Friday, October 18
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
14-3, 7-0BIG EAST
3
vs
0
Butler (Alumni Night)
7-12, 4-3BIG EAST
1
2
3
F
Butler
17
16
16
0
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Erica Kostelac had four aces on Friday to tie a career-high.
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Bluejays Blank Butler on Alumni Night For Ninth Straight Win
10/18/2019 8:39:00 PM | Volleyball
Megan Ballenger hits .750 in Creighton win
OMAHA, Neb. -- Senior Megan Ballenger hit .750 as the No. 11 Creighton Volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 victory over visiting Butler on Alumni Night at D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday, Oct. 18.
Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-16, 25-16.
Creighton won its ninth straight match to improve to 14-3 (7-0 BIG EAST). It was Creighton's 40th straight regular-season BIG EAST victory at home, and 30th in a row at all sites against BIG EAST competition. Butler fell to 7-12 (4-3 BIG EAST). The Bluejays have now won 12 consecutive matches against Butler.
Creighton got four kills each from Ballenger and Erica Kostelac to cruise to a 25-17 set one victory. The Bluejays used a 4-0 run on Jaela Zimmerman's serve to move ahead 10-7 and never looked back. A 4-0 serve on Madelyn Cole's serve a short time later made it 17-10, and a termination by Kostelac closed out the set one triumph.
Four different Bluejays owned three or more kills in the second frame, as Creighton never trailed in a 25-16 win. Cole dished 13 assists as Creighton hit .343 and had 16 kills with three aces, adding three blocks.
CU fell behind 2-0 to start the third set, only to reel off eight consecutive points on Kostelac's serve to take command. Kostelac had two of her career-high tying four aces during that run. Eight different Bluejays had at least one kill in the third game.
Creighton finished the match with 46 kills, nine aces, 52 digs and seven blocks on .314 hitting. Ballenger had 10 kills in 12 swings and hit .750, while Brittany Witt paced the defense with a dozen digs. Naomi Hickman had a hand in four of CU's seven blocks.
Butler got six kills each from Melody Davidson, Brittany Robinson and Anna Logan, while Elizabeth LaBue topped the Bulldogs with nine digs. Butler finished with 26 kills, three aces and 39 digs on .106 hitting. The Bulldogs entered the night second in the BIG EAST with 2.30 blocks per set, but managed just two rejections for the evening.
Creighton hosts Xavier (7-10, 4-3 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the program's annual Pink Out.
NOTES: Creighton has won 127 straight matches when hitting .300 or better, 86 in a row when winning the third set against a BIG EAST foe, 55 straight at home against unranked teams, 30 straight October home matches and 30 straight against teams that enter with a record under .500 ... Madelyn Cole has at least one ace in each of Creighton's last 10 matches ... Brittany Witt had 12 digs and has led CU in digs in each of the last 18 matches dating to late last season ... The team with more kills and more digs in each match of the Butler/Creighton series has gone on to win each of the 13 meetings ... Creighton's nine match win streak is the program's ninth-longest streak ever ... Madelyn Cole made her 100th career collegiate start, which dates back to her time at Marshall ... Creighton is 7-0 in league play. Each of the first three times CU started 7-0 in league play, the Jays would go on to win the regular-season and conference tournament title ... Megan Ballenger's .750 hitting percentage tied her career-best, also done in 2017 vs. DePaul ... Creighton improved to 88-0 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when leading 2-0 ... Creighton has now swept 64-of-113 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches.
Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-16, 25-16.
Creighton won its ninth straight match to improve to 14-3 (7-0 BIG EAST). It was Creighton's 40th straight regular-season BIG EAST victory at home, and 30th in a row at all sites against BIG EAST competition. Butler fell to 7-12 (4-3 BIG EAST). The Bluejays have now won 12 consecutive matches against Butler.
Creighton got four kills each from Ballenger and Erica Kostelac to cruise to a 25-17 set one victory. The Bluejays used a 4-0 run on Jaela Zimmerman's serve to move ahead 10-7 and never looked back. A 4-0 serve on Madelyn Cole's serve a short time later made it 17-10, and a termination by Kostelac closed out the set one triumph.
Four different Bluejays owned three or more kills in the second frame, as Creighton never trailed in a 25-16 win. Cole dished 13 assists as Creighton hit .343 and had 16 kills with three aces, adding three blocks.
CU fell behind 2-0 to start the third set, only to reel off eight consecutive points on Kostelac's serve to take command. Kostelac had two of her career-high tying four aces during that run. Eight different Bluejays had at least one kill in the third game.
Creighton finished the match with 46 kills, nine aces, 52 digs and seven blocks on .314 hitting. Ballenger had 10 kills in 12 swings and hit .750, while Brittany Witt paced the defense with a dozen digs. Naomi Hickman had a hand in four of CU's seven blocks.
Butler got six kills each from Melody Davidson, Brittany Robinson and Anna Logan, while Elizabeth LaBue topped the Bulldogs with nine digs. Butler finished with 26 kills, three aces and 39 digs on .106 hitting. The Bulldogs entered the night second in the BIG EAST with 2.30 blocks per set, but managed just two rejections for the evening.
Creighton hosts Xavier (7-10, 4-3 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the program's annual Pink Out.
NOTES: Creighton has won 127 straight matches when hitting .300 or better, 86 in a row when winning the third set against a BIG EAST foe, 55 straight at home against unranked teams, 30 straight October home matches and 30 straight against teams that enter with a record under .500 ... Madelyn Cole has at least one ace in each of Creighton's last 10 matches ... Brittany Witt had 12 digs and has led CU in digs in each of the last 18 matches dating to late last season ... The team with more kills and more digs in each match of the Butler/Creighton series has gone on to win each of the 13 meetings ... Creighton's nine match win streak is the program's ninth-longest streak ever ... Madelyn Cole made her 100th career collegiate start, which dates back to her time at Marshall ... Creighton is 7-0 in league play. Each of the first three times CU started 7-0 in league play, the Jays would go on to win the regular-season and conference tournament title ... Megan Ballenger's .750 hitting percentage tied her career-best, also done in 2017 vs. DePaul ... Creighton improved to 88-0 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when leading 2-0 ... Creighton has now swept 64-of-113 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches.
Team Stats
BU
CU
Kills
26
46
Errors
15
13
Attempts
104
105
Hitting %
.106
.314
Points
31.0
62.0
Assists
24
45
Aces
3
9
Blocks
2.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
4
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball#18 Creighton Volleyball vs. #1 Nebraska Highlights - 9/16/25
Wednesday, September 17
Creighton Volleyball vs. Nebraska Press Conference - 9/16/25
Monday, September 15
Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. UNI - 9/14/25
Sunday, September 14
Creighton Volleyball Press Conference vs. UNI - 9/14/25
Sunday, September 14
