When Xavier upset then 11th-ranked Creighton on September 23 in Cincinnati, third-year outside hitter Emma Grace had a career-high five aces to go along with her team-high 15 kills in a 5-set win over the Jays. On Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena, CU aced her three times and didn’t let her score at all from behind the line in a 25-8, 25-18, 25-20 sweep to improve to 24-4 on the year and 15-2 in Big East play with just a single match remaining in the regular season.
To put themselves in position to win at least a share of the Big East regular season title for the 10th season in a row, Creighton first had to handle a team that out-hit, out-served, and out-worked them eight weeks ago. The Bluejays didn’t have All-American outside hitter Norah Sis that day. They did on Friday, and they also had an itch to scratch after losing to the Musketeers for the first time in 23 all-time meetings since they both joined the Big East back in 2013.
“It’s exciting to have everyone back,” sophomore outside hitter Ava Martin said. “We all wanted this game so bad. We’ve been talking about how our defense is something that we’ve been really working on, and I think when you have revenge on your mind it makes you go and make that extra touch. It’s a mindset that is nice because in the future we need to have it as well, not just in games like today when you’re trying to get revenge.”
Martin finished with 12 kills and seven digs in Friday night’s lopsided rematch. One behind Sis, who led all players with 13 to go along with nine digs and two aces. Super seniors Kiana Schmitt and Ellie Bichelmeyer also combined for 12 kills and no errors on just 19 swings as Creighton finished with 20 more kills than Xavier and out-hit them .340 to .061 for the match.
Norah Sis led the Jays in kills on Friday night. (Spomer / WBR)
The Musketeers got a kill from Grace on the opening serve of the first set, then Creighton sided out on each of their next eight opportunities to roll to a 25-8 win and a 1-0 match lead. The Jays hit .542 as a team in game one and held Xavier to six kills and six attack errors on 24 swings.
The second set end up almost as lopsided as the first, but it certainly started that way with Creighton taking an 11-point lead seven different times through game two. They didn’t allow the Musketeers to score back-to-back points until the 54th rally of the match. Set three was more competitive after intermission, but the Bluejays used a 7-2 run after a Xavier timeout to pull away and finish the sweep.
They ended the night with a 5-2 edge in aces and out-dug the Musketeers 44-39. While the third set, which featured five ties and four lead changes, was the best of the night for XU, they still only sided-out at a 50% clip and hit just .128 on 39 swings.
“In games one and two we were clean, and Xavier wasn’t digging balls that I knew they could dig,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “In set three, I thought Xavier was playing the defense that we know they are capable of playing. But I thought our first contacts — both our serve receive and our passing — were good tonight. That kept us in system, and I just thought defensively we made some really good digs and won a lot of those long points. That’s something that we are trying to hang our hat on that if it’s a long point we are going to win it.”
Since dropping two of their first five matches in league play, Creighton has now won 12 straight and sports a 36-1 set record over that span. All that stands between them and a 10th consecutive Big East regular season title is a Sunday Senior Day showdown at D.J. Sokol Arena against Butler at 1:00 p.m. Along with the conference crown, the Jays will also be looking to hit the 25-win mark for the 9th time in the last 10 seasons and finish with two or fewer losses in conference play for the 10th year in a row.
“Sunday is going to be a really exciting day,” freshman defensive specialist Sydney Breissinger said. “Not just because of the [conference title], but also because it’s Senior Day. It’s a day full of emotion. We know what’s on the line with the Big East regular season championship. I’m very excited for it and I think the team is too.”