Friday, December 2
Lawrence, Kan.
6:30 PM
Creighton University
28-6
3
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2
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Kansas
27-3
1
2
3
4
5
F
Creighton
21
25
25
16
20
3
Kansas
25
20
17
25
18
2
Photo by: A.J. Olnes
No. 21 Volleyball Advances to Sweet 16 with Five-Set Victory Over No. 4 Kansas
12/2/2016 9:00:00 PM | Volleyball, Ath. Development
Creighton advances to second consecutive Sweet 16
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 21 Creighton volleyball team extended its winning streak to 22 matches and advanced to the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive season with a 3-2 victory over No. 4 Kansas in the Second Round of the 2016 NCAA Volleyball Tournament in Lawrence, Kan., on Friday.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 20-18 in front of a sold out 1,302 in attendance at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Creighton improves to 28-6, while Kansas finishes its season at 27-3. The win was the first home loss of the season for Kansas, and also its first setback in nine matches to go five sets.
With the victory, the Bluejays advance to the regional round of the tournament and will play 12th-seeded Michigan at a location to be determined in the Round of 16 on Friday, Dec. 9.
Both teams opened the match nearly even, as neither squad led by more than two through the first 25 points. Kansas built a six-point advantage, 19-13, with a 7-2 run and forced Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth to use the Bluejays' first timeout of the match. The Bluejays refused to let the Jayhawks control the set, and Megan Ballenger's first kill of the night capped a 5-1 Creighton run, to pull within two, 22-20. Creighton saved one set-point with Jaali Winters' fifth kill of the opening frame before Kansas took a 25-21 first-set victory. Kelsey Payne led the Jayhawks with six kills, including the final four points for host Kansas. Madison Rigdon opened the match with five kills in six swings. Creighton hit .205 in the first race to 25.
Winters and Payne continued where they left off in the first to start the second set, trading a pair of kills, before the Bluejays used a 5-1 run to take a 6-2 advantage, and never lost the lead.
Creighton opened a 9-3 advantage with five kills on seven attacks to take early control.
Behind the serving of Addison Barry, including a pair of aces, Kansas cut the Bluejays' lead to 19-16, but Creighton evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in the second frame.
After having zero service aces in the first set, the Bluejays reeled off three during the first half of the second frame and finished with four, led by Brittany Witt's two. Creighton also hit .323 in the second set to tie the match.
The Bluejays built off their momentum from the second frame and controlled the third while never trailing on their way to a 25-17 victory. Creighton grabbed its largest lead at nine, 22-13, following a service ace by Lydia Dimke, the Bluejays seventh of the match. Winters put the set away with her 7th kill of the frame and 16th overall as the Jays had 15 kills and hit .414 during the third set.
After dropping two consecutive sets, Kansas opened up the fourth set with a 5-0 lead behind the serving of senior libero Cassie Wait. The Bluejays battled back into the frame, only to see the Jayhawks go on a 5-1 run to take a 15-7 advantage.
Kansas never trailed and forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-16 fourth-frame win. The Bluejays hit a match-low .111 as no individual player had more than two kills.
Creighton opened the serving in the final set and took a 2-0 lead behind an attack error and a kill by Marysa Wilkinson. Kansas quickly erased the deficit with Wait once again behind the service line as the Jayhawks took a 3-2 edge.
The back-and-forth battle continued throughout the match-clincher, which featured 16 ties and six lead changes.
Winters' 21st kill of the match gave Creighton an 8-7 advantage as the teams switched sides.
The Bluejays' took a 14-12 lead, the first two-point cushion since 2-0, following a kill from Wilkinson and a Kansas attack error. Kansas saved match-point and tied it at 14 with the benefit of a ball-handling error. It was one of six match points the Jayhawks saved before Ballenger ended the match with a kill just over the top of the net to give Creighton a 20-18 victory.
Winters led Creighton with 23 kills, while Wilkinson (15) and Kloth (12) also reached double-figures. Brittany Witt had 21 digs and Lydia Dimke had a double-double with 56 assists and 17 digs. CU had 66 kills, seven aces, four blocks and 79 digs while hitting .250.
