#12 Creighton Volleyball Tops Villanova For 15th Straight Win

OMAHA, Neb. -- A 6-0 serving run featuring five aces by Nora Wurtz helped No. 12 Creighton Volleyball overcome a sluggish start in a 3-1 win over Villanova on Friday inside D.J. Sokol Arena. The win made Brian Rosen the BIG EAST's first rookie head coach to win 20 matches in a season since 2014 and helped CU win 20 or more matches for the 13th straight non-COVID campaign.

Scores of the Bluejay win were 25-23, 16-25, 25-19, 25-13 as Creighton improved to 20-5 and 13-0 in BIG EAST play. Villanova dropped to 18-7 on the fall and are 9-5 in BIG EAST play.

Ava Martin finished with 23 kills and a season-high 14 digs while Wurtz owned five of CU's nine aces on the night. Annalea Maeder had 43 assists and 12 digs for her 12th double-double, and Jaya Johnson added a dozen kills. Creighton hit .248 and had 54 kills, 66 digs, nine aces and five blocks on .248 hitting.

Villanova was led by 16 kills by Abby Harrell, who also contributed 11 digs. The Wildcats had 44 kills, 54 digs, five blocks and four aces and hit .190.

The visiting Wildcats scored the first four points of the match and did not trail until a kill from Martin gave CU a 16-15 lead. After two straight points by the Wildcats, a VU serving error sent Wurtz to the service line. The redshirt freshman served an ace to give CU an 18-17 lead and a kill by Martin made it 19-17 and led to Nova's first timeout. Undaunted, the Valley, Neb., serving specialist authored four more consecutive aces as Creighton moved in front 23-17. Villanova saved four set points to draw within 24-23 before Martin found the sideline for seventh kill of the set.

Villanova once again rolled to an early 5-1 lead in the second set and never looked back to snap a 28-set losing streak to CU that dated back to 2021. Creighton was within 14-12 before Nova closed the set on a 11-4 run punctuated by a kill from Cat Young. The Wildcats hit .355 in the second set and held off a Bluejay side that featured seven more kills by Martin.

Villanova led for much of the third set and were ahead 17-15 before Sydney Breissinger served a 7-0 run that gave the Jays a five-point lead. Kills from Maeder and Martin finished off the Wildcats in set three, 25-19.  Maeder had 13 assists as CU hit .297 in the third frame.

The fourth set was tied at 12-12 before Creighton closed the show with a 13-1 run.  Martin served up a 6-0 run and Breissinger closed the match with a 7-0 run of her own in the clincher. Creighton hit .429 in the set and held the Wildcats to .000 hitting.

Creighton hosts Georgetown on Sunday at 1 p.m., followed by Senior Day festivities for Annalea Maeder, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Kiara Reinhardt.