Creighton seniors accept the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship trophy.
OMAHA, Neb. -- With a 3-0 sweep of No. 2 seed Villanova, No. 1 seed Creighton repeats as the BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament Champion, capping off a tremendous regular season where the Bluejays also repeated as the BIG EAST Regular Season Champion. The championship win was a first for Creighton on their home court at D.J. Sokol Arena. In 2013, the Bluejays finished runner-up to Marquette.
Creighton improved to 25-8 overall with the 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-18, 25-17), while Villanova dropped to 25-8. Villanova appeared in its first conference tournament final since 1997. The runner-up finish was their second.
With the victory, the Bluejays earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament field, which will be unveiled on Sunday night at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. Villanova and BIG EAST Championship semifinalists Marquette and Xavier will wait to see if they receive any of the 32 at-large bids.
Jess Bird earned Most Outstanding Player honors after hitting .375 and finishing with 14 kills, eight digs and a season-best four blocks. BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Jaali Winters led all players with 18 kills, including nine in the second set and eight more in the clincher. Winters and Bird were named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team along with teammate Kate Elman. From Villanova, freshman Amanda Pedersen-Henry and senior setter Emma Pettit earned all-tournament accolades along with senior Abbey Bessler from Xavier and freshman Taylor Louis from Marquette.
Creighton hit .286 with 48 kills, three aces, 49 digs and 11 blocks in the Championship match.
Villanova finished with 32 kills, 40 digs and three blocks and were held without an ace. The Wildcats hit .147 and were topped by nine kills from Allie Loitz and 19 digs by Allison Fitzgerald.
Creighton controlled the match from the outset, surrendering the first point but not trailing again until the third set. Baumert authored a 6-0 service run to help CU race to an early 13-6 lead in the match, as Marysa Wilkinson had a blocks on four of those points. CU finished with six blocks in the first set, with Wilkinson having a hand in each of them.
Baumert dished 17 assists in the second set as Creighton took control of the match with a second 25-18 win. Winters heated up and terminated nine kills, while Bird added eight more putaways.
The third set was close at 15-14 before three straight kills from Winters gave the Bluejays some breathing room. Kills by Bird sandwiched an Amanda Foje ace that brought Creighton to championship point at 24-16. Villanova held off the celebration for one point, but 2014 BIG EAST Tournament MVP Lauren Smith ripped a kill through the Wildcats defense to set off a dogpile on the south side of the court at D.J. Sokol Arena. Baumert had 14 assists and Winters eight kills in the final frame, while Elman contributed four of her team-high 12 digs and is one shy of 2,000 for her career.
Creighton improved to 5-1 all-time in BIG EAST Championship play, including a 2-1 mark in title matches. The .833 win percentage in league tournament play is the best of any school. Creighton is the fourth school to win back-to-back league tournament titles, joining Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville. Louisville was the last team to do it, winning three in a row from 2008-10.
BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Abbey Bessler, Xavier
Taylor Louis, Marquette
Amanda Pedersen-Henry,Villanova
Emma Pettit, Villanova
Kate Elman, Creighton
Maggie Baumert, Creighton
Jess Bird, Creighton
Most Outstanding Player: Jess Bird, Creighton
Selection Sunday Information:
TV: ESPNU
Time: 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CST
Who’s In: Creighton (Automatic Qualifier)
At-Large Potential (32 bids available): Villanova, Marquette, Xavier