St. John’s University volleyball is headed on a road trip tomorrow for a preseason exhibition against Penn State. Head coach Joanne Persico is excited to see how her players stack up against one of the top programs in the country. Penn State has a considerable height advantage, so the Red Storm has to excel at defending.
“Training has been going excellently,” said Persico, now in her 30th year with the Red Storm and the all-time winningest coach at St. John’s, surpassing one of her mentors, Lou Carnesecca. “The girls have been super-fit and super-focused, and they’re super-coachable. That’s a good recipe for improvement and winning. We really play the games to win. We are trying hard to be ready to win and at least to be the best that we can be as a team, as individuals and as representatives of our university. I’m really looking forward to last year’s freshmen, who got a lot of experience, to now take more ownership of the team as sophomores.”
Those players are Erin Jones, Ludovica Zola, Madga Stambrowska, and Lucrezia Lodi. Last year’s team made it to the Big East playoffs, losing an overtime game to the University of Connecticut.
“The Big East is very competitive, so I’m really looking forward to improving on where we finished last year—competing for a championship in the Big East—and again teaching these young ladies and guiding them to be all they can be on the court, in the classroom, and in the community,” said Persico. Last year’s team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award.
The team and coaching staff are working on all the skills, strength, and fitness, as well as team chemistry. Two players from whom Persico expects big things are junior libero/defensive specialist Bree Martin and junior middle blocker Ariana Robinson.
“Bree Martin has been fantastic; she’s our starting libero,” said Persico. “She put a lot of commitment into getting physically ready for this demanding schedule. She’s one of our captains. Ariana Robinson came in as a little undersized middle, but very athletic, very fast. She’s very energetic and vocal on the court.”
St. John’s volleyball opens its season at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational next week, and then travels to the University of New Mexico Invitational. The first home match is Sept. 8 versus Siena.
