Creighton volleyball fell Saturday in three sets against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Volleyball tournament.
The Wildcats owned all three sets, winning with scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-18.
Kentucky’s ruthless offense kept the Bluejays on the defense as the game churned into the third set. Following the second set, Kentucky’s coach Craig Skinner told the ESPN2 crew that he was relying on his team’s “big dogs to get it done.”
“Serving pressure was a big factor,” Skinner said heading into the locker room. “Reinhardt hasn’t been able to get involved as much. To keep them away from the net, to limit the number of options is huge.”
Creighton coach Brian Rosen, who’s leading the Creighton team through the NCAA tournament for his first time, said he told his team they needed to change their mindset heading into the third set.
“We’ve got to clean some things up,” Rosen told the ESPN2 crew. “We’re not putting any points on our serves right now, so we got to push it.”
Several long rallies in the third set felt like a comeback for the Bluejays, but the team came up just short. Creighton was attempting to make program history by punching its the ticket to the Final Four but fell just short against Kentucky.
The season-ending loss capped another impressive season for the Bluejays, which included the program’s sixth-straight Big East title.
Senior players, Ava Martin and Kiara Reinhardt, will continue their volleyball careers when they trade their college jerseys for professional ones in the Major League Volleyball. In November. Martin was drafted second-overall to the Atlanta Vibe. Reinhardt was eighth-overall pick by the Omaha Supernovas. The two first-round picks made league history. Creighton was the first school to have two selections in the first round of the same draft.
The Bluejays finished the season 28-6.
The Nebraska volleyball team will look to continue its undefeated season Sunday against Texas A&M. The match will be broadcast at 2 p.m. CT on ABC. If the Huskers move on, they’ll play Thursday.
The NCAA Championship will be Sunday, Dec. 21 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.