For the first time in program history, the St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team will dance to the Fab Four of the NIVC (National Invitational Volleyball Championship) after a 3-1 victory over the UConn Huskies on Dec. 12.
The Red Storm entered the Thursday night matchup against the Huskies (No. 3 seed, 26-8) with a chip on their shoulder, facing a team that defeated them twice already this season.
“[I’m] super proud of our squad for their performance really these last few weeks,” Head Coach Joanne Persico said postgame. “The hard work anytime you have the time to host at home, it’s special.”
“We tried to learn from our mistakes in the previous game, so we made sure to fix the areas where we were lacking,” senior outside hitter Giorgia Walther said. ”We saw the two people pass in. That was our strategy.”
Passing is exactly what the Red Storm did so well in Thursday’s match. Senior setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk led the way with 49 assists, more than the whole Huskies team combined (48).
Scoring was led by Erin Jones with 15 kills, marking it as her 11th straight game with double-digit kills. The team battled defensively in all five sets with five different players totaling 10 plus digs. Jones and Kowalczyk led with 17 each.
The Red Storm jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, looking dominant on both sides of the ball. They led 13-7 before the first timeout was called. Kowalczyk tallied 11 assists while Walthers had four kills.
The Huskies battled back, tying it at 17 before Lucrezia Lodi took over with three kills on a game-changing run. Jones ended the first set for the Johnnie’s with her fifth kill of the set, grabbing the early advantage in a 25-20 win.
The exact opposite was the case in the second set when the Johnnie’s fell 8-5 early before calling a timeout. Five of the first points were off errors from the Red Storm, something that loomed throughout the set.
UConn junior Doga Kutlu had eight assists on every earned kill for the Huskies when leading 16-11. A sudden shift occurred when trailing 17-15 as a call on a serve that originally favored UConn was challenged by Persico, thanks to fans calling from the stands that the ball was in play. Lodi earned the final kill of the set to make it 25-23, ending a hard-fought St. John’s comeback.
“We had terrific support from our fellow players and they motivated me to really lift that challenging card up because they had a great viewpoint,” Persico said.
The Red Storm’s ability to fight back when trailing was put on full display yet again in the third set, falling quickly down 5-2. Huskies junior Hanna Tylska highlighted the quick lead with two kills.
UConn called their second timeout when trailing 16-12, but another surge from the Red Storm led by two kills from Jones tied the set at 20. The Huskies looked to have the set won, but the Red Storm battled back to tie it at 24 each. The third set ended with a score of 29-27, UConn winning their first set of the contest.
The Red Storm showed more glimpses of the team they were in the first set to start the fourth, taking an early lead to 18-12 before a timeout. Lodi led the team during the stretch with three total kills. The Huskies began to battle their way back into the set, cutting the lead to 20-16 before the Johnnies erupted to a 24-19 lead, one point away from ending UConn’s season.
The Huskies team tied it at 24 and even when the ball hit the court to finish the game UConn head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball challenged the call in hopes of keeping the Huskies season alive. The Red Storm won the final set 26-24, defeating UConn for the first time this season.
The final set scores were: 25-20, 25-23, 27-29 and 26-24.
“It’s really exciting to watch great volleyball,” Coach Persico said after the game. “So we’re happy with our fans’ support and we’re excited to move on. We know the stakes are high, but I’ve been privileged to coach these girls for four years.”
The St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team looks to advance to the championship round of the NIVC for the first time, as they face Bowling Green on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. EST in Carnesecca Arena.
