Friday, August 26
Laramie, Wyo.
11:00 AM
Creighton University
vs
Iowa State
#18 Volleyball Opens 2022 With Rumble in the Rockies
8/24/2022 1:20:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays will meet Iowa State, Wichita State and host Wyoming in Laramie
Rumble in the Rockies - All matches played at UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie, Wyo.
Match #1: #18 Creighton vs. Iowa State • Friday, Aug. 26 • 11:00 a.m. CST
| VIDEO | STATS | CU NOTES | ISU NOTES
Match #2: #18 Creighton vs. Wichita State • Friday, Aug. 26 • 6:00 p.m. CST
| STATS | CU NOTES | WSU NOTES
Match #3: #18 Creighton at Wyoming • Saturday, Aug. 27 • 7:00 p.m. CST
| VIDEO | STATS | CU NOTES | WYO NOTES
This Weekend
No. 18 Creighton (0-0) opens the 2022 season with three matches at the Rumble in the Rockies.
The season starts this Friday, Aug. 26, at 11:00 a.m. Central when the Bluejays meet Iowa State (0-0) in the season-opener for both programs.
Seven hours later at 6 p.m. Central, Creighton plays another neutral-site contest, this time versus Wichita State (0-0).
On Saturday, Creighton squares off against tournament host Wyoming (0-0) at 7 p.m. Central.
The matches will be played inside UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie, Wyo.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match vs. Iowa State can be seen on Wyoming's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wyovolleyball
Saturday's match vs. Wyoming will air on the Mountain West Network, which is available at http://gocreighton.com/CUatWYO082722. All three webcasts are free.
Live Stats Information
All three matches will have free live stats available at http://Wyoming.StatBroadcast.com.
Fans can also find the links on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #18 Creighton
Creighton returns four starters from last season's 31-4 squad that reached a 10th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. CU is favored by league coaches to win an ninth straight title in 2022.
Leading the Bluejay returnees are Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.69 kps., 3.22 dps.), Kendra Wait (10.46 aps., 3.11 dps., 1.19 kps., 0.85 bps.) and unanimous pick Norah Sis (3.75 kps., 2.96 dps.). Sis was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Creighton also returns two-time All-BIG EAST choice Keeley Davis (1.79 kps.) as well as Kiana Schmitt (1.64 kps., .274%) and 2020 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team choice Kiara Reinhardt (1.23 bps. in 2020).
The Bluejays also welcome four freshmen and three graduate transfers.
Creighton averaged 14.05 kills, 1.66 aces, 17,82 digs and 2.85 blocks per set while hitting .245 as a team last season.
Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State went 16-12 last season, including a First Round loss to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones were 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference.
Eleanor Holthaus led the Cyclones with 3.23 kills per set last fall and has been named All-Big 12 each of the past three seasons. Freshman Maya Duckworth had over 2,000 kills as a prep and was named a 2021 AVCA Girls High School Second Team All-American.
Jaden Newsome (9.80 aps.) is back to set the ISU offense but Olympian Candelaria Herrera graduated after averaging a team-leading 1.27 blocks per set.
Known for its libero play over the years, the Cyclones are looking to replace standout defender Marija Popovic (4.56 dps.) in the back row.
The Cyclones have been picked to finish third in a preseason poll of Big 12 coaches, with Holthaus earning preseason all-league accolades. ISU was scheduled to scrimmage Missouri last weekend, but neither team reported a score on their website.
Scouting Wichita State
Wichita State went 19-10 last year after winning 13 of its final 17 matches.
A trio of juniors are back and expected to lead the Shockers, including Brylee Kelly (3.54 kps., 0.36 saps.), Kayce Litzau (10.18 aps.) and Lily Liekweg (4.14 dps.).
Also back is Lauren McMahon (1.10 bps., .370% in six matches) and Second Team All-American Athletic Conference choice Natalie Foster (2.49 kps., .334%).
The Shockers averaged 12.84 kills, 1.24 aces, 16.03 digs and 1.97 blocks per set and hit .223.
Scouting Wyoming
Wyoming went 16-14 last season, including an 8-10 Mountain West Conference record and a 10-6 home mark.
Naya Shime (2.99 kps.) and KC McMahon (2.93 kps.) both return after leading the Cowgirl offensive attack last season.
Departed setters Abby Olsen (5.75 aps.) and Payton Chamberlain (5.80 aps.) shared duties running Wyoming's offense a year ago, but Kasia Partyka seems primed to take over that spot after dishing a team-high 38 assists in a 3-1 exhibition win over CSU Pueblo last Saturday.
