Saturday, October 16
Chicago, Ill.
6:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
12-8,5-3Big East
3
vs
2
St. John's
12-10,3-5Big East
1
2
3
4
5
F
St. John's (NY)
21
25
19
25
12
2
DePaul
25
12
25
18
15
3
Blue Demons Bounce St. John’s in Five-Set Thriller
10/16/2021 9:32:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
DePaul picks up first win over St. John's since 2017
CHICAGO – DePaul volleyball fans inside McGrath-Phillips Arena on Saturday evening were treated to a roller coaster ride as the Blue Demons took down St. John's 3-2 for the program's first victory over the Red Storm since the 2017 season.
DePaul improved to 12-8 on the season and 5-3 in BIG EAST play with its third consecutive victory.
Set scores of the match were 25-21, 12-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-12.
The Blue Demons received contributions from up and down the roster on Saturday with 13 different players entering the match.
Hanna Karl exploded for her first double-double of the season with a team-high 16 kills at a .306 efficiency to go along with two service aces and a team-high 13 digs.
Sophomore Jill Pressly and graduate student Emma Price tallied 13 kills apiece with Pressly serving a pair of aces to go along with six digs.
Middle blocker Donna Brown was once again extremely efficient at the net with nine kills on 15 swings to hit .400 while leading the squad in blocks with five on the outing.
Freshman setter Ashley Cudiamat matched her career-high with 27 assists while Molly Murrihy added 19 helpers and seven digs.
St. John's was paced by right side Rachelle Rastelli with a match-high 27 kills and four service aces.
How it Happened:
Set One – The Blue Demons got off to a slow start and trailed 16-5 in the first set to force Coach Zidek to burn her second timeout. DePaul strung together a 4-0 run with Murrihy behind the service line to come within four at 19-15. The Red Storm responded with consecutive points to go back up 21-15 before DePaul erupted on a 10-0 run to close out the set with Karl dropping in a kill and pair of aces during the serving span.
Set Two –. The Red Storm responded with a 7-2 start to the second frame to force an early DePaul timeout. Three consecutive Blue Demon attacking errors followed by a trio of Rastelli kills ballooned the deficit to 20-8. DePaul mustered just four more points before St. John's evened the match at one set apiece.
Set Three – DePaul responded in a big way in the third set with a 10-2 run out of the gates with Karl once again behind the service line. A Meredith Wallace kill from the right side followed by a Karl termination and Pressly service ace put the Blue Demons in front 17-8. The Red Storm came within five at 20-15 before the Blue Demons won five of the next nine points to go up 2-1 on the match.
Set Four – In the early stages of the fourth set the Blue Demons were in arm's length of the visitors until a 4-0 run for the Red Storm put them ahead 18-11. Another Wallace kill brought the Blue Demons within four at 20-16 but St. John's went onto close out the set on a 5-2 spurt to even the match at 2-2 and force a deciding fifth set.
Set Five – The two squads stood knotted at three apiece before a DePaul attack error and Red Storm service ace forced a Blue Demons timeout trailing 5-3. A pair of kills from Karl pair with a Brown termination put DePaul ahead 9-6. Rastelli's 26th kill of the match brought SJU within one at 12-11 before Price responded to put DePaul ahead 13-11. The Blue Demons clinched the match on Pressly's 13th kill on the outing to put DePaul in the win column.
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "That match came down to pure grit. October is its own mini season and its where good teams become great teams by finding ways to win ugly. That match came down to who could weather the low ebbs and continue to hold offense. Ball control, which we usually rely on, was off. This team had to really dig deep, and a lot of people had to step in in different roles and step up. Phoenix Lee, Avery Horejsi, and all of our role players stepped up and we made the one dig we needed to make and scored the one ball we needed to score to steal victory from the jaws of defeat."
Up Next: The Blue Demons head into the second half of BIG EAST action next week with a matchup against first-place Marquette on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Noon before traveling to Connecticut on Sunday, Oct. 24 for a 1 p.m. match at Gampel Pavilion.
For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Volleyball, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
DePaul improved to 12-8 on the season and 5-3 in BIG EAST play with its third consecutive victory.
Set scores of the match were 25-21, 12-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-12.
The Blue Demons received contributions from up and down the roster on Saturday with 13 different players entering the match.
Hanna Karl exploded for her first double-double of the season with a team-high 16 kills at a .306 efficiency to go along with two service aces and a team-high 13 digs.
Sophomore Jill Pressly and graduate student Emma Price tallied 13 kills apiece with Pressly serving a pair of aces to go along with six digs.
Middle blocker Donna Brown was once again extremely efficient at the net with nine kills on 15 swings to hit .400 while leading the squad in blocks with five on the outing.
Freshman setter Ashley Cudiamat matched her career-high with 27 assists while Molly Murrihy added 19 helpers and seven digs.
St. John's was paced by right side Rachelle Rastelli with a match-high 27 kills and four service aces.
How it Happened:
Set One – The Blue Demons got off to a slow start and trailed 16-5 in the first set to force Coach Zidek to burn her second timeout. DePaul strung together a 4-0 run with Murrihy behind the service line to come within four at 19-15. The Red Storm responded with consecutive points to go back up 21-15 before DePaul erupted on a 10-0 run to close out the set with Karl dropping in a kill and pair of aces during the serving span.
Set Two –. The Red Storm responded with a 7-2 start to the second frame to force an early DePaul timeout. Three consecutive Blue Demon attacking errors followed by a trio of Rastelli kills ballooned the deficit to 20-8. DePaul mustered just four more points before St. John's evened the match at one set apiece.
Set Three – DePaul responded in a big way in the third set with a 10-2 run out of the gates with Karl once again behind the service line. A Meredith Wallace kill from the right side followed by a Karl termination and Pressly service ace put the Blue Demons in front 17-8. The Red Storm came within five at 20-15 before the Blue Demons won five of the next nine points to go up 2-1 on the match.
Set Four – In the early stages of the fourth set the Blue Demons were in arm's length of the visitors until a 4-0 run for the Red Storm put them ahead 18-11. Another Wallace kill brought the Blue Demons within four at 20-16 but St. John's went onto close out the set on a 5-2 spurt to even the match at 2-2 and force a deciding fifth set.
Set Five – The two squads stood knotted at three apiece before a DePaul attack error and Red Storm service ace forced a Blue Demons timeout trailing 5-3. A pair of kills from Karl pair with a Brown termination put DePaul ahead 9-6. Rastelli's 26th kill of the match brought SJU within one at 12-11 before Price responded to put DePaul ahead 13-11. The Blue Demons clinched the match on Pressly's 13th kill on the outing to put DePaul in the win column.
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "That match came down to pure grit. October is its own mini season and its where good teams become great teams by finding ways to win ugly. That match came down to who could weather the low ebbs and continue to hold offense. Ball control, which we usually rely on, was off. This team had to really dig deep, and a lot of people had to step in in different roles and step up. Phoenix Lee, Avery Horejsi, and all of our role players stepped up and we made the one dig we needed to make and scored the one ball we needed to score to steal victory from the jaws of defeat."
Up Next: The Blue Demons head into the second half of BIG EAST action next week with a matchup against first-place Marquette on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Noon before traveling to Connecticut on Sunday, Oct. 24 for a 1 p.m. match at Gampel Pavilion.
For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Volleyball, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
SJU
DePaul
Kills
54
59
Errors
18
30
Attempts
132
146
Hitting %
.273
.199
Points
79
73
Assists
46
57
Aces
11
6
Blocks
14
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB
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