VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova volleyball fell short in a midweek matchup, dropping a four-setter (25-17, 18-25, 21-25, 23-25) to the St. John's Red Storm at Jake Nevin Field House on Wednesday.

Abby Harrell contributed her seventh double-double this year for Villanova (14-12, 7-8 BIG EAST) on 11 kills and a team-best 13 digs while Taylor Lewis and Cat Young each added 10 terminations.

The 'Cats tallied 13 blocks in the match for their second highest mark of the season, led by a season-best seven from Campbell McKinnon, six from Ozzie Ozonoh and a career-high five from Lewis. Alyssa Nelson contributed a match-best three aces and a team-high 21 assists with Taylor Jakubowski adding 19 helpers in the contest.

The Wildcats took advantage of four block errors and two service gaffes by the Johnnies for an early 10-6 lead in the first and STJ timeout. St. John's rallied to get it back within one, but Villanova dominated the rest of the frame on the way to a 25-17 victory.

VU got the first three points of the second for an early visitor pause, but the Red Storm bounced back with a big run for an 11-7 edge. Despite Villanova pulling within two at one point, the Johnnies took five straight for control of the period and continued on to an even match.

St. John's paused again down 8-5 in the third stanza, but once again stormed back into it for a lead of 11-9. The teams traded points for a few but it became 21-14 after an extended STJ run and the Red Storm turned it into a two-one advantage after weathering a late four-point VU stretch.

It was the same story in the fourth with another slow start from the visitors and a timeout within the first 10 points, but a 7-1 string put the Red Storm in the driver's seat. The teams exchanged runs and pauses the rest of the way up until the Johnnies got four of the last five to emerge with the victory.