Omaha Marian product Hailey Zuroske averaged 2.17 digs per set in 2021 and paced Wyoming with 17 digs in the exhibition victory.
As a team, Wyoming averaged 12.62 kills, 1.32 aces, 13.51 digs and 2.18 blocks per set on .226 hitting.
The Cowgirls are picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference this fall.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 414-179 record entering her 20th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to eight straight BIG EAST titles (2014-21), and nine league crowns in the last 10 years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 11 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 11 seasons (including 2022), another program first.
Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Booth is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Brian Rosen and Elise Fulcher.
Series History vs. Iowa State
Creighton is 6-5 all-time against Iowa State, including a 4-1 mark in the past five meetings. Creighton is 2-1 against ISU on neutral floors.
The last time the teams met in a match that counted was the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, a 25-22, 25-15, 25-19 victory in Minneapolis. Then-freshman Keeley Davis hit .448 and led all players with 15 kills in her postseason debut. CU won a five-set exhibition match last fall in Omaha.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 5-4 all-time against ISU and Cyclone head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, who is an Omaha native.
Series History vs. Wichita State
Creighton is 26-23 in 49 meetings against Wichita State since 1994, but the Bluejays are 9-2 in their last 11 meetings with WSU. That includes back-to-back 3-0 wins over the Shockers, the first time CU has swept WSU in consecutive meetings.
CU is 3-2 all-time on neutral courts against Wichita State.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-15 vs. Wichita State and Chris Lamb, while Lamb is 17-19 vs. Creighton all-time. Of Booth's 15 wins over WSU, three of them have come after surviving a match point for the Shockers.
Six of the last 15 meetings have gone five sets, and the teams have played 12 five-set matches all-time. Creighton has won seven of the last nine meetings to go the distance, and owns an overall 8-4 edge in those contests.
Creighton's 26-24, 25-23, 25-18 victory in Wichita last season featured 25 ties and 10 lead changes. Jaela Zimmerman (17 kills, 13 digs) and Norah Sis (13 kills, 10 digs) both had double-doubles for the Jays.
Series History vs. Wyoming
Creighton is 2-1 all-time against Wyoming but will making its first trip to Laramie. The Cowgirls won 3-1 in Omaha in 2003 before Creighton swept Wyoming in 2019 at D.J. Sokol Arena. Last year CU swept the Cowgirls 25-19, 25-10, 25-19 at the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita.
In last season's meeting Creighton out-aced Wyoming 9-0, including five service winners by Abby Bottomley. Bottomley also had a match-leading 21 digs as the Jays defense limited Wyoming to .016 hitting.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-1 all-time against Wyoming.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 31-4 last season, won an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and reached the Second Round while playing in its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named a Third Team All-American by the AVCA and the National Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com. Also named Honorable Mention All-American were Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait.
CU's 31 victories were a school-record and included five tournament titles.
Scrimmage Recap
Creighton has played two scrimmages in preparation for the start of the regular-season.
In its annual Blue/White scrimmage, both teams won two sets.
Last Sunday, CU won all four sets played against defending Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton is ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the eighth time in the past 10 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason.
The No. 18 slotting is tied for the fourth-best preseason ranking in program history.
Over the previous 14 seasons, 255-of-350 teams (72.9 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 318-of-350 teams (90.9 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 11th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th TBD TBD
Season Opening History
Last season's win vs. Kansas City improved Creighton to 18-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 14-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes an 11-2 mark since 2009.
Creighton will enter Saturday night's match at Wyoming with a 13-15 mark in road openers, including a 12-7 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 1-1 when opening the season against Iowa State. Howard Wallace's 2000 team swept the Cyclones in Ames, while Booth's first match as a CU head coach came in a 3-1 loss in Ames in 2003.
Hello World!
Four Bluejay freshmen (Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes), as well as graduate transfers Bethany Clapp, Jazz Schmidt and Allison Whitten, could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Clapp, Schmidt and Whitten).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2018 Bethany Clapp$• 4 10 1 20 .450 0 1 5 3
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Jazz Schmidt#• 3 5 2 14 .214 4 3 8 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2018 Allison Whitten% 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 5 0
$Clapp's stats from debut at Incarnate Word
#Schmidt's stats from debut at Palm Beach Atlantic
%Whitten's stats from debut at Morehead State
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kendra Wait and Norah Sis last season vs. Kansas City, Creighton has started 14 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 18 such players since 2000.
Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013), Jaali Winters (2015), Naomi Hickman (2017), Emily Bressman (2019), Kiara Reinhardt (2020), Kendra Wait (2021) and Norah Sis (2021), with Coleman, Lebeda and Wait the only freshmen to start at setter in the season-opener.
In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as transfers Maggie Baumert (2014), Lydia Dimke (2016), Madelyn Cole (2018), Erica Kostelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Ten of those women (Sis, Wait, Reinhardt, Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC or BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team (though the BIG EAST had no such team from 2013-19). Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2016, Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019 and Sis recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2022.
Last year marked the first time that Creighton started multiple true freshmen in a season-opener since 2012, when Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb both earning a starting nod. The 2012 and 2021 teams are the two winningest single-season teams in program history.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes was recognized as the nation's No. 24 class by PrepVolleyball.
Martin was listed as the nation's No. 47 recruit, while McCune was tabbed 52nd-best. Creighton now owns eight players on its 2022 roster who were Top 100 recruits.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004)
Rank Year Player
68 2004 Carolyn Decker
55 2008 Laurel Sanford
60 2011 Michelle Sicner
73 2013 Jess Bird
50 2014 Lydia Dimke*
18 2015 Taryn Kloth
41 2015 Jaali Winters
77 2016 Erica Kostelac#
98 2017 Naomi Hickman
99 2017 Steph Gaston
49 2018 Jaela Zimmerman
42 2018 Keeley Davis
46 2020 Kiara Reinhardt
97 2020 Ellie Bolton
7 2021 Kendra Wait
28 2021 Norah Sis
31 2021 Eve Magill
47 2022 Ava Martin
52 2022 Sky McCune
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Rankings
(list started in 2004)
Year Rank Freshman Recruits
2004 Best of the Rest (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005 Honorable-Mention (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006 None (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007 None (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008 Highest Honorable-Mention (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009 Highest HM Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010 High HM (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011 Highest HM (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012 High Honorable-Mention (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013 None (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014 Highest Honorable-Mention (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015 11th (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016 High Honorable-Mention (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017 25th (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018 10th (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)
2019 Highest HM (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020 27th (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021 5th (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)
2022 24th (Colangelo, Martin, McCune, Remmes)
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters
From last year's team, only Abby Bottomley, Naomi Hickman, Eve Magill, Ally Van Eekeren, Annika Welty are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 511.8 of a possible 700% back (73.1 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,331 (87.4%) 192 (12.6%)
Kills 1,307 (80.2%) 323 (19.8%)
Points 1,627.0 (75.6%) 526.0 (24.4%)
Matches Started 154 (73.3%) 56 (26.7%)
Digs 1,460 (70.6%) 607 (29.4%)
Aces 128 (66.7%) 64 (33.3%)
Blocks 192 (58.0%) 139.0 (42.0%)
Familiar Face
Senior Jaela Zimmerman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past three years, and can become CU's 17th player to start four season openers.
Bethany Clapp started the season opener all four of her seasons at Incarnate Word, while Jazz Schmidt also logged four opening day starts while at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Four Or More Opening Day Starts at Creighton
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelly Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Naomi Hickman 2017-21 (5 starts)
10 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments (2012-21). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 11 of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Jae-Z Plays The Hits
Jaela Zimmerman owns 997 kills, good for 15th in Creighton history. She stands just three kills of becoming the 15th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. Zimmerman has played in 103 career matches.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
15. Jaela Zimmerman 342 997 2018-Pr.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Dealing Up Aces
Keeley Davis enters her senior season with 98 career aces, which ranks eighth in Creighton history.
With two aces this weekend, she'll become the third-fastest player in program history to reach the century mark with the Bluejays.
It's also worth noting that two of Davis' teammates already own more than 100 career aces, though they've done so at other schools. Bethany Clapp owned 103 aces in 97 matches at Incarnate Word, Jazz Schmidt had 103 aces in 96 matches at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic and Allison Whitten had 103 aces in 115 contests at Morehead State.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
4. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
5. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
6. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
7. Jaali Winters 494 101 2015-18
8. Keeley Davis 278 98 2019-Pr.
9. Madelyn Cole 225 93 2018-19
10. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Aces (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Molly Moran 73 08/31/01 vs. DePaul
Melissa Weisensee 77 11/01/96 Southern Illinois
JoDe Cieloha 85 09/06/97 at UNLV
Shelly Kapler 95 10/15/99 Bradley
Brittany Witt 107 10/05/19 Seton Hall
Kate Elman 120 11/15/15 Butler
Jaali Winters 135 11/17/18 Providence
Put It In Neutral
Creighton went a healthy 7-0 on neutral floors last season, improving to 71-34 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in neutral site matches.
