Creighton University
13-3, 4-1MVC
Evansville
6-12, 2-4MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creighton | 25 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 3 |
| Evansville | 16 | 10 | 25 | 17 | 1 |
Volleyball Trumps Aces For First MVC Road Win
9/29/2012 10:56:00 PM | Volleyball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Freshman Melanie Jereb had a career-high 18 kills and classmate Kate Elman added a career-best 27 digs to help Creighton Volleyball to a 3-1 win at Evansville on Saturday evening. Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 25-16, 25-10, 23-25, 25-17.
Creighton improved to 13-3 (4-1 MVC), while Evansville fell to 6-12 (2-4 MVC). The Jays have now won 17 of the past 18 meetings with UE.
Jereb turned in a solid all-around performance, finishing with 18 kills, eight digs and six blocks. Kelli Browning had 13 kills and nine blocks for CU, while Heather Thorson tallied 10 kills and six blocks. Elman led the Bluejay defense with 27 digs, while Megan Bober had a double-double with 43 assists, 17 digs, five blocks and five kills.
UE was paced by 12 kills from Ashley Ring, with 10 of those coming in the last two sets. Katie Klages had a match-best 32 digs on the evening.
"I thought we played a good match tonight," said CU head coach
Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We got back to our blocking form and setup and
played well behind it. Our defensive transition was good tonight."
Creighton eliminated any doubt of a letdown following last night's loss at Southern Illinois with a 25-16 victory in the first set. After three straight aces from UE's Meaghan Holmes knotted the set at 13-all, Creighton called timeout and answered with the next four points to take a 17-13 lead before wrapping up a 25-16 win on an Ashley Jansen ace. CU had 15 kills and four blocks on .355 hitting in the first set, paced by five kills from Leah McNary and three blocks by Jereb.
Creighton rolled over the Purple Aces in the second set with a 25-10 victory. The Jays raced to leads of 5-1 and 14-4 and were never challenged. CU hit .359 in the set while holding UE to -.061 hitting.
Seeking its fifth straight sweep over UE, the Jays looked in good shape by taking a 20-15 lead before UE answered with a 7-1 flurry to re-take a one-point edge. With the score tied at 23-all, UE got kills from Holmes and Emma Roberson to win the set.
In the fourth set, Creighton used a 3-0 run to go ahead 14-11 midway through the frame and steadily pulled away. The Jays had 15 kills on .302 hitting in the fourth set, adding four of their 15 blocks.
For the match, Creighton finished with 58 kills, seven aces, 15 digs and a season-best 82 digs while hitting .283. Evansville finished with 39 kills, five aces, 68 digs and four blocks on .086 hitting.
"It was good to get a win under our belt as we go into another big weekend," noted Booth.
Creighton returns home next weekend, beginning with a 7 pm match on Friday night against three-time defending league champion Northern Iowa. The Panthers (12-5, 4-0 entering Saturday) have won 58 consecutive regular-season MVC matches since falling at Creighton on Nov. 21, 2008.
