Zimmerman Named MVP as #15 Volleyball Wins Creighton Classic

OMAHA, Neb. -- Sophomore Jaela Zimmerman had a career-high 16 kills to lead the No. 15 Creighton Volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over visiting Wyoming to win the Creighton Classic title on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Scores of the match were 25-11, 25-23, 25-19.

Zimmerman was named MVP of the Creighton Classic, and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Creighton's Keeley Davis and Madelyn Cole, Wyoming's Tara Traphagan and Jackie McBride, and Wichita State's Kara Bown.

Creighton closes non-conference play with a 7-3 mark, and Wyoming fell to 5-6.

Creighton never trailed in the first set, scoring the first five points of the match and racing to a 10-2 lead. Zimmerman had five kills in the set and served separate 5-0 and 4-0 runs to help the Bluejay rout. Senior Megan Ballenger had five of her career-high nine blocks in the opener as Wyoming hit -.029 in 37 swings.

The only close set of the match was the second frame, which featured eight ties and four lead changes. The Jays appeared in command after using a 7-2 run to build a 19-14 lead, but Wyoming would use a 6-1 run to save three set points before Erica Kostelac and Naomi Hickman blocked Hailey Zuroske to seal the 25-23 second set. Zimmerman had seven kills in the second set to help hold off the Cowgirls.

CU opened the third set on a 10-3 run and never trailed en route to a second straight sweep. Wyoming did draw within one point at 16-15, 17-16, 18-17 and 19-18 before back-to-back attack errors pushed the Bluejay margin to 21-18. Keeley Davis had kills on two of the last three points as CU picked up its first win ever over Wyoming. Davis had six kills and three digs on .375 hitting in the final fame, and Brittany Witt added eight digs.

Creighton finished with 40 kills, six aces, 53 digs and a season-high 14.0 blocks on .203 hitting. Zimmerman had 16 kills on .448 hitting to lead CU in both categories. Davis finished with 10 kills and became one of five players in school history to reach 100 career kills within her first 10 matches. Cole approached a double-double with 30 assists and nine digs, and Witt scooped a match-best 18 digs.

Wyoming had 28 kills, four aces, 52 digs and 8.0 blocks on .055 hitting. Traphagan had a team-best 11 kills and .500 hitting in 20 swings.

Creighton returns to the court on Friday when it hosts Villanova at 7 p.m. in the BIG EAST Conference opener for both programs.

NOTES: Brittany Witt surpassed 1,700 career digs and 400 career sets played during the match ... Wyoming is the 89th different school that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has beaten in her 17 seasons at Creighton ... Creighton has won 68 straight matches against unranked teams when winning the first set, 52 straight home matches against unranked teams and won 51 straight matches when owning more digs than its opponent ... Jaela Zimmerman and Keeley Davis both landed on an All-Tournament Team for the first time in their respective careers ... Creighton won its 16th different tournament title under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, and second this fall, after a total of two titles prior to her arrival ... Creighton's winning percentage in non-conference play (.700) this fall is its best since the 2013 team was 9-3 (.750).

Zimmerman Named MVP as #15 Volleyball Wins Creighton Classic

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Team Stats

Jaela Zimmerman

Keeley Davis

Erica Kostelac

Naomi Hickman

Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Madelyn Cole

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Erica Kostelac

Brittany Witt

Jaela Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Madelyn Cole

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Erica Kostelac

Brittany Witt

Jaela Zimmerman