Creighton topped Kansas City and Saint Louis in Columbia, Mo., USC and Northern Iowa in Lexington, Ky., Wyoming and South Dakota in Wichita, Kan., and DePaul at the BIG EAST Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis.
Creighton won five different tournaments last season, a program record.
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eight different Bluejay to earn that role in the previous 10 seasons.
The Jays started the season with Megan Bober in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. In 2014 Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb, while Kenzie Crawford got the call versus Miami (Ohio) in 2015. Lydia Dimke started the initial contest in both 2016 and 2017, before graduating, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 Mahina Pua'a earned the nod on opening night, while Wait started the 2021 season.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous 10 seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and eight of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton won eight of those 10 season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 414-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 16 of its last 22 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 0-0 0-0
Total 77-61 507-331
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won nine conference regular-season titles. All but one of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won eight conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2021
Regular-Season League Tournament
9 (1 shared) Creighton 8 Creighton
9 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
9 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
8 BYU 7 Fairfield
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
8 Fairfield 6 American
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 9-of-11 first place votes and 99 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 90 points and the other two votes for first place.
DePaul (72) was picked third, just ahead of UConn (71) and St. John's (66). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were Villanova (54), Butler (47), Xavier (42), Georgetown (25), Providence (25) and Seton Hall (14).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait as well as unanimous selection Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 17 of 19 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including nine years where it's finished exactly where it was picked.
Year Preseason Pick Finish Move
1994 11th 9th #2
1995 9th 7th #2
1996 9th 6th #3
1997 8th 3rd #5
1998 6th 8th i2
1999 T-7th 5th #2
2000 4th T-4th - -
2001 2nd 4th i2
2002 7th 9th i2
2003 9th T-5th #4
2004 5th 5th - -
2005 5th 5th - -
2006 4th 4th - -
2007 3rd T-2nd #1
2008 3rd 2nd #1
2009 4th T-4th - -
2010 4th 3rd #1
2011 3rd 4th i1
2012 4th 1st #3
2013 1st T-2nd i1
2014 1st 1st - -
2015 1st 1st - -
2016 1st 1st - -
2017 1st 1st - -
2018 2nd 1st #1
2019 2nd 1st #1
2020 1st (MW) 1st (MW) - -
2021 1st 1st - -
2022 1st ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton enters its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 80-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (73-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 64-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 58-1 league mark and a 6-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Jaela Zimmerman is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-123 sets played.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. In 2021, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 137 13 227 60
Marquette (8) 120 27 209 69
Xavier 84 64 129 129
Butler 81 69 142 122
Villanova (1) 77 73 144 115
St. John's (1) 71 79 154 123
Seton Hall (1) 66 83 126 139
DePaul 40 110 100 152
Georgetown 33 109 83 160
Providence* 22 112 83 149
Connecticut# 17 9 28 18
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 345-11 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 288-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 214-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 109-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 15-202 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 13-103 (.112) under Booth. Those 15 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 350-32 (.916) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-147 (.303) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 124-3 in its last 127 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 82-2 in its last 84 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-13 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 124-2 in its last 126 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2020 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owns seven matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 89-101 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
TOTAL 92-136
TOTAL Under Booth 89-101
Eleventh Heaven
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 11 NCAA Tournaments.
That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history, as she's tied former men's soccer coach Bob Warming atop that list.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 11
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Don't I Know You?
Creighton senior Emily Bressman was a high school teammate at Marian High School of Wyoming senior Hailey Zuroske, where the two teamed up to win a pair of state titles for the Crusaders.
Creighton junior Ellie Bolton and Wichita State freshman Lauren Wheeler both attended St. James Academy. Three years ago the duo teamed to go 34-8 and was ranked 18th nationally.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 20th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
Interestingly, the Bluejays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2022: Emily Bressman
2021: Emily Bressman
2020: Emily Bressman
2019: Emily Bressman, Brittany Witt
2018: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2017: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2016: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2015: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen, Kelsey O'Connell
2014: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2013: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2012: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2011: Julianne Mandolfo
2010: Lisa Greisch, Julianne Mandolfo
2009: Lisa Greisch
2008: Emily Crowley, Korie Lebeda
2007: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2006: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2005: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2003: Emily Greisch
8 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2021 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win eight straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win eight or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up. Booth owns 414 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 414*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 387*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the previous four seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins last season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 152 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 1-0 19-0
Georgetown 16-0 - 16-0
Marquette 15-3 5-1 20-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 13-3 3-0 16-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 137-13 15-2 152-15
Match #1: #18 Creighton vs. Iowa State • Friday, Aug. 26 • 11:00 a.m. CST
| VIDEO | STATS | CU NOTES | ISU NOTES
Match #2: #18 Creighton vs. Wichita State • Friday, Aug. 26 • 6:00 p.m. CST
| STATS | CU NOTES | WSU NOTES
Match #3: #18 Creighton at Wyoming • Saturday, Aug. 27 • 7:00 p.m. CST
| VIDEO | STATS | CU NOTES | WYO NOTES
This Weekend
No. 18 Creighton (0-0) opens the 2022 season with three matches at the Rumble in the Rockies.
