Saturday, November 26
Omaha, Neb.
5:00 PM
Creighton University
27-4,17-1Big East
3
vs
2
Marquette (Finals)
27-3,17-1Big East
1
2
3
4
5
F
#14 Marquette
25
20
18
33
12
2
#15 Creighton
16
25
25
31
15
3
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
#15 Volleyball Tops #14 Marquette For Third Straight BIG EAST Tourney Title
11/26/2022 8:27:00 PM | Volleyball
Norah Sis named Tournament MVP for second straight season.
OMAHA, Neb. -- Norah Sis and Ava Martin combined for 45 kills to lead No. 15 Creighton Volleyball to its eighth BIG EAST Tournament title in the last nine years with a 3-2 win vs. No. 14 Marquette on Saturday evening at D.J. Sokol Arena. Creighton has now beaten Marquette in five of the last six BIG EAST Tournament finals.
Scores of the match in CU's favor were 16-25, 25-20, 25-18, 31-33, 15-12.
Sis was named Tournament MVP for the second straight season and was joined by Martin and Kendra Wait on the All-Tournament Team. The BIG EAST Player of the Year, Sis led Creighton (27-4) with 23 kills while BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Martin authored a season-best 22 kills on .333 hitting. Wait had 60 assists, 20 digs and seven blocks and Allison Whitten finished with 21 digs. Also registering a double-double was Kiana Schmitt, who had 11 kills and 10 blocks. The Bluejays had 74 kills, five aces, 87 digs and 13.0 blocks on .278 hitting.
Marquette (27-3) was paced by a match-best 25 kills by Aubrey Hamilton, who also added 15 digs. BIG EAST Setter of the Year Yadhira Anchante had 57 assists and 25 digs in the contest. The Golden Eagles finished with 74 kills, six aces, 90 digs and seven blocks on .264 hitting.
Top-seeded Marquette, seeking its first league tournament title since 2013, never trailed in a dominant first set in which it hit .349. The Golden Eagles led 8-2 out of the chute and pulled away down the stretch with a 10-3 run after the Jays had closed to within 15-13. Hamilton had seven kills and Anchante owned 13 assists to go with seven digs.
CU took its first lead of the match during a 5-0 service run from freshman Sky McCune that gave the hosts a 10-7 lead in set two. Marquette clawed back to tie the score at 14-all before the Jays steadily broke free from the regular-season co-champion. Martin's fourth kill of the set proved to be the clincher as the Bluejays hit .472 and four women had three or more kills.
Creighton took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 victory in the third set, hitting .405 as Wait dished 13 assists and had nine of CU's 22 digs. Both Sis and Martin landed six kills and Jazz Schmidt had three blocks to go with three kills.
The fourth set proved to be CU's highest-scoring frame of the season and featured 16 ties and five lead changes as both teams pushed each other into exhaustion. The teams would be tied at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 before finally Marquette prevailed. The Golden Eagles saved a CU match point at 31-30 and answered with a 3-0 run to force a decisive fifth set. Hamilton had 10 kills on 24 swings in the fourth set and Anchante owned 20 assists and nine digs in the frame. Sis had eight kills and Martin seven more for a Bluejay offense that it .310 and finished with 23 kills. Wait distributed 21 assists in the marathon fourth set.
The title match went to a fifth set for the first time since 2017 in Milwaukee and just as it did then, Creighton earned the victory over MU. Creighton led by three points early before MU rallied to tie the score at 7-all. The Golden Eagles took its only lead at 9-8, only to have CU score four of the next five points for a 12-10 lead. The Jays earned a match point chance at 14-11 on a kill from Martin and one sideout later secured the title when Schmitt and Wait teamed to block Hamilton. Marquette had more kills (7-6) than CU in the fifth set, but were also blocked four times and committed five service errors in front of the near-sellout crowd of 2,037.
Both teams are NCAA bound and in position to host when pairings are announced on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPNU. The Bluejay team will watch the selections from DJ's Dugout (777 N. 114th Street), with the public and media welcome to attend.
