Volleyball Tops Xavier in Four Sets

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Creighton Volleyball team scored eight of the final nine points to claim a 3-1 victory at Xavier on Friday night in Cincinnati.

Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23.

Creighton improves to 19-7 (12-1 BIG EAST) with its fifth win over Xavier in the past 13 months, and seventh straight win in 2014. Xavier is now 15-11 overall, 8-6 in league play.

"i thougth the first few games we played great volleyball," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We really dug well, we hit well and did a lot of great things.

"I thought as Xavier made a push in sets 3 & 4 we got a little tentative with our swings. When playing great teams you have got to stay aggressive. As they got a lot of momentum and got aggressive, we got passive. What pushed us to victory at the end was primarily blocking and some impressive swings, and that was great to see."

Creighton never trailed while winning the opening set, 25-17. The Bluejays blew open a close set with an 8-1 run to build a 19-9 lead and never looked back. Jess Bird, who served six straight points, had six digs as part of a Bluejay defense that held XU to .025 hitting in 40 swings. Leah McNary led CU with six kills in the first frame, while Michelle Sicner had 13 assists, three blocks and three digs.

The second set followed a similar pattern. Trailing 8-6, the Bluejays used a 13-3 run to go ahead 19-11 and cruise to a 2-0 lead at the break with a 25-15 victory. CU hit .433 in the second set with 16 kills in 30 swings.

Xavier had 15 kills and four blocks in the third set, a 25-19 win to extend the match.

In the fourth frame, Creighton trailed 22-17 late before its late 8-1 rally and win 25-23. Key to that finish was five attack errors by the Musketeers, while McNary also had a pair of kills to get the Jays to match point.

McNary led all players with 13 kills on the night, hitting .310 for CU. Kelli Browning had 11 kills and eight blocks while hitting .455. Sicner had 42 assists and 11 digs, adding seven blocks for the victorious visitors. Creighton finished with 56 kills, one ace, 77 digs and 12 blocks while hitting .233.

Xavier was led by 12 kills from Kristen Massa, who hit .300 in 30 swings. Xavier star Abbey Bessler hit -.071 in 42 swings, finishing with seven kills and 10 errors. The Musketeers had 47 kills, nine aces, 66 digs and nine blocks on .138 hitting.

Creighton returns to action on Saturday night with a 6 pm Central contest at Butler. A link to a free video webcast can be found on GoCreighton.com or ButlerSports.com.

Next Event

Team Stats

Leah McNary

Kelli Browning

Jess Bird

Lauren Smith

Players Mentioned

Jess Bird

Kelli Browning

Leah McNary

Michelle Sicner