Beware of Greeks bearing... kills
An unstoppable force, the Greek outside hitter led St. John’s in a historic win against #14 Oregon, with 28 kills in 50 total attacks and a .460 hitting percentage, 30.5 points, 7 digs, 3 blocks, 2 assists and a serve ace. That was a career-high for her in the US as a member of Saint John’s University volleyball team. St John’s won 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22).
Alexakou's previous best performance in the US was a total of 30 points (with 29 kills) against Xavier University (in 5 sets), and coincidentally that game was played on 9/21 last season!
"I'm so proud of my kids, I'm so proud our entire team," said Head Coach Joanne Persico. "We had great energy on the bench and we had great energy on the court. Efrosini [Alexakou] really put us on her back and I'm so proud of her, but again, we're about the team and everyone doing their job, so we're really happy."
"I'm so happy she's here," said senior Erica Di Maulo about Alexakou. "Honestly, playing with her is amazing because she has great energy, she never goes down. Whenever I want to side out, I know she wants the ball, I know she's ready to kill it, and tonight, she demonstrated it."
It is noteworthy that the 19-year-old outside hitter had just received her first individual title for the year, the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after her performances (36 kills, 18 digs, 4 kills/set) in last week's matches at the Home2suites Tallahassee Seminole Invitational.
In addition, an outstanding performance for 19-year-old middle blocker Ariadni Kathariou in the match against Oregon, with 6.5 points (4/9 kills, 5 blocks). Ariadni followed that historic match with record-setting output of her own on Saturday against Duke. Wrapping up the Hofstra Invitational tournament with a 3-1 win (25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-12), Ariadni set personal bests with 14.5 points, 12 kills (15 attacks), .667 hitting percentage, 4 blocks, 4 digs, and 2 assists! Entering Big East action next weekend, St. John’s is sitting at a 8-5 overall record, having played a very tough schedule.