Creighton University
27-8, 17-1BIG EAST
University of North Carolina
21-10, 17-3ACC
Volleyball Earns First Sweet 16 Berth With Win at No. 23 North Carolina
12/5/2015 5:11:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton will face No. 1 seed USC next Friday in San Diego
Creighton improves to 27-8 with the win, while UNC ends its season 21-10. The Bluejays advance to the Regional Semifinals in San Diego, Calif., next Friday, where it will face No. 1 seed USC in a rematch of the Women of Troy's 3-0 win over CU on Sept. 4, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. That contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU and begin at 8 pm PST (10 pm CST).
Scores of the match were 30-32, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14.
It's Creighton's first win in 32 tries in true road match against a top-25 foe, and improves CU to 5-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
The first set featured two evenly matched teams as the clubs traded leads five times and had 11 ties. Creighton trailed 22-18 late before a big rally to even the score at 22. Creighton had set point chances at 24-23, 27-26, 28-27 and 29-28 but could not convert. The Tar Heels had chances of their own at 25-24, 26-25 and 30-29 before converting its fourth opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. Maggie Baumert had assists on 17 of Creighton's 23 kills in the first set as Jaali Winters had six kills. That included Winters' school-record 517th of the season, breaking Leah Ratzlaff's mark set in 2003.
Creighton controlled the second set, evening the match with a 25-18 victory. Creighton took control by streaking to a 12-5 lead and never looked back, eventually extending the lead to as much as nine (20-11). The Bluejays forced UNC into nine attack errors in the second set while amassing four blocks against the Tar Heels. Making the win all the more impressive was that CU did it without 2015 BIG EAST Tournament MVP Jess Bird, who left the match due to injury with the score tied at 24-all in the first frame and did not return.
The third set saw Creighton cruise to another 25-18 triumph to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bluejays broke it open with a 10-2 run as Lauren Smith found the floor time-after-time. UNC did get within 18-15 late, but Melanie Jereb served up five straight points as Creighton kept its edge. Creighton hit .438 in the third frame and had 15 kills against just one error.
Creighton scored the first three points of the fourth set and never trailed. The lead grew to 10-4 on a kill from Marysa Wilkinson, and ballooned to 21-10 after a 6-0 service run by Baumert that featured two aces and three kills by Winters. CU clinched the Sweet 16 bid on a kill from Lauren Smith on match point.
Winters led CU with 21 kills and a career-high 21 digs for the 16th double-double of her season. Smith had 15 kills and five blocks on .452 hitting, while Wilkinson tallied 11 kills and four blocks. Baumert finished with a double-double (55 assists, 12 digs) to quarterback a Bluejay team that finished with 66 kills, six aces, 79 digs and 11.5 blocks on .286 hitting.
UNC was led by 12 kills and 13 digs by Leigh Andrew, while Taylor Leath had 11 kills. UNC finished with 52 kills, three aces, 74 digs and five blocks on .191 hitting.
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#Sweet16! pic.twitter.com/T4jK9NkpnP
— Creighton Volleyball (@CreightonVB) December 6, 20152015 NCAA Volleyball Tournament – Round 2
North Carolina vs. Creighton
Postgame Quotes
Creighton
Opening Statement from Head Coach:
"We knew we were playing a great team today in North Carolina. I think they caught us on a really great night from our end but congratulations to them on a fantastic season. We feel really blessed to come out of here with a victory. Defensively we were outstanding tonight, we were really locked in. After Jess's injury it was really rewarding to see this team come together and relish it. This is a very special group to me for them to be the first team to go to the Sweet Sixteen for our program, its hard to even put into words now.
Booth on #2 Melanie Jereb:
"I think we have a team of selfless players and she leads the charge. She has played every single role. What people don't see is she comes with the same attitude every day regardless of what her role is going to be. She has battled a back injury. But for her to have this opportunity and to see her step up and do so great was awesome."
Booth on Freshman #5 Jaali Winters:
"Jalii has consistently stepped up. She doesn't play like a freshman, she is a winner. I thought everybody stepped up. I thought everyone had great matches. Jalii really passed well tonight and that contributed to our success.
