Saturday, September 5
Cedar Falls, Iowa
5:30 PM
Creighton University
2-4
3
vs
0
Kentucky
4-3
1
2
3
F
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Kentucky
23
17
18
0
Volleyball Sweeps No. 10 Kentucky
9/5/2015 4:53:00 PM | Volleyball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Creighton Volleyball got the marquee non-conference win it desperately needed with an impressive 3-0 sweep of 10th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday night at the UNI Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The win was Creighton's first in 23 all-time matches against top-10 teams, as well as CU's first 3-0 sweep over any ranked team in 63 tries.
Scores of the contest were 25-23, 25-17, 25-18.
With the win, Creighton earned second place in the tournament by virtue of a three-way tiebreaker (set win percentage) among the three teams that finished 1-2. Eighth-ranked USC won the tournament with a 3-0 mark, all by sweeps.
Senior Kate Elman (4.60 dps.) and junior Lauren Smith (2.40 kps., .347 %) were both named to the All-Tournament Team for Creighton. Rounding out the rest of the All-Tourney Team were USC's Samantha Bricio (MVP), Alicia Ogoms and Taylor Whittingham, Kentucky's Ashley Dusek and UNI's Kayla Haneline.
Coming off a loss to rival UNI just four hours earlier, Creighton regrouped to play some of its most inspired volleyball of the young season to outlast the Wildcats in a taut set that included 12 ties and five lead changes. CU pulled ahead with three straight points to lead 16-15 and would not trail again, despite ties forced by UK at 16, 19 and 23. Jaali Winters had a kill to get CU to set point, and Winters then teamed with Lauren Smith for a block of Sara Schwarzwalder to give the Bluejays a 25-23 win.
Marysa Wilkinson had three huge kills down the stretch to lead CU with four kills in the frame, while Maggie Baumert had 12 assists in the first set during her initial start of the season.
Creighton took firm control of the match with a 25-17 win in the second set to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Three aces from Ashley Jansen spurred a 5-0 run that helped CU to a 7-3 lead and CU did not trail again. UK made one run to draw within 10-9 but CU used another 5-0 spurt that included three blocks from Marysa Wilkinson. A kill from Jess Bird helped CU seal the set.
Creighton surrendered the first three points of the third set before an 11-3 run moved the Jays to the lead for good. A later 4-0 run that included Jansen's career-high fifth ace made it 17-10, and from there the upset became reality, with a kill by Iowa native Winters on match point.
Bird led Creighton with 11 kills while adding nine digs, while Maggie Baumert dished 35 assists. Wilkinson, making her first career start as a middle blocker, had six kills and seven blocks. Creighton finished with 37 kills, seven aces, 41 digs and 11.5 blocks on .229 hitting.
Kentucky was paced by nine kills from Darian Mack, though she also had 12 errors and hit -.094. All-American setter Morgan Bergren had 26 assists for UK. The Wildcats finished with 33 kills, two aces, 40 digs and three blocks on .117 hitting.
After opening the season on the road for two weeks, Creighton opens up a program-record nine-match homestand beginning next Friday when it hosts the Bluejay Invitational. CSU Bakersfield meets Pacific at 3:30 pm before Creighton welcomes Lipscomb to D.J. Sokol Arena at 6 pm.
The win was Creighton's first in 23 all-time matches against top-10 teams, as well as CU's first 3-0 sweep over any ranked team in 63 tries.
Scores of the contest were 25-23, 25-17, 25-18.
With the win, Creighton earned second place in the tournament by virtue of a three-way tiebreaker (set win percentage) among the three teams that finished 1-2. Eighth-ranked USC won the tournament with a 3-0 mark, all by sweeps.
Senior Kate Elman (4.60 dps.) and junior Lauren Smith (2.40 kps., .347 %) were both named to the All-Tournament Team for Creighton. Rounding out the rest of the All-Tourney Team were USC's Samantha Bricio (MVP), Alicia Ogoms and Taylor Whittingham, Kentucky's Ashley Dusek and UNI's Kayla Haneline.
Coming off a loss to rival UNI just four hours earlier, Creighton regrouped to play some of its most inspired volleyball of the young season to outlast the Wildcats in a taut set that included 12 ties and five lead changes. CU pulled ahead with three straight points to lead 16-15 and would not trail again, despite ties forced by UK at 16, 19 and 23. Jaali Winters had a kill to get CU to set point, and Winters then teamed with Lauren Smith for a block of Sara Schwarzwalder to give the Bluejays a 25-23 win.
Marysa Wilkinson had three huge kills down the stretch to lead CU with four kills in the frame, while Maggie Baumert had 12 assists in the first set during her initial start of the season.
Creighton took firm control of the match with a 25-17 win in the second set to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Three aces from Ashley Jansen spurred a 5-0 run that helped CU to a 7-3 lead and CU did not trail again. UK made one run to draw within 10-9 but CU used another 5-0 spurt that included three blocks from Marysa Wilkinson. A kill from Jess Bird helped CU seal the set.
Creighton surrendered the first three points of the third set before an 11-3 run moved the Jays to the lead for good. A later 4-0 run that included Jansen's career-high fifth ace made it 17-10, and from there the upset became reality, with a kill by Iowa native Winters on match point.
Bird led Creighton with 11 kills while adding nine digs, while Maggie Baumert dished 35 assists. Wilkinson, making her first career start as a middle blocker, had six kills and seven blocks. Creighton finished with 37 kills, seven aces, 41 digs and 11.5 blocks on .229 hitting.
Kentucky was paced by nine kills from Darian Mack, though she also had 12 errors and hit -.094. All-American setter Morgan Bergren had 26 assists for UK. The Wildcats finished with 33 kills, two aces, 40 digs and three blocks on .117 hitting.
After opening the season on the road for two weeks, Creighton opens up a program-record nine-match homestand beginning next Friday when it hosts the Bluejay Invitational. CSU Bakersfield meets Pacific at 3:30 pm before Creighton welcomes Lipscomb to D.J. Sokol Arena at 6 pm.
Team Stats
CU
UK
Kills
37
33
Errors
15
21
Attempts
96
103
Hitting %
.229
.117
Points
55.5
38.0
Assists
36
32
Aces
7
2
Blocks
11.5
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballDS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballDS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballRS/OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
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