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University of Northern Iowa
Creighton
Creighton Stuns UNI, 3-2
9/21/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2007
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Creighton came back from a two games to none deficit to stun the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team, 3-2, Friday night at the McLeod Center. Game scores in favor of the Bluejays were 25-30, 24-30, 31-29, 30-26 and 15-12. Tonight's loss marked the first time since 1996 that UNI has dropped a match after winning the first two games, and the first time ever that the Panthers have lost at home after going up 2-0.
UNI's Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tied a season-high with 17 kills, while Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had her third straight double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs. Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) and Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) added 12 and 11 kills, respectively, with Stelken tying a career-best with 12 blocks. Panthers' freshman Ellie Blankenship (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) recorded a match-high 27 digs. Creighton's Abby Baumann led all players with a career-high 24 kills.
UNI's offense was firing on all cylinders in the first game. The Panthers hit .370 (23-6-46) to open the match, including Rowen collecting 11 kills in the first game alone. With UNI leading 24-22, Rowen took over down the stretch, racking up four kills during a 5-0 Panthers run. Stelken put the ball away on game point to give UNI a 30-25 victory.
Creighton jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the second game, but UNI answered with four straight on the serve of Blankenship to pull even at 11-all. With the Bluejays holding a 19-17 lead, UNI went on a 6-0 run - again on Blankenship's serve - to move in front 23-19. Creighton rallied with three straight to pull within 23-22, but after a UNI timeout, the Panthers scored seven of the last nine points to win, 30-24.
The Bluejays held leads to 7-3, 12-7 and 17-11 in game three before UNI came charging back. Trailing by six, the Panthers went on a 7-1 run to pull even at 18-all, and took their first lead of the game at 23-22 on a Rowen kill. The Bluejays scored three straight to go back in front, 25-23. Leading 26-25, Creighton scored three straight to pull to game point at 29-26. But UNI rallied again, scoring three straight - all on Bluejays errors - to pull even. But Creighton put together back-to-back kills to earn the third game win, 31-29.
As in game three, Creighton opened up an early lead in the fourth game, going in front 8-3 and forcing UNI to call timeout. The Panthers pulled within 11-8, but Creighton went on a 6-1 run right after that to increase its lead to 17-9. The Bluejays held UNI at bay the rest of the way, and although the Panthers pulled as close as 27-24, Creighton eventually claimed a 30-26 win and forced game five.
It was UNI that jumped to the early advantage in the decisive fifth game. Stelken had a pair of early kills and Sampson added three of her own, as the Panthers went up 10-4. But Creighton fought back, scoring eight of the next nine points to pull ahead 12-11. After Brazda pulled UNI back even at 12-all, Bauman had two straight kills, followed by a UNI attack error that gave the Bluejays the 15-12 win and the match victory.
UNI fell to 6-7 with the loss, 1-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while Creighton improved to 8-5, 2-0 in the Valley. The Panthers host Drake tomorrow night (Sept. 22) at the McLeod Center, with first serve set for 7:00 pm.
