Blue Demons Fall at St. John's
10/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
QUEENS, N.Y. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Cullen paced the DePaul volleyball team with 13 kills, but it was not enough as the Blue Demons suffered a 3-0 (30-19, 30-15, 30-25) loss to BIG EAST Conference foe No. 23 St. John's Friday at Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm have won their last four matches and improve to 23-3 and 8-1 in the conference, while DePaul falls to 6-17, 1-8 in league play.
St. John's created the perfect storm with a balanced attack; registering 57 kills for sizzling .374 attack percentage, while defensively notching 59 digs. Hui Ping Huang led all players with a .440 attack percentage on 13 kills, while Lena Yee paced the floor with 20 digs.
Games one and two were all St. John's as they never allowed the Blue Demons closer than four points and led by as many as 15. The Red Storm won the first set 30-19 and the second game 30-15. St. John's recorded 37 kills for a .423 attack percentage in the first two games, while the Blue Demons measured a .114 hitting percentage and just 21 kills.
DePaul found its offensive rhythm in the third set and led for most of the game. The Blue Demons jumped out to an 7-4 lead to force an early Red Storm timeout. DePaul continued to swing well, and took it largest lead of the match at 17-13 on a kill by Cullen. St. John's slowly chipped away at the Blue Demon lead and tied the game at 23 with a kill by Chen Chen. Following the kill, the Red Storm closed out the game on a 7-2 run and won the set 30-25.
Defensively, the Blue Demons were led by Cullen's 11 digs and freshman middle blocker Kate Letcher stuffed two solo blocks.
DePaul freshman setter Christy Landschoot dished out 31 assists while adding seven digs and a pair of kills.
The Blue Demons return to the court on Sunday in Storrs, Connecticut. DePaul and the Huskies square off at noon (CST) at Gampel Pavilion.