#13 Volleyball Earns B1G Four-Set Win Over #20 USC

Sunday, August 30

Sioux Falls, S.D.

12:00 PM

Creighton University

2-1,0-0Big East

USC

1-1,0-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southern California	25	22	21	19	1
Creighton	23	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Intersport

#13 Volleyball Earns B1G Four-Set Win Over #20 USC

8/30/2026 3:21:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score PHOTOS STATS Photo Gallery

By: Rob Anderson

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- No. 13 Creighton Volleyball picked up its second Top 20 win of the young season with a 3-1 victory over No. 20 USC on Sunday afternoon in Sioux Falls, S.D., at the State Farm Volleyball Showcase. Scores of the match were 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19.

Creighton's win was a true team effort. Trinity Shadd-Ceres tied her career-high with 13 kills, including one on match point, and Eloise Brandewie and Abbey Hayes each had 10 kills. Saige Damrow led Creighton's defense with 12 digs, Ayden Ames paced the squad with four blocks, and Rayna Christianson (4) and Sydney Breissinger (3) combined for seven aces for the victors. Christianson had 19 assists while splitting time with Katie Dalton (26 assists).

USC won a tight first set, as the teams exchanged 17 straight sideouts to close a 25-23 victory in the opener. Shadd-Ceres had four kills for CU in the opener, but London Wijay had six of USC's 18 terminations to lead an offense that hit .317.

Creighton trailed 7-5 early in the second set but a 4-0 serving run by Damrow, followed a short time later by Dalton's 3-0 serving blitz, helped turn the match around. Held without a kill in the first set, Brandewie had three kills in a span of four points to jump-start her big afternoon. The senior, no stranger to the Big Ten after spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Ohio State, had seven kills in the set overall. Brandewie added kills to extend the lead to 22-17 and 23-20, and the Jays evened the match on one of USC's 17 service errors on the afternoon. Creighton hit .333 in the second set, with Dalton dishing assists on 10 of CU's 14 kills.

Breissinger opened the third set with an ace to help the Jays build a 4-0 advantage. USC countered with the next five points and the Jays found themselves on the short end of a 6-5 score a short time later. Christianson then served a pair of aces in a 7-0 run that also featured three kills by Hayes. The Bluejay lead reached as large as 16-9 before The Women of Troy made their run. A kill by Adonia Faumuina tied the set at 20-all before Ames and Shadd-Ceres took over. The junior duo combined for four kills down the stretch, including Ames' winner on set point. Creighton owned a 14-8 lead in kills, a 3-1 lead in aces and a 14-9 dig surplus in the third set, with Preseason All-BIG EAST choice Hayes providing five kills, three digs and two blocks.

USC led 9-7 in the fourth set before a 6-0 service run that included two aces by Breissinger helped give Creighton the lead for good. USC drew as close as 19-17 before a Brandewie kill and Ames solo stuff grew the cushion to four. Shadd-Ceres completed the victory with kill from Dalton after USC sent over a free ball. Five Bluejays had multiple kills in the finale, led by four from Shadd-Ceres.

Creighton had 53 kills, 48 digs, eight aces and seven blocks while hitting a season-best .266. USC finished with 50 kills, 46 digs, 9.5 blocks and five aces on .231 hitting.

USC got 13 kills each from both Wijay and Abigail Mullen. Nebraska natives Mia Tvrdy had seven kills and six blocks, while Paisley Douglas owned one ace and one dig for the Women of Troy.

Creighton (2-1) returns home to host the Bluejay Invitational next weekend, starting with Friday's match vs. Arizona at 6 p.m.

NOTES: Creighton has won five of the last six meetings with USC, including all three matches contested on neutral floors ... After going 1-5 last year when losing the first set, both of Creighton's wins this weekend came after dropping the opener ... Creighton is now 26-5 in its last 31 neutral-site matches ... Creighton is now 35-96 against Top 25 foes, and 5-7 under Brian Rosen ... Jaya Johnson surpassed 200 career digs ... Creighton tied a school-record by playing its fifth straight match against a Top 25 team (dating to last year), and went 3-2 in that stretch with wins over No. 8 Arizona State, No. 9 Purdue and No. 20 USC ... Creighton improved to 2-3 all-time against teams ranked exactly 20th, with both wins coming over USC (also 2024).