Drake Volleyball Mounts Huge Comeback To Ruin Creighton Family Night
11/15/2002 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Omaha, Neb. ?” Creighton (2-23, 2-16 MVC) jumped to a 2-0 lead, then watched as Drake (7-25, 4-14 MVC) served up a school-record 17 aces to take the last three games and MVC finale for both teams. Scores in favor of the Bulldogs were 26-30, 27-30, 30-22, 30-26, 18-16.
"It was a disappointing loss though we played well with lots of heart," said CU head coach Howard Wallace. "No one let down. I told the team to think about the missed opportunities they had and see what we need to do tomorrow.
Coming off a 3-0 win at Indiana State last Saturday, Creighton continued that momentum through the first two games. In both games, Molly Lahr checked in to serve trailing 25-23 and left with CU owning a narrow lead they maintained en route to the win.
Through two games, Creighton was hitting a spectacular .365 as Jaden Custer had 10 kills and Ashley Williams nine at the intermission.
Drake started its comeback in the third game as they led from start to finish. Drake used a 6-1 run early to claim a 14-7 early and maintained a five-point lead or more the rest of the third game. Drake had seven aces in game three, including two each by Maggie Black and Kristin Lickiss.
In game four, Creighton built an early 7-3 lead they later turned into a 16-12 advantage. Drake clawed back to tie it at 18 and went ahead 24-22. After CU rallied to tie it at 24-24, Drake scored six of the last eight to send it to the deciding fifth game.
Both teams had several match points in the fifth game. Drake stormed to a seemingly comfortable 9-6 lead early, only to see the Jays rally back to take a 13-10 lead of its own. Following a Drake timeout, kills by Stacy Boerma and Lickiss sandwiched consecutive CU hitting errors to give Drake a 14-13 lead and first match point opportunity.
MaryJane Hyde's kill off the block knotted the score and a subsequent kill by Williams gave CU a 15-14 match point opportunity. Boerma followed with a kill to knot the score at 15 before serving into the net and giving CU a second match-point opportunity.
However, Lacey Corcoran slammed a kill on a extended rally to even the score at 16 before back-to-back Creighton attack errors gave Drake it's second victory in a week when trailing 0-2 at the intermission.
Creighton finished with a season-high 71 kills and was led by a career high 18 kills from Custer, 17 from Williams and 16 from Leah Ratzlaff. Liz Hagerman (34 assists) and Jadee Tanabe (23 assists) shared setting duties, while Janeen Piller cleaned up the back row with 12 digs.
Drake was led by 16 kills, 16 digs and five aces from Corcoran, 15 kills from Boerma and 12 kills from Amanda Neuhalfen. The 17 aces by Drake were a school record and also the most ever by a Creighton opponent.
Creighton closes its tomorrow when they welcome UMKC (14-16) to Omaha South HS. The Jays will honor seniors Lyndsay Olsen, Emisha Haney and Jodi Bjoin prior to the 3 p.m. match.
