After splitting the opening two sets, the No. 23 Creighton Blue Jays used quick leads in the third and fourth sets to pull away from the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats, beating UK three sets to one (25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22) in the opening match of the 2019 Northern Iowa Tournament.
Kentucky will play its second match against a ranked team of the day later on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET against the No. 15 Southern California Trojans. The match can be seen live on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with the proper subscription login.
“Credit Creighton for their defense,” Craig Skinner said after the match. “I thought their block did a nice job. We did not play Kentucky defense and we need to find a way to step it up this afternoon against USC.”
The Blue Jays hit an impressive .319 in the match and were able to hold the Wildcats to just .216 in the four sets. Creighton had four different players with 10-plus kills in the match.
Kentucky was paced by senior Leah Edmond, who had a season-high 18 kills in the match along with five digs. Madison Lilley continued to pace the Kentucky attack, netting 47 assists in the match, a season high for the junior. Additionally, she had 10 digs.
Set One
Kentucky raced out to a 6-2 lead and was playing very well to start the match before the Blue Jays ripped off six points in a row to make it 8-6, CU forcing the Wildcats into the first timeout of the set. UK responded with a Leah Edmond kill the next two successive points and climbed back right into the frame. Madison Lilley and Leah Meyer blocked a ball at the net to create the first two-point for either team in over 25 points as the Wildcats took a 21-19 lead and forced the Blue Jays into a timeout. Creighton then took a 24-23 lead on a kill to the right side before the next point ended the frame 25-23 in favor of Creighton. The Blue Jays won five of the final seven points of the set.
Set Two
Creighton created some slight separation in the early stages of the second set with a pair of blocks at the net inside the first handful of points to take a 10-8 lead. The Wildcats climbed back into the set with the help of Meyer’s kills and a stuff at the net to even the frame up at 13 all. After Creighton went on a 3-0 run to take a 19-18 lead, Kentucky called its first timeout of the set and responded with an Alli Stumler kill from the left side to tie things up. A huge swing from Edmond on the left side in an extended rally puts the Wildcats up 22-20 and Creighton took the first of two timeouts on back-to-back points. Cameron Scheitzach followed with the first UK ace of the match and UK closed the second set with a 25-20 win.
Set Three
The Blue Jays forced the Wildcats into an early timeout to start the third set as they went on a 7-0 run and took an early 9-4 lead. Creighton extended the run to 9-0 before a service error ended the Blue Jay rally. CU took control of the set from there, leading by as much as 14-5. The Wildcats went on two small scoring runs with Lauren Tharp and Alli Stumler serving, but the lead was too much to overcome as Creighton took the third set, 25- 18.
Set Four
Creighton again used a quick-strike offense in the fourth set, racing out to a 4-0 lead to begin the fourth set and push the Wildcats into an early timeout at 13-8 in the frame. A pair of kills from Edmond and Stumler midway through the set clawed the Wildcats back into it, trailing just 14-12 at one point. UK was unable to inch any closer to the Blue Jays, ultimately falling 25-22 in the final set and dropping the match, 3-1.
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For more information contact:
Chris Shoals (cmsh223@uky.edu) – (859) 257-8437
| CHRIS SHOALSAssistant Director | Athletics Communications & PR | |
| University of Kentucky Athletics |