Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Volleyball Sweeps Salukis For Sixth Straight Win
10/6/2007 11:30:00 PM | Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Creighton volleyball team improved to 7-0 in MVC play with a 30-19, 30-21, 30-24 win at Southern Illinois on Saturday night. The win lifted Creighton's overall mark to 13-5 and was the team's sixth straight win overall.
Creighton's middle blockers were the story of the match, as Kelly Goc led the Jays with 19 kills and hit .548 while fellow middle Lauren Bloemke had 16 kills and hit .519. Freshman outside hitter Allie Oelke turned in her team-leading seventh double-double of the year with 10 kills and 15 digs, while Korie Lebeda had 47 assists.
"I felt this weekend we were going to play a few teams on their home court that could bite us and I was pleased we came out to play both nights," said CU head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "Tonight was much closer than the score indicated. There were lots of long points and we won most of those."
Southern Illinois fell to 11-7, 3-4 in MVC play while losing for just the second time in nine home matches this year. Marina Medic paced SIU with nine kills.
The Jays came out on fire in the first game, hitting .426 while collecting 22 kills. Goc had seven of those kills while Bloemke had six kills in seven swings. Both Oelke and libero Bianca Rivera had 10 digs each in game one.
Creighton trailed 10-8 early in game two before an 11-3 surge gave them a comfortable lead. CU ended the second game on a 9-2 run, capped by a kill from Goc. Goc had seven kills in nine game two swings.
Game three was the closest of the night but once again Creighton closed strong. After seeing its lead dwindle to 21-20, a Bluejay timeout preceded a serving error and match-clinching 9-3 spurt.
"Both Kelly (Goc) and Lauren (Bloemke) had great weekends," said Booth. "I also thought Sarah Schulze played well last night and was even better tonight. She had one of her best offensive nights of the season."
Creighton had 61 kills, two aces, 67 digs and 8.5 blocks while hitting .315 in the win. SIU had 32 kills, six aces, 54 digs and six blocks in a losing cause.
Next weekend Creighton hosts two teams that are tied for second in the MVC with 6-1 marks, one game behind the Jays. Wichita State comes to town on Friday before Missouri State comes to Omaha on Saturday night. Both matches start at 7 pm and will be broadcast on KVSS (88.9 FM). For ticket information, call (402) 280-JAYS.
