The Kansas Jayhawks and Creighton Bluejays met for the first time ever on a neutral floor, as the Bluejays beat out the Jayhawks in an exhausting five sets.

Creighton took the opening set 25-17 at the Opening Spike Classic in Madison, Wisconsin, the first set win for the Bluejays this season after being swept by both No. 2 Penn State and No. 5 Texas to open the year. 

6’4’ Kansas freshman Aurora Papac notched a big block early in the second set, sparking a 5-0 Kansas run that made the score 6-5 Kansas. 

Creighton would rally and regain the lead into the late moments of the second set, before a spike from the Bluejays’ Ava Martin was ruled out of bounds. The call was challenged by first-year head coach Brian Rosen but was denied, bringing Kansas within three at 24-21. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, an ensuing service error wrapped up set two and gave the Bluejays a commanding two-set advantage.

Kansas came out on the attack in the third set, as Reese Ptacek notched two early kills and led the Jayhawks to a quick 4-1 lead. 

Like the second set, Creighton would find a groove midway through the third set, scoring four straight points and grabbing a 16-12 lead before a well timed block from Kansas’ Rhian Swanson halted the Bluejays’ breakaway. Swanson would show her ability on both sides of the game, netting two kills to put the Jayhawks up 18-17. An ace from Heidi Devers helped put together a 4-0 run of Kansas’ own, before the offense hummed to live and closed out the third set 25-20. 

Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer issued his first challenge of the day early in the fourth set, debating a touch ruling on a Jovana Zelenovic kill, being rewarded with a point for Kansas that helped even the set at three early on. 

The Jayhawks put together another run at 5-0 partway through the fourth, forcing a timeout from Rosen and Creighton with the score at 10-8. Out of the pause, Swanson forced Annalea Maeder into an error, extending Kansas’ run to 6-0. 

A string of service errors by both teams allowed the lead to change hands multiple times, leading to a scoring chance for Kansas, as Cristin Cline snuck in a backward dump deep into the Creighton side, giving the Jayhawks a 17-16 lead. 

Ensuing errors from both teams, including a critical libero error from Ryan White and Cline, gave Creighton back-to-back points and match point at 25-24, before Ptacek kept the Jayhawks’ hopes alive and brought the game back level. A block from Cline and following ace serve wrapped up the back-and-forth set four, keeping the Jayhawks’ streak alive of four straight games going to the fifth set. 

The trip to the fifth set also put Creighton’s streak of 106 wins when claiming the first two sets in danger.

Kansas opened the fifth set on the offensive, forcing a Creighton error and adding an ace from Grace Nelson that flew by the Bluejay defensive front to a 3-0 Jayhawk lead. Not content in allowing Kansas to run away, Creighton put together a momentum-shifting 9-0 run. Zelenovic would step up to stop the Bluejays march with two kills to give the Jayhawks some energy at 9-5. 

The Jayhawks wouldn’t go quietly, as Swanson nabbed a clean dump point in Creighton territory kickstarting the Kansas offense and making it 13-11 Creighton in Kansas’ 20th set of the season so far. 

Bluejay Destiny Ndam-Simpson picked up her 13th kill of the match to put Creighton at game point with a 14-11 lead, before the Bluejays closed out the match on the ensuing play, giving Rosen his first win as coach at Creighton.

Kansas will battle next against Bowling Green in the Purdue Tournament in West Lafayette, Indiana on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. CT. 

This article was edited by sports editor Trevor Butler. Contact him at Trevor.butler@ku.edu for feedback or errors.