Creighton Wins Third Consecutive #BIGEASTvb Tournament Title
INDIANAPOLIS – With a 3-0 sweep of Xavier, top-seeded Creighton maintained the BIG EAST Championship title for the third time, capping off another impressive season where the Bluejays also earned their third BIG EAST Regular Season title. Creighton won the BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep, 25-19, 25-15 and 27-25. The championship was hosted by Butler University at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Ranked 21st in the country, Creighton improved to a 26-6 record, winning its last 20 matches in a row. The runners up, Xavier moved to 20-13.
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. ET on ESPNU. BIG EAST Championship semifinalists Marquette and runner up Xavier will wait to see if they receive any of the 32 at-large bids.
Creighton sophomore Jaali Winters earned Most Outstanding Player honors after hitting .328 and finishing with 28 kills and 18 digs. Winters had a double-double in the championship match with 16 kills and 11 digs. For the tournament, Winters averaged a tournament best 5.58 points, 4.67 kills and 0.83 aces per set. Joining Winters on the all-tournament team from the champion Bluejays was senior Lauren Smith and BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke. Smith led all players in attack percentage for the tournament with .500 with 21 kills on 36 attempts and just three errors. Smith had 12 kills in the championship match on .588 hitting. Dimke had 43 assists in the win over Xavier with nine digs. She averaged 11.33 assists per set over two matches.
From Xavier, seniors Abbey Bessler and Sofia Peterson were named to the All-Tournament team. Bessler led the Musketeeers with 13 kills and seven digs in the championship match and accounted for 15.5 points. Peterson was instrumental in getting Xavier to the final match with 14 kills in the semifinals. Marquette’s Meghan Niemann and Seton Hall’s Danielle Schroeder.
Creighton hit .410 with 54 kills, six aces and 49 digs in the Championship match.
Xavier had 36 kills and 37 digs on .220 hitting.
The opening set had 10 ties and four lead changes. Tied at 17, the Bluejays closed the set on an 8-2 run to take an early 1-0 match lead. Both teams hit well in the opening set as Xavier hit .324 and Creighton posted a .452 attack percentage.
Creighton handily won the second set, 25-15. After a 5-5 tie, Creighton took control of the match on five kills by Winters.
In the third set, Creighton took an early 7-1 lead as the Bluejays scored six straight points with Winters serving. Xavier began to rally back to tie the game at 10-10. The spirited Musketeers took an 18-14 lead from there behind three kills from Brooke Betts and two from Kristen Massa. Xavier had match point at 24-22 before the Bluejays scored five of the final eight points for the win.
Creighton improved to 7-1 all-time in BIG EAST Championship play, including a 3-1 mark in title matches. The .875 win percentage in league tournament play is the best of any school. The last time a team won three BIG EAST tournament titles in a row was Louisville (2008-2010). Creighton is the third team to win three or more championship titles in a row, joining Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and the Cardinals.
BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Danielle Schroeder, Seton Hall
Meghan Niemann, Marquette
Abbey Bessler, Xavier
Sofia Peterson, Xavier
Lydia Dimke Creighton
Lauren Smith, Creighton
Jaali Winters, Creighton
Most Outstanding Player: Jaali Winters, Creighton
Selection Sunday Information:
TV: ESPNU
Time: 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CST
Who’s In: Creighton (Automatic Qualifier)
At-Large Potential: Marquette, Xavier