LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kendra Wait had her fourth consecutive double-double and freshman Alivia Hausmann had three aces in a 10-0 serving run as No. 9 Creighton swept Northern Iowa on Friday afternoon to open play at the Cardinal Classic. Scores of the match were 25-15, 25-20, 25-20.
Creighton (6-1) never trailed in the opening frame, hitting .375 while holding the Panthers to .000 hitting. CU built an early 9-3 lead on Wait’s serve to set the tone. After the Panthers drew within three at 13-10, the Jays scored six of the next seven points to pull away. Norah Sis had five kills on .625 hitting as Wait distributed 11 assists and added three digs. Both Kiara Reinhardt and Elise Goetzinger had a pair of blocks, with both of Goetzinger’s rejections being solo stuffs.
The second set featured 11 ties and five lead changes before Creighton dispatched the Panthers. Trailing 16-15, the Jays closed the set on a 10-4 run to take the 2-0 lead into intermission. Sis had six kills and Ava Martin four putaways for a Bluejay offense that had 16 kills and hit .270. Wait had five digs and 13 assists in the set victory.
After UNI (4-3) bolted to a 4-1 lead in the third set, Hausmann came off the bench to spark the Bluejay comeback. The freshman served up a 10-0 run, including the first three aces of her career, as the Jays took command and never looked back to hold off the defending MVC champions.
Sis had 13 kills to lead all players, and Wait finished with 31 assists and 11 digs. Hausmann had three of CU’s seven aces in the contest, while Maddy Bilinovic (11) and Sydney Breissinger (10) had double-figure digs. Creighton finished with 43 kills, 45 digs, eight blocks and hit .216.
Kira Fallert topped the Panthers with 13 kills. Reese Booth, the daughter of Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, finished the match with 12 assists, two digs and a kill. UNI had 32 kills, 42 digs, seven blocks and no aces on .080 hitting.
Creighton returns to the court at 10 a.m. Central on Saturday against Rice (4-1)
