Creighton Downs Texas To Advance To Regional Final
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked and second-seeded Creighton Volleyball team dethroned two-time defending national champion Texas with a 3-1 victory in the Regional Semifinal hosted by Penn State on Friday afternoon.
Creighton (32-2) posted its 25th straight win by scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20, advancing to its second Elite Eight in program history. Texas ends its season 20-7.
Creighton started with ruthless efficiency, pounding kills on its first six swings to race to an 11-5 lead. Texas responded with a five-point run to tie the score at 12-all. Tied at 13, Creighton went on a five-point run that started with a stuff from Kiara Reinhardt and Jaya Johnson and followed on an ace by Maddy Bilinovic. CU lead 19-14 after Ava Martin's fifth kill before once again Texas battled to knot the score at 22-all. A kill from Martin and an ace by Norah Sis gave Creighton a pair of set points up 24-22, but the Longhorns countered with a 4-0 run to steal the first set, 26-24. Martin had eight kills in the first frame and Wait added 13 assists as CU hit .367. Texas hit .406 in the opener as Marianna Singletary and Ayden Ames both had five kills.
Similar to the first set, the Bluejays started red-hot, bolting to a 9-4 advantage to force a timeout from the Longhorns after Martin's 10th career NCAA Tournament ace. Texas made another run to narrow the gap to one, but this time the Bluejays didn't buckle and closed out the set with a 5-0 run to win the second set 25-19. Creighton hit .361 in the second set, closing out the frame on the seventh kill of the set by Sis.
The third start saw Creighton take an early 5-1 lead but Texas rallied move in front 14-13. That didn't bother Creighton, as the Jays rallied with seven of the next 10 points to move in front 20-17. The Bluejays ended up winning the third set 25-21 on a kill from Jaya Johnson. Creighton hit .344 in the third game as Johnson and Sis each had four kills.
Creighton trailed by as much as four early in fourth set but bounced back to take leads of 15-12 and 18-13. The Bluejays would hold a three point advantage the remainder of the match, using back-to-back blocks from Sis, Reinhardt and Johnson to secure their first trip to the Elite Eight since 2016. Five Bluejays had multiple kills in the finale and Reinhardt had four of her match-high eight blocks. Sis also served up two of her four aces to tie a program-record for an NCAA Tournament contest.
Sis led the way for the Bluejays with 15 kills, 13 digs, four aces and three blocks, while Martin added in 15 kills of her own. BIG EAST Player and Setter of the Year, Kendra Wait, dished out 47 assists and collected a match-high 17 digs, while Reinhardt collected a match-high eight blocks and season-high nine kills in the victory. Creighton finished the day with 60 kills, 51 digs, 11 blocks and eight aces on .307 hitting.
Texas was led by a match-high 23 kills from Madisen Skinner with Marianna Singletary added in 11 kills of her own. Averi Carlson had 41 assists and nine digs, while Jenna Wenaas popped up 13 digs and Emma Halter collected 16. Michigan hit .197 and tallied 55 kills, three aces, 53 digs and two blocks.
With the win, Creighton advances to play in the Regional Final on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Central against Penn State. Sunday's contest will air on ESPN.