Senior Night Celebration
Before the game against No. 7 NCAA-ranked Creighton began on Nov. 14, there was a celebration for St. John’s and their annual Senior Night ceremony, which honored and recognized seniors from both St. John’s and Creighton.
The ceremony began with St. John’s players walking to meet each Creighton senior at center court to give them a single rose as a gesture of sportsmanship and recognition for all the hard work within the sport.
Soon after, one by one, St. John’s Seniors walked down from baseline to center court with friends, family and teammates.
As each senior began their walk, the announcer read their stats, accomplishments and highlights, whether it was career milestones, where they were from, or what they brought to the team. The arena’s big screens projected their faces, names and numbers as fans had printed photos of each player’s face.
As each of the four St. Johns Seniors: Martina Ghezzi, Erin Jones, Ludovica Zola and Lucrezia Lodi made it to center court, they were all presented with a single rose and a framed jersey with their name and personalized details that honored their time within the program.
Many smiled and cried, which allowed fans to be grateful and recognize just how much hard work their women have put into their sport. As a final gift to the seniors, Coach Perisco sang “God Bless America.”
Going against Creighton
St. John’s entered their match against Creighton with a history that has constantly challenged the Red Storm players. In a match against Creighton earlier this season, Creighton swept St. John’s 3-0. This match seemed to follow a similar script, even though the Red Storm players tried to fight back.
The opening of the first set started with Creighton striking first, but St. John’s Ella Parker fired right back, getting the first kill. Moments later in the game, senior Ludovica Zola and talented Chloe Bell block out one of Creighton’s attempts to score, firing it right back at Creighton. Parker continues to shine and show her strength in the game early as she evens the score with another kill.
As the set inched closer and closer to an ending, the Blue Jays continued to put more and more pressure on the Red Storm as they called a time-out (19-11) with an attempt to catch up. But the Bluejays remained strong and closed the first set with a dominating lead of 25-15.
The second set began with Creighton getting the first point again, due to an improper block, but that didn’t stop Ghezzi from scoring a point with a strong kill. The Red Storm continued to keep the game close as they kept the gap narrow from 7-6 to 8-7, making it difficult for Creighton to get a large enough lead.
But after St. John’s called their first time out, the Blue Jays widened the gap to 14-9, even with multiple attempts to catch up, with notable digs coming from Freshman Bell.
After the last timeout by the Red Storm, it brought to brief shift in the game, whether the Red Storm scored two points back-to-back. Unfortunately, Creighton quickly reasserted dominance and doubled St. John’s score 22-12, ultimately winning the second set 25-13.
At the last and final set, we repeat with Creighton scoring first and St. John’s striking back. Only this time, the Johnnies began to grab a lead of 5-2, a highlight of this match. But as the game progresses, the Bluejays quickly evened the score. St. John’s, eager not to let three slip away, continued to fight, bringing the scores to 11-11 right before a Red Storm timeout.
After the last time out, it was clear to the Red Storm that they could not stop the Bluejays, even with Ghezzi’s kills bringing the score to 16-23. Although the Johnnies fought to the end, the Bluejays locked down set through 25-18.
St. John’s was still able to be strong and show that even in the face of failure, they will still fight. This loss was overshadowed by the senior night and a crowd full of fans honoring the soon-to-be graduates.
The final set scores were 25-15,25-13, and 25-18.
