Record Crowd of 13,081 Sees Volleyball Fall To Cal Poly

OMAHA, Neb. ? Kylie Atherstone had 17 kills, 10 digs and six service aces to lead No. 18 Cal Poly to a 3-0 sweep over Creighton before 13,081 fans at Qwest Center Omaha on Sunday. Cal Poly improved to 3-2 heading into tomorrow's match at No. 1 Nebraska, while Creighton dropped to 3-3 with the setback.

The match, part of a doubleheader with No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Penn State, drew 13,081fans, which makes it the largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history. The previous mark of 12,504 had been Colorado at Nebraska on Nov. 4, 2000.

Creighton never led in game one or game three, and were unable to hang on to a 27-22 lead late in game two. The Bluejays had a golden opportunity to win game two but couldn't close the deal. Creighton used an 8-3 push midway through the set to go up 27-22, only to have Cal Poly answer by winning eight of the final nine points in the second game to take game two, 30-28. A kill by Ashleigh Bertoni off the Bluejay block ended game two. Atherstone proved difficult to stop at the service line, firing off five aces in game two, including three straight at one interval.

After falling behind 16-9 to open the match, CU would claw back to within one at both 25-24 and 26-25, but did not overtake the Mustangs. The Jays lost despite 20 kills and .349 hitting as Kelly Goc shook off an ankle injury to manage seven kills. Cal Poly hit .436 and had five kills each from Ali Waller and Kylie Atherstone.

The Jays never regained their mojo in game three, hitting .000 with nine errors as Cal Poly broke free from their pesky foe.

Goc led Creighton with 13 kills while Allie Oelke managed 11 kills and nine digs. Bianca Rivera led the Bluejay defense with a career-high 23 digs, including 16 in the second game. CU hit .185 with 46 kills, one aces, 58 digs and six blocks on the day.

Atherstone led Cal Poly with 17 kills while Ali Waller had 13 kills and eight digs. Kristin Jackson led the Mustangs' defense with 17 digs. Cal Poly hit .246 and finished with 49 kills, eight aces, 61 digs and 10.5 blocks.

Creighton returns to action on Friday with a match in Champaign, Ill., against Tennessee (5-1). The match can be heard on KVSS (88.9 FM) and will start at 4:30 pm.

NOTES: Bianca Rivera surpassed 100 career digs in game two, doing it in her sixth career match. Previously, three players in CU history had reached 100 digs in just 10 career matches, most recently Brittany Coleman in 2003 ...The eight aces allowed were a season-high by Creighton ...Creighton fell to 0-2 at Qwest Center Omaha all-time and 0-26 all-time against ranked opponents.

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Allie Oelke

Bianca Rivera

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