Saturday, November 25
Milwaukee, WI
1:30 PM
Creighton University
25-6
3
at
2
Marquette (Final)
22-9
1
2
3
4
5
F
Marquette
25
18
25
17
11
2
Creighton
22
25
23
25
15
3
Photo by: John Konstantaras
Volleyball Wins Fourth Straight BIG EAST Championship in Five Set Thriller
11/25/2017 3:53:00 PM | Volleyball
Jays are first team since Notre Dame (1995-98) to win four straight BIG EAST tournaments
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The No. 17 Creighton Volleyball team won its fourth straight BIG EAST Championship with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Marquette on Saturday at Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Taryn Kloth, Marysa Wilkinson and Brittany Witt each were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Kloth taking home MVP honors.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 22-25, 25-18, 23-25,25-17, 15-11. It was Creighton's third five-set win since Nov. 12th, and improves CU to 17-2 in five-set matches in November and December since first NCAA Tournament win in 2010 (a 3-2 win vs. Iowa State).
The victory makes Creighton (25-6) the first team since Notre Dame (1995-98) to win four consecutive BIG EAST Championships. Marquette dropped to 22-9 with the loss but is still likely to receive and at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Five Bluejays had 10 or more kills, led by 16 from Megan Ballenger and 14 by both Wilkinson and Kloth. Lydia Dimke had her first triple-double with 53 assists, 14 digs and 10 kills Jaali Winters notched her fifth straight double-double with 12 kills and 19 digs, while surpassing 1,000 career digs. And not to be forgotten was Witt, who had a career-best 34 digs to show why she was named BIG EAST Libero of the Year. CU hit .281 with 72 kills, 107 digs, seven blocks and three aces.
Creighton raced to a 12-7 lead in the opening set, as three early Winters kills helped to force a Marquette timeout. The Golden Eagles answered with a 6-1 run to even the score as CU called timeout. With the score tied at 21-all, the Golden Eagles reeled off three straight points to get to set point, then converted it on their second chance when the Jays were called for a blocking error. Winters had six kills and five digs in the first set, while Anna Haak led Marquette with six kills and four digs in nine swings.
The Bluejays controlled the second set after Marquette blitzed to a 7-2 lead. The Jays scored six points in a row on Ballenger's serve, which set the tone as CU went ahead 19-14. Ballenger and Naomi Hickman combined for a block of Haak to end the set, 25-18, and even the match.. Creighton had 18 kills on .400 hitting in the second frame, getting five kills from Kloth, four by Ballenger and three each by Dimke, Hickman and Wilkinson.
Marquette squandered an 18-12 lead in the third set as Creighton rallied with six straight points on Witt's serve, but could never retake the lead. With the score knotted at 20-all, MU converted three straight points. The Jays answered with two of the next three points before an Allie Barber kill gave MU a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead. The Golden Eagles had 32 digs in the third set and five kills from both Barber and Jenna Rosenthal. Witt had 13 digs in the third set alone, part of a Bluejay defense with 28 scoops in the frame.
Creighton broke free in the fifth set with a 6-0 run to go ahead 9-3 and never looked back after a timeout with a 10-6 lead. A key challenge that went CU's way gave CU a 13-7 lead, and the Bluejays got to match point with a 14-9 lead after a service error by Marquette's Sarah Rose, and won it three points later on a kill from Winters after a review on CU's first match point was later deemed a replay.
Rosenthal had 18 kills on .410 hitting, with Haak adding 17 kills and 22 digs. Barber had 18 kills, but needed 71 swings and hit .169. The Golden Eagles hit .194 and had 66 kills, 101 digs, seven blocks and four aces.
Creighton Volleyball fans and media are invited to join the student-athletes and coaches at the The Session Room (1502 Mike Fahey Street) Sunday night to watch the 2017 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship Selection Show, which will be televised live nationally on ESPNU starting at 8:00 p.m. Central.
NOTES: The team to win the first set had won each of the previous 10 BIG EAST Championships before today ... Creighton improved to 4-1 in five-set matches this season, and 52-27 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU has won 12 of its past 15 true road matches to go five sets ... This was Creighton's sixth straight conference tournament title game, with CU going 4-2 in those contests ... Creighton joins American, Coastal Carolina and Denver as the only teams to win a conference tournament each of the last four years ... Creighton improved to 9-1 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament, and 4-0 in Milwaukee ... Creighton is now 10-0 all-time as a No. 1 seed in conference tournament play ... Creighton's RPI rose to 11th after the victory ... Creighton has won four tournaments this fall, and had a different MVP each time .... Creighton improved to 30-2 in the month of November in the last four seasons ... Creighton is 9-1 in the last four seasons against Marquette, including a pair of five-set wins in conference tournament action ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 9-1 in BIG EAST Championship play with four titles. Her peers around the BIG EAST are a combined 9-21 with one title ... Creighton's 106 wins in the last four years are the most of any four-year stretch in program history, and Marysa Wilkinson's 105 wins appeared in are a program record ... Jali Winters now owns 85 career kills at the BIG EAST Championship, passing Jess Bird (81) for most in program history ... Creighton has now won 61 straight matches when hitting .250 or better ... Jaali Winters joins Melissa Walsh and Allie Oelke as the only Bluejays with at least 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs ... Taryn Kloth hit .333 and averaged 3.50 kills per set at the league tournament and had her second career double-double in the final.
Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 22-25, 25-18, 23-25,25-17, 15-11. It was Creighton's third five-set win since Nov. 12th, and improves CU to 17-2 in five-set matches in November and December since first NCAA Tournament win in 2010 (a 3-2 win vs. Iowa State).
The victory makes Creighton (25-6) the first team since Notre Dame (1995-98) to win four consecutive BIG EAST Championships. Marquette dropped to 22-9 with the loss but is still likely to receive and at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Five Bluejays had 10 or more kills, led by 16 from Megan Ballenger and 14 by both Wilkinson and Kloth. Lydia Dimke had her first triple-double with 53 assists, 14 digs and 10 kills Jaali Winters notched her fifth straight double-double with 12 kills and 19 digs, while surpassing 1,000 career digs. And not to be forgotten was Witt, who had a career-best 34 digs to show why she was named BIG EAST Libero of the Year. CU hit .281 with 72 kills, 107 digs, seven blocks and three aces.
Creighton raced to a 12-7 lead in the opening set, as three early Winters kills helped to force a Marquette timeout. The Golden Eagles answered with a 6-1 run to even the score as CU called timeout. With the score tied at 21-all, the Golden Eagles reeled off three straight points to get to set point, then converted it on their second chance when the Jays were called for a blocking error. Winters had six kills and five digs in the first set, while Anna Haak led Marquette with six kills and four digs in nine swings.
The Bluejays controlled the second set after Marquette blitzed to a 7-2 lead. The Jays scored six points in a row on Ballenger's serve, which set the tone as CU went ahead 19-14. Ballenger and Naomi Hickman combined for a block of Haak to end the set, 25-18, and even the match.. Creighton had 18 kills on .400 hitting in the second frame, getting five kills from Kloth, four by Ballenger and three each by Dimke, Hickman and Wilkinson.
Marquette squandered an 18-12 lead in the third set as Creighton rallied with six straight points on Witt's serve, but could never retake the lead. With the score knotted at 20-all, MU converted three straight points. The Jays answered with two of the next three points before an Allie Barber kill gave MU a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead. The Golden Eagles had 32 digs in the third set and five kills from both Barber and Jenna Rosenthal. Witt had 13 digs in the third set alone, part of a Bluejay defense with 28 scoops in the frame.
Creighton broke free in the fifth set with a 6-0 run to go ahead 9-3 and never looked back after a timeout with a 10-6 lead. A key challenge that went CU's way gave CU a 13-7 lead, and the Bluejays got to match point with a 14-9 lead after a service error by Marquette's Sarah Rose, and won it three points later on a kill from Winters after a review on CU's first match point was later deemed a replay.
Rosenthal had 18 kills on .410 hitting, with Haak adding 17 kills and 22 digs. Barber had 18 kills, but needed 71 swings and hit .169. The Golden Eagles hit .194 and had 66 kills, 101 digs, seven blocks and four aces.
Creighton Volleyball fans and media are invited to join the student-athletes and coaches at the The Session Room (1502 Mike Fahey Street) Sunday night to watch the 2017 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship Selection Show, which will be televised live nationally on ESPNU starting at 8:00 p.m. Central.
NOTES: The team to win the first set had won each of the previous 10 BIG EAST Championships before today ... Creighton improved to 4-1 in five-set matches this season, and 52-27 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU has won 12 of its past 15 true road matches to go five sets ... This was Creighton's sixth straight conference tournament title game, with CU going 4-2 in those contests ... Creighton joins American, Coastal Carolina and Denver as the only teams to win a conference tournament each of the last four years ... Creighton improved to 9-1 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament, and 4-0 in Milwaukee ... Creighton is now 10-0 all-time as a No. 1 seed in conference tournament play ... Creighton's RPI rose to 11th after the victory ... Creighton has won four tournaments this fall, and had a different MVP each time .... Creighton improved to 30-2 in the month of November in the last four seasons ... Creighton is 9-1 in the last four seasons against Marquette, including a pair of five-set wins in conference tournament action ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 9-1 in BIG EAST Championship play with four titles. Her peers around the BIG EAST are a combined 9-21 with one title ... Creighton's 106 wins in the last four years are the most of any four-year stretch in program history, and Marysa Wilkinson's 105 wins appeared in are a program record ... Jali Winters now owns 85 career kills at the BIG EAST Championship, passing Jess Bird (81) for most in program history ... Creighton has now won 61 straight matches when hitting .250 or better ... Jaali Winters joins Melissa Walsh and Allie Oelke as the only Bluejays with at least 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs ... Taryn Kloth hit .333 and averaged 3.50 kills per set at the league tournament and had her second career double-double in the final.
Team Stats
MU
CU
Kills
66
72
Errors
25
15
Attempts
211
203
Hitting %
.194
.281
Points
77.0
82.0
Assists
60
66
Aces
4
3
Blocks
7.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
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