On the night in which five seniors were honored, freshman defensive specialist Ashley Jansen’s clutch serving at the end of set number three gave the Jays a key 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth set.
“When you get thrown in you have to stay cool and collected,” Jansen said of competing in such a high-pressure situation.
“Ashley was ice cold; hadn’t played the entire match, and then they ice her even more by calling timeout,” head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “For her to hit those serves I told her ‘You’ve got ice in your veins, girl.’”
Jansen served the final three points of the set.
After closing out set number three, the No. 23 Jays (24-3, 15-1 in MVC) defeated the Illinois State Redbirds in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 25-17) on Senior Night. Saturday’s win gave the Bluejays at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title.
“(Winning a MVC championship) has always been a goal since day one,” senior setter Megan Bober said. “We have the talent to do it and this year we have all the pieces that can put us into a position to win that conference championship.”
In her final regular-season home match, Bober posted a triple-double with 12 kills, 38 assists and 19 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Kelli Browning’s 14th kill of the night brought the Jays within one point at 24-23, setting the stage for Jansen’s heroics in the third set.
Browning led the Jays with 17 kills Saturday.
Browning and Bober teamed up for a block to tie the game at 24, Jansen’s ace gave the Jays the lead and Bober’s kill, assisted by senior defensive specialist Brooke Boggs, gave the Jays the crucial 26-24 victory in set number three.
“We had a great comeback win in that third set and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end,” Bober said.
“If you’re at a 1-1 situation, the third set usually is the biggest indicator of who is going to be the victor,” Booth said.
Illinois State wouldn’t go down without a fight in the fourth set, taking a quick 3-0 advantage. The Jays countered with a 7-1 run to take the lead.
After building a comfortable 12-7 advantage, the Redbirds jumped out on a 7-1 run of their own, taking a 14-13 lead.
The Jays and Redbirds tied at 15 and 16 before the Bluejays finished the match with a 9-1 run. Senior middle blocker Heather Thorson ended the night with her fifth kill of the match.
To open the first set Saturday, senior defensive specialist Brittany Moon served for the Jays. Moon battled a knee injury all season and did not see any action outside of Saturday night. Moon served the Jays to a 1-1 tie before exiting for the final time at D.J. Sokol Arena.
The 1,393 strong at Sokol Arena were into the game from the start. Long rallies in all four sets kept the crowd on the edge of their seats all night long.
Set number two that went to the Redbirds had 15 ties and six lead changes. During the entire match there were 38 ties and 19 lead changes.
Bober, Boggs, Moon, Thorson, junior outside hitter Natalie Hackbarth and manager Brittany Wing were honored after Saturday’s match as part of the Senior Night festivities.
The Jays kicked off the weekend with a dominating win against Indiana State University. The Jays won easily in three sets, taking an early lead in each set that they never relinquished.
Creighton opened the first set on a 5-0 run thanks to two early kills by freshman outside hitter Melanie Jereb. The Jays continued to cruise, winning the first set 25-15 and holding Indiana State to just .000 hitting. The next two sets followed the same pattern, as Creighton won 25-11 and 25-15.
Jereb finished with a team-high 11 kills. Browning chipped in 10 kills, while senior Megan Bober finished with 27 assists and 11 digs.
The team finished with seven blocks, 35 assists and 50 digs.
“We are definitely peaking at the right time,” Bober said. “It was good to control the game from the start.”
Jereb agreed with Bober’s assessment.
“We came out really focused,” Jereb said. “We carried over the same energy from practice and from the big win last week. We weren’t afraid of a letdown because we knew we could play our best volleyball.”
Jereb did point out some areas the team could improve.
“We could have done better with our serves,” Jereb said. “We also probably lost a little bit of our focus when a player on Indiana State got injured.”
The Jays close the regular season at Wichita State University on Friday and Missouri State University on Saturday. Both games start at 7 p.m.
A win in either match would give the Jays the out-right conference title.
Booth said that is nice to say that they have at won at least part of the title, but she says that the team knows there is still work to be done.
“It’s a neat thing for the program,” Booth said. “Before I got here we were playing in a high school. The team was playing at Omaha South, and then we moved to the Civic Auditorium and it’s been a process of great young women who built this. It’s not just about this team; it’s also about all the people that came prior. It is exciting. I don’t want to reflect on (clinching a share of the title) too much because we’ve still got a lot to go.”