Oct. 6, 2007

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, KY. - The No. 18 Red Storm volleyball team saw its 10-match winning streak come to an end Saturday, as the team was defeated by a tough Louisville squad, 3-0 (39-37, 30-23, 30-26). With the loss, St. John's fell to 19-3 (4-1 BIG EAST), while the Cardinals improved to 10-4 (5-0 BIG EAST). The loss also ended the Red Storm's 20-match BIG EAST winning streak.

Senior Hui Ping Huang and junior Lena Yee had stand out performances for St. John's in the losing effort. Huang had a double-double with a match high 18 kills as well as 11 digs, she also put up five total blocks. Yee contributed on defense for the Red Storm, as she threw her body around to record a match-high 22 digs. Senior Wioleta Leszczynska had a team-high 43 assists to go with nine digs, while junior Valeria Kovaleva registered 13 kills and nine digs.

The fans got their money's worth of the match in just the first game. Neither team showed any dominance, as the largest lead was in the middle of the game when Lousiville was up by three points at 17-14. The game was tied 22 times and saw 10 lead changes. Each time the Cardinals took a one point lead from 22-22 to 25-25, senior LaToya Blunt was there to tie it right back up. The teams eventually had to play into extra points, where the Red Storm had the chance to put the game away four different times but was unable to. Fueled by junior Jana Matiasovska's seven kills, including the last two of the game, the Cardinals won game one, 39-37.

St. John's jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game two, only to have the Cardinals answer right back with four straight points, taking a 4-3 lead. Tied at 7-7 a kill by junior Casie Brooks gave the Red Storm the lead. The team would hold on to that lead twice after Louisville came within one point at 12-11 and 13-12. But the Cardinals were able to tie it at 14-14, and took the lead on the next play, 15-14, forcing the Red Storm to use its first timeout. After the break the teams split the next four points, and St. John's tied it at 17-17 and took the lead on a Cardinal attack error. It was back and forth through 20-20 but Louisville took the next three points, and St. John's used its final timeout. The lead was too much however, as the Cardinals rode out a 7-3 run to take a two match lead into the locker room, ending game two 30-23.

In game three, Huang started things off well for the Red Storm as she had three straight kills and the team got a big block from Leszczynska and junior Chen Chen to grab an early 4-0 lead. The Cardinals fought right back into it again though, and tied it at 5-5. The game was back and forth through 12-12. A kill by Kovaleva gave St. John's a 16-13 lead and Louisville used their first time out. After the break, the Cardinal came back to tie it up and took the lead, 18-17. The Red Storm used their last timeout with the Cardinals up 23-22. After the break, Louisville pulled away to a 27-24 lead, the Red Storm fought back to within 28-26, but the Cardinals put the match away with a 30-26 game three victory.

For Louisville, Matiasovska had a team-high 14 kills to go with six total blocks, while sophomore Justine Landi put up a match-high nine big blocks at the net and dug 12 balls. Sophomore Samantha Dabbs had a match-high 44 assists.

The Red Storm gets right back at it tomorrow, when the team travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on the Bearcats of the University of Cincinnati. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

- Red Storm -