#6 Creighton Remains Unbeaten After Sweep Of Kentucky

  0 Carly DeMarque | September 02nd, 2017 | College - Women's Indoor, Division I Mid-Major, News, SEC

Match Results

  • #6 Creighton def. #14 Kentucky 3-0, (25-20, 26-24, 25-20)
  • Omaha, Nebraska
  • Bluejay Invitational
  • Attendance: 2,578
  • Match Stats

Creighton continues to show the country they are worth their #6 ranking with an easy sweep over #14 Kentucky at the Bluejay Invitational. The match was the first time that Creighton has hosted a ranked teams as a ranked opponent themselves in front of their second ever sellout crowd.

The Bluejay squad has been a force to be reckoned with in the volleyball world in the past year, having won their last 27 of 28 matches (fell to Texas in the 2016 NCAA Tournament), and have won 94 straight matches when hitting .300 or better.

The Wildcats started off the match with a point, but this would the only lead Kentucky would hold throughout the first two sets. Creighton pulled away with a small lead midset, which Kentucky couldn’t catch back up to, with the Bluejays taking the 1-0 match lead 25-20 in the first.

The Bluejays never trailed in the second set, as they took a commanding lead at 19-13 late in the set. This wasn’t it though, as the Wildcats fought their way back to tie the set up at 23 all then 24-24. A Megan Ballenger and Naomi Hickman block put the Bluejays at set point, followed by a Jaali Winters kill to take the 2-0 lead 26-24.

Kentucky finally took a lead in the match, before Creighton swooped back in with consecutive Lydia Dimke aces to give the Bluejays a 15-14 lead. This sparked a chain of points for the home squad as they finished with a 25-20 third set win to complete the sweep.

Prior to the match, Winters was honored for reaching her 1,000th kill last week against Saint Mary’s. During the match, Winters added another 15 kills to her tally while Dimke dished out 31 assists, seven digs and three blocks.

For Kentucky, Leah Edmond put down 18 kills and 11 digs for a double-double while Avery Skimmer added another 14 kills.

Press Release

Courtesy of Creighton Athletics

Playing in front of a D. J. Sokol record crowd of 2,578 the No. 7 Creighton volleyball team swept No. 13 Kentucky in the Bluejay Invitational presented by First National Bank on Friday, Sept. 1.

Set scores for the match were 25-20, 26-24 and 25-20. The Bluejays improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2013 with the win, one victory shy of matching the best start in the program’s modern history first done in 2006.

Coming off a win at then-No. 3 Washington, and playing in front their first home sellout since 2010, Creighton managed its emotions like a team that’s played in consecutive Sweet 16’s and won big matches before.

UK scored the first point of the match, but that would be the only Wildcats lead in the first two sets. Creighton went ahead 7-4, though Kentucky (3-1) tied the score at 9-9. A kill from Megan Ballenger gave CU the lead for good in the first frame. A key turning point was a kill from Marysa Wilkinson to give the Bluejays a 23-18 lead. It came after Taryn Kloth hustled to keep a ball alive in front of the Bluejay bench, and middle blocker Wilkinson passed the ball over her head with a blind bump that improbably, fell to ground on the Kentucky side for a kill. The Bluejays won the first frame by a score of 25-20.  Creighton had three blocks and hit .314 in the first set, led by four kills by Jaali Winters.

Creighton never trailed in the second set, though it wasn’t without drama. The Bluejays looked in control with a 19-13 lead in the second set before the Wildcats rallied to knot the score at 23-all. The teams traded sideouts to knot the score at 24-all, before Ballenger and freshman Naomi Hickman teamed to stuff Avery Skinner at the net to earn a set point. Winters would put away a kill after an overpass to send the Jays to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.  Winters had seven kills in the second set as CU hit .343. Lydia Dimke dished 14 assists, spread across four teammates, while also adding four digs and a kill of her own.

Kentucky led for the first half of the third set before consecutive aces by Dimke gave Creighton a 15-14 lead. CU wouldn’t trail again. The Jays went up 23-18 on an ace by Samantha Bohnetand picked their second consecutive victory over a ranked team with a Wildcat service error on match point. Bohnet had five digs in the final set for CU as the Jays repeatedly kept alive swings by Kentucky’s potent offense. Dimke had 10 assists, three aces and two kills in the final set while directing the Bluejays to a .406 hitting percentage.

Winters led Creighton with 15 kills and .400 hitting in the match, while Dimke finished with 31 assists, seven digs, three aces and six kills on .857 hitting. The Bluejays recorded 45 kills, five aces, 44 digs and 6.5 blocks on .353 hitting.

Kentucky was led by 18 kills by Leah Edmond and 14 more from Avery Skinner, but the rest of the team had just 13 terminations. Gabby Curry had a match-best 14 digs for the UK defense. Kentucky recorded 45 kills, three aces, 42 digs and 3.0 blocks on .243 hitting overall.

Play continues in the Bluejay Invitational on Saturday with four matches. Kentucky meets UNI at 10 am, followed by Creighton vs. No. 18 USC at 12:30 pm. The evening session begins at 6 pm when USC meets Kentucky, followed by the 8 pm finale when Creighton hosts UNI. UNI defeated USC in four sets on Friday in the first match of the Bluejay Invitational.

