VOLLEYBALL: No. 12 Creighton Sweeps St. John’s on Friday

OMAHA–(CU Athletics Nov. 11)–Subbing in for an injured Norah Sis, senior Jazz Schmidt had team-highs with 12 kills on .455 hitting as No. 12 Creighton picked up its seventh straight sweep on Friday with a 3-0 victory over St. John’s. Scores of the Bluejay victory were 25-14, 25-20, 25-22.

Creighton improved to 23-3 on the season and 15-0 in BIG EAST play following its 15th consecutive victory. St. John’s dropped to 17-11 and is 8-7 in conference action.

A Division II All-American last season at Palm Beach Atlantic, Schmidt took full advantage of her second start of the fall with 12 kills in 22 swings. Ava Martin had 11 kills and six digs, while Keeley Davis tallied 13 digs, six kills and tied her career-high with five service aces. The Bluejays had 41 kills, eight aces, 38 digs and seven blocks on .223 hitting.

St. John’s was paced by 12 kills on match-high .611 hitting from Rachele Rastelli. The Red Storm recorded 28 kills, 35 digs, 10.5 blocks and hit .154 but did not record an ace.

Red Storm coach Joanne Persico used a pair of early timeouts after Creighton raced to leads of 6-2 and 10-4 in the opening set of an eventual 25-14 victory. Martin and Schmidt both had five kills and Davis authored a pair of aces. The Red Storm were held to .000 hitting in 30 swings, managing just six kills.

Creighton built a lead as large as seven on three occasions in the second set before holding off a late challenge from SJU. Five Bluejays had multiple kills as setter Kendra Wait dished 13 assists as the offense hit .385.

Creighton held a narrow 10-8 lead in the final frame before SJU burned its final timeout of the match. Davis dealt back-to-back aces out of the break to push the lead to 12-8. The Jays led by as much as 17-9 before the Red Storm clawed back to tie the set at 20, 21 and 22-all before CU scored the final three points of the match on an SJU serving error and back-to-back attack errors by Giorgia Walther.

Creighton will honor its senior class following its final regular-season home match on Sunday at 1 p.m. when it takes on Seton Hall.