgia Walther, and Wiktoria Kowalcyzk stepped up as well. Lodi posted 24 kills increasing her total to 214 on the season. Walther posted 17 kills and Kowalcyzk tacked on 32 assists. Rashanny Solano Smith had 16 digs.
The Johnnies set the tone early in the first set jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Lodi led her squad with eight kills along with Walther who had three. St. John’s had all the momentum maintaining the lead throughout the entire set and winning 25-18.
The second set saw both teams going head-to-head with several ties and multiple lead changes. Lodi led with four kills along with junior Magda Stambrowska who had three. The defense dictated the pace of this set as both teams displayed preventing either side from garnering any type of momentum. Despite this St. John’s was able to come out on top 25-23 with a block by Lodi on Cat Young to end the set.
The third set saw a complete momentum shift as the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 start before pushing their lead further to 12-6. St. John’s didn’t go away as they began mounting a comeback and coming within two 12-10. Villanova managed to sustain the lead the rest of the set, keeping the Johnnies at bay resulting in a loss for the Red Storm 25-19.
The Johnnies looked to have all the momentum going into the fourth set and seemed fit to win after jumping out to a commanding 8-3 lead. The Wildcats responded, going on a 7-4 run and ultimately taking a 15-14 lead. St. John’s fought back getting within one point 17-16 but could not retake the lead as Villanova pulled away losing the set 25-20.
In the Wildcats forced this was anybody’s game to take. This was a constant battle and did not let up. At the start of the fifth and final set, both teams were in a tussle tying several times and exchanging leads. The score was knotted up at nine before the Johnnies kicked in the extra gear and pulled away.
Lodi contributed with her 24th kill of the match to put the Johnnies up by four before Walther tallied her 17th kill to win the set 15-11. As well as the Johnnies played on the offensive side of the ball posting 63 kills, they played just as well on the defensive posting 62 digs and 10.5 blocks. Ludovica Zola led the team with five along with Stambrowska’s four and Walther’s three. Solano Smith had 16 digs along with Jones’ 13 and Kowalczyk’s 11.
St. John’s continues Big East play against the Butler Bulldogs on Friday at 7 p.m. in Carnesecca Arena.
