Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Volleyball Wins Fifth Straight MVC Opener With Sweep at SIU
9/17/2010 10:00:00 PM | Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Allie Oelke had 12 kills and 13 digs in her 100th career match and head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth improved to 16-0 all-time against Southern Illinois with a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-22, 25-20) of the Salukis on Friday night at Davies Gym. Julianne Mandolfo added a career-best 23 digs for the Bluejays in the win.
Creighton improved to 6-5 on the season while winning its Missouri Valley Conference opener for the fifth straight season. Southern Illinois dropped to 9-2 on the season (0-1 MVC).
Creighton led most of the first set, going ahead 20-14 late in the first set before a big Saluki rally. Facing a pair of SIU set points, back-to-back kills by CU's Alicia Runge evened the score at 24. A Laurel Sanford kill, followed by a Saluki attack error, gave the Jays the 26-24 win. Runge led CU's offense with five kills, while Sanford and Oelke each added four terminations. Mandolfo paced the defense with 10 digs in the first set alone.
"I thought coming back in the first set was huge," said Booth. "I was disappointed we got in that situation, but we've been working on our end game and we stepped it up to win that set."
The second set was also close, with Creighton pulling away down the stretch for a 25-22 win. With the score tied at 18, Creighton used a 3-1 spurt to take a more comfortable 22-19 lead. After consecutive Saluki points drew them within one point, the Jays got a kill by Karisa Almgren and got to set point on a Alysia Mayes attack error. Creighton took the set 25-22 on a Saluki passing error. Oelke had six kills in the second set alone to lead the Bluejay offense.
Creighton wasted little time in the third set, coming out of intermission to storm to a 12-5 lead. After SIU rallied within four points, Creighton scored the next three point to go ahead 15-8 and 23-12. SIU made a valiant comeback, getting within four points, before the Jays closed out the sweep.
Oelke led Creighton with 12 kills and 13 digs while adding four blocks on .312 hitting. Runge had 11 kills while Almgren finished her night with eight kills on .350 hitting. Mandolfo led the Bluejay defense with 23 digs in her first career action at libero. Creighton finished with 46 kills, five aces, 74 digs and nine blocks on .162 hitting.
"Julianne (Mandolfo) did a fantastic job for her first time in the libero jersey," noted Booth. "I was pleased that even though Alicia Runge was off, our other kids stepped up and helped us beat a very good team."
SIU was led by eight kills from all-Valley honoree Jennifer Berwanger, while three other women had seven putaways. Bailey Yeager led the Saluki defense with 22 digs. SIU had 35 kills, three aces, 70 digs and 10 blocks on .129 hitting.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday evening when it plays at Evansville in another 7 pm match. That match will not be on radio, but live stats can be followed at http://www.sidearmstats.com/evansville/wvball/?tab=volleyball&path=vball. Evansville defeated previously unbeaten Drake in five sets on Friday night.
NOTES: Allie Oelke's double-double was her fifth of the year and 34th of the season ... Creighton is now 12-5 all-time in Carbondale ... Creighton is now 7-1 in MVC road openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including six straight wins ... Allie Oelke played in the 100th match of her career ... Alicia Runge now has 10 or more kills in 12 straight matches, tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history ... True freshmen Brianne Fliss and Natalie Hackbarth saw their first collegiate action late in the third set.
