Omaha, Neb. — The 15th-ranked Creighton Volleyball team advanced into the Finals of the BIG EAST Championship with a 3-0 win over Xavier in the Semifinals on Friday, November 25.
Set scores for the match were: 25-17, 25-20 and 25-16. With the win the Bluejays moved to 26-4 on the season, while Xavier fell to 19-11.
The Bluejays came out to the firing from the introductions as Creighton raced out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set. Creighton maintained at least a four-point lead throughout the set, hitting .389 in the opening frame with 16 kills and just two errors on 36 attempts.
The second set was back-and-forth early as the Musketeers and Bluejays battled through 10 ties and five lead changes. Knotted at 11-11, Creighton took control with four straight points. Sophomore Norah Sis guided her squad with consecutive kills to give Creighton a 13-11 lead. Fellow sophomore Kendra Wait followed with a kill to force a Xavier timeout. Returning to the court, senior Kiana Schmitt pushed the Bluejay lead to 15-11 with another kill. Xavier climbed back within two at 16-14, but another four straight Bluejay points secured the win. This surge started with kills from Schmitt and Sis, followed by a block by sophomore Kiara Reinhardt and Wait. Creighton pushed its advantage to 20-14 on a service ace from senior Allison Whitten.
Leading 6-5 in the third set, the Bluejays set the sweep in motion with five of the next six points. Creighton’s five points came on kills from Wait, Reinhardt and senior Jazz Schmitt as well as a Xavier service error and attacking error. Holding a 14-11 advantage, another 4-0 run put Creighton on cruise control. This surge came on a pair of kills from Wait, one by freshman Ava Martin and a Musketeer attack error.
Sis led Creighton with 17 kills in the match, the only attacker to reach double figures. Xavier got eight kills from Delaney Hogan.
After earning its ninth consecutive regular season crown last weekend, the Bluejays will face off with the team Creighton shared of the 2022 BIG EAST crown with, Marquette, for the BIG EAST Tournament Championship on Saturday, November 26. The contest is slated to begin at 5:00 pm
