Jays fall to Penn State in five sets

On December 16, 2024By Littum

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WOWT) – Creighton’s historic 32-win season ends as Creighton, No. 2, loses in five sets (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7) to No. 1-seed Penn State.

In just their second ever regional final appearance, the Jays got off to a slow start. The Nittany Lions dished out six service aces in the opening set and held CU to .081 hitting to take set one.

Creighton came back in dominant fashion in the second set. Redshirt freshman Jaya Johnson delivered a kill late in the set to give the Jays an 18-15 edge. From there, Ava Martin tallied three kills along with an ace from Papillion native Norah Sis to put together a 7-1 run and up the set point. Former Nittany Lion Maddy Bilinovic finished the set with an ace against her former team.

Martin sparked an 8-4 lead to open the third set. Late in the frame, Penn State rallied to go on a 7-1 run to lead to set point. Nittany Lions senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik recorded her sixth kill of the set to put PSU up 2-1 in the match.

Creighton led for most of the fourth set. The Jays closed out set four with kills by Kiara Reinhardt and Johnson to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

After a back-and-forth start to set five, the Nittany Lions went on a 6-1 run to take a 9-4 lead. Mruzik tallied a kill to push PSU to double digits first, 10-5. The Bluejays scored just two more points as Penn State’s Taylor Trammell delivered the final blow to end the game, 15-7, PSU.

Creighton’s school record 25 game streak ended with the loss in the regional final. The Jays finished the season 32-3. CU’s only three losses on the season were to Louisville, Nebraska and Penn State, and all three came in five sets. Louisville, Nebraska and Penn State are also all one-seeds in the NCAA Tournament and have all advanced to the Final Four.

Penn State will now play Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals on Thursday, December 19th.