Creighton University
4-6
Nebraska
8-1
Volleyball Falls to No. 4 Nebraska, 3-0
9/15/2015 9:19:00 PM | Volleyball
Omaha, Neb. - Despite a match-high 15 kills from freshman Jaali Winters, the Creighton Volleyball team fell to No. 4 Nebraska (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The match saw the Bluejays draw the third-largest crowd in school history as 10,131 fans saw the contest at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The loss moved the Bluejays to 4-6 on the season, while Nebraska improved to 8-1.
The Bluejays bounced out to a quick start with four kills in their first five swings to take a 4-1 edge, led by three kills from Winters. The Bluejays, however, committed were unable to hold the lead as Nebraska closed the opening set with a .303 hitting percentage (14 kills, 4 errors, 33 attempts) and the Bluejays committed 10 errors (seven attacking and three service) to give the Huskers the set, 25-17.
Set number two saw Nebraska jump out to a 10-4 early edge. The Bluejays slowly worked their way back into the match, drawing within two points at 19-17, but three straight points by the Huskers put the set out of reach. Kelsey Fien had five kills in the second set for NU.
The Bluejays battled back from an early deficit (11-4) once more in the third set as Creighton knotted the set at 20-20. The teams would trade sideouts and ties at 21-all and 22-all before NU scored the final three points of the match. Papillion native Kelly Hunter had a rare kill on match point to clinch NU's triumph.
Winters had six kills and six digs in the final frame for CU, while Lauren Smith had a hand in four of CU's five blocks in the third set. Creighton finished with 36 kills, 47 digs and eight blocks on .139 hitting. The Bluejays struggled at the service line throughout the night, committing 10 service errors without an ace in 59 attempts.
While Winters led Creighton with 15 kills, it was fellow Iowa freshman Mikaela Foecke who carried the load for NU with 13 kills on .522 hitting. Justine Wong-Orantes had 17 digs for the Cornhuskers, who had 41 kills, four aces, 50 digs and 11.0 blocks on .229 hitting.
Creighton returns to action on Friday, Sept. 18 as the Bluejays host the Creighton Classic. The first match of the day will feature Kansas State facing No. 11 Wisconsin at 3:30 pm, while Creighton will face Arkansas at 6:00 pm.
NOTES: The match was Creighton's fourth match this season against a top-10 team, one more than USC and Colorado for most in the country this season ... The crowd of 10,131 trailed only the 13,081 (in 2007 vs. Cal Poly) and the 12,112 (in 2006 vs. Nebraska) for largest in program history ... Jaali Winters 125 kills this fall lead Creighton and are the most in program history after a player's first 10 matches, 14 more than JoDe Cieloha in 1994 ... Winters is the first Creighton freshman to lead the team in kills in four straight matches since Melanie Jereb in 2012 .
