Creighton University
NORTHERN IOWA
No. 16 Panthers Claw Past Volleyball, 3-1
9/24/2010 8:20:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton overcame a 22-16 third set deficit to force a fourth set, but it wasn't enough as the 16th-ranked Northern Iowa volleyball team claimed a 3-1 win over the host Bluejays on Friday night in a showdown of Valley unbeatens. The win was UNI's 23rd consecutive Valley victory dating to a 3-0 Creighton sweep late in the 2008 season.
UNI is now 11-2 on the year, improving to 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton fell to 7-6 and is 2-1 in the MVC.
Northern Iowa never trailed in the first set while rolling to a 25-16 victory. UNI stretched its lead from 14-11 to 21-11 behind a strong serving run from Amy Braun. The Panthers had 19 kills on .359 hitting, keyed by seven kills on .700 hitting from Lincoln native Michelle Burow.
Creighton held a comfortable lead early in the second set, going ahead as much as 16-11, before the Panthers staged a comeback. With CU up 19-16, the Panthers would score nine of the final 11 points of the set to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Both teams had 13 kills in the second set, but Krista DeGeest had a hand in three blocks during the final six points to cap the rally. Burow, DeGeest and Beth Discher each had four kills in the second set to pace the Panthers, while CU was led by three kills from Laurel Sanford and Alicia Runge.
Creighton started sluggishly in the third set, falling behind 13-7, 18-13 and 22-16 before its comeback. Nayka Benitez served the Jays to four straight points to get back within two points at 22-20. Discher had a kill to give UNI a three-point edge, only to have CU rally to tie the score on kills from Allie Oelke and Benitez, followed by a Braun attack error. The Panthers had a match point opportunity after a DeGeest kill put them up 24-23, before the Jays scored the next three points to bring a loud D.J. Sokol Arena crowd to its feet. A kill from Sanford tied the score and a hitting error by UNI's Shelby Kintzel got the Jays to set point. Creighton then won the set when Braun was stuffed at the net by Megan Bober and Sanford, and the carom deflected off of Braun's shoulder on the way down.
UNI didn't let the set loss get to them, while winning the fourth set. Creighton led 14-13 before Braun served four straight points to give UNI the lead for good. A kill from Burow ended the match. UNI had 20 kills and 35 digs (14 from Ellie Blankenship alone) in a fourth set full of extended rallies. Creighton had 12 kills on .140 hitting, but also produced 30 digs.
UNI was led by 18 kills from Burow, who hit .400 for the evening. Discher was equally effective, finishing with 17 kills on .370 hitting and adding four blocks. DeGeest finished with eight kills and seven key blocks for the Panthers, while Valley Player of the Year Bre Payton had 51 assists and nine digs. Blankenship had 30 digs, upping her league record total for a career. UNI had 62 kills, five aces, 96 digs and nine blocks while hitting .213.
Creighton's offense was led by 12 ills from Sanford, while Alicia Runge added 10 kills in 47 swings. Julianne Mandolfo had a career-high 27 digs to lead CU's defense, which also got 20 digs from Oelke, 14 from Benitez and 12 from Bober. Bober also had 39 assisst and five kills for the double-double. Creighton had 46 kills, three aces 87 digs and five blocks while hitting .120.
Creighton returns to action Saturday night with a 5 pm home match vs. Bradley. Bradley fell in four sets to Drake on Friday evening.
NOTES: Nayka Benitez made her first career start after making the first 41 appearances of her career as the team's libero ...Creighton dropped to 1-40 all-time vs. ranked teams with the loss ... Preseason MVC favorite Northern Iowa has now beaten the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the preseason Valley poll ... Alicia Runge had 10 kills, extending her streak of double-digit kills to 14 and tie her for third-longest in school history ... Allie Oelke had five kills, giving her 956 in her career and passing Erin Swanson for eighth in school history ... Megan Bober's double-double was her team-high seventh of the season and 11th of her career ... Creighton's 87 digs were a season-high ... UNI is now 4-0 at D.J. Sokol Arena and 17-1 all-time in Omaha vs. Creighton.