NOTES: Creighton is now 21-3 against Marquette since the start of the 2014 season, including a 6-0 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament ... Marquette has now lost in the finals each of the last six years ... Creighton improved to 17-2 all-time in 10 BIG EAST Tournament appearances, including eight titles ... Each of Creighton's last five BIG EAST Tournament titles have come against Marquette ... Creighton is the sixth different program to win three straight BIG EAST Tournaments. One of those runs was by Creighton from 2014-18 ... Creighton and Marquette have met nine times since Feb. 4, 2021 ... In the last five seasons Marquette is 3-12 against Creighton and 118-13 against everyone else ... Creighton also lost the opening set in BIG EAST Tournament title match victories against Marquette in 2017, 2018 and 2020 ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is now 17-2 in BIG EAST Tournament play, while the league's other active coaches are a combined 17-35 ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth has now won eight BIG EAST Tournaments, one shy of the league record of nine set by Notre Dame's Debbie Brown ... Creighton improved to 3-1 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament play as a No. 2 seed and became the first No. 2 seed to win the league tournament since Cincinnati in 2011 ... Creighton had not won a conference tournament match as a worse-seeded team since the 2010 MVC Tournament semifinals vs. Wichita State ... Since 2014, Creighton is 6-0 in BIG EAST Tournament play against teams it lost to in the regular-season ... Creighton has now won 10 BIG EAST Tournaments all-time in all sports, with eight of those coming in volleyball ... Creighton has won 21 straight matches that Jaela Zimmerman has played in ... Jaela Zimmerman has now played in four BIG EAST Tournament title game victories, tying a school-record with Marysa Wilkinson, Jaali Winters, Taryn Kloth and Naomi Hickman ... Entering the match Marquette had won 36-of-39 sets since Oct. 15th, while Creighton had won 30-of-33 sets since Oct. 17th ... Creighton is now 23-84 all-time against ranked teams, with eight of those wins coming against Marquette ... Creighton has won 33 straight November home matches, a streak that dates to 2014 ... Creighton has won 12 straight home matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
2022 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Creighton, Norah Sis, So., OH*
Creighton, Ava Martin, Fr., OH
Creighton, Kendra Wait, So., S
Marquette, Aubrey Hamilton, Jr., OH
Marquette, Carly Skrabak, Sr., DS
UConn, Caylee Parker, Sr., OH
Xavier, Maryann O'Toole, Sr., OH
*BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Scores of the match in CU's favor were 16-25, 25-20, 25-18, 31-33, 15-12.
Sis was named Tournament MVP for the second straight season and was joined by Martin and Kendra Wait on the All-Tournament Team. The BIG EAST Player of the Year, Sis led Creighton (27-4) with 23 kills while BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Martin authored a season-best 22 kills on .333 hitting. Wait had 60 assists, 20 digs and seven blocks and Allison Whitten finished with 21 digs. Also registering a double-double was Kiana Schmitt, who had 11 kills and 10 blocks. The Bluejays had 74 kills, five aces, 87 digs and 13.0 blocks on .278 hitting.
Marquette (27-3) was paced by a match-best 25 kills by Aubrey Hamilton, who also added 15 digs. BIG EAST Setter of the Year Yadhira Anchante had 57 assists and 25 digs in the contest. The Golden Eagles finished with 74 kills, six aces, 90 digs and seven blocks on .264 hitting.
Top-seeded Marquette, seeking its first league tournament title since 2013, never trailed in a dominant first set in which it hit .349. The Golden Eagles led 8-2 out of the chute and pulled away down the stretch with a 10-3 run after the Jays had closed to within 15-13. Hamilton had seven kills and Anchante owned 13 assists to go with seven digs.
CU took its first lead of the match during a 5-0 service run from freshman Sky McCune that gave the hosts a 10-7 lead in set two. Marquette clawed back to tie the score at 14-all before the Jays steadily broke free from the regular-season co-champion. Martin's fourth kill of the set proved to be the clincher as the Bluejays hit .472 and four women had three or more kills.
Creighton took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 victory in the third set, hitting .405 as Wait dished 13 assists and had nine of CU's 22 digs. Both Sis and Martin landed six kills and Jazz Schmidt had three blocks to go with three kills.
