On Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska, the No. 12 ranked Creighton volleyball team faced off against the defending national champion, the Penn State Nittany Lions as a part of the AVCA first serve tournament.
The Bluejays played a hard-fought match against the Nittany Lions, but ultimately fell short three sets to none at their season opener.
Although it was a tough loss, the Jays proved they can compete with the best of the best even with a newly built team and under the new leadership of head coach Brian Rosen.
“To do it with this team, playing against Penn State in this kind of environment to start my coaching career at Creighton was pretty special,” Coach Rosen said
The Jays got off to a strong start with a kill from BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, senior Ava Martin and after a scrappy point by Creighton complete with another big kill from Martin, the Bluejays tied it 6-6.
Penn State and Creighton continued to exchange points, but the Nittany Lions started to pull ahead with the help of new addition to the team, Kennedy Martin who transferred from Florida.
“She literally can kill the ball from anywhere, and I think I really trust her from a blocking perspective,” Jordan Hopp of Penn State said.
The Bluejays struggled to defend this offense and after a kill the Nittany Lions increased their lead to 3, making the score 16-19.
After an attacking error from the Jays, Penn State took the first set 18-25.
“You got to give it to them, they’re a great team and they did a great job in coverage, they did a great job defending…it was super enjoyable to play against because it was so cool to keep the rally going,” transfer and senior setter Annalea Maeder said.
Penn State came out strong again in the second set and with a kill from senior Maggie Mendelson put the Nittany Lions up 2-5.
Down 12-20, the Bluejays needed to find a way to shift the momentum and that came in the form of freshman Abbey Hayes coming off the bench to serve in her first real college match.
After an incredible 8-point service run, Hayes served an ace to tie up the set.
“I told Abby in that huddle, hey come in and see if you can make an impact…and so for her to get this experience, I mean most freshmen in their first match don’t have to play against a Penn State level team, and so it was really special for her,” Coach Rosen said.
The Jays kept fighting, with Martin adding another kill to put her in the double digits bringing the score to 22-24, but it was not enough and a kill from Penn State gave them the set 22-25, putting Creighton down 0-2 for the match.
“Even when we were down in the second set quite a bit, we were still smiling and finding the joy, I think that’s what helped us have that big comeback,” Ava Martin said.
Creighton kept their momentum moving into the third set, a kill by sophomore Jaya Johnson gave the Jays a 7-3 lead.
New additions to Creighton were a large part of the match, including sophomore libero Saige Damrow and junior middle Eloise Brandewie who both had great performances and look to be an excellent addition to the Bluejay roster.
“They’ve been in big environments before, they both played on big stages before and so I felt like they would be able to handle the pressure of the big crowd and the big moment, and I thought they both played really well,” Coach Rosen said on Brandewie and Damrow.
Penn State began to fight their way back exchanging points with the Bluejays, but the Jays still held on to the lead.
With another kill from Ava Martin, Creighton increased their lead to 21-18.
“I’m just so glad that America got to see I think one of the top 5 outsides in the country and I think she was the best player on the court all match,” Coach Rosen said on Martin.
While the Bluejays held on to the lead until the very end, Penn State was too tough and with a kill from Caroline Jurevicius, took the set 25-27 and the match 3-0.
While wanting to get revenge on their NCAA Tournament loss from the previous year, the Bluejays still played with a lot of heart and seem to have a promising season ahead of them.
“My conversation with the team afterwards was just how proud I am of them. I mean what a cool moment to show what are team is made of and who we are on a big stage,” Coach Rosen said.
The Bluejays will be back on the court today for the Opening Spike Classic to face off against No.5 ranked Texas in Madison, Wisconsin. First serve is set for 8:30pm.