Creighton University
Iowa
Volleyball Saves Seven Match Points, Falls In 20-18 Fifth Set To Iowa
9/4/2010 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Trailing 14-9 in the fifth set, the Creighton Volleyball team saved seven match points before finally dropping a heart-breaking 20-18 fifth-set decision to Iowa at the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.
Creighton dropped to 2-4 while Iowa, which survived two match points of its own before rallying, improved to 4-1 on the year.
Creighton led 5-2 early in the fifth set before Iowa staged a comeback to knot the score at 5-5. The Hawkeyes went ahead 10-7 to prompt the second Bluejay timeout. A Hawkeye block gave Iowa a 14-9 lead and five match points, but Creighton would hold on with Nayka Benitez serving. The Jays used two kills from Alicia Runge and three Hawkeye attack errors to even the score. Iowa would earn its sixth match point chance at 15-14, only to see Runge land another kill.
Iowa would run into the net to give Creighton its first match point chance at 16-15, only to see the Jays give back that chance with a net violation of its own. Runge gave CU a second match point chance with a kill, but a Bluejay serving miscue tied the score at 17.
The Hawkeyes went ahead 18-17 when a communication error led to an errant set, but Creighton's Laurel Sanford answered by finding a gap in the Iowa defense to pound home a kill and force the 10th tie of the fifth set. Iowa won the match when Creighton made consecutive attack errors.
Iowa showed no effects of its Friday night loss to Wake Forest, controlling the first set to take a 25-19 win over Creighton. The Hawkeyes hit .308 and got five kills in six swings from Council Bluffs product Mallory Husz. Creighton's top attacker in the first set was Megan Bober, who had three perfect swings.
The second set was more competitive, but ended with the Hawkeyes taking a 25-20 victory. Creighton led 8-6 early on before a 6-0 flurry gave Iowa the lead for good. Rachael Bedell and Husz combined for nine kills in the second set to pace the Hawkeyes, which hit .281.
Creighton won an odd third set that featured a 10-minute delay as officials sorted out the correct score. Instead of trailing 14-12 as the scoreboard indicated, Creighton coaches successfully protested that the score should be knotted at 13. After play resumed, Runge had consecutive kills and a Hawkeye attack error gave the Jays a 16-13 advantage it would hold on to the rest of the way. With Creighton clinging to a 21-20 leaed, Alile Oelke had a kill, followed by an ace, as Creighton scored the final four points in a 25-20 victory.
Creighton won the fourth set, breaking free from a 10-10 tie to roll to a 25-19 victory. Oelke had five kills and four digs in the fourth set as Creighton hit .342 with 15 kills in 38 swings.
Runge led Creighton with a career-high 26 kills. Her 71 attack attempts were one away from a school-record. Oelke (10 kills, 16 digs) and Bober (43 assists, 14 digs) each had double-doubles, while Benitez added a season-best with 27 digs. Creighton had 58 kills, three aces, 82 digs and 12 blocks while hitting .190 as a team.
Iowa was paced by 21 kills by Husz, 19 from Bedell and 16 by Megan Eskew. Bethany Yeager had 33 digs as the Hawkeye libero, while Paige Stevens had 59 assists and 13 digs. Iowa finished with 74 digs, four aces, 100 digs and five blocks while hitting .216.
Creighton closes play at the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge with a 5 pm match vs. Wake Forest (3-2). Wake Forest lost in four sets to Saint Louis in the first match of the morning. The Bluejays can win the tournament title with a wni over Wake Forest, followed by a Saint Louis victory over Iowa.
NOTES: Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth received her Master's degree from Iowa in 2000 and was actually interim head coach of the Hawkeye program in March and April of 1998 ... This was the third overall meeting between Creighton and Iowa, but first on a neutral floor ... Allie Oelke now has 1,011 career digs, becoming the eighth player in Bluejay history (and second outside hitter) to surpass 1,000 with a dig in the third set ...Creighton had won 123 straight matches in which it had a match-point opportunity in its favor dating to Nov. 15, 2002 ... Creighton fell to 21-12 under Booth in five-set matches ... Laurel Sanford played the final four sets and finished with five kills, three blocks and three digs in her first action since suffering an ankle injury in the first set of the season opener.
