Keeley Davis was keeping Seton Hall out of system in the win (Spomer / WBR)
Creighton jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first set, an 8-2 lead in the second set, and a 16-2 lead in the third set For the most part they coasted to the finish line off of those early cushions in a 25-16, 25-16, 25-11 win over Seton Hall at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey on Friday night. Sophomore outside hitter Norah Sis had a match-best 13 kills, while senior middle blocker Kiana Schmitt joined her in double figures with 10 terminations as the Bluejays outhit the Pirates .321 to .081 for the match to improve to 11-0 in Big East play and 19-3 overall this season.
“Obviously it’s great to get a road sweep,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “In all three sets we had some significant serving runs that allowed things to open up. We were good. At times we could have been a little cleaner, but overall it was a good night.
“Seton Hall is going to continue to trend up. Their team was so spirited. You can tell they are loving their new coach, and she’s loving them, so look for them to emerge and move up the ranking the next few years.”
Creighton and Seton Hall traded side outs for the first five rallies of the match before senior outside hitter Keeley Davis toed the line and blew open the first set. The Colorado native ignited an 11-point serving run that included two aces from the second-most prolific server in program history. By the time the Pirates steadied themselves they were staring at a 12-point deficit. The Bluejays outhit Seton Hall .250 to .132 in game one, and Davis had her fingerprints all over it with two kills on two swings to go along with three aces and 12 digs.
“Keeley was getting them out of system so it allowed us to dig some balls that weren’t as tough,” Booth said. “They were a little one-dimensional because they were out of system, and then I thought we were really good in dig transition at that point. Kiana was front row at that time and between her and Norah they did a nice job of putting the ball down. We were in system enough during those transitions to create some holes for the hitters.”
Kiana Schmitt did most of her damage in game one to balance out Davis’ multi-faceted production. Seven of her 10 kills came in the first set, and she only needed 10 error-free swings to get them. Creighton’s offensive efficiency worked in tandem with Davis, who routinely got Seton Hall’s offense off schedule and created high percentage opportunities for Schmitt to put it away.
“I think the great thing with Kiana is she has developed multiple shots,” Booth said. “If a team decides they are going to take away her cross-court shot, which is a shot she loves, she now can tool the hands or go hard line. And then obviously if you give her the cross-court shot she loves to pound that into the center of the court. I just think she’s multi-dimensional. The other thing she does is she runs the slide in a variety of different locations, which can really be challenging for a blocker to track.”
Ellie Bolton continues to serve well for the Bluejays (Spomer / WBR)
There was a bit more drama in the second set than the first. After Creighton opened up an 8-2 lead, the Pirates used a 4-0 scoring run to cut the lead to two and force Booth to burn her first timeout of the match. Seton Hall won three of the first four rallies out of that timeout to tie everything up at 9-all. That would be the last time they caught up to Creighton the rest of the night after freshman outside hitter Ava Martin sparked a 3-0 scoring run with a kill and a block on the left pin to rebuild a 12-9 lead. Seton Hall took a timeout after that, but it only delayed the inevitable as the CU nearly doubled up the Pirates the rest of the way to win game two 25-16.
The third set was over almost as quickly as it began. Kills by Martin and sophomore middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt sandwiched around an ace by junior serving specialist Ellie Bolton helped Creighton jump out to a 4-0 lead. Seton Hall won two of the next three rallies to see if the Jays would blink, but Norah Sis took over from there with five kills in a span of seven rallies to cap off a match-sealing 11-0 run. Senior outside hitter Jaela Zimmerman came on for the final few rallies and served up an ace to extend the lead to 22-8, then found the floor on match point with a back row attack on an out-of-system ball for her first kill of the season.
The win was 14th straight in the series. They’ve now won 41 consecutive sets against the Pirates. The last time they dropped a game against them was back on September 25, 2015.
Creighton will get a day off on Saturday to prepare for a showdown with a St. John’s team that has bested them in two of the last three meetings, including last year’s matchup in Queens. Despite dropping a five-setter at home to Xavier on Friday night, the Red Storm will enter Sunday’s match sporting a 16-8 overall record and tied for third place in the Big East standings. They entered the week with the 3rd-highest RPI in the Big East at 76th.
“We’re excited for it,” Booth said of Sunday’s matchup. “I told the team this will be the best of the four teams that we’ve played on the road and look at it as fun. We love playing good teams. Don’t look at it as pressure. Let’s just go and play great volleyball and expect a battle.”
First serve between the Bluejays and Red Storm is set for noon central time at Carnesecca Arena. It will be broadcast on ESPN3.