The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Volleyball Wins Last Three

St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team goes at it again with yet another win over their city rival Colombia. Last Tuesday night, the women’s volleyball team won another game, improving their record to 15-1. The Red Storm made it their twelfth sweep this year.

In the first game played, St. John’s won by a score of 30-15. St. John’s biggest lead from the start in game one was by ten, and it never stopped from there. The game started and ended with a great play from Latoya Blunt. Latoya started off the first game with three quick early kills and didn’t look back from there. She ended the first game with three more kills and led the team.
Patti Hardimon was also a significant contributor in game one and was next in line to Latoya with five kills. For the first game, St. John’s looked like they were unstoppable and the teammates showed great chemistry with each other. Wioleta Leszczynska also showed great playmaking skills with 14 assists setting up her teammates.

The second game started just like the first but tightened near the end. Colombia surprised St. John’s by coming out more aggressive and even taking the lead at one point but not for long as St. John’s went on a 10-3 run. Patti Hardimon was the major factor. With her athletic ability, hustle, and hard hitting spikes, Colombia just could not recover. St. John’s also did a clever job of out-reading the defense of Colombia, which helped them to break away. As a result the Red Storm eventually finished off Colombia with a score of 30-25. Latoya Blunt also had five more kills and Wioleta Leszczynska had 18 more assists adding to their stats.

As the third game started, the Red Storm looked towards ending the night with a bang, and they did just that. Coming out more aggressive than they did the first two games, St. John’s was able to finish off Colombia 30-14 in game three and add another win to their record.

With such great playing from the volleyball team St. John’s fans should look forward to more volleyball games this. “It is the team chemistry and the experience, which is what separates us this year from the previous years,” said coach Joanne Persico-Smith.

-Taj Burgher

St. John’s 3, Pittsburgh 1

The St. John’s women’s volleyball club handed the University of Pittsburgh a cool 3-1 loss on Friday to improve their overall record to 16-1 and grab their first conference victory of the season in impressive fashion.

Import sophomore Hui Ping Huang dominated the match with a double-double, nailing down 20 kills and 15 digs. St. John’s landed more international contributions from Polish-born Wioleta Leszczynska with five service aces and 53 assists. The first three games were tight duels leaving the Storm up two games before St. John’s ran away with the finale, 30-19.

St. John’s 3, West Virginia 1

Red Storm volleyball defeated a one-win West Virginia Mountaineers team on Sunday by a score of 3-1 for their second straight conference victory to open the season.

Hui Ping Huang led the squad in kills (18) for the second time in as many games, while Kathleen Yee led the club in digs with 23.

St. John’s prepares for its next contest with Conference opponent Louisville next Friday. The Storm currently stands at 17-1 overall, and undefeated in the Big East with a 2-0 conference record.

-Gerard Fitzgerald

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