#12 Creighton Volleyball Dominates Seton Hall
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The No. 12 Creighton Volleyball team finished off an unbeaten BIG EAST season with a 3-0 win at Seton Hall on Saturday evening, The Bluejays (23-5, 16-0 BIG EAST) dropped just four sets in league play against the nation's fifth-rated conference, which could see a BIG EAST-record four teams earn an NCAA Tournament bid in two weeks.
Scores of CU's league-record 47th consecutive regular-season BIG EAST win were 25-14, 25-13, 25-13. The victory caps Creighton's 12th straight regular-season BIG EAST title, which includes four unbeaten seasons in league play (2016, 2018, 2024, 2025), and means Creighton will be the No. 1 seed at next weekend's BIG EAST Tournament. The Bluejays will also host the 2026 BIG EAST Championships.
Creighton's Brian Rosen, who became the first BIG EAST coach to go unbeaten in league play in their first year as head coach since Pitt's Cindy Alvear in 1993, reflected on what it took to finish league play 16-0.
"I feel like our team really worked hard to be prepared for every match," said Rosen. "It's all about not taking anyone for granted. Early on the first couple matches I think our team, especially some of our newer players, were a little caught off guard with how strong these teams are and that everyone's going to come in and give us their best, but I thought we settled in as the season went on. We really prepared and were ready for everyone. Even though we're getting everyone's best, making sure everyone else is getting ours too. To only drop four sets against the fifth-best league in the country, the best the BIG EAST has ever been, is really impressive what they've been able to accomplish."
The Bluejays used three aces from Annalea Maeder and five kills by Ava Martin to post a 25-14 win in the first set. CU hit .667 in the opening frame to take the early lead with 14 kills in 21 swings.
Creighton hit .609 in the second set with 14 kills in 23 swings. The Bluejays led 11-6 before Damrow's 8-0 serving run that featured five aces in a span of six points. Damrow finished the evening with a career-best six aces.
The Bluejays didn't commit a hitting error until their 49th swing of the match, at which point it had 31 kills, and led 3-0 in the third set. That error, which came on a block by Seton Hall, was the only blemish as the Jays soared to an 8-1 start in the finale. Six different Bluejays registered a kill in the final set, and Martin and Maeder each added two more aces.
Creighton hit a program-record .551 in the match, finishing with 41 kills and just three errors in 69 swings. Creighton's 14 service aces were one shy of a program-record for a match, and helped the Jays set the single-season team record. Martin led CU with 11 kills, adding three aces while hitting .500. Nora Wurtz was held without an ace but hit .778, finishing with a career-high seven kills and matching her best with five kills. Jaya Johnson hit .857 with six kills in seven swings and Kiara Reinhardt owned five kills in six swings to hit .833 in her final BIG EAST match. Maeder, who set CU to that .551 hitting, had 25 assists, served five aces and was perfect in four attack attempts of her own. Sydney Breissinger topped CU's defense with 15 of the team's 30 digs.
"I thought Anna set a really good game," said Rosen. "We were much cleaner (than Friday). Went on a ton of runs and hit our spots better. I thought the service pressure was really good."
Seton Hall (6-20, 0-15 BIG EAST) was paced by nine kills from Daria Safian, while Rylee Nelson owned seven of Seton Hall's 21 digs. The Pirates hit .157 and collected 24 kills, three aces and one block.
Creighton opens the postseason on Saturday as the top seed in the BIG EAST Championships, Presented by JEEP. The Bluejays will meet tournament host and fourth-seeded Marquette at Noon in semifinal round action at Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis.
"To win our 12th straight straight and to do it in an undefeated fashion is something I'm really proud of, said Rosen. "I'm proud of the team. Obviously it sets the bar and expectations really high for years to come because it's not always going to be perfect. I know we've had three or four years we've been able to go undefeated in the league but it's really hard to do in such a good league. And that could change next week in the conference tournament. We're going to get a really good Marquette team that took us to five a few weeks ago that really needs this win to make the NCAA Tournament. And then if we're fortunate enough to win that we'll get a Xavier or Villanova team that's the same. Fighting to make the NCAA Tournament and a win against us would pretty much guarantee it. We've got to be prepared for everyone's best and continue to do the same."