QUEENS, N.Y. – Villanova volleyball went to the brink for the second straight match, but ultimately fell to the St. John's Red Storm in five sets (18-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 11-15) at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday evening.

Cat Young paced Villanova (12-8, 5-4 BIG EAST), contributing 14 kills and nine digs on the night as Abby Harrell added 13 terminations in addition to a season-high five aces.

Riley Homer and Campbell McKinnon each totaled a season-best seven rejections, while Ozzie Ozonoh added seven kills on a match-high .500 hitting plus five blocks and Elizabeth Feczko was the lone 'Cat at double digit digs (11).

The Wildcats achieved a season-high in blocks, totaling 16 in the match to blow away the previous top of 11. It was just the fourth five-set bout Villanova has tussled in this year, but also the second in just the past five days.

The Johnnies got out to a hot start in the match with edges of 7-2 and 10-4, but Villanova responded with a 6-2 stretch to force a Red Storm pause. A 5-0 St. John's string prompted both VU breaks and a 20-14 STJ advantage, and the home side continued on to a 25-18 first set victory.

It was a hotly contested second period featuring 15 ties and 10 lead changes, with the last level score coming at 23-all before the Johnnies strung together three straight for a two set advantage.

Villanova scored early and often in the third to the tune of 3-0 and 8-2 leads, weathering a Red Storm run and powering through to a 25-19 win to extend the match.

St. John's used a 5-0 stretch to establish distance early in the fourth, but the Wildcats battled right back into it with four straight of their own to knot it at 14-14. VU strung together three straight again to force an STJ timeout, and responded repeatedly following Red Storm points to force a decisive fifth with a 25-20 win.

The 'Cats were the aggressors to begin the fifth, going up 7-5 and becoming the first to eight to induce a switch of sides. But the Johnnies answered and took advantage of back-to-back attack errors for an 11-9 edge before continuing on to a 15-11 fifth set W.