VILLANOVA, Pa. – The women's volleyball team defeated the St. John's Red Storm in five sets on Spike It to Cancer Night at Jake Nevin Field House.
With the victory Villanova improves to 9-6 (2-1) while St. John's falls to 13-6 (2-2).
Head coach Josh Steinbach on the win, "Big win at home for us. Darcy (Wolf) gave us a great spark off the bench. I thought Amanda (Pedersen-Henry) gave us a huge swing in game five that helped seal it up. It was good to gut out a tough match, it was a struggle for both teams at times. We are excited to get the win and use the momentum for our upcoming road games."
Senior middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry led the Wildcats with a season-high 17 kills.
Junior setter Emma Decker dished out 45 assists and a season-high 17 digs. This was Decker's ninth game this season with 41 or more assists.
Junior libero Regan Lough had 31 digs. It is her second game in a row and fourth game this season with 30 or more digs.
In the opening set, four different Wildcats served an ace. Villanova jumped out to an early 10-5 lead after a service ace by this week's BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Clare Delaplane. The Wildcats continued to increase their lead 18-10 but the Red Storm cut into Villanova's lead to make it a one-point game at 24-23. The Wildcats would win the next point off a kill by sophomore outside hitter Mallory Potts to win the set 25-23.
St. John's had a lead of 7-4 to start the second set but the Wildcats rallied back to tie the set at 9. It would continue to be back and forth throughout the set with the score being tied again at 20. The Red Storm led 24-22 and the Wildcats tied it up at 24 after a kill by Potts but St. John's would win the next two points to win the set 26-24. There were 11 tie scores and seven lead changes throughout this set.
At the start of the third set, the Wildcats trailed 3-5 but then went on a 5-0 run to lead 8-5. Villanova would use this momentum to keep increase their lead to 20-12. The Red Storm rallied back though to make it 24-22 Villanova. A kill by Pedersen-Henry would seal the set for the Wildcats 25-22.
The Red Storm jumped out to an early fourth set lead. The Wildcats trailed 1-10 but were able to fight back and make it a two-point game at 14-16. St. John's then went on a 5-2 run to increase their lead to 16-21. The Red Storm would then take the fourth set 25-21.
Villanova won the first two points of set five but then St. John's led 5-3. The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to lead 10-6. St. John's cut into Villanova's lead to make it a one-point match. The Wildcats won the match 15-12 off a service ace by Delaplane.
The Wildcats will play next at DePaul on Friday at 8:00 p.m. and at Marquette on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Live streaming will be available for both matches this weekend.
