Volleyball Suffers Close Defeat at St. John's, 3-1

Oct. 22, 2005

QUEENS, N.Y. - The Marquette volleyball team kept it close, taking three of four games into extra points, but St. John's prevailed and downed the Golden Eagles 3-1 (30-32, 29-31, 32-30, 21-30), this afternoon at the Carnesecca Arena. The Golden Eagles lose their third consecutive BIG EAST match and fall to 10-10, 3-5 BIG EAST on the season, while St. John's improves to 18-6, 4-3 BIG EAST.

"Even though we lost, I thought we played better than we did last weekend against Syracuse," said head coach Pati Rolf. "Give credit to St. John's. They are a great team with outstanding outside hitters and their libero is one of the best I have ever seen."

St. John's earned the first win, 32-30. The two teams traded points for most of the first, with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage. A kill by junior outside hitter Jamie Mueller tied the game at 30 points each, forcing it into extra points, but back-to-back kills from St. John's Hui Ping Huang and Patti Hardiman clinched game one for the Redstorm. Mueller recorded seven kills in the Golden Eagles' effort.

The second stanza proved to be intense as Marquette and St. John's traded points early on, but the Redstorm won seven consecutive points to lead by six (15-9). A kill by senior outside hitter Theresa Coughlin sparked a 6-0 run to tie the game at 20 apiece. The Redstorm capitalized on three straight Marquette errors to win the second game, 31-29, and take a two game lead into the locker room.

After the break, the Golden Eagles fended off the sweep and won the third game, 32-30. St. John's held an early six-point lead (12-6), but Marquette rallied to tie the game at 19 apiece before the two teams traded points for the rest of the game. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Kim Todd tied the game again at 30, and back-to-back attack errors by St. John's won game three for the Golden Eagles.

The Redstorm bounced back and clinched the match win claiming the fourth game, 30-21, behind a match high 43.9 hitting percentage. Huang and Hardiman led attack for St. John's combining for 11 kills.

Huang ended the day registering 23 kills for the match, while four other Redstorm players notched double-figured kills in the defeat of the Golden Eagles.

Mueller led the way for Marquette with career-high and match-leading 26 kills, hitting 36.4 percent for the match, and added 16 digs for her eighth double double of the season. Coughlin tallied 16 kills and Todd contributed 11 kills and five blocks. Collectively, the Golden Eagles hit 25.4 percent for the match.

"Theresa (Coughlin) and Jamie (Mueller) had a nice match," added Rolf. "I look at our play today and I definitely think it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can step it up a notch and get the result we are looking for against UCONN tomorrow."

The Golden Eagles travel to Storrs, Conn., for a Sunday afternoon match against the Huskies at 2 p.m. EDT.