Saturday, November 15
Queens, N.Y.
4:00 PM
Creighton University
22-7, 15-1BIG EAST
3
at
2
St. John's
19-12, 8-8BIG EAST
1
2
3
4
5
F
Creighton
25
25
21
21
15
3
St. John's
21
22
25
25
13
2
CHAMPS! Volleyball Clinches First BIG EAST Title
11/15/2014 6:00:00 PM | Volleyball
QUEENS, N.Y. -- The Creighton Volleyball team won its first BIG EAST title in program history with a 3-2 victory at St. John's on Saturday night in Queens. Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 15-13.
The victory was Creighton's 10th in a row this season, improving the Bluejays to 22-7 overall and 15-1 in BIG EAST play. St. John's fell to 19-12 (8-8 BIG EAST) while losing its final home match of the fall.
"The conference title is one of our big goals," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We wanted to win the BiG EAST title this year. It was not a huge celebration. We've set ourselves up to win it. We're happy to be co-champs, but our goal is to win it outright, so it comes down to next weekend and making sure we take care of things so we can be the one team at the top."
Creighton never trailed while winning the first set. CU seemed in control with a 22-15 lead, only to surrender a five-point run from the Red Storm as the Bluejays burned both timeouts. Jess Bird then took over. She had CU's next two kills, then served an ace on set point for the 25-21 victory. Both teams finished with 15 kills in the first set, with CU hitting .297 compared to SJU's .286.
Creighton used a 5-0 run in the second set to build a lead, only to see St. John's draw within 11-10. Following a timeout Creighton responded with a 6-1 run, including an ace by Ashley Jansen to lead 17-11. Just as quickly, St. John's answered with a 7-1 run to knot the score at 18-all. But Lauren Smith and Michelle Sicner would stand tall, combining for three straight blocks as part of a 4-0 run. St. John's fought back to even the score at 22-all before CU once again closed out the set with a flurry. Leah McNary pounded a kill to give CU the lead, and St. John's followed with an attack error. Marysa Wilkinson then found a seam in the Red Storm defense on set point.
The Bluejays built an 8-5 lead in the fourth set before St. John's came back to take a 14-11 lead. Creighton trailed 19-16 before tying the score at 19-all. Wilkinson had a hand in consecutive blocks before Kelli Browning put down a kill. But after a timeout, the Red Storm would close out the set strong to take a 25-21 decision and extend the match.
Creighton quickly ended St. John's momentum to start the fourth set, quickly taking a 6-1 lead after a Browning ace and three early blocks. The margin was short-lived, as St. John's rallied back for a 10-9 lead. St. John's broke free from a 12-12 deadlock with three consecutive points and would not trail again while taking a 25-21 victory and force a fifth set.
Creighton never trailed in the fifth set. Smith had a kill and Browning three blocks to help the Jays build a 5-1 lead. The Bluejays led 8-4 at the changeover, then made it 9-4 as Browning served an ace. CU would go up 12-7 on a kill by Smith before the Red Storm rallied one last time. SJU scored four straight points to draw within one at 12-11, but the teams would trade sideouts the next five points as CU clinched it on a Bird's 10th kill.
"I thought sets 1-4 were all kind of similar," commented Booth. "We played OK, but not at the level we needed to. St. John's started to play better, and that was the difference. The thing I'm really proud of the team for is that they figured out a way to win. I think we've seen a lot of growth from that team. The challenge to them tonight was to go for it and go down swinging. That's the way you have to play."
Smith, Browning and Bird each had 10 kills each to pace a balanced attack that was set by Sicner (32 assists, 13 digs, seven blocks) and Maggie Baumert (10 assists) at various times. Bird had her sixth double-double, and third straight, with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Browning and Smith both finished with match-highs of eight blocks. Melanie Jereb had 15 digs to pace CU's defense, as well. Creighton finished with 54 kills, seven aces, 65 digs and 17 blocks on .174 hitting.
St. John's was led by 23 kills and 16 digs by Karin Palgutova, while Aleksandra Wachowicz had 20 kills. Shawna-Lei Santos had 27 digs to lead all players. The Red Storm finished with 67 kills, four aces, 66 digs and 12 blocks on .198 hitting.
Creighton returns to action next weekend with its final two home matches of the season. Creighton hosts Villanova on Friday at 7 pm before welcoming Seton Hall at Noon on Sunday. A victory in either match will clinch the outright title and No. 1 seed at the BIG EAST Tournament, to be held Nov. 28-29 in Milwaukee, Wis.
NOTES: The conference title is Creighton Volleyball's second in three seasons, joining the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season crown ... The championship is the first BIG EAST title by any women's sport at Creighton since joining the league in the summer of 2013 ... Creighton improved to 150-2 when leading a match 2-0 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... With the win, Creighton's senior class (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner) has now won more matches (91) than any four-year span in program history ... Creighton improved to 39-21 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in five-set matches, including a 3-2 mark this year ... Creighton has now won seven of its last eight true road matches to go five sets ... Creighton is now 100-8 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when leading a match 2-1.
