OMAHA, Neb. -- The Missouri State volleyball team was unable to top the Missouri Valley Conference’s second place team on the road Friday night, falling in five sets to Creighton by scores of 14-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 and 10-15 at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
The Bears (13-4, 4-2) had their five-match winning streak snapped and were defeated in five sets for the first time this year in four trips to a fifth set. Creighton (11-6, 6-1) strengthened its hold of second-place in the league standings with the win.
The teams alternated winning each of the five sets, with Creighton dominating the first, Missouri State dominating the fourth, and each team claiming a close 25-23 set in the middle.
Missouri State had all the momentum entering the deciding period after hitting .450 as a team with no attack errors in an emphatic fourth-set victory. It all went away in the beginning of the fifth as Creighton went ahead 4-1 and held the lead from one to three points until a 6-0 run from an 8-7 score sealed it for the Bluejays. The Bears fought off three match points but the seven-point deficit was too much to overcome.
The Creighton defense was the key to victory for the home team, as the Bluejays held the Bears to hitting percentages of .067, .186 and .087 in the three sets it won, while the Bears hit .350 and .450 in their two set victories. Creighton offense hit between .208 and .333 in all five sets and the teams ended the match fairly even offensively, with CU hitting .256 to MSU’s .236. Each squad had 11 blocks and the Jays held a 94-84 lead in digs.
MSU junior
Kelley Michnowicz put away a season-high 17 kills on a .536 hitting percentage and was joined in double figures by
Calli Norman with 12 and
Cara Hackmann with 11.
Abby Padlock had a career-high 26 digs and
Shayla Patrick played a part in six of the Bears’ 11 blocks.
Creighton’s Laurel Sanford led all players with 18 kills to lead four Bluejays in double figures.
The Bears play at Drake (17-4, 3-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs were swept by Wichita State Friday.
