PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Kiana Schmitt tied her career-high with 12 kills as No. 19 Creighton Volleyball swept Providence on Sunday to improve to 18-3 on the year.
Scores of the Bluejay win were 25-17, 25-22, 25-14. The Bluejays improved to 6-2 in BIG EAST play, tied for second place, and have now won 39-of-40 all-time sets against the Friars. Providence fell to 13-8 (1-7 BIG EAST).
In addition to the 12 kills by Schmitt, Norah Sis added 15 kills and 10 digs for her third straight double-double. Senior Naomi Hickman matched her season-high with 10 kills. Abby Bottomley and Keeley Davis each owned 11 digs and Schmitt led CU with four blocks. The Bluejays hit .248 and had 45 kills, five aces, 53 digs and five blocks.
Davis authored a 12-0 serving run in the opening moments of the match and Creighton never looked back in the first set. Sis had six kills for CU and Schmitt and Hickman each added four kills. The Bluejays held PC to .030 hitting in 33 swings, with Bottomley and Ellie Bolton each owning five digs.
“Keeley got us off to a really quick start which was big in game one and then I thought we were really good early and it was really never in question,” said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. “I thought we weren’t very clean the second half of game one. Game two we had the same issue. We were doing some really good things and followed it up with some things that aren’t so good, so we were fortunate to sneak that game away. Then in game three it was a little bit cleaner on our side and I thought they were higher error on top of that.
The second set was much closer with 11 ties and six lead changes. CU trailed 22-21 before scoring the last four points for the 25-22 victory. A PC serving error started CU’s run and three straight attack errors by the Friars followed. Schmitt had five kills and three blocks and Kendra Wait dished out assists on all 16 Bluejay kills in the set. The set also featured the first ace of the season by Bolton, who was making her first career start.
Creighton raced to a 12-3 lead in the third set en route to the sweep as Abby Bottomley and Norah Sis both went on extended serving runs. A 5-0 run service spurt off Emily Bressman’s hand helped the Jays to a 22-9 lead and a kill from Sis ended the match. Sis had five kills in the final set as the Jays hit .250 and held PC to .053 hitting in 38 swings.
Shailyah Rhoden topped Providence with 10 kills and Allison Barber had 18 assists and 14 digs. The Friars had 25 kills, four aces, 44 digs and four blocks on .067 hitting.
Creighton returns to the court on Friday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Georgetown in the program’s annual Pink Out.
