NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The Rutgers University volleyball team dropped its fifth-straight match Sunday afternoon as the Scarlet Knights fell to No. 22 St. John's 3-0 (30-14, 30-15, 30-22) at the College Avenue Gym.
Rutgers (3-14, 1-7 BIG EAST) was led by sophomore Kyra Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) who posted a team-high 10 kills, including six in the third game. Freshman Emma Chrystal (Portage, Mich.) put forth another solid effort, tying for the team lead in digs with eight and also adding nine assists.
St. John's (21-3, 6-1 BIG EAST) was led by Hui Ping Huang and Valeria Kovaleva. The duo combined for 27 kills and 14 digs. The Red Storm, who rank second in the BIG EAST standings, have now won 22 of their last 23 conference matches.
"When you have highly experienced international players against a team as young as ours, you are going to get these kinds of results," said head coach Orlando Gonzalez. "They (St. John's) don't make mistakes and we made too many. When that happens it's a recipe for disaster."
Rutgers has now fallen to both ranked opponents it has played this season. The Scarlet Knights dropped a 3-0 decision to then No. 25 Ohio on August 26.
The Red Storm used a 5-0 start in the first game to set the tone for the match. A Danielle Lerch (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) kill would cut the St. John's lead to four, but the Scarlet Knights would never get closer in game one.
Rutgers started out the second game much better as the Scarlet Knights held the lead at 8-7 early on. RU would trail 14-13 before a huge St. John's run would steal the game away. The Red Strom won nine straight points and 16 of 18 to close out the game.
In game three, RU again played well early on, trailing by only two at 15-13 midway through the set. However, Huang tallied nine of her match-high 18 kills in the final game to clinch the match for St. John's.
"The big plus of the match is that were able to give a lot of young players an opportunity to play against a quality opponent," said Gonzalez. "This match is a message to everyone though. We have to work for what we want each and every day."
The Scarlet Knights will take a break from their BIG EAST conference schedule to take on Long Island University Wednesday, Oct. 17 in Brooklyn, N.Y. The match will begin at 5 p.m.
