QUEENS, N.Y. – In BIG EAST volleyball action on Wednesday evening, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to New York where they earned a 3-1 win (18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20) over the St. John's Red Storm. With the victory, Villanova improves to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's falls to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
 
The Wildcats hit .256 for the match (41 kills, 11 errors, 117 attempts) and had 42 digs and seven aces. St. John's registered a .186 hitting percentage (58 kills, 43 errors, 140 attempts) to go with 60 digs and five aces.
 
Villanova was led by freshman outside hitter Riley Homer (Grand Rapids, Mich.) who had a team-high 12 kills and freshman Kiera Booth (Berlin, Pa.) who recorded 11 kills. Grad student Averi Salvador (Aiea, Hawaii) led the way in the digs department with 20, while junior Clare Delaplane (Downers Grove, Ill.) chipped in with 11 digs. Homer recorded a team-best three aces.
 
St. John's was paced by Efrosini Alexakou who posted a match-high 21 kills and Rachele Rastelli who finished with 14 kills.
 
SET 1:
** With the score 10-8, the Red Storm tallied nine of the next 13 points to open-up a 19-12 lead.
** Riley Homer led the Wildcats with five first-set kills.
** Hitting percentage was the difference in set one. St. John's hit .389 compared to Villanova who hit .175.
** St. John's got six kills in the opening set from Efrosini Alexakou.
 
SET 2:
** Leading 15-11, the Wildcats ran off five straight point to take a 20-11 advantage.
** After St. John's closed the gap to 23-20, the Wildcats got a kill by Mallory Potts and a ball handling error by St. John's to end the set.
** Riley Homer, Mallory Potts and Kiera Booth all had three kills in the second set for the Wildcats.
** Belle Morgan was credited with nine assists.
** The Red Storm hit just .054.
 
SET 3:
** The set was tied at 19-19 when Villanova scored five straight points to take a 24-19 lead. Mallory Potts had three kills to lead the way in the spurt.
** Mallory Potts hit .500 in the set with three kills in six attempts.
** Riley Homer had four kills.
** St. John's posted a 15-8 advantage in digs.
 
SET 4:
** Villanova scored seven of nine points to go from a 12-10 lead to a 19-12 advantage.
** St. John's made it 23-20, before the Red Storm committed a service error and an attack error to end the match.
** The Wildcats hit .400, while St. John's finished at .152.
** Efrosini Alexakou had six kills in the set.