The crowd was electric. The Creighton Pep Band was rocking. And there was a sea of blue in the crowd.
Karisa Almgren and Savannah Smith with a block
Creighton hosted Nebraska Tuesday night at Sokol Arena and if the first set gave any impression about what the night was going to be like, it appeared this game was going to be a barnburner to go the full five sets. Unfortunately it was not to be as Creighton ended up getting swept by Nebraska 26-24, 25-18 and 25-15 in front of the largest crowd to attend an on-campus volleyball game.
The Bluejays were out of the gates early on Nebraska, who was smarting from the five-set loss against Florida on Sunday, and took a 23-17 lead before the Huskers went on a 9-1 run to avoid losing the first set. Had the Bluejays hung on and won, it probably would have been a different story.
The second set was just as exciting as the lead went back and forth that had 13 ties and 7 lead changes before Nebraska again went on a 8-1 run to take the second set. Head Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth felt pretty good about the first two sets.
“I told the team we are a very good team. I thought we played good tonight in games one and two. I didn’t think we played incredible, but we played good volleyball, but within what we are capable of doing. I think that is huge for our players that they have the capability of hanging with a top 25 team. I think Nebraska will be top five by the end of the year.”
By the third set, the wind had been taken out of the Bluejay’s sails and they fell somewhat quietly while Nebraska showed their dominance walking out of Sokol Arena with a 3-0 sweep of the Bluejays. Alicia Runge and Allie Oelke carried the bulk of the load for the Bluejays finishing with 10 kills and 8 kills respectively. Nayka Benitez finished with 23 digs. The veterans on the team stepped it up the best they could without middle blocker Laurel Sanford who will likely still be out for another week with her ankle injury.
But not all was lost. Creighton was able to showcase Sokol Arena and with a sellout crowd filling the place, it really showed what a home court advantage this can really be for the volleyball team and other sports. Bernthal Booth echos those sentiments.
“It was pretty surreal and the thing was that it was primarily blue….very few places build facilities just for women, so to think that it is happening here at Creighton. Just think only eight years ago, the volleyball team was playing at Omaha South. It is pretty remarkable.”
The sellout gave an opportunity for us to have our first WBR: Live event of the season which you can check out. Unfortunately, we had some connection problems at the arena and had to improvise, but appreciate those who joined us for the match.
The Bluejays now hit the road for almost a month before returning to Sokol Arena to open conference season against Northern Iowa, on September 24th, one of the favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference race. This coming weekend, the Bluejays head to St. Louis to play in a weekend tourney against the host Billikins along with Iowa and Wake Forest.
In the meantime, enjoy the photos from WBR photographer Adam Streur from the game Tuesday night.