Tuesday, September 10
Lincoln, Neb.
7 PM
Creighton University
5-1,0-0Big East
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at
3
Nebraska
6-1,0-0Big Ten
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2
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5
F
Creighton
19
16
33
25
10
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Nebraska
25
25
31
16
15
3
Photo by: Sullivan Lawrence
#9 Volleyball Drops First Match of Season at #5 Nebraska
9/10/2024 9:50:00 PM | Volleyball
First match-up between the schools when both ranked in the Top 10
LINCOLN, Neb . -- No. 5 Nebraska handed No. 9 Creighton its first loss of the season in the first volleyball battle between the in-state squads when both were ranked in the Top 10. Scores of the five-set match in favor of the Cornhuskers were 25-19, 25-16, 31-33, 16-25, 15-10.
Norah Sis led Creighton with season-highs in kills (24) and digs (11) making her one of two Bluejays with a double-double. Ava Martin also owned a double-double recording 17 kills and a career-high 17 digs, while senior Maddy Bilinovic logged 19 digs and sophomore Sydney Breissinger added 17 of her own. Kiara Reinhardt shared match-high honors with eight blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Creighton had 63 kills, four aces, 80 digs and 13 blocks on .209 hitting.Â
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Four different Huskers recorded double-digit kills as Harper Murray led the way with 16 kills and 14 digs. Andi Jackson and Lindsay Krause each had 15 kills, while Merritt Beason added 14 of her own. Senior libero Lexi Rodriguez recorded a match-high 21 digs with Bergen Reilly dishing out 57 assists and contributing 13 digs. Nebraska had 72 kills, 81 digs, 11.5 blocks and two aces while hitting .234.Â
Nebraska (6-1) started quickly, using a 6-1 run to built an 11-5 lead thanks to three blocks by Jackson and kills from six different women to lead to a Bluejay timeout. Creighton (5-1) used a three-point surge to draw within 13-9, only to have the host Huskers score four of the next five to move in front 17-10 en route to a 25-19 set one victory. Sis had four kills, Bilinovic added seven digs and Elise Goetzinger contributed three blocks for CU in the first set. Nebraska was paced by four kills each from Jackson, Krause and Murray as Reilly distributed 17 assists. Both teams had four blocks in the opening set.
After NU scored the initial two points of the second frame, Creighton put together its first extended run of the evening, scoring five of the next six points to build a 5-3 advantage. The Huskers compiled three straight blocks as part of a 9-3 breakaway to push ahead 12-8 and 16-11 to prompt a pair of Bluejay timeouts. Spurred by a play reversal that went in Creighton's favor, the Jays narrowed their deficit to 19-15 as Nebraska called a timeout following a combo block by Sis and Reinhardt. NU ended the frame on a 6-1 run to win set two 25-16. Reinhardt had three blocks in the set, but it wasn't enough to offset four kills each by Rebekah Allick and Jackson. NU hit .333 in the set compared to CU's .032 as the Huskers snapped the Creighton's 23-match streak of second set victories.
The Bluejays weren't rattled despite the sellout crowd and 2-0 hole, taking a 15-14 lead into the media timeout in the third set. CU led 16-15 before a 5-0 Husker burst on Kennedi Orr's serve to take control. Sky McCune's second ace of the night brought CU within one at 21-20 as NU called timeout. Back-to-back kills by Sis tied the score at 23-all, and CU had set point chances at 24-23 and 25-24 that Nebraska would side out on. CU staved off a set point by Nebraska with a kill from Martin, knotting the score at 26-all, then got a Martin and Reinhardt stuff to extend the match at 27-all. Martin authored an ace to give CU a third set point chance at 28-27, as NU won two in a row before a third match point was saved by the Jays. A block by Goetzinger and Jaya Johnson saved a fourth match point chance for NU to push it to 30-all. The 10th kill of the set by Sis gave CU a 31-30 edge and Allick's swing went long. The play was challenged by Nebraska and reversed to even the score at 31-31. Sis gave CU a 32-31 lead with her 11th kill of the set and had a pair of spectacular digs to set up Martin's sixth kill and end the highest-scoring set ever between the teams.
Creighton bolted to leads of 7-3, 10-5 and 16-8 in the fourth set and never trailed as it forced a decisive fifth set on Martin's 14th kill of the evening The Bluejays out-dug NU 22-14 and held the Huskers to -024 hitting in the game. Martin had five kills and five digs while Bilinovic contributed six digs in the fourth set romp.
