Creighton University
BRADLEY
Volleyball Wins Valley Opener Over Bradley in Four Sets
9/18/2009 10:15:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Allie Oelke had a match-high 17 kills and Lauren Bloemke served a crucial 6-0 run late in the third set to lead Creighton Volleyball to a 3-1 victory over Bradley on Friday night. Scores of the match in favor of CU was 25-9, 19-25, 25-23, 25-14.
Creighton improved to 3-7 overall and 1-0 in the MVC with the win, while Bradley fell to 8-6 overall and is 0-1 in Valley action.
"Lauren (Bloemke) executed her serves, which took them out of system and really helped us late in that third set," said CU head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "You can see the calmness and leadership that Lauren brings to the court when she's in there. I think we've got to figure out a way to relax them, because we play so much better when we're relaxed."
The first set was never close, with CU bolting to a 9-4 lead out of the gates and never being challenged. Bloemke served four straight points to put CU ahead 13-5, and a short time later Jessica Houts served up a 7-0 blitz that made it 21-7. Bradley had just three kills and nine errors while hitting -.200 in the first set. CU hit .310 with 13 kills, including five from Oelke.
Despite all the good things that Creighton did well to open the match, the second set saw Bradley turn the tables on the hosts. Bradley used an 8-1 run early to take a 12-8 lead and CU would not come closer than three points the remainder of the set. Bradley had 15 kills and hit .312 in the second set while limiting CU to .125 hitting and a bevy of unforced errors.
The match was essentially decided late in the third set. With Creighton trailing 21-18 with the match even at one set each, Bloemke came on to provide a spark. She would serve CU to six straight points, including an ace to knot the score at 21-all, to get the Jays to set point. Bradley would hold two set points before a putaway from Oelke gave CU the comeback victory and control of the match. Oelke had six kills of CU's 14 kills in the third set.
The fourth set played out more like the first, with CU pulling away for a lopsided victory. The score was tight early before Nayka Benitez and Brooke Boggs served up a combined 7-1 run to bury any hopes Bradley might have had to force a fifth set.
Oelke had a season-high with 17 kills, her most since 19 during the MVC Tournament against Southern Illinois on Nov. 23, 2007, while also hitting .293. She added 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Houts finished with 12 kills and five blocks as well as a team-best two aces. Creighton had 50 kills, four aces, 54 digs and 10.0 blocks while hitting .217.
Bradley was keyed by Amy Reichel, who had 13 kills in 40 swings. Megan Schmidt had 16 digs to top the Braves back line, while Jessica McNellis had five blocks. Bradley finished with 35 kills, four aces, 53 digs and nine blocks while hitting .039.
Creighton hosts Northern Iowa (10-2, 1-0 MVC) on Saturday night at 7 pm at the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center. The match can also be heard live on KOIL (1180 AM).
"I'm jacked up to play Northern Iowa tomorrow," said Booth. "They're a great team and solid all-around. They won't give us points so we're going to have to get after it defensively and terminate better offensively."
NOTES: Creighton is now 12-1 vs. Bradley under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ...Creighton has won four straight league-openers, the second-longest active streak in the league behind Wichita State (6) ...Creighton has won nine straight regular-season MVC matches dating to last year, tying a school record set twice previously ...Creighton is now 9-7 in MVC openers, including a 6-1 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ...In its eight previous seasons it has won the league opener, Creighton has never finished worse than 9-9 in league play ...No MVC team has ever won the regular-season title after dropping its first league match of the season ...Creighton had been 0-4 in the fourth set before tonight ...Jessica Houts had five blocks, giving her 499 in her career.
