Omaha, Neb. — The Creighton Volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 sweep of conference foe Xavier on Sunday, March 28.
Set scores for the match were 25-21, 25-21 and 25-17.
The win lifted Creighton to 10-3 on the season and 7-1 in BIG EAST play, while Xaviers 2020 campaign ended at 7-7 overall and 3-3 in conference.
Tied 9-9 in the opening set, the Bluejays created separation with a 6-1 run led by sophomore Keely Davis. The Colorado native had two kills and an ace during Creightons burst, while the Bluejays other three points came on a pair of blocks and a Musketeer error. Holding a 16-10 edge, the Bluejays saw Xavier climb within a point at 22-21, but another surge closed the door. Once more Davis got her squad going with a kill, then freshman Kiara Reinhardt and sophomore Ally Van Eekeren rejected a Xavier attack to make it 24-21. The final point of the set came courtesy of a Musketeer attack error.
Set number two followed a similar pattern as the two teams were tied 8-8 early. Creighton took control with a 7-3 run, getting a pair of kills from junior Anika Welty, four Xavier errors and another ace from Davis. Xavier closed late to make it 23-21, but a service error and a Musketeer attack error gave the second set to the Bluejays.
Knotted 10-10 in the third set, Creighton dashed out to a 19-12 edge. This surge was ignited by a kill and an ace from sophomore Emily Bressman. Up 13-11 four consecutive Bluejay kills from senior Naomi Hickman, Welty, Davis, then another from Welty to make it 17-11. Following a point from Xavier, Davis smashed down her eighth kill of the night, then a Xavier error pushed game three to 19-12. Up 21-17 moments later, the Bluejays closed out the match with four straight on a pair of kills from Bressman, one from Reinhardt and a service ace by junior Jaela Zimmerman (who served as the Bluejays libero).
Creighton closed the match hitting .276 with 40 kills and 13 errors on 98 swings, while Xavier hit .114 (34 kills, 22 errors on 105 swings).
Welty and Davis led Creighton with eight kills in the match, while Reinhardt and Schmitt were a step back with seven and six kills respectively.
Creighton returns to the floor on Friday, April 2 in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship against Providence at 11:00 am.
