Friday, September 2
Omaha, Neb.
7:30 PM
Creighton University
4-0,0-0Big East
3
vs
1
USC
4-1,0-0Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Southern California
21
21
25
17
1
Creighton
25
25
23
25
3
#17 Volleyball Opens Bluejay Invitational With 3-1 Victory Over #25 USC
9/2/2022 10:32:00 PM | Volleyball
CU improves to 4-0 with third straight win in series vs. USC
OMAHA, Neb – The No. 17 Creighton Volleyball team opened its 2022 home schedule with a 3-1 victory over No. 25 USC at the Bluejay Invitational Presented by Hilton Omaha. Scores of the match were 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17.
With the win Creighton moves to 4-0 on the season, while USC falls to 4-1 overall.
Senior Keeley Davis led Creighton with a match-high 16 kills and added eight digs and three aces. Sophomore setter Kendra Wait contributed a double-double with 32 assists and a dozen digs and Kiana Schmitt owned a team-leading five blocks. CU had 48 kills, nine aces, 50 digs and eight blocks on .223 hitting.
The Women of Troy were paced by 12 kills from Jordan Wilson, while Emilia Weske and Skylar Fields both had 11 kills. USC finished with 51 kills, six aces, 50 digs and 9.0 blocks on .189 hitting but were done in by 15 service errors.
Playing in front of an energetic crowd of 2,113, Creighton outlasted USC in the first set in a 25-21 victory that featured 11 ties. USC led 21-20 before a kill from Davis tied the score and Ellie Bolton served up the next four points to stake the Jays to the early lead. Davis had eight kills, three digs and an ace in the opener, including the clinching kill.
CU blitzed to a 9-2 lead in the second set and never trailed. Creighton's comfortable 23-15 lead was narrowed to 24-21 before a USC blocking error helped CU take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
The third set included 11 ties and six lead changes as a pair of top-25 teams traded haymakers. Creighton turned a 16-12 deficit into a 19-18 lead behind strong serving by libero Allison Whitten. The Jays were two points from a sweep with a 23-21 advantage before the Trojans answered with four straight points to take the set. Wilson had six kills and Skylar Fields and Kalyah Williams teamed up with a block on set point for the visitors. Creighton hit just .086 in the third set and were out-aced 3-0.
Creighton's serving more than made up for itself in the fourth set, dealing five aces in a 25-17 victory. Kendra Wait authored back-to-back aces to give CU a 16-11 lead, and a short time later Ellie Bolton cooked up consecutive aces as the Bluejay margin grew to 20-13. Freshman Sky McCune's ace gave CU a 23-14 lead and a kill from Davis ended the match. Davis had five kills and all three of her blocks in the final frame.
The Bluejays have a pair of matches on Saturday. Creighton hosts No. 16 Kentucky at 10:30 a.m. before welcoming Northern Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Kentucky swept UNI in the second match of the day after UNI fell in four sets to USC to open play on Friday.
NOTES: Creighton has now beaten USC in three straight meetings after losing the first six match-ups in the series from 2014-18 ... Creighton has had a block in 842 straight matches ... Creighton owns 25 straight wins when owning a better hitting percentage than its opponent and 34 straight victories after winning the first set ... Creighton improved to 19-10 all-time in home openers, 14-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, and 12-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton has never gone winless at the Bluejay Invitational, which has been held 17 times ... Creighton is 4-0 for the seventh time ever, and second straight season ... Creighton is 20-1 in its last 21 matches, winning 61-of-69 sets in that span ... Creighton improved to 16-20 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself ... Keeley Davis had three aces to move past Kate Elman for fifth in CU history with 107 career aces ... Creighton improved to 291-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when leading a match 2-0, and 110-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
With the win Creighton moves to 4-0 on the season, while USC falls to 4-1 overall.
Senior Keeley Davis led Creighton with a match-high 16 kills and added eight digs and three aces. Sophomore setter Kendra Wait contributed a double-double with 32 assists and a dozen digs and Kiana Schmitt owned a team-leading five blocks. CU had 48 kills, nine aces, 50 digs and eight blocks on .223 hitting.
The Women of Troy were paced by 12 kills from Jordan Wilson, while Emilia Weske and Skylar Fields both had 11 kills. USC finished with 51 kills, six aces, 50 digs and 9.0 blocks on .189 hitting but were done in by 15 service errors.
Playing in front of an energetic crowd of 2,113, Creighton outlasted USC in the first set in a 25-21 victory that featured 11 ties. USC led 21-20 before a kill from Davis tied the score and Ellie Bolton served up the next four points to stake the Jays to the early lead. Davis had eight kills, three digs and an ace in the opener, including the clinching kill.
CU blitzed to a 9-2 lead in the second set and never trailed. Creighton's comfortable 23-15 lead was narrowed to 24-21 before a USC blocking error helped CU take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
The third set included 11 ties and six lead changes as a pair of top-25 teams traded haymakers. Creighton turned a 16-12 deficit into a 19-18 lead behind strong serving by libero Allison Whitten. The Jays were two points from a sweep with a 23-21 advantage before the Trojans answered with four straight points to take the set. Wilson had six kills and Skylar Fields and Kalyah Williams teamed up with a block on set point for the visitors. Creighton hit just .086 in the third set and were out-aced 3-0.
Creighton's serving more than made up for itself in the fourth set, dealing five aces in a 25-17 victory. Kendra Wait authored back-to-back aces to give CU a 16-11 lead, and a short time later Ellie Bolton cooked up consecutive aces as the Bluejay margin grew to 20-13. Freshman Sky McCune's ace gave CU a 23-14 lead and a kill from Davis ended the match. Davis had five kills and all three of her blocks in the final frame.
The Bluejays have a pair of matches on Saturday. Creighton hosts No. 16 Kentucky at 10:30 a.m. before welcoming Northern Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Kentucky swept UNI in the second match of the day after UNI fell in four sets to USC to open play on Friday.
NOTES: Creighton has now beaten USC in three straight meetings after losing the first six match-ups in the series from 2014-18 ... Creighton has had a block in 842 straight matches ... Creighton owns 25 straight wins when owning a better hitting percentage than its opponent and 34 straight victories after winning the first set ... Creighton improved to 19-10 all-time in home openers, 14-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, and 12-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton has never gone winless at the Bluejay Invitational, which has been held 17 times ... Creighton is 4-0 for the seventh time ever, and second straight season ... Creighton is 20-1 in its last 21 matches, winning 61-of-69 sets in that span ... Creighton improved to 16-20 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself ... Keeley Davis had three aces to move past Kate Elman for fifth in CU history with 107 career aces ... Creighton improved to 291-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when leading a match 2-0, and 110-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
Team Stats
USC
CU
Kills
51
48
Errors
26
19
Attempts
132
130
Hitting %
.189
.223
Points
66
65
Assists
50
43
Aces
6
9
Blocks
9
8
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
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