MATCH STATS
- #16 Creighton def. Butler, 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9)
- Creighton improves to 13-5, 6-1; Butler falls to 14-6, 4-4
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Attendance: 1605
- Box score
OMAHA, Neb. – The Butler Bulldogs gave #16 Creighton quite a scare on Friday the 13th. BU took the first two sets and were tied at 20 in the third and at 19 in the fourth. Butler even had an 8-7 lead at the change-over in set 5. However, season-best and career-best performances from multiple Bluejays led to the perennial Big East power to their eighth-straight victory over Butler.
Creighton were led offensively by Jaali Winters tied her career-high with 28 kills, 18 of which were in the final three sets. She completed her double-double with 19 digs on the evening, and served up an ace on match point. Winters broke her own kill record in Omaha, which was 25 against Kansas State on Sept. 20, 2015. Others in on the offensive outburst included Taryn Cloth (18 kills), Marysa Wilkinson (15 kills), Purdue transfer Lydia Dimke (7 kills) and Naomi Hickman (career-high 7 kills) with season-bests of their own. Libero Brittany Witt had a season-high of 30 digs, and Dimke added a career-high of 65 assists and completed her double-double with 13 digs. Samantha Bohnet also dug 20 balls for a career-high of her own.
Butler had multiple players with double-doubles. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was a team-best 16 kills from Whitney Beck. She added 10 digs for the defense. Other double-doubles included Makayla Ferguson (49 assists, team-high 21 digs), Anna Logan (13 kills, 18 digs) and Natalie Ravanell (10 kills, 18 digs). Bri Lilly contributed 13 kills (hitting .355) and a match-high 8 blocks. Brooke Gregory added 16 kills without a hitting error to finish the night hitting .533.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Creighton Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. — No. 17 Creighton Volleyball overcame an 0-2 hole to rally to beat Butler in five sets before 1,605 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday night.
Scores of the match in favor of the victorious hosts were 19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9.
Creighton junior Jaali Winters tied her career-high with 28 kills, tied for third-most in Creighton history, in the win. Eighteen of her kills came after the intermission, including eight in the fourth set and four more in the fifth frame. She also served up an ace on match point. Winters added 19 digs and two blocks in the contest.
In addition to Winters, Taryn Kloth (18), Marysa Wilkinson (15), Lydia Dimke (7) and Naomi Hickman (7) each added season-bests in kills. Brittany Witt scooped a season-high 30 digs and Dimke dished a career-best 65 assists to go with 13 digs.
Creighton (13-5, 6-1 BIG EAST) had 84 kills, 79 assists and 106 digs — all D.J. Sokol Arena records for a team — in addition to adding nine blocks and three aces on .282 hitting.
Butler (14-6, 4-4 BIG EAST) finished with 71 kills, two aces, 87 digs and 13.0 blocks on .275 hitting. Five Bulldogs had double-figure kills, paced by 16 each from Whitney Beck and Brooke Gregory. Setter Makayla Ferguson had 49 assists and 21 digs, and Bri Lilly added eight block assists.
Butler controlled the first set, hitting .366 in a 25-19 victory. The Bulldogs pulled away from a 12-10 lead with a 10-4 burst to lead 22-14. Ferguson dished her 13th assist to Beck to close out the first frame.
The second set featured 10 ties and four lead changes before the Butler won a 26-24 frame. Creighton led 20-17 and 22-20 before the Bulldogs rallied. BU’s Natalie Ravenell put down a kll to break a 24-all knot, and Beck once again silenced the home crowd with a kill on set point for the 26-24 victory. Ravenell had six kills and three digs in the second set for BU, which had a whopping 24 kills in the second set, hitting .382. Winters heated up for CU with six kills and eight digs in the frame
Winters and Kloth each had six kills in the third set, while Megan Ballenger had three of CU’s four blocks, in a 25-21 Bluejay win to extend the match. The match was even at 20-all before CU closed out the set on a 5-1 run, including a block from Ballenger and Dimke on set point.
The fourth set was deadlocked at 19-each before Creighton won a key instant replay reversal to go ahead 20-19. Winters would pound kills for CU’s 23rd, 24th and 25th points of the fourth set. Dimke dished 15 assists and dug seven balls in the fourth frame, as CU had 20 kills in a 25-23 triumph to force a fifth set.
Creighton ventured to the fifth set for just the second time this season, and emerged victorious for the first time since three straight five-set wins in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Butler led 8-7 when the teams switched benches in the fifth set, only to see Creighton close the match on an 8-1 run. Samantha Bohnet served five of those points, while Winters initiated the final two points. Winters and Wilkinson each had four kills in the fifth set, while Witt dug nine balls in the decisive frame.
Courtesy of Butler Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. – The upset-minded Butler Bulldogs won the first two sets at #17 Creighton on Friday night, but were ultimately defeated 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9). BU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two sets, but three-straight from the Bluejays would move Butler’s overall record to 14-6.
The Bulldogs had five players end the match with a double figure kill total. The balanced attack allowed Butler to hit .275 as a team. Brooke Gregory led the charge offensively with 16 kills off 30 swings. She didn’t commit a single error in the contest to end the night with a .533 attack percentage.
Whitney Beck tied Gregory for the team-high in kills with 16. She walked off the court with a double-double by adding 10 digs.
Beck was one of four Bulldogs to notch a double-double at Creighton. Anna Logan posted 13 kills, 18 digs and six blocks against the Bluejays and fellow outside hitter Natalie Ravenell posted 10 kills and 18 digs. Senior Makayla Ferguson was fantastic for Butler in a losing effort with 49 assists and 21 digs.
Butler’s defense also got a lift from libero Taylor Takeda and middle blocker Bri Lilly. Takeda tallied 16 digs while Lilly led all players at the net with eight blocks.
Creighton was led by Jaali Winters who ended the contest with 28 kills and 19 digs. Setter Lydia Dimke added 65 assists and 13 digs while Taryn Kloth posted 18 kills.
Butler broke and 8-8 tie in the opening set to take a 15-10 lead at the midway point. A 7-2 scoring run featured a pair of kills from Lilly to give Butler the upper hand. Creighton never closed the gap and one final kill from Beck would put BU up 1-0 after the 25-19 win.
The home team really got a scare on Friday the 13th after Butler posted a 26-24 win in the second set. Creighton enjoyed a 22-20 lead after a kill from Winters, but the Bulldogs would battle back to tie the game at 24-24. Ravenell pushed the team to set point with a kill and Beck would once again finish the action with a kill off an assist from Ferguson.
Creighton stayed alive in the third set by posting a 25-21 win. The two teams came together at 20-20, but the Bluejays would score five of the last six points to avoid the sweep.
The fourth set also came down to the wire as BU went into crunch time trailing 23-22. Winters would stand tall in the final moments of action with two big kills allowing the Bluejays to win 25-23.
The two evenly matched programs would switch sides in the fifth set with Butler winning 8-7. Unfortunately, after the swap, BU would go cold allowing Creighton to end the match on an 8-1 scoring run.
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