Thursday, September 6
CHI Health Center Omaha
7:00 PM
Creighton University
4-3
2
vs
3
Nebraska
5-1
1
2
3
4
5
F
#7 Nebraska
22
19
25
25
15
3
#14 Creighton
25
25
18
22
10
2
A record crowd of 14,022 saw an epic match at CHI Health Center Omaha on Thursday
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Record Volleyball Crowd of 14,022 Sees #7 Huskers Trip #14 Bluejays
9/6/2018 10:05:00 PM | Volleyball
The largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history saw a five-set thriller at ChI Health Center Omaha.
OMAHA, Neb. -- A turnout of 14,022, the largest volleyball-only crowd in NCAA Volleyball regular-season history, saw No. 14 Creighton push No. 7 Nebraska to the limit before dropping a five-set match at CHI Health Center Omaha on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Creighton (4-3) won the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19 before Nebraska (5-1) stormed back to win the match with 25-18, 25-22 and 15-10 victories.
Taryn Kloth had a career-high 26 kills to lead CU, one more than her previous best 12 days earlier in a five-set match at No. 10 USC. Jaali Winters provided a double-double with 18 kills and 18 digs, while Madelyn Cole dished 50 assists. Also making an impact were sophomore Alexa Roumeliotis, who had a career-high 16 digs, and freshman Jaela Zimmerman, who added a season-best 10 kills.
Two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player Mikaela Foecke added a career-high 25 kills for Nebraska, the most by a Cornhusker since Kelsey Robinson's 29 in the 2013 season. Capri Davis entered the match with 16 career kills, but added 18 kills in 49 swings for NU. Kenzie Maloney dug a career-high 25 balls and freshman setter Nicklin Hames owned a double-double with 56 assists and 11 digs.
Creighton finished with 62 kills, five aces, 73 digs and 8.0 blocks on .207 hitting. NU collected 64 kills, 10 aces, 77 digs and 7.5 blocks on .258 hitting.
The first set featured 12 ties and four lead changes in what turned out to be the most competitive frame of the evening. Creighton broke free from a 20-20 deadlock with a kill from Winters and solo block by Kloth. The teams would exchange five straight sideouts as CU closed out the set on Kloth's eighth kill in 10 first set swings.
The lead never alternated in the second set, as CU quickly bolted to a 4-1 lead. The Cornhuskers answered to tie the score at 4-4 before a 3-0 run from Winters at the service line. The Bluejays stretched the lead to 15-7 with a 7-0 run on Cole's serve, and NU got no closer than four the rest of the set. Kloth and Winters combined for 13 kills on 27 errorless swings in the second set as CU hit .457.
The momentum of the match turned after intermission. NU raced to leads of 4-0 and 6-1 to prompt a Bluejay timeout. Foecke had six kills and three blocks in the third set, as NU held the Bluejays to .023 hitting thanks to 4.5 blocks.
Foecke slammed six more kills in the fourth set to lead NU to a 25-22 victory. Nebraska led 8-3 early and held off the hosts after CU drew within 21-19 and 22-20 late. Both times Davis had a kill, and a kill from Foecke forced a decisive set.
Nebraska scored the first two points of the fifth set and held the lead throughout the frame. Creighton drew within one at 3-2, 4-3, 5-4, 6-5 and 10-9 but could not manage to tie its I-80 rival. NU ended the match on a 5-1 run, capped by an ace from Maloney.
Creighton hosts Iowa State on Friday at 6 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena to open play in the Bluejay Invitational.
NOTES: The previous largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history had been 13,870 when UCLA faced Nebraska on Sept. 13, 2009 ... Creighton had won 44 straight matches when winning the first set of a match dating to a Sept. 17, 2016 loss at Nebraska ... Creighton had also won 44 straight when leading a match 2-0 dating to an Aug. 27, 2016 loss vs. Wichita State ... Creighton dropped to 53-29 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth (1-2 this year) and 211-4 in matches it has led 2-0 ... Brittany Witt had 10 digs, her 10th straight match of 10 or more digs while also moving into ninth in CU career history with 1,139 career digs ... Creighton fell to 0-5 all-time at CHI Health Center, where it has played in front of an average of 11,476 fans per match ... Freshman Annika Welty checked in for the first time in the fifth set with CU trailing 9-7, and blocked Mikaela Foecke on her first point ... The match-up was the sixth time ever that ranked Creighton and ranked Nebraska teams met, and first time ever in volleyball. The previous five occasions came in baseball or softball ... Taryn Kloth jumped to 12th on CU's all-time kills list with 1,050, passing Amanda Cvejdlik (1,029) ... Creighton dropped to 190-110 all-time at home while playing its 300th home match since bringing back the program in 1994.
