No. 16 Seeded Volleyball Tops Coastal Carolina in NCAA Opener

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Jaali Winters, Jess Bird and Maggie Baumert had double-doubles as No. 16 seed Creighton Volleyball opened the 2015 NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Coastal Carolina on Friday afternoon at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Scores of the match were 29-27, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22.

Creighton improves to 26-8 with the victory, moving into second in school history for wins in a season. The Bluejays also improve to 4-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament First Round action, and 4-4 overall in the tournament. The Bluejays will play No. 23 North Carolina, a 3-0 winner (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) over UNCW on Friday evening.

Coastal Carolina had its 18-match win streak snapped, tasting defeat for the first time since Sept. 19, to end its season with a 25-5 record.

Creighton led nearly the entire first set, but Coastal Carolina rallied late to throw a serious scare into the Bluejays. Creighton owned a 17-10 lead and were later ahead 24-19. With Carla Cahill at the service line, the Chanticleers went on a 6-0 flurry to take their first lead of the afternoon at 25-24. A kill from CU's Marysa Wilkinson extended the set. The Chants also had a set point opportunity at 26-25 only to see Taryn Kloth put down her first kill of the day. Kloth again found the floor to give Creighton a 28-27 lead, and Bird's fifth kill of the frame helped CU to the 1-0 lead in the match. Creighton had 18 kills and 20 digs while hitting .319 in the set, paced by six kills from Winters.

Creighton never led in the second set as Coastal Carolina evened the match with a 25-23 decision. The Chants appeared in control with a 23-18 lead late, only to see Amanda Foje serve up four straight points. The Jays got within one point at 23-22 and 24-23, but the late rally wasn't enough as CCU took the set on a kill by Natasa Savovic. Winters had seven kills in the second set, while Baumert had 12 assists and six digs for CU in the second set. Coastal was led by seven kills and eight digs by two-time Big South Player of the Year Leah Hardeman.

Creighton won the crucial third set, 25-22, in a frame that featured 10 ties. Creighton broke free from the Chants after the media timeout with the score deadlocked at 15. A kill by Kloth, followed two points later on blocks by Bird and Smith, made it 18-15. Creighton lead 24-20 and CCU saved two set points before the Jays won the inning on a ball handling error. Smith had three blocks and three kills in the third set, as Creighton hit .275 and had 20 digs.

The fourth set was also hotly contested. With the score knotted at 18-all the Bluejays got consecutive kills by Winters and Marysa Wilkinson to build an edge it would not surrender. CCU saved three match points to get within 24-22 before Cahill's foot fault on a serve ended the match. Bird had seven kills on .636 hitting in the final set, while Wilkinson had three kills and a hand in a pair of blocks.

Winters led Creighton with 20 kills, adding 10 digs, while Bird had 16 kills and 14 digs. Lauren Smith hit .550 and had 11 kills in 20 errorless swings. Creighton had 64 kills, 76 digs and eight blocks on .308 hitting for the day.

CCU was led by 27 kills and 22 digs by Hardeman, while Savovic and Lian Bernett each added a dozen kills. Lincoln native Sara Boothe had 51 assists and 16 digs for the Chanticleers, who finished with 67 kills, six aces, 83 digs and three blocks on .250 hitting.

