The Bluejays finished the non-conference portion of their schedule, going 1-1 on Saturday in matches against South Dakota and Colorado in the Creighton Classic. Over the course of the two games the Bluejays showed both how good they can be, and also why the inconsistent played has yielded mixed results while testing themselves against a murderer’s row of top 25 opponents.
South Dakota 3, Creighton 2 (25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 32-34, 15-10)
Billed as one of the two matches that concerned Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth the most prior to the season, South Dakota showed why as the Coyotes (6-5) used a 12-5 run late in the first set to steal game one after it appeared Creighton was in control. Both teams hit well in the first set, but it was South Dakota’s .367 mark that was ultimately too much for the Bluejays to overcome as they dropped the first set 25-23.
The Coyote offense was even better in the second set, hitting at an even .500 clip and posting 17 kills on just 32 swings with only one attack error. The 25-23 score in the second set showed a game that appeared a lot closer than it actually was. After falling behind 18-9, the Bluejays used a 9-2 run, keyed by five kills from senior outside hitter Leah McNary, to get within two points at 20-18. Creighton couldn’t get any closer than that, however, as an ace by Riley Haug and a combo block by Kendall Kritenbrink and Melissa Firtko sent the Bluejays to the locker room in a 2-0 hole for the second consecutive match.
“I was really disappointed that we lost that first game,” Booth said. “We were in control of that and made some untimely errors. We knew they were a great team. We knew Kendall Kritenbrink would be a force to be reckoned with, and they had some players that do a nice job of adding to what she does. But still was disappointed with the first two games.”
After falling behind 6-4 early in the must-win third set, the Bluejays woke up and used a 13-4 run, punctuated by a pair of kills on swings by true freshman Marysa Wilkinson, to take a 17-10 lead. They held that advantage throughout the set en route to a 25-18 win, pushing the match to a fourth set.
“It’s hard to say what changed,” senior Kelli Browning said of the contrast in Creighton’s performance in the early sets vs the later ones. “I don’t want to say that it’s a straight mentality thing, but at the same time there comes a point where we need to step up and make that push and win these games.”
Both teams took turns doing the pushing in a fourth set for the ages. The set featured several long rallies. Both teams were swinging for kills, putting up blocks, and diving all over the floor to keep points alive. In just the fourth set alone there were 19 ties and nine lead changes and no one led by more than two after a pair of attack errors by South Dakota evened the set at 19-all. The Coyotes had set point six different times, but the Bluejays fought them off each time before back-to-back kills by Kelli Browning set up a final game point for Creighton, which Leah McNary spiked home to give Creighton a 34-32 win and push the match to a fifth and deciding set.
The Bluejays opened the fifth set scoring the first two points, but a 5-1 run by the Coyotes, capped off by a kill from Kritenbrink, put South Dakota in the lead for good. Kritenbrink had five kills in the set and the Coyotes hit .333 compared to .043 for Creighton as they finished off the set and the match with a 15-10 victory in the final set. Kritenbrink finished with a season-high 29 kills (five off her career-high) and set a new career-best with 21 digs in the match.
For Creighton, junior setter Maggie Baumert had a career-high 62 assists. Browning finished with another spectacular performance, posting a career-high 21 kills and matching her career-high in digs with seven. In her last four outings she has posted career-bests in kills on two different occasions, averaging 18 kills per match over that span.
“Maggie’s putting up a phenomenal ball for me, so that makes my job really easy, but this is also my last run,” said Browning while breaking down her recent stretch. “For myself and all the seniors. We want to make this season last as long as we can and do the most we can here.”
Creighton 3, Colorado 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-19)
Low on energy and searching for a boost in confidence, the Creighton Bluejays made their own luck in the finale of the Creighton Classic. The Jays rolled the visiting Buffaloes en route to a sweep where nothing was on the line except pride. They ended the non-conference portion of their season on a high note.
“I’m really proud of them,” head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said of her players. “Today’s loss against a good South Dakota team was really hard. It was five games and our bodies were tired, and it really showed great character and heart the way we came out and really dominated this match.”
After falling behind 2-0 to begin the first set, seniors Kelli Browning and Katie Neisler served a 10-2 Creighton run filled with Colorado attack errors. The Buffaloes committed 13 of them in the opening set as the Creighton defense held Colorado to -.056 hitting in the set.
The Creighton offense dominated the second set, posting a .429 attack percentage thanks to 18 kills on 35 swings. Senior Katie Neisler led the way with five kills during the set, but the story of the set and eventually the match would be the distribution of junior setter Maggie Baumert. The transfer from Georgia had 13 assists in the second set and seven different Bluejays had at least one kill as Creighton went to the locker room with a 2-0 lead and feeling a little bit better than they did in the first matches of the tournament against Illinois and South Dakota.
Often times you’ll see teams with a 2-0 lead come out a little flat and without much urgency in the third set. That was not the case in this match with Creighton. The offense continued to roll and finished off Colorado behind six kills from Kelli Browning. The senior middle blocker finished with nine kills in the match to bring her weekend total to 46 in three matches as she earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
“I can always depend on Kelli,” Baumert said. “When other people are struggling Kelli is always going to be there. I think that’s really great to have, especially as a middle (blocker). Normally they aren’t like that. She’s a go-to middle hitter, which is pretty unique in volleyball.”
Baumert finished with 32 assists, five digs, and four blocks to follow up her career-best 62-assist performance earlier in the afternoon against South Dakota. Though her numbers didn’t pop out like they did in the South Dakota match, it was her distribution that drew compliments from her coach.
“It was great,” Booth said of Baumert’s performance. “That’s what we need. I think that’s where we can be good is using all of our hitters and being hard to block. A lot of times Marysa would have a late block coming so she can hit line as they were trying to bunch up more. Things like that open up if we are moving the ball around.”
By next Sunday, Creighton will have three Big East games under their belt, beginning with Tuesday’s conference opener in the nation’s capital against Georgetown. The Hoyas (6-7) have lost four matches in a row, and were swept by the Bluejays last season as Creighton won six of the seven sets played between the two teams. First serve between the Bluejays and Hoyas is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CST).
Photos from Friday night
WBR photographer Mike Spomer was on hand Friday night when Creighton took on Illinois. See and purchase your favorite shots here or view the embedded slide show below.