#18 Creighton Volleyball Sweeps Rice For First Home Win

OMAHA, Neb. -- Ava Martin had 20 kills and Saige Damrow added 19 digs as No. 18 Creighton Volleyball picked up its first sweep and first home win of the 2025 season with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 win over Rice on Saturday at the Bluejay Invitational.

Martin had 20 kills on 36 swings and hit .472 on the afternoon, while freshman Abbey Hayes contributed a season-high 10 kills and hit .320. Damrow led a stout Bluejay defense with 19 digs. Creighton had 47 kills, 51 digs, five blocks, as well as season-highs with 10 aces and .349 hitting.

Rice (2-5) was paced by 12 kills from Taylor Preston and 25 assists and eight digs by Savannah Skopal. The preseason favorites in the American Conference had 31 kills, 45 digs, 3.5 blocks and two aces on .196 hitting.

Creighton (4-4) never trailed in the first two sets. The Bluejays rolled out to a 7-1 lead to open the match as it finally built a sizable cushion after opening the year with five ranked foes among its first seven opponents, including three top-five opponents. Martin had nine kills in the opener to start her big afternoon.

The Bluejays bolted to a 5-1 lead in the second frame. Though Rice would battle back to tie the score on a pair of occasions, a 6-1 run capped by one of Martin's four aces helped the Bluejays move in front 17-11. A kill by Kiara Reinhardt helped CU take a 2-0 lead into the break. Martin contributed another seven kills and Damrow dug 10 balls, including four in one long rally. The Bluejays served up five aces in the second set.

Rice's only leads came in the third set, as the Owls scored the first point and stayed in front by as much as three before Reinhardt pounded three kills during Annalea Maeder's 5-0 serving run to give the Jays a 16-14 advantage. The Bluejays closed out the victory with a 25-18 victory after an unsuccessful challenge on match point. Hayes had five kills and Martin and Reinhardt added four each in the finale, part of a Bluejay attack that hit .485 with 17 kills in 33 swings.

Creighton hosts UNI on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. to close out the Bluejay Invitational. UNI (4-4) lost a four-set match on Saturday to No. 4 Louisville.  Louisville meets Rice at Noon to begin Sunday's action.

NOTES: Ava Martin was honored prior to the match for reaching 1,000 career kills late last season ... Martin's four aces give her 94 in her career, moving her past Madelyn Cole's 93 for 10th in CU history ... Kiara Reinhardt became the 13th woman in program history to play in 100 career victories  ... The win was Creighton's first at home under Brian Rosen ... The victory was also Creighton's first sweep of the year ... CU snapped an eight-match losing streak in third sets with the win ... Ava Martin had her 85th straight match with five or more kills ... CU has won 47 straight against unranked foes and 39 consecutive non-televised matches ... Creighton has never gone winless in 20 Bluejay Invitationals ... Ava Martin is the first Bluejay since Norah Sis in 2022 with 20 or more kills in a three-set match ... Senior Sky McCune made her 2025 debut while Omaha transfer Ivy Leuck made her Creighton debut in the contest.