#10 Creighton Volleyball Places Second at Bluejay Invitational

OMAHA, Neb. -- The No. 10 Creighton Volleyball team dropped a five-set battle against unbeaten Tulsa on Sunday afternoon at the Bluejay Invitational.

Tulsa (6-0) won by set scores of 24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10 to snap Creighton's (4-2) 14-match home unbeaten streak that had ranked third-longest in program history and was the nation's sixth-longest active home win streak.

Bluejay Invitational MVP Brittany Bacorn had 29 assists and 10 digs to lead the Golden Hurricane, and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Emma Blaine (12 kills today) and Jill Hanson (9 kills, 7 blocks). Tulsa had 57 kills, 92 digs, nine blocks and an ace while hitting .128 to win the defensive slugfest.

Creighton was led by sophomore Abbey Hayes, who turned in a career-high 18 kills and matched her previous best with 13 digs. Eloise Brandewie had a career-high 12 blocks and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Trinity Shadd-Ceres (11 kills, career-high 18 digs, career-high four blocks). The Bluejays had 57 kills, 87 digs, 18 blocks and three aces while hitting .111.

CU won a first set featuring 13 ties and six lead changes as Hayes served a 5-0 run to give the Jays a 19-15 lead. The hosts moved ahead 24-20, but Tulsa saved four set points to even the score before the Jays topped Tulsa in extra points on Hayes' fifth and sixth kills of the frame. CU won despite seven service errors in the set, which set the tone for a season-high 17 miscues on the day.

Tulsa trailed 17-15 in the second stanza before four straight Bluejay attack errors helped the Golden Hurricane move ahead for good. Tulsa led 24-19 before a 4-0 run from the Jays, but Maegan Mills powered a kill through the block to help Tulsa even the match at 1-all with a 25-23 win. Brandewie had a hand in all four Bluejay blocks in the second set, but the Jays hit .000 offensively with 11 attack errors in 41 swings.

With the score deadlocked at 10 in the third set, Tulsa used a 6-2 run to move in front. Creighton crept closer, getting within 22-20, but the defending American Conference champs won three of the final four points and won the set on the fifth Bluejay service error of the game.

Creighton extended the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set. Hayes authored a 7-0 run at the service line to give CU a 20-16 lead as Ashlyn Paymal two of her career-high eight kills during the surge. Tulsa got within one point at 20-19, 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22 before the Jays scored consecutive points on a kill by Hayes and an attack error by Tulsa's Jill Hanson. Paymal had five kills and two blocks in the set.

Tulsa never trailed in the fifth set, racing to leads of 3-0, 7-1 and 10-2 to quiet the near-capacity crowd of 2,333. Creighton fought back to within 12-7, but it was too little too late as Hanson put down a kill on match point. Tulsa hit .429 in the fifth set with two blocks, dropping CU to 22-6 all-time in the fifth set inside D.J. Sokol Arena. 

Creighton is back in action next weekend for the Rice Invitational II in Houston, Texas, where the Jays will meet Northern Iowa, No. 6 Louisville and host Rice.