The season starts this Friday, Aug. 26, at 11:00 a.m. Central when the Bluejays meet Iowa State (0-0) in the season-opener for both programs.
Seven hours later at 6 p.m. Central, Creighton plays another neutral-site contest, this time versus Wichita State (0-0).
On Saturday, Creighton squares off against tournament host Wyoming (0-0) at 7 p.m. Central.
The matches will be played inside UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie, Wyo.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match vs. Iowa State can be seen on Wyoming's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wyovolleyball
Saturday's match vs. Wyoming will air on the Mountain West Network, which is available at http://gocreighton.com/CUatWYO082722. All three webcasts are free.
Live Stats Information
All three matches will have free live stats available at http://Wyoming.StatBroadcast.com.
Fans can also find the links on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #18 Creighton
Creighton returns four starters from last season's 31-4 squad that reached a 10th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. CU is favored by league coaches to win an ninth straight title in 2022.
Leading the Bluejay returnees are Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.69 kps., 3.22 dps.), Kendra Wait (10.46 aps., 3.11 dps., 1.19 kps., 0.85 bps.) and unanimous pick Norah Sis (3.75 kps., 2.96 dps.). Sis was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Creighton also returns two-time All-BIG EAST choice Keeley Davis (1.79 kps.) as well as Kiana Schmitt (1.64 kps., .274%) and 2020 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team choice Kiara Reinhardt (1.23 bps. in 2020).
The Bluejays also welcome four freshmen and three graduate transfers.
Creighton averaged 14.05 kills, 1.66 aces, 17,82 digs and 2.85 blocks per set while hitting .245 as a team last season.
Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State went 16-12 last season, including a First Round loss to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones were 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference.
Eleanor Holthaus led the Cyclones with 3.23 kills per set last fall and has been named All-Big 12 each of the past three seasons. Freshman Maya Duckworth had over 2,000 kills as a prep and was named a 2021 AVCA Girls High School Second Team All-American.
Jaden Newsome (9.80 aps.) is back to set the ISU offense but Olympian Candelaria Herrera graduated after averaging a team-leading 1.27 blocks per set.
Known for its libero play over the years, the Cyclones are looking to replace standout defender Marija Popovic (4.56 dps.) in the back row.
The Cyclones have been picked to finish third in a preseason poll of Big 12 coaches, with Holthaus earning preseason all-league accolades. ISU was scheduled to scrimmage Missouri last weekend, but neither team reported a score on their website.
Scouting Wichita State
Wichita State went 19-10 last year after winning 13 of its final 17 matches.
A trio of juniors are back and expected to lead the Shockers, including Brylee Kelly (3.54 kps., 0.36 saps.), Kayce Litzau (10.18 aps.) and Lily Liekweg (4.14 dps.).
Also back is Lauren McMahon (1.10 bps., .370% in six matches) and Second Team All-American Athletic Conference choice Natalie Foster (2.49 kps., .334%).
The Shockers averaged 12.84 kills, 1.24 aces, 16.03 digs and 1.97 blocks per set and hit .223.
Scouting Wyoming
Wyoming went 16-14 last season, including an 8-10 Mountain West Conference record and a 10-6 home mark.
Naya Shime (2.99 kps.) and KC McMahon (2.93 kps.) both return after leading the Cowgirl offensive attack last season.
Departed setters Abby Olsen (5.75 aps.) and Payton Chamberlain (5.80 aps.) shared duties running Wyoming's offense a year ago, but Kasia Partyka seems primed to take over that spot after dishing a team-high 38 assists in a 3-1 exhibition win over CSU Pueblo last Saturday.
Omaha Marian product Hailey Zuroske averaged 2.17 digs per set in 2021 and paced Wyoming with 17 digs in the exhibition victory.
As a team, Wyoming averaged 12.62 kills, 1.32 aces, 13.51 digs and 2.18 blocks per set on .226 hitting.
