UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – The winningest season in Creighton volleyball history came to an end Sunday night when the sixth-seeded Bluejays lost in five sets to second-seeded Penn State in the Elite Eight. The scores for Penn State were 25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7.

Creighton snapped its school-record 25-game winning streak and finished the fall with a record of 32-3. With the win, Penn State improved to 33-2 and advanced to its first Final Four since 2017 and 14th overall.

Penn State never trailed in the first set, forcing the Bluejays into an early 16-9 hole with a strong performance behind the service line after a 6-0 run on Camryn Hannah’s serve. The Nittany Lions dished out five aces in the opening game, 25-15. PSU hit .211 and had 21 digs in the first frame, including nine from Gillian Grimes, to hold the visitors to .081 hits.

Creighton took its first lead of the night early in the second set with a three-point run from the freshman at the service line Alivia Hausmannwith a 7:6 lead. Creighton ended the set serving 7-1 after a six-point run Norah sister and a set-deciding ace from Maddy Bilinovic. Creighton posted a .500 batting average in the second set, including five kills Ava Martinwhile he also authored three aces.

Martin gave the Bluejays an 8-4 lead to open the third set and served her 55th ace of the season to force a quick Penn State timeout. Her second ace of the night in her next serving rotation helped CU take a 17-12 lead in the third frame. Losing 17-20, the hosts used a 7-1 run to take set point and took a 2-1 lead two points later with Jess Mruzik’s sixth kill of the set.

Creighton led for most of the fourth set, but Penn State got within one point again at 15-14. But kills Jaya Johnson And Elise Götzinger followed by an ace from Bilinovic brought the lead back to four (18-14) and led to Penn State’s second timeout of the game. A kill from Wait gave CU a 22-17 lead, but PSU countered with two straight points on Hannah’s serve before giving CU a point with a long serve. CU finished the set with passing kills Kiara Reinhardt And Jaya Johnson to complete the 25-20 win and force a fifth set.

The teams traded six shots to open the fifth frame, but the Nittany Lions took control with a sprawling 6-1 lead and a 9-5 lead. After another kill from Martin, Penn State went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-5 lead. A kill from Goetzinger and a block from Reinhardt and Wait closed the deficit to 12-7 before Penn State secured the win with a block and a kill from Trammell. Penn State recorded nine kills for a .412 hitting percentage in the set and held the Jays to -.053 hits.

Martin led Creighton with 17 kills, while Sis, Johnson and Goetzinger each had eight kills. Wait distributed 36 assists, dug nine balls and collected five blocks Maddy Bilinovic recorded a team-high 16 digs from the back row, with Reinhardt scoring five blocks ahead of himself. Creighton hit .141 and finished the game with 48 kills, 10 aces, 56 digs and nine blocks.

Mruzik led the Louisville offense with a game-high 20 kills and eight digs, while Jurevicius added 11 kills on 24 shots. Izzy Starck recorded 41 assists and 11 dig-doubles, while Gillian Grimes top-scored with 17 balls. The Nittany Lions totaled 56 kills, seven aces, 63 digs and 11.0 blocks while hitting .226.

With the win, Penn State advances to face third-seeded Nebraska in the national semifinals in a battle of teams that share the Big Ten regular-season title.

NOTES: Tonight marked the first meeting between Creighton and Penn State…The Bluejays and Nittany Lions are two of the seven teams in the country that have appeared in the last 13 NCAA Tournaments…Creighton is the only school in the country who has reached the Elite Eight in women’s volleyball (2024), women’s basketball (2021), men’s basketball (2022) and men’s soccer (2022) since the start of the academic year 2021-22…Creighton recorded a block for the 939th straight game… Ava Martin had its 77th straight match with five or more kills and 18 straight with 10 or more kills, tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history…Penn State is now 73-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played at Rec Hall…The Nittany Lions are now 14-7 all-time in the regional finals, while Creighton fell to 0-2…Penn State’s now has 24 home games consecutive wins (20-0 this fall), the fourth-longest active streak in the country…Creighton’s nine-game winning streak in true away games, which set a school record, was broken…Creighton is now 17-14 all-time in 14 NCAA Tournament appearances…Creighton had broken its school record 25 win streak, which was the longest active winning streak in the country…Creighton’s 32 wins is a school record…Today’s loss ends the career of the Bluejay seniors Maddy Bilinovic, Elise Götzinger, Katie Maser, Milner Abbey, Norah sister, Kendra Wait And Emma Ziegler … Creighton went 119-17 over the last four seasons, the second-winningest program in the country over that span behind only Pittsburgh … All three teams that beat Creighton this fall (Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State) are in this year’s Final Four.

There’s more to come…