Creighton University
DRAKE
Volleyball Sweeps Drake Behind Defensive Masterpiece
11/13/2010 10:43:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Alicia Runge had 18 kills to pace the offense and Nayka Benitez set a school record with 29 digs in a three-set match as the Creighton Volleyball team swept Drake, 25-15, 25-15, 25-18 on Saturday night before 1,201 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton improved its record to 16-10 on the season and is tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 11-5 league mark. Drake fell to 22-9 on the year and is fifth in The Valley with a 7-9 conference mark. The regular-season concludes next weekend.
"I thought we played a great match tonight," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "I thought Drake played well too. Points were really, really long. We had worked on scoring points in dig transition, and we did that.
"Nayka (Benitez) was a monster tonight in the back row. We served well, we passed well and I think we did it consistently throughout the entire match."
Creighton won each of the first two sets, 25-15, with Benitez blistering an ace to end each frame.
The first set saw Creighton break away from the 'Dogs with a 10-3 run behind strong serving runs from Allie Oelke and Laurel Sanford. Late in the set, Heather Thorson contributed two blocks and a kill. The Jays outblocked Drake 4-0 in the set and had 25 digs, including seven from Oelke.
The second set featured 25 more digs from the Bluejay defense, with 10 from Benitez. Creighton had 16 kills in the frame, including six from Runge. Drake did have five blocks in the second set, including three from Michelle Reidy.
Creighton never trailed in the third set. Leading 7-5, freshman Julianne Mandolfo served a 7-0 run that gave the Jays a healthy cushion to cruise home to victory. Benitez served for the match in the final set as well, with Creighton getting its final tally on a Drake attack error.
Runge had 18 kills in 44 swings to hit .341 in the match, adding three blocks. Benitez had a season-high 29 digs, breaking Creighton's record for a three-set match of 27 done previously by Janeen Piller (in 2003) and Bianca Rivera (in 2008). Oelke added 17 digs while Brooke Boggs had 11 digs. Leading Creighton at the net was Thorson, who had five blocks to lead all players in the match. Creighton finished with 44 kills, six aces, 78 digs and seven blocks while hitting .240.
Drake's Angela Bys paced her team with eight kills and her team's only ace. Alana Wittenburg had 20 digs for DU. Drake finished with 27 kills, one ace, 66 digs and eight blocks while hitting .037.
Creighton will close the regular-season next weekend with home matches against Evansville and Southern Illinois. Both contests will start at 7 pm.
"We really like playing at home with the energy of the crowd, students and pep band behind us at D.J. Sokol Arena," said Booth. "Next week is two more huge matches. We got one taken care of tonight and we'll try to take them one at a time again next weekend."
NOTES: Creighton has won nine straight meetings in Omaha vs. Drake, including four straight sweeps and 15 straight set victories ... Creighton's nine straight home wins over Drake ties a school-record over any program at home, tying a nine-match win streak vs. next Friday's opponent, Evansville ... The team to win the first set has won each of Creighton's last 11 matches ... Julianne Mandolfo had an ace in her 11th straight match, tying her for the second-longest streak in Bluejay history.
