Creighton University
INDIANA STATE
Record Blocking Performance Leads Volleyball To Sweep of Sycamores
10/24/2009 8:45:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Volleyball team used a record-setting performance at the net to record a 3-0 victory over visiting Indiana State on Saturday night. The Jays put up 20 blocks, most in school history for a three-set match, while routing the Sycamores 25-16, 25-12, 25-16.
Creighton won its season-best third straight match to improve to 9-12 overall and 6-5 in the MVC, while Indiana State is now 6-18 overall and 2-9 in league play after losing on the road in MVC play for the 43rd straight contest.
The match was part of Creighton's Breast Cancer Awareness Night, with the host Jays donning their alternate pink jerseys and many in the crowd of 1,117 wore pink as well.
Not surprisingly, it was Jessica Houts Creighton's all-time leader in blocks, who led the block parade. Houts tied a CU record for blocks in a three-set match with 12 stuffs, matching JoDe Cieloha's record from Sept. 9, 1995 at Bradley. The senior all-Valley performer had plenty of help on rejection row, as teammates Laurel Sanford and Megan Bober each had eight stuffs while Alicia Runge had six stuffs to go with a match-best 12 kills and .478 attack percentage. Creighton finished with 34 kills, four aces, 52 digs and 20 blocks while hitting .223 in the contest.
"I thought our team has been centered around our blocking most of the season," said CU head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "The past couple weeks we haven't been as dominant, but this weekend we took charge and it was amazing. They couldn't get around our blocks all the way across the net. It was fun to be on this side of the court."
Indiana State was paced by nine kills by Stacy Qualizza and eight putaways from Jodilynne Stoker. Libero Kiya James topped all players with 17 digs. Indiana State hit -.024 for the night and finished with 29 kills, no aces, 58 digs and two blocks on the evening.
Creighton never trailed in the first or third sets, and never trailed by more than one point the entire evening.
Creighton surged to a 12-3 lead to open the match and dominated the first set. In a prelude of things to come, CU had five blocks in the first set, including four from Houts, while Runge had a set-best four kills.
Indiana State took its only lead of the night early in the second set at 5-4. Leading 7-6, Sarah Schulze served the next 11 points as the Jays built an 18-6 advantage. The flurry included four blocks from Houts and three from Bober and forced ISU to use both timeouts. Creighton had a stunning nine blocks in the second set while forcing the Sycamores into -.103 hitting in 39 swings.
In the third and final set, Nayka Benitez had a pair of aces during a 6-0 spree that saw the Jays extend its lead to 10-4. CU added six more blocks in the third set, and Sarah Schulze had nine digs for the Bluejay defense in the final stanza.
"I think that we've played pretty well at home for the most part all season, and we did that again this weekend," said Booth. "I think we had a good week of practice and I hope that this good weekend will lead to another good week of practice. It's always fun to play great teams and we'll get that opportunity on the road this weekend when we play Missouri State and Wichita State."
Creighton returns to action next Friday when it visits Missouri State in a 7 pm match. That contest can be heard on KOIL (1180 AM).
NOTES: Indiana State's football team, which entered the day with the nation's longest losing streak at 33, snapped that spell with a win over Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon ...Creighton's 20 blocks were one off the school record for any match, one behind the 21 put up vs. Southern Illinois in a five-set contest on Sept. 19, 2003 ...The 12 blocks by Jessica Houts are tied for fourth-most in CU history, five shy of the school record held by Ashley Williams in a five-setter vs. Wichita State on Oct. 10, 2003 ...Jessica Houts now owns 490 career block assists, passing Kendra Haselhorst (482) and Shari Vermeer (489) to move into fifth in MVC history ...Creighton's three-match win streak is a season-high, as this was CU's first undefeated weekend of the season ...Allie Oelke had six kills and 14 digs, snapping a streak of four straight double-doubles ...Creighton's 24 wins all-time against Indiana State is its most against any opponent, as CU has now won 10 straight contests versus the Sycamores ...The win was Creighton's sixth MVC victory of the season, but first in three sets.
