Friday, September 19
D.J. Sokol Arena
7:00 PM
Creighton University
6-5
1
vs
3
Illinois
6-3
1
2
3
4
F
Illinois
25
25
24
25
3
Creighton
15
20
26
22
1
No. 16 Illinois Volleyball Rides Fast Start To Win Over Bluejays
9/19/2014 10:34:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- A career-high 12 kills from Katie Neisler and another spectacular night from All-American Kelli Browning wasn't enough as Creighton Volleyball fell in four sets to No. 16 Illinois on Friday night at the Creighton Classic in Omaha, Neb.
Scores of the match were 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22. The Illini are now 6-3, while Creighton dropped to 6-5. All five Bluejay setbacks have been against top-25 teams.
Illinois overpowered Creighton in the first set, never trailing in a decisive 25-15 romp. The Illini streaked to a 10-2 lead on Allison Palmer's serve, and CU was never able to get within five the rest of the set. UI had 17 kills in 30 swings, hitting .500, and was paced by five kills from Ali Stark in the opener.
The Illini would not trail in the second set either, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 victory. After Illinois built a 15-11 lead midway through the set, it held off the Jays with consistent sideouts and would take the frame on a Bluejay service error. Liz McMahon had four of her 15 kills in the second set for UI.
CU grabbed the momentum early in the third set, surging to a 9-4 lead on a kill from freshman reserve Toni Tupper. The Bluejays would have four attack errors while surrendering a 6-0 run that allowed the Illini to knot the score at 11-all, only to reclaim a 22-17 lead. Once again Illinois fought back, saving three set points to tie the score at 24-all before the Jays took a 26-24 decision after consecutive attack errors by McMahon and Jocelynn Birks. Browning had five kills and two blocks in the third set victory for CU.
The fourth set featured 12 ties and six lead changes. The teams were tied at 20-all before Birks had a kill and service ace to build a crucial two-point edge. The teams then traded four straight sideouts as Illinois took a 25-22 decision. Browning had seven kills in the final frame, while Kate Elman had 11 of her match-high 26 digs in the fourth set, but it wasn't enough for CU.
Browning had 16 kills on .484 hitting while also sharing team-high honors with four blocks. Leah McNary had 13 kills while Neisler had a career-best 12 kills. Directing the CU offense was Maggie Baumert, who had 43 assists, nine digs and four blocks on the night.
Creighton hit .190 and tallied 56 kills, 67 digs and seven blocks. Illinois also had 56 kills, but owned 66 digs, seven aces and 7.5 blocks overall.
Birks topped all players with 18 kills, adding 11 digs for her 27th career double-double and third of the season. Alexis Viliunas had a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs for her second double-dip of the fall, while McMahon added 15 kills. Brandi Donnelly had 23 digs to lead the Illini, three shy of her career-high done in a five-set loss to top-ranked Stanford on Sept. 7.
The Creighton Classic concludes on Saturday with four matches, beginning with Illinois against Colorado at 10 am, followed by Creighton against South Dakota at Noon. The evening session features Illinois vs. South Dakota at 5:30 pm, followed by Creighton vs. Colorado in the nightcap at 7:30 pm.
In the first match of the tournament on Friday, South Dakota snapped Colorado's eight-match win streak with a 3-1 victory.
NOTES: Katie Neisler's previous career-best in kills was seven, done last Saturday vs. Bowling Green ... Creighton dropped to 3-57 all-time vs. top-25 teams. A win over No. 16 Illinois would have been the highest-ranked foe its ever beaten in Omaha ... In five matches against ranked teams this fall, Kelli Browning is averaging 3.53 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .381 ... Leah McNary played in her 100th career match on Friday. CU is 73-27 with her in the line-up all-time ... Freshman Toni Tupper had season-highs with three kills and two blocks ... Kate Elman's 26 digs marked her 28th career match with 20+ digs, second-most in school history. Her 71 matches with 10+ digs is tied for second-most in CU history ... The crowd of 1,339 was a season-high for a CU home match this fall.
Scores of the match were 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22. The Illini are now 6-3, while Creighton dropped to 6-5. All five Bluejay setbacks have been against top-25 teams.
Illinois overpowered Creighton in the first set, never trailing in a decisive 25-15 romp. The Illini streaked to a 10-2 lead on Allison Palmer's serve, and CU was never able to get within five the rest of the set. UI had 17 kills in 30 swings, hitting .500, and was paced by five kills from Ali Stark in the opener.
The Illini would not trail in the second set either, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 victory. After Illinois built a 15-11 lead midway through the set, it held off the Jays with consistent sideouts and would take the frame on a Bluejay service error. Liz McMahon had four of her 15 kills in the second set for UI.
CU grabbed the momentum early in the third set, surging to a 9-4 lead on a kill from freshman reserve Toni Tupper. The Bluejays would have four attack errors while surrendering a 6-0 run that allowed the Illini to knot the score at 11-all, only to reclaim a 22-17 lead. Once again Illinois fought back, saving three set points to tie the score at 24-all before the Jays took a 26-24 decision after consecutive attack errors by McMahon and Jocelynn Birks. Browning had five kills and two blocks in the third set victory for CU.
The fourth set featured 12 ties and six lead changes. The teams were tied at 20-all before Birks had a kill and service ace to build a crucial two-point edge. The teams then traded four straight sideouts as Illinois took a 25-22 decision. Browning had seven kills in the final frame, while Kate Elman had 11 of her match-high 26 digs in the fourth set, but it wasn't enough for CU.
Browning had 16 kills on .484 hitting while also sharing team-high honors with four blocks. Leah McNary had 13 kills while Neisler had a career-best 12 kills. Directing the CU offense was Maggie Baumert, who had 43 assists, nine digs and four blocks on the night.
Creighton hit .190 and tallied 56 kills, 67 digs and seven blocks. Illinois also had 56 kills, but owned 66 digs, seven aces and 7.5 blocks overall.
Birks topped all players with 18 kills, adding 11 digs for her 27th career double-double and third of the season. Alexis Viliunas had a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs for her second double-dip of the fall, while McMahon added 15 kills. Brandi Donnelly had 23 digs to lead the Illini, three shy of her career-high done in a five-set loss to top-ranked Stanford on Sept. 7.
The Creighton Classic concludes on Saturday with four matches, beginning with Illinois against Colorado at 10 am, followed by Creighton against South Dakota at Noon. The evening session features Illinois vs. South Dakota at 5:30 pm, followed by Creighton vs. Colorado in the nightcap at 7:30 pm.
In the first match of the tournament on Friday, South Dakota snapped Colorado's eight-match win streak with a 3-1 victory.
NOTES: Katie Neisler's previous career-best in kills was seven, done last Saturday vs. Bowling Green ... Creighton dropped to 3-57 all-time vs. top-25 teams. A win over No. 16 Illinois would have been the highest-ranked foe its ever beaten in Omaha ... In five matches against ranked teams this fall, Kelli Browning is averaging 3.53 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .381 ... Leah McNary played in her 100th career match on Friday. CU is 73-27 with her in the line-up all-time ... Freshman Toni Tupper had season-highs with three kills and two blocks ... Kate Elman's 26 digs marked her 28th career match with 20+ digs, second-most in school history. Her 71 matches with 10+ digs is tied for second-most in CU history ... The crowd of 1,339 was a season-high for a CU home match this fall.
Team Stats
ILL
CU
Kills
56
56
Errors
16
25
Attempts
149
163
Hitting %
.268
.190
Points
70.5
63.0
Assists
56
54
Aces
7
0
Blocks
7.5
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
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