#22 USC Knocks Off #13 Creighton Volleyball

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- No. 22 USC defeated No. 13 Creighton Volleyball for the first time since 2018 in straight sets to win the Trojan Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif. 

Scores of the match in favor of the Women of Troy were 25-23, 25-22, 25-16. 

Senior Ava Martin led Creighton (3-3) with a match-high tying nine kills, while sophomore Jaya Johnson added seven kills and three blocks. Annalea Maeder contributed another double-double with 26 assists and a team-high tying 12 digs. AS a team, Creighton finished the match with 36 kills, two aces, 44 digs and five blocks while hitting .096 overall. 

The Women of Troy were paced by nine kills from London Wijay, while Abigail Mullen added seven kills and a team-high 12 digs. USC (5-0) closed the match with 35 kills, three aces, 46 digs, 10 blocks on .357 hitting.

USC ended the first set on a 5-0 run to take the opener, 25-23, in a frame that featured seven ties and four lead changes. The Bluejays lead for much of the first set, using kills from seven different Bluejays to take a 23-20 lead. CU had multiple chances to take a 1-0 lead in the match, only to be turned back each time as the Women of Troy used a pair of Bluejay attack errors and a Wijay service ace to take the opening set, 25-23.

A back-and-forth second set saw Creighton fall behind 14-11 early, before scoring eight of the next 11 points to surge out in front 19-17 on a block from Abbey Hayes and Kiara Reinhardt. After USC answered with a 3-0 run to take a 20-19 lead, CU responded with a 3-0 surge of their own on Sydney Breissinger's serve to enter the red zone with a 23-20 advantage. USC, however, would score the final five points of the set to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. 

The Trojans completed the sweep with a 25-16 victory in the closeout set. USC consistently earned sideouts to prevent the Bluejays from stringing together points, eventually pulling away with a 7-1 run to take a 17-9 lead midway through the third set, before a trio of kills from Rylie McGinest closed out the victory for the Trojans. USC hit .500 in the final set, with Reese Messer dishing out 11 assists. 

Both Martin and Reinhardt earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team for the Bluejays. Led by Trojan Invitational MVP Abigail Mullen, No. 22 USC won the round-robin tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. 

After three straight weekends on the road, Creighton will be home each of the next three weeks, beginning with the Bluejay Invitational on Friday. Rice takes on Northern Iowa at 4:30 p.m., before Creighton opens the 2025 home slate against No. 3 Louisville in an 8 p.m. match that will be televised nationally on FS1.