Golden Hurricane Earns Program-Defining Win After 3-2 Takedown of #10 Creighton

Sunday, September 6

Omaha, Neb.

3:00 p.m.

University of Tulsa

6-0,0-0American

Creighton

4-2,0-0Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Tulsa	24	25	25	22	15	3
Creighton	26	23	21	25	10	2

Photo by: Nathan Snook

Golden Hurricane Earns Program-Defining Win After 3-2 Takedown of #10 Creighton

9/6/2026 7:35:00 PM | Volleyball

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OMAHA, Neb. — The Tulsa volleyball team stepped into DJ Sokol Arena on Sunday and fearlessly took on a volleyball giant in Creighton University, who was ranked No. 10 in the nation. The Golden Hurricane battled hard and never backed down, coming out on top 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10) to conclude a perfect 3-0 weekend on Sunday to win the 2026 Bluejay Invitational.

Tulsa, now 6-0 with a top-10 win on their resume through two weeks of play, has put the college volleyball world on notice.

Beating Creighton is monumental as the Bluejays were rocking a 71-match win streak against unranked opponents and a 14-match win streak at home entering the match on Sunday.

"This team is special," Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski said. "Three huge wins this weekend, including a ranked win over No. 10 Creighton, and what I'm most proud of is how we did it. We played together, we were gritty, we played hard, and we stayed coachable. This team learns in every moment and then finds a way to be better in the next one. Most importantly, they are really good teammates who genuinely play for each other."

Junior setter Brittany Bacorn, who was named the Bluejay Invitational MVP, came through with her third straight double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs. She put up 7.83 assists and 3.42 digs per set through each of the three wins in Omaha.

Senior opposite hitter Emma Blaine led Tulsa with 12 kills on Sunday. She also earned All-Tournament team honors following Sunday's win.

Finally, sophomore middle blocker Jill Hanson earned an All-Tournament team award following nine kills and seven blocks against the Bluejays.

TU trailed 8-5 in the opening set before pulling even on back-to-back Creighton attack errors and moving in front 10-9 on another Jaya Johnson attack error. The set stayed tight through the middle points, with Blaine putting TU ahead 13-12 before Creighton answered and later used a stretch that included kills by Eloise Brandewie and Johnson to move ahead 21-16. TU was down 24-20 when Lexi Dahl served a four-point run that included a Maegan Mills kill, a Campbell Hague kill and a Creighton attack error to tie the set at 24-24. Creighton took the final two points on Abbey Hayes kills to close the set 26-24.

Creighton built a 6-2 lead early in the second set behind multiple kills from Abbey Hayes, but TU worked back into it and moved in front 11-10 on a Mills kill and a block by Blaine and Hanson. Creighton answered to lead 17-15, before TU scored six of the next seven points, using Creighton attack errors and a block by Hanson and Olivia Vance to go ahead 21-18. TU reached set point at 24-19 after a Hanson kill, a Blaine kill and another Blaine-Hanson block, but Creighton took four straight points to get within 24-23. Mills ended the set with a kill from Bacorn, giving TU a 25-23 win.

TU took an early 2-0 lead on a Creighton attack error and a Blaine kill, but Creighton worked back into the set and the teams traded points through a 10-10 tie. TU moved ahead 12-10 on a Hanson-Blaine block and a Hague kill, then scored four straight from 12-11 to 16-11 with a Saige Damrow service error, two Creighton attack errors and another Hague kill. Creighton cut the margin to 16-14 behind an Ayden Ames kill, a Rayna Christianson ace and an Abbey Hayes kill, but TU pushed back to 21-16 with kills from Mills, Isabella Ocampo and Vance around an Ocampo-Hanson block. Creighton later scored four of five points to get within 22-20, but TU reached set point on a Paymal attack error and finished the set 25-21 on a Damrow service error.

TU built a 4-1 lead in the fourth set behind a Hanson-Ocampo block and kills from Ocampo and Blaine. Creighton moved in front 8-7 on a Trinity Shadd-Ceres kill, but Vance tied it and TU pushed back ahead 11-8 with kills from Vance and Hague. TU still led 16-13 before Creighton scored seven straight points, including two Ashlyn Paymal kills, to take a 20-16 lead. Mikey Freeman's kill started a TU push back within 23-22 on Ocampo's kill, but Creighton took the final two points to close the set 25-22.

TU moved in front 3-0 in the fifth set on an Ocampo kill, a Creighton setting error and a Blaine kill assisted by Bacorn. After Creighton got on the board, TU pushed the lead to 7-1 with a Mills kill, a block by Mills and Hague, another Blaine kill and a Creighton attack error. Hague added two kills around a Vance kill to make it 10-2, and TU later stayed ahead 12-5 on a block by Vance and Hague. Creighton cut the margin to 14-10, but Hanson finished the set with a kill from Bacorn to give TU a 15-10 win.

Tulsa has a quick turnaround as they'll head to south Tulsa to face Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 4:00 p.m. in the Mabee Center.

Tulsa's Top Performers
Emma Blaine
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- team-high 12 kills on .308 hitting
- 4 total blocks
- team-high 14.0 points

Maegan Mills
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- team-high 20 digs
- 10 kills
- 1 service ace

Jill Hanson
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- team-high 7 total blocks
- 9 kills
- 12.5 points

Brittany Bacorn
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- team-high 29 assists
- 10 digs

Lauren Patterson
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- 18 digs
- 4 assists

Creighton's Top Performers
Abbey Hayes
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- 21 points
- 18 kills on .204 hitting
- 13 digs
- 4 blocks

Eloise Brandewie
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- 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assists)
- 7 kills
- 13.5 points

Katie Dalton
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- 32 assists
- 8 digs
- 2 kills

Saige Damrow
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- 21 digs
- 3 assists
- 1 service ace

Trinity Shadd-Ceres
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- 18 digs
- 11 kills
- 4 blocks

Match Notes:
- TU's win over No. 10 Creighton goes down as the third-ever ranked win in program history. The first two were against No. 15 LSU in 2010 and No. 22 Arkansas in 2024.
- This is the highest ranked win in TU's history and the first against a national top 10 opponent.
- The Bluejays were rocking a 71-match win streak against unranked opponents and a 14-match win streak at home entering the match on Sunday.
- Bacorn earned her third double-double this season and 10th of her career with 29 assists and 10 digs.
- True freshman Dahl enjoyed her first career double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs.
- Mills led TU with 20 digs. She was one of five TU women to earn 10+ digs in the match.
- Blaine led TU with 12 kills, a new career-high.
- TU recorded 92 digs in the match, surpassing their season average of 54.4.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets are now on sale for $12 per ticket per match for ages 4 and older and can be purchased in advance at TulsaHurricane.com or at the entrance of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Season tickets also start at just $50. Season ticket members will receive 1 (one) membership card per ticket that they order that will be good for all 2025 TU Volleyball regular-season home matches in the Reynolds Center.

No refunds for canceled games due to weather-related or any other cause. CLICK HERE to start the process of ordering tickets or call 918-631-4688.

BALL KID SIGNUP
The Tulsa volleyball team is looking for ball kids for the 2026 season. Ball kids and one accompanying parent or guardian will receive free admission for games they sign up for. Ball kids will retrieve balls that go out of bounds on the sidelines for the entire game and provide a fresh ball for servers. Only ages 10-12 are allowed to participate. Individual and group signups will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up by clicking HERE.

Visit www.TulsaHurricane.com for the latest news and information on the volleyball program. Fans can also follow the team on X, Facebook and Instagram.