After a six-game road trip to begin the season, the St. John’s volleyball team headed back to Queens to compete in the annual Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic starting on Sept. 12. Over the course of the weekend, the Red Storm would match up against the Marist Red Foxes, the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Delaware State Hornets and the Tennessee Volunteers.
Game One vs. Marist Red Foxes
The Johnnies came out of the gates hot on Friday, dominating the first set. Following a back-and-forth affair to start the Red Storm ran away. Early on, with the score tied at three, freshman outside hitter Kendall White subbed in. White recorded a kill, giving the Red Storm a 4-3 advantage. From there the Johnnies took over, and the set finished 25-11.
This victory included St. John’s ripped an 11-0 run to put Marist to bed, capped off by senior outside hitter Lucrezia Lodi who recorded the final kill. Lodi, the Italian native, recorded a set-high six kills.
After another neck-and-neck start, St. John’s looked to be pulling away in the second set when the scoreboard read 20-14. Three consecutive errors, followed by a kill from Marist’s Caelyn Dumas got the Red Foxes right back in it. In the twilight of the set, St. John’s head coach Joanne Persico called a timeout, which led to two clutch kills from junior Erin Jones. The fatal blow was delivered by Lodi giving the Red Storm a 25-22 victory.
But Marist was not going to go down easy. The Red Foxes established a 4-0 lead, forcing the Red Storm to have to claw back into it. After six separate ties, St. John’s finally gained the lead following an ace from Atlanta native Shiloh Clayton. Clayton’s lone ace of the afternoon proved to be crucial in the matchup. Marist never regained the lead, and the set finished 25-19.
Despite two out of the three sets being highly competitive, St. John’s finally earned their first win of the season after an 0-6 start.
Game Two vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
St. John’s looked to keep it rolling against a marquee opponent from the Big 12. West Virginia entered the contest with a perfect 6-0 record.
The Mountaineers came out firing from the get-go, putting immediate pressure on the Red Storm. St. John’s tallied 40 digs as a team Friday night, led by junior libero Rashanny Solano Smith. Smith recorded 14 digs herself, putting her body on the line throughout.
West Virginia held their own defensively all night, racking up 12 blocks as a team, compared to the Johnnies’s six. The tandem of senior Laila Ibrahim and junior Nina Horning lived at the front of the net all night, racking up eight and five blocks respectively.
Set one saw a close battle through the first few minutes. Red Storm freshman Kendall White picked up a kill on the assist from junior Erin Jones to even the score at 10. Afterwards, West Virginia took control of the set, culminating in a 25-20 finish.
The Mountaineers kept their foot in set two, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Again, powerful spikes and key blocks were the early difference. Any hope of a comeback from the Johnnies was put to rest following a 7-2 run by West Virginia. The Mountaineers dominated the second frame.
St. John’s came out ready in set three. Jones picked up three kills early to propel the Red Storm into control. After posting a triple-double against Marist earlier in the day, the Albuquerque native added six more kills in the nightcap. A rocket of a spike from White caused a West Virginia timeout, then West Virginia went back into the lead with a 6-1 run.
St. John’s was not going down without a fight, eventually tying it up at 11. A successful challenge from coach Persico ignited the crowd inside Carnesecca. But West Virginia responded again, going on a 4-0 run to end the set.
St. John’s failed to win the long rallies all night long against a relentless West Virginia squad. The Red Storm fell to 1-7 on the year and West Virginia’s undefeated start rolled on to 7-0.
Game three vs. Delaware State Hornets
The Jack Kaiser Classic continued on Saturday as St. John’s hosted Delaware State. St. John’s was looking for their second win of the weekend and to bounce back from Friday night.
The Red Storm came out of the matchup victorious beating the Hornets 3-1. Junior star Erin Jones notched her second triple-double of the weekend. Jones racked up a team-high 15 kills, 17 assists and 12 digs. Freshman Kendall White and sophomore Kya Harris were both tremendous on offense each racking up seven kills. Freshman Martina Capponcelli collected a game-high 23 assists. The defense was led by junior libero Rashanny Solano Smith who tallied 12 digs.
St. John’s was in control early thanks to good defense, which translated into quality offense. When Jones notched her first of three aces, the Red Storm’s lead grew to 13-7. The Hornets clawed their way back into the set eventually tying it at 15. Delaware State was charged with a costly net violation during match point and the set finished 25-22. Despite playing a game earlier on in the afternoon Delaware State showed no fatigue in set one.
The start of set two seemed like it was a continuation of the first with the two sides trading points. Costly errors hurt St. John’s early which gave Delaware State a 9-8 lead. Jones tallied four straight kills to give St. John’s a 15-11 advantage. The 4-0 Jones run consisted of perfect spikes. Once again the Hornets would not go away easily. The solution for the Red Storm was freshman libero Shilloh Clayton who provided four huge aces. Clayton’s serves were the driving factor for the Red Storm’s 25-22 set win.
With their backs up against the wall, Delaware State was not quitting. The Hornets jumped out to an early 10-5 lead. St. John’s head coach Joanne Persico called a timeout and regrouped her squad. For the second time of the day Jones took over and got the Red Storm right back in it. After Jones’ second kill streak of the day, Smith laid out for a diving, no-look play resulting in a kill.
The kill from Solano Smith shifted the momentum in St. John’s favor—until Delaware State went on the largest run by either side, an 8-0 run as the set finished 25-21.
After a disappointing end to the previous set,Jones could be seen rallying the troops inside the huddle. Whatever words of motivation Jones had translated onto the court as St. John’s had an early lead. Then, it was Martina Ghezzi’s turn to take over. Ghezzi racked up three aces in the span of a few points. A service error from Delaware State ended it with the final score 25-19.
A 3-1 St. John’s victory earned them their second win of the season.
Game Four vs. Tennessee Volunteers
From the get-go on Sunday, the Red Storm were completely outplayed. Tennessee proved to use their superior height, unlimited stamina and big spikes to cruise to a 3-0 win. Every time St. John’s was able to set themselves up in position for a kill, Tennessee came up with a dig. The Vols utilized their height advantage for blocks. Six foot four Chelsea Sutton had six alone. St. John’s struggled on offense totaling just 25 kills to the opposition’s 44. Jones was the main offensive contributor with six kills.
The highlight of the first set came when St. John’s played exceptional defense, leading to a kill from Jones. Tennessee senior Brynn Williams was the thorn in St. John’s side all afternoon. Her spikes were rockets, placed perfectly. The set came to a close with the score of 25-11 and was never competitive.
The second set started out close, then the Vols took control. Blazing spikes and leaping blocks allowed Tennessee to go on cruise control. A perfectly placed spike from Tennessee ended the set 25-12.
Set three proved to be more of the same. The Vols ran away when Williams completely took over. Racking up kills and blocks throughout the set, despite showing a slight sliver of life, it was too late for the Red Storm. The set wrapped up 25-16 and Tennessee completed a clean 3-0 sweep.
A 2-2 record on the weekend was a positive for St. John’s after an 0-6 start. The Red Storm are now 2-8 and will be on the road next weekend at Syracuse University. St. John’s will wrap up their non-conference schedule with Le Moyne, Siena and Syracuse.
