Volleyball sweeps No 15 Creighton

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – Aubrey Hamilton had a match-high 13 kills and Hattie Bray added 10 as the Marquette University women's volleyball team swept No. 15 Creighton, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19, on Friday evening at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles (10-7, 6-0 BIG EAST) held the Bluejays (12-4, 3-2 BIG EAST) to a .126 hitting percentage and the MU defense contributed 52 digs and nine blocks in the three-set victory.

Bray hit a match-best .412 (10-3-17) with five blocks, while Hamilton hit .379 (13-2-29) with two blocks, three digs and an ace. Libero Sarah Kushner paced the MU backline with a 16 digs and contributed offensively with a pair of aces and her first kill of the year to put MU at match point, 24-18, in the third.

Marquette was able to pull away from 20-20 ties in each of the first two sets with pivotal kills late in each frame. The Golden Eagles then jumped out to an early 6-1 edge in the third stanza and never allowed the Bluejays to get closer to three points the rest of the way.

Creighton freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson had a team-high 11 kills for Creighton, while Cedarburg, Wisconsin-native Kiana Schmitt added five kills and a block.

NOTABLE:

The Golden Eagles are 6-0 to begin BIG EAST play for the fifth time overall, and the second season in a row. MU is the league's only unbeaten team in conference play.
In the 11 matches (36 sets) since Hamilton was held to a -.042 (5-6-24) hitting percentage against then-No. 9 Pitt on Sept. 8, she is hitting .350 (150-31-340) with 4.17 kills per set, 11 service aces, 58 digs and 23 blocks.
Hamilton is hitting an astronomical .439 through six conference matches on nearly 160 swings (78-9-157).
MU right-side hitter Ella Foti had 12 digs, her fourth match in a row with double figures and her ninth overall this season.
Marquette is 7-26 all-time against the Bluejays with all but five of those meetings coming after CU joined the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
Six of Marquette's seven wins against Creighton have been sweeps. MU swept then-No. 11 Creighton, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21, in the 2022 regular season finale at the Al McGuire Center to secure the BIG EAST tournament's No. 1 seed. Prior to that win, MU had lost its last five home matches to CU.
Marquette was picked to win the BIG EAST in the preseason coaches' poll with seven first place votes. Creighton received four.
The Golden Eagles entered the week 24th in the season's first NCAA women's volleyball RPI rankings released on Oct. 1. Creighton is 17th.
Tonight was MU's eighth match this season against a ranked opponent and its first win in those contests.
MU has nine matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Pitt, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 15 Creighton (twice), No. 17 Kansas, No. 19 Purdue, No. 22 Dayton. MU is six spots outside of the rankings with 10 total points, while Western Kentucky, Marquette's first opponent this season, is one spot outside the top 25 with 81 points.
Marquette has won at a 75.0 percent clip (213-71) since joining the BIG EAST in 2005 and is 128-27 (.826) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 89-12 (.881) in BIG EAST play over the last seven seasons (2017-23) under Theis, including consecutive regular season league titles in 2021 (16-2) and 2022 (17-1).
Over 2,200 fans were in attendance on Friday night. Outside of the NCAA indoor regular season record crowd that saw MU play No. 1 Wisconsin at Fiserv Forum on Sept. 13, MU has had over 1,000 fans at every home match at the Al and tonight was the third crowd over 2,000.
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis missed her 10th match in a row for Creighton due to injury.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles are off the rest of this weekend and will head to the East Coast next week for matches at St. John's and Seton Hall. Eight of MU's next 10 matches are on the road before it closes the regular season at home on Nov. 17-18 against the Red Storm and Pirates.

Keep up with the Marquette University women's volleyball program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteVB) and Instagram (@MarquetteVB) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteVolleyball).