Ames Paces Volleyball in Four-Set Win Over Musketeers

Sunday, October 11

Omaha, Neb.

1:00 PM

Creighton University

10-8,5-1Big East

Xavier

11-6,4-2Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Xavier	27	18	16	12	1
Creighton	25	25	25	25	3

NOTES STATS

Cambel Drapeau

Photo by: Diego Vasconcelos

Ames Paces Volleyball in Four-Set Win Over Musketeers

10/11/2026 3:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score STATS PHOTOS Photo Gallery

By: Rob Anderson

OMAHA, Neb. -- Ayden Ames had a career-high 18 kills and Cambel Drapeau led CU with four blocks in her collegiate debut as Creighton Volleyball defeated Xavier in four sets in a battle of Top 50 RPI teams on Sunday afternoon inside D.J. Sokol Arena.

Creighton (10-8, 5-1 BIG EAST) improved to 29-1 all-time against Xavier (11-6, 4-2 BIG EAST) after its 25-27, 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 victory, the first match between the schools to end in exactly four sets since 2017 (23 meetings).

Creighton made big runs in all four sets, though Xavier made one of its own to steal the first frame. After back-to-back aces by Xavier's Charlotte Moriarty to open the match, Creighton responded to take leads of 12-6 and 18-12. But Xavier kept chipping away, drawing within one after four straight kills to make it 21-20. The teams traded five straight sideouts and CU had a set point opportunity at 24-23, but Catherine Flaharty tied the score at 24 with a kill. CU held off one set point when trailing 25-24, but Moriarty's eighth kill of the set helped Xavier claim its first set win over CU in Omaha since 2019, 27-25. Abbey Hayes had six kills and Ames added five more in the first set for the Jays.

Creighton used a 5-0 run on Saige Damrow's serve to build a 14-4 lead in the second set and cruised to a 25-18 triumph. The Musketeers drew within five at 19-14 before CU head coach Brian Rosen turned to Drapeau to make her collegiate debut. The freshman from Dubuque helped calm CU's nerves as the Bluejays closed out a 25-18 victory. Eloise Brandewie had five kills in seven swings and Damrow had five digs to help limit Xavier to .121 hitting.

The host Bluejays uncorked a 9-0 run to race to a 14-6 lead, with Damrow unleashing three of her four aces during that spurt. Drapeau picked up her first block and initial two kills in CU's 25-16 victory. Creighton had 13 kills and just one attack error in 36 swings during the third frame while also serving up four aces.

CU used a 6-1 run to open an 8-3 lead early in the fourth set and were still in front 15-8 at the technical timeout. A 6-0 run on Hayes' serve put CU in front 23-10, and Drapeau put down the kill on match point to wrap up the 25-12 triumph. Ames had five kills in as many attempts in the fourth set to highlight a Bluejay offense that hit .750, with 15 errorless kills in 20 swings. Drapeau had three of CU's four blocks in the game, part of an afternoon that saw the Jays outblock the Musketeers 11.5 - 2.0. Creighton dominated the stats, finishing with advantages in kills (59-46), assists (53-44), aces (12-3), digs (58-57) and hitting percentage (.358 - .176).

Ames hit .447 and finished with 18 kills, three more than her previous high, and also tied her career-best with five digs. Hayes had 14 kills and hit .367 and Brandewie wrapped up her big weekend with 12 kills on .423 hitting. Katie Dalton had 46 assists, while Damrow topped CU with 21 digs and four aces.

Xavier was led by 16 kills, 19 digs and two aces by Moriarty. Macy Hatkevich had 29 assists and Kelsey Niesen had 15 digs.

Creighton is back in action on Friday at 5 p.m. Central with a match at Villanova in a match-up of the teams picked to finish first and second in the preseason BIG EAST poll.

NOTES: Creighton is now 17-0 at home against Xavier all-time ... Xavier's Elouise Czajkowski was issued a yellow card in the fourth set ... Creighton moved into a three-way tie for first place with Marquette and St. John's in the BIG EAST standings ... The contest was a rematch of the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament won 3-0 by Creighton in Milwaukee. Creighton is now 11-1 in the first rematch after a tournament final ... Sydney Breissinger moved into a tie for fourth place in CU history with the 125th ace of her career ... Creighton's senior class now owns a 99-22 career record, including a 31-1 mark at home against BIG EAST foes ... Creighton's 12 aces were a season-high. It also marked the first time this season CU finished with more aces than errors ... Peyton Carlson's three aces matched her previous career total ... Sydney Breissinger had her fifth straight match with 10+ digs ... Abbey Hayes has now had 10+ kills in a team-high 11 matches this fall ... Creighton's .750 fourth set hitting percentage was its third-best mark ever for any set, and the top mark in any home match.