Creighton Volleyball Stunned by Georgetown
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Georgetown Volleyball saved three match points to earn its first win in 25 all-time meetings with Creighton Volleyball on Saturday night in Washington, D.C. Scores in favor of GU were 14-25, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 19-17.
Creighton (11-9, 6-2 BIG EAST) had its three-match win streak snapped, which had tied a season-high. Georgetown, which hadn't won a set against CU since 2019 entering the evening, improved to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the BIG EAST at the midpoint of the league season.
Ashlyn Paymal led CU with 15 kills and five blocks while hitting .300, and Abbey Hayes contributed 14 kills, nine digs and all three of CU's aces. Also in double-figures were Eloise Brandewie (13 kills, seven blocks) and Trinity Shadd-Ceres (10 kills, 12 digs). Saige Damrow led CU's defense with 20 digs while Sydney Breissinger added 13 digs of her own. Creighton finished with 68 kills, 80 digs, 12 blocks and hit .209 but were punished with 19 service errors.
Katherine McGregor and Dionna Mitchell paced the Hoyas with 10 kills apiece. Bella McGirr owned a match-high 31 digs and Juleigh Urbina had a double-double with 27 assists, 12 digs and four aces. The Hoyas ended with 45 kills, 76 digs, 11 blocks and six aces on .127 hitting.
CU dominated the first set, hitting .484 to coast to a 25-14 victory. The Jays broke free from a 7-7 tie by scoring 18 of the next 25 points, as Hayes and Paymal both had four kills in six swings and three other Bluejays had three kills each.
In the second set a 4-0 Bluejay run tied the score at 20-all, but just when it appeared the Hoyas might be on the verge of a collapse, the hosts bounced back with a 5-2 run to even the match. Mitchell had five kills and McGirr dug 15 Bluejay attempts in the second set.
The Hoyas never trailed in the third set to take a 2-1 edge, taking advantage of five CU service errors.
The Bluejays used an 11-5 run to close out the fourth frame and force a fifth set. GU's Alexis Anderson committed three straight attack errors to end the set, two of which were blocked by Brandewie and Paymal. CU had four blocks in the fourth set and held GU to -.111 hitting in 27 swings. Hayes had five kills to pace the Jays as freshman Rayna Christianson took over setting duties for the the first time in league play. The fourth set also saw the first extended front row play from dynamic outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres since the conference opener on Sept. 25th, as Ayden Ames moved back to the middle.
The deciding set featured 11 ties and a pair of lead changes. Hayes delivered two aces during a 6-0 serving run that put CU in control with a 12-7 lead, but GU responded with a 6-1 run to knot the score at 13. The teams would exchange six straight sideouts, with GU saving match points at 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15, before the Hoyas earned a match point of their own at 17-16. Paymal and Brandewie stuffed Anderson again to tie the score at 17-all, but back-to-back errors by the Bluejays gave the Hoyas their first win in 25 all-time meetings in the series.
Creighton is back in action on Thursday at 8 p.m. when it hosts Connecticut in a match that will be televised on FS1.