DePaul University
Creighton
Volleyball Falls in Dramatic Road Finish to Creighton
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
OMAHA, Neb. - The DePaul volleyball team jumped out to an early lead Friday night on the road, but fell in a five-set decision to Creighton, 3-2 (21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12, 15-11). The Blue Demons drop to 12-6 on the season and 1-5 in BIG EAST play. Creighton remains unbeaten in BIG EAST matches at 6-0 and 12-7 overall.
Tyler Graham produced a match-high 20 digs and added four assists. Friday night marked the third time this year Graham recorded 20 digs or more in a match.
Brittany Maxwell tallied 18 kills on 42 attacks, a match-high for the freshman and the most for the Blue Demons in BIG EAST play this year. Caitlyn Coffey followed behind with 14 kills and a .462 hitting percentage.
Colleen Smith finished the match with 39 assists, four digs and two blocks. Jasmine King tied for a team-best four total blocks with Coffey.
As a team, the Blue Demons posted a BIG EAST match season-high for attacks with 169 over the five sets.
Playing in its third road match in the past eight days, DePaul went point-for-point with the Bluejays to open the match. The first set saw 13 ties with the latest coming at 18-18 when Lauren Smith recorded a kill for Creighton. Saige Gallop answered with a kill of her own and placed the Blue Demons back in the lead. Her kill started a 5-0 run for DePaul and put the Blue Demons in control of the rest of the set. Creighton brought the score back within three at 24-21, but a kill by Maxwell sealed the set for the Blue Demons.
DePaul took momentum into the second set to jump to an 11-7 lead. A four-point rally helped the Blue Demons to the advantage. Creighton answered with its own 4-0 run to tie the match again, 11-11. Back-to-back points by DePaul gave it a lead of 13-11. The Blue Demons held their lead until Jess Bird recorded back-to-back kills to tie the match, 19-19, and eventually take the lead. A key error by Bird late in the frame evened the two teams again at 22-all. DePaul closed out the set with two final points from a Smith service ace and a Maxwell kill.
A short break between sets two and three did not slow down the dramatic play in Friday's match. DePaul tied the match, 13-13, off a Jaali Winters attack error. Creighton responded with back-to-back kills and forced a DePaul timeout. The Blue Demons brought the score within one on two occasions after the break, but could not overcome the deficit. Two points at the end of the frame secured Creighton's first set of the match, 25-21.
With the tables turned, Creighton used its home momentum to jump out to an early lead over DePaul in the fourth frame, 10-6. The Bluejays built their lead up to 13 throughout the set twice before going on to win the set, 25-12, to force a fifth and final set.
Creighton came out with a strong start and produced a 5-0 run at the beginning of the match. DePaul responded with an identical 5-0 rally and tied the match. The Bluejays crawled back to a four-point lead, 10-6, capitalizing on a DePaul attacking error. DePaul continued to battle and pulled within three of Creighton on five separate occasions late in the set. With the match point available for Creighton, DePaul committed an attacking error to give Creighton the fifth set and the match.
A four-match road slate concludes for the Blue Demons on Sunday, Oct. 11 when DePaul faces Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The Sunday match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT start with live coverage provided by GUHoyas.com. Fans can visit the DePaul volleyball schedule page for live coverage links.