Kelsie Payne had 26 kills on .375 hitting to lead Kansas, with Madison Rigdon and Jada Burse each adding 12 kills. Ainise Havili had 53 assists and 18 digs and Wait tallied 27 digs. CU had 64 kills, seven aces, 74 digs and 13 blocks on .244 hitting overall. The Jayhawks had been 22-0 this year when winning the first set, and 8-0 in the fifth set this fall.
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Postmatch Quotes
Creighton 3, Kansas 2
Dec. 2, 2016
Horejsi Family Athletics Center // Lawrence, Kan.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth
Opening statement:
"That was the best match I've ever been a part of. I first want to start with Kansas. (Kansas head coach) Ray (Bechard) has been a mentor to me and (is) someone that is a good friend. I enjoy their entire staff. It's the way I felt last night with UNI. I hate that someone's season ends because in a match like that it could've gone either way. Hats off to them on a phenomenal season. To some degree we're playing with house money and I think the pressure is tough. They obviously gave us everything we could handle. It was surreal. We made our first Sweet 16 last year and that was pretty incredible, but this one is even bigger because KU is (ranked) fifth in the country. To do it on their home court in such a great atmosphere (is special). I alluded to this last night – in the preseason in those situations we got tentative and we went for it tonight. Had we lost, I said this in the locker room, I would've been so proud of the way we played. It would have killed us I think, but we went for it. That's a huge step for this team and this program and against great teams you have to do that. I'm a little bit of a recording from last night on that front. I still think I'm a little bit in shock, but we are really excited to move on. It was an incredible match. Hats off to Kansas."
On the competitive spirit of the match:
"I think it's unfortunate we hit so early. Kansas should be moving on and I feel like we're a team that deserves to move on. We've always known Kansas is a team of winners. To go 8-0 in fifth games all season tells you they know how to win. I have to guess in the huddle Coach Bechard was saying, 'This is our wheelhouse. This is where we're comfortable.' Fortunately, I think we've developed into winners. The great thing was that both teams went for it. I think at any high level of any sport you want to win it rather than have someone lose it and I think that happened tonight."
On the program's recent success:
"I think what we've learned in the last two years through our noncom (schedule) is we now believe we can beat anyone in the country. Before it was, 'We hope we can beat anyone in the country.' When we lost to USC they were No. 1 in the country and they didn't win the national championship obviously – KU upset them. We felt like we had opportunities there so that drove us during the offseason. As you know (sophomore outside hitter) Jaali (Winters) is highly competitive, she didn't talk for about 48 hours after that loss she was so upset about that. The noncon was huge for us. Kansas was No. 4 when we played them and we lost 15-13 in the fifth (set) and that's a match that can go either way. We had two set points to go up 2-1 on No. 1 Nebraska. Those are huge moments for a young group that's trying to take that next step of saying we can compete with these top teams, it doesn't matter what the name of their jersey is on the back. Creighton can play with the big dogs and I think last year paid dividends to that."
On sophomore outside hitter Jaali Winters:
"I have a philosophy of a winner is a winner. Brittany Witt, our freshman libero, that kid is a winner. Jaali was a winner when she walked in the door. I'll never forget a text I got from her in high school; they had lost a game, 15-13, in the fifth and she'd made an error. I said, 'Great match,' and she said, 'No, I have to make that play. That's my job.' This is a kid that wants the ball at end game and steps up and goes for it. It doesn't always happen, but a good percent of the time she's going to get it done and she did tonight. I was thrilled at end game she was in the front row again because she's going to make plays."
On the overturned point in the fifth set:
"It was hard. I didn't think they touched it and I thought we won it. I have seen that happen so many times and a team gets rattled and we lose the next point immediately. If I had a timeout I would've taken it, but I didn't have a timeout. I told them in the locker room I was yelling and the team turns to me and a couple of the players say, 'We got this.' They were calming me down in that situation. Again, from a maturity standpoint for them and they did. We nailed a pass and I think it was a first-ball kill if I recall, but I have no memory."
