Saturday, September 16
Minneapolis, Minn.
4:30 PM
Creighton University
9-2,0-0Big East
3
at
2
#9 Minnesota
4-4,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
5
F
#14 Creighton
25
16
25
22
15
3
#9 Minnesota
15
25
20
25
9
2
#14 Volleyball Ends Non-Conference Play With Win at #9 Minnesota
9/16/2023 6:45:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays earn 3-2 victory to clinch fourth straight tournament title.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Ava Martin tied her career-high with 22 kills and was named MVP of the Diet Coke Classic as the No. 14 Creighton Volleyball team closed non-conference play with a 3-2 win over No. 9 Minnesota.
Scores of the Bluejay victory were 25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9 as the Bluejays won their fourth tournament in as many weekends to open the 2023 season.
"We knew Minnesota was kind of up-and-down and it was true to form," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "After we won the first game we were like 'listen, they do this a lot. They get killed and then they come back.' And sure enough, they dominated game two. I like how we bounced and won three and five, which was really important. It's a good win. I'm really proud of them and they worked hard."
Creighton (9-2) never trailed in the first set, a dominating 25-15 victory. CU hit .394 and freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson took over down the stretch with five kills and a solo stuff. Three early kills and three blocks by sophomore Ann Marie Remmes helped Creighton to the lopsided win.
The Gophers tied the match with a 25-16 win in the second set, hitting .429, as Lydia Grote and Phoebe Awoleye both contributed four kills for the Gophers.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, scoring the first three points on Sydney Breissinger's serve and pulling away with a 6-0 run on Sky McCune's serve to go ahead 14-6. After a sideout, Breissinger authored a 6-0 run as the Bluejay lead reached 20-7. Four straight aces from Taylor Landfair brought the Gophers within six at 22-16 before CU regrouped to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match on a kill from Ndam-Simpson. Martin led Creighton with seven kills in the frame and Breissinger served up two of her career-high five aces.
The fourth set was tied at 22-all late before the Gophers scored the next three points to force a fifth set. The Gophers hit .282 in the set and outblocked CU 6-0 in the game.
Minnesota (4-4) scored the first point of the fifth set before an 9-0 run on Sydney Bressinger's serve put the Jays in command. Minnesota got as close as 13-8 late in the set before CU closed out its second top-20 road win of the year over a Big Ten team, having also defeated then-No. 16 Purdue on August 26th. Martin had four kills in eight swings during the final set as the Bluejays held back a boisterous crowd of 5,180 fans at Maturi Pavilion. Schmitt and Wait combined for a pair of blocks in the final set as CU held the Gophers to -.150 hitting in the finale.
After the match Booth was quick to compliment the play of Breissinger in the final frame. "She was outstanding. She got a little rattled in game three and I really challenged her to move on. I told her she was playing so good, so let this go. I was so proud of her because she did such a great job coming back from it and letting it go. She's doing a fantastic job."
Creighton finished the contest with 60 kills, seven aces, 77 digs and nine blocks while hitting .227. Ndam-Simpson added a dozen kills and Schmitt notched 10 kills and five blocks for CU. Martin finished with her third double-double as a Bluejay with 22 kills and 11 digs, while Wait owned 42 assists, 22 digs, six blocks and four kills on .400 hitting.
Minnesota was paced by 51 kills, 11 aces, 69 digs and 10 blocks on .177 hitting overall. Grote owned 20 kills and hit .474 in 38 swings while also adding 13 digs. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Landfair was limited to 10 digs and nine kills on .054 hitting, though she did serve up five aces. Mckenna Wucherer, a member of Team USA last summer with Norah Sis, hit -.026 with seven kills in 38 swings.
Creighton opens its 11th season in the BIG EAST on Friday when it visits Butler at 5 p.m. Central.
Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team:
OH: Ava Martin, CU (MVP)
OH: Mckenna Wucherer, MN
OH: Christine Graf, HPU
RS: Lydia Grote, MN
MB: Kiana Schmitt, CU
MB: Ann Marie Remmes, CU
L: Ellie Bolton, CU
S: Kendra Wait, CU
NOTES: Creighton picked up its first win ever in six tries against Minnesota ... The victory was Kirsten Bernthal Booth's 450th win at Creighton ... The Gophers are the 97th different school that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has beaten in 21 years on the Bluejay sideline ... The victory was Creighton's ninth top-10 victory all-time, with eight of those coming away from home ... Creighton has won 13 of its past 18 tournaments ... Destiny Ndam-Simpson became the first Bluejay since 1994 (JoDe Cieloha) to post 10 or more kills in each of her first four starts ... Bluejay alums Jessica Houts, Allie Oelke and Lydia Dimke, all Minnesota natives, spoke to the team and were in the crowd ... Creighton also won its first four weekend tournaments in 2021, and has now won 29 tournaments since 2012 ... Creighton improved to 10-1 in the first set this season ... Sydney Breissinger's five aces tied a Creighton record for a five-set match. It's the fifth time that's happened, and first time since Brittany Witt in 2018 ... Creighton is now 70-37 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in five-set matches, and 2-1 this season ... Ellie Bolton (20) had her sixth match of the season with 20 or more digs, while Kendra Wait (22) did it for the second time ... Creighton improved to 20-24 all-time in matches involving a pair of ranked teams ... Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook is the President of the AVCA, while Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is the President Elect ... Creighton is now 8-1 this season against teams that played in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Scores of the Bluejay victory were 25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9 as the Bluejays won their fourth tournament in as many weekends to open the 2023 season.