Nebraska scored the first three points of the fifth set and never looked back, building a 9-4 lead on back-to-back Reilly kills, who had just one putaway in the first four sets. The Bluejays chipped away at the Huskers lead, closing to within three at 12-9 as Goetzinger floored a kill, but a kill from Murray on match-point secured the 15-10 win for the Huskers. NU hit .444 with 13 kills in 27 swings during the final set to outscore a Bluejay offense that hit .290 with nine kills in 31 errorless swings. Neither team had a block in the final game after combining for 24 rejections in the first four sets.
Creighton returns to the court this weekend with three matches in Louisville, Ky., for the Cardinal Classic. The Bluejays meet Northern Iowa on Friday at Noon and Rice on Saturday at 10 a.m. before closing the tournament with Sunday's contest at Noon against No. 4 Louisville. All three matches will be played at KFC Yum! Center, site of the 2024 NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four. The first two matches will air on ESPN+ before the Bluejays play on ESPN on Sunday.
NOTES: The match was nationally-televised by BTN ... Norah Sis had her 16th career match with 20+ kills ... Ava Martin had her first double-double of the year ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth won four of her five challenges, one in each of the first and second set and two-out-of-three in the fifth set, while Nebraska coach John Cook split his two challenges in the third set ...  Creighton has had at least one block in 910 straight matches ... Ava Martin had five or more kills for the 48th straight match ... Destiny Ndam-Simpson, who had 13 kills in last year's match vs. Nebraska, started her first set of the season when she opened the third frame on the floor ... Norah Sis reached 1,300 career kills with her 14th kill of the evening late in the third set ... Creighton has won 95 straight sets when owning a set point ... Creighton had won 24 straight matches when winning the third set ...Creighton had started 5-0 for the third time, having also done it in 2006 in addition to a 6-0 start in 2021 ... Creighton fell to 2-2 all-time in matches involving Top 10 teams ... Nebraska's 28-match home win streak is the nation's second-longest active streak, one behind Stephen F. Austin ... Creighton had won 22 of its last 23 matches dating to last season before tonight, dropping just five sets in that span ... Creighton avoided being swept in Lincoln for the first time since 2011 ... The crowd of 8,924 was the largest road crowd ever to see a Creighton match ... Creighton dropped to 70-40 all-time in five set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton was seeking its first reverse sweep since Oct. 14, 2022 vs. No. 16 Marquette, while Nebraska avoided blowing its first 2-0 lead since a Sept. 11, 2021 loss to Utah ... The third set featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, while the rest of the match had nine ties and two lead changes.
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Norah Sis led Creighton with season-highs in kills (24) and digs (11) making her one of two Bluejays with a double-double. Ava Martin also owned a double-double recording 17 kills and a career-high 17 digs, while senior Maddy Bilinovic logged 19 digs and sophomore Sydney Breissinger added 17 of her own. Kiara Reinhardt shared match-high honors with eight blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Creighton had 63 kills, four aces, 80 digs and 13 blocks on .209 hitting.Â
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Four different Huskers recorded double-digit kills as Harper Murray led the way with 16 kills and 14 digs. Andi Jackson and Lindsay Krause each had 15 kills, while Merritt Beason added 14 of her own. Senior libero Lexi Rodriguez recorded a match-high 21 digs with Bergen Reilly dishing out 57 assists and contributing 13 digs. Nebraska had 72 kills, 81 digs, 11.5 blocks and two aces while hitting .234.Â
Nebraska (6-1) started quickly, using a 6-1 run to built an 11-5 lead thanks to three blocks by Jackson and kills from six different women to lead to a Bluejay timeout. Creighton (5-1) used a three-point surge to draw within 13-9, only to have the host Huskers score four of the next five to move in front 17-10 en route to a 25-19 set one victory. Sis had four kills, Bilinovic added seven digs and Elise Goetzinger contributed three blocks for CU in the first set. Nebraska was paced by four kills each from Jackson, Krause and Murray as Reilly distributed 17 assists. Both teams had four blocks in the opening set.
After NU scored the initial two points of the second frame, Creighton put together its first extended run of the evening, scoring five of the next six points to build a 5-3 advantage. The Huskers compiled three straight blocks as part of a 9-3 breakaway to push ahead 12-8 and 16-11 to prompt a pair of Bluejay timeouts. Spurred by a play reversal that went in Creighton's favor, the Jays narrowed their deficit to 19-15 as Nebraska called a timeout following a combo block by Sis and Reinhardt. NU ended the frame on a 6-1 run to win set two 25-16. Reinhardt had three blocks in the set, but it wasn't enough to offset four kills each by Rebekah Allick and Jackson. NU hit .333 in the set compared to CU's .032 as the Huskers snapped the Creighton's 23-match streak of second set victories.