The Cowgirls are picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference this fall.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 414-179 record entering her 20th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to eight straight BIG EAST titles (2014-21), and nine league crowns in the last 10 years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 11 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 11 seasons (including 2022), another program first.
Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Booth is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Brian Rosen and Elise Fulcher.
Series History vs. Iowa State
Creighton is 6-5 all-time against Iowa State, including a 4-1 mark in the past five meetings. Creighton is 2-1 against ISU on neutral floors.
The last time the teams met in a match that counted was the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, a 25-22, 25-15, 25-19 victory in Minneapolis. Then-freshman Keeley Davis hit .448 and led all players with 15 kills in her postseason debut. CU won a five-set exhibition match last fall in Omaha.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 5-4 all-time against ISU and Cyclone head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, who is an Omaha native.
Series History vs. Wichita State
Creighton is 26-23 in 49 meetings against Wichita State since 1994, but the Bluejays are 9-2 in their last 11 meetings with WSU. That includes back-to-back 3-0 wins over the Shockers, the first time CU has swept WSU in consecutive meetings.
CU is 3-2 all-time on neutral courts against Wichita State.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-15 vs. Wichita State and Chris Lamb, while Lamb is 17-19 vs. Creighton all-time. Of Booth's 15 wins over WSU, three of them have come after surviving a match point for the Shockers.
Six of the last 15 meetings have gone five sets, and the teams have played 12 five-set matches all-time. Creighton has won seven of the last nine meetings to go the distance, and owns an overall 8-4 edge in those contests.
Creighton's 26-24, 25-23, 25-18 victory in Wichita last season featured 25 ties and 10 lead changes. Jaela Zimmerman (17 kills, 13 digs) and Norah Sis (13 kills, 10 digs) both had double-doubles for the Jays.
Series History vs. Wyoming
Creighton is 2-1 all-time against Wyoming but will making its first trip to Laramie. The Cowgirls won 3-1 in Omaha in 2003 before Creighton swept Wyoming in 2019 at D.J. Sokol Arena. Last year CU swept the Cowgirls 25-19, 25-10, 25-19 at the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita.
In last season's meeting Creighton out-aced Wyoming 9-0, including five service winners by Abby Bottomley. Bottomley also had a match-leading 21 digs as the Jays defense limited Wyoming to .016 hitting.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-1 all-time against Wyoming.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 31-4 last season, won an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and reached the Second Round while playing in its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named a Third Team All-American by the AVCA and the National Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com. Also named Honorable Mention All-American were Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait.
CU's 31 victories were a school-record and included five tournament titles.
Scrimmage Recap
Creighton has played two scrimmages in preparation for the start of the regular-season.
In its annual Blue/White scrimmage, both teams won two sets.
Last Sunday, CU won all four sets played against defending Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton is ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the eighth time in the past 10 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason.
The No. 18 slotting is tied for the fourth-best preseason ranking in program history.
Over the previous 14 seasons, 255-of-350 teams (72.9 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 318-of-350 teams (90.9 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 11th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th TBD TBD
Season Opening History
Last season's win vs. Kansas City improved Creighton to 18-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 14-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes an 11-2 mark since 2009.
Creighton will enter Saturday night's match at Wyoming with a 13-15 mark in road openers, including a 12-7 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 1-1 when opening the season against Iowa State. Howard Wallace's 2000 team swept the Cyclones in Ames, while Booth's first match as a CU head coach came in a 3-1 loss in Ames in 2003.
Hello World!
Four Bluejay freshmen (Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes), as well as graduate transfers Bethany Clapp, Jazz Schmidt and Allison Whitten, could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Clapp, Schmidt and Whitten).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2018 Bethany Clapp$• 4 10 1 20 .450 0 1 5 3
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Jazz Schmidt#• 3 5 2 14 .214 4 3 8 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2018 Allison Whitten% 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 5 0
$Clapp's stats from debut at Incarnate Word
#Schmidt's stats from debut at Palm Beach Atlantic
%Whitten's stats from debut at Morehead State
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kendra Wait and Norah Sis last season vs. Kansas City, Creighton has started 14 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 18 such players since 2000.
Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013), Jaali Winters (2015), Naomi Hickman (2017), Emily Bressman (2019), Kiara Reinhardt (2020), Kendra Wait (2021) and Norah Sis (2021), with Coleman, Lebeda and Wait the only freshmen to start at setter in the season-opener.
In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as transfers Maggie Baumert (2014), Lydia Dimke (2016), Madelyn Cole (2018), Erica Kostelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Ten of those women (Sis, Wait, Reinhardt, Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC or BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team (though the BIG EAST had no such team from 2013-19). Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2016, Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019 and Sis recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2022.
