OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 12 Creighton Volleyball team set a school record with its 16th straight home win during a 3-0 sweep of Drake on Sunday afternoon to clinch the program’s sixth Bluejay Invitational title.
Creighton improved to 3-0 on the season with the 25-16, 25-18, 25-11 victory, while Drake fell to 0-3 overall. With the sweep today, the Bluejays have now won 41 straight home sets, the longest active home set winning streak in the country.
With setter Kendra Wait (26 assists, nine digs, four kills, three blocks) running the offense at a .231 clip, senior Norah Sis (nine kills), senior Elise Goetzinger (seven kills, .417%) and junior Ava Martin (seven kills) carried the Bluejay load offensively, while senior Maddy Bilinovic owned a team-high 15 digs. Creighton finished the afternoon with 40 kills, 56 digs, four aces, 10 blocks and hit .231 as a team.
Drake closed the match with 21 kills, 44 digs and 44 blocks but were held to -.010 hitting. Macy Daufeldt led the way with nine kills, while Jada Wills contributed a match-high 19 digs.
The Bluejays never trailed in the first set, claiming a 25-16 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Tied at 5-5 early, Creighton rattled off five straight points on Sydney Breissinger’s serve to take a 10-5 lead. The Bluejays lead would balloon to 17-9 moments later thanks to a trio of kills from Jaya Johnson and Martin to force a Drake timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a 4-0 run of their own cutting the deficit to 17-13 before a stuff block by Wait and Goetzinger secured the 25-16 victory for the Jays. Seven different Bluejays recorded a kill in the first set as CU hit .364 with 16 kills.
Creighton raced out to 7-4 and 12-6 leads to open the second set and never looked back, stretching its lead to as big as 23-13 on a Bulldogs attack error. Drake would score five of the next six points to cut the CU lead down to 24-18, but another service error by the Bulldogs gave the hosts a 2-0 lead in the match.
Drake took its lone lead of the match at the beginning of the third set before a 5-0 serving run by Bilinovic gave CU an 8-5 lead that it would never surrender. Goetzinger had a pair of aces during a 10-0 run behind the line as the lead grew to 21-8. The Bluejays had 23 digs and four blocks in the final fame, holding Drake to -.095 hitting.
Creighton returns to action next week when it hosts the Creighton Classic, facing No. 21 USC on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. in a match nationally televised on FS1. The Bluejays will then battle Kansas State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
NOTES:Sophia Wendlick made her collegiate debut, while Destiny Ndam-Simpson, Emma Ziegler and Abbey Milner made their season debuts … Kirsten Bernthal Booth improved to 21-3 all-time against Drake, including a 13-0 mark in Omaha … Creighton has won its last 88 sets when owning a set point … Creighton has won back-to-back Bluejay Invitationals for just the second time ever, also doing so in 2017 and 2018 … Kendra Wait was named Tournament MVP and joined on the All-Tournament Team by Elise Goetzinger and Norah Sis … Wait was named to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team for the fourth straight season … Goetzinger was also named to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team in 2022 while at Kentucky, Sis earned her third honor (2021, 2023 MVP, 2024). … Katie Maser picked up her first two assists of the season. Her sister, Carolyn, is a freshman on the Drake team but did not play during the weekend … Norah Sis now owns 1,257 career kills, tied for eighth in program history with Leah McNary.
2024 Bluejay Invitational Summary
August 30 – September 1, 2024 – Omaha, Neb.
Final Standings
1. #12 Creighton 3-0
2. Missouri 2-1
3. NC State 1-2
4. Drake 0-3
Match Scores
Friday, August 30, 2024
Missouri def. Drake, 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 28-26)
#12 Creighton def. NC State, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-13)
Saturday, August 31, 2024
NC State def. Drake, 3-1 (25-21, 28-26, 21-25, 25-22)
#12 Creighton def.Missouri, 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18)
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Missouri def. NC State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-23)
#12 Creighton def. Drake, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-11)
All-Tournament Team
Kendra Wait, Creighton (MVP)
Elise Goetzinger, Creighton
Norah Sis, Creighton
Maya Sands, Missouri
Jordan Iliff, Missouri
Amanda Rice, NC State
Jada Wills, Drake
Records Set/Tied in 2024
None
