The 23rd-ranked Creighton Volleyball team (2-1) tasted defeat for the first time in 2014, falling in four sets (21-25, 25-27, 25-17, 16-25) to the 22nd-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (2-1) in the championship of the Kansas Invitational at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence, Kan. on Saturday afternoon.
The Bluejays held four-point leads in each of the first three sets, but made costly serving and attack errors that allowed Kansas to put Creighton in a hole that proved to deep to climb out of.
“We talked about that through the weekend that even though we are senior-laden we either are maybe getting nervous or I don’t know,” said head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth about her team’s struggles with closing out games. “That’s what we have to figure out as coaches. At 20-20 we’ve got to be a team that says this is a great situation to be in, that we’re confident here, and we’re going to nail the serve, nail the pass, or put up a great set, or we’re going to make a great decision. Things along those lines. I thought we were kind of sub par in those things. I thought we did some outstanding things this weekend. We have a lot to build up, but we have to be more consistent at what we’re doing.”
Creighton looked sharp out of the gates, cruising out to an 8-4 lead thanks to a pair of kills by Melanie Jereb and Leah McNary. But the Jayhawks’ block started a 6-1 run that gave them a 10-9 lead and forcing a Creighton timeout. The rest of the set would be dictated by Kansas making a run and Creighton battling back until one final spurt by Kansas turned a 20-20 tie into a 25-21 first set victory for the host Jayhawks. During the final 5-1 run, the Bluejays committed their first service error and eighth and ninth attack errors of the set.
True freshman Marysa Wilkinson would provide some big kills in the second set as she tried to help the Bluejays avoid heading to intermission in an 0-2 hole. The newcomer from Lincoln, Neb. gave Creighton an 8-7 lead on a set by Maggie Baumert. The duo hooked up again shortly after that to even the set at 9-apiece, and later to give the Bluejays a commanding 19-15 lead in the pivotal game. It was the highlight of an impressive debut weekend against top competition for the young Bluejay.
“Marysa did a great job. She didn’t really play like a freshman,” Booth said. “Her energy is not like a freshman. I was impressed that she followed a lot of scouting and she was locked in on what she was supposed to be doing. She didn’t make mental errors.”
The Bluejays, unfortunately, did make mental errors and it would not only cost them the four-point lead they built late in the set, but it would cost them the set itself. It ended with a Jekyll & Hyde sequence starting with an attack error by Katie Neisler, which was followed up by a kill from McNary. Two more serving errors were followed up by two more kills by McNary before an attack error by redshirt sophomore Lauren Smith gave Kansas the set and the 2-0 lead in the match. The sequence started with the Bluejays leading 22-20, but saw four errors contribute to the final seven points of the game for the Jayhawks.
“I thought our serving became passive,” Booth said. “Against great teams you have to work to take them out of system. We talked about needing to win the serve and pass game, and I thought KU won that today.”
Creighton dominated the third set out of the locker room. The Bluejays used a 10-4 run midway through the third set to break the game open. It was definitely more of a Bluejay-like set. Digging balls, swinging for kills, setting up blocks, making good reads, and playing with high energy. That was especially the case with junior libero Kate Elman who along with McNary earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. The two seemed to ignite energy for the Bluejays all weekend long. In Elman’s case she was diving all over the floor, bouncing off the walls, and running into anything in her way out there in order to create energy for the Jays as they tried to battle back.
“I was taught at a young age to never let the ball hit the ground,” Elman said of her style that could be described as reckless abandon. “If it’s a person, or if it’s a camera, or something, it’s going down before the ball touches the ground.”
Sophomore outside hitter Jess Bird capped off great set and another Creighton run with a game-ending, cross court kill over the Kansas block to give the Jays a 25-17 win in Game 3 and provide a bit of hope after dropping the first two sets.
That hope dwindled quickly as Kansas controlled the fourth and final set from the midway point on en route to a 25-16 victory to seal the championship. The Jayhawks hit .441 in the close out set and used a 10-3 to break the game open and deal the Jays their first loss of the season.
Coach Booth summed up the match as best she could afterwards.
“I think KU is a great team. I thought we played like a good team today, and if we want to be a great team we’re going to have to play more consistently, we’re going to have to put more pressure on teams, and we’re going to have to be better at end game.”
Bad news got worse after the match for Creighton when it was revealed that Jess Bird will have her knee scoped on Wednesday and is expected to miss the next 3-6 weeks. Bird, who sat out Friday night’s match against Utah Valley, finished with eight kills, seven digs, a block, and just two errors against the Jayhawks. Coach Booth hopes to have her back healthy and ready in time for Big East play, and senior Leah McNary believes that the Bluejays will have to rely on their experience to help fill the void while Bird recovers.
“It’s a tough loss,” McNary said. “But we have some good outside hitters and then also Marysa who will be on the right side. It’s tough that she is injured, but I think we have enough experienced hitters that we should be ok.”
Going forward, the Bluejays have some positives they can take away from this weekend. They got a quality win against a Lipscomb squad that beat Kansas on Friday night. At times their dual-setter approach created problems for their opponents because of the contrast in how each one plays defensively. And they found out their bench can step up when called upon based on the performances of senior Katie Neisler and freshman Marysa Wilkinson in particular.
The Jays will head home and begin preparing for the Commonwealth Classic in Lexington, Kentucky next Friday and Saturday where they will take on old Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 5th before battling heavy hitters in No. 5 Southern Cal at 10 a.m. and tournament host No. 19 Kentucky at 6:30 p.m., each on Saturday, September 6th.