Last year marked the first time that Creighton started multiple true freshmen in a season-opener since 2012, when Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb both earning a starting nod. The 2012 and 2021 teams are the two winningest single-season teams in program history.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes was recognized as the nation's No. 24 class by PrepVolleyball.
Martin was listed as the nation's No. 47 recruit, while McCune was tabbed 52nd-best. Creighton now owns eight players on its 2022 roster who were Top 100 recruits.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004)
Rank Year Player
68 2004 Carolyn Decker
55 2008 Laurel Sanford
60 2011 Michelle Sicner
73 2013 Jess Bird
50 2014 Lydia Dimke*
18 2015 Taryn Kloth
41 2015 Jaali Winters
77 2016 Erica Kostelac#
98 2017 Naomi Hickman
99 2017 Steph Gaston
49 2018 Jaela Zimmerman
42 2018 Keeley Davis
46 2020 Kiara Reinhardt
97 2020 Ellie Bolton
7 2021 Kendra Wait
28 2021 Norah Sis
31 2021 Eve Magill
47 2022 Ava Martin
52 2022 Sky McCune
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Rankings
(list started in 2004)
Year Rank Freshman Recruits
2004 Best of the Rest (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005 Honorable-Mention (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006 None (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007 None (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008 Highest Honorable-Mention (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009 Highest HM Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010 High HM (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011 Highest HM (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012 High Honorable-Mention (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013 None (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014 Highest Honorable-Mention (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015 11th (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016 High Honorable-Mention (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017 25th (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018 10th (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)
2019 Highest HM (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020 27th (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021 5th (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)
2022 24th (Colangelo, Martin, McCune, Remmes)
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters
From last year's team, only Abby Bottomley, Naomi Hickman, Eve Magill, Ally Van Eekeren, Annika Welty are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 511.8 of a possible 700% back (73.1 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,331 (87.4%) 192 (12.6%)
Kills 1,307 (80.2%) 323 (19.8%)
Points 1,627.0 (75.6%) 526.0 (24.4%)
Matches Started 154 (73.3%) 56 (26.7%)
Digs 1,460 (70.6%) 607 (29.4%)
Aces 128 (66.7%) 64 (33.3%)
Blocks 192 (58.0%) 139.0 (42.0%)
Familiar Face
Senior Jaela Zimmerman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past three years, and can become CU's 17th player to start four season openers.
Bethany Clapp started the season opener all four of her seasons at Incarnate Word, while Jazz Schmidt also logged four opening day starts while at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Four Or More Opening Day Starts at Creighton
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelly Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Naomi Hickman 2017-21 (5 starts)
10 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments (2012-21). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 11 of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Jae-Z Plays The Hits
Jaela Zimmerman owns 997 kills, good for 15th in Creighton history. She stands just three kills of becoming the 15th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. Zimmerman has played in 103 career matches.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
15. Jaela Zimmerman 342 997 2018-Pr.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Dealing Up Aces
Keeley Davis enters her senior season with 98 career aces, which ranks eighth in Creighton history.
With two aces this weekend, she'll become the third-fastest player in program history to reach the century mark with the Bluejays.
It's also worth noting that two of Davis' teammates already own more than 100 career aces, though they've done so at other schools. Bethany Clapp owned 103 aces in 97 matches at Incarnate Word, Jazz Schmidt had 103 aces in 96 matches at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic and Allison Whitten had 103 aces in 115 contests at Morehead State.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
4. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
5. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
6. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
7. Jaali Winters 494 101 2015-18
8. Keeley Davis 278 98 2019-Pr.
9. Madelyn Cole 225 93 2018-19
10. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Aces (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Molly Moran 73 08/31/01 vs. DePaul
Melissa Weisensee 77 11/01/96 Southern Illinois
JoDe Cieloha 85 09/06/97 at UNLV
Shelly Kapler 95 10/15/99 Bradley
Brittany Witt 107 10/05/19 Seton Hall
Kate Elman 120 11/15/15 Butler
Jaali Winters 135 11/17/18 Providence
Put It In Neutral
Creighton went a healthy 7-0 on neutral floors last season, improving to 71-34 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in neutral site matches.
Creighton topped Kansas City and Saint Louis in Columbia, Mo., USC and Northern Iowa in Lexington, Ky., Wyoming and South Dakota in Wichita, Kan., and DePaul at the BIG EAST Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis.
Creighton won five different tournaments last season, a program record.
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eight different Bluejay to earn that role in the previous 10 seasons.
