Senior setter Michelle Sicner came off the bench after the Jays struggled out of the gate and helped lead Creighton Volleyball to a Friday night sweep of St. John’s (25-18, 25-23, 25-20) in front of 1,918 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena.
“St. John’s is a good team, I was very concerned coming in,” said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. “I think they’ve got pretty good parity. We felt like their passing was a possible liability for them and I think that came to be the case tonight. I thought we put pressure on them from the service line, and that took them out of system and helped us a lot.”
Early on it didn’t look like those fans would be seeing a Bluejay sweep after St. John’s put Creighton in a hole in the first set. The Red Storm (14-9, 3-5 Big East) opened up a 10-3 lead, forcing an early timeout and a key substitution by Booth. With her team down by seven, Booth brought in Sicner to give the Jays a spark. Sicner had only played in a total of seven sets in the last 17 matches, but she appeared to be the answer Creighton was looking for as they tried to weather the early storm. Sicner’s only kill of the first set evened the score at 15-all before Ashley Jansen’s third ace gave the Bluejays the lead for good. An attack error by St. John’s on a serve by Sicner capped off a 22-8 run after the senior entered the game and gave the Jays a 1-0 lead in the match.
“Michelle came in and that started a spark,” outside hitter Jess Bird told reporters after the match. “We talked out in the lounge how we were a little loose and we finally got focused and started playing our game. We weren’t passing our best, and once we got into system we were able to terminate the ball better.”
After finishing with nine assists and a block in the first set, Sicner continued her strong play in the second game and hooked up with Bird, who had five kills on six swings in the set to pace the Bluejays. “I don’t know what it is about Bird, I feel like we just always connect well with each other,” said Sicner. “There’s a couple of sets we need to work on, but before it happens I can look at her and she can look at me, and we can be like ‘all right, let’s go put it down.’ I have a lot of confidence in Jess and I hope she has it in herself.”
A late run by St. John’s put Creighton in a 22-20 hole late in the set, but Sicner found Leah McNary for consecutive kills to even the game at 22-all. She set up Bird for another kill to create set point and then an ace by senior Katie Neisler sent the Bluejays to the locker room with a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set played out like the first two with the teams playing even until the midway point of the match. Then, junior Lizzy Stivers served a 4-0 run for the Bluejays during which St. John’s burned both of their timeouts. Stivers capped off the run with her third ace of the season, and Creighton’s eighth of the match, to give her team a 19-14 lead. That would end up being the final margin as Sicner set up Bird once again for the match-ending kill.
Bird finished with 13 kills on 21 swings, good for a .571 attack percentage. That percentage was matched only by Sicner who also finished with season-highs in assists with 32, digs with five, and blocks with five to go along with four kills on seven swings without committing an attack error.
It has been a difficult season off the court for Sicner, who lost her mother to cancer in early September, but according to Coach Booth she has shown great character and practiced well in the week leading up to St. John’s, which is why Booth had no issue turning to her when the situation presented itself.
“Michelle had a really good week of practice. I’ve been impressed with the way Michelle has been a really positive leader on the team despite being in a pretty tough situation,” Booth said.
“I thought Michelle came in when we didn’t have rhythm and kind of got us going. I thought she did a great job. She seized the opportunity. I think the good thing that I’ve seen out of Michelle, and I know Maggie is this way, and Kenzie [Crawford] is definitely this way, is that I think they’ll support each other and be supportive of whoever is at the helm. Depth is a good thing. This is a good problem that I’m having. But I’m happy for Michelle. She’s been a great teammate through some tough situations.”
With the win Creighton improved to 14-7 overall on the season and 7-1 in Big East play. Their next match will be on Sunday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena against last place Providence. It will be the second home game of a five-game home stand for the Bluejays. Though they’ve won eight of their last nine matches, Coach Booth still feels her team can take their play to another level as the season goes on. “I like the mojo of the team, and I like the attitude of this team. We’ve had a good week of practice, but I still feel there are things we can get a lot better at,” Booth said.
“Some years I have a feeling that we’re not clicking and I’m not sure we can get it going. This year, I still really feel like we can take another step. I just think this is a group that we can continue to take a step forward. Our goal is to have a great October and to be playing our best at the end [of the season], and I think this group can do this.”
First serve between the Bluejays and Friars is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.