Jaali Winters served the first 11 points of Saturday's match
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
#10 Volleyball Rolls Past Xavier, Remains Unbeaten in BIG EAST Play
9/29/2018 5:26:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton improves to 14-0 all-time against the Musketeers
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- After a Friday night scare at Butler, No. 10 Creighton Volleyball left no doubt in Saturday's 3-0 win at Xavier in a match that featured just two lead changes.
The Bluejays scored the first 11 points of the match and never looked back to improve to 12-4 overall and 4-0 in BIG EAST play after a 25-13, 25-13, 25-20 win at Cintas Center. CU is the lone remaining unbeaten team in BIG EAST play in search of its unprecedented fifth straight outright league title.
After the match, Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth was pleased with some improvements over Friday night's match. "One of the things that we thought we didn't do our best last night was serving. We talked that even if Xavier punches us we still need to be a great serving team. Jaali's run at the very beginning set the tone for the entire match, and I thought we served great tonight."
The match started with Creighton All-American Jaali Winters serving her Bluejays to an 11-0 lead, which included three aces. The 11-0 start to the match ties her for the third-longest serving run to start a match in NCAA history. Winters had five kills in the first set, passing Melissa Walsh to move into second place on Creighton's all-time kills list, and added six digs to go with her three aces. Creighton hit .273 as a team and held the Musketeers to -.029 hitting. CU owned a 13-6 lead in kills, 22-14 edge in digs and 3-2 advantage in aces while also owning the only two blocks of the opening frame.
After Xavier (4-11, 2-2 BIG EAST) scored the first point of the second set, Creighton answered with the next six points on Samantha Bohnet's serve. The Bluejays would again lead 11-3 and cruise to a 2-0 lead at the intermission after a second straight 25-13 win. Creighton held Xavier to .000 hitting in the set, collecting six blocks and 18 digs while also serving up three more aces.
Creighton didn't take its first lead in the third set until 9-8 after a combo block from Megan Ballenger and Madelyn Cole, and would seal the sweep with a 25-20 triumph. Taryn Kloth had five kills and Brittany Witt seven digs in the decisive set.
Creighton owned a 12-1 advantage in blocks for the contest, which pleased Booth. "Another thing we didn't do great last night was blocking, and I thought we blocked a great match," noted Booth. "Specifically, it was techniques we'd been working on in practice. It was good to see some progress there."
Kloth had 13 kills on .324 hitting, and Winters finished with 15 digs, 11 kills and three aces on .435 hitting. Creighton hit .275 and finished with 41 kills, six aces, 59 digs and 12 blocks while managing just two service errors.
Xavier was paced by Audrey Adams, who had eight kills and hit .500. Meredith Klare topped the Muskies with 15 digs. Xavier had 30 kills, 47 digs, three aces, one block and hit .069.
Creighton returns home next weekend to host Seton Hall on Friday at 7 p.m., in the program's annual Pink Out. The Bluejays also host St. John's on Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTES: In 92 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches, tonight was Creighton's 48th 3-0 victory. The Bluejays are 83-9 in those contests overall ... Creighton's 14 straight wins over Xavier are its third-most consecutive victories over any program, trailing only Southern Illinois (19) and Indiana State (16) ... Creighton has won 24 straight sets over Xavier, the second-longest streak in program history, and one behind a streak of 25 in a row over Indiana State from 2005-09 ... Samantha Bohnet tied her season-high with two aces and had a season-best 16 digs ... Brittany Witt had her 19th straight match with 10 or more digs ... Jaali Winters had her 11th double-double of the fall, and 53rd of her career. Winters finished the night with 1,606 career kills, and stands 16 shy of Leah Ratzlaff's school record of 1,622 ... Jaali Winters had 15 digs to move from 10th to seventh on Creighton's all-time digs list. She now owns 1,228 career digs and passed Julianne Mandolfo (1,224), Melissa Weisensee (1,223) and Melanie Jereb (1,218)Â ... Madelyn Cole had a season-best five block and Megan Ballenger tied her season-best with six rejections ... Creighton is 8-1 in its last nine matches, including a four-match winning streak ... Creighton is 21-1 in its last 22 matches in the Eastern time zone ... Creighton has won 66 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the third set and 50 straight over unranked teams when winning the first frame ... Creighton has won 21 straight matches against teams with a losing record.
