Courtesy of Rob Anderson, Creighton Athletics
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Abbey Hayes and Katie Dalton had double-doubles and Saige Damrow dug a career-high 26 balls as No. 13 Creighton Volleyball opened its 2026 season with a 3-2 win over No. 9 Purdue on Friday evening at the 2026 State Farm Volleyball Showcase held at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Scores of the Bluejay win were 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 11-25, 15-11, as Creighton improved to 15-3 in season-opening matches since 2009.

Wisconsin transfer Trinity Shadd-Ceres had 13 kills in her Bluejay debut, including three kills in the final set. Preseason All-BIG EAST picks Abbey Hayes (11 kills, 12 digs) and Jaya Johnson (10 kills) also finished in double-figures.

Purdue was paced by Addy Tindall, who had 22 kills and hit .463. The Boilermakers played without Second Team All-American Kenna Wollard (personal reasons), then lost Omaha native and Third Team All-American Grace Heany midway through the second set due to injury.

Creighton stormed to an 8-2 lead in the final frame, then held tough after Purdue drew within 13-11. Brian Rosen used his first challenge of the season at a crucial time, leading to a Purdue net call, to get the Jays to match point. The Jays closed out Purdue for the third time in four years on a Boilermaker attack error.

Creighton is back on the court on Saturday at 4 p.m. when it meets No. 14 Minnesota in a match that will be televised on FS1.

NOTES: Both Creighton and Purdue reached last season's Elite Eight and are two of the nine schools to appear in each of the last there Sweet 16's ...  Creighton started three new transfers in the season-opener for the first time as Ayden Ames, Katie Dalton and Trinity Shadd-Ceres all got a starting nod in their Bluejay debuts ... Creighton has now had a block in 975 straight matches ... Katie Dalton (934) surpassed 900 career assists and Ayden Ames (306) went past 300 career kills ...  Creighton has now beaten a ranked Purdue team three of the last four seasons, topping the Boilermakers when they were ranked No. 16 in 2023 and No. 6 in 2024 before tonight's win over the No. 9 Boilermakers ... Creighton is now 22-11 in season-opening matches since restarting its program in 1994, with a 3-4 mark against Top 25 foes ... Creighton moved to 13-44 all-time against Top 10 foes, with all but one of those victories coming away from home ... Creighton has now defeated at least one ranked team in 12 straight seasons ... Creighton is now 25-4 in its last 29 neutral site matches ...