Nov. 15, 2003

Box Score

VILLANOVA, PA. - The Villanova volleyball team continued its winning ways with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over St. John's in BIG EAST action on Saturday at Jake Nevin Field House. The Wildcats won game one 30-28 before losing games two and three, 30-25 and 30-25. Villanova then rallied for 30-28 and 15-9 wins to claim the match. The victory increased the Wildcats' unbeaten streak to nine matches.

Dana Kabashima and Celine Nguyen sparked the Wildcats in game one, as Villanova built a 14-7 lead early. St. John's battled to within 20-16 behind Jackie Ahlers' offense and strong blocking up front. A kill by Robyn Kurasaki gave the Red Storm its first lead, 21-20, as the two squads see-sawed back and forth. Then Villanova's Erin Birunas came up with her first kill of the game to put the 'Cats ahead 29-28. An attack error by the Red Storm gave the game to Villanova.

St. John's opened up strong in game two, as Ahlers posted five early kills to make the score 13-9. The Wildcats climbed to within a point three times before a kill by Katie Lanting tied the score at 22-22. Rosalyn Dang added a kill and a block down the stretch to help the Red Storm take the 30-25 game. Kerri Sullivan and Lanting each finished with three kills in game two for Villanova.

Game three also belonged to St. John's early, as the Red Storm built a 14-11 cushion. Erin Poglits and Puna Richardson led St. John's with two block assists and one kill each. Two kills by Kabashima brought Villanova within one, 17-16, but St. John's never relinquished the lead in going on for the 30-25 decision.

With game four tied at 10-10, the Red Storm ripped off five unanswered points to go ahead 15-10. The Wildcats stayed close, but did not get within a point until Megan Abbott's kill brought Villanova to 25-24. The two teams played to 26-26 and then Birunas and Abbott teamed for a block to put Villanova back in front by one. An attack error and a kill by Richardson put St. John's ahead 28-27, but then Abbott fired off a second kill, while Kabashima and Lanting teamed for a block to send the Wildcats to the game four win.

Villanova dominated game five at the start, racing out to an 8-3 advantage behind kills from Lanting, Sullivan and Nguyen. St. John's closed to 10-7 on a kill by Kurasaki, but Birunas and Kabashima registered back-to-back kills to make it 12-7. Lanting and Nguyen would each add another kill to help the Wildcats to the deciding victory.

Lanting registered a match-high 21 kills to go along with her one solo block and six block assists. Nguyen tallied 17 kills and a team-high 21 digs, while Kabashima turned in a 15-kill, 16-dig and four block assist effort. Birunas finished with 10 kills and four block assists. Jennifer Badran-Grycan managed 33 assists.

For St. John's (25-9, 6-5), Ahlers led the squad with 21 kills, while Richardson and Dang each tallied 13. Poglits tallied 59 assists in the match, while St. John's as a team finished 13 total blocks, led by Yana Ruban and Richardson with two solo blocks and four block assists apiece.

Villanova (14-13, 7-4) wraps up its regular season schedule on Sunday at 2 p.m. when Connecticut visits Jake Nevin Field House.