STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WOWT) – Creighton’s historic 32-win season ends as No. 2 seed Creighton 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, 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 power to win set one.

Creighton rebounded dominantly in the second set. Redshirt freshman Jaya Johnson delivered a kill late in the set to give the Jays an 18-15 lead. From there, Ava Martin scored three kills, along with an ace from Papillion native Norah Sis, to go on a 7-1 run and take the set point. Former Nittany Lion Maddy Bilinovic ended the set with an ace against her previous team.

Martin opened the third set with an 8:4 lead. Near the end of the frame, Penn State rallied and went on a 7-1 run to take the set point. Nittany Lions senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik got her sixth kill of the set to give PSU a 2-1 lead in the game.

Creighton led for most of the fourth set. The Jays closed out the fourth set with kills from Kiara Reinhardt and Johnson to force a win in the fifth set.

After a back-and-forth fifth set, the Nittany Lions took a 9-4 lead with a 6-1 run. Mruzik got a kill to put PSU within double figures at 10-5. The Bluejays only scored two more points as Penn State’s Taylor Trammell delivered the final blow, ending the game 15-7 PSU.

Creighton’s school-record 25-game winning streak ended with loss in the regional final. The Jays finished the season 32-3. CU’s only three losses this season have been to Louisville, Nebraska and Penn State, and all three came in five sets. Louisville, Nebraska and Penn State are also all No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and all made it to the Final Four.

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

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