The fourth set proved to be CU's highest-scoring frame of the season and featured 16 ties and five lead changes as both teams pushed each other into exhaustion. The teams would be tied at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 before finally Marquette prevailed. The Golden Eagles saved a CU match point at 31-30 and answered with a 3-0 run to force a decisive fifth set. Hamilton had 10 kills on 24 swings in the fourth set and Anchante owned 20 assists and nine digs in the frame. Sis had eight kills and Martin seven more for a Bluejay offense that it .310 and finished with 23 kills. Wait distributed 21 assists in the marathon fourth set.
The title match went to a fifth set for the first time since 2017 in Milwaukee and just as it did then, Creighton earned the victory over MU. Creighton led by three points early before MU rallied to tie the score at 7-all. The Golden Eagles took its only lead at 9-8, only to have CU score four of the next five points for a 12-10 lead. The Jays earned a match point chance at 14-11 on a kill from Martin and one sideout later secured the title when Schmitt and Wait teamed to block Hamilton. Marquette had more kills (7-6) than CU in the fifth set, but were also blocked four times and committed five service errors in front of the near-sellout crowd of 2,037.
Both teams are NCAA bound and in position to host when pairings are announced on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPNU. The Bluejay team will watch the selections from DJ's Dugout (777 N. 114th Street), with the public and media welcome to attend.
NOTES: Creighton is now 21-3 against Marquette since the start of the 2014 season, including a 6-0 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament ... Marquette has now lost in the finals each of the last six years ... Creighton improved to 17-2 all-time in 10 BIG EAST Tournament appearances, including eight titles ... Each of Creighton's last five BIG EAST Tournament titles have come against Marquette ... Creighton is the sixth different program to win three straight BIG EAST Tournaments. One of those runs was by Creighton from 2014-18 ... Creighton and Marquette have met nine times since Feb. 4, 2021 ... In the last five seasons Marquette is 3-12 against Creighton and 118-13 against everyone else ... Creighton also lost the opening set in BIG EAST Tournament title match victories against Marquette in 2017, 2018 and 2020 ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth is now 17-2 in BIG EAST Tournament play, while the league's other active coaches are a combined 17-35 ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth has now won eight BIG EAST Tournaments, one shy of the league record of nine set by Notre Dame's Debbie Brown ... Creighton improved to 3-1 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament play as a No. 2 seed and became the first No. 2 seed to win the league tournament since Cincinnati in 2011 ... Creighton had not won a conference tournament match as a worse-seeded team since the 2010 MVC Tournament semifinals vs. Wichita State ... Since 2014, Creighton is 6-0 in BIG EAST Tournament play against teams it lost to in the regular-season ... Creighton has now won 10 BIG EAST Tournaments all-time in all sports, with eight of those coming in volleyball ... Creighton has won 21 straight matches that Jaela Zimmerman has played in ... Jaela Zimmerman has now played in four BIG EAST Tournament title game victories, tying a school-record with Marysa Wilkinson, Jaali Winters, Taryn Kloth and Naomi Hickman ... Entering the match Marquette had won 36-of-39 sets since Oct. 15th, while Creighton had won 30-of-33 sets since Oct. 17th ... Creighton is now 23-84 all-time against ranked teams, with eight of those wins coming against Marquette ... Creighton has won 33 straight November home matches, a streak that dates to 2014 ... Creighton has won 12 straight home matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
2022 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Creighton, Norah Sis, So., OH*
Creighton, Ava Martin, Fr., OH
Creighton, Kendra Wait, So., S
Marquette, Aubrey Hamilton, Jr., OH
Marquette, Carly Skrabak, Sr., DS
UConn, Caylee Parker, Sr., OH
Xavier, Maryann O'Toole, Sr., OH
*BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Team Stats
Marq
CU
Kills
75
74
Errors
21
20
Attempts
202
194
Hitting %
.267
.278
Points
88.0
92.0
Assists
71
69
Aces
6
5
Blocks
7.0
13.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
22
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
10
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballRS/S
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
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