Friday, September 27
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
8-3, 1-0BIG EAST
3
vs
0
Villanova
9-3, 0-1BIG EAST
1
2
3
F
Villanova
16
16
19
0
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Erica Kostelac
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
#14 Volleyball Sweeps Villanova in League Opener
9/27/2019 8:57:00 PM | Volleyball
Jays own 9-0 advantage in aces
OMAHA, Neb. -- The five-time defending BIG EAST champion Creighton Volleyball team opened league play in 2019 with a convincing 3-0 sweep over visiting Villanova on Friday, Sept. 27.
Scores of the match were 25-16, 25-16, 25-19, as Creighton trailed just once the entire match.
Creighton (8-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) dominated the stats, owning a 50-33 lead in kills, a 9-0 edge in aces and a 49-35 edge in digs. Both teams had two blocks, and Creighton hit a season-best.365 compared to 'Nova's .223.
Jaela Zimmerman, MVP last weekend of the Creighton Classic, had another big performance, finishing with a match-high 13 kills and hitting .312. Erica Kostelac hit .529 and had 11 kills in 17 swings. Madelyn Cole turned in a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs, while Brittany Witt upped a match-high 14 digs.
Villanova (9-3, 0-1 BIG EAST) was paced by eight kills and .533 hitting by Sophia Howling, who also had a hand in both Wildcat blocks.
Creighton had 18 kills and hit .405 in the opening set of a 25-16 victory. The Jays pulled away with a 6-0 run on Keeley Davis' serve to push the lead to 20-11. Five Bluejays had multiple kills, led by five from Zimmerman, and Witt contributed nine digs.
The second set saw the Bluejays blast the Wildcats from the start by scoring seven of the first eight points and 16 of the first 20 points. CU led 22-9 at one point and ended the set on a kill from Zimmerman. Creighton served up six aces in the frame as the Villanova defense managed just a single dig in the entire frame.
The third set was the closest of the night, and featured Villanova's lone lead at 7-6. The momentum swung when Zimmerman finished off a long rally with a solo block to move CU's lead to 10-9 and the Jays would not trail again. Cole had 12 assists, seven digs and a pair of kills in the final set, and Davis ended the match with consecutive kills.
Creighton returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Georgetown (11-4, 1-0 BIG EAST) at D.J. Sokol Arena. The Hoyas rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win at Providence on Friday evening.
NOTES: Each of the last six times Creighton has won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), the Bluejays went on to win the league's regular-season and tournament titles ... Creighton improved to 9-0 all-time at home against Villanova, winning 27-of-31 sets ... Creighton has won its first conference home match each of the last nine seasons, and 15-of-17 times overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton has won 124 straight matches when hitting .300 or better, 82 straight BIG EAST matches when winning the third set, 80 straight BIG EAST matches when winning the dig battle, 79 straight BIG EAST matches when winning the ace battle, 69 straight matches vs. unranked teams when winning the first set, 53 straight home wins vs. unranked teams, 52 straight wins when outdigging the opposition and 38 straight regular-season BIG EAST home matches ... Creighton has now won its last 20 regular-season BIG EAST matches, and 24 in a row against BIG EAST foes including the postseason ... Creighton improved to 24-1 all-time on BEDN.
Team Stats
VU
CU
Kills
33
50
Errors
10
12
Attempts
103
104
Hitting %
.223
.365
Points
35.0
61.0
Assists
32
49
Aces
0
9
Blocks
2.0
2.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball Media Availability - 9/24/25
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Creighton's Ava Martin Highlights - 9/22/25
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Monday, September 22
Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. Kansas, 9/21/25
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