Creighton University
WICHITA STATE
Volleyball Tops No. 25 Wichita State, 3-1
10/2/2009 9:15:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Volleyball knocked off No. 25 Wichita State in four sets on Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena, defeating a ranked team for the first time in program history. Scores of the match in favor of CU were 26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20.
Creighton is now 6-9 overall (3-2 MVC), while the Shockers drop to 11-3 (2-2 MVC).
"I thought defensively we did a great job," said CU head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "It's funny because we didn't even talk about the fact that they were a ranked team. I think it's ironic that this group that has struggled so much pulled off such a key win to beat a top-25 team. I just think that this team needed a big win to hopefully catapult us into quality play consistently, because that hasn't happened. I think a lot of it is their belief, and so hopefully this will solidify their belief that we're a good team."
In a match between the top two teams in the MVC in 2008, it was Creighton that clawed from behind to post a 26-24 first set victory that set the tone for the match. Creighton fell behind 13-7 and 18-11 before strong serving from Brooke Boggs helped the Jays make a comeback. The Jays cut the deficit to three (18-15) on Boggs' serve thanks to consecutive blocks from Jessica Houts. CU tied the score at 21 after three straight Shocker attack errors a short time later. CU got a kill from Houts on WSU's 24-23 set point, then won the first set on two more WSU attack errors. WSU made 14 attack errors in the first set while hitting just .061 in 49 swings, thanks in part to six blocks by the Jays.
Creighton never trailed in the second set while taking a 25-18 win. The Jays extended a 9-7 lead into an 18-8 advantage with seniors Sarah Schulze and Houts at the service line. WSU did close within 21-16 before a late push by CU gave it a 25-18 second set win. WSU was held to just six kills in the second set and reigning MVC Player of the Year Emily Stockman had just one kill at the intermission after a dreadful 0-7-16 (-.438) start to the match.
Wichita State came out on the winning side of the third set, getting four kills from Stockman. In a near-replica of the first set, Wichita State would squander a 17-11 lead as CU closed within 17-16 on Boggs' serve. The Jays held one set point while down 24-22, only to lose the third set when Stephanie Tokarz put down a kill to end set three. The Tokarz kill was one of the few balls that CU libero Nayka Benitez could not get to, as Benitez had 16 of her career-best 36 digs in the third set alone.
Creighton pulled away late in the fourth set to take the match. With the score tied at 15, CU won three straight points on Benitez's serve to go ahead 18-15, and would not trail again. The Shox closed within one point at 20-19 and 21-20 before CU reeled off the final four points for the victory in the match. Key to the late surge was a Schulze dig that flew over the awed Shocker defense and landed just inside back line to get CU to match point.
Houts nearly had CU's first triple-double since 2001 with 15 kills, nine digs and nine blocks. Allie Oelke had a double-double with 10 kills and 19 digs, while Benitez led all players with a 36-dig effort that was third-most in school history for a single match. Creighton had 55 kills, two aces, 91 digs and 14.5 blocks while hitting .175 as a squad.
Wichita State finished with 47 kills, two aces, 86 digs and 11.0 blocks while hitting .059. Sarah McGee had 12 kills, eight digs and seven blocks, but she would be the lone Shocker with double-figure kills. Stockman, who once again is leading the MVC in kills, was held to eight kills, and -.047 hitting efficiency in 47 swings. WSU libero Melissa Granville led the Shocker defense with 23 digs.
Creighton returns to action tomorrow night when it hosts Missouri State at 7:30 pm. That match will be televised on NET-HD and can be heard on radio on KOIL (1180 AM).
NOTES: Creighton had been 0-35 all-time against ranked teams before tonight ...Creighton is now 9-7 all-time against WSU in Omaha but still trails the all-time series with the Shockers 18-15 ...Creighton had not beaten Wichita State in less than five sets since Nov. 16, 2001 ...The first set winner has won the past 11 meetings between Creighton and Wichita State ...Wichita State has won 16 straight third sets against Creighton ...Wichita State, which lost last Saturday at Missouri State, had last lost consecutive MVC matches in November of 2003 ...Wichita State had won a league-record 36 straight MVC road matches before losing its past two ...Allie Oelke's double-double was the 20th of her career ...Nayka Benitez has led CU in digs all 15 matches this year ...With nine block assists, Jessica Houts now has 461 in her career, moving her from 12th to ninth in MVC history ...Creighton moved into third place in the MVC with the win.
