University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Creighton
Creighton Sweeps UNI
11/21/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
Omaha, Neb. - Carolyn Decker had 15 kills to lead the Creighton volleyball team to a 3-0 win over the University of Northern Iowa tonight in front of a Civic Auditorium record crowd of 1,557. Set scores were 25-16, 25-19 and 25-16 in favor of the Bluejays.
With the win, Creighton improved to 17-8, 14-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while UNI ended its regular season with a record of 23-7, 13-5 in The Valley. The Panthers will be the third seed in next week's State Farm MVC Tournament, held in Wichita, Kan. UNI plays at 6 pm on Thur., Nov. 27 in the first round, against the loser of tomorrow's Illinois State-Evansville match.
The Panthers were led by Ashten Stelken, Amy Sampson and Beth Discher, who each had seven kills. Ellie Blankenship tied for match-high honors with 18 digs. In the team stats, Creighton dominated UNI, recording more kills (47-33), assists (47-31), digs (69-47), blocks (11-8) and having a higher hitting percentage (.296-.083).
UNI scored three of the first four points of the match, getting a kill from Stelken and a service ace from Chelsea Saunders. The Panthers led 6-3, before Creighton scored four straight to take its first lead, 7-6. In front 15-13, the Bluejays scored four straight to extend their advantage to 19-13. That run proved to be the difference, as Creighton eventually posted a 25-16 first set win. Creighton hit .250 in the first set, while UNI hit -.048.
The Panthers got three kills from Stelken early in set two and held an 8-6 lead. But Creighton, led by three kills from Carolyn Decker, then went on a 13-6 run to move in front 19-12. Trailing 22-16, UNI rallied back, getting a Sampson kill and a block from Shannon Aschoff and Michelle Burow to pull within 22-18, forcing Creighton to call timeout. But that was as close as the Panthers would get, as the Bluejays claimed a 25-19 victory.
After the break, Creighton controlled the third set from the start. The Bluejays opened leads of 4-0, 10-3 and 14-5 at the start, and UNI didn't get closer than seven points after that. Creighton hit an impressive .417 in set three (18-3-36), while UNI hit .136 (12-6-44).
