KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? Indiana State put a lot of effort into the opening set but could not keep up the endeavor in the next two sets as the Creighton Bluejays swept the Sycamores 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-7) in a Missouri Valley Conference game in the ISU Arena Saturday.

Indiana State has now lost five straight games in falling to 8-10 on the season and 0-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores will look for their first MVC win of the season next weekend when they visit Southern Illinois on Friday and Evansville on Saturday. Creighton improved to 10-6 overall and 5-1 in the Valley.

No Sycamore was in double figures in kills on the night with junior Stacy Qualizza leading the way with eight and sophomore Morgan Dall with seven. Junior Shelbi Fouty had 20 assists and nine digs with freshman Monique Morris and junior Kiya James also picking up nine digs. James surpassed the 1,000 career dig mark on Friday, just the seventh Sycamore to do so, and now has 1,010 career digs.

The opening set was a close battle throughout with Indiana State holding the early advantage until a 5-0 Creighton run put the Bluejays up 11-8. The Sycamores rallied to tie the set at 11 off an ace by sophomore Auriel Armstrong but Creighton scored the next four points to regain the advantage.

The Sycamores stormed back behind two kills by sophomore Christie Fullenkamp and three straight aces by James to tie the set at 20-all. Indiana State could not get in front, however, and dropped the opening set 25-22. The next two sets were dominated by Creighton as the Sycamores struggled to find their offense, losing the second set 25-10 and the third set 25-7.

ISU's offense had a .156 hitting percentage in the opening set and dropped from there to finish at .018. Creighton, meanwhile, finished with a .402 hitting percentage with 39 kills to Indiana State's 26.