Creighton University Athletics
Photo by: Diego Vasconcelos
Volleyball Defeats DePaul in Battle of BIG EAST Unbeatens
10/2/2026 8:57:00 PM | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Four Bluejays posted career-highs as Creighton Volleyball defended its home court in four sets over DePaul in a battle of BIG EAST unbeatens on Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena. Scores of Creighton's 30th straight win over the Blue Demons were 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-17.
Abbey Hayes led Creighton (8-7, 3-0 BIG EAST) with 10 kills and served a career-high four aces, Katie Dalton put down a career-high eight kills and Nora Wurtz (8) and Ashlyn Paymal (7) had career-bests in blocks to lead the Bluejays to its conference-record 50th regular-season win in BIG EAST play.
DePaul (11-4, 3-1 BIG EAST) was led by 17 kills from Kendall Timme, including eight in the Blue Demons' third set victory.Â
DePaul setter Leonor Polezzi opened the match with an ace before Creighton responded with seven of the next eight points to take the lead for good in set one. The Jays got an ace from Hayes to move in front 15-7 at the technical timeout, only to have the Blue Demons counter with six points in a row to get within a pair. Back-to-back blocks by Wurtz and Paymal extended CU's margin to 20-15 and the Jays closed out the opener on a kill from Dalton to take a 25-22 decision. Creighton hit .333 in the lid-lifter with Ayden Ames owning four kills and Dalton distributing eight assists.
DePaul blitzed to a 12-6 lead to open the second set before Creghton answered with a 13-2 run to reclaim control. Dalton was behind the service line for the crucial 8-0 spurt to give the Jays a 19-14 lead. Creighton converted its fourth set point try on a Blue Demons attack error to win 25-22. Hayes had two aces and Saige Damrow and Sydney Breissinger each owned five digs in the second frame for CU as the Jays held DePaul to .000 hitting in 34 swings.
DePaul was down 5-2 in the third set before Polezzi served a pair of aces during a 6-0 run. The Blue Demons led 15-8 at the technical timeout and held off several challenges by the hosts as Creighton got within three on several occasions. DePaul hit .300 in the third set and outblocked CU 2-1.
Creighton raced to leads of 6-2, 12-6 and 20-11 in the fourth set before wrapping up a 25-17 victory on Hayes' 10th kill of the night. Dalton had three kills and three blocks while setting the Bluejay offense to a .333 hitting percentage as CU won its third set of the night to close out the victory that saw the Jays move to 3-0 in BIG EAST play.
Creighton hosts Marquette on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a contest that will be streamed on ESPN+.
NOTES: Creighton's 30 straight wins over DePaul are its most consecutive wins over any opponent in program history. The Blue Demons snapped a 30-match losing streak to Marquette on Wednesday in Chicago ... Brian Rosen improved to 21-0 in his career against BIG EAST foes, winning 63-of-69 sets ... Creighton has won 47 straight home matches in the month of October and 25 straight matches in October at all sites ... Creighton has won 49 straight home matches against BIG EAST teams and 16 straight home openers in league play ... Creighton improved to 212-37 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton was playing its first match as an unranked team since early in the 2021 season.
Abbey Hayes led Creighton (8-7, 3-0 BIG EAST) with 10 kills and served a career-high four aces, Katie Dalton put down a career-high eight kills and Nora Wurtz (8) and Ashlyn Paymal (7) had career-bests in blocks to lead the Bluejays to its conference-record 50th regular-season win in BIG EAST play.
DePaul (11-4, 3-1 BIG EAST) was led by 17 kills from Kendall Timme, including eight in the Blue Demons' third set victory.Â
DePaul setter Leonor Polezzi opened the match with an ace before Creighton responded with seven of the next eight points to take the lead for good in set one. The Jays got an ace from Hayes to move in front 15-7 at the technical timeout, only to have the Blue Demons counter with six points in a row to get within a pair. Back-to-back blocks by Wurtz and Paymal extended CU's margin to 20-15 and the Jays closed out the opener on a kill from Dalton to take a 25-22 decision. Creighton hit .333 in the lid-lifter with Ayden Ames owning four kills and Dalton distributing eight assists.
DePaul blitzed to a 12-6 lead to open the second set before Creghton answered with a 13-2 run to reclaim control. Dalton was behind the service line for the crucial 8-0 spurt to give the Jays a 19-14 lead. Creighton converted its fourth set point try on a Blue Demons attack error to win 25-22. Hayes had two aces and Saige Damrow and Sydney Breissinger each owned five digs in the second frame for CU as the Jays held DePaul to .000 hitting in 34 swings.
DePaul was down 5-2 in the third set before Polezzi served a pair of aces during a 6-0 run. The Blue Demons led 15-8 at the technical timeout and held off several challenges by the hosts as Creighton got within three on several occasions. DePaul hit .300 in the third set and outblocked CU 2-1.
Creighton raced to leads of 6-2, 12-6 and 20-11 in the fourth set before wrapping up a 25-17 victory on Hayes' 10th kill of the night. Dalton had three kills and three blocks while setting the Bluejay offense to a .333 hitting percentage as CU won its third set of the night to close out the victory that saw the Jays move to 3-0 in BIG EAST play.
Creighton hosts Marquette on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a contest that will be streamed on ESPN+.
NOTES: Creighton's 30 straight wins over DePaul are its most consecutive wins over any opponent in program history. The Blue Demons snapped a 30-match losing streak to Marquette on Wednesday in Chicago ... Brian Rosen improved to 21-0 in his career against BIG EAST foes, winning 63-of-69 sets ... Creighton has won 47 straight home matches in the month of October and 25 straight matches in October at all sites ... Creighton has won 49 straight home matches against BIG EAST teams and 16 straight home openers in league play ... Creighton improved to 212-37 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Creighton was playing its first match as an unranked team since early in the 2021 season.
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
DePaul
CU
Kills
45
46
Errors
33
20
Attempts
125
121
Hitting %
.096
.215
Points
56.0
68.0
Assists
42
40
Aces
6
8
Blocks
5
14
Game Leaders
Saturday, October 03
Saturday, October 03
Saturday, October 03
Thursday, October 01
















