The 18th-ranked Creighton volleyball team put a scrappy one in the win column in their 2023 regular season debut on Friday afternoon. The Bluejays took out Loyola Chicago 25-23, 28-26, 25-22 to sweep their way to victory at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafeyette, Indiana. Reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Ava Martin had eight of her match-high 14 kills in the third-set clincher. Sophomore Ann Marie Remmes got her first career start and responded with seven kills and no errors out of the middle. Remmes and senior Kiana Schmitt combined for a .484 attack percentage on 31 attempts to bolster a Creighton offense that outhit Loyola Chicago .286 to .207 on the afternoon.
“We knew Loyola Chicago was a really tough first-round match,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “They returned everybody. They’re just a bunch of ballers. We got punched early, big time. But I liked our fight.”
That early punch was a stunner as a pair of kills by senior outside hitter Karlie McNabb and back-to-back aces by junior setter Bree Borum gave the Ramblers a 6-0 lead out of the starting gates as Booth was forced to burn an early timeout.
“Their server nailed some balls, and we missed some things on offense. It was a mix of different things,” Booth said of upside-down start to the match. “I’m sure nerves played a part — sometimes you can’t see it on their faces, but everyone is nervous [in the first match]. I’ve learned over the years that the first game doesn’t mean a lot. If we win it back or lose it big, don’t panic. It’s just people kind of getting their feet under them. Luckily we were able to get our feet under us earlier than a whole game.”
That 6-rally head start held up late into the set as Loyola Chicago found itself up 18-12 when Creighton took its last timeout. The Ramblers outhit the Jays .444 to .161 through those first 30 rallies. Creighton responded with a 4-0 run out of the timeout on kills by Rice grad transfer Ellie Bichelmeyer, junior outside hitter Norah Sis, and junior setter Kendra Wait. Loyola Chicago put together another scoring run to extend the lead to 21-16, but a service error and two unforced hitting miscues helped CU finally draw even at 21-21. The two sides alternated kills on the next three rallies before Creighton ripped of a 3-0 run to win the set 25-23. Remmes was key down the stretch with an off-speed tip kill on a slide set to tie the set at 23-all, then a tough block touch in the middle of the net the led directly to a go-ahead kill by Martin. Wait capped it off with the Bluejays’ first ace of the afternoon but the set-changing sequence was sparked by the 6-foot-1, first-time starter in the middle.
Sophomore middle blocker Ann Marie Remmes. (Photo courtesy Dave Wegiel)
“That’s what Ann Marie does in practice,” Booth said. “We’ve got incredible depth at our middle position. It’s a very close race and I thought she did a great job today. She missed some serves that she’s got be better on, and usually in practice she is, but I thought from an offensive and a blocking perspective she did a great job.”
Creighton flipped the script offensively down the stretch of game one, outhitting the Ramblers .667 to .071 over the last 18 rallies to overcome the late 6-point deficit and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In addition to the first set, Loyola Chicago was the first team to 20 in both games two and three as well, but like game one, Creighton was the cleaner side at end game in both of those sets as well to win them 28-26 and 25-22 to polish off the sweep. On the afternoon, the Jays outscored the Ramblers 24-11 at end game and committed just one error, which came from behind the service line, in that phase of the match to help them earn the victory.
Reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Ava Martin. (Photo courtesy Dave Wegiel)
“I thought there were a lot of ugly points that we were fortunate to win,” Booth said. “We were scrappy and made some plays. That was really good to see … I think it shows the composure of our team. I thought we did a good job of staying confident in those situations and taking good swings when we had the opportunities.
“That first game has a lot of jitters and Loyola Chicago is a great team, so we think that will be a great win for us long term. I’m thrilled to get out with a sweep and get an opportunity to play a really good Purdue team tomorrow.”
The tournament host Boilermakers handled Duke 25-19, 26-28, 25-19, 25-14 in the day one nightcap to win their opener and set up a top 20 Saturday afternoon showdown with the Bluejays. First serve between No. 16 Purdue and No. 18 Creighton is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network.