NOTES: The crowd of 2,578 was the second sellout in D.J. Sokol Arena history, joining a capacity crowd vs. Nebraska in 2010 … It was Creighton’s fifth-largest home crowd in history, trailing four crowds of 8,000 or more at CenturyLink Center Omaha … Among those in attendance was former National Player of the Year Doug McDermott, who starred at Creighton from 2010-14 and now plays in the NBA for the Oklahoma City Thunder … Tonight was the first match Creighton has hosted as a ranked team while playing another ranked team … Creighton and Kentucky have alternated sweeps the last four years, with CU winning in 2015 and 2017 and UK emerging victorious in 2014 and 2016 … Jaali Winters was honored prior to the match for collecting her 1,000th career kill last Friday vs. Saint Mary’s … Creighton has won 94 straight matches when hitting .300 or better … Creighton tied a school-record with its 13th straight home win … Creighton has won 27 of its last 28 matches … The 2017 Bluejay Invitational was the nation’s only four-team tournament this weekend with four unbeaten teams entering the day … Creighton’s 13-match home win streak is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the country, trailing only Minnesota, Yale, BYU and Nebraska … Creighton improved to 16-8 all-time in home openers and 11-4 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth … Creighton improved to 9-67 all-time against top-25 competition, but has gone 4-1 against ranked teams since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament … Creighton is now 5-6 as a ranked team when facing another ranked team … Creighton improved to 2-22 all-time at home against ranked teams, with the first win coming on Oct. 2, 2009 vs. No. 25 Wichita State … Creighton improved to 250-9 all-time when leading a match 2-0 … Jaali Winters has had 10 or more kills in each of her last 13 matches, tied for fifth in CU history.

Press Release

Courtesy of Kentucky Athletics

The No. 13 Kentucky volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the season after falling 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20) to No. 7 Creighton inside the D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday night. With the loss, UK falls to 3-1 while Creighton improves to 4-0.

The Wildcats are back in action with two matches tomorrow to finish the Bluejay Invitational. UK will face Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. ET and Southern California at 7 p.m. ET.

“We gave ourselves chances at the end of set two and we had a lot of kills,” head coach Craig Skinner said. “Creighton caused us some problems and I think as we grow as a team over the next several weeks this will be a great match to pull from to figure out how we can keep getting better.”

Sophomore Leah Edmond led the way with 18 kills on 37 swings. Edmond also added 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Freshman Avery Skinner had a breakout match, putting up 14 kills on 30 swings. She earned career-bests in kills and attacking percentage at .367. Senior Emily Franklinchipped in six kills, while senior Kaz Brown had four. Also recording kills were junior Brooke Morganwith two and senior Darian Mack with one.

“Impressive performance from Avery (Skinner) to come out of her shell and get a little more comfortable,” Skinner added. We saw her hit the shots we’ve seen her hit in practice and it was a great springboard opportunity for her.”

Freshman Madison Lilley put up 40 assists for the second time in her young career. She also added four digs and assisted on a block.

Defensively, freshman Gabby Curry had her fourth double-digit dig total after posting 14. Junior Merideth Jewell chipped in with seven scoops while McKenzie Watson had two of her own.

SET RECAPS

Set 1
Kentucky served to start the match and earned a point on a Darian Mack kill with an assist from Lilley. Play went back-and-fourth until Creighton earned a small 7-4 lead. Kentucky cut the lead to one with back-to-back kills from Skinner. CU held its two point advantage until rattling off four straight points to extend its advantage to 14-10 and forced a UK timeout. Skinner went back-to-back again to make it 17-15 and the Bluejay advantage held at two until UK was forced to call time at 22-18. Kentucky was able to record two more points before the Bluejays won the set, 25-20. Edmond posted seven kills on 15 swings in the first set and Lilley put up 15 assists.

Set 2
Despite a challenge from Skinner, Creighton took the two points of the set. UK got on the board after a CU ball handling error. UK went down 4-1 before an error and a Brown and Lilley block cut the lead to one. Play seesawed until CU put up three straight points to go ahead 11-6 and forced a Kentucky timeout. Franklin earned a kill out of the timeout. The Bluejays maintained their advantage and even extended it to 19-13 before a service error and a Jewell ace helped kill the run and get the score to 19-15. After a Creighton point, UK earned three straight points to make it 20-18, forcing a Creighton timeout. Both teams traded points until a Watson ace brought UK within one at 21-20. Play seesawed once again until Kentucky tied the match at 23-23 with a Skinner termination. Edmond forced 24-24 before Creighton won the second set 26-24. Edmond led the way with five kills on 10 swings, while Curry posted five digs.

Set 3
Creighton earned the first point of the match but Brown responded immediately to even the score. Neither team could grab an advantage until Franklin and Skinner earned UK a 6-4 lead. Creighton tied it at 6-6 and each team answered each other until 11-11. Back-to-back Skinner kills put UK up two but Creighton responded and took the lead at 15-14. A three-point run forced a Kentucky timeout and gave CU a 19-16 lead. Edmond single handedly stopped the run with a kill and solo block to bring the Cats within one at 19-18. Creighton extended its lead at 21-18 and Kentucky used a timeout. The Wildcats were able to manage two more points after Brown and Edmond kills but CU won the set, 25-20. The Wildcats hit .333 in the third set with Edmond and Skinner each posting six kills.

BY THE NUMBERS
9 – Career double-doubles for Leah Edmond
2 – Number of career 40+ assist games for Madison Lilley
2 – Career highs set by Avery Skinner (kills, attack percentage)

Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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