Friday, September 26
Omaha, Neb.
6:30 PM
Creighton University
8-5,1-0Big East
3
vs
0
Xavier
12-2,1-1Big East
1
2
3
F
Xavier
18
23
16
0
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Photo by: CeCe Gerard
#16 Volleyball Opens BIG EAST Play With Sweep of Xavier
9/26/2025 8:18:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays take down 12-1 Musketeers
OMAHA, Neb. -- The No. 16 Creighton Volleyball team opened BIG EAST play on Friday with a 3-0 victory over Xavier in front of 2,367 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena. The Bluejays swept the Musketeers by scores of 25-18, 25-22, 25-16 to set a program-record with its 32nd straight regular-season BIG EAST victory.
Creighton (8-5, 1-0 BIG EAST), which has won 11 straight BIG EAST regular-season titles, was led by 10 kills from Ava Martin while Kiara Reinhardt owned nine kills and a season-best eight blocks. Annalea Maeder led CU with 33 assists and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. The Jays ended the night hitting .247 and outpaced Xavier in kills (42-27), aces (5-0), digs (37-35) and blocks (12-7).
Xavier had started the season 12-1 and swept Butler on Wednesday to open league play, but has now been swept in both losses this fall. The Musketeers were paced by eight kills from Emma Grace but hit just .061 overall and did not record an ace.
Creighton trailed 6-5 in the first set before a 6-0 serving run by Cincinnati native Sydney Breissinger gave the Jays the lead for good. Four Bluejays had three or more kills in the frame, led by four from Kiara Reinhardt, including one on set point.
The second set featured 15 ties and six lead changes before Creighton finished off a 25-23 win. CU trailed 17-15 before Saige Damrow authored a 4-0 run behind the service line. With the score knotted at 22-all, Ava Martin had a kill and Reinhardt teamed with Abbey Hayes on a block to earn the Jays two set point opportunities. A kill from Jaya Johnson closed out a second set that saw CU hold the Muskies to -.027 hitting thanks to five Bluejay blocks, four of which were recorded by Reinhardt.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, rolling to a 4-0 lead after an Ava Martin ace. A 5-0 burst on Nora Wurtz's serve later extended the Bluejay margin to 19-10, and CU closed out the sweep with a kill from Maeder on match point. Maeder had 12 assists and five digs in the finale while setting CU to a .444 hitting percentage.
Creighton is back in action on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Butler.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 200-34 (.855) all-time inside D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009 ... Creighton has won 15 straight conference home openers ... Creighton has won 50 matches in a row over unranked teams ... Creighton is now 27-1 all-time against Xavier and 16-0 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against the Musketeers ... Creighton is 37-1 in its last 38 matches at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Ava Martin recorded her 100th career ace, Saige Damrow her 300th career dig and Annalea Maeder her 100th career start ... Creighton has now won 97 of its last 98 matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST competition, including 47 straight wins ... Creighton has won 63 of its last 64 sets at home against BIG EAST foes, including 31 in a row ... Each of the last 12 times Creighton has won its league opener, it went on to win a regular-season title ... Creighton is now 189-16 in regular-season BIG EAST matches all-time ... Ava Martin had her 90th straight match with five or more kills and Nora Wurtz had her 10th straight match with an ace ... The match was televised on Nebraska Public Media, with former Bluejay coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth making her debut as a television analyst ... In six matches against unranked teams this fall, Creighton has 47 aces while its opponents have just 10 ... Creighton has won 23 straight sets in Omaha against Xavier ... Creighton's streak of 24 straight matches holding BIG EAST teams to 21 points or less in the second set was snapped when Xavier scored 23 points.
Creighton (8-5, 1-0 BIG EAST), which has won 11 straight BIG EAST regular-season titles, was led by 10 kills from Ava Martin while Kiara Reinhardt owned nine kills and a season-best eight blocks. Annalea Maeder led CU with 33 assists and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. The Jays ended the night hitting .247 and outpaced Xavier in kills (42-27), aces (5-0), digs (37-35) and blocks (12-7).
Xavier had started the season 12-1 and swept Butler on Wednesday to open league play, but has now been swept in both losses this fall. The Musketeers were paced by eight kills from Emma Grace but hit just .061 overall and did not record an ace.
Creighton trailed 6-5 in the first set before a 6-0 serving run by Cincinnati native Sydney Breissinger gave the Jays the lead for good. Four Bluejays had three or more kills in the frame, led by four from Kiara Reinhardt, including one on set point.
The second set featured 15 ties and six lead changes before Creighton finished off a 25-23 win. CU trailed 17-15 before Saige Damrow authored a 4-0 run behind the service line. With the score knotted at 22-all, Ava Martin had a kill and Reinhardt teamed with Abbey Hayes on a block to earn the Jays two set point opportunities. A kill from Jaya Johnson closed out a second set that saw CU hold the Muskies to -.027 hitting thanks to five Bluejay blocks, four of which were recorded by Reinhardt.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, rolling to a 4-0 lead after an Ava Martin ace. A 5-0 burst on Nora Wurtz's serve later extended the Bluejay margin to 19-10, and CU closed out the sweep with a kill from Maeder on match point. Maeder had 12 assists and five digs in the finale while setting CU to a .444 hitting percentage.
Creighton is back in action on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Butler.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 200-34 (.855) all-time inside D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009 ... Creighton has won 15 straight conference home openers ... Creighton has won 50 matches in a row over unranked teams ... Creighton is now 27-1 all-time against Xavier and 16-0 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against the Musketeers ... Creighton is 37-1 in its last 38 matches at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Ava Martin recorded her 100th career ace, Saige Damrow her 300th career dig and Annalea Maeder her 100th career start ... Creighton has now won 97 of its last 98 matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST competition, including 47 straight wins ... Creighton has won 63 of its last 64 sets at home against BIG EAST foes, including 31 in a row ... Each of the last 12 times Creighton has won its league opener, it went on to win a regular-season title ... Creighton is now 189-16 in regular-season BIG EAST matches all-time ... Ava Martin had her 90th straight match with five or more kills and Nora Wurtz had her 10th straight match with an ace ... The match was televised on Nebraska Public Media, with former Bluejay coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth making her debut as a television analyst ... In six matches against unranked teams this fall, Creighton has 47 aces while its opponents have just 10 ... Creighton has won 23 straight sets in Omaha against Xavier ... Creighton's streak of 24 straight matches holding BIG EAST teams to 21 points or less in the second set was snapped when Xavier scored 23 points.
Team Stats
XU
CU
Kills
26
42
Errors
21
18
Attempts
98
97
Hitting %
.051
.247
Points
33.0
59.0
Assists
23
40
Aces
0
5
Blocks
7
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS/MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
MB
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