MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Villanova volleyball team suffered a postseason loss on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the St. John's Red Storm in straight sets (18-25, 19-25, 19-25) at the Al McGuire Center during the opening round of the BIG EAST Championship. 

Kiera Booth led the 'Cats with 10 kills on a team-best .333 hitting percentage, while Abby Harrell totaled seven kills plus a solo block and Skylar Gerhardt tallied six terminations and a match-high two service aces for Villanova (17-14, 8-10 BIG EAST).

"First off, I want to just say thank you to these seniors. I really love this group and am so thankful for them," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "I'm proud of our effort today. We played really hard but just didn't execute super well."

The Johnnies hopped out to an early lead in the match, going up 4-0 then 14-7 in the first frame. VU forced SJU into a timeout by decreasing the deficit to four, but couldn't get any closer the rest of the way as St. John's captured the opener 25-18.

Villanova got its first lead in the early goings of the second stanza and went up by three multiple times, but the Red Storm battled right back into it and created a tie game at 18-all. The Johnnies stormed their way to the end of that game, outscoring the 'Cats 7-1 through the remainder of the set for a two set edge.

SJU scored early and often to begin the third period, reaching an 8-2 advantage to open it. The Wildcats cut down the deficit, but the Johnnies powered through the lull and closed the period out for a sweep.

UP NEXT: The Wildcats' 2023 season comes to a close, finishing out the 28th winning season and 23rd BIG EAST Tournament appearance in program history.