Creighton University
Wichita State
Volleyball Drops Fifth Set Heartbreaker at Wichita State
11/5/2010 8:56:00 PM | Volleyball
WICHITA, Kan. -- Creighton and Wichita State staged their fifth five-set battle since 2003, but for the first time in those encounters, the Shockers emerged victorious on Friday night before 2,724 fans at Charles Koch Arena. Scores of the latest tense battle between the rivals favored host WSU, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-13.
Wichita State improved to 17-5 on the season, moving past the Jays in the race for second place with a 10-3 league record. Creighton dropped to 15-9 on the year, and is 10-4 in league action.
"We knew going in that Wichita State is a great team," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "It was probably a fun match to watch, and it was a fun match to coach in. We are very evenly matched and we'd love that opportunity to play them again."
The defensive struggle came down to the fifth set, and early on things favored Creighton. The Jays would go up 6-3 early and claim its largest lead at 9-5. Following Wichita State's second and final timeout, the tide turned. The hosts scored the next five points to go ahead 10-9, and would not trail again. Tied at 11, WSU scored three straight points to earn three match points. The Jays would fight off the first two points, before Sarah McGee's attack was ruled to land inside the right sideline for the match-ending kill.
Julianne Mandolfo led Creighton with 32 of the team's season-high 97 digs, while Allie Oelke contributed 23 digs. With her 23 digs, Oelke moved into second in Creighton history with 1,264 career digs, passing Kailey Reyes (1,258 from 1998-2001).
Wichita State won a back-and-forth first set, 25-21, to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Creighton overcame an 11-8 deficit early on with a 6-0 run. The Shockers answered with a 7-1 run and would not trail again. Alicia Runge had seven kills in the opening set for Creighton, which also posted 22 digs as a team. WSU got four kills each from Emily Adney and Mary Elizabeth Hooper to top the offensive attack.
The Jays fought back to even the match with a 25-20 second set win. Runge had seven more kills, and Creighton served up four aces in the set, including a pair from Mandolfo.
Creighton started the third set strong, going ahead 6-3, before Wichita State mounted a 10-0 run. After a Runge kill halted the momentum, the Shockers scored the next four points and its 17-7 lead proved insurmountable. The Shockers would win the set, 25-17.
In the fourth set Creighton's block played a major factor, as the Jays outblocked WSU 5-0 while winning a 25-21 set. The set was tied eight times, but Creighton never surrendered the lead throughout. A tandem block by Karisa Almgren and Heather Thorson sent the match to the fifth set.
Runge led Creighton with 22 kills on 62 swings, hitting .258. Also in double-figures with 11 kills was Laurel Sanford. Megan Bober had 48 assists, eight digs and seven kills. The Jays had an 8-1 advantage in service aces, and the teams were tied with 97 digs each.
Wichita State had four players with 10 or more kills, led by 16 each from Adney and Camri Zwiesler. McGee had 12 kills and six blocks on .393 hitting, whiel Amanda Backes also had six blocks to go with 10 digs. Adney also led WSU with 24 digs. The Shockers hit .217 for the evening, and outblocked CU 10-9.
Creighton plays at Missouri State on Saturday night at 7 pm in a match that can be heard on KOIL (1180 AM).
NOTES: Wichita State has won the third set in each of the last 19 meetings with Creighton ... Four of Creighton's last five wins vs. Wichita State have been in five sets ... Creighton was seeking its first season sweep of WSU since 2001 ... Julianne Mandolfo extended her streak of conecutive matches with an ace to nine, tied for fourth-longest in CU history ... Mandolfo's 32 digs were one away from her career-high ... Creighton, which beat Wichita State 3-2 in Omaha on Oct. 9, fell to 2-3 in five-set matches this season and 23-14 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