On junior middle blocker Marysa Wilkinson:
"She was incredible. She carried us a lot last night and then she was a huge factor again tonight. She's so versatile. It goes back to the offseason because her vertical is up and she's just in incredible shape. It's fun to see a kid do that. Our season started in January and people that commit to the process, this is how you reap rewards on matches like this."
On the upcoming Sweet 16 match with Michigan:
"It is in Austin (Texas). I don't know much about Michigan. I know that they play a stud middle in Abby Cole, who is a former teammate of Kenzie Crawford, one of our defensive specialists. That'll be fun because they're good friends. I know Mark (Rosen) is a great coach and they've played the rigors of a BIG 10 schedule. We will dive into that immediately. We are thrilled for the opportunity. I've been to Austin, but I've not played at Texas. I think we'll take tonight off and we'll dive in tomorrow."
Creighton senior middle blocker Lauren Smith
On winning the match:
"I try not to think about the fact (that) it's my last year. I really trust my teammates and we play so well together. We really believed we were going to win and we went after it. I'm so proud of the way that the girls (handled themselves), not only on the court, but off of it. Our chemistry together is something I can't explain. I knew no matter what happened tonight we were going to stick together."
On when the team will prepare for Michigan:
"Right away." (Laughter)
Creighton junior setter Lydia Dimke
On recovering from an overturned call in the fifth set:
"We did touch it, I'm not going to lie. We were kind of expecting the ball to come back so no matter what happened or what the call was we were just going to refresh our minds. We've been saying all year, that this team is really mature. To be able to get on such a high –thinking (that) we just won and then get brought back down – we just really stuck together. We play so well together with our maturity and confidence. We know that regardless of if we won it on that point (or not), we were going to win it again."
On the match and the different outcome in five sets from September:
"I think we were pretty pumped when we saw we were coming to Kansas. I know a lot of people could be saying, 'Oh, Kansas is a hard draw,' but we were saying, 'Yeah, we want to come back and beat them and we want to do it in fashion on their home court.' We were excited and we remembered that. That game (in September) was a tough loss that we've remembered all season. We weren't going to let it happen again."
On playing consecutive NCAA Tournament five-set matches:
"Kansas is an amazing team as you can tell because it was so close. We knew that when we were up 2-1 they weren't going to roll over. We expected them to come out in the fourth game. It was the same thing yesterday with UNI, both are great teams and they really challenged us. We just had to mentally reset. Like Jaali said, it was kind of the same, we just took a game off in the fourth and saved our energy for the fifth to make it more exciting. (Laughter) We had to just wipe the fourth away, reset and get ready for the fifth."
Creighton sophomore outside hitter Jaali Winters
On recovering from an overturned call in the fifth set:
"Lydia actually took us into the huddle as they were deciding whether we touched it or not. She calmed everyone down and told us either way we would come back and win. She was a really great leader at that point so thank you for doing that."
On the match and the different outcome in five sets from September:
"I would just say all of our experiences and everything we've gone through as a team, all of our wins and our losses, have brought us to this point – to the point where we had enough confidence that we could do it. I think that confidence and belief is what set us apart tonight."
On the team's growing confidence after stumbles early in the year:
"I think all of those losses were because we lost to ourselves and not to the other team. We took all of those losses really hard because we knew we could've beaten those teams if we played within ourselves. That's what we did tonight."
On her tournament performance:
"The way I've prepared for every match and every practice is that it's a championship game. Every match and every time I touch the ball is so important to me and I just want to continue to do that."
On playing consecutive NCAA Tournament five-set matches:
"I actually thought it was kind of similar (to last night vs. UNI) just because we knew we were going to lose that fourth match and we just had to reset for the fifth game. Kansas was on its home court and they had all of the momentum in the world. We knew we needed to come out quick and shut them down. I think they went on a 5-0 run in the fourth set so we knew we just needed to not let them do that in the fifth and we would be good."
