Friday, September 15
Wichita, Kan.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
7-3
1
at
3
Wichita State
8-2
1
2
3
4
F
Creighton
20
25
19
22
1
Wichita State
25
16
25
25
3
Megan Ballenger
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Volleyball Falls in Four Sets at Wichita State
9/15/2017 9:24:00 PM | Volleyball
Megan Ballenger had a career-high 16 kills
WICHITA, Kan. -- A career-high 16 kills from sophomore Megan Ballenger wasn't enough as No. 8 Creighton Volleyball lost a four-set match at Wichita State on Friday night to open play at the Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Scores in favor of the victorious hosts were 25-20, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22.
Creighton fell to 7-3 while Wichita State improved to 8-2.
Wichita State won the opening set, 25-20, as the Jays were unable to string consecutive points together for much of the frame. The Jays led 7-3 early on, only to see Wichita State take its first lead at 11-10. The Shockers would not let Creighton score consecutive points again until it had built a 24-18 margin, and eventually closed out the set with a 25-20 victory.
Creighton never trailed in the second set, rolling to a 25-16 victory. Samantha Bohnet served Creighton to a 4-0 lead to open the set and the Jays never looked back. CU would extend the lead to 18-10 and hit .381 in the set. Middle blockers Ballenger and Marysa Wilkinson each had five kills in the second set for CU.
The third set featured 11 ties by the media timeout, where Creighton owned a 15-14 lead. But the Shockers came out of the break with five straight points to jump-start an 8-2 run to move ahead by five en route to a 25-19 victory. Ballenger had four kills in the set for CU, while Tabitha Brown paced WSU with five kills and Giorgia Civita added eight digs in the third frame.
The fourth set featured nine ties and a pair of lead changes. With the score knotted at 18-all, WSU scored the next three points. The Jays got within one at 22-21 to force a Shocker timeout, but WSU would reel off three of the final four points to close out the match between the former Missouri Valley Conference rivals.
Ballenger hit .500 on 26 swings, adding three digs and two blocks. Lydia Dimke (40 assists, 15 digs, seven kills) added a double-double, while Wilkinson (11) and Jaali Winters (10) also had double-figure kills. Brittany Witt scooped 20 digs. CU hit .166 and had 53 kills, three aces, 72 digs and 7.5 blocks overall.
Tabitha Brown had 17 kills to pace WSU, with Mikaela Raudsepp adding 11 kills in a supporting role. The Shockers hit .200 and had 52 kills, two aces, 70 digs and 10 blocks. Civita had 29 digs in the contest.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday with a match against No. 19 Iowa State (7-1). That match will also have live stats and can be heard in Omaha on 1180 AM.
NOTES: Creighton and Wichita State have now split 46 all-time meetings ... Marysa Wilkinson had four blocks, moving into 10th in Creighton history. She now owns 345 career blocks as a Bluejay, passing Heather Thorson (344) ... Marysa Wilkinson moved from 16th to 15th in career kills with 11 putaways on Friday. Her 944 career kills is three more than Ashley Williams (941) ... Brittany Witt had 20 digs, the most by any Bluejay in a match this season ... Kenzie Crawford's 14 digs were a season-best ... Lydia Dimke's double-double was her second of the season and 20th of her Bluejay career ... Lydia Dimke's 15 digs were a season-high, while her seven kills tied her high in 2017 ... Jaali Winters moved into ninth in Creighton history in kills, as her 10 terminations give her 1,105 in her career, which is one more than Kelli Browning ... Brittany Lawrence doubled her season total with two kills, while her 13 attack attempts were a career-high.
Scores in favor of the victorious hosts were 25-20, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22.
Creighton fell to 7-3 while Wichita State improved to 8-2.
Wichita State won the opening set, 25-20, as the Jays were unable to string consecutive points together for much of the frame. The Jays led 7-3 early on, only to see Wichita State take its first lead at 11-10. The Shockers would not let Creighton score consecutive points again until it had built a 24-18 margin, and eventually closed out the set with a 25-20 victory.
Creighton never trailed in the second set, rolling to a 25-16 victory. Samantha Bohnet served Creighton to a 4-0 lead to open the set and the Jays never looked back. CU would extend the lead to 18-10 and hit .381 in the set. Middle blockers Ballenger and Marysa Wilkinson each had five kills in the second set for CU.
The third set featured 11 ties by the media timeout, where Creighton owned a 15-14 lead. But the Shockers came out of the break with five straight points to jump-start an 8-2 run to move ahead by five en route to a 25-19 victory. Ballenger had four kills in the set for CU, while Tabitha Brown paced WSU with five kills and Giorgia Civita added eight digs in the third frame.
The fourth set featured nine ties and a pair of lead changes. With the score knotted at 18-all, WSU scored the next three points. The Jays got within one at 22-21 to force a Shocker timeout, but WSU would reel off three of the final four points to close out the match between the former Missouri Valley Conference rivals.
Ballenger hit .500 on 26 swings, adding three digs and two blocks. Lydia Dimke (40 assists, 15 digs, seven kills) added a double-double, while Wilkinson (11) and Jaali Winters (10) also had double-figure kills. Brittany Witt scooped 20 digs. CU hit .166 and had 53 kills, three aces, 72 digs and 7.5 blocks overall.
Tabitha Brown had 17 kills to pace WSU, with Mikaela Raudsepp adding 11 kills in a supporting role. The Shockers hit .200 and had 52 kills, two aces, 70 digs and 10 blocks. Civita had 29 digs in the contest.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday with a match against No. 19 Iowa State (7-1). That match will also have live stats and can be heard in Omaha on 1180 AM.
NOTES: Creighton and Wichita State have now split 46 all-time meetings ... Marysa Wilkinson had four blocks, moving into 10th in Creighton history. She now owns 345 career blocks as a Bluejay, passing Heather Thorson (344) ... Marysa Wilkinson moved from 16th to 15th in career kills with 11 putaways on Friday. Her 944 career kills is three more than Ashley Williams (941) ... Brittany Witt had 20 digs, the most by any Bluejay in a match this season ... Kenzie Crawford's 14 digs were a season-best ... Lydia Dimke's double-double was her second of the season and 20th of her Bluejay career ... Lydia Dimke's 15 digs were a season-high, while her seven kills tied her high in 2017 ... Jaali Winters moved into ninth in Creighton history in kills, as her 10 terminations give her 1,105 in her career, which is one more than Kelli Browning ... Brittany Lawrence doubled her season total with two kills, while her 13 attack attempts were a career-high.
Team Stats
CU
WSU
Kills
53
52
Errors
27
21
Attempts
157
155
Hitting %
.166
.200
Points
63.5
64.0
Assists
50
50
Aces
3
2
Blocks
7.5
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
DS/S
/ VolleyballS
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballCreighton Media Availability Volleyball Sept. 17
Wednesday, September 17
#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