#2 Melanie Jereb on what are you feeling as this might be the last match you ever play:
"I was just really excited and I knew that my teammates would step up and that we would just keep fighting and that would give us fire to fight through to say yes we will do it for byrd and yes we will do it for each other. I think that was what was on my mind and what was on everyone elses mind when we stepped on the court."Â Â
#4 Maggie Baumert on making it to the Sweet Sixteen:
"We have been working on this since we were Freshman. Its definitely really special. We have had sweet sixteen in our minds for the last two seasons and for it to finally be here. I just don't have words for it. I am just excited to go to San Diego and win more games. Â
#5 Jaali Winters on getting such a great start as a Freshman:
"It feels really good. I told myself since the beginning of the season, I am not going to hold back and not play well just because I am a freshman. I have never thought of that as an obstacle for me and I always win, it's what I do." Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
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NORTH CAROLINA
Opening statement from UNC coach Joe Sagula
"First of all, congratulations to Creighton. They played a great match. They were tenacious, they did some really good thing that got us out of our game. We knew it was going to be close. We unfortunately got a little out of rhythm, out of sync, in the third and the fourth sets, kind of uncharacteristic for us. They were able to be a little more efficient offensively. They served tough – we always talk about the serving and passing game is going to be important at the beginning of the year and the end of the year as well. They did a really good job putting pressure on us and took us a little out of our flow.
"The second thing I want to do is talk about these seniors on my right (Leigh Andrew, Paige Neuenfeldt and Victoria McPherson), who are just outstanding young people. They've really represented this program at the highest level and have put North Carolina volleyball on the map, in what we've done over the last four years, to be ranked, to be four consecutive years in the NCAA tournament, to earn chances to host in Chapel Hill two years in a row, to have an opportunity to be a nationally-known program. They've had a great legacy and I'm really proud of who they are, what they've done, both on the court and off the court. You've got some outstanding young people here with me. I just could not be any more proud of what they've done.
"This hurts, to lose a match. Only one team is going to finish the season with a victory at this point, but we're proud of what they've done. And especially where the season started, where we've come from and how we've grown.
"I also want to applaud North Carolina operations for hosting a great event here. It's hard to do that, especially on a busy weekend, but they've done it in a first-class manner and we're proud of that. We're proud of these girls, we're proud of this team, and we're proud of representing the ACC as well.
Senior Paige Neuenfeldt on what on what Creighton did well
"They won the serve and pass game today. They were really in system and they had an efficient offense – our block couldn't really touch a lot until the end of the game, when I thought we started to get more touches. They were just really efficient.
I thought Sheila Doyle did a great job, she really was after it. But it wasn't enough to be able to really slow them down and get any momentum on our side. I think we needed to step up a little bit more with our block."
Senior Victoria McPherson on the legacy she wants this senior class to leave
"I just want to be able to pass down to the other girls a work ethic that only you can have inside of you, that no matter how bad your day is going, no matter how bad your body feels you still want to be on the court. A fighting spirit, a fighting legacy."
Coach Joe Sagula on the seniors' legacy
"Our goal was to be relevant nationally and I think we've done that. I think when people talk bout the top 25, top 30 programs nationally, we were not in that discussion probably 2008, '09, and then it started. When they came in, we brought it up another level. What they did is have a vision to say, 'We want more.' This is why it hurts more, too, because when you risk more you hurt more. This team has set a standard: What have they done? They've been our highest-ranked program ever. These players have been starters for four years, they've been on the court for four years, ranked No. 7 in the country (at one point), right now we're ranked No. 23 in the country. We've played the best teams in the country, we haven't shied away from anyone. When people talk about top programs in the country, academically, athletically, when you're talking volleyball, we are a choice for people. They've helped make that happen. Academically, in the community, they just represent us at a high level.
"I'm on them, too. As much as I love this group, I'm also their biggest critic often, but it's only because we care. What I'm proud of is that from when they came in here, they've gotten a lot better. In four years they've learned and grown both as young women and as athletes, on and off the court. I'm proud of who they are, young adults. Now they'll go out and represent North Carolina as graduates of this University. I don't know if you could ask for any finer representatives.
"It's going to hurt me and our coaching staff quite a bit to lose people like this. When you lose four-year starters that's tough to replace. I don't want to think about that right now. They're still here and we love them. But it's hard to do that. Big shoes to fill with these three and JoJo (Jordyn) Schnabel and Heather Gearhart as well and Kody Michal, all six of them."
Sagula on the play of Creighton freshman Jaali Winters
"Jaali played great. As a freshman, my hat is off to her. She felt really good. I thought in the first set we had her a bit, but she got some momentum and ended up with 21 kills tonight, which is amazing. She's got a great future ahead of her."