The victory was Creighton's 10th in a row this season, improving the Bluejays to 22-7 overall and 15-1 in BIG EAST play. St. John's fell to 19-12 (8-8 BIG EAST) while losing its final home match of the fall.
"The conference title is one of our big goals," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We wanted to win the BiG EAST title this year. It was not a huge celebration. We've set ourselves up to win it. We're happy to be co-champs, but our goal is to win it outright, so it comes down to next weekend and making sure we take care of things so we can be the one team at the top."
Creighton never trailed while winning the first set. CU seemed in control with a 22-15 lead, only to surrender a five-point run from the Red Storm as the Bluejays burned both timeouts. Jess Bird then took over. She had CU's next two kills, then served an ace on set point for the 25-21 victory. Both teams finished with 15 kills in the first set, with CU hitting .297 compared to SJU's .286.
Creighton used a 5-0 run in the second set to build a lead, only to see St. John's draw within 11-10. Following a timeout Creighton responded with a 6-1 run, including an ace by Ashley Jansen to lead 17-11. Just as quickly, St. John's answered with a 7-1 run to knot the score at 18-all. But Lauren Smith and Michelle Sicner would stand tall, combining for three straight blocks as part of a 4-0 run. St. John's fought back to even the score at 22-all before CU once again closed out the set with a flurry. Leah McNary pounded a kill to give CU the lead, and St. John's followed with an attack error. Marysa Wilkinson then found a seam in the Red Storm defense on set point.
The Bluejays built an 8-5 lead in the fourth set before St. John's came back to take a 14-11 lead. Creighton trailed 19-16 before tying the score at 19-all. Wilkinson had a hand in consecutive blocks before Kelli Browning put down a kill. But after a timeout, the Red Storm would close out the set strong to take a 25-21 decision and extend the match.
Creighton quickly ended St. John's momentum to start the fourth set, quickly taking a 6-1 lead after a Browning ace and three early blocks. The margin was short-lived, as St. John's rallied back for a 10-9 lead. St. John's broke free from a 12-12 deadlock with three consecutive points and would not trail again while taking a 25-21 victory and force a fifth set.
Creighton never trailed in the fifth set. Smith had a kill and Browning three blocks to help the Jays build a 5-1 lead. The Bluejays led 8-4 at the changeover, then made it 9-4 as Browning served an ace. CU would go up 12-7 on a kill by Smith before the Red Storm rallied one last time. SJU scored four straight points to draw within one at 12-11, but the teams would trade sideouts the next five points as CU clinched it on a Bird's 10th kill.
"I thought sets 1-4 were all kind of similar," commented Booth. "We played OK, but not at the level we needed to. St. John's started to play better, and that was the difference. The thing I'm really proud of the team for is that they figured out a way to win. I think we've seen a lot of growth from that team. The challenge to them tonight was to go for it and go down swinging. That's the way you have to play."
Smith, Browning and Bird each had 10 kills each to pace a balanced attack that was set by Sicner (32 assists, 13 digs, seven blocks) and Maggie Baumert (10 assists) at various times. Bird had her sixth double-double, and third straight, with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Browning and Smith both finished with match-highs of eight blocks. Melanie Jereb had 15 digs to pace CU's defense, as well. Creighton finished with 54 kills, seven aces, 65 digs and 17 blocks on .174 hitting.
St. John's was led by 23 kills and 16 digs by Karin Palgutova, while Aleksandra Wachowicz had 20 kills. Shawna-Lei Santos had 27 digs to lead all players. The Red Storm finished with 67 kills, four aces, 66 digs and 12 blocks on .198 hitting.
Creighton returns to action next weekend with its final two home matches of the season. Creighton hosts Villanova on Friday at 7 pm before welcoming Seton Hall at Noon on Sunday. A victory in either match will clinch the outright title and No. 1 seed at the BIG EAST Tournament, to be held Nov. 28-29 in Milwaukee, Wis.
NOTES: The conference title is Creighton Volleyball's second in three seasons, joining the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season crown ... The championship is the first BIG EAST title by any women's sport at Creighton since joining the league in the summer of 2013 ... Creighton improved to 150-2 when leading a match 2-0 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... With the win, Creighton's senior class (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner) has now won more matches (91) than any four-year span in program history ... Creighton improved to 39-21 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in five-set matches, including a 3-2 mark this year ... Creighton has now won seven of its last eight true road matches to go five sets ... Creighton is now 100-8 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when leading a match 2-1.
Team Stats
CU
SJU
Kills
54
67
Errors
25
32
Attempts
167
177
Hitting %
.174
.198
Points
78.0
83.0
Assists
49
67
Aces
7
4
Blocks
17.0
12.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
8
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
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