Friday, September 2
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
2-1
3
vs
0
Northern Iowa
2-2
1
2
3
F
Creighton
25
32
27
3
Northern Iowa
20
30
25
0
Jess Bird
Photo by: Wesley Winterink
Volleyball Opens West Coast Trip With Sweep of UNI
9/2/2016 8:21:00 PM | Volleyball
Megan Ballenger shines in sweep of UNI
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- No. 22 Creighton Volleyball saved six set points in the second frame and seven overall in a 3-0 sweep of former MVC rival Northern Iowa on Friday night at the USC Radisson Classic in Los Angeles, Calif.
Scores of Creighton's second sweep in 48 all-time meetings with UNI were 25-20, 32-30, 27-25.
Creighton (2-1) rallied to win the first set, scoring the final six points on Megan Ballenger's serve to seal a 25-20 victory. The Bluejays trailed 19-17 late before making their late-set push. Jess Bird led CU with five kills in the first set, while Brittany Witt had six digs and Lydia Dimke eight assists. CU hit .263 in the first set, while UNI (2-2) hit .270 and was paced by five kills from Bri Weber.
Both teams had to dig deep in the second set before CU emerged with a 32-30 victory to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. CU saved six set points in the frame before a kill from Jaali Winters helped the defending BIG EAST champs convert its second set point opportunity.
Creighton then overcame a 21-18 deficit in the final set to pull out the victory over the Panthers, including a sideout when UNI had a set point at 24-23.
"I thought at end game tonight we were really good," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "When we were facing set points almost every time we had a good pass and a first ball kill. We talk about needing to put the ball down, and we did almost every time, which I thought was impressive"
Ballenger paced Creighton with 11 kills in her first career start, adding six digs and two aces. Bird finished with a double-double (10 kills, 10 digs), and Witt collected a team-high 15 digs. Dimke led CU with 38 assists, and fellow junior Marysa Wilkinson topped the club with two blocks. Creighton had 50 kills, four aces, 50 digs and three blocks on .237 hitting.
UNI was led by 10 kills each from Weber and Kayla Haneline, with Weber adding 10 digs. Amie Held owned a match-high 16 digs, and Heather Hook finished with 30 assists and nine digs. The Panthers finished with 41 kills, three aces, 56 digs and 10 blocks on .217 hitting.
Creighton returns to action with two matches on Saturday, starting with a 2 pm Central contest against No. 23 Kentucky.
NOTES: Creighton is just 7-41 all-time against Northern Iowa, but is 4-1 in the last five meetings against the Panthers ... The 48 all-time meetings are more than any other opponent ... Jaali Winters had her streak of double-figure kill matches snapped at 21, the second-longest mark in program history. She had nine kills ... Northern Iowa has won 20 or more games in 14 of the last 16 seasons ... Jess Bird now owns 31 career double-doubles, and tonight was her 50th match with 10 or more kills ... Creighton improved to 218-25 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when winning the first set ... The sweep was Creighton's first 3-0 win of the fall.
Scores of Creighton's second sweep in 48 all-time meetings with UNI were 25-20, 32-30, 27-25.
Creighton (2-1) rallied to win the first set, scoring the final six points on Megan Ballenger's serve to seal a 25-20 victory. The Bluejays trailed 19-17 late before making their late-set push. Jess Bird led CU with five kills in the first set, while Brittany Witt had six digs and Lydia Dimke eight assists. CU hit .263 in the first set, while UNI (2-2) hit .270 and was paced by five kills from Bri Weber.
Both teams had to dig deep in the second set before CU emerged with a 32-30 victory to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. CU saved six set points in the frame before a kill from Jaali Winters helped the defending BIG EAST champs convert its second set point opportunity.
Creighton then overcame a 21-18 deficit in the final set to pull out the victory over the Panthers, including a sideout when UNI had a set point at 24-23.
"I thought at end game tonight we were really good," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "When we were facing set points almost every time we had a good pass and a first ball kill. We talk about needing to put the ball down, and we did almost every time, which I thought was impressive"
Ballenger paced Creighton with 11 kills in her first career start, adding six digs and two aces. Bird finished with a double-double (10 kills, 10 digs), and Witt collected a team-high 15 digs. Dimke led CU with 38 assists, and fellow junior Marysa Wilkinson topped the club with two blocks. Creighton had 50 kills, four aces, 50 digs and three blocks on .237 hitting.
UNI was led by 10 kills each from Weber and Kayla Haneline, with Weber adding 10 digs. Amie Held owned a match-high 16 digs, and Heather Hook finished with 30 assists and nine digs. The Panthers finished with 41 kills, three aces, 56 digs and 10 blocks on .217 hitting.
Creighton returns to action with two matches on Saturday, starting with a 2 pm Central contest against No. 23 Kentucky.
NOTES: Creighton is just 7-41 all-time against Northern Iowa, but is 4-1 in the last five meetings against the Panthers ... The 48 all-time meetings are more than any other opponent ... Jaali Winters had her streak of double-figure kill matches snapped at 21, the second-longest mark in program history. She had nine kills ... Northern Iowa has won 20 or more games in 14 of the last 16 seasons ... Jess Bird now owns 31 career double-doubles, and tonight was her 50th match with 10 or more kills ... Creighton improved to 218-25 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when winning the first set ... The sweep was Creighton's first 3-0 win of the fall.
Team Stats
CU
UNI
Kills
50
41
Errors
18
16
Attempts
135
115
Hitting %
.237
.217
Points
57.0
54.0
Assists
42
35
Aces
4
3
Blocks
3.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball#18 Creighton Volleyball vs. #1 Nebraska Highlights - 9/16/25
Wednesday, September 17
Creighton Volleyball vs. Nebraska Press Conference - 9/16/25
Monday, September 15
Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. UNI - 9/14/25
Sunday, September 14
Creighton Volleyball Press Conference vs. UNI - 9/14/25
Sunday, September 14
