Creighton Volleyball Finishes Unbeaten In Big East Play

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The No. 5 Creighton Volleyball team finished off an unbeaten season in BIG EAST play with a 3-0 win at Xavier on Sunday afternoon at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Scores of Creighton's 20th straight victory were 25-13, 25-16, 25-16.

Creighton (27-2, 18-0 BIG EAST) tied a program record with its 31st consecutive regular-season league victory. Xavier ends its season with a 10-18 mark after going 8-10 in BIG EAST play

"I told the team how proud I was of them," said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "It's hard to go 18-0 and dropping three sets. A lot of times in the locker room we're nitpicking all the things we've got to work on but I told them to reflect on how impressive what they've done is and really just the maturity of this group to show up night in and night out and respect every opponent and perform at a high level every time they step out on the court."

Norah Sis led all players with 17 kills and hit .519, while Ava Martin had 13 kills and eight digs on .478 hitting. Kendra Wait owned her 71st career double-double, finishing with 36 assists and 10 digs, and Maddy Bilinovic owned 11 digs and a pair of aces. Creighton hit .449 in the match and finished with 49 kills, 42 digs, six aces and five blocks.

Creighton never trailed in the opening set and pulled away on Bilinovic's 8-0 run that gave the Jays a 23-11 lead in the final stages before a Kiara Reinhardt block clinched the set. Sis had eight kills, Martin added six putaways and Wait dished 14 assists as CU hit .455 and had 20 kills, holding Xavier to just four kills on .000 hitting.

CU trailed 15-14 in the second set before Sis embarked on an 9-0 serving blitz that gave the Bluejays control. Creighton hit .417 in the second set and held Xavier to .032 hitting.

The Bluejays never trailed in the third set, wrapping up their third 18-0 BIG EAST season in program history (2016, 2018). CU hit .469 in the finale and won it on a kill by Ava TeStrake, as Reinhardt, Martin and Sis all had four kills.

Xavier was led by seven kills from Emma Grace, while Logan Flaugh owned 18 assists and eight digs. The Musketeers owned 24 kills, 29 digs, three aces and hit .100, but did not record a block.

Creighton will host the BIG EAST Tournament, Presented by JEEP, beginning on Wednesday at D.J. Sokol Arena. The Bluejays will be the top seed in the event and have a bye to the semifinals, where it will meet the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal between No. 5 St. John's and No. 4 DePaul on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The other side of the bracket features No. 6 Villanova meeting No. 3 Connecticut, with the winner facing second-seeded Marquette.