Taryn Kloth had a big weekend for the Bluejays and has over 1000 kills for her career (Streur / WBR)
Motivated by the reality of a sub-.500 record after the first weekend of the season, the 15th-ranked Creighton volleyball team didn’t mess around during their three-day stay in Dallas, Texas. The Bluejays swept Arkansas State and North Carolina State on Friday, then polished off tournament host Southern Methodist University in straight sets on Saturday to win the SMU DoubleTree Classic and improve to 4-2 on the season.
Friday, August 31: Creighton 3, Arkansas State 0 (25-15, 25-13, 28-26)
The Jays got the weekend started in dominant fashion against the Red Wolves. Creighton trailed by one point three times in set one and led wire to wire in set two to win both by double digits. All-American senior outside hitter Jaali Winters had a match-high 17 kills to go along with 12 digs and two blocks as her team closed set one with an 18-8 run and set two with an 18-7 run. Winters was one of three Bluejays to finish with double figures in digs, joining junior libero Brittany Witt and junior setter Madelyn Cole. That effort helped limit two-time Sun Belt player of the year Carlisa May to an .085 attack percentage on 47 swings. Arkansas State as a team had a really tough time scoring all night, finishing with an .091 attack percentage and never eclipsing the .200 mark in any of the three games.
“I thought particularly in games one and two we made them really work to get points,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “I thought our defense was pretty clean and our unforced errors were much lower than last weekend, which has been a focus for us, so that was good to see.”
Friday, August 31: Creighton 3, N.C. State 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22)
The Bluejays needed to be on top of their game in this one as the Wolfpack presented a tough matchup, physically. Creighton controlled the action from the service line, dropping in four aces while only committing three errors all night. A dramatic improvement in that area from the previous weekend. All-American senior outside hitter Taryn Kloth led the way with a match-high 14 kills on 29 swings, while sophomore Naomi Hickman added a career-high seven blocks. That presence at the net combined with the efficient performance from the service line took a talented N.C. State club out of any offensive rhythm as the match progressed. The Wolfpack went from a .371 attack percentage in set one to .186 in set two to .167 in set three as the Jays finished them off to move to 2-0 on the weekend.
“They won the warm-up, no question,” Booth said of the Wolfpack. “They can smoke some balls and have a couple kids that are pretty special from an athletic standpoint. Our big thing was we needed to get them out of system because if they were in system they were going to beat us. I thought we served well and made them uncomfortable. A couple of their hitters kept busting through our hands, so that’s something we have to continue to work on, but that was a good team. If they are in system they are really formidable.”
Saturday, September 1: Creighton 3, SMU 0. (27-25, 26-24, 25-21)
Creighton found itself in a dogfight against tournament host SMU on Saturday afternoon as they looked to wrap up an unblemished weekend. The Jays had stave off set point in both of the first two games and had trouble dealing with SMU’s blocking early in the match. The Mustangs held the normally high-powered Creighton offense to an .093 hitting clip thanks to a whopping nine team blocks.
“I thought SMU blocked really and I thought sometimes we took some really stupid swings,” Booth said. “Against a disciplined team that is sealing well you can’t swing hard and low, and we did that a few times, but I also thought they just made some good blocks. We definitely talked about that — I think they had nine blocks in game one — and it was a point of discussion. I mean, six blocks in two and three I still think is too many, but I thought SMU played a great match. That was the best we’ve seen them play, in my opinion, and we were really fortunate to get out with W today.”
As the match wore on CU started to show off more of the efficient firepower they are used to putting on display. After a difficult first set, they rebounded with a .293 attack percentage in set two and a .263 mark in the set three clincher to finish a three-for-three sweepy sweet weekend.
Ballenger takes home tournament MVP honors
Redshirt junior Megan Ballenger was Creighton’s “Steady Eddie” all weekend and capped it off by taking home the SMU DoubleTree Classic MVP award after a match-high 16 kills on 23 swings in the Jays’ final match on Saturday. The Ankeny, Iowa native totaled 31 kills on 51 swings with only four attack errors in three matches, good for a blistering .529 attack percentage, and also added seven blocks to provide dual threat at the net against the Red Wolves, Wolfpack, and Mustangs.
“Megan is just so sneaky good,” Booth said. “She looks like she’s going one way then goes a different way. It was interesting because SMU blocked her twice really early in that match and she was so mad. You love that. She’s always been like this, but it’s the fact that she’s been in college four years. Some kids would get down in a situation like that, but Megan just hits harder and goes for it more. That’s what makes her great. She was a key cog, obviously, to our success this weekend.”
Kloth surpasses 1,000 kills
Senior outside hitter Taryn Kloth joined an exclusive club in set one against NC State on Friday night when she recorded her 1,000th career kill as a Bluejay. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native became the 14th player in program history to achieve the milestone. She is the 11th player to do it since Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired to lead the program in 2003.
“Taryn is a pretty darn special player. I think the fun part from a coaching standpoint for her is that she just continues to get better each year, and as she gets better her confidence goes up. I think she could have a really special senior year, so I’m excited for her. She’s worked really hard to become the player that she is … the one-two combo between those two outsides is something pretty awesome.”
Zimmerman enjoys breakout weekend
Another true freshman from Creighton’s highly-touted 2018 recruiting class made a splash this weekend in the Lone Star State. Jaela Zimmerman, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter from Lincoln, Nebraska, hit .282 with 14 kills and 7 blocks in eight sets against Arkansas State, N.C. State, and SMU. Her best match of the tournament came against the toughest challenge of the weekend, in terms of athleticism on the other side, in the Wolfpack. Zimmerman finished with season-highs in kills with eight and blocks with four to go along with a .333 attack percentage on 18 swings in Creighton’s second sweep of the day on Friday.
“Jaela did a great job,” Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “She played very clean and didn’t have very many errors. When she had opportunities to do little things like off-block defense or things along those lines she was right where she needed to be … you always know there are nerves for freshmen that haven’t played a lot and I thought she handled it very well.”
Jays set to host a trio of rivals
As Creighton returns to Omaha they won’t have a hard time finding motivation for practice this week as they are set to face a murderer’s row for their first home stand of the young season. They’ll kick it off with Thursday’s match at the CHI Health Center Omaha against in-state rival Nebraska. After facing the 7th-ranked Huskers, they’ll turn around the next day to host an Iowa State team sitting in 26th after just missing the cut for this week’s AVCA Top 25. They’ll finished up the weekend with a Sunday match against former MVC rival Wichita State.
Three highly anticipated matches, but ones that Kirsten Bernthal Booth knows present a daunting challenge for her team as all three opponents have historically been programs no one wants to see in the NCAA Tournament when the calendar flips to December.
“We’ve got a huge weekend in front of us,” Booth said. “We have three really big matches and we have to be ready for all three. Wichita State and Iowa State beat us last year, so we’re excited to get back on the court and challenge those great teams. The Nebraska match will be fun and we’re excited for the opportunity. We didn’t get to play them last year, but we know that they are obviously a great team. We always love playing great teams and we are looking forward to playing three of them this week.”