#17 Volleyball Falls in Four Sets to #16 Kentucky

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 16 Kentucky defeated No. 17 Creighton Volleyball for the first time since 2016 with a 3-1 victory at D.J. Sokol Arena on Saturday, Sept. 3 in Omaha, Neb. Scores of the match in favor of the Wildcats were 19-25, 25-16, 25-5, 25-21.

Sophomore Norah Sis led Creighton (4-1) with 14 kills, while senior Keeley Davis added 10 kills and a pair of aces. Sophomore Kendra Wait contributed another double-double with 29 assists and a team-high 14 digs. As a team, Creighton finished the match with 41 kills, four aces, 51 digs and five blocks while hitting .133 overall.

Preseason All-SEC selection Reagan Rutherford had a career and match-high 25 kills on 42 swings with just three errors to lead the Wildcats. Rutherford added a season-high 11 digs, while Emma Grome dished out 48 assists and collected 14 digs. Kentucky had 61 kills, seven aces, 13 blocks and 65 digs on .400 hitting.

Davis and Sis each had five kills in the first set as the Bluejays rolled to a 25-19 set win. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 4-1 lead before Creighton rallied, taking a 9-6 lead on a 4-0 Davis serving run. The Bluejays would not look back extending their lead out to five on kills by Davis (16-11), Sis (18-13) and Kiara Reinhardt (20-15). A Davis kill pushed the Bluejays lead to six at 24-18 before Kiana Schmitt slammed home a kill for the 25-19 set win.

Kentucky (4-1) hit .553 with 28 kills on 47 attack attempts to take control of the match during the second and third sets. Rutherford guided the Wildcats to 25-16 and 25-5 set wins with 14 kills over the two frames to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After one service ace an 11 serving errors through two sets, the Wildcats served up six aces without a serving miscue in the third frame, with Adanna Rollins and Rutherford accounting for three service winners each.

The fourth set featured 11 ties and three lead changes. The score was knotted at 14-all before Kentucky embarked on a 4-0 run on Riah Walker's serve to take control. The Bluejays would close to with 19-17 on a stuff block from Reinhardt and Davis before a pair of kills by Rutherford and a kill by Haley Melby ended the match. Rutherford had eight kills and six digs in the final frame to overcome a Bluejay attack that included five kills by Sis.

The Bluejay Invitational Presented by Hilton Omaha wraps up on Saturday night with two matches. No. 16 Kentucky meets No. 25 USC at 5 p.m., followed by No. 17 Creighton vs. UNI at 7:30 p.m.

NOTES: Creighton had won four straight over Kentucky since suffering a 2016 setback against the Wildcats. Nonetheless, CU's five wins over UK since 2015 are two more than any other team in the country ... Kentucky has now won nine straight matches in the city of Omaha, including its 2020 NCAA title ... Creighton fell to 2-6 in the middle match of this eight-year event including Kentucky, UNI and USC ... Creighton had won 34 straight matches when winning the first set of a match dating to April 4, 2021 vs. Morehead State ... This year marked the seventh time that Creighton had started 4-0 or better. Five of those streaks were snapped by a ranked opponent .. Creighton fell to 16-21 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself ... Creighton fell to 23-2 all-time when Kiana Schmitt has six or more kills ... Creighton dropped to 21-82 all-time against top 25 opponents.

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Team Stats

Norah Sis

Keeley Davis

Kiana Schmitt

Kendra Wait

Players Mentioned

Keeley Davis

Kiara Reinhardt

Kiana Schmitt

Norah Sis

Kendra Wait

Players Mentioned

Keeley Davis

Kiara Reinhardt

Kiana Schmitt

Norah Sis

Kendra Wait