"We knew Minnesota was kind of up-and-down and it was true to form," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "After we won the first game we were like 'listen, they do this a lot. They get killed and then they come back.' And sure enough, they dominated game two. I like how we bounced and won three and five, which was really important. It's a good win. I'm really proud of them and they worked hard."
Creighton (9-2) never trailed in the first set, a dominating 25-15 victory. CU hit .394 and freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson took over down the stretch with five kills and a solo stuff. Three early kills and three blocks by sophomore Ann Marie Remmes helped Creighton to the lopsided win.
The Gophers tied the match with a 25-16 win in the second set, hitting .429, as Lydia Grote and Phoebe Awoleye both contributed four kills for the Gophers.
Creighton never trailed in the third set, scoring the first three points on Sydney Breissinger's serve and pulling away with a 6-0 run on Sky McCune's serve to go ahead 14-6. After a sideout, Breissinger authored a 6-0 run as the Bluejay lead reached 20-7. Four straight aces from Taylor Landfair brought the Gophers within six at 22-16 before CU regrouped to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match on a kill from Ndam-Simpson. Martin led Creighton with seven kills in the frame and Breissinger served up two of her career-high five aces.
The fourth set was tied at 22-all late before the Gophers scored the next three points to force a fifth set. The Gophers hit .282 in the set and outblocked CU 6-0 in the game.
Minnesota (4-4) scored the first point of the fifth set before an 9-0 run on Sydney Bressinger's serve put the Jays in command. Minnesota got as close as 13-8 late in the set before CU closed out its second top-20 road win of the year over a Big Ten team, having also defeated then-No. 16 Purdue on August 26th. Martin had four kills in eight swings during the final set as the Bluejays held back a boisterous crowd of 5,180 fans at Maturi Pavilion. Schmitt and Wait combined for a pair of blocks in the final set as CU held the Gophers to -.150 hitting in the finale.
After the match Booth was quick to compliment the play of Breissinger in the final frame. "She was outstanding. She got a little rattled in game three and I really challenged her to move on. I told her she was playing so good, so let this go. I was so proud of her because she did such a great job coming back from it and letting it go. She's doing a fantastic job."
Creighton finished the contest with 60 kills, seven aces, 77 digs and nine blocks while hitting .227. Ndam-Simpson added a dozen kills and Schmitt notched 10 kills and five blocks for CU. Martin finished with her third double-double as a Bluejay with 22 kills and 11 digs, while Wait owned 42 assists, 22 digs, six blocks and four kills on .400 hitting.
Minnesota was paced by 51 kills, 11 aces, 69 digs and 10 blocks on .177 hitting overall. Grote owned 20 kills and hit .474 in 38 swings while also adding 13 digs. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Landfair was limited to 10 digs and nine kills on .054 hitting, though she did serve up five aces. Mckenna Wucherer, a member of Team USA last summer with Norah Sis, hit -.026 with seven kills in 38 swings.
Creighton opens its 11th season in the BIG EAST on Friday when it visits Butler at 5 p.m. Central.
Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team:
OH: Ava Martin, CU (MVP)
OH: Mckenna Wucherer, MN
OH: Christine Graf, HPU
RS: Lydia Grote, MN
MB: Kiana Schmitt, CU
MB: Ann Marie Remmes, CU
L: Ellie Bolton, CU
S: Kendra Wait, CU
NOTES: Creighton picked up its first win ever in six tries against Minnesota ... The victory was Kirsten Bernthal Booth's 450th win at Creighton ... The Gophers are the 97th different school that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has beaten in 21 years on the Bluejay sideline ... The victory was Creighton's ninth top-10 victory all-time, with eight of those coming away from home ... Creighton has won 13 of its past 18 tournaments ... Destiny Ndam-Simpson became the first Bluejay since 1994 (JoDe Cieloha) to post 10 or more kills in each of her first four starts ... Bluejay alums Jessica Houts, Allie Oelke and Lydia Dimke, all Minnesota natives, spoke to the team and were in the crowd ... Creighton also won its first four weekend tournaments in 2021, and has now won 29 tournaments since 2012 ... Creighton improved to 10-1 in the first set this season ... Sydney Breissinger's five aces tied a Creighton record for a five-set match. It's the fifth time that's happened, and first time since Brittany Witt in 2018 ... Creighton is now 70-37 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in five-set matches, and 2-1 this season ... Ellie Bolton (20) had her sixth match of the season with 20 or more digs, while Kendra Wait (22) did it for the second time ... Creighton improved to 20-24 all-time in matches involving a pair of ranked teams ... Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook is the President of the AVCA, while Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is the President Elect ... Creighton is now 8-1 this season against teams that played in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Team Stats
CU
MINN
Kills
60
51
Errors
23
23
Attempts
163
158
Hitting %
.227
.177
Points
76.0
72.0
Assists
56
49
Aces
7
11
Blocks
9.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
22
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
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