Saturday, October 8
Washington, DC
5:00 PM
Creighton University
6-012-6. BIG EAST
3
at
0
Georgetown
6-14, 2-5BIG EAST
1
2
3
F
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Georgetown
18
18
17
0
Jess Bird
Photo by: Wesley Winterink
Volleyball Sweeps Georgetown For Sixth Straight Win
10/8/2016 6:27:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays lead the BIG EAST standings by two games
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Creighton Volleyball team improved to 6-0 in BIG EAST play with a 3-0 win at Georgetown on Saturday.
Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-18, 25-17. The Bluejays have now won six straight matches, and eight of its last nine overall.
Creighton's victory, combined with DePaul's 3-0 loss at St. John's, gives the Bluejays a two-game lead in the BIG EAST standings. The Bluejays are 12-6 on the season and 6-0 in league play. Georgetown, which held a pair of match points over CU at McDonough Arena last fall, fell to 6-14 and is 2-5 in BIG EAST action.
"Any road win in the BIG EAST is a big win," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who picked up her 100th true road win with the Bluejays. "Georgetown has two phenomenal middles. We had no answer for (Symone) Speech. She was a kid that got a lot of kills against us. We controlled (Ashlie) Williams a little bit, and I thought our serving disrupted them."
After falling behind 6-4 to open the match, a 6-0 serving run by Megan Ballenger helped Creighton take the lead for good. CU pushed the lead to 18-13, but used a timeout after a 3-0 Hoya run provided a scare. CU answered with a 3-0 run of its own, including Ballenger's second ace of the set, to regain control. A kill from Taryn Kloth closed out the opening set triumph. Lydia Dimke dished 13 assists in the lid-lifter while also having a hand in all four Bluejay blocks in the first set.
The Bluejays took a 2-0 lead into the locker room, never trailing while picking up a second straight 25-18 triumph. The Bluejays soared to a 12-6 lead and were threatened only when GU drew within 18-15. The Bluejays closed out the set with a 7-3 run, capped by a kill from senior Jess Bird.
Creighton showcased its depth in a 25-17 triumph to close out the match, as Bird and Brittany Lawrence combined for five kills and Kelsey O'Connell provided the kill on match point. CU hit .343 in the final set and also served up four aces.
Kloth led all players with nine kills on the evening, while Lauren Smith had seven kills on .417 hitting. Dimke dished 36 assists, adding six digs and five blocks while setting her team to .250 hitting overall. Brittany Witt had a match-high 16 digs and also added two service winners as CU finished with 43 kills, seven aces, 52 digs and nine blocks for the contest.
Speech paced GU with eight kills and .421 hitting in 19 errorless swings. The Hoyas had 29 kills, one ace, 36 digs and five blocks on .146 hitting.
Even with the two-game lead in the BIG EAST standings, Booth is focused on continued improvement from her squad. "We have goals of winning a BIG EAST championship and going deep in the tournament. It's not just where we are in the standings. We want to get better every time we take the court, and we're challenging our kdis to do that. Looking ahead to Friday, St. John's is young and improving every weekend. We'll be in a battle on Friday night and we need to be ready for that."
Creighton will return to Omaha for its only home matches of October next weekend. The Bluejays host St. John's on Friday at 7 pm before welcoming Seton Hall in the program's annual Pink Out on Sunday at Noon.
Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-18, 25-17. The Bluejays have now won six straight matches, and eight of its last nine overall.
Creighton's victory, combined with DePaul's 3-0 loss at St. John's, gives the Bluejays a two-game lead in the BIG EAST standings. The Bluejays are 12-6 on the season and 6-0 in league play. Georgetown, which held a pair of match points over CU at McDonough Arena last fall, fell to 6-14 and is 2-5 in BIG EAST action.
"Any road win in the BIG EAST is a big win," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who picked up her 100th true road win with the Bluejays. "Georgetown has two phenomenal middles. We had no answer for (Symone) Speech. She was a kid that got a lot of kills against us. We controlled (Ashlie) Williams a little bit, and I thought our serving disrupted them."
After falling behind 6-4 to open the match, a 6-0 serving run by Megan Ballenger helped Creighton take the lead for good. CU pushed the lead to 18-13, but used a timeout after a 3-0 Hoya run provided a scare. CU answered with a 3-0 run of its own, including Ballenger's second ace of the set, to regain control. A kill from Taryn Kloth closed out the opening set triumph. Lydia Dimke dished 13 assists in the lid-lifter while also having a hand in all four Bluejay blocks in the first set.
The Bluejays took a 2-0 lead into the locker room, never trailing while picking up a second straight 25-18 triumph. The Bluejays soared to a 12-6 lead and were threatened only when GU drew within 18-15. The Bluejays closed out the set with a 7-3 run, capped by a kill from senior Jess Bird.
Creighton showcased its depth in a 25-17 triumph to close out the match, as Bird and Brittany Lawrence combined for five kills and Kelsey O'Connell provided the kill on match point. CU hit .343 in the final set and also served up four aces.
Kloth led all players with nine kills on the evening, while Lauren Smith had seven kills on .417 hitting. Dimke dished 36 assists, adding six digs and five blocks while setting her team to .250 hitting overall. Brittany Witt had a match-high 16 digs and also added two service winners as CU finished with 43 kills, seven aces, 52 digs and nine blocks for the contest.
Speech paced GU with eight kills and .421 hitting in 19 errorless swings. The Hoyas had 29 kills, one ace, 36 digs and five blocks on .146 hitting.
Even with the two-game lead in the BIG EAST standings, Booth is focused on continued improvement from her squad. "We have goals of winning a BIG EAST championship and going deep in the tournament. It's not just where we are in the standings. We want to get better every time we take the court, and we're challenging our kdis to do that. Looking ahead to Friday, St. John's is young and improving every weekend. We'll be in a battle on Friday night and we need to be ready for that."
Creighton will return to Omaha for its only home matches of October next weekend. The Bluejays host St. John's on Friday at 7 pm before welcoming Seton Hall in the program's annual Pink Out on Sunday at Noon.
Team Stats
CU
GU
Kills
43
29
Errors
17
14
Attempts
104
103
Hitting %
.250
.146
Points
59.0
35.0
Assists
42
28
Aces
7
1
Blocks
9.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball Pink Out Recap vs. Seton Hall
Wednesday, October 22
Creighton Media Availability Volleyball - 10/21/25
Tuesday, October 21
Creighton Volleyball vs Seton Hall Postgame Press Conference - 10-19-25
Sunday, October 19
Creighton Women's Volleyball Highlights vs. St. John's - 10-17-25
Saturday, October 18