Creighton (4-3) won the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19 before Nebraska (5-1) stormed back to win the match with 25-18, 25-22 and 15-10 victories.
Taryn Kloth had a career-high 26 kills to lead CU, one more than her previous best 12 days earlier in a five-set match at No. 10 USC. Jaali Winters provided a double-double with 18 kills and 18 digs, while Madelyn Cole dished 50 assists. Also making an impact were sophomore Alexa Roumeliotis, who had a career-high 16 digs, and freshman Jaela Zimmerman, who added a season-best 10 kills.
Two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player Mikaela Foecke added a career-high 25 kills for Nebraska, the most by a Cornhusker since Kelsey Robinson's 29 in the 2013 season. Capri Davis entered the match with 16 career kills, but added 18 kills in 49 swings for NU. Kenzie Maloney dug a career-high 25 balls and freshman setter Nicklin Hames owned a double-double with 56 assists and 11 digs.
Creighton finished with 62 kills, five aces, 73 digs and 8.0 blocks on .207 hitting. NU collected 64 kills, 10 aces, 77 digs and 7.5 blocks on .258 hitting.
The first set featured 12 ties and four lead changes in what turned out to be the most competitive frame of the evening. Creighton broke free from a 20-20 deadlock with a kill from Winters and solo block by Kloth. The teams would exchange five straight sideouts as CU closed out the set on Kloth's eighth kill in 10 first set swings.
The lead never alternated in the second set, as CU quickly bolted to a 4-1 lead. The Cornhuskers answered to tie the score at 4-4 before a 3-0 run from Winters at the service line. The Bluejays stretched the lead to 15-7 with a 7-0 run on Cole's serve, and NU got no closer than four the rest of the set. Kloth and Winters combined for 13 kills on 27 errorless swings in the second set as CU hit .457.
The momentum of the match turned after intermission. NU raced to leads of 4-0 and 6-1 to prompt a Bluejay timeout. Foecke had six kills and three blocks in the third set, as NU held the Bluejays to .023 hitting thanks to 4.5 blocks.
Foecke slammed six more kills in the fourth set to lead NU to a 25-22 victory. Nebraska led 8-3 early and held off the hosts after CU drew within 21-19 and 22-20 late. Both times Davis had a kill, and a kill from Foecke forced a decisive set.
Nebraska scored the first two points of the fifth set and held the lead throughout the frame. Creighton drew within one at 3-2, 4-3, 5-4, 6-5 and 10-9 but could not manage to tie its I-80 rival. NU ended the match on a 5-1 run, capped by an ace from Maloney.
Creighton hosts Iowa State on Friday at 6 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena to open play in the Bluejay Invitational.
NOTES: The previous largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history had been 13,870 when UCLA faced Nebraska on Sept. 13, 2009 ... Creighton had won 44 straight matches when winning the first set of a match dating to a Sept. 17, 2016 loss at Nebraska ... Creighton had also won 44 straight when leading a match 2-0 dating to an Aug. 27, 2016 loss vs. Wichita State ... Creighton dropped to 53-29 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth (1-2 this year) and 211-4 in matches it has led 2-0 ... Brittany Witt had 10 digs, her 10th straight match of 10 or more digs while also moving into ninth in CU career history with 1,139 career digs ... Creighton fell to 0-5 all-time at CHI Health Center, where it has played in front of an average of 11,476 fans per match ... Freshman Annika Welty checked in for the first time in the fifth set with CU trailing 9-7, and blocked Mikaela Foecke on her first point ... The match-up was the sixth time ever that ranked Creighton and ranked Nebraska teams met, and first time ever in volleyball. The previous five occasions came in baseball or softball ... Taryn Kloth jumped to 12th on CU's all-time kills list with 1,050, passing Amanda Cvejdlik (1,029) ... Creighton dropped to 190-110 all-time at home while playing its 300th home match since bringing back the program in 1994.
Team Stats
NEB
CU
Kills
64
62
Errors
22
25
Attempts
163
179
Hitting %
.258
.207
Points
81.5
75.0
Assists
63
54
Aces
10
5
Blocks
7.5
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
26
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
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