The Bluejays weren't rattled despite the sellout crowd and 2-0 hole, taking a 15-14 lead into the media timeout in the third set. CU led 16-15 before a 5-0 Husker burst on Kennedi Orr's serve to take control. Sky McCune's second ace of the night brought CU within one at 21-20 as NU called timeout. Back-to-back kills by Sis tied the score at 23-all, and CU had set point chances at 24-23 and 25-24 that Nebraska would side out on. CU staved off a set point by Nebraska with a kill from Martin, knotting the score at 26-all, then got a Martin and Reinhardt stuff to extend the match at 27-all. Martin authored an ace to give CU a third set point chance at 28-27, as NU won two in a row before a third match point was saved by the Jays. A block by Goetzinger and Jaya Johnson saved a fourth match point chance for NU to push it to 30-all. The 10th kill of the set by Sis gave CU a 31-30 edge and Allick's swing went long. The play was challenged by Nebraska and reversed to even the score at 31-31. Sis gave CU a 32-31 lead with her 11th kill of the set and had a pair of spectacular digs to set up Martin's sixth kill and end the highest-scoring set ever between the teams.
Creighton bolted to leads of 7-3, 10-5 and 16-8 in the fourth set and never trailed as it forced a decisive fifth set on Martin's 14th kill of the evening The Bluejays out-dug NU 22-14 and held the Huskers to -024 hitting in the game. Martin had five kills and five digs while Bilinovic contributed six digs in the fourth set romp.
Nebraska scored the first three points of the fifth set and never looked back, building a 9-4 lead on back-to-back Reilly kills, who had just one putaway in the first four sets. The Bluejays chipped away at the Huskers lead, closing to within three at 12-9 as Goetzinger floored a kill, but a kill from Murray on match-point secured the 15-10 win for the Huskers. NU hit .444 with 13 kills in 27 swings during the final set to outscore a Bluejay offense that hit .290 with nine kills in 31 errorless swings. Neither team had a block in the final game after combining for 24 rejections in the first four sets.
Creighton returns to the court this weekend with three matches in Louisville, Ky., for the Cardinal Classic. The Bluejays meet Northern Iowa on Friday at Noon and Rice on Saturday at 10 a.m. before closing the tournament with Sunday's contest at Noon against No. 4 Louisville. All three matches will be played at KFC Yum! Center, site of the 2024 NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four. The first two matches will air on ESPN+ before the Bluejays play on ESPN on Sunday.
NOTES: The match was nationally-televised by BTN ... Norah Sis had her 16th career match with 20+ kills ... Ava Martin had her first double-double of the year ... Kirsten Bernthal Booth won four of her five challenges, one in each of the first and second set and two-out-of-three in the fifth set, while Nebraska coach John Cook split his two challenges in the third set ...  Creighton has had at least one block in 910 straight matches ... Ava Martin had five or more kills for the 48th straight match ... Destiny Ndam-Simpson, who had 13 kills in last year's match vs. Nebraska, started her first set of the season when she opened the third frame on the floor ... Norah Sis reached 1,300 career kills with her 14th kill of the evening late in the third set ... Creighton has won 95 straight sets when owning a set point ... Creighton had won 24 straight matches when winning the third set ...Creighton had started 5-0 for the third time, having also done it in 2006 in addition to a 6-0 start in 2021 ... Creighton fell to 2-2 all-time in matches involving Top 10 teams ... Nebraska's 28-match home win streak is the nation's second-longest active streak, one behind Stephen F. Austin ... Creighton had won 22 of its last 23 matches dating to last season before tonight, dropping just five sets in that span ... Creighton avoided being swept in Lincoln for the first time since 2011 ... The crowd of 8,924 was the largest road crowd ever to see a Creighton match ... Creighton dropped to 70-40 all-time in five set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth ... Creighton was seeking its first reverse sweep since Oct. 14, 2022 vs. No. 16 Marquette, while Nebraska avoided blowing its first 2-0 lead since a Sept. 11, 2021 loss to Utah ... The third set featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, while the rest of the match had nine ties and two lead changes.
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Team Stats
CU
Nebr
Kills
63
73
Errors
22
27
Attempts
191
193
Hitting %
.215
.238
Points
80.0
86.5
Assists
60
67
Aces
4
2
Blocks
13
11.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton VB Media Availability 9/30/25
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