Volleyball falls in five sets at St. John's

Box Score (PDF)

NEW YORK – The Marquette University women's volleyball team suffered a five-set loss (25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13) to St. John's on Saturday evening at Carnesecca Arena.

"Winning back-to-back on the road is never easy," MU head coach Ryan Theis said following the loss. "St. John's was aggressive from the start and I give them credit."

The Golden Eagles (11-8, 7-1 BIG EAST) pulled ahead in the match with a 25-22 win in the third frame, but couldn't hold off the Red Storm (15-5, 7-1 BIG EAST) in the fourth or fifth stanzas.

"We knew they were dangerous and we were as prepared as we could be, but we gave up timely point runs in the fourth and fifth that cost us the match," Theis said.

Marquette fell behind 5-1 to open the fifth and was able to pull back within a point, 14-13, before a Yadhira Anchante serve sailed long. MU, which hit .381 in the final set, had fought off three SJU match points after trailing by as many as five.

The Red Storm also used an 8-2 run midway through the fourth to take an 18-15 lead. The Golden Eagles recovered to tie the frame at 21 and 22, but SJU used three-straight kills to push the match to five.

Senior outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton led MU once again with 22 kills, while Hattie Bray had 11 and Jenna Reitsma posted 10.

Outside hitter Erin Jones led St. John's with a triple-double of 22 kills, 17 digs and 14 assists, while Giorgia Walther and Lucrezia Lodi posted identical 19-6-50 hitting lines (.260).

NOTABLE:

The loss is Marquette's first this season to an unranked team.
MU freshman defensive specialist Molly Berezowitz had a career-best three service aces and was inserted into the lineup frequently to put serving pressure on the Red Storm.
Anchante had 50 assists, her second-highest total this season and most since posting 54 in a five-set loss to then-No. 25 Purdue on Sept. 1.
Hamilton's kill total of 22 is her second-best mark this season and the third time she's reached 20. Her season high was 23 against Purdue.
MU libero Sarah Kushner tied a season- and career-best with 22 digs. She had the same total in a four-set match at Milwaukee on Sept. 14.
Marquette falls to 2-2 in five-set contests this year. MU beat Drake and Dayton in five and has fallen to Purdue and SJU.
Entering Saturday's contest, MU had won its last 43 matches against BIG EAST Conference foes outside of Creighton.
Marquette is 23-8 all-time against the Red Storm and all 31 meetings have come since MU joined the BIG EAST for the 2005 season.
SJU's win is its first over Marquette since the 2019 BIG EAST tournament title match at the Al McGuire Center.
Marquette is 11-5 against the Red Storm in Queens. MU's last loss to St. John's at Carnesecca Arena was a five-set decision on Nov. 14, 2015 in Theis' second season at MU.
This weekend began a stretch of eight of 10 contests on the road for the Golden Eagles, whose lone home weekend over the next month is Oct. 27-28 against Providence and UConn.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles head to travel partners Butler and Xavier for matches next weekend on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Keep up with the Marquette University women's volleyball program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteVB) and Instagram (@MarquetteVB) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteVolleyball).