Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Volleyball Advances To MVC Tournament Semifinals With Win Over Southern Illinois
11/23/2007 3:00:00 PM | Volleyball
Southern Illinois jumped out to an 11-4 lead in game one and never let Creighton within four points the rest of the way to take the opener. The Bluejays closed the gap to 19-15 and 25-21, but could get no closer as the Salukis prevailed 30-25. Senior Kelly Goc had six kills in game one for the Jays, but CU hit 0.87 as a team with 12 errors to fall in a 1-0 hole against SIU for the second consecutive meeting.
Creighton took control of game two early, as the Jays led 5-1 after the first six points. SIU pulled within 11-8, forcing a Creighton timeout, but the Jays responded with a 19-8 run to close out the game and send the teams into the locker room tied 1-1. Goc added seven more kills in game two without an error and freshman Allie Oelke pitched in six kills as the Jays hit a blistering .362 with 22 kills and only five errors in the game. Junior libero Bianca Rivera paced the Jays with 10 digs in game two.
The Jays remained hot coming out of intermission, taking a 5-0 lead in game three. The advantage grew to 10-3 and later 19-10, and the Salukis could not cut the deficit below five points as CU took game three 30-24. Creighton was again very efficient in game three, hitting .327 behind six more kills by the MVC Freshman Player of the Year Oelke. CU pounded down 21 kills with only four errors in game three.
Game four proved to be the most competitive game, as the teams battled back-and-forth for much of the way. After Creighton took an early 10-6 lead, SIU responded to cut the advantage to 11-10 before eventually evening the score at 15-15. With the score tied 17-17, Creighton went on a 13-5 run to end the game and complete the victory.
Goc led the way for Creighton with 20 kills in the match, becoming the school's all-time leader in MVC Tournament kills, attacks and blocks. Oelke narrowly missed a 20-20, finishing with 19 kills and 20 digs. Senior Abby Baumann pounded home 13 kills with sophomores Lauren Bloemke and Sarah Schulze each adding 10. It marked the first time this season Creighton had five players with double-digit kills.
Junior setter Korie Lebeda notched a season-high 61 assists for the Jays. In the match, Lebeda set a CU record for career assists in the MVC tourney.
Defensively, Rivera recorded 29 digs for her school-record 14th match with 20-plus digs this season. Bianca also set a single-season school record for digs (passing Janeen Piller in 2004) and now has 598 in her first season with the program.
The Bluejay-Panther semifinal matchup tonight will follow a 5 p.m. match between Wichita State and Illinois State. The Redbirds were a 3-0 winner over host Missouri State in the first match of the day.
NOTES: Creighton is now 5-0 against Southern Illinois under head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when losing game one... The win gives Booth 200 career wins (88 at CU) as a head coach... CU also lost game one in the teams' regular season meeting in Omaha (30-17) before winning in four... Creighton's 21 wins ties the school record from last season... Sarah Schulze recorded her fourth career double-double, adding 15 digs to go with her 10 kills... Oelke's double-double was her team-leading 13th this season... Oelke's 341 kills this season are tied for the CU freshman record... Creighton's 80 kills in the match were a season high and also matched the school's MVC tourney high... The Jays have won 11 straight against SIU, the longest winning streak over any opponent in program history... Kelly Goc and Abby Baumann both set the school record for career matches played with their 116th overall appearance (passing Leah Ratzlaff's 115).
