Stalzer Leads Bradley Volleyball Past Jays
9/16/2005 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. -- Bradley senior Lindsay Stalzer had 27 kills and 12 digs, leading the visiting Braves (5-6, 1-0 MVC) past Creighton (5-5, 0-1 MVC) in volleyball action on Friday night at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Scores in favor of the Braves were 30-27, 30-27, 25-30, 30-24.
Bradley controlled each of the first two games in the match, winning by identical 30-27 scores. In both games, the Braves took the lead midway through the set (14-13 in game one, 13-12 in game two) and would not trail again. Likewise, Creighton narrowed the gap late in each game (25-24 in game one, 27-25 in game two) before succumbing.
Without a doubt, Creighton played its best ball of the night in the third game. After falling behind 6-1 early, the Creighton offense started to click on all cylinders. Despite the early hole, the Jays would take a 13-11 lead on consecutive kills from Kelly Goc. A kill by Goc would finish the game as well.
CU's 30 points in game three came on 28 kills, a Korie Lebeda ace and a combination block by Katy Grady and Jessica Houts. Leah Ratzlaff had 11 kills in game three alone as five different Bluejays had at least three kills in the set. CU's defense was also up to the task, amassing 30 digs.
Just when it looked like Creighton had the momentum, Bradley stole it right back by scoring the first four points of game four. Bradley took the lead at 12-11 and never looked back as part of a 4-0 run that pushed their advantage to 15-11. Creighton closed to within 20-18 before fading down the stretch, making five errors in Bradley's final seven points of the night.
Stalzer, who led the MVC in kills as a junior and once again is topping the charts, was a one-woman wrecking crew for Bradley. The only player with more than nine kills, Stalzer had 27 kills in 80 attempts while also adding 12 digs and three blocks defensively. Those 80 attempts were the most ever by a Creighton opponent in a match. The Braves hit .240 for the match and finished with seven aces and nine blocks.
Creighton was paced by a season-high 27 kills from Leah Ratzlaff, who needed a career-best 66 swings. Jessica Houts had a career-best 16 kills while hitting .419, and Kelly Goc had 14 kills for the match. Korie Lebeda finished with 60 digs while Brittany Coleman had a career-high 24 digs. As a team, CU hit .215 and had three aces, 78 digs and five blocks.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday when they take on Northern Iowa (7-4, 1-0 MVC). First serve is scheduled for 7 pm and the match can be heard on KOMJ (1490 AM) or on-line at http://jayslive.creighton.edu.
NOTES: Creighton, which dropped its MVC opener for the first time under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, had also been 4-0 under Booth against Bradley ...The previous record for attempts by a CU opponent was 76 by Indiana State's Lauren Mikos on Oct. 16, 1998 in a five-game match ...Creighton lost despite owning 14 more kills (75-61) for the match.
