Match Stats
- #4 Texas defeats Creighton 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-11)
- Texas moves on to the national semifinal to face the winner of Minnesota/UCLA
- Gregory Gym, Austin, Texas
- Attendance: 4,336
A run of massive upsets came to a close for the Creighton Bluejays as the #4-ranked Texas Longhorns took care of business in a 3-0 sweep at home.
Texas was absolutely relentless, racking up 41 team kills in just three sets and hitting .425 for the match. That included a .550 final set that turned into a 25-11 blowout.
Ebony Nwanebu smashed 13 kills and Micaya White 12 as Texas rolled to the Final Four. 12 digs from Cat Mccoy led a defensive effort that held Creighton to just a .154 hitting percentage. In fact, Creighton was -.071 over the final set as Texas really pressed its advantage at the net.
Jaali Winters had 11 kills for Creighton, whose season ends after an inspired postseason run. Creighton upset #4 Kansas and #12 Michigan in the second and third rounds, but the pair of 5-set matches may have taken its toll – especially last night’s marathon match against Michigan. Creighton finishes as the last team standing from outside the 5 major conferences, and singlehandedly gave the Big East a winning postseason record at 3-2 (Marquette lost its first round match and Creighton went 3-1).
Texas moves on to the NCAA semifinals and will play the top-seeded Nebraska Huskers. The game will be a rematch of last year’s NCAA final, which Nebraska won 3-0.
Press Releases
Texas:
Not yet available
Creighton:
AUSTIN, Texas – A breakthrough season that saw No. 21 Creighton reach its first Elite Eight and compile a nation-leading 23-match win streak came to an end on Saturday night in Austin as fifth-ranked and fourth-seeded Texas swept the Bluejays in the Regional Final.
Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-20, 25-11. Texas advances to play Nebraska in a national semifinal next Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. It’s also a rematch of the 2015 national championship match, contested in Omaha.
Texas (26-4) used a 9-0 run in the opening moments of the match to take control of the first set. Armed with that 11-2 lead, the Texas lead remained three or larger the rest of the way. Creighton got within 19-16 to put a scare into the hosts, but UT responded with four of the next points and earned the 25-19 win.
The Longhorns took a 2-0 lead into the intermission with a 25-20 win in the second set. Creighton (29-7) led 13-9 before UT started stringing together points in bunches to tie the score at 15, then move ahead 18-16 and 20-17. CU got within one at both 20-19 and 21-20, but the Longhorns closed out the set with the final four points to take the momentum into the locker room.
The third set played out much like the first set. Creighton led early before Texas unleashed a 7-0 run to move ahead 8-2. The margin grew to 13-4 and 17-5 before Creighton’s magical season ended.
Playing in its 11th consecutive Regional Final, Texas advances to the program’s 12th Final Four, and eighth in nine years. Creighton was making its first appearance in a Regional Final, and returns all but Jess Bird, Amanda Foje and Lauren Smith from the three-time defending BIG EAST champions.
Jaali Winters led Creighton with 11 kills and eight digs, while Lydia Dimke had 30 assists. Creighton had 34 kills, four aces, 31 digs and four blocks on .154 hitting.
Texas was paced by 13 kills from Ebony Nwanebu and 12 more from Micaya White. The Longhorns had 41 kills, two aces, 34 digs and eight blocks in the match while hitting .425.
Creighton had its nation-leading 23-match win streak snapped in the loss. It was just the second time all year that Creighton was swept.
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