Friday, November 22
Omaha, Neb.
6:00 PM
Creighton University
23-4, 16-1BIG EAST
3
vs
1
Marquette
25-4, 15-2BIG EAST
1
2
3
4
F
Marquette
25
17
19
17
1
Creighton
22
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Corey Solotorovsky
#12 Volleyball Secures Sixth Consecutive BIG EAST Crown With 3-1 Win Over #9 Marquette
11/22/2019 8:23:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays win final three sets to take down No. 9 Golden Eagles
OMAHA, Neb. -- The No.12 Creighton Volleyball team secured at least a share of its sixth consecutive BIG EAST regular-season title and clinched the No. 1 seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship with a four-set victory over No. 9 Marquette on Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena. It was the program's first home win over a top-10 team in nine tries.
The Bluejays defeated the Golden Eagles by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-17 in front of 2,504 fans, the sixth-largest crowd in D.J. Sokol Arena history.Â
The win moved Creighton to 23-4 on the season and 16-1 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette fell to 25-4 overall and 15-2 in conference action. It is Creighton's eighth straight season of 23 or more victories.
Jaela Zimmerman paced the Bluejays with a career-high 18 kills and added 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Keeley Davis posted 12 kills and Annika Welty set a career-high with eight kills -- matching her season total entering the night -- as Creighton ended the match with a .270 hitting percentage.
The Bluejays also ended the night with a season-best 15 blocks, the most by a Creighton squad since Nov. 20, 2015 against Georgetown (16). Naomi Hickman had 10 blocks, one shy of her career-high set in the first meeting this fall at Marquette.
Creighton held Marquette to a season-low .078 hitting percentage. Allie Barber led the Golden Eagles with 13 kills, while Hope Werch had 12 and Hannah Vanden Berg added 11.
Marquette opened the night with a 25-22 victory. Neither team led by more than four points during the first set. The Bluejays led 12-8 after a kill by Welty, before the Golden Eagles used a 5-2 spurt to pull within one (14-13). Zimmerman recorded one of her six first-set kills to make it 15-13, but Marquette gained the lead by scoring the next three points. Creighton tied the match at 18-18 with a block from Welty and Hickman. Marquette regained the lead with two attack errors and did not trail for the remainder of the set.
Creighton turned the tide in the second set and hit a blistering .444 on its way to a 25-17 victory to even the match. Davis tallied eight kills and hit .700 during the Bluejays' eight-point set win. Creighton trailed 7-6 before the Bluejays scored five consecutive points, including four with Zimmerman behind the service line, and did not trail the remainder of the frame. Megan Ballenger's kill gave Creighton its largest lead at 24-15 and Ballenger clinched the set with a kill three points later.Â
The Bluejays trailed only once during the third set. Marquette led 3-1 but the Bluejays grabbed the lead with four straight points. Seven different Bluejays recorded at least one kill during the third set and Zimmerman had four. Marquette hit negative during the frame with 11 errors to only nine terminations (-.056 hitting percentage). Creighton posted four blocks in the third set, with Davis owning a hand in three of them.
Creighton ended the match with a decisive 25-17 victory in the fourth set. Once again, the Golden Eagles gained an early lead, but consecutive kills by Zimmerman quickly gave the Bluejays a 3-1 edge. Marquette tied the match at 3-3 before a Welty kill gave Creighton a 4-3 lead and the Bluejays did not relinquish their advantage. Creighton led by as many as nine and recorded five blocks in the final set, with Hickman involved in each stuff.
Creighton concludes the regular season against DePaul on Sunday at 11 a.m. inside D.J. Sokol Arena for the Bluejays' Senior Day. The Bluejays will honor seniors Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt following the match.
NOTES: The Bluejay volleyball team is the first program in Creighton Athletics history to win six consecutive regular-season conference titles ... Creighton can clinch its sixth straight outright title with a win on Sunday over DePaul, or a Marquette loss at Providence ... Creighton is now 14-1 in its last 15 matches against Marquette ... Creighton has won 44 straight regular-season BIG EAST home matches ... Creighton has beaten four top-25 teams this season, matching last year's program record for one campaign ... Creighton is now 26-1 all-time on BEDN ... Brittany Witt tied Kate Elman's school record with her 110th career match with 10 or more digs ... Creighton is now 18-78 all-time against top-25 teams, but 13-12 since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament ... Creighton improved to 7-31 all-time against top-10 teams, including a 7-24 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton has won 95 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the third set ... Creighton is now 14-17 all-time in matches involving a pair of top-25 teams ... The match was the first battle in the 11-year history of D.J. Sokol Arena between a pair of top-12 teams ... Naomi Hickman owns 35 blocks in the last four matches vs. Marquette (all CU wins), which spans 17 sets (2.06 bps.) ... Madelyn Cole had 48 assists and 15 digs (tying a season-high) for her 13th double-double this season ... Creighton's streak of 10 straight matches to end in three sets was snapped ... Brittany Witt had her first kill of the season, and eighth of her career. She also had 17 digs to draw within two of the 2,000 career dig milestone ... Grace Nelson had 12 digs, her most in any match during her two seasons at Creighton ...Annika Welty, who missed 22 matches due to injury before returning last weekend, entered the match with eight kills and three blocks all season before finishing with eight kills and six blocks tonight.
