Friday, September 12
D.J. Sokol Arena
7:00 PM
Creighton University
4-3
3
vs
1
Pepperdine
3-4
1
2
3
4
F
Pepperdine
22
25
20
22
1
Creighton
25
19
25
25
3
Volleyball Prevails Over Pepperdine in Home Opener, 3-1
9/12/2014 4:16:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Leah McNary became the ninth player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills to help Creighton Volleyball top Pepperdine in four sets at the Bluejay Invitational on Friday night in Omaha.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22. Creighton improved to 4-3, while Pepperdine dropped to 3-4.
Creighton never trailed while winning the first set 25-22. Paced by seven early kills, CU raced to a 9-4 lead and never looked back. Pepperdine saved five set points before a Kelli Browning kill claimed the frame for CU. Browning had five kills while McNary added six putaways in the set one victory.
Pepperdine turned the tables on the Jays in the second set, going ahead 12-7 early. CU got within one at 14-13, but the Waves responded with five of the next six points and would pull away. Becca Strehlow did a little bit of everything for the Waves in the second set with five assists, five digs and four kills. Lauren Smith had four kills in as many swings, but it wasn't enough to overcome seven attack errors and five service miscues by the hosts.
The momentum of the tightly-contested match seemed to turn on one hustle play midway through the third set. With Creighton leading 10-9, a Pepperdine attack by Samantha Cash had CU scrambling out of system. Kate Elman's dig went sideways, and setter Maggie Baumert had to crash into the courtside press tables just to keep it alive. Freshman Marysa Wilkinson then hustled over and with her back to the net, free balled a high-lofting ball over to the Peppedine side. Improbably, the ball dropped to the ground. McNary followed with a kill, and the Waves were forced to call timeout. CU would not trail again in the set. McNary's kill on set point was the 1,000th of her career.
The fourth set was the tightest of the night, featuring 10 ties and three lead changes. With the score tied at 21 all, Browning put down her fifth kill of the set to give CU the lead it would never surrender. Melanie Jereb followed with consecutive kills to get CU to match point, and Browning was credited with her 14th kill of the evening on match point after a blocking error by Pepperdine.
Browning led four Bluejays in double-figures with 14 kills, while also tying for team-best honors with five blocks. Smith had 11 kills and five blocks on .500 hitting, while McNary (13 kills) and Jereb (10 kills, 11 digs) also reached double-digits. In addition to Jereb's double-double, Baumert had 50 assists and 10 digs, with 17 of the assists coming in the fourth set.
Creighton ended the evening with 59 kills, three aces, 62 digs and 10 blocks on .240 hitting.
Pepperdine was paced by 16 kills from Gaby Palmeri, who also had 13 digs and four blocks on .344 hitting. Strehlow (28 assists, 14 digs) and Chanel Brown (12 assists, 13 digs) also had double-doubles. Pepperdine had 45 kills, four aces, 63 digs and seven blocks while hitting .187 overall.
Wichita State topped Bowling Green in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 28-30, 33-35, 16-14) in the first match of the afternoon, a contest that lasted 2:37 and pushed back the start of the Creighton-Pepperdine match to 7:53 pm Central.
NOTES: Kate Elman had double-figure digs for the 30th straight matches ... Kelli Browning moved into sole possession of second place on CU's all-time blocks list and now owns 452 career stuffs ... This was the first meeting between the Waves and Bluejays ... The Wichita State-Bowling Green match was the first Bluejay Invitational match to go five sets since 2008 ... Creighton has won 35 straight home matches when winning the first set and 51 straight when going up 2-1 after three sets at any site ... Creighton improved to 14-7 all-time in home openers, including a 9-3 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... This was Creighton's latest home opener on the calendar since 2003.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22. Creighton improved to 4-3, while Pepperdine dropped to 3-4.
Creighton never trailed while winning the first set 25-22. Paced by seven early kills, CU raced to a 9-4 lead and never looked back. Pepperdine saved five set points before a Kelli Browning kill claimed the frame for CU. Browning had five kills while McNary added six putaways in the set one victory.
Pepperdine turned the tables on the Jays in the second set, going ahead 12-7 early. CU got within one at 14-13, but the Waves responded with five of the next six points and would pull away. Becca Strehlow did a little bit of everything for the Waves in the second set with five assists, five digs and four kills. Lauren Smith had four kills in as many swings, but it wasn't enough to overcome seven attack errors and five service miscues by the hosts.
The momentum of the tightly-contested match seemed to turn on one hustle play midway through the third set. With Creighton leading 10-9, a Pepperdine attack by Samantha Cash had CU scrambling out of system. Kate Elman's dig went sideways, and setter Maggie Baumert had to crash into the courtside press tables just to keep it alive. Freshman Marysa Wilkinson then hustled over and with her back to the net, free balled a high-lofting ball over to the Peppedine side. Improbably, the ball dropped to the ground. McNary followed with a kill, and the Waves were forced to call timeout. CU would not trail again in the set. McNary's kill on set point was the 1,000th of her career.
The fourth set was the tightest of the night, featuring 10 ties and three lead changes. With the score tied at 21 all, Browning put down her fifth kill of the set to give CU the lead it would never surrender. Melanie Jereb followed with consecutive kills to get CU to match point, and Browning was credited with her 14th kill of the evening on match point after a blocking error by Pepperdine.
Browning led four Bluejays in double-figures with 14 kills, while also tying for team-best honors with five blocks. Smith had 11 kills and five blocks on .500 hitting, while McNary (13 kills) and Jereb (10 kills, 11 digs) also reached double-digits. In addition to Jereb's double-double, Baumert had 50 assists and 10 digs, with 17 of the assists coming in the fourth set.
Creighton ended the evening with 59 kills, three aces, 62 digs and 10 blocks on .240 hitting.
Pepperdine was paced by 16 kills from Gaby Palmeri, who also had 13 digs and four blocks on .344 hitting. Strehlow (28 assists, 14 digs) and Chanel Brown (12 assists, 13 digs) also had double-doubles. Pepperdine had 45 kills, four aces, 63 digs and seven blocks while hitting .187 overall.
Wichita State topped Bowling Green in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 28-30, 33-35, 16-14) in the first match of the afternoon, a contest that lasted 2:37 and pushed back the start of the Creighton-Pepperdine match to 7:53 pm Central.
NOTES: Kate Elman had double-figure digs for the 30th straight matches ... Kelli Browning moved into sole possession of second place on CU's all-time blocks list and now owns 452 career stuffs ... This was the first meeting between the Waves and Bluejays ... The Wichita State-Bowling Green match was the first Bluejay Invitational match to go five sets since 2008 ... Creighton has won 35 straight home matches when winning the first set and 51 straight when going up 2-1 after three sets at any site ... Creighton improved to 14-7 all-time in home openers, including a 9-3 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... This was Creighton's latest home opener on the calendar since 2003.
Team Stats
PEP
CU
Kills
45
59
Errors
20
22
Attempts
134
154
Hitting %
.187
.240
Points
56.0
72.0
Assists
44
56
Aces
4
3
Blocks
7.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
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