Nov. 4, 2005
Box Score
Villanova, Pa. - St. John's University (21-7, 7-4 BIG EAST) took control of the match early and didn't let host Villanova (19-9, 6-5 BIG EAST) back in as the Red Storm left Jake Nevin Field House with a 3-0 victory tonight.
The game scores were 30-27, 30-15, and 30-20.
The two teams were evenly matched early in the first game. Villanova took a 8-5 lead after a setting miscommunication by SJU. But the Red Storm tied the game at nine on a touch kill by sophomore Latoya Blunt. The Wildcats again took the lead, 14-13, after a service error by St. John's' freshman Kathleen Yee and maintained at least a four-point advantage until a put back kill by Blunt cut `Nova's lead to 22-20.
'Nova led 18-14 after a hard cross court kill by senior Dana Kabashima (Santa Monica, Calif.) and 19-15 after an off-block kill on the left side by senior Celine Nguyen (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.). The Red Storm tied the game at 22-22 after a double contact call on the `Cats and at 27-27 after a `Nova net violation. St. John's won the game after three straight Wildcat errors.
The start of the second game was a different story, however, as the Red Storm ran out to a 7-3 lead after a kill off the block on the left side by graduate student Shameka Mitchell. Villanova cut SJU's edge to 10-7 after a kill through the net cord by sophomore Kacy Sellers (Battle Creek, Mich.). St. John's stretched its advantage to 16-9 on another Mitchell kill and again to 20-8 on a service ace down the center by junior Patti Hardiman.
Villanova had a hard time generating offense and was forced to call a time out down 25-12 after a ball handling error by Nguyen. Kills by Wildcats Adrian Semrau (Grafton, Ohio) and Sellers cut the Red Storm's lead to 13, 27-14, but SJU won the game after an errant attack down the line by the `Cats.
St. John's had another strong start to the final game, taking a 13-3 lead on a tipped kill on the right side by freshman Hui Ping Huang. `Nova called a time out, but the Red Storm continued the assault and extended its advantage to 14 points, 22-8, after an attack by `Nova freshman Dana Tartasky (Haifa, Israel) landed just outside the left sideline.
VU called another time out, but SJU didn't let up, moving out to 26-12 on a kill by Mitchell deep on the left side of the court. Villanova saved three game points at the end, getting an off-block kill by Tartasky at 29-18 and capitalizing on two St. John's errors to cut SJU's advantage to 29-20, but a kill in the center of the court by Blunt ended the match.
Villanova's Sellers was the only Wildcat to record double figure kills with 12. She hit .400 for the match.
