Creighton @ Kentucky 12-13-2025 WVB Quarterfinals

Dear Readers~

    It's now time for the quarterfinals of the 2025 NCAA Division 1 National Championships as the teams work their way to the national semifinals and finals that took place at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on December 18th and 21st. The first round had Cal Poly playing BYU in Los Angeles, the second round had Texas A&M hosting TCU in College Station, and the third round had Nebraska hosting Kansas in Lincoln. For the quarterfinals, the Kentucky Wildcats are hosting the Creighton Blue Jays in Lexington to see if they can extend their winning streak. With Creighton based in Omaha, Nebraska and having a big rivalry with the #1 team in the nation, Nebraska, can they take down the host (and #2 in the nation), Kentucky? Let's get into today's game to see what happens in their only meetup of the 2025 season.

    Some of the teams in this quadrant of the bracket (cleverly named "the Kentucky quadrant") included these two along with other teams like UCLA, USC, Tennessee, and two teams from the first-round game, Cal Poly and BYU. To get to this point, each team had to beat three teams. Kentucky beat Wofford, UCLA, and Cal Poly while Creighton beat Northern Colorado, UNI, and Arizona State. With Kentucky being the second-best team in the nation, do you think they'll beat Creighton or will Creighton surprise us all and take down the host, Kentucky, in Lexington? Let's get into today's game to find out.

    Before we go any farther, let's see who's coaching each team, starting with the visiting Blue Jays from Omaha. They are coached by Head Coach Brian Rosen, Associate Head Coach Angie Oxley Behrens, Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Izzy Ashburn, Assistant Coach Adam Kessenich, and Technical Coordinator Kaleb Scharman. Their support staff include David Lucia as Assistant Athletic Trainer (VB, ROW), Team Orthopedic Physician Dr. Kim Turman, Director of Operations Maricela Dones, and Athletic Performance Coach Brad Schmidt. As for Kentucky, their Head Coach is Craig Skinner, Associate Head Coach is Merideth Jewell Frey, Associate Head Coach is Kyle Luongo, Assistant Coach is Amaya Tillman, and Director of Volleyball Operations is Kristen Sanford Vicini.

     If you've been following along this season, I'm sure you have an idea of how the sport works in the NCAA and the national championships are no different but for those who haven't seen my coverage of some of the earlier games in the season (or the first few rounds of play), let's explain. The NCAA indoor games are played anywhere from 3 to 5 sets. If you win 3 sets, you've won the game but if you lose 3 sets, you've lost the game, and this is the point in the season where if you lose 3 sets, your season is over. The game can last anywhere from 3 to 5 sets, depending on how long it takes one team to win three sets. The first four sets are played first to 25 (which happens very often unless you're Nebraska or Kentucky (sorry Creighton) for example) while the fifth set (if needed) is played first to 15. The thing is each set requires a lead of 2 points or more for the set to conclude. With most sets playing to 25, each team is given two timeouts for each set, just like how a timeout works in basketball. Just like in basketball, the NCAA lets teams switch out players up to 15 times each set but with 6 players on the court for each team, the changes need to be smart and strategic. With our explanation over, let's get into today's game from Kentucky as we see who can win their quarterfinal game and move on to the semifinals to play either Wisconsin or Texas in the semifinals at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri the following weekend.

    With this game deciding who moves on to the semifinals, every point mattered. The first set ended at 25-19, in favor of Kentucky and giving them a 1-0 lead over Creighton. The second set ended at 25-13, the biggest gap in the scoring of any set, in favor of Kentucky again and giving them a 2-0 lead over Creighton. The third set ended at 25-18 in favor of Kentucky again and giving them a 3-0 win over Creighton. This shows just how good of a team Kentucky is this season. This win over Creighton means Kentucky moves on to the semifinals in Kansas City. Kentucky would end this game with 57 points compared to Creighton's 41.

    Now let's see which team came out on top when comparing the five stats we look at when covering each game. For those who don't know, those five stats include Kills, Aces, Blocks, Assists, and Digs. The leader in kills goes to Kentucky's Brooklyn DeeLeye, with 18, followed by her teammate Eva Hudson, with 13. The third highest is a tie between Kentucky's Asia Thigpen and Creighton's Jaya Johnson and Ava Martin, who each have 8 kills of their own. As for aces, Norwa Wurtz, of Creighton, is the only player with more than one and the only player for Creighton to have any aces. As for Kentucky, Trinity Ward and Eva Hudson each have one ace of their own. The leader in blocks is a tie between Kentucky's Lizzie Carr and Creighton's Kiara Reinhardt, each with 5, while second highest goes to Creighton's Eloise Brandewie, with 4, followed by Kentucky's Kennedy Washington and Brooklyn DeLeye, each with 3. The leader in assists goes to Kentucky's Kassie O'Brien, with 40, while Annalea Maeder led Creighton with 26. The leader in digs goes to Kentucky's Molly Tuozzo, with 17, and her teammate Eva Hudson, with 15, while Annalea Maeder led Creighton with 13. Now let's see which athlete showed up the most for each team. Kentucky had a tie between Outside HItter Eva Hudson and Outside Hitter Brooklyn DeLeye while Creighton also had a tie between Middle Blocker Kiara Reinhardt and Setter Annalea Maeder. All four of these athletes showed up in 3 of the 5 stats mentioned above. Hudson ended the game with 13 kills, 1 ace, and 15 digs. DeLeye ended the game with 18 kills, 3 blocks, and 12 digs. Reinharddt ended the game with 7 kills, 5 blocks, and 1 assist. Maeder ended the game with 2 blocks, 26 assists, and 13 digs.

    With this being the end of Creighton's season, they would end 2025 with a record of 28-6 and an insane 23 wins in a row since their last loss to Nebraska on September 16th at home in Omaha. As for Kentucky, they would move on to the semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri and extend their win streak to 26 in a row since their last loss against Pittsburg on September 10th in Fort Worth, Texas. Who do you think Kentucky will play in their semifinal? We'll find out shortly.

Kentucky's matchday they put on their Instagram for the quarterfinals in Lexington. Don't forget to give them a follow over on that platform to see what they're up to this off season: @kentuckyvolleyball

Creighton's matchday they put on their Instagram for the big game. Don't forget to give them a follow over on that platform to see what they're up to this off season: @creightonvb

The NCAA showing us how the game ended. Don't forget to give them a follow over on their Instagram: @ncaavolleyball

Creighton showing us how the game ended

Kentucky showing us how the game ended

Kentucky making it from the Elite Eight to the Final Four

The NCAA showing us that Kentucky has made it to the final four in Kansas City

Creighton ended the season ranked #10 on the AVCA poll

    This concludes today's quarterfinals of Kentucky hosting Creighton for the quarterfinals of the 2025 NCAA Division 1 National Championships as the teams work their way to the national semifinals and finals that took place in Kansas City, Missouri on December 18th and 21st. Who will Kentucky play in the next game? stay tuned to find out. If you prefer indoor over beach or beach over indoor, let me know as in the Spring the NCAA has beach for the women and indoor for the men. Until next time, Miller out

~J. Miller