NOTES: Kate Elman became the first woman in Creighton history to reach 2,000 career digs with a dig on the third point of the match ... Jaali Winters joined Leah Ratzlaff as the only Bluejays to reach 500 kills in a season with a kill for CU's first point of the second set ... Coastal Carolina's set two victory was its first in NCAA Tournament action in four appearances ... Creighton has won 21 of its last 22 matches ... Creighton's win improves No. 16 seeds to 14-1 in the opening round rally scoring era (since 2001) ... Creighton improved to 9-7 this year against teams that are in the 2015 NCAA Tournament field ... Creighton has won 76 straight matches when hitting .300 or better, as it did today (.308) ... Creighton improved to 10-0 when Taryn Kloth starts, and 18-1 when she owns five or more kills ... Jaali Winters now owns 15 double-doubles this fall, with Bird (10) and Baumert (8) close behind ... Jaali Winters' 20 kills are most ever by a Creighton player in an NCAA Tournament match. Other single-match NCAA Tournament school-records broke today included assists (Maggie Baumert's 55), attacks (Jaali Winters' 63), points (Jaali Winters' 21.0) ... Melanie Jereb, Ashley Jansen and Kate Elman became the first Bluejays to play in three NCAA Volleyball Tournament victories and in four different NCAA Tournaments ... Lauren Smith made her 99th career start, and 87th in a row ... Creighton's ninth straight win is its fourth-longest in program history, and comes on the heels of a 12-match streak from Sept. 20-Oct. 25 that ranks as second-longest ... Jaali Winters owns eight matches of 20 or more kills this season, doubling Melissa Walsh's previous freshman record ... Melanie Jereb's 12 digs give her exactly 1,200 in her career.

2015 NCAA Volleyball Tournament – Round 1
Coastal Carolina vs. Creighton
Postgame Quotes
Creighton
Opening Statement from Head Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth:
"We knew coming in that Coastal Carolina was a great team and I think everyone saw that tonight. There's a reason why they just went undefeated in the Big South, they've got some athletes that are big time players who stepped up to the stage and we had a lot of trouble containing. So first of all, hats off to them and the season that they've had. I think we did some really good things offensively, we really struggled to hold them defensively, and I thought they were in system consistently way too much. So, that's a mix of maybe our serving and also their great passing and they just really are good from an offensive standpoint. I thought the game 1 was huge, we were up, they make the run to tie it back up, and for us to make some kills and win that game I think was the difference in the match, especially knowing Coastal Carolina won game 2. So, really proud of these guys, I think getting the first match out of the way is huge. We knew we were in for a battle and that was the case tonight and we look forward to the opportunity tomorrow."

Booth on blocking:
"We had to get touches on the block obviously ace blocks are great but really we had to get touches on their hitters. #10 (Leah Hardeman) and #18 (Annayka Legros) if you don't get a touch on that ball, it's going down. #13 (Eszter Nagy) in the league was hitting like .470 we knew she was a special player. We didn't feel like they were hitting over us as much as we anticipated we thought they were hitting around us so we really talked to our blockers about getting over the net and dropping their and trying to get the ball on their side of the net."

#4 Maggie Baumert on differences tournament play:
"They're (Coastal Carolina) a different team then we're used too. In conference we play the teams twice and we know exactly what they're going to bring. This is a new team and we were excited to get that but I think it took us a few sets to get into our rhythm and figure out what they were doing and how to stop them."

#13 Jess Bird on tournament play:
"I know this year we have a lot of expectations behind this (NCAA Tournament), so we came out a little bit nervous but we worked through that. We knew Coastal Carolina was going to be a great team so we really worked through that to get the win."

#16 Lauren Smith on Coastal Carolina:
"They (Coastal Carolina) had physical hitters, great defense, they were really scrappy. We knew they were going to make us a little uncomfortable but we really stayed together and were able to fight through those difficult points and came out with the win.

#4 Maggie Baumert on adjusting:
"After we figured out how they were blocking scheming us, the middle blockers really got going which really helped open up things."

Booth on tempo:
"I think Jess (Bird) has been really in her stride the last month or so and is really consistently bringing that. One of the things we talked to Maggie (Baumert) about is keeping that tempo, Jess really likes to fly into the ball, I thought we kind of got that rhythm going towards the end of the match. We talked about using our middles a little bit more to create those holes and Marysa (Wilkinson) got going some towards the end on that. The Middle attack which just makes those middles hesitate a second longer and leaves that hole, if that gap is there both Jess and Jaali (Winters) do a good job of putting that down."

