Following a disappointing loss at Seton Hall eight days ago the Creighton volleyball only had two more matches to find their rhythm and create some momentum before Big East Tournament. This weekend the Jays came out and did just that. After a sweep of Georgetown on Friday night, Creighton came out on Sunday and put away Villanova in another sweep (25-23, 25-14, 25-21) to finish off a perfect weekend and a 21-7 regular season (12-4 Big East).
“I thought we were flat in the first game, but I saw a lot of changes in game two and three,” said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth about her team’s performance against the Wildcats on Sunday. “I felt like we dominated the two games, and we haven’t done that because make too many unforced errors and we really limited that tonight.”
The first set was the most competitive of the match as there were 15 ties and 5 lead changes with a two-point lead being the largest advantage for either team in the set. Villanova rallied from a 20-18 deficit late to take a one-point lead after three consecutive attack errors by the Jays. Creighton regrouped and junior middle blocker Kelli Browning spiked consecutive sets from fellow junior Michelle Sicner to give the Jays a 1-0 lead in the match.
Creighton easily won the second set thanks to 10 attack errors by the Wildcats (12-17, 4-12 Big East). The Jays used an 8-1 run midway through to open up a 14-6 advantage, and they cruised from that point on. Redshirt junior Savannah Smith finished off the set with a kill to cap off an emotional day. She was honored prior to the match as Creighton’s lone senior. She will graduate in the spring despite having one year of eligibility remaining. The kill provided a great highlight for Smith, who said it was unexpected, but had to be ready to put the set away for Creighton after a quick instruction from her setter.
“It was pretty awesome — I wasn’t expecting it, and Michelle (Sicner) told me she would be giving me the ball so I was ready for it,” Smith said. “We didn’t get it the first time, so she was like ‘you’re getting the next one’. It was just nice with everyone supporting everyone out there no matter what.”
In the third set, it was Lauren Smith finishing a strong performance with five kills on six total attacks in the match-clinching third set as Creighton built another big lead and held on late. Lauren finished off the Wildcats with her match-high 12th kill. Following up a 10-kill performance on Friday against Georgetown, Smith has now put together consecutive 10+ kills/.300+ attack percentage matches since Sep. 10 – Sep. 13 when she did it in three straight wins against Kansas, Cal State Northridge, and Denver.
“Lauren went through a stage where she was really frustrated. She’s a very driven, hard-working, competitive kid, so that was killing her,” Booth said. “It was great to see her have such a good weekend.”
Smith finished the match with a .733 attack percentage which is good for the 4th all-time highest percentage in a single match in school history (min. 12 kills). She and fellow freshman Jess Bird were sharp all day long, combining for 22 kills and just two attack errors. Defensively the Jays were led by the more experienced players in Browning and Sicner, who together combined for 14 blocks in the match, frustrating Villanova’s attack throughout the contest.
“Their middles are a huge part of their offense, so we knew we had to be really disciplined,” Sicner said. “I told Kelli she’s going to have work her tush off because she’s going to be running back and forth, and I think she did an awesome job today with her block.”
With the regular season now behind them the Jays will shift their focus on to the Big East Tournament which takes place next Friday and Saturday from the friendly confines of D.J. Sokol Arena. Hosting a conference tournament, especially in the Big East, didn’t seem probable when Booth took over as head coach head 11 years and 208 wins ago.
“I constantly think it’s surreal,” Booth said of the state of the program, “Not only the development of the program that we are in this situations, but facilities and commitment. When I say commitment I mean the people at Creighton. We have so many fantastic staff members. We’ll have staff meetings and there’s 20 people there, and you think ‘gosh, there are a lot of people that care about this program’, so I think that’s really neat. And obviously we’re excited that we’re in the national mix at this point.”
Creighton will open their Big East Tournament play with a 6:30 p.m semifinal clash with 3rd-seeded Xavier on Friday, Nov. 29. The Jays swept the Musketeers this season, winning six of the nine sets in the two meetings, including a five-set victory in the last meeting between the two teams back on Oct. 18 in Omaha.