Creighton volleyball dominates final two sets to end ASU season in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

No. 2-seed Arizona State volleyball played a quality half match Thursday in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

That wasn’t nearly enough, though, against No. 3 Creighton, which dominated the third and fourth sets for a 3-1 win in Lexington, Ky.

Creighton edged ASU 26-24 in the first set then the Sun Devils pulled even by winning the second set 25-19. After that, the Blue Jays (28-5) hit a combined .435 in sets 3-4 to ASU’s .175, winning 25-13 and 25-18 to reach a second consecutive Elite Eight against No. 1 seed Kentucky on Saturday.

SEC champion Kentucky (28-2) swept Cal Poly on Thursday.

ASU fell short of a school best Elite Eight appearance for the fourth time and second in three years. The Sun Devils lost 3-1 to Stanford in the 2023 Sweet 16 and also lost in the regional semifinal in 1994 and ’95.

ASU led .352-.315 in hitting through two sets, winning the second thanks largely to the right-side play of Noemie Glover and Kiylah Presley with a combined 18 kills. They only added eight more kills in the back half of the match when the Sun Devils never led.

“They spun their rotation slightly and they were getting their a couple of their really good servers on the line,” ASU coach JJ Van Niel said. “They mixed it up really well and gave us some trouble there. They were playing really clean volleyball and were patient. We’d block a ball and they’d cover it. They just kept chipping away.

“I thought we’d be able to get them in a little more trouble in serve receive, which in the second set we did. We were getting them off the net. It makes a big difference. They’ve been playing great volleyball all year. They probably don’t get the credit because it’s not as tough of a conference (Big East). I think in any conference going undefeated is an impressive feat, and they did it. They executed really well.”

The Blue Jays had six of their eight aces in the final two sets including two by Sydney Breissinger at the start of set 4. They led 10-3 in set 3 and 11-6 in set 4, deficits that ASU could not significantly reduce.

Creighton outside hitter Ava Martin and middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt were stellar throughout, combining for 38 kills on .485 hitting. Jaya Johnson and Abbey Hayes contributed double-digit points.

Martin and Reinhardt were the No. 2 and 8 overall picks in the Major League Volleyball draft on Nov. 24. ASU’s Colby Neal went in the second round (No. 13 overall).

Neal had six kills and hit .385 vs. Creighton, but ASU in total didn’t have enough offensively to supplement Big 12 Player of the Year Glover (17 kills/.517). Glover and Neal also lost in the 2024 Sweet 16 while playing for Oregon.

“We made it known that we were going to stay together and stay connected,” by winning the second set, ASU setter Sydney Henry said.

ASU finishes 28-4 with two of its regular season losses to NCAA No. 1 seeds Texas and Pitt. The Sun Devils are a combined 86-14 in three seasons under Van Niel.

Grace Martin, Ava’s sister, is among ASU’s incoming freshmen next season. She is an outside hitter from Overland Park, Kan., and was at Thursday’s match to support her sister and players like Glover who will be her college teammates in 2026.