Creighton committed six attack errors in first set, and seven more in the second set, but only committed seven total in the final two games as they finished off the Villanova Wildcats in four sets (25-23, 17-25, 25-19, 25-13) on Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-0 in Big East play after this weekend.
The first set saw four ties and three lead changes in the early going between the Bluejays and Wildcats, but Creighton’s star-in-the-making, and freshman outside hitter, Jaali Winters had three kills in a row, and a combo block with sophomore middle blocker Marysa Wilkinson to push the Bluejays out to an 8-4 lead. They lead grew to as large as six points midway through the set, but Villanova fought back and cut it to one at 17-16. Winters again padded the lead for Creighton as she dropped in three more kills during a 5-0 run that extended the lead to 22-16.
The Wildcats saved two set points to cut the lead to 24-23, but freshman outside hitter Taryn Kloth ended the comeback hopes with a kill in the middle of the court to give Creighton a 25-23 win in the set and a 1-0 lead in the match.
“I thought we did some fantastic things, and then I thought we didn’t do some fantastic things,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said of her team’s performance to begin the match.
“I thought game one was pretty good, but I thought we kind of let them back in, and made it tighter than I thought it needed to be.”
Winters finished the first with 10 kills on 20 swings, leading all players by a wide margin in the opening game. The Bluejays may have relied a little too heavily on their talented freshman in the first set as Villanova started to key on her in the second game, holding her to just three kills on 13 swings and a .000 attack percentage.
“I think that we almost went to her too much in game one, because then they started to camp on her in game two,” Booth said. “She did not hit a good game in game two.
Winters got blocked twice by Villanova and had a service error as the Wildcats opened up an 11-6 lead midway through the second game and never looked back. Creighton could only get as close as three points before Villanova doubled them up by scoring 10 of the final 15 points to even the match at one game apiece and win the set, 25-17.
In the first four Big East clashes with Villanova, the Bluejays won 12 of the 13 sets, including each of the six sets the teams have played in Omaha over the last two years. Creighton knew going in that things wouldn’t be the same on Sunday, and they were reminded in game two.
“Villanova is not the Villanova of the years we’ve been in the Big East,” Booth said. “We knew that and we tried to relay that [to the players]. This is a top-50 RPI team, so we were telling [the players] that RPI-wise they are right where Kansas State is just to let them mentally know that we need to come in here and battle.”
Creighton answered Villanova’s scrap with a strong start out of the locker room. The Bluejays scored the first four points of game three, and led by as many as six points in the set. Jaali Winters and junior middle blocker Lauren Smith each had five kills and didn’t commit a single error on eight swings to lead the way as Creighton won game three, 25-19, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Smith finished with 12 kills for the match. She and Winters kept Creighton on track to begin the fourth set as Smith teamed up with Taryn Kloth on a block to put the Bluejays in front, then Winters dropped in another kill as Creighton scored the first five points of the game. They hit .478 as a team in the match-clinching game, and senior libero Kate Elman tied her career-high with four aces in the fourth set alone to help the Bluejays build a double-digit lead late in the set. They eventually closed out the set, 25-13, and the Wildcats, 3-1, to improve to 8-7 overall on the season.
“I think in game two that our passing fell apart … we made a bunch of hitting errors, and then Villanova just stepped on the gas and took over,” Booth said. “But I liked how we regrouped. We had great starts in both [games] three and four, and that was huge. We played very good volleyball. In [games] three and four, I thought Villanova gave us some points, but we did a great job of pushing and not letting them get back in the match.”
Winters finished with a match-high 23 kills and added 11 digs from the back row to give her four double-doubles on the season, two of which came this weekend in the wins over Seton Hall and Villanova.
Despite her kills and hitting numbers, she continues to be a target for opposing teams, especially in the serve-receive game. In the match against Wildcats, only senior outside hitter Melanie Jereb received more serves for Creighton than Winters did.
“I feel like I’m up to the challenge. I know coming in to every game that’s how it’s going to be,” Winters said. “As a freshman you know that you’re going to be the serving target, so I just come in with that mindset that I know it’s coming to me.”
She appeared to handle the task as Creighton posted a sideout percentage of 75.8% over the final two games. That along with their efficient hitting proved to be too much for the visiting Wildcats, who fell to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in Big East play with the loss.
Now after playing nine straight matches inside the friendly confines of D.J. Sokol Arena, the Creighton volleyball team will hit the road again next weekend for matches at St. John’s and Providence on Friday and Saturday. It will be Creighton’s first trip outside the midwest all season, and first time away from their home crowd in a little over three weeks.
“It’s definitely nice having our fans, but it’s something special when you go to Big East schools without the fans, and it’s just you and your team,” senior setter Maggie Baumert said. “You have to create your own energy. … It makes it about us. We can’t depend on anyone else, and I like that feeling.”
Up first on Friday, October 2, are the Red Storm at 6:00 p.m. (CST). St. John’s will bring an 11-6 overall record into the match. They are off to a 1-1 start in Big East play after winning in five sets at Butler this past Friday before dropping a five-setter at Xavier the following day. The Bluejays are going into the match expecting a dogfight as two of the last four matches against the Red Storm have been decided in five sets.
“St. John’s is playing really well, and they are tougher on their home court,” Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “We are going to be in for a battle in five days. That’s the next mission.”
Listen to Postgame interviews with Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Jaali Winters and Maggie Baumert
