Sunday, September 28
D.J. Sokol Arena
1:00 PM
Creighton University
10-6, 3-0BIG EAST
3
vs
0
Xavier
8-6, 1-1BIG EAST
1
2
3
F
Xavier
22
12
16
0
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Volleyball Sweeps Xavier; Maintains BIG EAST Lead
9/28/2014 1:28:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Volleyball team won its season-high fourth straight match with a 3-0 win over Xavier on Sunday afternoon before 1,281 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha. Scores in favor of the hosts were 25-22, 25-12, 25-16.
Creighton improved to 10-6 and is alone in first in the BIG EAST with a 3-0 league mark. Xavier, picked to finish third in the league, dropped to 8-6 and is 1-1 in conference action.
With the exception of one 6-0 run late in the first set, Creighton dominated the match against a Xavier team that had a top-50 RPI coming into the day.
Creighton surged to an 11-6 lead to open the match and looked in control at 17-13 after a kill from Leah McNary. But Xavier put together its impressive 6-0 burst, including five straight blocks, and led 19-17 as CU burned through both timeouts. The Jays would regroup, getting kills from Lincoln natives Lauren Smith and Marysa Wilkinson to go ahead during a 4-0 run capped by Maggie Baumert's ace. With the score knotted at 22-all, consecutive kills by Wilkinson preceded Kelli Browning's kill on set point. Browning had six kills in the first set while Baumert dished 15 assists during a set that saw CU lead 19-9 in kills.
Bluejay coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth would call the second set "a near perfect game on our part" after the match, and who could argue after CU's 25-12 victory. The Jays held Xavier to -.089 hitting, thanks in part to 27 digs. The Musketeers only lead was at 2-1 before Melanie Jereb served up a six-point run to start the rout. Browning had five more kills for CU, while Katie Neisler (8 digs) and Ashley Jansen (6) and Kate Elman (6) paced CU's back row effort.
The third set was tied at 12-all before Creighton pulled away, scoring 13 of the last 17 points on the afternoon. Lizzy Stivers served a crucial 5-0 run that put CU ahead 23-14, including her first ace of the fall. Kenzie Crawford would assist Smith's match-clinching kill. Creighton hit .289 in the final frame, once again led by four kills by Browning.
Browning led all players with 15 kills and .483 hitting in 29 swings. Jansen led the Bluejay defense with a match-high 14 kills, while Neisler and Elman each added a dozen digs. Smith led CU with three blocks, while Neisler had a team-high two aces. CU had 46 kills, five aces, 59 digs and five blocks on .265 hitting.
Xavier was keyed by nine kills from freshman reserve Kristen Massa. Abbey Bessler, who entered the weekend sixth in the BIG EAST with 3.60 kills per set, was held to just three kills on -.130 hitting in 23 attempts. Jesse Earl topped Xavier with 12 digs, while Alex Blair had all six of her blocks in the first set to lead the Musketeers. Xavier finished with 26 kills, two aces, 48 digs and nine blocks on .064 hitting.
Creighton will be on the road the next two weekends, beginning with Friday's 7 pm match at DePaul.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 9-1 all-time in BIG EAST home matches ... Creighton is now 4-0 all-time against Xavier ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is now 101-49 in 150 home matches as Creighton head coach ... Kate Elman had 12 digs and is now second on CU's career chart with 1,391. She can set the school record with two digs next weekend to pass Janeen Piller's career mark of 1,392 ... Creighton has won 12 of the 13 sets its played during its four-match win streak ... Creighton has won 68 straight matches when leading 2-0 at intermission and 40 straight home matches when winning the first set ... Creighton has won 17 straight when hitting .250 or better ... Friday's match will be the 600th since restarting the program in 1994.
Creighton improved to 10-6 and is alone in first in the BIG EAST with a 3-0 league mark. Xavier, picked to finish third in the league, dropped to 8-6 and is 1-1 in conference action.
With the exception of one 6-0 run late in the first set, Creighton dominated the match against a Xavier team that had a top-50 RPI coming into the day.
Creighton surged to an 11-6 lead to open the match and looked in control at 17-13 after a kill from Leah McNary. But Xavier put together its impressive 6-0 burst, including five straight blocks, and led 19-17 as CU burned through both timeouts. The Jays would regroup, getting kills from Lincoln natives Lauren Smith and Marysa Wilkinson to go ahead during a 4-0 run capped by Maggie Baumert's ace. With the score knotted at 22-all, consecutive kills by Wilkinson preceded Kelli Browning's kill on set point. Browning had six kills in the first set while Baumert dished 15 assists during a set that saw CU lead 19-9 in kills.
Bluejay coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth would call the second set "a near perfect game on our part" after the match, and who could argue after CU's 25-12 victory. The Jays held Xavier to -.089 hitting, thanks in part to 27 digs. The Musketeers only lead was at 2-1 before Melanie Jereb served up a six-point run to start the rout. Browning had five more kills for CU, while Katie Neisler (8 digs) and Ashley Jansen (6) and Kate Elman (6) paced CU's back row effort.
The third set was tied at 12-all before Creighton pulled away, scoring 13 of the last 17 points on the afternoon. Lizzy Stivers served a crucial 5-0 run that put CU ahead 23-14, including her first ace of the fall. Kenzie Crawford would assist Smith's match-clinching kill. Creighton hit .289 in the final frame, once again led by four kills by Browning.
Browning led all players with 15 kills and .483 hitting in 29 swings. Jansen led the Bluejay defense with a match-high 14 kills, while Neisler and Elman each added a dozen digs. Smith led CU with three blocks, while Neisler had a team-high two aces. CU had 46 kills, five aces, 59 digs and five blocks on .265 hitting.
Xavier was keyed by nine kills from freshman reserve Kristen Massa. Abbey Bessler, who entered the weekend sixth in the BIG EAST with 3.60 kills per set, was held to just three kills on -.130 hitting in 23 attempts. Jesse Earl topped Xavier with 12 digs, while Alex Blair had all six of her blocks in the first set to lead the Musketeers. Xavier finished with 26 kills, two aces, 48 digs and nine blocks on .064 hitting.
Creighton will be on the road the next two weekends, beginning with Friday's 7 pm match at DePaul.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 9-1 all-time in BIG EAST home matches ... Creighton is now 4-0 all-time against Xavier ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is now 101-49 in 150 home matches as Creighton head coach ... Kate Elman had 12 digs and is now second on CU's career chart with 1,391. She can set the school record with two digs next weekend to pass Janeen Piller's career mark of 1,392 ... Creighton has won 12 of the 13 sets its played during its four-match win streak ... Creighton has won 68 straight matches when leading 2-0 at intermission and 40 straight home matches when winning the first set ... Creighton has won 17 straight when hitting .250 or better ... Friday's match will be the 600th since restarting the program in 1994.
Team Stats
XU
CU
Kills
26
46
Errors
19
16
Attempts
109
113
Hitting %
.064
.265
Points
37.0
56.0
Assists
22
42
Aces
2
5
Blocks
9.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
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/ Volleyball
DS
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OH
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OH
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OH/DS
/ VolleyballRS/OH
/ Volleyball
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