OMAHA, NEB. - Indiana State went toe-to-toe with the Creighton Bluejays in the opening set but could not keep up the effort as the Sycamores were swept by the Blujays 0-3 (23-25, 12-25, 10-25) Saturday in the D.J. Sokol Arena.
Sophomore Molly Murphy recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs. She was the only Sycamore in double digit kills with sophomore Monique Morris and junior Shea Doran each knocking down four. Morris also led the defense with 16 digs. Sophomore Loni Mackinson had 23 assists while freshman Samantha Kersting had two service aces.
Indiana State drops to 9-8 overall and 1-5 in the Valley. The Sycamores return home to host Southern Illinois on Friday and Evansville Saturday. Both games start at 7 p.m. (ET) in the ISU Arena.
There were 15 ties and six lead changes in the opening set as each team attempted to gain control early on. Neither team led by more than three points the entire set. Indiana State had the lead three times, the last coming at 19-18 on a block by Kersting and Doran. Two quick points from Creighton gave the Bluejays the advantage before ISU tied the set at 20 on a Morris kill.
The opening set was tied by the Sycamores at 22 on a kill by senior Stacy Qualizza and again at 23 on a Murphy kill but Indiana State was never able to get back in front. Creighton scored the final two points of the set on kills by Heather Thornson and Laurel Sanford to take the opening set 25-23.
From that point on it was all Creighton. The Bluejays broke away from an 8-6 lead in the second set to defeat the Sycamores 25-12 and rolled out to a 6-1 lead in the third set before settling for a 25-10 victory to seal the three-set win.
Creighton is now 5-0 in the Valley and 10-7 overall.
Southern Illinois improved to 8-6 overall (2-3 MVC) after defeating Evansville 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-10) Friday in Carbondale, Ill. Evansville fell to 11-9 overall (1-4 MVC).