Booth on freshmen play:
"I really was not concerned about that (nervousness), I thought both of them (Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth) have played high level ball, they've won championships in their club and high school, they both have won a state championship and club national championship. Fortunately I thought they've both been in different experiences than this and they would stay composed and I think we saw that tonight, they both did a great job.

#4 Maggie Baumert on advancing:
"We talked in the locker room after the match, 'We've got game 1 over with so it's time to play relaxed and have fun, this is what it's all about.'"

#13 Jess Bird on advancing:
"No matter who we play next round, there is going to be a great team, and we're going to have to earn it. We're definitely not done yet.

#16 Lauren Smith on advancing:
"One point and one set at a time together."

Booth on advancing:
"I echo all that there are saying we're going to play great, should be a blast. You've heard me over and over that this just really a special group to me. My goal for them regardless of winning and losing is that they have a blast and they play at the top level that they can play. I don't think we hit that tonight, I think we hit that close last weekend, and I think they'll be ready to go tomorrow night and we'll be ready for a battle.

2015 NCAA Volleyball Tournament – Round 1
Coastal Carolina vs. Creighton
Postgame Quotes
COASTAL CAROLINA
Opening Statement from Head Coach Jozsef Forman:
"First of all, I would like to congratulate Creighton. They did a great job, but I would also like to congratulate my team. We fought. I looked at the statistics, and I saw that they stopped our middles, which is a key point of the game. Just one team can be happy, and that is the one who will win the championship. I think that my team did our best, and I'm really proud of them."

Forman on Creighton's play:
"The blocking was different, and I think we made more mistakes serving. If you're looking at the statistics, our passing game was very good. They served six aces. We had some tactical mistakes, but we play at this level during the preseason. But I agree. That means that Creighton's blocking was better. Another thing was the hitting errors. We haven't had too many hitting errors in the past, but in the NCAA tournament, everyone gets a little bit more nervous."

#10 Leah Hardeman on the close match:
"I remember me and Annayka [Legros] were talking to each other. We were saying that it was basically just like practice because we play a game 18-21 all the time. We knew that we could fight back. I was really surprised and really happy that my entire team was fighting at the same time for every ball, every point. I feel like the seniors, Lian [Bernett] and Eszter [Nagy], were the main two people who were focused and made sure that we all stayed into the possession of the ball. Once we did come back, we knew that we were in it. We were kind of still figuring out how we were fitting into this game, and once we knew that we could fight back, there was nothing stopping us at all."

#10 Leah Hardeman on the team's ability to compete:
"I think we're more excited about fighting. We are really excited every time we get ready to play a good team, and Creighton's a really good team. We're more excited about having to go point for point with a team instead of not really having rallies the entire time. We were so excited about being able to fight and play at our highest level. We wanted to see how far we could get, and we played really well this game."

#10 Leah Hardeman on Creighton's Jess Bird:
"She was definitely a person that they went to in order to get the points. I feel like we should've set up our defense a little bit better. We kind of blocked a little bit differently, but she did really well getting those points. She's their go-to hitter."

#13 Eszter Nagy on attempting a late comeback in the first set:
"I think it gave a really great energy for the next set. It's always crucial to finish a set, even if you are losing. If you are coming back in the set, then it can give you a really great energy for the next one and a good start for the next one."

#13 Eszter Nagy on coming in as an underdog:
"I think we came with a lot of confidence, even though we knew that they are a higher ranked team. During the preseason, we played against good teams. We knew our game could be just as good if we can focus on it, play our best, and if we could break them. It was crucial in the beginning. We started slow, but I feel like that was how we fought back. Inside, we all knew that it could be a great game if we played our best, and we knew that we could do it."

No. 16 Seeded Volleyball Tops Coastal Carolina in NCAA Opener

Players Mentioned

Maggie Baumert

Jess Bird

Kate Elman

Amanda Foje

Ashley Jansen

Melanie Jereb

Taryn Kloth

Lauren Smith

Lizzy Stivers

Marysa Wilkinson

Jaali Winters