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The Bluejays defeated the Golden Eagles by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-17 in front of 2,504 fans, the sixth-largest crowd in D.J. Sokol Arena history.Â
The win moved Creighton to 23-4 on the season and 16-1 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette fell to 25-4 overall and 15-2 in conference action. It is Creighton's eighth straight season of 23 or more victories.
Jaela Zimmerman paced the Bluejays with a career-high 18 kills and added 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Keeley Davis posted 12 kills and Annika Welty set a career-high with eight kills -- matching her season total entering the night -- as Creighton ended the match with a .270 hitting percentage.
The Bluejays also ended the night with a season-best 15 blocks, the most by a Creighton squad since Nov. 20, 2015 against Georgetown (16). Naomi Hickman had 10 blocks, one shy of her career-high set in the first meeting this fall at Marquette.
Creighton held Marquette to a season-low .078 hitting percentage. Allie Barber led the Golden Eagles with 13 kills, while Hope Werch had 12 and Hannah Vanden Berg added 11.
Marquette opened the night with a 25-22 victory. Neither team led by more than four points during the first set. The Bluejays led 12-8 after a kill by Welty, before the Golden Eagles used a 5-2 spurt to pull within one (14-13). Zimmerman recorded one of her six first-set kills to make it 15-13, but Marquette gained the lead by scoring the next three points. Creighton tied the match at 18-18 with a block from Welty and Hickman. Marquette regained the lead with two attack errors and did not trail for the remainder of the set.
Creighton turned the tide in the second set and hit a blistering .444 on its way to a 25-17 victory to even the match. Davis tallied eight kills and hit .700 during the Bluejays' eight-point set win. Creighton trailed 7-6 before the Bluejays scored five consecutive points, including four with Zimmerman behind the service line, and did not trail the remainder of the frame. Megan Ballenger's kill gave Creighton its largest lead at 24-15 and Ballenger clinched the set with a kill three points later.Â
The Bluejays trailed only once during the third set. Marquette led 3-1 but the Bluejays grabbed the lead with four straight points. Seven different Bluejays recorded at least one kill during the third set and Zimmerman had four. Marquette hit negative during the frame with 11 errors to only nine terminations (-.056 hitting percentage). Creighton posted four blocks in the third set, with Davis owning a hand in three of them.
Creighton ended the match with a decisive 25-17 victory in the fourth set. Once again, the Golden Eagles gained an early lead, but consecutive kills by Zimmerman quickly gave the Bluejays a 3-1 edge. Marquette tied the match at 3-3 before a Welty kill gave Creighton a 4-3 lead and the Bluejays did not relinquish their advantage. Creighton led by as many as nine and recorded five blocks in the final set, with Hickman involved in each stuff.
Creighton concludes the regular season against DePaul on Sunday at 11 a.m. inside D.J. Sokol Arena for the Bluejays' Senior Day. The Bluejays will honor seniors Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt following the match.
NOTES: The Bluejay volleyball team is the first program in Creighton Athletics history to win six consecutive regular-season conference titles ... Creighton can clinch its sixth straight outright title with a win on Sunday over DePaul, or a Marquette loss at Providence ... Creighton is now 14-1 in its last 15 matches against Marquette ... Creighton has won 44 straight regular-season BIG EAST home matches ... Creighton has beaten four top-25 teams this season, matching last year's program record for one campaign ... Creighton is now 26-1 all-time on BEDN ... Brittany Witt tied Kate Elman's school record with her 110th career match with 10 or more digs ... Creighton is now 18-78 all-time against top-25 teams, but 13-12 since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament ... Creighton improved to 7-31 all-time against top-10 teams, including a 7-24 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton has won 95 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the third set ... Creighton is now 14-17 all-time in matches involving a pair of top-25 teams ... The match was the first battle in the 11-year history of D.J. Sokol Arena between a pair of top-12 teams ... Naomi Hickman owns 35 blocks in the last four matches vs. Marquette (all CU wins), which spans 17 sets (2.06 bps.) ... Madelyn Cole had 48 assists and 15 digs (tying a season-high) for her 13th double-double this season ... Creighton's streak of 10 straight matches to end in three sets was snapped ... Brittany Witt had her first kill of the season, and eighth of her career. She also had 17 digs to draw within two of the 2,000 career dig milestone ... Grace Nelson had 12 digs, her most in any match during her two seasons at Creighton ...Annika Welty, who missed 22 matches due to injury before returning last weekend, entered the match with eight kills and three blocks all season before finishing with eight kills and six blocks tonight.
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Team Stats
MU
CU
Kills
43
58
Errors
31
20
Attempts
153
141
Hitting %
.078
.270
Points
54.0
76.0
Assists
40
57
Aces
6
3
Blocks
5.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
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