Nov. 12, 2006

Final Stats

Queens, N.Y. - Entering the match on Sunday, the Wildcats knew what was at stake in their final regular season match at St. John's. A win and they were in the BIG EAST Tournament next weekend. A loss and their season would be over and USF would qualify as the eighth seed. This scenario was set up with a USF loss earlier in the day at Cincinnati.

With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats came out fighting from the start. Although they lost the first game, they played well enough to win and used that confidence to comeback and win games two and three. But in games four and five, St. John's showed why they have only lost one match this season and won both in convincing fashion.

It was the first time the Red Storm had been forced to the limit since September 8 against South Carolina.

With the loss, Villanova ends their season with a 16-15 overall record, and 7-7 mark in conference play. The Wildcats actually tied USF for the eighth seed, but lost the tiebreaker to the Bulls by their 0-3 loss at USF earlier this season.

St. John's will move onto the BIG EAST Tournament with a 29-1 overall mark and a perfect 14-0 record in conference play. They also earned the BIG EAST regular season championship outright with the win.

In game one, Villanova took an early 8-5 lead over the St. John's Red Storm. But the Red Storm would battle back and keep the game close the entire way until they were able to take a 28-27 lead. From there, a Villanova error and an ace by St. John's closed out the first game, 30-27.

Game two would be much of the same, as neither team was able to pull away from the other. After St. John's led much of the early portion of the game, Villanova was able to take the lead at 17-16. From there, they were able to build a three point cushion, and even led 29-27 at the end. However, just as a typical number one seed would do, the Red Storm battled back to take the next three points and a 30-29 lead. But the Wildcats showed some resiliency and were able to make some plays at the end and win game two, 32-30.

With the win, Villanova became the first team to win a game at Carnesecca Arena this season. Previously, St. John's was 28-0 at home and had lost just two games in BIG EAST play this season.

The Wildcats were able to make it two consecutive games that the Red Storm had lost at home, as they continued their roll by winning the third game, 30-27. Unlike the previous two games, in this game the Wildcats were able to get a small lead early and made it last throughout. The size of Adrian Semrau (Grafton, Ohio), Kacy Sellers (Battle Creek, Mich.) and Kelly Ludwig (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) at the net caused all kinds of problems for the Red Storm at the net in this game and throughout the match.

In game four, it appeared as though the Wildcats may have used all their energy to build a two games to one lead. They were never really in the game, and the Red Storm won handily, 30-16.

St. John's continued to play well in the fifth and final game. With the score tied 5-5 in the fifth game, the Red Storm would go on a 10-4 run to close out the match and the season for the Wildcats, 15-9.

Villanova was led by Sellers, who collected 20 kills and nine digs. Semrau finished the match with 11 kills and tied her career high with ten blocks. It marked the second time in three matches that she logged double digit blocks, having done so against Seton Hall nine days earlier. Alona Cherkez (Crimea, Ukraine) posted 15 kills and also had nine digs on the defensive side.

Chelsea Graman (Cincinnati, Ohio) had her third assist-dig double double of the season, registering 33 assists and ten digs. Jenna Link (Wheaton, Ill.) added 25 assists to the Wildcats attack.