Creighton volleyball moves up to 12th in latest poll, can wrap up BIG EAST this week

This week is a big week coming up for the BIG East leading Creighton Bluejays. 

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The Bluejays, who moved up to 12th in this week’s AVCA poll, but can also clinch the conference title this week with victories over DePaul and Marquette. 

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The team is also celebrating that seniors Ava Martin and Annalea Maeder have been honored by the BIG EAST Conference as Offensive Player of the Week and Setter of the Week, respectively.

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Martin averaged 5.75 points, 4.50 kills, 1.50 digs and 1.17 aces per set while hitting .333 as Creighton swept both Providence and Connecticut on the road last week. The Overland Park, Kan., native led all players with 16 kills against Providence on Friday, adding five digs. She also had three aces, including back-to-back service winners to close out the Bluejay sweep. The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year then had 11 kills, four aces, four digs and a block while hitting .429 in a 3-0 win at Connecticut on Saturday, moving into sixth place on Creighton's all-time kills list. She was also targeted 18 times in serve receive by the Huskies without a reception error, one day prior to UConn's 20 aces against Providence. Martin ranked second in the BIG EAST last week in kills, aces and points per set and tops among all players on teams that won four or more sets.

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This is the third time this season that Martin has won BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week acclaim, also doing so on Sept. 22 and Oct. 6, and the seventh time in her career. Since Creighton joined the BIG EAST 13 seasons ago, only Norah Sis (9 times) has been recognized more as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week among Bluejays.

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Maeder averaged 10.50 assists, 2.33 digs, 1.67 kills and 1.17 aces per set and hit .833 last weekend. She had 38 assists, five aces, and three kills in Friday's win at Providence, including three straight aces after CU had fallen behind 23-19 in an eventual 27-25 victory. The Ried, Switzerland product picked up her 10th double-double of the fall on Saturday at UConn when she registered 24 assists, 10 digs, two aces, and seven kills on .778 hitting in a 3-0 sweep. Maeder led all BIG EAST players in assists per set and was tied for second in aces per set. With her help, Creighton led the league in hitting percentage (.316), kills (15.00), assists (12.83) and aces (3.33) per set last week.

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This is the fifth overall BIG EAST Setter of the Week recognition for Maeder and the third straight. She was also honored on Sept. 15, Sept. 29, Oct. 13 and Oct. 20 before this week's accolade. 

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