Creighton volleyball took on the University of Northern Iowa Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Bluejay Invitational after earning their first home win of the season against Rice. This matchup carried a personal element, as Creighton’s former head coach, Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s daughter plays for the Panthers.

Creighton secured their lead early in the first set with a 5-0 run, fueled by playing strong at the service line. Redshirt freshman Nora Wurtz led the Bluejays with three service aces in the first set. Creighton cruised to a relatively easy 25-13 first set win and out hit the Panthers 0.344 to 0.212.

The second set proved to be more difficult for the Bluejays, as the Panthers came out strong to counteract, taking control until around the halfway point. After a few attacks by senior outsider hitter Ava Martin and another run of behind the line by Wurtz, Creighton reclaimed the lead at 13-12. The intensity from UNI did not stop there. 

“We did an exceptional job of just letting them have their plays and moving on from them and still playing and having the major focus on ourselves,” senior Annalea Maeder explained on how her and her team stayed calm after UNI took the lead early in the second set. “Other days we’ve played it too safe, not wanting to make errors,” but the team has worked to improve the area of counterattacking.

Although the Jays maintained their lead for the rest of the second set and ultimately won 25-20, the Panthers continued to apply pressure for the entirety of set two. 

The third opened with Creighton and UNI battling back and forth, both strong defensively and offensively. Service errors on both sides kept the match swinging back and forth until the Jays won the continuous rally to make the score 14-11. From this moment on, the Jays gained the advantage and didn’t look back. Creighton closed out the third set 25-17 with aggressive hitting, blocking, and defense, just how they started the match, and ultimately taking the win. 

The Bluejays will take the momentum from their last two home wins into their match against the No.1-ranked Nebraska Huskers tonight.

“Playing the No.1 team in the country…I expect to win. However, it’s not the biggest match of the year…the biggest match of the year is the next one,” Head Coach Brian Rosen said. 

 This record-setting match will be held at the CHI Health Center with the first serve will be at 6:30 p.m.