Creighton Volleyball Sweeps Providence

Omaha, Neb. -- Creighton Volleyball claimed a weekend sweep with a 3-0 win over Providence on Friday, October 23. The Bluejays also swept Connecticut on Thursday. Set scores for Friday's match were 30-28, 25-16 and 25-17 as the Jays improved to 13-9 on the year and 8-2 in BIG EAST action.

After cruising to a 17-13 lead in the opening stanza, the Bluejays found themselves in a fight as Providence stormed back to take a 19-18 edge. The two squads went back and forth with the Friars earning set points at 24-23 and 25-24. Abby Hayes answered the first challenge with a cross-court kill, then Eloise Brandewie and Ashlyn Paymal brought the match to 25-25 with a block of Providence's Macy Taylor. After gaining the advantage on a kill from Trinity Shadd-Ceres at 26-25, the Bluejays sealed the first set with a kill from Nora Wurtz on Creighton's fourth opportunity at 30-28. The Jays had 20 kills in the opener, with Katie Dalton dishing 16 assists.

The momentum of the win in the opening set fueled the Bluejays as Creighton raced out to a 9-5 early lead and held a 15-8 edge at the media timeout. The Bluejays delivered 18 kills in the second set, led by five from Shadd-Ceres, hitting .419 to claim a 25-16 win. Ayden Ames added three blocks in the second set as CU took a 2-0 lead.

Set number three followed a similar pattern as the previous one as Creighton led 11-5 early and held a 15-10 edge at the media timeout. After Providence clawed within three at 15-12, the Bluejays answered with three consecutive points to push the lead back to 18-12. Shadd-Ceres has six kills in the third set, helping the Jays hit .355 to collect the sweep. 

Shadd-Ceres closed the match with 14 kills, while Paymal and Brandweigh also reached double figures with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Defensively, the Bluejays got a combined 23 digs from Saige Damrow (12) and Sydney Breissinger (11). Providence was led by 10 kills from Sophia Adkins.

CU dominated the stat categories, leading in kills (51-37), assists (47-47) and digs (45-33). Both teams had four aces.

The Bluejays are back in action on Thursday, October 29 in a pivotal match with BIG EAST leader, Marquette, on FS1. The road matchup in Milwaukee is slated for a 6 p.m. start and will be televised on FS1.