Nov. 3, 2007

Box Score

QUEENS, N.Y. - The No. 22 Red Storm volleyball team swept the Orange of Syracuse University, 3-0 (30-23, 30-24, 30-23) Saturday afternoon at Carnesecca Arena. With the win, St. John's picked up its nineteenth sweep of the season, as well as its fifth in a row. The Red Storm is now 25-3 (10-1 BIG EAST), while Syracuse drops to 18-11 (6-5 BIG EAST).

Senior Wioleta Leszczynska directed the Red Storm offense with a match-high 45 assists and was one dig away from a double-double as she recorded nine for the match, she also had two total blocks. Four players registered double-digit efforts in kills, led by senior Hui Ping Huang with 14 kills. Huang also registered three total blocks. Senior LaToya Blunt had 12 key kills, while junior Valeria Kovaleva had 11 and senior Dana DeMayo had 10. Junior Lena Yee led all players with 13 digs.

Game one was tight through 5-5, then the Orange jumped out to an 8-5 lead, forcing St. John's to burn its first timeout. Syracuse kept up the momentum after the breather, and jumped out to a 15-10 lead. The Red Storm battled back though, and took the lead at 16-15 on an Orange attack error. The game remained tight until the Red Storm picked up the final seven points, and after two straight service aces by Kovaleva, St. John's won game one 30-23.

The Red Storm jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in game two, and stayed in front for the entire game. St. John's had its greatest lead of eight points at three different points in the match. The Orange cut it to within four late in the game, at 27-23, but the Red Storm grabbed 3 of the next four point to take the game 30-24. Huang had a game-high eight kills in game two and Blunt was a perfect five-for-five on her kill attempts. St. John's went into the locker room up two games to none.

The first few points of game three were back and forth through 5-5, when a kill by Kovaleva gave St. John's a 6-5 lead. The game remained close, but when the Red Storm extended the lead to 22-17, Syracuse used its first timeout. After the break, the Orange just couldn't muster up enough to come back, and St. John's rolled on to a 30-23 game win, taking the match 3-0.

For the Orange, senior Cheryl Cobbina and sophomore Kacie MacTavish tied the team-high 13 kills, while junior April Quigley led the team with 42 assists. Senior Joscie Kaup had a team-high 12 digs and junior Brittany Kern had a match-high four total blocks.

The Red Storm returns to the court tomorrow, for the final home game of the season against the Marquette University Golden Eagles. The match will be the last home game for seniors LaToya Blunt, Hui Ping Huang, Liz Austin and Dana DeMayo.