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 20-18 in front of a sold out 1,302 in attendance at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Creighton improves to 28-6, while Kansas finishes its season at 27-3. The win was the first home loss of the season for Kansas, and also its first setback in nine matches to go five sets.
With the victory, the Bluejays advance to the regional round of the tournament and will play 12th-seeded Michigan at a location to be determined in the Round of 16 on Friday, Dec. 9.
Both teams opened the match nearly even, as neither squad led by more than two through the first 25 points. Kansas built a six-point advantage, 19-13, with a 7-2 run and forced Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth to use the Bluejays' first timeout of the match. The Bluejays refused to let the Jayhawks control the set, and Megan Ballenger's first kill of the night capped a 5-1 Creighton run, to pull within two, 22-20. Creighton saved one set-point with Jaali Winters' fifth kill of the opening frame before Kansas took a 25-21 first-set victory. Kelsey Payne led the Jayhawks with six kills, including the final four points for host Kansas. Madison Rigdon opened the match with five kills in six swings. Creighton hit .205 in the first race to 25.
Winters and Payne continued where they left off in the first to start the second set, trading a pair of kills, before the Bluejays used a 5-1 run to take a 6-2 advantage, and never lost the lead.
Creighton opened a 9-3 advantage with five kills on seven attacks to take early control.
Behind the serving of Addison Barry, including a pair of aces, Kansas cut the Bluejays' lead to 19-16, but Creighton evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in the second frame.
After having zero service aces in the first set, the Bluejays reeled off three during the first half of the second frame and finished with four, led by Brittany Witt's two. Creighton also hit .323 in the second set to tie the match.
The Bluejays built off their momentum from the second frame and controlled the third while never trailing on their way to a 25-17 victory. Creighton grabbed its largest lead at nine, 22-13, following a service ace by Lydia Dimke, the Bluejays seventh of the match. Winters put the set away with her 7th kill of the frame and 16th overall as the Jays had 15 kills and hit .414 during the third set.
After dropping two consecutive sets, Kansas opened up the fourth set with a 5-0 lead behind the serving of senior libero Cassie Wait. The Bluejays battled back into the frame, only to see the Jayhawks go on a 5-1 run to take a 15-7 advantage.
Kansas never trailed and forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-16 fourth-frame win. The Bluejays hit a match-low .111 as no individual player had more than two kills.
Creighton opened the serving in the final set and took a 2-0 lead behind an attack error and a kill by Marysa Wilkinson. Kansas quickly erased the deficit with Wait once again behind the service line as the Jayhawks took a 3-2 edge.
The back-and-forth battle continued throughout the match-clincher, which featured 16 ties and six lead changes.
Winters' 21st kill of the match gave Creighton an 8-7 advantage as the teams switched sides.
The Bluejays' took a 14-12 lead, the first two-point cushion since 2-0, following a kill from Wilkinson and a Kansas attack error. Kansas saved match-point and tied it at 14 with the benefit of a ball-handling error. It was one of six match points the Jayhawks saved before Ballenger ended the match with a kill just over the top of the net to give Creighton a 20-18 victory.
Winters led Creighton with 23 kills, while Wilkinson (15) and Kloth (12) also reached double-figures. Brittany Witt had 21 digs and Lydia Dimke had a double-double with 56 assists and 17 digs. CU had 66 kills, seven aces, four blocks and 79 digs while hitting .250.
Kelsie Payne had 26 kills on .375 hitting to lead Kansas, with Madison Rigdon and Jada Burse each adding 12 kills. Ainise Havili had 53 assists and 18 digs and Wait tallied 27 digs. CU had 64 kills, seven aces, 74 digs and 13 blocks on .244 hitting overall. The Jayhawks had been 22-0 this year when winning the first set, and 8-0 in the fifth set this fall.
CLICK HERE to for more information about how to become a Volleyball Jaybacker today.
