Friday, September 1
Omaha, Neb.
6 PM
Creighton University
3-1,0-0Big East
3
vs
2
Ball State
2-2,0-0MAC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Ball State
19
27
25
16
11
2
#20 Creighton
25
25
21
25
15
3
#20 Volleyball Rallies To Win Home Opener vs. Ball State
9/1/2023 9:02:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays win final two sets to defeat Ball State 3-2
OMAHA, Neb. -- The No. 20 Creighton Volleyball team opened its home season with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Ball State on Friday, Sept. 1, on the initial day of the Bluejay Invitational.
Scores of the match in CU's favor were 25-19, 25-27, 21-25, 25-16, 15-11.
Norah Sis (19), Ava Martin (16) and Kiana Schmitt (13) combined for 48 of CU's 67 kills, and the Jays were spurred by the debut of freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson. The Omaha Westside product checked in late in the third set and finished the match with five kills and three digs.
Ball State was paced by 14 kills from Madison Buckley, while Aniya Kennedy notched 13 kills. Havyn Gates had a match-best 26 digs to pace the Cardinals.
With the score knotted at 12-all in the first set, Sis uncorked a 9-0 serving run that helped CU pull away. A kill from Ann Marie Remmes sealed the 25-19 win in the opener. Creighton had a 19-8 advantage in kills in the set, with reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Martin putting down six balls.
Creighton trailed 15-13 in the second set before Ellie Bolton served up a 7-0 run. The Bluejays appeared in control with a 23-17 lead before Ball State answered. The Cardinals saved a pair of set points and tied the set at 24-all. A kill from Buckley and ace by Paige Busick evened the match and left the crowd of 1,445 in stunned silence.
Ball State carried the momentum through intermission and bolted to a 7-3 lead in the third set. With BSU holding a narrow 11-9 lead, Busick served a 7-0 run as the Cardinals doubled up the host Bluejays. CU trimmed a 21-14 deficit to 23-20 but got no closer as Ball State took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 triumph. CU had 10 attack errors in the set, hitting just .062 in 48 swings as Gates dug 10 Bluejay attacks. Strange as it may sound, the momentum flipped when Ndam-Simpson made her collegiate debut with the Jays down 20-11. She provided a thunderous kill on her first swing while gaining some confidence.
After falling behind 2-0, Sky McCune had a pair of aces during a 6-0 run at the service line to give CU the lead for good in the fourth game. Both teams had 12 kills in the set, but Ball State had eight more errors (11-3) . Ndam-Simpson had three kills, a block and a dig and Remmes and Schmitt each had three block assists.
CU never trailed in the fifth set. Bolton served a 6-0 run as the Jays took an 8-2 run. Ball State narrowed the gap to 8-5, 10-7 and 13-11 but got no closer as the Jays closed out the match on the 19th kill from Sis and an ace by freshman Sydney Breissinger.
Creighton won every stat category of significance, including kills (67-52), assists (63-48), aces (9-5), digs (82-81), blocks (10-7) and hitting percentage (.201 - .132).
Northern Iowa swept LSU in the first match of the tournament on Friday. Play continues Saturday when Ball State faces Northern Iowa at 2:30 p.m., followed by Creighton hosting LSU at 5 p.m.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 69-37 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-1 mark this season and a 19-5 mark inside D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton has had at least one block in 875 straight contests ... Creighton improved to 20-10 all-time in home openers, and 15-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 13-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton avoided losing consecutive home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena for the first time since 2014 ... Ellie Bolton had her third straight match with 20 or more digs ... Ava Martin became the first Bluejay since the program's 1994 reinstatement with 14 or more kills in each of CU's first four matches of the season, and first to do it in six straight matches (dating to last year) since Amanda Cvejdlik in 2005 ... Creighton has won its last 18 matches after a loss and has not lost consecutive contests since beginning the 2019 campaign with back-to-back losses ... Creighton improved to 175-41 all-time as a ranked team ... Creighton sophomore Ann Marie Remmes served up the first ace of her career.
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Scores of the match in CU's favor were 25-19, 25-27, 21-25, 25-16, 15-11.
Norah Sis (19), Ava Martin (16) and Kiana Schmitt (13) combined for 48 of CU's 67 kills, and the Jays were spurred by the debut of freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson. The Omaha Westside product checked in late in the third set and finished the match with five kills and three digs.
Ball State was paced by 14 kills from Madison Buckley, while Aniya Kennedy notched 13 kills. Havyn Gates had a match-best 26 digs to pace the Cardinals.
With the score knotted at 12-all in the first set, Sis uncorked a 9-0 serving run that helped CU pull away. A kill from Ann Marie Remmes sealed the 25-19 win in the opener. Creighton had a 19-8 advantage in kills in the set, with reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Martin putting down six balls.
Creighton trailed 15-13 in the second set before Ellie Bolton served up a 7-0 run. The Bluejays appeared in control with a 23-17 lead before Ball State answered. The Cardinals saved a pair of set points and tied the set at 24-all. A kill from Buckley and ace by Paige Busick evened the match and left the crowd of 1,445 in stunned silence.
Ball State carried the momentum through intermission and bolted to a 7-3 lead in the third set. With BSU holding a narrow 11-9 lead, Busick served a 7-0 run as the Cardinals doubled up the host Bluejays. CU trimmed a 21-14 deficit to 23-20 but got no closer as Ball State took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 triumph. CU had 10 attack errors in the set, hitting just .062 in 48 swings as Gates dug 10 Bluejay attacks. Strange as it may sound, the momentum flipped when Ndam-Simpson made her collegiate debut with the Jays down 20-11. She provided a thunderous kill on her first swing while gaining some confidence.
After falling behind 2-0, Sky McCune had a pair of aces during a 6-0 run at the service line to give CU the lead for good in the fourth game. Both teams had 12 kills in the set, but Ball State had eight more errors (11-3) . Ndam-Simpson had three kills, a block and a dig and Remmes and Schmitt each had three block assists.
CU never trailed in the fifth set. Bolton served a 6-0 run as the Jays took an 8-2 run. Ball State narrowed the gap to 8-5, 10-7 and 13-11 but got no closer as the Jays closed out the match on the 19th kill from Sis and an ace by freshman Sydney Breissinger.
Creighton won every stat category of significance, including kills (67-52), assists (63-48), aces (9-5), digs (82-81), blocks (10-7) and hitting percentage (.201 - .132).
Northern Iowa swept LSU in the first match of the tournament on Friday. Play continues Saturday when Ball State faces Northern Iowa at 2:30 p.m., followed by Creighton hosting LSU at 5 p.m.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 69-37 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-1 mark this season and a 19-5 mark inside D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton has had at least one block in 875 straight contests ... Creighton improved to 20-10 all-time in home openers, and 15-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 13-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton avoided losing consecutive home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena for the first time since 2014 ... Ellie Bolton had her third straight match with 20 or more digs ... Ava Martin became the first Bluejay since the program's 1994 reinstatement with 14 or more kills in each of CU's first four matches of the season, and first to do it in six straight matches (dating to last year) since Amanda Cvejdlik in 2005 ... Creighton has won its last 18 matches after a loss and has not lost consecutive contests since beginning the 2019 campaign with back-to-back losses ... Creighton improved to 175-41 all-time as a ranked team ... Creighton sophomore Ann Marie Remmes served up the first ace of her career.
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Team Stats
BSU
CU
Kills
52
67
Errors
29
29
Attempts
174
189
Hitting %
.132
.201
Points
64.0
86.0
Assists
48
63
Aces
5
9
Blocks
7.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
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