Friday, October 11
Chicago, Ill.
11:00 AM
Creighton University
12-3,5-0Big East
3
at
0
DePaul
9-8,1-4Big East
1
2
3
F
Creighton
25
25
25
3
DePaul
18
21
15
0
Erica Kostelac
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Volleyball Tames Blue Demons; #10 Marquette Next
10/11/2019 12:16:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton wins 13th straight meeting over DePaul
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 13 Creighton Volleyball team won its seventh straight match with a 3-0 victory at DePaul in a rare 11 a.m. Friday morning match held on Field Trip Day at McGrath-Phillps Arena in Chicago, Ill.
Scores of the Bluejay win were 25-18, 25-21, 25-15.
"I thought we served well," noted Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We were aggressive from the baseline and disrupted their passing. They're a good offensive team and in game two their numbers indicated that. It was critical to get them out of system."
Erica Kostelac was a one-woman wrecking crew in the first set in helping Creighton to a 25-18 victory in the opener. The junior outside hitter matched DePaul's team totals with six kills and two aces as the Bluejays never trailed.
Creighton (12-3, 5-0 BIG EAST) hit .333 in the second set to pick up a 25-21 triumph and take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Back-to-back aces by Brittany Witt helped Creighton expand its lead to 12-9 and it would not trail again. The Jays closed out the set on a powerful swing by five-time reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Keeley Davis.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, using an early 5-0 run on Davis' serve to go ahead 8-3 en route to its 24th straight regular-season BIG EAST win, and 28th in a row overall against BIG EAST competition.
Kostelac hit a season-best .650 as she finished with 14 kills in 20 swings while also tying her career-high with four aces. Joining her with four aces was Witt, who also added a match-high nine digs. Creighton hit .429 in the match, including .714 in the last set, and finished with 43 kills, 30 digs, three blocks and a season-high 11 aces.
DePaul (9-8, 1-4 BIG EAST) was topped by 11 kills on .529 hitting from Donna Brown. Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Brittany Maxwell was limited to .091 hitting and three kills in 11 swings. BIG EAST dig leader Isabelle Banez topped the Blue Demons with eight of DePaul's 20 digs on the day. The Blue Demons hit .230 with 32 kills, two aces and three blocks.
Creighton next heads to Milwaukee, Wis., to take on No. 10 Marquette (14-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) in a Saturday night match that begins at 6 p.m. and airs on BEDN. The Golden Eagles were picked to win the BIG EAST Conference, but Creighton has won 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series.
"I think we're excited," commented Booth. "Hopefully both teams play well and it should be a battle. This is the fun part. I think it'll be a big crowd and a great atmosphere. We're looking forward to the opportunity to play a great team."
NOTES: With four aces on Friday, Brittany Witt moved past Jaali Winters and into a tie with Shelly Kapler for fifth place on Creighton's all-time aces list with 104. ... Creighton has now won 13 straight matches against DePaul, and 20 consecutive sets ... Creighton now owns 200 wins since the start of the 2012 season, something only Penn State, Western Kentucky, BYU, Stanford, Nebraska, Florida, Washington, Texas and Minnesota have also accomplished ... Creighton's .714 hitting percentage in the third set was tied for its third best ever in any set, and the only better mark in a set to 25 points or longer was when CU hit .818 in the first set on Oct. 6, 2017, also at DePaul ... Creighton improved to 25-3 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up 10 or more aces ... The crowd of 1,544 exceeded DePaul's total for its previous nine home matches ... Creighton has won 126 straight matches when hitting .300 or better ... Creighton has won 85 straight matches vs. BIG EAST teams when winning set three, 84 in a row when owning more digs than its BIG EAST opponent, 81 when owning more aces than its BIG EAST opponent, and 73 in a row over unranked teams when winning set one.
Scores of the Bluejay win were 25-18, 25-21, 25-15.
"I thought we served well," noted Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "We were aggressive from the baseline and disrupted their passing. They're a good offensive team and in game two their numbers indicated that. It was critical to get them out of system."
Erica Kostelac was a one-woman wrecking crew in the first set in helping Creighton to a 25-18 victory in the opener. The junior outside hitter matched DePaul's team totals with six kills and two aces as the Bluejays never trailed.
Creighton (12-3, 5-0 BIG EAST) hit .333 in the second set to pick up a 25-21 triumph and take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Back-to-back aces by Brittany Witt helped Creighton expand its lead to 12-9 and it would not trail again. The Jays closed out the set on a powerful swing by five-time reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Keeley Davis.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, using an early 5-0 run on Davis' serve to go ahead 8-3 en route to its 24th straight regular-season BIG EAST win, and 28th in a row overall against BIG EAST competition.
Kostelac hit a season-best .650 as she finished with 14 kills in 20 swings while also tying her career-high with four aces. Joining her with four aces was Witt, who also added a match-high nine digs. Creighton hit .429 in the match, including .714 in the last set, and finished with 43 kills, 30 digs, three blocks and a season-high 11 aces.
DePaul (9-8, 1-4 BIG EAST) was topped by 11 kills on .529 hitting from Donna Brown. Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Brittany Maxwell was limited to .091 hitting and three kills in 11 swings. BIG EAST dig leader Isabelle Banez topped the Blue Demons with eight of DePaul's 20 digs on the day. The Blue Demons hit .230 with 32 kills, two aces and three blocks.
Creighton next heads to Milwaukee, Wis., to take on No. 10 Marquette (14-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) in a Saturday night match that begins at 6 p.m. and airs on BEDN. The Golden Eagles were picked to win the BIG EAST Conference, but Creighton has won 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series.
"I think we're excited," commented Booth. "Hopefully both teams play well and it should be a battle. This is the fun part. I think it'll be a big crowd and a great atmosphere. We're looking forward to the opportunity to play a great team."
NOTES: With four aces on Friday, Brittany Witt moved past Jaali Winters and into a tie with Shelly Kapler for fifth place on Creighton's all-time aces list with 104. ... Creighton has now won 13 straight matches against DePaul, and 20 consecutive sets ... Creighton now owns 200 wins since the start of the 2012 season, something only Penn State, Western Kentucky, BYU, Stanford, Nebraska, Florida, Washington, Texas and Minnesota have also accomplished ... Creighton's .714 hitting percentage in the third set was tied for its third best ever in any set, and the only better mark in a set to 25 points or longer was when CU hit .818 in the first set on Oct. 6, 2017, also at DePaul ... Creighton improved to 25-3 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up 10 or more aces ... The crowd of 1,544 exceeded DePaul's total for its previous nine home matches ... Creighton has won 126 straight matches when hitting .300 or better ... Creighton has won 85 straight matches vs. BIG EAST teams when winning set three, 84 in a row when owning more digs than its BIG EAST opponent, 81 when owning more aces than its BIG EAST opponent, and 73 in a row over unranked teams when winning set one.
Team Stats
CU
DePaul
Kills
43
32
Errors
10
12
Attempts
77
87
Hitting %
.429
.230
Points
57.0
37.0
Assists
38
28
Aces
11
2
Blocks
3.0
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
4
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
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