OH MY GOD!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/DWXUlRjuJB
— Creighton Volleyball (@CreightonVB) December 3, 2016
Friday's are for the Jays! pic.twitter.com/NadCAKecTy
— Creighton Volleyball (@CreightonVB) December 3, 2016
Postmatch Quotes
Creighton 3, Kansas 2
Dec. 2, 2016
Horejsi Family Athletics Center // Lawrence, Kan.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth
Opening statement:
"That was the best match I've ever been a part of. I first want to start with Kansas. (Kansas head coach) Ray (Bechard) has been a mentor to me and (is) someone that is a good friend. I enjoy their entire staff. It's the way I felt last night with UNI. I hate that someone's season ends because in a match like that it could've gone either way. Hats off to them on a phenomenal season. To some degree we're playing with house money and I think the pressure is tough. They obviously gave us everything we could handle. It was surreal. We made our first Sweet 16 last year and that was pretty incredible, but this one is even bigger because KU is (ranked) fifth in the country. To do it on their home court in such a great atmosphere (is special). I alluded to this last night – in the preseason in those situations we got tentative and we went for it tonight. Had we lost, I said this in the locker room, I would've been so proud of the way we played. It would have killed us I think, but we went for it. That's a huge step for this team and this program and against great teams you have to do that. I'm a little bit of a recording from last night on that front. I still think I'm a little bit in shock, but we are really excited to move on. It was an incredible match. Hats off to Kansas."
On the competitive spirit of the match:
"I think it's unfortunate we hit so early. Kansas should be moving on and I feel like we're a team that deserves to move on. We've always known Kansas is a team of winners. To go 8-0 in fifth games all season tells you they know how to win. I have to guess in the huddle Coach Bechard was saying, 'This is our wheelhouse. This is where we're comfortable.' Fortunately, I think we've developed into winners. The great thing was that both teams went for it. I think at any high level of any sport you want to win it rather than have someone lose it and I think that happened tonight."
On the program's recent success:
"I think what we've learned in the last two years through our noncom (schedule) is we now believe we can beat anyone in the country. Before it was, 'We hope we can beat anyone in the country.' When we lost to USC they were No. 1 in the country and they didn't win the national championship obviously – KU upset them. We felt like we had opportunities there so that drove us during the offseason. As you know (sophomore outside hitter) Jaali (Winters) is highly competitive, she didn't talk for about 48 hours after that loss she was so upset about that. The noncon was huge for us. Kansas was No. 4 when we played them and we lost 15-13 in the fifth (set) and that's a match that can go either way. We had two set points to go up 2-1 on No. 1 Nebraska. Those are huge moments for a young group that's trying to take that next step of saying we can compete with these top teams, it doesn't matter what the name of their jersey is on the back. Creighton can play with the big dogs and I think last year paid dividends to that."
On sophomore outside hitter Jaali Winters:
"I have a philosophy of a winner is a winner. Brittany Witt, our freshman libero, that kid is a winner. Jaali was a winner when she walked in the door. I'll never forget a text I got from her in high school; they had lost a game, 15-13, in the fifth and she'd made an error. I said, 'Great match,' and she said, 'No, I have to make that play. That's my job.' This is a kid that wants the ball at end game and steps up and goes for it. It doesn't always happen, but a good percent of the time she's going to get it done and she did tonight. I was thrilled at end game she was in the front row again because she's going to make plays."
On the overturned point in the fifth set:
"It was hard. I didn't think they touched it and I thought we won it. I have seen that happen so many times and a team gets rattled and we lose the next point immediately. If I had a timeout I would've taken it, but I didn't have a timeout. I told them in the locker room I was yelling and the team turns to me and a couple of the players say, 'We got this.' They were calming me down in that situation. Again, from a maturity standpoint for them and they did. We nailed a pass and I think it was a first-ball kill if I recall, but I have no memory."
On junior middle blocker Marysa Wilkinson:
"She was incredible. She carried us a lot last night and then she was a huge factor again tonight. She's so versatile. It goes back to the offseason because her vertical is up and she's just in incredible shape. It's fun to see a kid do that. Our season started in January and people that commit to the process, this is how you reap rewards on matches like this."
