Creighton University
Indiana State
Volleyball Sweeps Sycamores, Now 6-0 on Road
10/2/2010 9:05:00 PM | Volleyball
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Laurel Sanford had 10 kills and 11 blocks while hitting a career-high .529 as the Creighton Volleyball team tied a school record with its seventh straight road victory, a 3-0 sweep before 75 fans at Indiana State on Saturday night. Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 25-22, 25-10, 25-7.
Creighton is now 10-6 on the season and remains alone in second place with a 5-1 Missouri Valley Conference mark. That includes an impressive 6-0 mark on the road this season, where Creighton has won 18 of 19 sets. Creighton's seven match road win streak dating to last year ties a school record previously done from Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007.
Creighton hit a staggering .402 in the match, sixth-best in school history, while finishing with 39 kills in 87 swings against just four attack errors. In addition, Creighton served up eight aces against four serving miscues, while outblocking ISU 13-2.
Creighton's block gave Indiana State all sorts of problems in the first set, and the Jays led most of the first set despite nearly wasting a late 19-15 lead. ISU libero Kiya James served up five straight points, including three aces to give the Sycamores a 20-19 advantage. The Jays would regroup, retaking the lead for good on a kill from Alicia Runge and a Nayka Benitez ace. An ace by Brooke Boggs closed out the set. Sanford had a hand in five of Creighton's six blocks while also leading the Bluejay offense with four kills.
The final two sets were no contest, with Creighton thrashing the hosts to the tune of 25-10 and 25-7. In the second set, Creighton hit .313 while holding the Sycamores to -.049 hitting. The third set was even more lopsided, with the Jays streaking to a 9-3 lead before Allie Oelke served 12 straight points to push that differential to 21-3. The Jays eventually would end up winning by a 25-7 score. Creighton hit .636 in the final set while Indiana State managed just three kills and five digs.
"After the first set we focused on getting them out of system and shutting down their middles," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We served great and took them out of system, and that was key, because we blocked well and their outsides struggled. (Laurel) Sanford and (Megan) Bober were a wall tonight and did a nice job blocking. I told our team that for them to hold any team to 7 and 10 in any set shows that we played crisp ball and I was pleased with that."
Sanford led the Jays with 10 kills and 11 blocks for her first career double-double, hitting .529 on 17 swings. Getting her the ball was setter Megan Bober, who had nine kills, seven blocks and 22 assists while hitting .562. Four players had between 11 and 12 digs, with a dozen by both Julianne Mandolfo and Oelke pacing Creighton. Oelke also served up three aces. Creighton finished with 39 kills, eight aces, 53 digs and 13 blocks while hitting a season-best .402.
Indiana State's (8-10, 0-5 MVC) offense was paced by eight kills from Stacy Qualizza. Sophomore Morgan Dall, who entered the night leading the MVC with 4.32 kills per set (25th nationally), had seven kills to go with 12 attack errors on 35 swings, hitting -.135. James served up three aces and was one of three Sycamores with nine digs. ISU finished with 26 kills, four aces, 39 digs and two blocks on .018 hitting.
Creighton returns home next Friday night when it hosts Missouri State in a 7 pm match at D.J. Sokol Arena. The match is part of Creighton's annual Homecoming festivities.
NOTES: Creighton has won 11 straight meetings against Indiana State, with 10 of those triumphs coming in three sets ... Creighton has now won seven of it past eight matches, falling only to No. 16 Northern Iowa in that time ... Alicia Runge's streak of 16 straight matches of 10 or more kills was snapped, as the senior had six kills on a season-low 18 swings. The streak ranked third-longest in school history ... The seven points allowed in the third set was the fewest in any set against Creighton since Bradley was held to six in the fifth set on Oct. 4, 2003, and fewest allowed ever in any set played to 25 by Creighton.
