#BIGEASTvb Minute – Creighton’s Season Ends With 3-0 Loss To Texas In Regional Final
AUSTIN, Texas – A breakthrough season that saw No. 21 Creighton reach its first Elite Eight and compile a nation-leading 23-match win streak came to an end on Saturday night in Austin as fifth-ranked and fourth-seeded Texas swept the Bluejays in the Regional Final.
Creighton finishes its season with a 29-7 mark, tying a school-record for wins in a season. The Bluejays also became the first team in BIG EAST history to reach a Regional Final. Creighton had its nation-leading 23-match win streak snapped in the loss. It was just the second time all year that Creighton was swept.
Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-20, 25-11. Texas advances to play Nebraska in a national semifinal next Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. It's also a rematch of the 2015 national championship match, contested in Omaha and won by the Cornhuskers in three sets.
Jaali Winters led Creighton with 11 kills and eight digs, while BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke had 30 assists. Creighton had 34 kills, four aces, 31 digs and four blocks on .154 hitting.
Creighton was the BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion, winning both for the third season in a row. The Bluejays went 18-0 in BIG EAST play, the first team to do so. Creighton was the first BIG EAST team in history to advance to a regional final. Previously, the BIG EAST had been 0-7 in regional semifinals.
Box Score
Full Recap
Update: Jaali Winters and Marysa Wilkinson had two players named t the Austin Regional All-Tournament Team. It was the first time in program history that Creighton had any student-athletes on an All-Regional team during the NCAA tournament.
Winters led Creighton in both kills and digs during each match in Austin, averaging 4.00 kills and 4.12 digs per set on the weekend. The sophomore outside hitter posted 21 kills and 25 digs in Friday's win over Michigan before compiling 11 kills, eight digs and an ace in Saturday's loss to Texas.
Wilkinson wrapped up a fine tournament with 2.88 kills and 0.75 blocks per set on .346 hitting. The junior middle blocker from Lincoln, Neb., contributed 16 kills and three blocks on .368 hitting vs. Michigan before finishing with seven kills and three blocks against Texas.
Ebony Nwanebu from Texas was named the MVP of the Austin Regional. She was joined on the All-Regional Team by Texas teammates Micaya White and Chloe Collins, BYU's Mary Lake and Michigan's Abby Cole, in addition to Wilkinson and Winters.