#4 Louisville Hands #18 Creighton Volleyball Rare Home Loss

OMAHA, Neb. -- No. 18 Creighton Volleyball won the majority of the statistical battles but ended up on the wrong side of a four-set decision against No. 4 Louisville on Friday night at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb.  

Scores of the Louisville (5-1) win were 19-25, 31-29, 25-22, 25-19 as the 2024 national runner-ups snapped Creighton's (3-4) program-record 32-match home win streak that ranked as the nation's third-longest active streak. The match was played in front of 2,658 fans, the largest regular-season crowd in facility history, and featured the first Bluejay match played on the new Taraflex floor that was unveiled earlier in the week.

Creighton controlled the first set, pulling away down the stretch to move in front 19-15. Ava Martin had kills on the first two points of the set, as well as the final point of the set, as the Bluejay offense hit .364 in the opener. Kiara Reinhardt had five of her career-high 16 kills in the opener, and Sydney Breissinger and Saige Damrow highlighted the CU defense with five digs each. 

The Bluejays had opportunities to take control of the match in both the second and third sets. CU built a 19-14 lead in the second set and had chances to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission at 25-24 and 26-25, only to have Louisville escape with a 31-29 set two victory after Nayelis Cabello served UofL's first ace of the match to clinch the set.  Four different Bluejays had four kills in the set and Damrow had seven digs, but it wasn't enough as Cara Cresse and Payton Petersen both had five kills for the Cards.

Louisville overcame an 12-6 deficit in the third set thanks to a 6-0 run on Chloe Chicoine's serve that tied the set at 12-all. The set remained tied through 19-19 before Louisville closed with a 6-3 burst to win a 25-22 set and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Petersen had seven kills for the Cardinals, while Martin had five of her own for CU.

Creighton led 14-12 in the fourth set before a losing a challenge on an in/out call that brought Louisville within one. The Cardinals built on that momentum, eventually moving in front 17-14, and did not trail again. Petersen had her fourth kill of the set and team-leading 18th kill on match point as the Cardinals avoided back-to-back regular-season losses for the first time since 2019. Reinhardt and freshman Abbey Hayes each had three kills in the final frame for CU.

Reinhardt hit .560 and had 16 kills, adding five blocks, while Martin notched 14 kills and eight digs. Annalea Maeder recorded her fourth double-double in a row with 49 assists and 11 digs, Damrow led all players with 18 digs, and Eloise Brandewie had 10 kills on .500 hitting. Jaya Johnson also came up big with a career-high seven blocks and tying her season-best with nine kills. The Bluejays had 63 kills, four aces, 60 digs and 10 blocks on .279 hitting.

Cabello dished 42 assists as four Cardinals had 11 ore more kills, led by Petersen's 18. Chicoine had 11 kills and a team-best 17 digs and Cresse closed with 14 kills. The UofL finished with 60 kills, five aces, 54 digs and six blocks on .258 hitting.

The Bluejay Invitational continues on Saturday when the Bluejays meet Rice at 4 p.m. in a match that will air on ESPN+, followed by Louisville meeting Northern Iowa at 6:30 p.m. Northern Iowa swept Rice (25-13, 26-24, 25-20) to open the tournament on Friday afternoon.