INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The No. 23 Creighton Volleyball team closed out a second straight 3-0 road win at Butler with a 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 sweep at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday.
With the win, Creighton improved to 8-2 and closed its BIG EAST season with a 5-1 record in the Midwest Division. The victory also clinched a spot in the four-team BIG EAST Championships on April 2-3, which will be held in Omaha at Creightons D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton wasted little time jumping on the Bulldogs from the start. Keeley Davis (4) and Annika Welty (3) combined for seven early kills as the Bluejays took a 13-6 advantage in the first set. The Bluejays never trailed in the opener, winning 25-16 on an ace by Jaela Zimmerman. Davis had seven kills and seven digs in a monster first set, while Welty added five terminations. Creighton hit .333 in the set and held BU to .090 hitting.
The second set was much closer before the Bluejays used a 9-3 run to move ahead, 16-12. The Bulldogs threw a scare into Creighton late, closing within 21-18, before the Bluejays took care of business with the 25-21 win to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
Creighton held Butler to -.089 hitting and won the match on a block by Welty and Kiara Reinhardt.
Davis (12 kills, 15 digs) and Zimmerman (12 kills, 12 digs) each had double-doubles, while Welty had nine kills and four blocks. Ellie Bolton owned 18 digs and Ally Van Eekeren recorded 18 assists.
Creighton had 39 kills, three aces, 65 digs and seven blocks on .129 hitting overall.
Butler finished with 24 kills, 58 digs, six blocks and three aces on .033 hitting. Melody Davidson topped BU with 10 kills.
Creighton will step out of BIG EAST play next Saturday for a 6 p.m. match at Kansas State.
