Creighton volleyball has advanced to the Elite Eight for the second season in a row. No. 3 seed Creighton defeated No. 2 seed Arizona State, 3-1, on Thursday.
Creighton won with set scores of 26-24, 19-25, 25-13 and 25-18. Senior outside hitter Ava Martin led the team in scoring with 23 kills, followed by Kiara Reinhardt with 15 and Jaya Johnson with 12.
With the match tied at 1-1 and following a decisive set two loss, head coach Brian Rosen said his team fought back.
“They showed incredible poise,” Rosen said. “We’ve struggled at times this season to allow one point to be one point. And I thought all match tonight, they were able to move on quickly to the next one.”
ASU’s outside hitters were really good at hitting their fastball, he added.
“We were so good defensively on everything else,” Rosen said.
He added solid serving from Creighton kept the Sun Devils off balance.
The Catholic school in Omaha has rattled off 23 consecutive wins this season following its loss to undefeated, in-state rival Nebraska in mid-September. Now, Creighton is 28-5. Thursday’s match marked Arizona State’s first loss since Halloween. The Sun Devils finished the season 28-4, including a Big 12 conference title.
In Rosen’s first season leading the program, the Bluejays will make their third Elite Eight appearance ever. The school has never made the Final Four.
Rosen’s team will look to change that Saturday. Creighton will play No. 1 seed Kentucky, who toppled unseeded Cal Poly, 3-0, on Thursday afternoon. Kentucky is the host school for this regional.