Bluejay Invitational
#14 CREIGHTON DEF. #24 IOWA STATE 3-1
- #14 Creighton def. #24 Iowa State 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-16)
- #14 Creighton improves to 5-3; #24 Iowa State falls to 5-3
- Omaha, Nebraska | D.J. Sokol Arena
- Attendance: 2,290
- Box Score
- Creighton Release | Iowa State Release
Following a five-set loss to #8 Nebraska in which they lost a 2-0 set lead, Creighton fell behind early on Iowa State and was in danger of going down 0-2. They fought back in the second and went on to win in four to earn a bounce-back victory over a top 25 opponent in the Cyclones.
Creighton’s victory was led by the powerful swing of Taryn Kloth (23 kills, .281, 8 digs), along with fellow pin Jaali Winters (15 kills, .167, 26 digs) – who was unbelievable at gobbling up shots defensively. The combination totaled 38 of the team’s 57 kills, with everyone else combining to hit just .092, although Megan Ballenger (8 kills, .136, 3 blocks) was solid.
With the pair of Kloth and Winters leading the way, Creighton still wound up hitting better at .176 overall to Iowa State’s .156. They also had more aces (5-3) on three less serve errors, digs (79-77) led by Winters and Brittany Witt (16 digs), kills (57-49) and assists (53-49).
Iowa State was able to grab the early lead and almost a stranglehold with their defense and block (13-9 in team blocks). Leading both sides of the net were Jess Schaben (16 kills, .208, 17 digs) and Grace Lazard (11 kills, .292, 6 blocks, 5 digs). Hali Hillegas (25 digs) was the team’s leader in digs, only to be out-done by Winters. After hitting .265 in the first though, Iowa State hit just .171, .167 and .027 in order for the final three in fading away.
Creighton’s resume looks pretty good now, with their second top 25 victory and all three losses coming to ranked opponents with two in five sets. Iowa State meanwhile suffered their third loss through eight matches.
Continuing the tournament tomorrow will be Iowa State against Wichita State while Creighton will await the Shockers on Sunday.
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