The Bluejays scored the first 11 points of the match and never looked back to improve to 12-4 overall and 4-0 in BIG EAST play after a 25-13, 25-13, 25-20 win at Cintas Center. CU is the lone remaining unbeaten team in BIG EAST play in search of its unprecedented fifth straight outright league title.
After the match, Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth was pleased with some improvements over Friday night's match. "One of the things that we thought we didn't do our best last night was serving. We talked that even if Xavier punches us we still need to be a great serving team. Jaali's run at the very beginning set the tone for the entire match, and I thought we served great tonight."
The match started with Creighton All-American Jaali Winters serving her Bluejays to an 11-0 lead, which included three aces. The 11-0 start to the match ties her for the third-longest serving run to start a match in NCAA history. Winters had five kills in the first set, passing Melissa Walsh to move into second place on Creighton's all-time kills list, and added six digs to go with her three aces. Creighton hit .273 as a team and held the Musketeers to -.029 hitting. CU owned a 13-6 lead in kills, 22-14 edge in digs and 3-2 advantage in aces while also owning the only two blocks of the opening frame.
After Xavier (4-11, 2-2 BIG EAST) scored the first point of the second set, Creighton answered with the next six points on Samantha Bohnet's serve. The Bluejays would again lead 11-3 and cruise to a 2-0 lead at the intermission after a second straight 25-13 win. Creighton held Xavier to .000 hitting in the set, collecting six blocks and 18 digs while also serving up three more aces.
Creighton didn't take its first lead in the third set until 9-8 after a combo block from Megan Ballenger and Madelyn Cole, and would seal the sweep with a 25-20 triumph. Taryn Kloth had five kills and Brittany Witt seven digs in the decisive set.
Creighton owned a 12-1 advantage in blocks for the contest, which pleased Booth. "Another thing we didn't do great last night was blocking, and I thought we blocked a great match," noted Booth. "Specifically, it was techniques we'd been working on in practice. It was good to see some progress there."
Kloth had 13 kills on .324 hitting, and Winters finished with 15 digs, 11 kills and three aces on .435 hitting. Creighton hit .275 and finished with 41 kills, six aces, 59 digs and 12 blocks while managing just two service errors.
Xavier was paced by Audrey Adams, who had eight kills and hit .500. Meredith Klare topped the Muskies with 15 digs. Xavier had 30 kills, 47 digs, three aces, one block and hit .069.
Creighton returns home next weekend to host Seton Hall on Friday at 7 p.m., in the program's annual Pink Out. The Bluejays also host St. John's on Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTES: In 92 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches, tonight was Creighton's 48th 3-0 victory. The Bluejays are 83-9 in those contests overall ... Creighton's 14 straight wins over Xavier are its third-most consecutive victories over any program, trailing only Southern Illinois (19) and Indiana State (16) ... Creighton has won 24 straight sets over Xavier, the second-longest streak in program history, and one behind a streak of 25 in a row over Indiana State from 2005-09 ... Samantha Bohnet tied her season-high with two aces and had a season-best 16 digs ... Brittany Witt had her 19th straight match with 10 or more digs ... Jaali Winters had her 11th double-double of the fall, and 53rd of her career. Winters finished the night with 1,606 career kills, and stands 16 shy of Leah Ratzlaff's school record of 1,622 ... Jaali Winters had 15 digs to move from 10th to seventh on Creighton's all-time digs list. She now owns 1,228 career digs and passed Julianne Mandolfo (1,224), Melissa Weisensee (1,223) and Melanie Jereb (1,218)Â ... Madelyn Cole had a season-best five block and Megan Ballenger tied her season-best with six rejections ... Creighton is 8-1 in its last nine matches, including a four-match winning streak ... Creighton is 21-1 in its last 22 matches in the Eastern time zone ... Creighton has won 66 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the third set and 50 straight over unranked teams when winning the first frame ... Creighton has won 21 straight matches against teams with a losing record.
Team Stats
CU
XU
Kills
41
30
Errors
11
22
Attempts
109
116
Hitting %
.275
.069
Points
59.0
34.0
Assists
36
30
Aces
6
3
Blocks
12.0
1.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Players Mentioned
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