OMAHA, Neb. – The upset-minded Butler Bulldogs won the first two sets at #17 Creighton on Friday night, but were ultimately defeated 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9). BU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two sets, but three-straight from the Bluejays would move Butler's overall record to 14-6.
The Bulldogs had five players end the match with a double figure kill total. The balanced attack allowed Butler to hit .275 as a team.
Brooke Gregory led the charge offensively with 16 kills off 30 swings. She didn't commit a single error in the contest to end the night with a .533 attack percentage.
Whitney Beck tied Gregory for the team-high in kills with 16. She walked off the court with a double-double by adding 10 digs.
Beck was one of four Bulldogs to notch a double-double at Creighton.
Anna Logan posted 13 kills, 18 digs and six blocks against the Bluejays and fellow outside hitter
Natalie Ravenell posted 10 kills and 18 digs. Senior
Makayla Ferguson was fantastic for Butler in a losing effort with 49 assists and 21 digs.
Butler's defense also got a lift from libero
Taylor Takeda and middle blocker
Bri Lilly. Takeda tallied 16 digs while Lilly led all players at the net with eight blocks.
Creighton was led by Jaali Winters who ended the contest with 28 kills and 19 digs. Setter Lydia Dimke added 65 assists and 13 digs while Taryn Kloth posted 18 kills.
Butler broke and 8-8 tie in the opening set to take a 15-10 lead at the midway point. A 7-2 scoring run featured a pair of kills from Lilly to give Butler the upper hand. Creighton never closed the gap and one final kill from Beck would put BU up 1-0 after the 25-19 win.
The home team really got a scare on Friday the 13th after Butler posted a 26-24 win in the second set. Creighton enjoyed a 22-20 lead after a kill from Winters, but the Bulldogs would battle back to tie the game at 24-24. Ravenell pushed the team to set point with a kill and Beck would once again finish the action with a kill off an assist from Ferguson.
Creighton stayed alive in the third set by posting a 25-21 win. The two teams came together at 20-20, but the Bluejays would score five of the last six points to avoid the sweep.
The fourth set also came down to the wire as BU went into crunch time trailing 23-22. Winters would stand tall in the final moments of action with two big kills allowing the Bluejays to win 25-23.
The two evenly matched programs would switch sides in the fifth set with Butler winning 8-7. Unfortunately, after the swap, BU would go cold allowing Creighton to end the match on an 8-1 scoring run.
Butler will return to action on Sunday with a 1 PM match at Providence.
