Creighton Volleyball (11-4, 4-0 Big East) dominated its competition this past weekend, sweeping Seton Hall on Friday and St. John’s on Saturday. Although both matches were on the road, Creighton didn’t drop a single set.
Creighton moved up from No. 14 to No. 12 in the lastest American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings released on Monday.
The Jays’ first match against Seton Hall was the closer of the two, as the Jays won by scores of 26-24, 25-12, 25-21.
Although Creighton started the set on a 4-0 run, Seton Hall came back with a 9-2 run giving them a 9-6 lead and forcing the Jays to take a timeout. Throughout the first set, the teams had 13 ties and six lead changes. The Jays trailed 24-23 late in the first set but senior Marysa Wilkinson came up with a kill to tie the match, and the Jays pulled away with a 26-24 win.
The Jays hit .379 in the second set, leading them to a 25-12 win. The third set was similar to the first, with five ties and four lead changes. A .385 hitting percentage and 18 kills allowed the Jays to pull away with a 25-21 win.
“This is a tough place to play,” Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “The first game was huge; it could have gone either way. I thought we had two really big blocks to win that and I think if we lose that game, it could have been a different outcome to the match.”
Creighton finished with a .340 hitting percentage, while Seton Hall hit .229 for the match. Wilkinson led the Bluejays with 13 kills, junior Jaali Winters added nine more and junior Taryn Kloth came up with four blocks.
The Bluejays had much more breathing room against St. John’s, winning 25-15, 25-20, 25-19. In the middle of the third set with the Jays leading 22-17, a fire alarm sounded inside the arena, giving both teams a 15-minute break from the match. Booth was happy the alarm didn’t go off when the set was closer.
“The timing of when it happened was fortunate. Had it been in the middle of a neck-and-neck match, it would have been more difficult,” she said.
This match saw Wilkinson become the 13th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills and saw Creighton trail only six times throughout the three games.
“I think the fun thing with Marysa is that she’s improved every single year,” said Booth. “It’s neat to see players truly make progress … She’s such a team player and selfless player who would do anything for the team to be successful. She’s a kid you wish you had in your program another four years.”
Kloth paced the Jays with 16 kills, Wilkinson had eight blocks and Lydia Dimke dished out 37 assists. Creighton’s hitting percentage was at .383 compared to .147 for St. John’s. The Jays beat or tied the Red Storm in every major statistical category.
“I thought we played [consistently] overall throughout the match,” Booth said. “We didn’t give up runs, we blocked and hit really well and were tough to defend. I still think we can get better defensively, but we showed some progress there.”
On Oct. 5, the Jays will travel to Marquette to take on the only other undefeated team in Big East play so far. Marquette is 11-5 on the season and 5-0 in the Big East.
Creighton will travel to Chicago on Friday for a match at DePaul (7-10, 1-4 Big East). The Jays will return to D.J. Sokol Arena to take on Butler (12-5, 2-3) on Oct. 13.