WICHITA, Kan. — The Creighton Volleyball team earned its fifth straight win and improved to 11-1 for the first time with a 3-0 victory vs. South Dakota on Saturday afternoon at the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita, Kan.
Scores of the Bluejay sweep were 25-17, 25-14, 25-18.
Creighton took a 1-0 lead in the match via a 25-17 victory in the first set. Just as she did last night, Abby Bottomley used an extended serving run to help Creighton move ahead, this time 12-4 after six straight serves. USD would draw within one point at 16-15 but get no closer as CU finished the frame with a 9-2 run. Bottomley had 11 digs and Norah Sis owned five kills and four digs to pace CU. USD hit just .065 as star outside hitter Elizabeth Juhnke hit -.222 with six attack errors in 18 swings.
The Bluejays pulled free from an early 4-4 tie as Jaela Zimmerman served up a 5-0 run to move ahead 9-4, followed a short time later by a 4-0 surge to make it 15-7. Bottomley closed out the set with a 6-0 serving run as the Jays closed out the 25-14 win on a kill from kill from Kiana Schmitt.
Bottomley’s ace early in the third set moved the Bluejay advantage to 9-4 and laid the groundwork for CU’s ninth sweep in 12 matches this fall.
Three Bluejays had double-doubles, Zimmerman (16 kills, 16 digs), Sis (12 kills, 10 digs) and Kendra Wait (34 assists, 17 digs), and Bottomley recorded a match-leading 22 digs. Naomi Hickman was a big part of CU’s impressive blocking day, leading all players with six rejections. Creighton finished with 48 kills, five aces, 77 digs and 10 blocks on .303 hitting.
USD was paced by 10 kills from Juhnke, who hit .000 for the afternoon on 51 swings. Omaha Marian product Lolo Weideman paced the Coyotes with 19 digs. South Dakota owned 27 kills, two aces, 59 digs and six blocks on .084 hitting.
WICHITA, Kan. — No. 17 Creighton Volleyball won its unprecedented fourth straight tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Wichita State to claim the Shocker Volleyball Classic title on Saturday night at Charles Koch Arena. Senior Jaela Zimmerman was named Tournament MVP for the third straight weekend and joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow Bluejays Kendra Wait and Abby Bottomley.
Scores of CU’s victory were 26-24, 25-23, 25-18.
Creighton has now won 13 straight sets and improved its best start in program history to 12-1 overall. Wichita State fell to 6-3 overall after losing for the second time in 10 hours on Saturday.
Creighton took an 8-7 lead in the first set and would not trail again in a first set that featured 11 ties. The Bluejays were ahead 23-20 and 24-22, only to allow the Shockers to rally and even the score at 24-all. Following a timeout, Norah Sis had her set-leading fifth kill before Kiana Schmitt and Kendra Wait teamed up to block Kailin Newsome to end the frame. Wait finished the first set with 12 assists, four digs and three blocks while Abby Bottomley owned 10 of Creighton’s 29 digs in the opening set as the Shockers were held to .137 hitting.
Creighton trailed for much of the second set before a 5-0 blitz on Keeley Davis’ serve to move in front 23-21. The Shockers responded by tying the score at 23 before CU closed out the set with kills by Norah Sis and Jaela Zimmerman. It’s the 12th time in 13 matches this season that Creighton has led 2-0 at intermission.
“I thought Wichita played a great match. I thought it was the best that we’ve seen them play,” said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. “We still did the things we’ve been hanging our hats on. We stayed in long points. We did disrupt them some with our serving. It was a grind. Obviously game one and game two could have gone either way. I actually said during it ‘this is so good for us’ because we haven’t had a ton of competitive games, so I like that we were in some of those situations of having to work through those things.”
Zimmerman helped Creighton make quick work of the Shockers in the third set, serving three aces during an early 8-0 run that put CU in front 12-5. The Bluejays would lead by as much as 19-10 and end up winning a 25-18 decision. CU hit .395 in the final set as Wait dished 19 assists in the game.
Zimmerman led Creighton with 17 kills, 13 digs and four aces while Sis contributed 13 kills and 10 digs. Bottomley notched 17 digs and Ellie Bolton contributed a season-best 15 digs in the return to her home state. Creighton finished with 49 kills, four aces, 68 digs and seven blocks on .237 hitting.
“A lot of the shots she takes, you have to take risks,” said Booth of Zimmerman. “Her high hands shot is really impressive and then she’s mixing roll shots in and her serve is now one of the best on the team. She’s such a great passer and defender. She’s playing great volleyball and is really leading this team really well.”
Wichita State was paced by 10 kills from Brylee Kelly, while Kayce Litzau added 27 assists and 11 digs. The Shockers owned 39 kills, three aces, 63 digs and five blocks on .150 hitting.
