Friday, September 22
Indianapolis, Ind.
5 PM
Creighton University
10-2,1-0Big East
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Butler
6-7,0-2Big East
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#11 Creighton
25
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Butler
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#11 Volleyball Sweeps Butler in BIG EAST Opener
9/22/2023 6:24:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays win 19th straight meeting against Bulldogs
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 11 Creighton Volleyball team opened its 11th year in the BIG EAST with a 3-0 victory on Friday night inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Scores in favor of the nine-time defending BIG EAST champion were 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.
Ava Martin had nine kills and Kendra Wait added 21 assists and nine digs for the Bluejays. Sky McCune led the CU defense with 10 digs. Creighton (10-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) hit .196 and had 36 kills, six aces, nine blocks and 48 digs.
Butler (6-7, 0-2 BIG EAST) was led by 10 kills from Elise Ward, while Jaymeson Kinley added a match-leading 22 digs. The Bulldogs finished with 31 kills, 54 digs, four blocks and six aces on .073 hitting.
"I'm always happy to get a road sweep...so that's good," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "I didn't think we were as crisp as we need to be, especially offensively. We struggled with their tempo again and lining up our blocks, but I thought we held them to a pretty low clip. It was nice to get some people some experience on the court, too."
The first set was the closest game of the evening. Tied at 13-all, Ellie Bolton served a 4-0 run to give the Bluejays a cushion it would not relinquish. BU did draw within two at 22-20, 23-21 and 24-22 before a Bulldog attack error helped the Bluejays to a 1-0 lead. Martin led CU with four kills and Wait notched five digs in the opener.
The Bluejays never trailed in the second set, racing to an 8-2 lead that later grew to 19-12. A kill from Kiana Schmitt finished off the second set in CU's favor, 25-17. Five different Bluejays had multiple kills in the second frame against a Bulldog defense that featured 10 digs by Kinley.
Owning a 14-13 lead in the third set, CU created some separation on a 6-0 service run by Sydney Breissinger. Creighton led 24-15 before Butler saved five match points, with a kill from Ava TeStrake eventually ending the contest. Creighton got solo blocks from Wait and Kiara Reinhardt in the final set, which helped hold BU to -.033 hitting in 30 swings.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday when it visits Xavier at 4 p.m. Central.
NOTES: Creighton has won 19 straight meetings vs. Butler, tied for its third-longest win streak over one opponent in program history. Tops on that list is Xavier (23), whom Creighton plays on Saturday ... Creighton is now 19-2 in league openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 10 straight wins ... Each of the previous 10 times that Creighton has won its league opener, it has gone on to win the regular-season conference title ... No team has won a BIG EAST regular-season or tournament title without winning its league opener since Cincinnati in 2008 ... Ellie Bolton has had an ace in each of the last 11 matches, though her streak of 10 straight contests with 10+ digs was snapped ... Creighton is now 19-2 in the contest following a five-set match since August 25, 2018 ... Creighton improved to 155-14 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST play ... Creighton improved to 5-1 this season without 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis ... Butler was swept by Xavier in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Ava Martin had nine kills and Kendra Wait added 21 assists and nine digs for the Bluejays. Sky McCune led the CU defense with 10 digs. Creighton (10-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) hit .196 and had 36 kills, six aces, nine blocks and 48 digs.
Butler (6-7, 0-2 BIG EAST) was led by 10 kills from Elise Ward, while Jaymeson Kinley added a match-leading 22 digs. The Bulldogs finished with 31 kills, 54 digs, four blocks and six aces on .073 hitting.
"I'm always happy to get a road sweep...so that's good," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "I didn't think we were as crisp as we need to be, especially offensively. We struggled with their tempo again and lining up our blocks, but I thought we held them to a pretty low clip. It was nice to get some people some experience on the court, too."
The first set was the closest game of the evening. Tied at 13-all, Ellie Bolton served a 4-0 run to give the Bluejays a cushion it would not relinquish. BU did draw within two at 22-20, 23-21 and 24-22 before a Bulldog attack error helped the Bluejays to a 1-0 lead. Martin led CU with four kills and Wait notched five digs in the opener.
The Bluejays never trailed in the second set, racing to an 8-2 lead that later grew to 19-12. A kill from Kiana Schmitt finished off the second set in CU's favor, 25-17. Five different Bluejays had multiple kills in the second frame against a Bulldog defense that featured 10 digs by Kinley.
Owning a 14-13 lead in the third set, CU created some separation on a 6-0 service run by Sydney Breissinger. Creighton led 24-15 before Butler saved five match points, with a kill from Ava TeStrake eventually ending the contest. Creighton got solo blocks from Wait and Kiara Reinhardt in the final set, which helped hold BU to -.033 hitting in 30 swings.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday when it visits Xavier at 4 p.m. Central.
NOTES: Creighton has won 19 straight meetings vs. Butler, tied for its third-longest win streak over one opponent in program history. Tops on that list is Xavier (23), whom Creighton plays on Saturday ... Creighton is now 19-2 in league openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 10 straight wins ... Each of the previous 10 times that Creighton has won its league opener, it has gone on to win the regular-season conference title ... No team has won a BIG EAST regular-season or tournament title without winning its league opener since Cincinnati in 2008 ... Ellie Bolton has had an ace in each of the last 11 matches, though her streak of 10 straight contests with 10+ digs was snapped ... Creighton is now 19-2 in the contest following a five-set match since August 25, 2018 ... Creighton improved to 155-14 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST play ... Creighton improved to 5-1 this season without 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis ... Butler was swept by Xavier in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Team Stats
CU
Butler
Kills
36
31
Errors
14
23
Attempts
112
109
Hitting %
.196
.073
Points
51.0
41.0
Assists
33
30
Aces
6
6
Blocks
9.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
/ Volleyball
S
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