On the upcoming Sweet 16 match with Michigan:
"It is in Austin (Texas). I don't know much about Michigan. I know that they play a stud middle in Abby Cole, who is a former teammate of Kenzie Crawford, one of our defensive specialists. That'll be fun because they're good friends. I know Mark (Rosen) is a great coach and they've played the rigors of a BIG 10 schedule. We will dive into that immediately. We are thrilled for the opportunity. I've been to Austin, but I've not played at Texas. I think we'll take tonight off and we'll dive in tomorrow."
Creighton senior middle blocker Lauren Smith
On winning the match:
"I try not to think about the fact (that) it's my last year. I really trust my teammates and we play so well together. We really believed we were going to win and we went after it. I'm so proud of the way that the girls (handled themselves), not only on the court, but off of it. Our chemistry together is something I can't explain. I knew no matter what happened tonight we were going to stick together."
On when the team will prepare for Michigan:
"Right away." (Laughter)
Creighton junior setter Lydia Dimke
On recovering from an overturned call in the fifth set:
"We did touch it, I'm not going to lie. We were kind of expecting the ball to come back so no matter what happened or what the call was we were just going to refresh our minds. We've been saying all year, that this team is really mature. To be able to get on such a high –thinking (that) we just won and then get brought back down – we just really stuck together. We play so well together with our maturity and confidence. We know that regardless of if we won it on that point (or not), we were going to win it again."
On the match and the different outcome in five sets from September:
"I think we were pretty pumped when we saw we were coming to Kansas. I know a lot of people could be saying, 'Oh, Kansas is a hard draw,' but we were saying, 'Yeah, we want to come back and beat them and we want to do it in fashion on their home court.' We were excited and we remembered that. That game (in September) was a tough loss that we've remembered all season. We weren't going to let it happen again."
On playing consecutive NCAA Tournament five-set matches:
"Kansas is an amazing team as you can tell because it was so close. We knew that when we were up 2-1 they weren't going to roll over. We expected them to come out in the fourth game. It was the same thing yesterday with UNI, both are great teams and they really challenged us. We just had to mentally reset. Like Jaali said, it was kind of the same, we just took a game off in the fourth and saved our energy for the fifth to make it more exciting. (Laughter) We had to just wipe the fourth away, reset and get ready for the fifth."
Creighton sophomore outside hitter Jaali Winters
On recovering from an overturned call in the fifth set:
"Lydia actually took us into the huddle as they were deciding whether we touched it or not. She calmed everyone down and told us either way we would come back and win. She was a really great leader at that point so thank you for doing that."
On the match and the different outcome in five sets from September:
"I would just say all of our experiences and everything we've gone through as a team, all of our wins and our losses, have brought us to this point – to the point where we had enough confidence that we could do it. I think that confidence and belief is what set us apart tonight."
On the team's growing confidence after stumbles early in the year:
"I think all of those losses were because we lost to ourselves and not to the other team. We took all of those losses really hard because we knew we could've beaten those teams if we played within ourselves. That's what we did tonight."
On her tournament performance:
"The way I've prepared for every match and every practice is that it's a championship game. Every match and every time I touch the ball is so important to me and I just want to continue to do that."
On playing consecutive NCAA Tournament five-set matches:
"I actually thought it was kind of similar (to last night vs. UNI) just because we knew we were going to lose that fourth match and we just had to reset for the fifth game. Kansas was on its home court and they had all of the momentum in the world. We knew we needed to come out quick and shut them down. I think they went on a 5-0 run in the fourth set so we knew we just needed to not let them do that in the fifth and we would be good."
Team Stats
CU
KU
Kills
66
64
Errors
22
22
Attempts
176
172
Hitting %
.250
.244
Points
77.0
84.0
Assists
62
61
Aces
7
7
Blocks
4.0
13.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
23
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS/S
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
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