The Jays started the season with Megan Bober in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. In 2014 Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb, while Kenzie Crawford got the call versus Miami (Ohio) in 2015. Lydia Dimke started the initial contest in both 2016 and 2017, before graduating, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 Mahina Pua'a earned the nod on opening night, while Wait started the 2021 season.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous 10 seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and eight of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton won eight of those 10 season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 414-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 16 of its last 22 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 0-0 0-0
Total 77-61 507-331
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won nine conference regular-season titles. All but one of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won eight conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2021
Regular-Season League Tournament
9 (1 shared) Creighton 8 Creighton
9 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
9 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
8 BYU 7 Fairfield
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
8 Fairfield 6 American
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 9-of-11 first place votes and 99 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 90 points and the other two votes for first place.
DePaul (72) was picked third, just ahead of UConn (71) and St. John's (66). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were Villanova (54), Butler (47), Xavier (42), Georgetown (25), Providence (25) and Seton Hall (14).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait as well as unanimous selection Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 17 of 19 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including nine years where it's finished exactly where it was picked.
Year Preseason Pick Finish Move
1994 11th 9th #2
1995 9th 7th #2
1996 9th 6th #3
1997 8th 3rd #5
1998 6th 8th i2
1999 T-7th 5th #2
2000 4th T-4th - -
2001 2nd 4th i2
2002 7th 9th i2
2003 9th T-5th #4
2004 5th 5th - -
2005 5th 5th - -
2006 4th 4th - -
2007 3rd T-2nd #1
2008 3rd 2nd #1
2009 4th T-4th - -
2010 4th 3rd #1
2011 3rd 4th i1
2012 4th 1st #3
2013 1st T-2nd i1
2014 1st 1st - -
2015 1st 1st - -
2016 1st 1st - -
2017 1st 1st - -
2018 2nd 1st #1
2019 2nd 1st #1
2020 1st (MW) 1st (MW) - -
2021 1st 1st - -
2022 1st ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton enters its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 80-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (73-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 64-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 58-1 league mark and a 6-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Jaela Zimmerman is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-123 sets played.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. In 2021, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 137 13 227 60
Marquette (8) 120 27 209 69
Xavier 84 64 129 129
Butler 81 69 142 122
Villanova (1) 77 73 144 115
St. John's (1) 71 79 154 123
Seton Hall (1) 66 83 126 139
DePaul 40 110 100 152
Georgetown 33 109 83 160
Providence* 22 112 83 149
Connecticut# 17 9 28 18
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 345-11 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 288-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 214-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 109-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 15-202 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 13-103 (.112) under Booth. Those 15 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 350-32 (.916) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-147 (.303) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 124-3 in its last 127 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 82-2 in its last 84 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-13 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 124-2 in its last 126 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2020 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owns seven matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 89-101 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
TOTAL 92-136
TOTAL Under Booth 89-101
Eleventh Heaven
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 11 NCAA Tournaments.
That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history, as she's tied former men's soccer coach Bob Warming atop that list.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 11
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Don't I Know You?
Creighton senior Emily Bressman was a high school teammate at Marian High School of Wyoming senior Hailey Zuroske, where the two teamed up to win a pair of state titles for the Crusaders.
Creighton junior Ellie Bolton and Wichita State freshman Lauren Wheeler both attended St. James Academy. Three years ago the duo teamed to go 34-8 and was ranked 18th nationally.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 20th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
Interestingly, the Bluejays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2022: Emily Bressman
2021: Emily Bressman
2020: Emily Bressman
2019: Emily Bressman, Brittany Witt
2018: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2017: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2016: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2015: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen, Kelsey O'Connell
2014: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2013: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2012: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2011: Julianne Mandolfo
2010: Lisa Greisch, Julianne Mandolfo
2009: Lisa Greisch
2008: Emily Crowley, Korie Lebeda
2007: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2006: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2005: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2003: Emily Greisch
8 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2021 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win eight straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win eight or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up. Booth owns 414 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 414*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 387*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the previous four seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins last season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 152 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 1-0 19-0
Georgetown 16-0 - 16-0
Marquette 15-3 5-1 20-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 13-3 3-0 16-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 137-13 15-2 152-15
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton vs. Kentucky Volleyball Press Conference - 12/13/25
Sunday, December 14
Creighton Volleyball NCAA Tournament Highlights vs. Kentucky, 12/13/25
Saturday, December 13
Kentucky Volleyball Media Availability - 12/12/25
Friday, December 12
Arizona State Volleyball Press Conference After Creighton Match - 12/11/25
Thursday, December 11
