Volleyball Overcomes 0-2 Deficit To Win at Butler

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Creighton Volleyball team extended its win streak to eight with a dramatic five-set win at Butler on Saturday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Creighton lost 25-18 in each of the first two sets before answering with a 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 comeback to earn the road win.

Creighton (20-7, 13-1 BIG EAST) clinched its unprecedented third straight season of 20 wins, while Butler dropped to 18-9 (9-5 BIG EAST).

"I've told this team over and over that they're resilient, and this night epitomized that," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "I'm so proud of their effort. Butler handled us easily in game 1 and 2 and it would've been easy to fold. Instead they battled. It was huge win for a lot of different reasons. It puts us in the driver's seat for the BIG EAST title, and it puts us in good spot for an NCAA Tournament bid. It also shows us that if we're in that situation again we can come back and win."

Butler controlled the first set as the nation's 16th-ranked blocking team had a whopping eight blocks, including five during a 7-3 run that pushed the Bulldog lead to 12-5. The hosts would go up by as much as 10 (21-11). Maggie Baumert checked in late in the set and provided a spark as CU closed to within 23-18 before the Bulldogs closed out the win. CU hit just .109 in the set while Butler hit .290.

Things didn't get any better for Creighton in the second set, losing by an identical 25-18 margin. The score was tied at 4-all before BU embarked on a 17-9 flurry that saw CU use both timeouts. CU would rally to within 23-18 late, but it was too little too late. Butler had 16 kills and hit .214 in the second set, while holding CU to .051 hitting.

"I thought Butler really disrupted our offense in sets 1 and 2 with their blocking," said Booth. "We talked about being aggressive and not passive like earlier in the season, and I'm proud of the way we swung aggressively and got kills."

After trailing 2-0 to open the third set, Creighton took the lead for good with a five-point run. The Jays gradually stretched the lead to 10-4, 18-10 and 22-11 before closing out a 25-16 triumph to force a fourth frame.

Creighton never trailed in the fourth set, racing to a 5-0 lead. The Bulldogs got within 7-6 to force a CU timeout, but the Bluejays answered with a 7-1 run of its own to make it 14-7. CU was threatened after BU closed within 23-19 before closing out a 25-20 victory and force a fifth set.

The fifth set featured eight ties and five lead changes and no shortage in drama. Creighton led 7-4 before Butler used a 6-1 run to move ahead 10-8. After a Bluejay timeout CU would rally to knot the score at 11-all. Butler took its final lead of the night at 12-11 before CU made its final push. Three straight points, including a kill by Bird and an ace by Ashley Jansen got CU to match point. After one sideout, Bird picked up her career-best 22nd kill of the match to lock down the comeback win. It was one of seven kills for Bird in the fifth set alone.

Bird had 22 kills and 23 digs, both career-highs, to lead CU on the night. She becomes the third player in program history with at least 20 kills and 20 digs in a match, and first since Leah Ratzlaff in 2004.

"I didn't think Jess started out playing a great game and she was getting frustrated," said Booth. It shows her mentality to work out of it and have a great match, not just offensively, but defensively, serving and blocking."

Browning had 18 kills and a team-high seven blocks, while Leah McNary finished with 15 kills. Melanie Jereb had a career-high 24 digs to lead the Bluejay defense. Baumert came on late in the first set and had 55 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double since October 10th.

Creighton finished the night with 79 kills, four aces, 88 digs and nine blocks on .183 hitting. The 79 kills were a season-high and most by the Jays in any match since Nov. 23, 2007.

Butler had 47 kills, two aces, 74 digs and 20 blocks on .181 hitting. The Bulldogs were led by 13 kills from both Stephanie Kranda and Belle Obert, while Brooke Ruffolo led BU with 16 digs. Erica Stahl had a match-best 11 blocks, while Obert and Kayla Bivins also had eight stuffs each.

Creighton returns to action next weekend with a pair of road matches, starting with a Friday night match at Providence that begins at 6 pm Central.

NOTES: Creighton improved to 2-2 in five-set matches this season, and 38-21 all-time in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton improved to 2-4 this year when falling behind 0-2 in a match this year, 7-81 under Booth, and 9-179 all-time ... Along with the UNI comeback win this year, this year is just the second season (also 2004) that CU has won a pair of matches after trailing 0-2 in the same year.

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Team Stats

Jess Bird

Kelli Browning

Leah McNary

Lauren Smith

Players Mentioned

Maggie Baumert

Ashley Jansen

Melanie Jereb

Leah McNary