Creighton's Volleyball Season Ends in Sweet 16

Photo Credit: Creighton Athletics/Matt Hawley

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The No. 17 Creighton Volleyball team saw its 2023 season come to an end in the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Thursday morning in Pittsburgh, falling in five sets against No. 7 Louisville. With the win, second-seeded Louisville advances to Saturday's 3 p.m. Central Regional Final against ACC rival Pittsburgh after the Panthers swept Washington State. Saturday's contest will air on ESPNU.

Scores of the match in Louisville's favor were 25-21, 14-25, 25-23, 24-26, 15-8.

Louisville came out of the gates swinging, scoring the first three points and never trailing in a 25-21 victory. CU fell behind by as much as seven points (18-11 and 19-12) before a 4-0 surge forced a Cardinals timeout. The Cardinals had 19 kills and hit .400 hitting in the opener, including six kills each from All-Americans Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer. Creighton was paced by four kills from Norah Sis. It was just CU's second set loss in its last 18 matches, and snapped a 21-set match winning streak. Creighton had entered Regional play as one of seven teams nationally that hadn't dropped a set this postseason.

The Bluejays got things rolling in the second set, using an 12-1 run to take a 17-8 lead. The advantage moved into double-figures at 19-9 before the Jays closed out the 25-14 victory to even the match. Creighton's defense stepped up in a big way with four blocks in the frame while forcing the Cardinals into 11 hitting errors and -.029 hitting percentage. Kiara Reinhardt had a hand in all four of CU's blocks during the set and was also one of six women to contribute a kill in the frame. Louisville's 14 points equaled its fewest points in a set to 25 this season.

The third set saw CU dug itself a 7-2 hole in the third set and didn't get back to even until it was 23-all, prompting a Louisville timeout. DeBeer tooled the block, then served an ace as Louisville won the tight 25-23 set. The Cardinals hit .405 in the frame, with 17 kills in 37 swings, which was just enough to top a Bluejays squad that had 17 kills in 46 swings and hit .304. Sis led Creighton with seven kills in the frame.

Creighton played from behind throughout much of the fourth set until a 6-0 run on Ava Martin's serve saw Creighton take its first lead of the set at 20-17. Reinhardt had a pair of blocks and Martin two aces in the surge. Louisville took timeout and scored the next three points to tie the game at 20-all. Bluejay head coach Kirsten Bernthal-Booth used a timeout of her own to calm her squad. As play resumed the Jays went to Reinhardt and she delivered with a kill, then an ace, for a 22-20 lead. Kiana Schmitt followed with a solo stuff as CU regained the three-point edge. The Cardinals survived a Bluejay set point at 24-23, but CU forced the fifth frame as Schmitt and Wait combined on a stuff of DeBeer. Sis had seven kills and Schmitt added three blocks for CU in the frame.

The teams traded six straight sideouts to open the fifth frame, however the Cardinals seized control with a 5-0 surge that included a pair of replay reviews that went the UofL's way. Louisville led 8-4 when the teams exchanged sides, then served an ace and put up a block after the changeover to go up 10-4. In the end it was a 9-1 run that put the Cardinals in command with a 12-4 lead and was too much for the 10-time defending BIG EAST champion Bluejays to recover from. DeBeer had three kills in the final set as Louisville hit .462 and held the Jays to -.048 hitting.

Sis led Creighton with 22 kills while Wait (44 assists and 16 digs) and Sydney Breissinger (11 assists and 14 digs) had double-doubles. Reinhardt notched a match-leading eight blocks and Ava Martin (13) and Schmitt (12) also had double-digit kills. Creighton hit .222 and finished with 60 kills, five aces, 54 digs and 13.0 blocks.

Luper (20) and DeBeer (19) led the Louisville offense, while Nebraska native Elle Glock dished 49 assists for Louisville. The Cardinals totaled 69 kills, six aces, 70 digs and eight blocks while hitting at a .277 clip.

The Bluejays finish the season with a 29-5 mark as its 17-match win streak was snapped. The contest marked the final collegiate match for fifth-year seniors Kiana Schmitt and Ellie Bichelmeyer