Creighton volleyball celebrates a four-peat in BIG EAST Championship titles.
Creighton Wins BIG EAST Volleyball Championship Title In Five-Set Thriller
MILWAUKEE – Creighton became just the third team in BIG EAST history to win four or more straight titles as the Bluejays defeated Marquette in a thrilling five-set match at the Al McGuire Center on Saturday in the final of the 2017 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep.
The last team to win four in a row was Notre Dame from 1995-1998. The only other time a team has won four or more titles in a row was Pittsburgh, who won seven-straight titles from 1988-1994.
The scores of the match were: 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11.
With the win, Creighton earns the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday. Runner up Marquette will also await their tournament fate. The Golden Eagles have put together a solid season and went into this weekend 32nd in the RPI.
Creighton junior outside hitter Taryn Kloth was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, hitting .333 with 28 kills and just one error in 81 swings in the two wins for the nationally ranked No. 17 Bluejays. Kloth had a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs in the championship match.
Joining Kloth on the all-tournament team from Creighton was sophomore libero Brittany Witt and senior middle blocker/right side hitter Marysa Wilkinson. Witt had 34 digs in the championship match with seven assists and an ace. Wilkinson had 14 kills in the final with just one error in 31 swings, hitting .419. She also added two blocks and a dig. Wilkinson hit .395 for the tournament.
From Marquette, junior outside hitter Anna Haak and junior middle blocker Jenna Rosenthal were named to the all-tournament team. Haak averaged 4.11 kills and 4.88 digs per set for the tournament. She followed her 20 kill, 20 dig semifinal performance with 17 kills, 22 digs in the final match. Rosenthal hit .410 in the championship match with match-high 18 kills and just two errors in 39 swings. She added three blocks and five digs.
First Set Recap: Marquette won, 25-22
The set started with Creighton taking an early lead. But Marquette rallied and went on a 5-0 run to take 15-13 lead. Creighton regained the lead, 17-16, as a service ace by Brittany Witt put them ahead. Marquette tied it again at 17, on a Lauren Speckman kill. The Golden Eagles hung on to the lead from there. Rosenthal and Liza Kastrup had a block at the end give Marquette a 24-21 advantage. A kill by Creighton’s Wilkinson set up by Lydia Dimke gave service back to Creighton, but Marquette sealed the victory with a kill by Allie Barber. Marquette’s Haak had six kills and four digs in the set. Creighton’s Jaali Winters also had six kills.
Second Set Recap: Creighton won, 25-18
Taking advantage of their first set win, Marquette jumped out to a 7-2 lead. But Creighton rallied back with a five-point run to tie it at 7-7. Dimke set up three kills, for three different players in the run. The tide turned from there in Creighton’s favor as the Bluejays maintained advantage for the rest of the game. With the score 20-17 in Creighton’s advantage, the Bluejays finished it off with kills by Dimke, Kloth (2) and Ballenger to get to match point, 24-18. A block by Ballenger and Naomi Hickman sealed the victory to tie the match at 1-1. Kloth led all scorers in the second set with five kills with no errors on 11 swings and added three digs. Ballenger had four kills on no errors, six swings with two kills and two blocks. For Marquette, Barber and Rosenthal had four kills each. Barber had no errors on 11 attempts.
Third Set Recap: Marquette won, 23-25
Marquette led for most of the game, using an 8-2 run mid-match run to lead 10-6. Creighton went on a six-point scoring streak to tie the match at 18, Dimke had two assists, a kill and the block during the run. Marquette took back the lead 19-18 on a Rosenthal kill. Dimke had an ace to tie it again at 20. Service went back to Marquette on a Creighton error and the Golden Eagles used two kills by Rosenthal to take a 23-20 lead. Creighton drew it within one, causing Marquette to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, Marquette outscored Creighton 2-1 for the win. Barber had the winning kill off a Speckman set.
Fourth Set Recap: Creighton won, 25-17
Ballenger was the Bluejay leader in the fourth set, tying the match at 2-2. Ballenger had seven kills with no errors in 10 attempts. The Bluejays pulled away mid match using a three-point run to lead 15-11 using two kills by Wilkinson. The fourth set favored Creighton heavily, the only set to go one way for most of the match. Ballenger added four more kills down the stretch as Creighton extended its lead to 23-16. Winters had the final kill of the match. Wilkinson had five kills in the match. Marquette’s Barber had five kills to lead the Golden Eagles.
Fifth Set Recap: Creighton won, 15-11
Creighton quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead, despite Marquette scoring the first point of the set, a kill by Haak. The teams were tied at 3-3 before Creighton turned the tide with three straight kills, two by Wilkinson. Marquette scored a point after a MU timeout, a kill by Barber. From there, Marquette slowly climbed back, bringing it within four, 13-9. The match came to a dramatic end as both Creighton and Marquette were successful in replay challenges. Despite another short run by Marquette, and a overturned call in favor of the Golden Eagles, a kill from Winters ended the match for Creighton.
BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Anna Logan, Butler
Allison Fitzgerald, Villanova
Anna Haak, Marquette
Jenna Rosenthal, Marquette
Marysa Wilkinson, Creighton
Brittany Witt, Creighton
Taryn Kloth, Creighton
Most Outstanding Player: Taryn Kloth, Creighton
Selection Sunday Information:
TV: ESPNU
Time: 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CST
Who’s In: Creighton (Automatic Qualifier)
At-Large Potential: Marquette, Butler