St. John’s Captures BIG EAST Volleyball Championship Title

St. John’s won its second BIG EAST Championship title in program history on Saturday night as the Red Storm defeated No. 12 Marquette 3-1 at the Al McGuire Center in the final of the 2019 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep.St. John’s last claimed a BIG EAST Championship crown in 2007 on the very same court at Marquette, sweeping Louisville 3-0.The scores of the match were: 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21.With the win, St. John’s earns the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. Regular-season champion Creighton and tournament Runner-Up Marquette will also await their tournament fate.St. John’s sophomore outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, recording 29 kills and 18 digs for the Johnnies in the two wins over nationally ranked opponents. Alexakou had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs in the semifinal win over No. 10 Creighton. The sophomore posted 19 kills on .275 hitting to go along with six digs in the championship match.Joining Alexakou on the all-tournament team from St. John’s was sophomore right side hitter Rachele Rastelli and senior setter Erica Di Maulo. Rastelli had 15 kills on .314 hitting and tallied four blocks in the championship match. Di Maulo led the offense for the Red Storm with 45 assists and 10 digs while chipping in four kills and three blocks.For Marquette, senior outside hitter Allie Barber and junior outside hitter Hope Werch were named to the all-tournament team. Barber averaged 5.57 kills per set for the tournament on .373 hitting. She followed her 16 kill semifinal performance with 23 kills at a .400 clip in the final match. Werch averaged 3.57 kills and 3.43 digs per set on the tournament while hitting at a .489 clip in the two matches.First Set Recap: St. John’s won, 25-20St. John’s jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the first set after a Marquette hitting error and never looked back. Marquette cut the deficit to two at 16-14 forcing a St. John’s timeout. The Red Storm fired off five of the next six points behind kills from Alexakou and Rastelli to take control of the set and push the lead to 21-15. The Golden Eagles would close the gap at 24-20, before a Marquette miscue clinched the set for the Johnnies.Second Set Recap: St. John’s won, 25-22Set two was all about the scoring runs as St. John’s took an early 5-1 lead after back-to-back kills from Klara Mikelova forcing an MU timeout. The Golden Eagles crept back to 5-4 with three straight points off of Red Storm errors. A Marquette service error and two blocks from St. John’s widened the lead to 10-6 before Marquette came within one at 12-11 with a Gwyn Jones service ace. The two sides traded points before the Red Storm broke open a four point lead at 18-14 after Erica Di Maulo and Efrosini Alexakou kills. St. John’s largest lead of the set stood at 22-15 before Marquette stormed back to come within two at 23-21 behind two kills apiece from Allie Barber and Ellie Koontz. Klara Mikelova’s eighth kill of the match secured set two for St. John’s and put the Johnnies up 2-0 heading into intermission.Third Set Recap: Marquette won, 25-19Marquette came out of intermission looking to shift the momentum and led for the entirety of set three and withstood a 5-0 run from St. John’s to claim the set. MU used a 6-0 scoring run of its own including three Red Storm attack errors and kills by Gwyn Jones and Hope Werch to widen the gap. Allie Barber’s 16th kill of the match sealed the set three win for the Golden Eagles, 25-19.Fourth Set Recap: St. John’s won, 25-21Sophomores Efrosini Alexakou and Rachele Raselli combined for nine kills in set four to close-out the match for the Red Storm. St. John’s was tested early as Marquette led 10-7 forcing Joanne Persico to use a timeout, but the Johnnies rattled off five straight after the stoppage to reclaim the lead 12-10. Two-straight Rastelli kills widened the lead to 16-11 and forced the Golden Eagles to use their final timeout. Marquette staved off two match points with kills from Allie Barber and Hope Werch before Klara Mikelova’s 11th kill sealed the match for the Red Storm.Mallory Potts, VillanovaBrittany Witt, CreightonAllie Barber, MarquetteHope Werch, MarquetteErica Di Maulo, St. John’sRachele Rastelli, St. John’sEfrosini Alexakou, St. John’sEfrosini Alexakou, St. John’sESPNU8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CSTSt. John’s (Automatic Qualifier)Creighton, Marquette