Volleyball Sweeps Weekly BIG EAST honors

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Creighton Volleyball team swept all three weekly honors handed out by the BIG EAST Conference on Monday following three straight 3-0 sweeps to win the Shocker Volleyball Classic last weekend. Jaela Zimmerman was named Offensive Player of the Week, Abby Bottomley tabbed Defensive Player of the Week and Kendra Wait recognized as Freshman of the Week.

It marks the first time the same BIG EAST school has swept all three weekly volleyball awards since Nov. 25, 2019, when Creighton's Zimmerman (Offensive), Naomi Hickman (Defensive) and Keeley Davis (Freshman) were recognized.

Zimmerman was named MVP of the Shocker Volleyball Classic after averaging 4.67 kills, 3.89 digs and 0.44 aces on .295 hitting. The senior outside hitter from Lincoln, Neb., had nine kills, six digs and two blocks in the win over the Cowgirls, then collected her third double-double of the year with 16 kills and 16 digs vs. USD on .400 hitting. She concluded her weekend with 17 kills, 13 digs and a career-high four service aces in the win over the Shockers as Creighton established a program record for non-conference wins in a regular-season. For the week Zimmerman had 37 serving attempts without an error and handled 50 service receptions without being aced.

Already the first player in program history to be named Tournament MVP on consecutive weekends, she became the first player with three straight MVP recognitions.

This is Zimmerman's sixth career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honor, and second time in three weeks (also Sept. 6) that she's been recognized.

Bottomley averaged a league-high 6.67 digs per set in three matches last week. The Virginia Beach, Va., product also served up 0.67 aces per set and was aced just once in 30 service receptions to earn Shocker Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team acclaim.

Bottomley had 21 digs in just three sets of the win vs. Wyoming. She also tied her career-high with five aces, all of which came during an 8-0 serving run early in the first set. Bottomley then had 22 digs, an ace and a rare kill in the win vs. South Dakota. She closed her weekend with 17 digs in the win vs. Wichita State. Creighton opponents hit just .085 for the week and served up just five aces in three contests.

This is the second straight week that Bottomley has been honored as BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week after she earned 14 Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week recognitions while at High Point from 2017-20.

Wait earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Shocker Volleyball Classic after another solid all-around week while directing the Bluejays. She averaged 10.78 assists, 3.44 digs, 1.56 kills and 1.11 blocks per set while hitting .448.

Wait had 19 assists, six digs, six kills and five blocks on .667 hitting in the victory vs. Wyoming. She then hit .400 and had 34 assists, a season-high 17 digs, five kills and a block assist in the sweep over the Coyotes. Wait wrapped up her stellar weekend with 44 assists, eight digs, four blocks and three kills in the win vs. Wichita State.

This is the third time that Wait has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, as she has also been chosen for the award on Aug. 30 and Sept. 13.

Creighton (12-1) opens BIG EAST play on Friday with a 5 p.m. Central match at Butler (6-7) that will air on YouTube.com/ButlerAthletics.

Players Mentioned

Abby Bottomley

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Kendra Wait

Jaela Zimmerman

Related Videos