Saturday, October 22
Milwaukee, Wis.
6:00 PM
Creighton University
16-6, 10-0
3
at
1
Marquette
18-5, 8-3
1
2
3
4
F
Creighton
23
25
27
25
3
Marquette
25
23
25
19
1
Jaali Winters had a season-high 22 kills on Saturday.
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Volleyball Expands BIG EAST Lead With 10th Straight Win
10/22/2016 6:09:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton wins final three sets
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The Creighton Volleyball team stretched its lead in the BIG EAST standings to three games with a 3-1 victory at Marquette on Saturday night. The win, Creighton's 10th straight, came after the Bluejays lost the opening set and survived a set point opportunity from the Golden Eagles in the third frame.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 23-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19, as senior Lauren Smith's first ace of the fall ended the contest. Creighton is now 16-6 on the year and 10-0 in the BIG EAST with its seventh straight victory over the Golden Eagles. Second-place Marquette fell to 18-5 and is 8-3 in league action.
"We're thrilled to come out of such a tough road weekend with two great wins," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "Three of the sets could have gone either direction, so I'm pleased we handled end game pretty well. With that said, we made way too many unforced errors and weren't as crisp as we wanted to be. In the long term this will be good, because for us to be able to do what we want to do this season, we need to be better. I'm encouraged we could win despite not playing at our highest level."
The victory, Creighton's 10th straight, helped the Bluejays jump to No. 20 in the unofficial volleyball RPI rankings. That leaves Booth optimistic at what the future may hold if her team can continue piling up the wins. "I think we're putting ourselves in a position to host, and this weekend was a good step in making that happen."
Jaali Winters led Creighton with a season-high 22 kills and added 15 digs for her 24th double-double as a Bluejay. She was one of four attackers in double-figures, as Taryn Kloth (15), Lauren Smith (11) and Marysa Wilkinson (10) joined her. Lydia Dimke had 46 assists, nine digs and six kills on .364 hitting and Brittany Witt contributed a match-high 17 digs. CU recorded 68 kills, three aces, 74 digs and five blocks on .200 hitting.
Marquette was paced by 16 kills from Taylor Louis, who added 14 digs. The Golden Eagles finished with 46 kills, four aces, 61 digs and 15 blocks on .208 hitting.
Marquette took the early lead with a 25-23 win in the first set, breaking away after a 17-17 tie. MU took advantage of five Bluejay attack errors down the stretch to move ahead 24-21. CU withstood two set points to draw within 24-23 before Louis slammed her fifth kill of the night.
The second set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Chances of a win looked slim when Creighton fell behind 22-20, but the Bluejays went on a 5-1 rampage to even the match by intermission. Winters had consecutive kills to draw CU even, and eventually Dimke and Wilkinson teamed to stuff Louis for the set clincher.
Creighton went ahead 24-21 late in the third set, but Marquette spurned three straight set point opportunities to tie the score. The Golden Eagles then moved ahead with a set point opportunity up 25-24, only to see Dimke and Wilkinson follow with kills, and Kloth and Ballenger team for a stuff to close out the 27-25 win.
The sophomore duo of Kloth and Winters each had six kills in the final set to close out the victory, with Samantha Bohnet adding six of her eight digs in the fourth frame.
The match featured 35 kills and 13 lead changes overall.
Creighton will make its final road trip of the regular season next weekend when it treks to Seton Hall and St. John's.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 23-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19, as senior Lauren Smith's first ace of the fall ended the contest. Creighton is now 16-6 on the year and 10-0 in the BIG EAST with its seventh straight victory over the Golden Eagles. Second-place Marquette fell to 18-5 and is 8-3 in league action.
"We're thrilled to come out of such a tough road weekend with two great wins," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "Three of the sets could have gone either direction, so I'm pleased we handled end game pretty well. With that said, we made way too many unforced errors and weren't as crisp as we wanted to be. In the long term this will be good, because for us to be able to do what we want to do this season, we need to be better. I'm encouraged we could win despite not playing at our highest level."
The victory, Creighton's 10th straight, helped the Bluejays jump to No. 20 in the unofficial volleyball RPI rankings. That leaves Booth optimistic at what the future may hold if her team can continue piling up the wins. "I think we're putting ourselves in a position to host, and this weekend was a good step in making that happen."
Jaali Winters led Creighton with a season-high 22 kills and added 15 digs for her 24th double-double as a Bluejay. She was one of four attackers in double-figures, as Taryn Kloth (15), Lauren Smith (11) and Marysa Wilkinson (10) joined her. Lydia Dimke had 46 assists, nine digs and six kills on .364 hitting and Brittany Witt contributed a match-high 17 digs. CU recorded 68 kills, three aces, 74 digs and five blocks on .200 hitting.
Marquette was paced by 16 kills from Taylor Louis, who added 14 digs. The Golden Eagles finished with 46 kills, four aces, 61 digs and 15 blocks on .208 hitting.
Marquette took the early lead with a 25-23 win in the first set, breaking away after a 17-17 tie. MU took advantage of five Bluejay attack errors down the stretch to move ahead 24-21. CU withstood two set points to draw within 24-23 before Louis slammed her fifth kill of the night.
The second set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Chances of a win looked slim when Creighton fell behind 22-20, but the Bluejays went on a 5-1 rampage to even the match by intermission. Winters had consecutive kills to draw CU even, and eventually Dimke and Wilkinson teamed to stuff Louis for the set clincher.
Creighton went ahead 24-21 late in the third set, but Marquette spurned three straight set point opportunities to tie the score. The Golden Eagles then moved ahead with a set point opportunity up 25-24, only to see Dimke and Wilkinson follow with kills, and Kloth and Ballenger team for a stuff to close out the 27-25 win.
The sophomore duo of Kloth and Winters each had six kills in the final set to close out the victory, with Samantha Bohnet adding six of her eight digs in the fourth frame.
The match featured 35 kills and 13 lead changes overall.
Creighton will make its final road trip of the regular season next weekend when it treks to Seton Hall and St. John's.
Team Stats
CU
MU
Kills
68
46
Errors
34
15
Attempts
170
149
Hitting %
.200
.208
Points
76.0
65.0
Assists
57
43
Aces
3
4
Blocks
5.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills
22
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
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