In the second non-conference volleyball match of the weekend between the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Creighton Blue Jays.
Marquette took care of business in three straight sets, by scores of 25-21, 25-14, and 25-23.
It was Marquette’s first win in Omaha over the Blue Jays since the 2013 season in the Big East Championship.
Marquette had a .259 hitting percentage throughout the match, while holding #19 Creighton to .173 hitting percentage. Sophomore Keely Davis for the Blue Jays lead the match with 13 kills, followed by junior Jaela Zimmerman who had 11.
Senior K.J. Lines lead the way for the Golden Eagles with nine kills, while senior Taylor Wolf had nine kills. Graduate transfer Savannah Rennie had one of her best games in a Marquette uniform, racking seven kills, three service aces and two digs.
Head coach Ryan Theis said Rennie is a real offensive weapon for the team and hopes to see more games like this from her in the future.
Theis was also pleased with the play of Lines and the progress she has made in her recovery from surgery.
“It’s been a long road to recovery but it was a hugely difficult surgery and recovery to come back from and she’s showing signs of life here and there,” Theis said.
In set one, both teams went back and forth with seven ties and three lead changes throughout. Marquette then built a lead as large as four points and would win set number one by 25-21. Marquette was able to claim the set with a strong showing in serving, having five aces. According to coach Theis, a good night for each set is to have 1-1.5 service aces. Marquette would finish the set on a 4-1 run capped off by a block from Lines and Rennie.
In the middle of the set after the media timeout, coach Theis spoke to the referees regarding Creighton’s rotations. It appeared that Creighton’s rotations had been mixed up, with sophomore Ally Van Eekeren about to serve when it was supposed to be Zimmerman. According to the rules, the server has eight seconds to serve the ball after the official blows the whistle for the player to serve the ball. If the player fails to do so or if they serve the ball out of rotation, the other team receives a point.
Theis said during the eight second period, Creighton had asked for a lineup check and the down referee permitted the stoppage, without realizing that the up official had started play. In the end, Creighton was given a delay of game and served the ball, which led to a kill by Lines, which tied the game at 15.
There was less controversy in set two, as Marquette pulled out dominant win, leading from start to finish and winning by 11 points, 25-14. Marquette would outscore Creighton 12-4 to finish out the set. Marquette captured a set high with 16 kills in set two.
Theis said everything had to be working in order for that 12-4 stretch to occur against a team like Creighton.
“First and second touches were really good, our setters did a really good job tonight, Claire (Nuessmeier) and Taylor (Wolf) getting hitters some really nice looks, secondary setters stepped in, Savannah (Rennie) two or three assists stepping in for people, Katie (Schoessow) had a couple of nice ones, Carly (Skrabak) stepped in and got one, it was just good first and second touches to give hitters good options,” Theis said.
Set three was a tight battle throughout the set, with once again, seven ties and three lead changes. Marquette would lead by as much as four throughout most of the set before a 3-0 run would tie the game at 19. After tying twice again down the stretch, Marquette would nab three of the last four points, winning the set by as score of 25-23, and winning in straight sets.
Theis said closing out a team like Creighton is never easy to close out a team like Creighton, regardless of the situation.
“You gotta be really efficient and I think we had a swing that would have made it 20-15… but they’re gonna keep coming, even if it was 20-15, you know they were going to start some run and our mentality tonight was we weren’t gonna let it happen,” Theis said.
The Golden Eagles improved to 4-2 on the season with the Big East schedule officially starting on Feb. 12, where they will host DePaul for two games at the Al McGuire Center. After that they will once again take on the Blue Jays at the Al on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
This story was written Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] on Twitter @JacosonGross.
