Friday, September 17
Wichita, Kan.
4:30 PM
Creighton University
10-1,0-0Big East
3
vs
0
Wyoming
6-4,0-0Mountain Wes
1
2
3
F
Wyoming
19
10
19
0
Creighton
25
25
25
3
Keeley Davis, Norah Sis and Abby Bottomley
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Volleyball Serves Up Best Start Ever With Win Over Wyoming
9/17/2021 5:45:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton now 10-1 on the fall.
WICHITA, Kan. -- Extended serving runs by Abby Bottomley and Keeley Davis helped the No. 17 Creighton Volleyball team match its best start ever (10-1) with a 3-0 sweep of Wyoming on Friday afternoon at the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita, Kan. Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-10, 25-19.
The victory marks the first time Creighton has won 10 or more non-conference matches in the same regular-season.
Bottomley served an 8-0 run that featured a career-high five aces to help Creighton take a 25-19 win in the opening set. The senior's work behind the service line pushed the Bluejay lead to 13-5 and Wyoming never got any closer than four the rest of the set. Bottomley led CU with six digs and five aces, while Jaela Zimmerman had five kills to pace the offensive attack.
A 13-0 serving spree by Davis helped Creighton run away with the second set. The junior tied her career-high with three aces in the second set alone while bolting to a 17-3 lead. Wyoming had just three kills and 11 attack errors in 40 swings during the second set, hitting -.200. Bottomley keyed CU's defense with 10 digs in the game.
Wyoming (6-4) went ahead 11-8 early in the third set with seven kills in its first 10 swings before three straight attack errors evened the score at 11-all. The Bluejay block helped move Creighton ahead 20-15 en route to a 25-19 victory in the finale.
"The difference was we had some huge serving runs," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "Keeley's serving run in the second game was pretty remarkable and Abby had a huge one in the first game. When they're (Wyoming's) in system they're pretty potent. The right side and middle attack is really good. I didn't think offensively we were as good as we needed to be and I thought we had some blocks that we gave up that we probably could have had, but I did think we won the first contact battle which was a goal of ours."
Bottomley had 21 digs and CU finished with nine blocks while holding Wyoming to .016 hitting in 125 attacks. Zimmerman had a match-high nine kills and Bottomley owned five of CU's nine aces on the day.
Wyoming was paced by nine kills from Naya Shime, though she also had eight attack errors. The Cowgirls finished with 28 kills, 62 digs and three blocks but did not record an ace.
Creighton returns to action with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Bluejays face South Dakota at Noon before a 7 p.m. contest vs. tournament host Wichita State. The Coyotes and Shockers are to face off later on Friday evening.
NOTES: Creighton previously started 10-1 in 2006 and 2012 ... Creighton is now 2-1 all-time against Wyoming ... Creighton is seeking an unprecedented fourth straight weekend with a tournament title ... Abby Bottomley has had 20 or more digs in three of CU's last five matches ... Creighton's nine aces tied a season-best first done last Friday vs. SMU ... Creighton has allowed one ace or less in five of the past seven matches ... Creighton has held six opponents below .100 hitting this season, including Wyoming today ... Naomi Hickman's three block assists give her 378 in her career, two more than Laurel Sanford for fifth-most in program history ... Abby Bottomley's five aces were the most by a Bluejay in one match since Madelyn Cole had seven aces at Georgetown on Nov. 9, 2019 ... Bottomley's five aces in the first set were the most by a Bluejay in any set since Michelle Sicner had five aces in a span of six points in the third set of a win vs. McNeese State on Sept. 17, 2011. Today is the 10-year anniversary of that match.
The victory marks the first time Creighton has won 10 or more non-conference matches in the same regular-season.
Bottomley served an 8-0 run that featured a career-high five aces to help Creighton take a 25-19 win in the opening set. The senior's work behind the service line pushed the Bluejay lead to 13-5 and Wyoming never got any closer than four the rest of the set. Bottomley led CU with six digs and five aces, while Jaela Zimmerman had five kills to pace the offensive attack.
A 13-0 serving spree by Davis helped Creighton run away with the second set. The junior tied her career-high with three aces in the second set alone while bolting to a 17-3 lead. Wyoming had just three kills and 11 attack errors in 40 swings during the second set, hitting -.200. Bottomley keyed CU's defense with 10 digs in the game.
Wyoming (6-4) went ahead 11-8 early in the third set with seven kills in its first 10 swings before three straight attack errors evened the score at 11-all. The Bluejay block helped move Creighton ahead 20-15 en route to a 25-19 victory in the finale.
"The difference was we had some huge serving runs," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "Keeley's serving run in the second game was pretty remarkable and Abby had a huge one in the first game. When they're (Wyoming's) in system they're pretty potent. The right side and middle attack is really good. I didn't think offensively we were as good as we needed to be and I thought we had some blocks that we gave up that we probably could have had, but I did think we won the first contact battle which was a goal of ours."
Bottomley had 21 digs and CU finished with nine blocks while holding Wyoming to .016 hitting in 125 attacks. Zimmerman had a match-high nine kills and Bottomley owned five of CU's nine aces on the day.
Wyoming was paced by nine kills from Naya Shime, though she also had eight attack errors. The Cowgirls finished with 28 kills, 62 digs and three blocks but did not record an ace.
Creighton returns to action with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Bluejays face South Dakota at Noon before a 7 p.m. contest vs. tournament host Wichita State. The Coyotes and Shockers are to face off later on Friday evening.
NOTES: Creighton previously started 10-1 in 2006 and 2012 ... Creighton is now 2-1 all-time against Wyoming ... Creighton is seeking an unprecedented fourth straight weekend with a tournament title ... Abby Bottomley has had 20 or more digs in three of CU's last five matches ... Creighton's nine aces tied a season-best first done last Friday vs. SMU ... Creighton has allowed one ace or less in five of the past seven matches ... Creighton has held six opponents below .100 hitting this season, including Wyoming today ... Naomi Hickman's three block assists give her 378 in her career, two more than Laurel Sanford for fifth-most in program history ... Abby Bottomley's five aces were the most by a Bluejay in one match since Madelyn Cole had seven aces at Georgetown on Nov. 9, 2019 ... Bottomley's five aces in the first set were the most by a Bluejay in any set since Michelle Sicner had five aces in a span of six points in the third set of a win vs. McNeese State on Sept. 17, 2011. Today is the 10-year anniversary of that match.
Team Stats
WYO
CU
Kills
28
34
Errors
26
13
Attempts
125
121
Hitting %
.016
.174
Points
31.0
52.0
Assists
27
32
Aces
0
9
Blocks
3.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
5
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball Media Availability September 9
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Sunday, September 07
Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. UCSB - 9/6/25
Sunday, September 07
Creighton Volleyball Postgame Interview vs. UCSB - 9/6/25
Sunday, September 07
